The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

And the d*** measuring continues!

I’m a believer that the best camera is the one you have, it is also very subjective. What is great for landscapes might not be great for sports. For me the Sony is an established system which is start to get a better selection of unadapted lens, yes my af could be better (currently have the Rii) and I may change it to the Riii eventually or more likely the Riv,(yes I know it’s a long way off), I like the size and portability and strangely I also love the colours it produces.

I started off with Canon many years ago, starting with film, then the 350d, 60d, 5d3 and builtmup a large selection of lenses, most of which have now been replaced with Sony. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t change again, but it’s highly unlikely due to the cost involved for a mere amateur
 
I do like Kai but he's not a 'serious' reviewer, more an entertainer
 
Fraser Euan White said:
I like his reviews and find them unbiased TBH Talks real world use rather than spec sheet self gratification.
Click to expand...

I don't really trust any of them tbh, I prefer to buy and try. It means a lot of switching but I'm quite happy to do that till I find the right camera.
 
twist said:
I don't really trust any of them tbh, I prefer to buy and try. It means a lot of switching but I'm quite happy to do that till I find the right camera.
Click to expand...

I will probably wait till the next gen but I think the first effort from Nikon is a lot better in real world use than what people initially thought TBH. (Body overall matches or betters the Sony and a massive range of glass that the adaptor works flawlessly with!)
 
Last edited:
Fraser Euan White said:
I will probably wait till the next gen but I think the first effort from Nikon is a lot better in real world use than what people initially thought TBH. (Body overall matches or betters the Sony and a massive range of glass that the adaptor works flawlessly with!)
Click to expand...

:D

Trolls be trolling
 
Fraser Euan White said:
I will probably wait till the next gen but I think the first effort from Nikon is a lot better in real world use than what people initially thought TBH. (Body overall matches or betters the Sony and a massive range of glass that the adaptor works flawlessly with!)
Click to expand...

Sony can use A mount flawlessly, canon EF without much hassle and has 40 plus native af lenses and can adapt pretty much every mount ever made using MF.... I'd say it's well covered.

I've read a lot about the Z not dealing well with AFC tracking and bursts via F mount.... Which I do, so it's not all roses this gen. I'd like to try one but there's no native lenses I use.

I don't think this gen Nikon matches the a7iii.
 
Last edited:
twist said:
Sony can use A mount flawlessly, canon EF without much hassle and has 40 plus native af lenses and can adapt pretty much every mount ever made using MF.... I'd say it's well covered.

I've read a lot about the Z not dealing well with AFC tracking and bursts via F mount.... Which I do, so it's not all roses this gen.
Click to expand...

None of the new kids on the block seem to be able to track focus in AFC and burst mode, fuji seems to manage it better but none of them seem to be able to keep up with Sony.
 
NewBeetle said:
I do like Kai but he's not a 'serious' reviewer, more an entertainer
Click to expand...

But DP review also stated this:

Overall, the combination of high resolution, expansive dynamic range, compact size, comfortable handling and great 4K video with intuitive and decisive autofocus is hard to dismiss. We're confident in saying that, as of now, the Z 7 is Nikon's most well-rounded camera they've ever produced.

Full article here:
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/8167832602/the-nikon-z7-what-we-think-and-where-it-should-go
 
Fraser Euan White said:
But DP review also stated this:

Overall, the combination of high resolution, expansive dynamic range, compact size, comfortable handling and great 4K video with intuitive and decisive autofocus is hard to dismiss. We're confident in saying that, as of now, the Z 7 is Nikon's most well-rounded camera they've ever produced.

Full article here:
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/8167832602/the-nikon-z7-what-we-think-and-where-it-should-go
Click to expand...

The key take away...

Nikon's most well-rounded camera they've ever produced.

They also said it didn't AF well continuously with f mount.
 
Last edited:
Fraser Euan White said:
I will probably wait till the next gen but I think the first effort from Nikon is a lot better in real world use than what people initially thought TBH. (Body overall matches or betters the Sony and a massive range of glass that the adaptor works flawlessly with!)
Click to expand...

Having played with the Z7 I agree in some ways, if the A7R3 is a 3rd era Sony device then the Z7 feels like its a 2.5 - undoubtedly better than the A7r2 but its really just the AF that lets it down v the A7r3.... (single slot I guess too....)
 
twist said:
The key take away...

Nikon's most well-rounded camera they've ever produced.

They also said it didn't AF well continuously with f mount.
Click to expand...

Considering they have D5 + D850 + D750 - then that is a very fine stable!
 
chrism_scotland said:
Having played with the Z7 I agree in some ways, if the A7R3 is a 3rd era Sony device then the Z7 feels like its a 2.5 - undoubtedly better than the A7r2 but its really just the AF that lets it down v the A7r3.... (single slot I guess too....)
Click to expand...

I tend to agree Chris but Kai does point out that it clearly isn't a camera for shooting fast sports but does say the AF is good.

If they managed this with their first incarnation then just think how good their next release will be and that is only the camera body. With Nikon glass available (and third party glass working well) I believe Nikon will stop any of their current users switching brand - in fact you would be mad to change after this first offering.
 
