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

I'm at Tower Bridge watching the London Marathon. I missed the earlier action, but there's still a great buzz with thousands of people lining the streets cheering on straggler runners who have about 3 miles to go, some in those funny costumes. :D Snapping a few f1.4 shallow DOF pics of runners who get close enough to the fencing where I'm standing.
 
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Merlin5 said:
I'm at Tower Bridge watching the London Marathon. I missed the earlier action, but there's still a great buzz with thousands of people lining the streets cheering on straggler runners who have about 3 miles to go, some in those funny costumes. :D Snapping a few f1.4 shallow DOF pics of runners who get close enough to the fencing where I'm standing.
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It's great isn't it? I've shot the last 4 London Marathons for Arthritis Research/Versus Arthritis and I remember how overwhelming it was the first time I went. I was always at their last cheer point at the 1km to go marker and the sheer will a determination to get over the line is super impressive. We've not gone this year though as I'm still avoiding crowded places.

Looking forward to seeing your pics (y)
 
snerkler said:
It's great isn't it? I've shot the last 4 London Marathons for Arthritis Research/Versus Arthritis and I remember how overwhelming it was the first time I went. I was always at their last cheer point at the 1km to go marker and the sheer will a determination to get over the line is super impressive. We've not gone this year though as I'm still avoiding crowded places.

Looking forward to seeing your pics (y)
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Ah, you're an experienced hand at marathons then, Toby. :) Yeah it's pretty exciting stuff. First time I've been. I watched some on tv this morning and then thought I must go there, maybe I'll get to see Gabby Logan :D. There were people next to me cheering very loudly non stop to every runner "you're doing great, keep it up, you're nearly there!", it made me choke up a bit to witness such humanity. People really do care about others. I'll post some pics later.
 
Feels odd being back at work after 18 months or so. Back to just two days a week free time, I'll miss my Wednesday morning walks with the camera.
 
This guy grates on some but if you have 20min to spare here he is...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUna946AL0Q


Oh, and I haven't "worked" for 11 years now :D but I do sometimes dream about work.

Mrs WW has changed school now and the new one is just 5 minutes drive from home so I no longer get to walk on he beach or in the park while she's there.
 
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snerkler said:
It's great isn't it? I've shot the last 4 London Marathons for Arthritis Research/Versus Arthritis and I remember how overwhelming it was the first time I went. I was always at their last cheer point at the 1km to go marker and the sheer will a determination to get over the line is super impressive. We've not gone this year though as I'm still avoiding crowded places.

Looking forward to seeing your pics (y)
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Here's some photos. There was harsh sunlight and once I went to f1.4 on aperture priority, the shutter speed went to maximum 1/4000 and auto iso was at 800. Yet I noticed most of my shots were quite blown out and I've done what I can to recover the highlights. What would have been the best way to compensate for such harsh sunlight, should I have used the exposure compensation dial or used auto exposure lock? The second shot here I manually changed to 100 iso which was better but I feel it was still a little over exposed.


London Marathon 2021 (2) by Merlin 5, on Flickr


London Marathon 2021 (1) by Merlin 5, on Flickr


London Marathon 2021 (6) by Merlin 5, on Flickr


London Marathon 2021 (4) by Merlin 5, on Flickr


London Marathon 2021 (3) by Merlin 5, on Flickr


London Marathon 2021 (5) by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Police Horses 1 by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Police Horses 2 by Merlin 5, on Flickr
 
Merlin5 said:
Here's some photos. There was harsh sunlight and once I went to f1.4 on aperture priority, the shutter speed went to maximum 1/4000 and auto iso was at 800. Yet I noticed most of my shots were quite blown out and I've done what I can to recover the highlights. What would have been the best way to compensate for such harsh sunlight, should I have used the exposure compensation dial or used auto exposure lock? The second shot here I manually changed to 100 iso which was better but I feel it was still a little over exposed.
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There's something very wrong here as the auto ISO shouldn't be anywhere near 800 if you're at f1.4 in daylight.

