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

f/2.8 said:
Learn how to use flash properly.

Light is light there is no difference in nailing exposure using natural or artificial light.
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What I though with rotolight it shining so I can see what I be taking before I take it. Flash can be tricky for me under or over powered
 
rookies said:
Honestly. Hmm damn so which you suggest I always failed with flash so though lights be better
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I don’t understand why folk struggle with flash tbh, especially with TTL. Why not go to a demo and talk to some lighting folk at the show?

Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure book would help you too (y)
 
rookies said:
What I though with rotolight it shining so I can see what I be taking before I take it. Flash can be tricky for me under or over powered
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They aren’t any were near powerful enough to be useful. Even for a simple head shot you will need maybe 4 of them. They are the perfect example of great marketing making a terrible product successful.

I would suggest if you are struggling save the money you would waste on those and book an ocf workshop and learn the basics of how to use flash properly.

The mistake many people make is relying on ttl. Learn how to use manual flash and it’s all very simple.
 
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@f/2.8 was it you who said that you have anti flicker on all the time? I’ve just read in the R4 manual that using anti flicker reduces the number of phase detect AF points for some reason, not sure if that’s the same for all A7’s and A9’s?
 
snerkler said:
@f/2.8 was it you who said that you have anti flicker on all the time? I’ve just read in the R4 manual that using anti flicker reduces the number of phase detect AF points for some reason, not sure if that’s the same for all A7’s and A9’s?
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It only the r4 and a9ii that got anti flicker I believe
 
snerkler said:
@f/2.8 was it you who said that you have anti flicker on all the time? I’ve just read in the R4 manual that using anti flicker reduces the number of phase detect AF points for some reason, not sure if that’s the same for all A7’s and A9’s?
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Have no idea to be honest I have it turned on all the time on my A7RIV, and my A7III’s haven’t noticed any difference in terms of a.f points. It’s a useful feature for me as I am often dealing with led lights etc.

My A9’s don’t have it and you don’t need it with the A9 as it’s quick enough to shoot through at the higher speed. I don’t use it on my A9II either as it only works in mechanical and I only use the silent shutter.
 
f/2.8 said:
Have no idea to be honest I have it turned on all the time on my A7RIV, and my A7III’s haven’t noticed any difference in terms of a.f points. It’s a useful feature for me as I am often dealing with led lights etc.

My A9’s don’t have it and you don’t need it with the A9 as it’s quick enough to shoot through at the higher speed. I don’t use it on my A9II either as it only works in mechanical and I only use the silent shutter.
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It won’t reduce the number of selectable AF points as it’ll still use CDAF. The trouble is they don’t say how many and which are affected.

I also can’t find out any info on whether any points stop working when using TC’s giving an effective f-stop of f8 and above, any ideas?
 
Hello

First post here, currently have a Canon 80D DSLR, its currently up for sale and I’m looking at the Sony Alpha series. I’m based in the UK and have seen the A7II with 50mm Lens for £899.

Wondering what’s the opinion on this? I understand they are good cameras and I’m no professional so it’s just hobby based. I enjoy landscape photography and general holiday/family photos. I live relatively close to Kielder so night pictures are a common one for me. I understand the A7Rii is probably better for landscape due to the higher MP count but to the average user, how noticeable is the difference?

To me £899 is a good deal for a brand new camera from a reputable store, just don’t want to make a mistake when spending this amount. The money saved could be put towards better lenses as long as the A7II is decent enough.

Many Thanks!

Paul
 
snerkler said:
It won’t reduce the number of selectable AF points as it’ll still use CDAF. The trouble is they don’t say how many and which are affected.

I also can’t find out any info on whether any points stop working when using TC’s giving an effective f-stop of f8 and above, any ideas?
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Not used a tc my longest lens is 135mm.
 
Paul.j.Moss said:
Hello

First post here, currently have a Canon 80D DSLR, its currently up for sale and I’m looking at the Sony Alpha series. I’m based in the UK and have seen the A7II with 50mm Lens for £899.

Wondering what’s the opinion on this? I understand they are good cameras and I’m no professional so it’s just hobby based. I enjoy landscape photography and general holiday/family photos. I live relatively close to Kielder so night pictures are a common one for me. I understand the A7Rii is probably better for landscape due to the higher MP count but to the average user, how noticeable is the difference?

To me £899 is a good deal for a brand new camera from a reputable store, just don’t want to make a mistake when spending this amount. The money saved could be put towards better lenses as long as the A7II is decent enough.

Many Thanks!

Paul
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Would skip the A7II and put the extra cash towards an A7III which are around £1200 from the grey market websites.

Much better a.f performance and the battery lasts much longer which while a small thing the tiny batteries in the old models are a real pain in the bum.
 
A7III

IMG_20200229_223206.jpg
 
Paul.j.Moss said:
Hello

First post here, currently have a Canon 80D DSLR, its currently up for sale and I’m looking at the Sony Alpha series. I’m based in the UK and have seen the A7II with 50mm Lens for £899.

Wondering what’s the opinion on this? I understand they are good cameras and I’m no professional so it’s just hobby based. I enjoy landscape photography and general holiday/family photos. I live relatively close to Kielder so night pictures are a common one for me. I understand the A7Rii is probably better for landscape due to the higher MP count but to the average user, how noticeable is the difference?

