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

addicknchips said:
Have just been emailed about the a7c. So a full frame sensor in a a6000 body. An attempt at a cool design with the cheap shade of grey. Does it come in black too? No 2nd dial and no joystick. Some disappoints there for me.

Well done to Sony for getting the sensor into such a small body. I just wish Sony would employ some designers to make the bodies a little more appealing and have the basic functionality that all the other brands have.
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Deffo comes in all black. I've seen that written on rumor sites and seen pictures too.

I think I'd go for all black for anonymity but having just the top a different colour wouldn't bother me me too much.

Re the evf. I agree with nandbytes that in use it shouldn't be a problem. If I think about it I know the evf's on my Panasonic cameras are crap but in use I soon forget. The only issue I can see for me at the mo is the lack of control dials which will almost certainly kill it for me. Another issue could be the lack of custom buttons but these days I mostly use the customisable menu anyway.
 
So 70-200 is listed on ebay at a hopeful price. Checked the sold items and they vary so much from 1400-1650 so guess its just pot luck! Still even with the fees taken off it will be way higher than what MPB offer.

The Tamron now looks a little lost in Tenba bag so might look at the smaller one now.
 
woof woof said:
Deffo comes in all black. I've seen that written on rumor sites and seen pictures too.

I think I'd go for all black for anonymity but having just the top a different colour wouldn't bother me me too much.

Re the evf. I agree with nandbytes that in use it shouldn't be a problem. If I think about it I know the evf's on my Panasonic cameras are crap but in use I soon forget. The only issue I can see for me at the mo is the lack of control dials which will almost certainly kill it for me. Another issue could be the lack of custom buttons but these days I mostly use the customisable menu anyway.
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at least they have left plenty of room for improvement with the mark ii.
 
addicknchips said:
at least they have left plenty of room for improvement with the mark ii.
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I just can't see why they've made it with... no front control dial, a less good evf and fewer custom buttons. My Panasonic MFT RF style cameras seem better designed to me. The only things this cameras seems to have going for it are the RF layout and the fully articulated screen. I don't know or care about blogger related features and abilities.

I've only had a couple of cameras with articulated screens and I can live with a simple tilting one so the articulated screen isn't a necessity for me. The evf size and quality may or may not be an issue, I don't know. I do like the idea of the RF style body but in reality the only bulk saving is in doing away with the top mounted SLR style evf and possibly in a smaller grip but the camera will still need to go in a bag so the savings in bulk and / or weight just don't look all that significant to me. And then there's the fact that an A7III is cheaper.

I just can't see why they've introduced a camera that looks overpriced and compromised against the cheaper A7III which has all the things I'd want (better evf, joystick, function buttons, control dials) except for the RF form factor and the articulated screen. Maybe the camera makes sense to bloggers and if so I'm glad they've got another good option to consider but for me this camera looks quite disappointing. That could change a little if the control dial is clickable.

PS.
Any compact lenses made for this camera may be interesting. Time will tell.
 
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The Phoblographer...

www.thephoblographer.com

They Finally Did it! Full Frame Rangefinder Style! Sony a7c Review

The Sony a7c is the company's smallest full-frame interchangeable lens camera. And it's got a whole lot going for it. Come see how it did!
www.thephoblographer.com www.thephoblographer.com

"I personally won’t buy the Sony a7c because I think that the next version will hopefully be better. But it means a lot that Sony has made this camera. If they don’t do it better, another camera manufacturer most likely will."

Sony A7C Review | Photography Blog

Expert review of the Sony A7C full-frame mirrorless camera with full-size sample photos and videos.
www.photographyblog.com www.photographyblog.com

"It shares exactly the same 2.36 million dot XGA OLED electronic viewfinder as used by both the A6600 and A7 III, which features 0.78x magnification and a 120fps high frame rate setting to help track moving subjects more smoothly with virtually no lag."

Well, that's one bit of good news. I thought from earlier rumours it potentially used a crappier one.

"Sadly this means that there's no room for an auto-exposure lock (AEL) button, a rather annoying omission."

I hadn't spotted this before. So that's no joystick, no front dial and no AEL button? What the hell are Sony thinking?

"The AF-On button can be reconfigured to AE -Lock if you wish, just one of 27 different options that can be assigned to it."

FFS. I think I'm done now, I'll just stop reading about this camera as it's not for me.

"A nice touch that's been inherited from the recent A7S III is the ability to select the focus frame colour, with additional choices of either white or red, rather than the default green, which can help you to see the focus point more clearly when shooting low-contrast scenes."

More...

