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

If anyone is bored and wondering how an iphone compares to a (in this case Canon) camera...

I don’t know if I’m missing something but I thought it was quite obvious which is which, the only one that I had to ‘study’ was the portrait on the balcony. That being said it’s impressive how good phones are these days.

My issue with using a phone camera is most of my viewing it on the computer and when viewed at that size IQ does start to fall apart. If I still viewed on 6x4 or 7x5 prints like the good old days I’m sure they’d look great.
 
I've been using the camera in my phone quite a bit recently (everything I post to the 'pictures you took today' thread is with the phone). Quality is almost exactly what I'd expect from a compact like the TZ90 we have, and ok until cropped. It's coming up to 3 years old now, but still ok.

I was just looking at a TZ90 today but I think I've decided not to get one as there's no real bulk saving over the TZ100 which I already have, the TZ90 has a longer zoom though. I was looking for an LF1 when I spotted the TZ90, the LF1 is quite a bit smaller and genuinely and easily pocketable. I gave mine away and have always regretted it as the person I gave it to never used it.
 
Just a bit of fun. A7 and that Voigtlander 35mm f1.4. A portrait crop from a landscape shot.

I tried to walk at the same pace to take this and sort of succeeded as the focus stands up to pixel peeping at 100%.

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I remember doing that with my daughter walking towards me with me walking backwards on Clevedon Pier :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
I don’t know if I’m missing something but I thought it was quite obvious which is which, the only one that I had to ‘study’ was the portrait on the balcony. That being said it’s impressive how good phones are these days.

My issue with using a phone camera is most of my viewing it on the computer and when viewed at that size IQ does start to fall apart. If I still viewed on 6x4 or 7x5 prints like the good old days I’m sure they’d look great.

The colours looked way off to me on a couple of those phone shots.
 
I remember doing that with my daughter walking towards me with me walking backwards on Clevedon Pier :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

Zone focus wouldn't really have worked so well as she was walking quite fast as she wanted to get to a nice quiet bench and eat her picnic, so I thought this was the best way to do it :D
 
Why can't we just get a nice clear night in the UK without having cloudy sky? :(

I just want to take pictures of the stars but i can't see them!
 
How long have you lived in the UK? :p

We had the one last week, you'll have to wait for next year now :ROFLMAO:
31 years :p I'm tempted to go out for a drive and see if i can find a more secluded area but it means travelling outside my home town. :confused:
 
I was just looking at a TZ90 today but I think I've decided not to get one as there's no real bulk saving over the TZ100 which I already have, the TZ90 has a longer zoom though. I was looking for an LF1 when I spotted the TZ90, the LF1 is quite a bit smaller and genuinely and easily pocketable. I gave mine away and have always regretted it as the person I gave it to never used it.

Don't buy a TZ90 - the one we had always produce iffy colours (not great with jpg output) and I actually got cleaner images with better dynamic range from my ancient Samsung S850 albeit on ISO50 and without stabilisation.
 
We've had clear skies too but in London with the light pollution there is no chance for decent astro shots.
 
Was beautiful on Sunday here but gone back to the usual murkiness since then. Cold too.
 
I like Clear Outside app for planning. Not sure if it's free or paid. Can't remember. They have a website too though.

It uses Dark Sky (hyperlocal weather data).

Scope Nights is also decent but is definitely a paid app.

I use Clear Outside - it’s excellent and free.
 
For those that are interested this article explains why you get bokeh issues with wide aperture lenses using EFCS.


One of the few times I switch to fully mechanical i.e. when shooting wide open and also when shooting action above 1/2000s shutter speed.

This is why A7C could never be my main body, I can't turn off the EFCS and go fully mechanical. A really odd limitation but it affects pictures more than compressed RAW actually :LOL:
 
One of the few times I switch to fully mechanical i.e. when shooting wide open and also when shooting action above 1/2000s shutter speed.

This is why A7C could never be my main body, I can't turn off the EFCS and go fully mechanical. A really odd limitation but it affects pictures more than compressed RAW actually :LOL:

does this issue not affect the a9 series due to the stacked sensor?
 
One of the few times I switch to fully mechanical i.e. when shooting wide open and also when shooting action above 1/2000s shutter speed.

This is why A7C could never be my main body, I can't turn off the EFCS and go fully mechanical. A really odd limitation but it affects pictures more than compressed RAW actually :LOL:
Yeah I don't think the A7C is designed as a sports camera.
After the initial setting up the camera I don't think I've used the mechanical shutter. Full electric all the time.
 
does this issue not affect the a9 series due to the stacked sensor?
If you use mechanical shutter with EFCS I think is still affects it. If you use full mechanical or full electronic it won't.
 
Its really easy to understand. It all Congress down to the different plane of the shutter.

Full electronic, first and second curtain are the same.
Full mechanical, both are the same.
EFCS, they're at different planes and this is what causes the effect, the mechanical shutter sits a few mm over the sensor, where as the electronic shutter is the sensor.
 
does this issue not affect the a9 series due to the stacked sensor?
which part the action or the bokeh?

for bokeh as long as you use fully mechanical or fully electronic you are good since the shutter in both case are on the same plane. the bokeh is affected by EFCS because the shutter mechanism is on different planes.

in case of action the stacked sensor gives a fast enough readout to be not affected by EFCS but on an A9 why wouldn't use fully electronic shutter anyway.