Last edited:
chrism_scotland said:
Having played with the Z7 I agree in some ways, if the A7R3 is a 3rd era Sony device then the Z7 feels like its a 2.5 - undoubtedly better than the A7r2 but its really just the AF that lets it down v the A7r3.... (single slot I guess too....)
Click to expand...

The single card sot.

The crap A.F.

The lack of native lenses.

No eye a.f.

Exposure lock on first frame in burst mode.

Crap battery life.

Yeah the Z7 is a cracker. :D
 
Fraser Euan White said:
Considering they have D5 + D850 + D750 - then that is a very fine stable!
Click to expand...

Key take aways...

  • Subject tracking reliability lags behind Nikon's industry-leading 3D-Tracking, found in its DSLRs, and behind several of its mirrorless competitors.
  • Low light AF sensitivity is 2-3 stops worse than the competition - this can cause hunting in dim lighting or when shooting back-lit subjects in AF-C.
  • Face Detect - available in the Auto-Area mode - is reliable at tracking subjects that are still, but can be confused by movement. We prefer the reliability of Sony's Eye AF.
  • In low light, when shooting in AF-C, set the camera to 'Release' priority instead of 'Focus' priority or be prepared to be frustrated by slow acquisition speeds. But note, doing so will mean fewer critically-sharp images.
In short the only thing consistent about the Z7's subject tracking performance is just how inconsistent it is.

It is also worth mentioning that AF tracking performance seems dependent on how well the camera initially recognizes the subject. In the case of our bike test, the subject starting small in the frame seemed to add to the camera's challenge of recognizing it as it approached. And fairly often we noticed the camera picking a slightly different object in the frame rather than the object we intended to track, which added to our frustrations regarding Z7 subject tracking.

One pervasive frustration we observed while field testing the Z7 is the camera's tendency to hunt in AF-C when shooting in low light or back-lit subjects. In controlled testing we found the camera started to hunt noticeably in light levels between 0 and -1EV when using the 35mm F1.8 S lens. But even in light levels slightly higher - like in the example above - AF hunting caused missed shots.
 
f/2.8 said:
Exposure lock on first frame in burst mode.
Click to expand...

That's ok, it only gets about 2 per second and only the first one is anywhere near in focus :D
 
f/2.8 said:
The single card sot.

The crap A.F.

The lack of native lenses.

No eye a.f.

Exposure lock on first frame in burst mode.

Crap battery life.

Yeah the Z7 is a cracker. :D
Click to expand...

Speaking as someone who doesn't need super AF its fine with me - most of my shooting is tripod based and I'd be happy to live with using Nikon F mount to fill in the gaps for now.
Actual user reports on battery life suggest that its not as crap as the CIPA rating suggests.

Can't justify the cost of one anyway currently, especially when the D850 is a shade over £2000 grey!

As a first effort though its pretty darn good, its certainly a helluva lot better than than the A7 / A7r were way back when new.

A7r3 is a mega bit of kit though!
 
I have a feeling the Z6 will be a lot better than the Z7
 
chrism_scotland said:
Speaking as someone who doesn't need super AF its fine with me - most of my shooting is tripod based and I'd be happy to live with using Nikon F mount to fill in the gaps for now.
Actual user reports on battery life suggest that its not as crap as the CIPA rating suggests.

Can't justify the cost of one anyway currently, especially when the D850 is a shade over £2000 grey!

As a first effort though its pretty darn good, its certainly a helluva lot better than than the A7 / A7r were way back when new.

A7r3 is a mega bit of kit though!
Click to expand...

I think it's a pretty good 1st attempt but the a7 MK1 and following were ground breaking, nobody else was doing FF milc.
 
f/2.8 said:
The single card sot.

The crap A.F.

The lack of native lenses.

No eye a.f.

Exposure lock on first frame in burst mode.

Crap battery life.

Yeah the Z7 is a cracker. :D
Click to expand...

.........odd? You said this on another thread:

f/2.8 said:
I went to my local Calumet and had a play with a Z7 this morning. It handles very well, seems well built and to be honest just felt better to use than the Sony's probably because I am so familiar with Nikon, it was certainly a lot more comfortable to hold and use. If it had of had 2 card slots I definitely would have bought 2 Z6's. Only had in hand for a few minutes but the auto focus seemed pretty much bang on and I didn't see any hunting or missed focus even when using the adaptor with F mount lenses.Would have liked to have had a bit longer with it but there was a bit of a queue of people waiting to play with it.
Click to expand...
 
It's all well and good saying it's Nikon and Canon's first attempt but they've had years to watch Sony and knew what they needed to beat. That's what surprised me most about the last couple of months releases. See Fuji wanted to beat the best APSC so the set out to beat the A6500 and they have succeeded, seems like a fail to me from the others.
 
twist said:
I think it's a pretty good 1st attempt but the a7 MK1 and following were ground breaking, nobody else was doing FF milc.
Click to expand...

Your right but I guess we're at a point now where it's less about being ground breaking and more about targeting being an A7r3 or A73 with a Canon/Nikon badge on it.... and Nikon certainly seems closer than Canon....
 
f/2.8 said:
Have used one twice since then it’s crap especially in backlit situations.
Click to expand...

