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

Tricky01 said:
I’m sure all this car chat is fascinating, but I’m also sure there plenty of forums dedicated to the topic. This thread is already the broadest topic going (2586 pages are testament to that), so can we keep it at least vaguely photography - and Sony - related?
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To be fair it’s become more of a community in it’s own right and I personally like that and I think it would be a shame if it stopped. I like to hear about others’ lives outside of photography, hearing what woof woof and Mrs woof woof are up to for example. I also like reading about other photography related stuff that’s not Sony, and whilst I know there’s other threads available for other photography talk I don’t know the people on there and who I can ‘trust’ to give useful info etc.

I do understand not everyone may feel the same but surely it’s no hardship to just scroll past the posts you’re not interested in? I guess if there’s a lot of people that don’t like it then we could have a vote? :thinking:
 
snerkler said:
To be fair it’s become more of a community in it’s own right and I personally like that and I think it would be a shame if it stopped. I like to hear about others’ lives outside of photography, hearing what woof woof and Mrs woof woof are up to for example. I also like reading about other photography related stuff that’s not Sony, and whilst I know there’s other threads available for other photography talk I don’t know the people on there and who I can ‘trust’ to give useful info etc.

I do understand not everyone may feel the same but surely it’s no hardship to just scroll past the posts you’re not interested in? I guess if there’s a lot of people that don’t like it then we could have a vote? :thinking:
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Agree with this 100%.

Why does it matter if this thread is used for general chit chat along with talk about Sony camera equipment?

The use of forums has fallen through the floor because of silly things like that and over the top moderation.

This thread has almost become its own standalone forum which is a good thing, many may not bother to post on T.P without it.
 
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snerkler said:
To be fair it’s become more of a community in it’s own right and I personally like that and I think it would be a shame if it stopped. I like to hear about others’ lives outside of photography, hearing what woof woof and Mrs woof woof are up to for example. I also like reading about other photography related stuff that’s not Sony, and whilst I know there’s other threads available for other photography talk I don’t know the people on there and who I can ‘trust’ to give useful info etc.

I do understand not everyone may feel the same but surely it’s no hardship to just scroll past the posts you’re not interested in? I guess if there’s a lot of people that don’t like it then we could have a vote? :thinking:
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I take your point - and I am a relatively new joiner to this particular thread so maybe it’s just how things go - but it feels a bit like the radio show just a minute. A bit of deviation is ok, but at some point it feels it’s gone to far and you’ve just got to push the buzzer.
 
As the title says "Anything else welcome Mega Thread!" :ROFLMAO:

It's not uncommon for this thread to contain other non-sony/photography stuff. We've had all sorts from watches to printers.

Just the way it is here... and I'm personally fine with it.
even though I don't post often these days, I do regularly check back.
 
Tricky01 said:
...but it feels a bit like the radio show just a minute. A bit of deviation is ok, but at some point it feels it’s gone to far and you’ve just got to push the buzzer.
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I suppose this is really the job of the moderators.

All threads tend to wander from their stated subject and I am as guilty as anyone of causing that. This one, though, does tend to wander a bit too far and that's down to certain people who are rather more prolific than others. Perhaps they should be encouraged to consider where particular contributions might be better displayed?
 
Moderator and Sony user here.

As said, the Sony section, possibly other one make groups too, have a bit of a communal thing going on. There's a lot of gear chat, pictures being posted and social commentary too. If the thread became entirely non-photographic then we would take steps to change that, otherwise it's generally a good balance.
 
For me, yes there was a bit of diversion into car chat.... but that was because someone wanted to show off pictures they'd taken of their new car with their Sony camera.

So I'm ok with it. They were good pictures too! I'm a BMW fan (5 touring here) but not a huge fan of the IX looks (though I would own one. But I owned a Berlingo before so maybe shouldn't be trusted on matters of style!). They look better in person, I think they're hard to photo - but the pictures that kicked this off were pretty great car photography IMO.
 
