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

ancient_mariner said:
Those who have the A7V, is it a worthwhile upgrade on the A7III?

I've had my A7III since 2018, bought used, and it does everything I need, however I'm wondering if it could do it better? By better I mean faster and more accurate AF, more precise eye detection, better in-body image stabilisation, wider useful dynamic range, improved colour handling, less fringing in high contrast areas.

Upgrading isn't essential, but I'd see this as my camera body for the next decade. Any thoughts.
Click to expand...
I would say so.
The whole thing is faster including AF.
As for accuracy that’s also improved. I couldn’t say how much as I don’t shoot anything that challenging.
But what I would say is the whole a.f system/menu is different and that has been a bit of a challenge for me.
Eye af maybe due to me setting it up wrong seems to hover on the larger box with the bar on each side for longer and at longer distances than the smaller eye box over I found the 3 did.
DR is improved especially the highlights.
WB is significantly better.
the extra MP helps
Obviously video is hugely improved but I don’t use that yet.
The electric shutter is now usable and the pre capture and 30fps is ridiculous… I’ve shot over 6k images since I bought it at the end of march and 95% has been shot with the electric shutter. Infact, I don’t really see the need to shoot in mechanical (this is where you get the full DR though).
Overall it’s been a great change for me and after having the a7iii for nearly 7 years I felt the need to change just out of GAS.

The only downside has been in my workflow. There is a significant change in the files and all my old LR presets I built look off. So I had to pretty much start again.
Over all I do prefer the V images but there is also something I really miss about the iii images at times.. maybe a more painterly look under certain situations, or it could again just me the files and my presets.

There isn’t much of anything I could ask for or need of this camera, a larger buffer would be good as that about all I can see crippling it from really being a lower mp a1ii
 
Last edited:
pmac said:
the new sensors seem so good its kind of pointless. one is the standard image edited the other 3 images 1.5EV bracketing
Click to expand...

I'd say the second image just feels a bit more 'alive' but that might be managed simply through a quick adjustment if the curve. The water looks better, both colour and general appearance.
 
Last edited:
pmac said:
I would say so.
The whole thing is faster including AF.
As for accuracy that’s also improved. I couldn’t say how much as I don’t shoot anything that challenging.
But what I would say is the whole a.f system/menu is different and that has been a bit of a challenge for me.
Eye af maybe due to me setting it up wrong seems to hover on the larger box with the bar on each side for longer and at longer distances than the smaller eye box over I found the 3 did.
DR is improved especially the highlights.
WB is significantly better.
the extra MP helps
Obviously video is hugely improved but I don’t use that yet.
The electric shutter is now usable and the pre capture and 30fps is ridiculous… I’ve shot over 6k images since I bought it at the end of march and 95% has been shot with the electric shutter. Infact, I don’t really see the need to shoot in mechanical (this is where you get the full DR though).
Overall it’s been a great change for me and after having the a7iii for nearly 7 years I felt the need to change just out of GAS.

The only downside has been in my workflow. There is a significant change in the files and all my old LR presets I built look off. So I had to pretty much start again.
Over all I do prefer the V images but there is also something I really miss about the iii images at times.. maybe a more painterly look under certain situations, or it could again just me the files and my presets.

There isn’t much of anything I could ask for or need of this camera, a larger buffer would be good as that about all I can see crippling it from really being a lower mp a1ii
Click to expand...

I use electronic shutter with the III whenever I need a silent camera, but otherwise I always want the full dynamic range available. Likewise images are never compressed.

It looks like I need to read some reviews.
 
pmac said:
What is the point in bracketing now days?

the new sensors seem so good its kind of pointless. one is the standard image edited the other 3 images 1.5EV bracketing

DSC06338 by p mcallister, on Flickr

DSC06340-2 by p mcallister, on Flickr
Click to expand...
The new sensors can recover so much detail, that being said this doesn’t look like a type of shot where bracketing would help massively unlike a sunset with the sun in the frame. Of course I don’t know how much you’ve lifted the shadows in this though (y)
 
pmac said:
What is the point in bracketing now days?

the new sensors seem so good its kind of pointless. one is the standard image edited the other 3 images 1.5EV bracketing

DSC06338 by p mcallister, on Flickr

DSC06340-2 by p mcallister, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Prefer the second but that's probably due to shutter speed for the water than anything else.

I sometimes do bracket - Or at least a foreground/sky bracket. Like you say, don't often need them though but always there just incase :)
 
the second images definitely used the slower shutter speed image to build on the water giving it a far better look.

Bracketing likely wasn’t needed, I was just trying to see if it would preserve more detail due to the harsh contrast in lighting due to the high mid day sun I was shooting into.