Yeah I don't think the A7C is designed as a sports camera.
After the initial setting up the camera I don't think I've used the mechanical shutter. Full electric all the time.

That does get over the issue of the bokeh but electronic shutter with non-A9/A1 cameras take hit on dynamic range, banding, noise etc. so its not really usable half the time especially indoors with artificial lighting.
then there is using with flash, you simply can't use electronic shutter with flash (or even EFCS sometimes) unless you have an A1 :p
 
but on an A9 why wouldn't use fully electronic shutter anyway.

Does the A9 suffer banding under artificial lighting? That's the only drawback with the electronic shutter with my MFT cameras. How about the A7III too?
 
Does the A9 suffer banding under artificial lighting? That's the only drawback with the electronic shutter with my MFT cameras. How about the A7III too?
A7III will definitely have banding issues.
A9 not as much and depends on your lighting too. you can still get it but its not as much of an issue.
 
Anyone bored of their Tamron 28-200 yet? I'm thinking of trying one before the shutter on my A7III siezes up completely.
 

More...


"The Sigma 28-70 F2.8 DG DN Contemporary (849 euros) is an excellent pro zoom for Sony full frame cameras. In most area it is equal to the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art (1200 euros) for a much more compact size and reduced price. It even does better in term of sharpness at the short end and in term of flare resistance.
The Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art keep the edge for sharpness at 50-70mm and for the extra 4mm at the wide end that will be required for landscape shooters.
Compared to the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD (750 euros) , the Sigma 28-70 F2.8 DG DN is sharper, has better background blur, better portrait rendering, better build quality and ergonomics in a little bit smaller size , lighter weight for 150 euros more only
"
 
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Anyone bored of their Tamron 28-200 yet? I'm thinking of trying one before the shutter on my A7III siezes up completely.

if you really need a lens to focus some light on your sensor I'll sell you a FE55.
it even better than the 28-200mm at 55mm :ROFLMAO:
 
Few from this morning and my walk with the A7C and 35mm f2.8.

One especially for @woof woof this was completely dark on the left and completely white on the right, not blown though. In Lightroom both sliders are at -100 highlights, +100 shadows.
These cameras sure can cope well with HDR.

DSC00250.jpg

This one was handheld at 1.6 seconds, f22, iso 50. Again i'm impressed with the in body stabilisation, i couldn't do this with my A7R.

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I like the lines and colour on this one, its a silly long bridge as well you cant even see the other end.

DSC00248.jpg

I did a completely different walk this morning, less country parks and more tiny green spaces along the sides of the M60, M62 and A666. Its actually surprising how you can join it all up with minimal walking on roads.

DSC00249.jpg
 
Thanks.

The issue with the A7 is that when lifting the shadows a lot there's noise which may not be too bad, more of an issue could be lack of contrast and colour, if I'm describing it right.

I realise that things have maybe improved as the ISO rises but I'm still a bit disappointed that DR hasn't really increased at base and there abouts which matters to me as I'm likely to be taking pictures with strong light and shadow in different areas. I suppose the technology is nearing its limit and we'll have to wait for new technology to come along before and maybe even if we'll see any significant improvement.
 

More...


"The Sigma 28-70 F2.8 DG DN Contemporary (849 euros) is an excellent pro zoom for Sony full frame cameras. In most area it is equal to the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art (1200 euros) for a much more compact size and reduced price. It even does better in term of sharpness at the short end and in term of flare resistance.
The Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art keep the edge for sharpness at 50-70mm and for the extra 4mm at the wide end that will be required for landscape shooters.
Compared to the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 Di III RXD (750 euros) , the Sigma 28-70 F2.8 DG DN is sharper, has better background blur, better portrait rendering, better build quality and ergonomics in a little bit smaller size , lighter weight for 150 euros more only
"
I'm not sure why camera manufacturers are more concerned with the long end rather than the wide end, I'd much prefer a 24-50mm f2.8 for example. With modern day sensors we can crop images down if we so wish, but we can't go wider without stitching and that's not always possible.
 
I'm not sure why camera manufacturers are more concerned with the long end rather than the wide end, I'd much prefer a 24-50mm f2.8 for example. With modern day sensors we can crop images down if we so wish, but we can't go wider without stitching and that's not always possible.

As we discussed a few pages back I think 24mm makes the lens design more complex and would inevitably not give you the same kind of weight savings a lens starting at 28mm would give you.
A 24-50mm f2.8 would probably just as large as the 24-70mm f2.8, just that it would extend less with zoomed in.
 
As we discussed a few pages back I think 24mm makes the lens design more complex and would inevitably not give you the same kind of weight savings a lens starting at 28mm would give you.
A 24-50mm f2.8 would probably just as large as the 24-70mm f2.8, just that it would extend less with zoomed in.
Someone should figure out a new lens design then :LOL:
 
Didn't someone do a 20-60 or something like that recently?
 
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