To me £899 is a good deal for a brand new camera from a reputable store, just don’t want to make a mistake when spending this amount. The money saved could be put towards better lenses as long as the A7II is decent enough.

Many Thanks!

Paul
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The jump from Mk2 to Mk3 has been the largest so far from Sony. I would read more about the improvements before buying the older model.
 
f/2.8 said:
Would skip the A7II and put the extra cash towards an A7III which are around £1200 from the grey market websites.

Much better a.f performance and the battery lasts much longer which while a small thing the tiny batteries in the old models are a real pain in the bum.
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Yeah I’m aware of the short battery life. Cheapest I can see for body is £1400 though?
 
Paul.j.Moss said:
Yeah I’m aware of the short battery life. Cheapest I can see for body is £1400 though?
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I bought a new A7ii and kit lens recently for £650.
The iii is better, but was out of reach at the time.
Getting the A7ii has allowed me to get some lenses and gets me going with Sony.
I'll get an a7iii at some point in the future.
I like the A7ii a lot.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
I bought a new A7ii and kit lens recently for £650.
The iii is better, but was out of reach at the time.
Getting the A7ii has allowed me to get some lenses and gets me going with Sony.
I'll get an a7iii at some point in the future.
I like the A7ii a lot.
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That’s a great deal! Mind saying where from?
 
Paul.j.Moss said:
Hello

First post here, currently have a Canon 80D DSLR, its currently up for sale and I’m looking at the Sony Alpha series. I’m based in the UK and have seen the A7II with 50mm Lens for £899.

Wondering what’s the opinion on this? I understand they are good cameras and I’m no professional so it’s just hobby based. I enjoy landscape photography and general holiday/family photos. I live relatively close to Kielder so night pictures are a common one for me. I understand the A7Rii is probably better for landscape due to the higher MP count but to the average user, how noticeable is the difference?

To me £899 is a good deal for a brand new camera from a reputable store, just don’t want to make a mistake when spending this amount. The money saved could be put towards better lenses as long as the A7II is decent enough.

Many Thanks!

Paul
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Sounds like for your usage, the A7ii would be fine. You can get an A7rii used for about £850 which is a better shout in my opinion.
 
Paul.j.Moss said:
Hello

First post here, currently have a Canon 80D DSLR, its currently up for sale and I’m looking at the Sony Alpha series. I’m based in the UK and have seen the A7II with 50mm Lens for £899.

Wondering what’s the opinion on this? I understand they are good cameras and I’m no professional so it’s just hobby based. I enjoy landscape photography and general holiday/family photos. I live relatively close to Kielder so night pictures are a common one for me. I understand the A7Rii is probably better for landscape due to the higher MP count but to the average user, how noticeable is the difference?

To me £899 is a good deal for a brand new camera from a reputable store, just don’t want to make a mistake when spending this amount. The money saved could be put towards better lenses as long as the A7II is decent enough.

Many Thanks!

Paul
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Sounds like a very good deal to me tbh, if you bought the A7ii and 50mm F1.8 used in like new condition it’ll cost you £850 so I’d much rather pay another £50 and get brand new (assuming UK prices).

As for the camera it should be great for what you want to shoot (as long as the family shots aren’t of little kids running around) and tbh 24mp is more than ample.
 
If anyone sees any good deals on the Samyang AF 85mm F1.8.4 FE (new or used) please give me a heads up (y)
 
My experience with the 50mm macro on my A7 make me nervous about using the lenses with the cheaper focusing systems on early bodies. Is that a worry with the 50mm f1.8?
 
woof woof said:
My experience with the 50mm macro on my A7 make me nervous about using the lenses with the cheaper focusing systems on early bodies. Is that a worry with the 50mm f1.8?
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When it comes o cases like this, where AF on a lens is sluggish or not the best response-wise, then MF lenses are far better IMO. Take macro for example, the AF on a dedicated macro [1:1+] lens is practically useless, you're better off with a MF macro lens as that is the best way to do it reliably. Does this 50mm macro not have decent manual focusing?
 
woof woof said:
My experience with the 50mm macro on my A7 make me nervous about using the lenses with the cheaper focusing systems on early bodies. Is that a worry with the 50mm f1.8?
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I've tried the 50mm 1.8 on my A7ii and it was ok.
The guy that I bought my 24-105mm off was also selling a 50mm f1.8.
If I'd had enough cash at the time I'd have bought it too.
 
Couple of questions (it starts ;))

1. When saving settings to the memory slots (1, 2 and 3 on the mode dial) it's not saving function button settings and it's not saving AF with shutter setting (ie BBF), is this right? For different scenarios I want different settings on a couple of the Fn buttons and I can't at present (it's just whatever I last designated them as) and likewise with BBF.

2. Regarding BBF is there a quick way to toggle this on/off, ie assign AF with shutter to a Fn button? At present the fastest way I've found is to assign the AF with shutter option to my menu.
 
Is it me or what. The a9 is the fist camera I’ve not had to set custom settings. The camer just seem to work
 
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