Shadow and highlights were maxed and exposure lifted a stop ontop, noise seems equal across both images.
The bracketed image was exposure was actually lowered 1/3rd of a stop in editing
https://flic.kr/p/2sGZ6PF
View: https://flic.kr/p/2sGZ6PF
 
ancient_mariner said:
I use electronic shutter with the III whenever I need a silent camera, but otherwise I always want the full dynamic range available. Likewise images are never compressed.

It looks like I need to read some reviews.
Click to expand...
lossless compressed is the best you can get on the V. Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference
 
ancient_mariner said:
Sometimes there are other reasons for bracketing than simple exposure. :)
Click to expand...
I cannot recall an instance where I bracketed a shot for exposure. Maybe that's why all my photos are cr£p :D
 
pmac said:
lossless compressed is the best you can get on the V. Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference
Click to expand...
You can shoot uncompressed but everything I've read says there's no difference between lossless compressed and compressed in terms of image quality. There is however quite a difference in DR between mecahnical and electronic shutter as Toni said (y)

Screenshot 2026-10-19 at 09.30.25.jpg
 
Based on the above I thought I'd look at what my penatlies are when using the ES, it appears it's negligible :clap:

Screenshot 2026-10-19 at 09.31.32.jpg
 
Would they be able to add an option in for electronic shutter in cameras that are effected by this, so you can choose if you want the full dynamic range at the expense of a slower readout speed (for example to have ES in order to help minimise shutter shake), or to have the full readout speed at the expense of DR if you are wanting to minimise rolling shutter?
 
gman said:
Would they be able to add an option in for electronic shutter in cameras that are effected by this, so you can choose if you want the full dynamic range at the expense of a slower readout speed (for example to have ES in order to help minimise shutter shake), or to have the full readout speed at the expense of DR if you are wanting to minimise rolling shutter?
Click to expand...
I doubt it, I think it's a hardware issue i.e. stacked vs partially stacked sensor and processing power. I'm happy to be proven wrong though.
 
snerkler said:
You can shoot uncompressed but everything I've read says there's no difference between lossless compressed and compressed in terms of image quality.
Click to expand...

This is something that is like too. I did test compressed vs uncompressed at the time I got the current camera and thought I could see a difference, but things should have moved on quite a bit now.
 
ancient_mariner said:
This is something that is like too. I did test compressed vs uncompressed at the time I got the current camera and thought I could see a difference, but things should have moved on quite a bit now.
Click to expand...
I don't think the A7III has lossless compressed though so there would be a difference, you're only getting 12 bit raw instead of 14 bit. I've only ever shot compressed when shooting sports so DR is not as important so it's not something I've noticed or tested for. I shoot lossless the rest of the time (y)
 
snerkler said:
I doubt it, I think it's a hardware issue i.e. stacked vs partially stacked sensor and processing power. I'm happy to be proven wrong though.
Click to expand...

I was looking a little more into it and apparently it's not the readout speed itself that causes it or is the problem, but the bit-depth. It says that reducing the analog-to-digital converstion (ADC) from say 14-bit to 10-bit allows for faster readout speeds (but the lower bit-rate means less dynamic range) so that would imply to me that the readout speed isn't being directly changed, but it's merely a consequential effect of reducing the bit-depth.

So on this basis, could they not provide the option to have a user-selectable bit-depth when using electronic shutter and give us the choice with the understanding of the trade-offs?

EDIT: Come to think of it, this might be why I'm seeing the banding in the sky from this shot from the other day, especially when moving the sliders where I could see the banding move across the screen. You can still see it if looking closely, it's almost like noise or dithering that is visible, rather than a nice smooth gradient. I'm always in ES mode just in case I need a fast shot of the dog and it never crossed my mind it could be ES causing this issue until seeing these posts. I'll need to remember to switch to mechanical shutter for landscape stuff.

 
Last edited:
gman said:
I was looking a little more into it and apparently it's not the readout speed itself that causes it or is the problem, but the bit-depth. It says that reducing the analog-to-digital converstion (ADC) from say 14-bit to 10-bit allows for faster readout speeds (but the lower bit-rate means less dynamic range) so that would imply to me that the readout speed isn't being directly changed, but it's merely a consequential effect of reducing the bit-depth.

So on this basis, could they not provide the option to have a user-selectable bit-depth when using electronic shutter and give us the choice with the understanding of the trade-offs?

EDIT: Come to think of it, this might be why I'm seeing the banding in the sky from this shot from the other day, especially when moving the sliders where I could see the banding move across the screen. You can still see it if looking closely, it's almost like noise or dithering that is visible, rather than a nice smooth gradient. I'm always in ES mode just in case I need a fast shot of the dog and it never crossed my mind it could be ES causing this issue until seeing these posts. I'll need to remember to switch to mechanical shutter for landscape stuff.

Click to expand...