"The A7C is a very customisable camera, but even that can't make up for the lack of a front control dial or an AEL button, no AF joystick, only one Custom button and only one memory card slot, the inexplicably limited touchscreen functionality, and the "old", over-complicated menu system rather than the much cleaner newer one that recently debuted on the A7S III.

The dated EVF and LCD screen are still exactly the same as on the A7 III and A6600, the hand grip is smaller than the more comfortable one on the A6600, the 4K video recording only goes up to 30p and only in 8-bit, and the new 28-60mm kit lens isn't at all well-suited to the vloggers that Sony are targeting the A7C at.

Most of this could (perhaps) be forgiven if the price was right, but the price of the A7C is very much wrong, at least at launch - £1899 body only or £2150 with the Sony FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 kit lens makes the new Sony A7C even more expensive than the A7 III.

Sure, the A7 III has been on the market for a few years and has naturally declined in price, which partly explains the disparity between the two, but we still think that Sony is being over-ambitious with the A7C's price-tag and positioning.

Sony is attempting to reach out to a new, younger audience of vloggers and content creators with the launch of the A7C, many of whom are simply put-off by the sheer size and weight of current full-frame cameras."

And End. End of my interest is this IMO rather disappointing camera. As always, good luck to those who want one but it's just not for me.
 
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woof woof said:
It shares exactly the same 2.36 million dot XGA OLED electronic viewfinder as used by both the A6600 and A7 III, which features 0.78x magnification and a 120fps high frame rate setting to help track moving subjects more smoothly with virtually no lag."
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Most places are saying 0.59x mag.

To be fair didnt they say it was aimed at vloggers, in which case a lot of these decisions make sense. Maybe there will be a photography version.

So many of the previews/reviews have conflicting information. EVF specs, and flash sync speed for instance, some say 1/160 some say 1/200.
 
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robj20 said:
Most places are saying 0.59x mag.

To be fair didnt they say it was aimed at vloggers, in which case a lot of these decisions make sense. Maybe there will be a photography version.

So many of the previews/reviews have conflicting information. EVF specs, and flash sync speed for instance, some say 1/160 some say 1/200.
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It seems to me it's aimed at people who are new to cameras and maybe don't know what an AEL button is for or what aperture and shutter speed are but if that's the case these people will presumably be used to smartphones and yet the A7c lacks a touchscreen for settings use. All in all it looks like a dogs dinner to me and I just don't understand why Sony have done it this way. They don't seem to have made it for people who've been using cameras for decades and yet it doesn't seem to have the features the smartphone generation would want. And it's too expensive to be an entry level camera. The only market left seems to be people who know and understand the limitations and are willing to put up with them and the high price for a pretty (some may think) and slightly smaller RF style FF camera.
 
Well its pretty much perfect for me. My cameras generally live in Aperture mode so one dial is all i use. If i do use manual the two dials on the back are fine, ISO can be set via the Fn menu.
Really not bothered by the menus, once its setup initially i never touch these other than to format the card.
AEL i dont use either never had a need to the exposure comp dial has always done for me.

So coming from my A7R what i'm gaining is,
Sony's best current AF even better than the A7III.
Stabilised body, so my no OSS lenses will benefit.
Bigger battery so i wont ever need a spare battery, (on holiday there was the odd time i needed a spare)
No more shutter shock.

What im loosing,
Only downside is the lower resolution 36MP to 24MP. But i can live with that.

Another thing that seems to have got a lot better the Jpegs look really good, might be the first time i shoot RAW+Jpeg and only mess with the RAWs if i need to.
 
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twist said:
View attachment 292536
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From a purely aesthetic point of view the A7c looks nice there. It seems to me there’s room for a front control dial so definitely seems a weird omission, and the ‘low grade’ EVF isn’t great either.

I find a lot of camera releases really frustrating as it’s often a case of “what could have been”.
 
robj20 said:
Well its pretty much perfect for me.
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Great stuff.

Aperture priority is where I normally live but I often take pictures in poor light and in aperture priority the shutter speed will quickly drop to 1/60 which is way too slow for anything other than "please be still" posed people shots and likely too slow to freeze movement of flowers, leaves and other stuff in any outdoor breeze. To get over that I switch to manual and set the aperture and shutter speeds as required and let the ISO float. I personally find using a back thumb wheel both uncomfortable and fiddly and I much prefer two control dials towards the top of the camera, front and back. If there's another way of getting over the 1/60 issue in poor light such as setting a minimum shutter speed that could be a partial fix but I assume it wouldn't be as quick and easy to do as simply changing a setting with a control dial. Switching to shutter priority is an option but the camera may decide to shoot wide open for one shot and at f22 the next so aperture or manual are the options I use.