Tricky01 said:
I take your point - and I am a relatively new joiner to this particular thread so maybe it’s just how things go - but it feels a bit like the radio show just a minute. A bit of deviation is ok, but at some point it feels it’s gone to far and you’ve just got to push the buzzer.
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Yeah it can sometimes go on and on ;) I think it's when there's not much gear talk going on as much as anything else, it's been very quiet on here so far this year sometimes going a day or so without a post which is most unusual. I guess we must all be happy with our current gear and/or there's nothing new coming out that's interesting any of us ;)
 
the_accidental said:
For me, yes there was a bit of diversion into car chat.... but that was because someone wanted to show off pictures they'd taken of their new car with their Sony camera.

So I'm ok with it. They were good pictures too! I'm a BMW fan (5 touring here) but not a huge fan of the IX looks (though I would own one. But I owned a Berlingo before so maybe shouldn't be trusted on matters of style!). They look better in person, I think they're hard to photo - but the pictures that kicked this off were pretty great car photography IMO.
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Thanks, they were very extreme processing for me and I wasn't sure if they'd work or not. I'm still a bit on the fence in all honesty, but I've always struggled to settle on processing I like ;)
 
Here is a photo of the Dark Hedges. People travel from all around the world to come here and I have been photographing it for around 30 years or so. It has been a popular choice with photographers for as long as photography has been a thing here. It's a huge tourist attraction in Northern Ireland because it was the Kings Road in The Game of Thrones. It's a very popular location for elopement photography and in the summer months bus loads of tourists arrive every 15 minutes and on very busy days can have upwards of 10,000 visitors per day. In recent years a lot of the tree's have fallen and others have had to be removed for health and safety reasons because they were about to fall. You can hide it though by using a longer lens for compression. The huge amount of visitors it receives hasn't helped either. The recent storms have basically destroyed it and it is extremely unlikely it will be worth photographing any more.

The+Dark+Hedges.jpg
 
f/2.8 said:
. In recent years a lot of the tree's have fallen and others have had to be removed for health and safety reasons because they were about to fall. You can hide it though by using a longer lens for compression. The huge amount of visitors it receives hasn't helped either. The recent storms have basically destroyed it and it is extremely unlikely it will be worth photographing any more.
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That’s so sad! Lovely pic though, over 30 years you must have some good material for an epic Timelapse if you’ve shot from similar spots
 
currently reworking my telephoto end of the camera bag. Had 200-600 for a while, along with 1.4x and 2x TCs. Then picked up Tamron 50-400 for travel (handy same filter thread as 17-28 and 28-200). Then recently picked up the sigma 500 5.6 to try out. Very pleasantly impressed with image quality and weight vs the 200-600, but the 15fps limit on the A1 is slightly frustrating, so going to try out the 300GM for a week. Having the TCs already makes the abhorrent cost slightly more palatable (at least in justifying it to myself), but interested to play with them all side by side.
 
Tricky01 said:
That’s so sad! Lovely pic though, over 30 years you must have some good material for an epic Timelapse if you’ve shot from similar spots
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Yeah I have a ton of stuff from there from being there with family, ex girlfriends, then my missus and the kids etc.

I have hundreds of images shot at wedding and elopements as well. Will pull them out of the archives at some point and do something with them.
 
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Tricky01 said:
currently reworking my telephoto end of the camera bag. Had 200-600 for a while, along with 1.4x and 2x TCs. Then picked up Tamron 50-400 for travel (handy same filter thread as 17-28 and 28-200). Then recently picked up the sigma 500 5.6 to try out. Very pleasantly impressed with image quality and weight vs the 200-600, but the 15fps limit on the A1 is slightly frustrating, so going to try out the 300GM for a week. Having the TCs already makes the abhorrent cost slightly more palatable (at least in justifying it to myself), but interested to play with them all side by side.
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If their not too long for your use I would also try out the 400mm & 600mm lenses and providing they're within budget. There's a guy on here Mick Erwin who gets some stunning wildlife photos with the 600mm lens.
 