Also, don't know what camera you're using but if the max shutter speed is 1/4,000 is there an electronic shutter which will go higher? At f1.4 in good light I'd expect the shutter speed to be anywhere between 1/4,000-1/8,000 depending on where you point the camera at ISO 100.
 
woof woof said:
There's something very wrong here as the auto ISO shouldn't be anywhere near 800 if you're at f1.4 in daylight.

Also, don't know what camera you're using but if the max shutter speed is 1/4,000 is there an electronic shutter which will go higher? At f1.4 in good light I'd expect the shutter speed to be anywhere between 1/4,000-1/8,000 depending on where you point the camera at ISO 100.
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@Merlin5 - what Alan says is spot on, there is something off with camera/user settings here, I can see from the EXIF data in London Marathon 2021 (3) you are at F1.4 1/4000th and ISO800 and the background is blown out in places.

You need to look at why the camear was selecting 800 as the ISO, as the same shutter speed if ISO100 was selected would be 1/500th - which would give you a lot more headroom.

You have an Electronic Shutter available which will go faster than 1/4000th but they may introduce banding on moving subjects (this is common with a lot of ES sahutters, its down to the way the exposure occurs and the readout from the sensor), I don't know if your camera has a mode where it will shoot mechanical shutter to a particular speed and then shoot electronic shutter beyond that?

The traditional way of allowing slower shutter speeds at wide apertures would have been to use a 2 or 3 stop ND filter on the lens.
 
woof woof said:
There's something very wrong here as the auto ISO shouldn't be anywhere near 800 if you're at f1.4 in daylight.

Also, don't know what camera you're using but if the max shutter speed is 1/4,000 is there an electronic shutter which will go higher? At f1.4 in good light I'd expect the shutter speed to be anywhere between 1/4,000-1/8,000 depending on where you point the camera at ISO 100.
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Good points, Alan. Camera is a6600 with max shutter speed of 1/4000. Now you've got me wondering if I made a massive rookie mistake, lol. I thought I was on auto ISO but now I'm wondering if I mistakenly had 800 manual ISO. Looking at my exif details on Flickr for these pics they all say ISO Speed 800, and my Flickr app on my phone says ISO/FILM 800. Is there a way of telling if it was auto ISO or manual?
 
I don't know about banding with the electronic shutter and moving subjects. Rolling shutter is the traditional issue with banding appearing under flickering artificial lighting.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
@Merlin5 - what Alan says is spot on, there is something off with camera/user settings here, I can see from the EXIF data in London Marathon 2021 (3) you are at F1.4 1/4000th and ISO800 and the background is blown out in places.

You need to look at why the camear was selecting 800 as the ISO, as the same shutter speed if ISO100 was selected would be 1/500th - which would give you a lot more headroom.

You have an Electronic Shutter available which will go faster than 1/4000th but they may introduce banding on moving subjects (this is common with a lot of ES sahutters, its down to the way the exposure occurs and the readout from the sensor), I don't know if your camera has a mode where it will shoot mechanical shutter to a particular speed and then shoot electronic shutter beyond that?

The traditional way of allowing slower shutter speeds at wide apertures would have been to use a 2 or 3 stop ND filter on the lens.
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It will more than likely be user error! Unless something has changed since I dropped the camera. I was using silent shooting but I thought the spec for this camera was 1/4000 max?
 
Merlin5 said:
Good points, Alan. Camera is a6600 with max shutter speed of 1/4000. Now you've got me wondering if I made a massive rookie mistake, lol. I thought I was on auto ISO but now I'm wondering if I mistakenly had 800 manual ISO. Looking at my exif details on Flickr for these pics they all say ISO Speed 800, and my Flickr app on my phone says ISO/FILM 800. Is there a way of telling if it was auto ISO or manual?
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There's no way to tell auto ISO or not with the software I have but with others? Who knows?