My TZ100 only has one control dial but I'm able to use a custom button to toggle the dial between aperture and shutter so maybe that will be possible with the A7c?

I have been thinking about selling all my MFT gear as it just isn't getting used as these days I tend to use either my A7 or TZ100. This A7c could potentially have replaced both my A7 and my MFT kit but the more I look at it the more I see to work around or be disappointed and annoyed by in use. As I said, I just don't understand why they've done it like this.
 
Taking Betty to the seaside this week so I thought I might try and do a bit of video, never done video using DSLR or mirrorless before so what are the recommended settings? How does shutter speed work with video? Also, any tips in processing would be appreciated (I’ll likely be using iMovie as that’s all I have really)
 
The A7C looks tempting as a body for my M-mount lenses. The lack of dials won't bother me since I'll be in manual exposure mode (my lenses will have physical aperture rings) and I have external viewfinders to pop into the hot shoe since I'm zone focusing most of the time. Price has to drop though, £1899 is too high for the body.
 
woof woof said:
Great stuff.

Aperture priority is where I normally live but I often take pictures in poor light and in aperture priority the shutter speed will quickly drop to 1/60 which is way too slow for anything other than "please be still" posed people shots and likely too slow to freeze movement of flowers, leaves and other stuff in any outdoor breeze. To get over that I switch to manual and set the aperture and shutter speeds as required and let the ISO float. I personally find using a back thumb wheel both uncomfortable and fiddly and I much prefer two control dials towards the top of the camera, front and back. If there's another way of getting over the 1/60 issue in poor light such as setting a minimum shutter speed that could be a partial fix but I assume it wouldn't be as quick and easy to do as simply changing a setting with a control dial. Switching to shutter priority is an option but the camera may decide to shoot wide open for one shot and at f22 the next so aperture or manual are the options I use.

My TZ100 only has one control dial but I'm able to use a custom button to toggle the dial between aperture and shutter so maybe that will be possible with the A7c?

I have been thinking about selling all my MFT gear as it just isn't getting used as these days I tend to use either my A7 or TZ100. This A7c could potentially have replaced both my A7 and my MFT kit but the more I look at it the more I see to work around or be disappointed and annoyed by in use. As I said, I just don't understand why they've done it like this.
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If that were me regards the shutter speed, well on the new camera it wouldn't because you'd have minimum shutter speeds set, On my camera id adjust the ISO with the wheel on the back to one that gives me the shutter speed i want, possibly even sacrifice a little EV.

I'm not one to rush so i'm definitely going to be reading plenty about this camera and waiting for the price to settle. Im like you ive managed with my Mk1 for this long i can wait a little longer, i'm all about the photos not the equipment.
 
I'd probably find a minimum shutter speed too limiting as I may want to take a picture of a flower at f8 and 1/100 or a person at f5.6 and 1/160-1/250. I wouldn't like to have to go into a menu to make changes like that which should be possible using dedicated or at least clickable dials.

I wouldn't say I'm all about the gear (still on A7) but I do get irritated and annoyed when I can't do what I want to do how I want to do it.
 
Its lucky camera companies don't do market research on here.
They would pack up and go back to making rice steamers and bread making machines

Perhaps they could call it the Snapman, most of their similarly named products have done very well
 
snerkler said:
Taking Betty to the seaside this week so I thought I might try and do a bit of video, never done video using DSLR or mirrorless before so what are the recommended settings? How does shutter speed work with video? Also, any tips in processing would be appreciated (I’ll likely be using iMovie as that’s all I have really)
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You can let the camera handle things
Try a few options beforehand rather than messing things up while away.
There's a lot of fuss about shutter speeds but you probably won't notice any issues in most scenes so just use aperture priority and Auto ISO
Roll onto manual ISO if yo think it's messing up some tricky exposure, exp comp dial is OK too..
The Creative Style Neutral or portrait with Saturation and Contrast down maybe -2 are easy to work with.
Check these aren't still implemented in your stills though.
Use one of the presets for any mods away from default video.

For easier editing record 1080p at 50fps at least while experimenting
This also gives more leeway getting near an ideal shutter which would be 1/100th for that rather than 1/50 for 4K at 25fps
You can also do a 50% slow down when rendering at 25fps if any sections are shakey or something happens like seagull nicks ice cream.

That reminds me above all else keep that camera steady.
Try to avoid anything but very slow pans and don't hosepipe or zoom around.
Set up your scene like it was on a tripod and have action going on within where possible.
Making something watchable later is all about editing - to avoid boredom you will discard the great majority of what you record most likely.
 
snerkler said:
Taking Betty to the seaside this week so I thought I might try and do a bit of video, never done video using DSLR or mirrorless before so what are the recommended settings? How does shutter speed work with video? Also, any tips in processing would be appreciated (I’ll likely be using iMovie as that’s all I have really)
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I’ve hardly done any video but I have used iMovie, can’t get to grips with Premiere Pro unless I could set a few weeks aside to learn it. You can stabilise, slow down and convert to B&W etc. in iMovie, I think it’s pretty good for a free programme.