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Swanseajack said:
If their not too long for your use I would also try out the 400mm & 600mm lenses and providing they're within budget. There's a guy on here Mick Erwin who gets some stunning wildlife photos with the 600mm lens.
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Thanks - yeah I played with both at an LCE X Sony event last year and they are incredible lenses. Both way out of budget (in fact so is the 300 really, but it’s slightly easier to justify). The 600 is too big. If 400 was closer in price to 300 I think I’d be more tempted by it, but as things are, it’s 200-600 vs 500 5.6 vs 300 2.8 with TCs
 
Tricky01 said:
Thanks - yeah I played with both at an LCE X Sony event last year and they are incredible lenses. Both way out of budget (in fact so is the 300 really, but it’s slightly easier to justify). The 600 is too big. If 400 was closer in price to 300 I think I’d be more tempted by it, but as things are, it’s 200-600 vs 500 5.6 vs 300 2.8 with TCs
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If you don't need the immediate flexibiliity of a zoom my choice would be the 300mm with TC's. Looking here there's very little difference in the IQ between the 200-600mm at 600mm and the 300mm with 2xTC, but of course you can have the f2.8 loveliness with the 300mm if you choose.

www.the-digital-picture.com

Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens Image Quality

View the image quality delivered by the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens using ISO 12233 Resolution Chart lab test results. Compare the image quality of this lens with other lenses.
www.the-digital-picture.com www.the-digital-picture.com
 
snerkler said:
If you don't need the immediate flexibiliity of a zoom my choice would be the 300mm with TC's. Looking here there's very little difference in the IQ between the 200-600mm at 600mm and the 300mm with 2xTC, but of course you can have the f2.8 loveliness with the 300mm if you choose.

www.the-digital-picture.com

Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens Image Quality

View the image quality delivered by the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens using ISO 12233 Resolution Chart lab test results. Compare the image quality of this lens with other lenses.
www.the-digital-picture.com www.the-digital-picture.com
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That's a dangerous page - not because it makes me want to swap my 200-600 for a 300 + x2 tc (both appear to be good in that comparison), but because curiosity had me switch to compare the 200-600 to the 600 f/4.... :LOL:
 
snerkler said:
If you don't need the immediate flexibiliity of a zoom my choice would be the 300mm with TC's. Looking here there's very little difference in the IQ between the 200-600mm at 600mm and the 300mm with 2xTC, but of course you can have the f2.8 loveliness with the 300mm if you choose.

www.the-digital-picture.com

Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens Image Quality

View the image quality delivered by the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens using ISO 12233 Resolution Chart lab test results. Compare the image quality of this lens with other lenses.
www.the-digital-picture.com www.the-digital-picture.com
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The LCE X Sony event actually made me love the 200-600 more and quenched my lens lust, but that was very much birds on branches. I may well test the 300 out and revert back to 200-600
 
Supposed to be dry this weekend. And a monthly car meet on Sunday. I might drag the Escort out into daylight for the first time in a few months & take a photo of the wheels... ;)

I'd say alloys, but it doesn't have them .... :ROFLMAO:

Maybe we could have a poll on whether my wheels are nicer than Toby's? ;)

Anyway....... An image :)


*** by Lee, on Flickr
 
LeeRatters said:
Supposed to be dry this weekend. And a monthly car meet on Sunday. I might drag the Escort out into daylight for the first time in a few months & take a photo of the wheels... ;)

I'd say alloys, but it doesn't have them .... :ROFLMAO:

Maybe we could have a poll on whether my wheels are nicer than Toby's?
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They deffo are. :popcorn:
 
Not thinking of Toby's wheels in particular, but EV wheels especially and current wheel designs in general are something of a tram-smash when it comes to aesthetics.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Not thinking of Toby's wheels in particular, but EV wheels especially and current wheel designs in general are something of a tram-smash when it comes to aesthetics.
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They say it’s because they have to be heavier to cart the big battery around. You would have thought by now though that they could have improved the look of them..

All this talk of wheels has me looking at changing mine. :ROFLMAO: £2600 with a new set of tyres. :oops: :$
 
LeeRatters said:
Maybe we could have a poll on whether my wheels are nicer than Toby's? ;)
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I would say your car's nicer than mine full stop ;)
f/2.8 said:
They say it’s because they have to be heavier to cart the big battery around. You would have thought by now though that they could have improved the look of them..