You wouldn't be the first to set and ISO that's too high and shoot away happily until you see the results on the pc, I've done it too.

1/4k is sometimes the max for the mechanical shutter but electronic ones usually go higher, maybe 1/8k or even 1/16k. If your camera has an electronic shutter.

My MFT cameras have the option to automatically switch between mechanical and electronic but I'm not at all sure about Sony.
 
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woof woof said:
There's no way to tell auto ISO or not with the software I have but with others? Who knows?

You wouldn't be the first to set and ISO that's too high and shoot away happily until you see the results on the pc, I've done it too.
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I bet that's what I did though! I've got my camera in front of me, set it manual and f1.4, have tried with silent shooting on and also off, and AF w/ shutter on and off, and the max shutter speed goes to 1/4000, doesn't go higher.
 
If your shutter wont go faster than 1/4k either in mechanical or electronic your next option could be an ND filter. It's a pita fitting one for one shot and taking it off for the next but that could be an option for you. This is why I like cameras with a max shutter speed of 1/8k.
 
woof woof said:
If your shutter wont go faster than 1/4k either in mechanical or electronic your next option could be an ND filter. It's a pita fitting one for one shot and taking it off for the next but that could be an option for you. This is why I like cameras with a max shutter speed of 1/8k.
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Oh damn, there IS something wrong with the camera. I've just been outside, pointed the camera into my garden and at the sky, tried various shutter speeds and apertures, and auto iso is stuck on 800! I think something is damaged since I had that fall. Is it worth me resetting the camera? Let me try with my 70-350, that usually gives me 4 figure auto iso numbers.

Yep, just the same, 800 auto ISO even at 350mm pointing the lens at the darkest areas.
 
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Oh gawd, I'm such an idiot. My auto minimum was inadvertently set to 800. :facepalm: :D
Thanks guys for your help, otherwise I would have carried on taking photos not realising there was something wrong in my settings. Thank god the camera isn't broken!
 
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hehehe :D

At least you might not need an ND now. Can you go higher than 1/4,000?
 
woof woof said:
hehehe :D

At least you might not need an ND now. Can you go higher than 1/4,000?
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I hate myself for making such stupid errors but at the same time, feel delighted all is well again :D I can't go higher than 1/4000 though. I should probably know this, but not really sure what AF w/ shutter on or off does. Particularly in combination with silent shooting on or off. I use silent shooting pretty much all the time. Should I have AF w/ shutter on or off?
 
Merlin5 said:
Oh gawd, I'm such an idiot. My auto minimum was inadvertently set to 800. :facepalm: :D
Thanks guys for your help, otherwise I would have carried on taking photos not realising there was something wrong in my settings. Thank god the camera isn't broken!
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There is usually a clue somewhere!

woof woof said:
hehehe :D

At least you might not need an ND now. Can you go higher than 1/4,000?
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Looks like A6600 is limited to 1/4000th, I'd buy a 2 or 3 stop ND and keep it in the bag,, in bright sunlight wideopen its easy to need faster than 1/4000th, so a 3 stop ND would reduce 1/4000th to 1/500th, allowing much more headroom.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
There is usually a clue somewhere!



Looks like A6600 is limited to 1/4000th, I'd buy a 2 or 3 stop ND and keep it in the bag,, in bright sunlight wideopen its easy to need faster than 1/4000th, so a 3 stop ND would reduce 1/4000th to 1/500th, allowing much more headroom.
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Thanks David, excellent advice. I have an ND filter but it's 10 stop. Can you recommend me a couple of nice quality 3 stops in 55mm and 67mm filter sizes?
 