Tried a gimbal last year, what a pain in the arse that was lol

Oh and I managed to screw up the audio on a live gig because I didn’t realise there’s lots of issues with external mic compatibility, still that was an improvement on the time I recorded 20 minutes at Goodwood on an XH-1 without realising the default mic setting was off, good luck :-)
 
4wd said:
You can let the camera handle things
Try a few options beforehand rather than messing things up while away.
There's a lot of fuss about shutter speeds but you probably won't notice any issues in most scenes so just use aperture priority and Auto ISO
Roll onto manual ISO if yo think it's messing up some tricky exposure, exp comp dial is OK too..
The Creative Style Neutral or portrait with Saturation and Contrast down maybe -2 are easy to work with.
Check these aren't still implemented in your stills though.
Use one of the presets for any mods away from default video.

For easier editing record 1080p at 50fps at least while experimenting
This also gives more leeway getting near an ideal shutter which would be 1/100th for that rather than 1/50 for 4K at 25fps
You can also do a 50% slow down when rendering at 25fps if any sections are shakey or something happens like seagull nicks ice cream.

That reminds me above all else keep that camera steady.
Try to avoid anything but very slow pans and don't hosepipe or zoom around.
Set up your scene like it was on a tripod and have action going on within where possible.
Making something watchable later is all about editing - to avoid boredom you will discard the great majority of what you record most likely.
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imattersuk said:
I’ve hardly done any video but I have used iMovie, can’t get to grips with Premiere Pro unless I could set a few weeks aside to learn it. You can stabilise, slow down and convert to B&W etc. in iMovie, I think it’s pretty good for a free programme.

Tried a gimbal last year, what a pain in the arse that was lol

Oh and I managed to screw up the audio on a live gig because I didn’t realise there’s lots of issues with external mic compatibility, still that was an improvement on the time I recorded 20 minutes at Goodwood on an XH-1 without realising the default mic setting was off, good luck :)
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Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated. I’m not going for award winning video here, just for my own memories so there’s no need for a gimbal etc etc. I just wasn’t sure how shutter speed affected video, I only understand it in terms of photography, and I would if possible like to minimise rolling shutter as I will be moving the camera about trying to keep up with the dog running around.
 
Damn it - this is so nearly there for me. I could really see this as a daily MF prime camera for adapted glass or the CV primes. My sticking point is the EVF. I love my a6000, but the EVF was too low res for me, and terrible in low light. My a7r2 is better, but it is the minimum Im willing to accept now, especially after trying the X-T3 with its huge magnification and better resolution. That made me realise how important the EVF is to me. If they had gone for a 3.6mp EVF I would have pre-ordered this as a replacement for my a6000. All my lenses ahve apperture rings, so the back dial would have been shutter speed for me with the FN button for ISO.

I guess all I can hope for is the next model for a better EVF though that will probably be the same price as the a7rIV knowing sony's pricing strategy

Having said that, it is an upgrade from my a6000 EVF :)
 
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Market research on here? I think the A7c makes it clear I'm not the target market. Fair enough. I have no brand loyalty to Sony or anyone else.

We'd get better products if we stopped buying half baked efforts like this and putting up with the shortcomings.
 
JJ! said:
So 70-200 is listed on ebay at a hopeful price. Checked the sold items and they vary so much from 1400-1650 so guess its just pot luck! Still even with the fees taken off it will be way higher than what MPB offer.

The Tamron now looks a little lost in Tenba bag so might look at the smaller one now.
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Just wondering why you didn't list it on here, have you had a bad experience in the past with a buyer ? Should sell quicker on ebay I guess just a bit hit and miss with prices.
 
Does it?

Good.

I'd love to chat about this but I need to reply to that email I got from that nice man in Nigeria who says he's related to me and wants to send me a large bag of dosh.
 
woof woof said:
We'd get better products if we stopped buying half baked efforts like this and putting up with the shortcomings.
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But,
The people that are buying them obviously feel different, and I'm ok with that.....
I quite like it too...:LOL:
 
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robj20 said:
Sony say that, I thought I'd sell my 24-70 for one but chances my mind when I saw how little id get.
The extra reach sure would be nice.
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Certainly helps when you need to get a little closer but not too close to spook an animal, I just can't fault it at all so far, loving it.
 
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