All this talk of wheels has me looking at changing mine. :ROFLMAO: £2600 with a new set of tyres. :oops: :$
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I thought they were designed to be more aero efficient to improve range?

I think whilst most EV wheels look like something from a hot wheels toy car some are really nice. I actually really like mine (obviously the only one on here :lol:) but Merc's AMG multispokes, and some of Porsche's wheels are really nice. Some Audi ones are nice too
 
snerkler said:
I would say your car's nicer than mine full stop ;)

I thought they were designed to be more aero efficient to improve range?

I think whilst most EV wheels look like something from a hot wheels toy car some are really nice. I actually really like mine (obviously the only one on here :LOL:) but Merc's AMG multispokes, and some of Porsche's wheels are really nice. Some Audi ones are nice too
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Yep that is part of the reason as well but they also have to be heavier as well. Manufacturers don't seem to have adopted well, having spent all their previous time trying to make wheels lighter and better looking with the increased size everyone has these days.

My favourite wheels are old school, probably the old BMW motorsports from the E36 or Mercedes Monoblocks. Have also always hated split rims.

When my wee bro had his Lambo he had split rims and he wanted them painted. They made a total mess of it as Lambo don't actually allow them to be painted so once they split them to paint the wheels where no longer safe, the refurb company had to replace them and could only get them from Lambo cost 10k :oops: :$
 
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QQ Guys,

Is the a7R3 still a good bank for buck camera? Still acceptable resolution?

It would be used solely for portraiture, paired with Sigma 85 f1.4 & Sony G Master 135 f1.8?

42mp file size more manageable than the 61mp from the a7Riv & a7R5.

Thanks.
 
Gandalf said:
QQ Guys,

Is the a7R3 still a good bank for buck camera? Still acceptable resolution?

It would be used solely for portraiture, paired with Sigma 85 f1.4 & Sony G Master 135 f1.8?

42mp file size more manageable than the 61mp from the a7Riv & a7R5.

Thanks.
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24mpx is still a very acceptable resolution, and the lenses you use will have much more effect on image quality (both those should be excellent though). I would have thought questions would be more about AF capability than anything else.
 
Gandalf said:
QQ Guys,

Is the a7R3 still a good bank for buck camera? Still acceptable resolution?

It would be used solely for portraiture, paired with Sigma 85 f1.4 & Sony G Master 135 f1.8?

42mp file size more manageable than the 61mp from the a7Riv & a7R5.

Thanks.
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For sure in terms of I.Q it will do a good job.

The disadvantages compared to the newer bodies for portraits will be white balance and noise performance and the big obvious one A,F performance which tbf won’t be an issue for static portraits. For anything that moves though you would be much better off with one of the newer bodies.

A7IV can be bought fairly cheap used now with it about to be replaced might be worth a look 33mpx is a good balance between I.Q and easily workable files sizes.
 
Gandalf said:
QQ Guys,

Is the a7R3 still a good bank for buck camera? Still acceptable resolution?

It would be used solely for portraiture, paired with Sigma 85 f1.4 & Sony G Master 135 f1.8?

42mp file size more manageable than the 61mp from the a7Riv & a7R5.

Thanks.
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One of Sony’s best ever sensors.
 
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Nice going Toby, 3, 5 and 6 are real belters. So nice to see a model not in ridiculous high heels too.
 
Yeah, great images Toby, especially like 6. Browns and blues work nicely
 
Gandalf said:
QQ Guys,

Is the a7R3 still a good bank for buck camera? Still acceptable resolution?

It would be used solely for portraiture, paired with Sigma 85 f1.4 & Sony G Master 135 f1.8?

42mp file size more manageable than the 61mp from the a7Riv & a7R5.

Thanks.
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Yes it is but it’s worthwhile looking at alternative ICC files if you go that route. If you use Capture One, there is a choice of several and the more natural one avoids the problem that the A7R3 has with unrealistic greens that adds processing work to landscapes in particular.
Once the colours are fixed I prefer it to the later cameras in situations where advanced focussing isn’t necessary.
 
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