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Merlin5 said:
Thanks David, excellent advice. I have an ND filter but it's 10 stop. Can you recommend me a couple of nice quality 3 stops in 55mm and 67mm filter sizes?
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I would buy just 67mm and a step ring from 55mm to 67mm - one the whole you get what you pay for with filters (and I have had/still have a lot of them), but I don't think you can beat Hoya ProND for value for money - a Hoya ProND 8 (is the 3 stop version) - others may have different preferred brand filters
 
Mr Perceptive said:
I would buy just 67mm and a step ring from 55mm to 67mm - one the whole you get what you pay for with filters (and I have had/still have a lot of them), but I don't think you can beat Hoya ProND for value for money - a Hoya ProND 8 (is the 3 stop version) - others may have different preferred brand filters
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Yes, I forgot about step up rings, that's a much better and more economical solution. Hoya are good. I've got a Hoya step up ring and polarising filter from the previous camera but the ring is the wrong size for this lens. I'll probably go for the PRoND 8. Thanks.
 
Merlin5 said:
Oh damn, there IS something wrong with the camera. I've just been outside, pointed the camera into my garden and at the sky, tried various shutter speeds and apertures, and auto iso is stuck on 800! I think something is damaged since I had that fall. Is it worth me resetting the camera? Let me try with my 70-350, that usually gives me 4 figure auto iso numbers.

Yep, just the same, 800 auto ISO even at 350mm pointing the lens at the darkest areas.
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When you select Auto ISO, it will show the range of possible values (and allow you to change them) - have you somehow set the Minimum value for auto ISO to 800?
On my A6000, go to select ISO, chose Auto then move the selector to the right, and it goes to the Min ISO value, up / down then allows me to set the value (right again to set max value, left to go back to main ISO selection).
 
Faldrax said:
When you select Auto ISO, it will show the range of possible values (and allow you to change them) - have you somehow set the Minimum value for auto ISO to 800?
On my A6000, go to select ISO, chose Auto then move the selector to the right, and it goes to the Min ISO value, up / down then allows me to set the value (right again to set max value, left to go back to main ISO selection).
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Yep, I spotted my mistake earlier. I only noticed it because although I mentioned it staying at 800 in the darkest areas, it did go to 5000. That made the penny drop for me. I remembered setting max auto ISO to 5000 (and minimum to 100) so I checked it in my settings and the minimum had changed to 800. That would have been me accidentally changing it and not realising I'd done that while fiddling around in the ISO menu at some point.
 
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Merlin5 said:
Yep, I spotted my mistake earlier. I only noticed it because although I mentioned it staying at 800 in the darkest areas, it did go to 5000. That made the penny drop for me. I remembered setting max auto ISO to 5000 (and minimum to 100) so I checked it in my settings and the minimum had changed to 800. That would have been me accidentally changing it and not realising I'd done that while fiddling around in the ISO menu at some point.
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There are so many options and customisations that it's easy to set something and forget, then have no idea how to clear it.
I set mine to BBF to see how I got on with it, but having set it us and used for a day, I then didn't pick up that camera again for a few weeks, and when I did I just couldn't understand why it wasn't focusing... :LOL:
 
Faldrax said:
There are so many options and customisations that it's easy to set something and forget, then have no idea how to clear it.
I set mine to BBF to see how I got on with it, but having set it us and used for a day, I then didn't pick up that camera again for a few weeks, and when I did I just couldn't understand why it wasn't focusing... :LOL:
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Lol :D. Yeah, that's the sort of thing I do. I love BBF, wouldn't want to shoot without it now. :)
 
Merlin5 said:
Good idea if you think guys think that'll work well enough, I never thought of that.
I've got a Hoya Pro 1 CPL 52mm. So I would just need to buy 67mm to 52mm and 55mm to 52mm step down rings?
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No, don’t step down smaller than the lens filter thread size especially if you are shooting wide open - it will vignette badly

Only step to a larger filter size- buy bigger filters!!!!
 
Mr Perceptive said:
No, don’t step down smaller than the lens filter thread size especially if you are shooting wide open - it will vignette badly

Only step to a larger filter size- buy bigger filters!!!!
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Ok that makes sense. Should I buy a 67mm ND or CPL?
 
I just use cheap ND's and haven't run into any problems. There are loads on evil bay. Ditto step up rings.
 
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