Do you see the banding in raw or jpg files? I could see the banding on my phone screen, and it looks like a jpg file that's been over-compressed.
 
gman said:
I'm always in ES mode just in case I need a fast shot of the dog and it never crossed my mind it could be ES causing this issue until seeing these posts. I'll need to remember to switch to mechanical shutter for landscape stuff.
Click to expand...

Many camera manufacturers offer an option to set the camera into MS and to switch automatically to ES at higher speeds, but it appears that this is not an option on the Sony A7's
 
snerkler said:
You can shoot uncompressed but everything I've read says there's no difference between lossless compressed and compressed in terms of image quality. There is however quite a difference in DR between mecahnical and electronic shutter as Toni said (y)

View attachment 495386
Click to expand...
On the a7v it’s only
lossless compressed
Compressed HQ
Compressed
There is no uncompressed, this seems to be what Sony will be doing going forward as the a7rvi is the same.
They claim it’s the same 14bit files with matching DR.

Yes there is about a stop difference between the two shutters but I’ve not noticed it in real terms.
The files out the v when using ES seem to hold up better with less banding than my a7iii did.
 
gman said:
I was looking a little more into it and apparently it's not the readout speed itself that causes it or is the problem, but the bit-depth. It says that reducing the analog-to-digital converstion (ADC) from say 14-bit to 10-bit allows for faster readout speeds (but the lower bit-rate means less dynamic range) so that would imply to me that the readout speed isn't being directly changed, but it's merely a consequential effect of reducing the bit-depth.

So on this basis, could they not provide the option to have a user-selectable bit-depth when using electronic shutter and give us the choice with the understanding of the trade-offs?

EDIT: Come to think of it, this might be why I'm seeing the banding in the sky from this shot from the other day, especially when moving the sliders where I could see the banding move across the screen. You can still see it if looking closely, it's almost like noise or dithering that is visible, rather than a nice smooth gradient. I'm always in ES mode just in case I need a fast shot of the dog and it never crossed my mind it could be ES causing this issue until seeing these posts. I'll need to remember to switch to mechanical shutter for landscape stuff.

Click to expand...
Not sure the ES on the newest cameras are noticeable, compared to last gen they much match there mechanical in terms on bit depth and DR.
 
gman said:
I was looking a little more into it and apparently it's not the readout speed itself that causes it or is the problem, but the bit-depth. It says that reducing the analog-to-digital converstion (ADC) from say 14-bit to 10-bit allows for faster readout speeds (but the lower bit-rate means less dynamic range) so that would imply to me that the readout speed isn't being directly changed, but it's merely a consequential effect of reducing the bit-depth.

So on this basis, could they not provide the option to have a user-selectable bit-depth when using electronic shutter and give us the choice with the understanding of the trade-offs?

EDIT: Come to think of it, this might be why I'm seeing the banding in the sky from this shot from the other day, especially when moving the sliders where I could see the banding move across the screen. You can still see it if looking closely, it's almost like noise or dithering that is visible, rather than a nice smooth gradient. I'm always in ES mode just in case I need a fast shot of the dog and it never crossed my mind it could be ES causing this issue until seeing these posts. I'll need to remember to switch to mechanical shutter for landscape stuff.

Click to expand...
I cna't see any banding on my Mac, just compression artefacts
Ed Sutton said:
I was pondering the pros and cons of electronic v manual shutter the other day. Recent comments have suggested to met the only use for electronic shutter is when silence is required!
Click to expand...
I use it for everything other than studio when using strobes, although I could use it then too.
pmac said:
On the a7v it’s only
lossless compressed
Compressed HQ
Compressed
There is no uncompressed, this seems to be what Sony will be doing going forward as the a7rvi is the same.
They claim it’s the same 14bit files with matching DR.

Yes there is about a stop difference between the two shutters but I’ve not noticed it in real terms.
The files out the v when using ES seem to hold up better with less banding than my a7iii did.
Click to expand...
Ahh, google's lied to me :lol:
 
strumstrum said:
Now having a lens with the custom button on I am wondering what other members who find it useful have it set to..? I read the feature is model specific so some have different options to others but it sounds like they all have the basics.
Click to expand...
I have mine set to AF but I rarely use it.
 
strumstrum said:
Now having a lens with the custom button on I am wondering what other members who find it useful have it set to..? I read the feature is model specific so some have different options to others but it sounds like they all have the basics.
Click to expand...
I can't remember what I set mine to as I never use it. Could be focus lock. Then again...
 
strumstrum said:
Now having a lens with the custom button on I am wondering what other members who find it useful have it set to..? I read the feature is model specific so some have different options to others but it sounds like they all have the basics.
Click to expand...
APS-C on and off
 
ancient_mariner said:
Do you see the banding in raw or jpg files? I could see the banding on my phone screen, and it looks like a jpg file that's been over-compressed.
Click to expand...

In Lightroom whilst editing, but only when I started playing with sliders, which suggests to me lower bit depth?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top