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

I had an issue with my A7RV today on a portrait shoot, it was paried with the 50mm f1.2 and it really struggled with eye AF and the focus either kept jumping all over the place or the green focus square would keep flickering as though it was losing focus all the time. I checked to make sure it was on human eye AF and that I was in AF-C as well as tracking mode.

I swapped the 50mm onto my A1 and that worked fine so that in my mind ruled out the lens being the issue. However at the end of the day I tried the A7RV again, this time with the 35mm f1.4 and it worked fine again.

I'm hoping that it was just a case of the lens not 'clicking into place' or something like that so I'll keep an eye on it, but does anyone else have suggestions as to what it could of been?

Light was pretty good and I had the lens wide open.
 
Hogboy said:
Worth checking your firmware is up to date.
Click to expand...
Thanks, it is but it shouldn’t matter as it’s been working flawlessly until today (y)
 
snerkler said:
I had an issue with my A7RV today on a portrait shoot, it was paried with the 50mm f1.2 and it really struggled with eye AF and the focus either kept jumping all over the place or the green focus square would keep flickering as though it was losing focus all the time. I checked to make sure it was on human eye AF and that I was in AF-C as well as tracking mode.

I swapped the 50mm onto my A1 and that worked fine so that in my mind ruled out the lens being the issue. However at the end of the day I tried the A7RV again, this time with the 35mm f1.4 and it worked fine again.

I'm hoping that it was just a case of the lens not 'clicking into place' or something like that so I'll keep an eye on it, but does anyone else have suggestions as to what it could of been?

Light was pretty good and I had the lens wide open.
Click to expand...

Mine does this when I accidentally nudge the focus mode button into DMF rather than CAF. Now I know when it does it to change it back straight away, A9ii though,
 
T_J_G said:
Mine does this when I accidentally nudge the focus mode button into DMF rather than CAF. Now I know when it does it to change it back straight away, A9ii though,
Click to expand...
The A7RV doesn’t have this dial like the A1, but it was definitely always in AF-c (y)
mstphoto said:
Was it set to Human Eye AF?
Click to expand...
Yeah, it was the first thing I checked (y)
 
snerkler said:
I had an issue with my A7RV today on a portrait shoot, it was paried with the 50mm f1.2 and it really struggled with eye AF and the focus either kept jumping all over the place or the green focus square would keep flickering as though it was losing focus all the time. I checked to make sure it was on human eye AF and that I was in AF-C as well as tracking mode.

I swapped the 50mm onto my A1 and that worked fine so that in my mind ruled out the lens being the issue. However at the end of the day I tried the A7RV again, this time with the 35mm f1.4 and it worked fine again.

I'm hoping that it was just a case of the lens not 'clicking into place' or something like that so I'll keep an eye on it, but does anyone else have suggestions as to what it could of been?

Light was pretty good and I had the lens wide open.
Click to expand...

I experienced this with 3rd party lenses at times but not Sony lenses (or sigma lenses for that matter).
I used 50GM with my A7RV a fair bit without issues. Have you been able to reproduce this or was it a one off?
 
T_J_G said:
Put a few 10,000s of photos through the 85mm GMII now. Great lens, but is it significantly better than the Sigma 85mm 1.4 DG DN it replaced….not really.
Click to expand...
Would like to upgrade my Sony 1.8 at some point.
The lens is good enough probably and the AF is lightning fast.
The exact opposite of my old Nikon 85/1.4g the images from that were stunning but the AF was just good enough

I had been eyeing the sigma as the Sony is just too expensive but will wait and see what the new viltrox is like when it’s released
 
pmac said:
Would like to upgrade my Sony 1.8 at some point.
The lens is good enough probably and the AF is lightning fast.
The exact opposite of my old Nikon 85/1.4g the images from that were stunning but the AF was just good enough

I had been eyeing the sigma as the Sony is just too expensive but will wait and see what the new viltrox is like when it’s released
Click to expand...

If you’re not using it day in day out the Sigma is such good value!
 
As it's a bit quiet.

A7 and 28mm f2. The light looked lovely, a little strange and other worldly even but still lovely but I don't think I've done it justice.

1-DSC08569.jpg

I went out today with a picture in mind but the light was flat and dead with hardly the hint of a shadow so I didn't bother and just went home. I hope for more inspiring conditions next time.
 
Last edited:
woof woof said:
As it's a bit quiet.

A7 and 28mm f2. The light looked lovely, a little strange and other worldly even but still lovely but I don't think I've done it justice.

View attachment 455283
Click to expand...
Don’t feel bad Alan. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken something atmospheric only to be disappointed later. Must improve my post processing.
 
trevorbray said:
Don’t feel bad Alan. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken something atmospheric only to be disappointed later. Must improve my post processing.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not everything we see can be reproduced in a photograph and in fact I'm sure that's the case as it wasn't just the light it was that moment and the scale of the scene and although a picture can maybe get a long way to prompting a memory of a moment a small photo can't really capture the scale.
 
trevorbray said:
Don’t feel bad Alan. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken something atmospheric only to be disappointed later. Must improve my post processing.
Click to expand...

woof woof said:
Perhaps not everything we see can be reproduced in a photograph and in fact I'm sure that's the case as it wasn't just the light it was that moment and the scale of the scene and although a picture can maybe get a long way to prompting a memory of a moment a small photo can't really capture the scale.
Click to expand...