Sort of smell something in the room that isn't particularly pleasant? Can you direct me to where you reported back on these findings at the time?
 
Fraser Euan White said:
Sort of smell something in the room that isn't particularly pleasant? Can you direct me to where you reported back on these findings at the time?
Click to expand...

Why would I need to report anything back? :D

I have a life outside of a photography Internet forum. You should try it. :cool:
 
chrism_scotland said:
Your right but I guess we're at a point now where it's less about being ground breaking and more about targeting being an A7r3 or A73 with a Canon/Nikon badge on it.... and Nikon certainly seems closer than Canon....
Click to expand...

I think it was pretty much generally agreed that Nikon/Canon didn't really have to 'beat' the Sony with their first model - getting close was good enough to stop people switching systems.

From Kai's review Nikon have got more than close - he reckons it is a better camera overall than any other FF mirrorless.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Your right but I guess we're at a point now where it's less about being ground breaking and more about targeting being an A7r3 or A73 with a Canon/Nikon badge on it.... and Nikon certainly seems closer than Canon....
Click to expand...

Yup, I think the Nikon is a better offering which I've said but canikon will be chasing a7iii and what will sony be up to, they already have the a9 selling grey at 2500 that's a d5 1dxii milc competitor and better in some ways. Next gen is going to be very interesting.

Kai seems to be the only person that thinks it's the best milc... Without any lenses and a pretty poor af system in comparison to the competition and less features... and worse iq than its DSLR counterpart.
 
Last edited:
f/2.8 said:
Why would I need to report anything back? :D

I have a life outside of a photography Internet forum. You should try it. :cool:
Click to expand...

............errrr - because you reported back on your experiences with it initially............like I thought the smell is unpleasant.
 
Last edited:
Mmmm so after all the various debates on this, the Nikon and Canon mirrorless threads the outcome is still the same..... Sony are the ones to beat!
Look at the number of years it had taken Sony to get here with their FF mirrorless system, good progress in my opinion.

Let’s see if Sony dominate going forwards or will Nikon & Canon hit back hard and erase Sony’s lead.

Interesting times a head, personally I’m looking forward to the Sony A9 II with advanced AI.
 
Fraser Euan White said:
Interesting this guy is from the same place as you (Northern Ireland) and nobody can get hold of the Z7; in fact the most recognised UK Nikon seller (Grays) hadn't received any by the 16th October (only nine days ago)! You must have been very privileged to have used one twice!

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/nikon-z7-is-there-any-stock-in-the-uk.686206/
Click to expand...

Privileged :D

The guy around the corner has one, he got it from Panamoz.

He bought 2 Nikon lenses from me.

They are also available locally WEX have them but only for people who preordered them.
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
And the d*** measuring continues!

I’m a believer that the best camera is the one you have, it is also very subjective. What is great for landscapes might not be great for sports. For me the Sony is an established system which is start to get a better selection of unadapted lens, yes my af could be better (currently have the Rii) and I may change it to the Riii eventually or more likely the Riv,(yes I know it’s a long way off), I like the size and portability and strangely I also love the colours it produces.

I started off with Canon many years ago, starting with film, then the 350d, 60d, 5d3 and builtmup a large selection of lenses, most of which have now been replaced with Sony. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t change again, but it’s highly unlikely due to the cost involved for a mere amateur
Click to expand...

I've bounced between manufacturers like a steel ball in a pinball machine, I have no loyalty to any - rather whatever takes my fancy.

Though admittedly I loved the Olympus OMD E5 and had that for a good 5-6 years despite having a Canon 1D MK II, Nikon D3 and a range other Canon/Nikon cameras.

I personally love the Sony, always has something impressive I didn't realise and it is a constant learning curve. I suspect it will be by next "oly" camera in terms of length of ownership.
 
woof woof said:
Just in case anyone is interested LCE have the following Canon FD lenses...

28mm f2.8 - £49.99.
35mm f2.8 - £59.99.
50mm f1.8 breech lock - £39.99.
50mm f3.5 macro - £79.99.
100mm f2.8 - £89.99.

They also have a 85mm f1.2 - £599.

That last one doesn't interest me but the others all look nice especially that 35mm f2.8 but I have one already.

I have a Novoflex adapter for my FD's and they all work nicely and in fact I was using a 24mm Miranda in FD and a 50mm f1.4 this morning. I wont say they're up to modern lens standards but they're nice lenses.
Click to expand...

I've just sold my last FD lens - the breechlock 85/1.8SSC

No complaints on any of them really, just didn't use them enough.

NewBeetle said:
I do fancy the Sony 85mm f/1.8 or the 70-200 first I think.
Click to expand...

The 85mm is a great lens IMO & worth the money without a doubt.
 
yamahatdm900 said:
Should have posted it In the Canon thread as well.
Click to expand...

I don't think anybody with a Canon would be in the slightest bit interested in a Nikon TBH? Where as Nikon shooters may well look at a Sony Mirrorless.

If I found a review saying the Canon was the best mirrorless then I would post here and the Canon forum.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top