I've often though that the camera can't quite pick things out like we can see. But then at night, it picks things up we can't see... :ROFLMAO:

I don't think I've got any photos to add here tbh
 
LeeRatters said:
I've often though that the camera can't quite pick things out like we can see. But then at night, it picks things up we can't see... :ROFLMAO:

I don't think I've got any photos to add here tbh
Click to expand...

Despite the "limited" DR I think that sometimes the camera can shows things in the highlights we can't see by eye. I've certainly seen detail in a picture I couldn't see by eye when looking in the direction of the sun.
 
nandbytes said:
I experienced this with 3rd party lenses at times but not Sony lenses (or sigma lenses for that matter).
I used 50GM with my A7RV a fair bit without issues. Have you been able to reproduce this or was it a one off?
Click to expand...
No, seems to be working OK today so hopefully just a weird one off gremlin.
 
snerkler said:
No, seems to be working OK today so hopefully just a weird one off gremlin.
Click to expand...

I had something similar on MFT. With the Oly 17mm f1.8 it would occasionally hunt and make a rattling sound on any body but only when there was extreme contrast and bright areas in the scene. When I pressed the lens release button and gave the lens a twist it stopped it for a while. Cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner or a rubber had no effect though but it did seem to be some sort of contact communication issue but only showing up with high contrast scenes.
 
Hmmm.

I haven't used the 28mm f2 much but in the past whenever I have I've been pretty happy with it and indeed I'm sure I've defended it when people have said it isn't very good but I can't stop myself pixel peeping and the poor corners at anything less than f8 are irritating me these days. I wish Sony would do a better one, f1.8 or f2, I'm not bothered, but with optical quality and build to get nearer to matching the 20mm f1.8.

Another stitch from our mini break in the Lake District. A7 and the Sony 28mm f2, at f5 so the corners aren't great at 100%.

Lake District-May 2025-16.jpg
 
Last edited:
Wife and I went out to the northern Lake District on Friday, to a place called Muncastle Castle. Had surprisingly decent weather. They have a bird of prey and owl centre and there were two shows. I don’t have a FF long lens for my A7RV so used my APS-C Sony 70-350 lens for all the bid photos and was really surprised how well most of them came out.













 
Sootchucker said:
Wife and I went out to the northern Lake District on Friday, to a place called Muncastle Castle. Had surprisingly decent weather. They have a bird of prey and owl centre and there were two shows. I don’t have a FF long lens for my A7RV so used my APS-C Sony 70-350 lens for all the bid photos and was really surprised how well most of them came out.













Click to expand...
Great shots - I'm going to have to buy another one now :headbang:
 
The Sony 40mm/f2.5 goes well with my A7CII. I shot a young people's classical concert entirely with it. I did have my Tamron 70-180mm/f2.8 in the bag but didn't need it.

For some of the shots I switched the camera to APS-C mode giving an effective focal length of of 60mm. Obviously at reduced- but still entirely usable - resolution.
 
The 40mm G has been on my A7III pretty much exclusively since I got it. It is IMO a good lens with few weaknesses, vignetting being the most obvious for me.
 
the_accidental said:
All this 40/2.5 chat isn’t helping me resist getting one… or the 40/1.2….
Click to expand...

I have the 40mm f2.5 G and the similar 24mm f2.8 G. They both seem to be very good lenses and although the max apertures aren't very exciting they make up for that with their IQ and their small size and light weight. I had to stop myself buying the 50mm.

Some would say the f2.x primes don't make sense these days but there aren't any f2.x zooms this small and light.
 
Last edited:
You should buy both really..... ;) They are two very different lenses.....
Click to expand...

I do love that kinda focal length... but I feel both might be a slippery slope ending up in a Leica Q43 and a GRIIx as well... cos once you have two lenses with that FOV...why stop there.,,,

You aren't wrong though, they are very different and lend themselves to a different style of shooting. Which would edge me toward the 40/1.2 as if I want compact AF prime I have the samyang 35/2.8.
 
the_accidental said:
I do love that kinda focal length... but I feel both might be a slippery slope ending up in a Leica Q43 and a GRIIx as well... cos once you have two lenses with that FOV...why stop there.,,,

You aren't wrong though, they are very different and lend themselves to a different style of shooting. Which would edge me toward the 40/1.2 as if I want compact AF prime I have the samyang 35/2.8.
Click to expand...

I think if you were to try the 40mm G you'd probably think it was better than the Samyang. It's certainly a better lens that the Sony 35mm f2.8. I haven't used my Sony 35mm f2.8 since I got the 40mm G. The Leica's should tempt me but I think the Sony's are much more flexible, arguably have better ergonomics, depending on the model probably better AF and of course but again depending on the model may well be cheaper as it's the thick end of £6k for a Q43.

I've been thinking of Nandbytes advice to get an A7cII. I do resent the hobbles and lack of dedicated controls and buttons but the smaller size with a lens like the mini G's or the old Sony 35mm f2.8 really tempts me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top