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

nandbytes said:
Tempted by the 85GM...
But the new Samyang seems pretty nice too.
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I'm waiting for the sammy to appear used at half price. I really like the rendering of the big-aperture Samyangs, and an 85 f1.4 plus a 12-24 in FE mount would pretty much complete my outfit.
 
I had a Sigma 12-24mm when I had Canon DSLR's. A replacement for my A7 would be nice :D
 
ancient_mariner said:
I'm waiting for the sammy to appear used at half price. I really like the rendering of the big-aperture Samyangs, and an 85 f1.4 plus a 12-24 in FE mount would pretty much complete my outfit.
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I don't like the colours out of samyang lenses but otherwise I do like the rendering. I can deal with the colours with a little bit of extra effort. If I was shooting professionally I'd have gone with GM for consistency in colours with my other lenses.
 
Cagey75 said:
I think all forums suffer from this, to be fair TP is better than most others. Check some images on DPR, woeful, I would refuse to post anything on there because it completely obliterates the quality, making even ISO 100 files noisey looking as hell
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I don't find it bad here at all - posting images from flickr without downsizing.
 
woof woof said:
I had a Sigma 12-24mm when I had Canon DSLR's. A replacement for my A7 would be nice :D
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I have one but for Nikon mount.

nandbytes said:
I don't like the colours out of samyang lenses but otherwise I do like the rendering. I can deal with the colours with a little bit of extra effort. If I was shooting professionally I'd have gone with GM for consistency in colours with my other lenses.
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The 35 f2.8 seemed pretty neutral but the 50 f1.4 was very warm - guess I'll just 'wait & see'.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I don't find it bad here at all - posting images from flickr without downsizing.
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I only ever post from Flickr too, I know some prefer to upload direct but I found that it does crush photo IQ a bit. Also, I prefer giving people the option to click through to view the image in better detail if they wish, I post to Flicker in full res always.
 
Cagey75 said:
I only ever post from Flickr too, I know some prefer to upload direct but I found that it does crush photo IQ a bit. Also, I prefer giving people the option to click through to view the image in better detail if they wish, I post to Flicker in full res always.
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I post from Flickr but it softens my images.
 
nandbytes said:
it can be but the smart adapter is silly expensive for one lens and AF isn't even that good. There might be cheaper dumb adapter that allows aperture control but you lose electronic communication.
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I already have a mechanical adapter with manual aperture control that kind of works. Electronic adapters with AF seem crazy expensive (Metabones) or limited in the mounts conversions available (Sony, Sigma) and such a wide angle doesn't require *much* AF anyway.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I already have a mechanical adapter with manual aperture control that kind of works. Electronic adapters with AF seem crazy expensive (Metabones) or limited in the mounts conversions available (Sony, Sigma) and such a wide angle doesn't require *much* AF anyway.
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the electronic communication is useful to get EXIF and 5-axis IBIS. With the mechanical adapter you only get 3 axis stabilisation and also you need to dial in the focal length each time you zoom for best results which is kinda arduous.
 
Livin The Dream said:
@decigallen why can’t you just use a button to lock focus? I’ve dumped it on AEL.

The manual switch on a lens has bothered me at times, but only because I’m used to dslr. With more use I’m getting used to having the AF modes quickly switchable on C4.
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I've no free button that I could use for it. If anything, there are a few other things I would like on my custom buttons that would take priority over it. And having to give up another function just to lock AF defeats the whole reason I'm a BBFer.
 
You could be mistaken with this image, that she was up for a picture today.I do like the challenge.. (not exactly as wanted)

33793158148_82a76de665_b.jpg
 
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Livin The Dream said:
Is it possible to turn the evf off, can’t see for looking? The screen yes but had a few issues where I have the camera tight to something and the evf sensor turns the screen off which I’m using to compose. If you can, I might add it to the menu? I was tight to a bush for this shot and the screen kept switching off..

40690505743_e10f1965b4_b.jpg
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I’ve set mine to switch between the viewfinder and LCD screen by toggling between the two via the the dustbin button. The viewfinder sensor is only active when using the viewfinder. When using the LCD screen the sensor won’t do anything. It was the first thing I changed as I was accidentally changing to the viewfinder when using the LCD.
 
I’m back from a trip to the lakes. I got the chance to try out the animal eye AF with Red Squirrels. It seemed to do a reasonable job, much better than I was expecting. I took a video of it in action (please excuse the wobbly mobile phone video).

Edit: I think you have to click through to Flickr to view the videos.

Video 1 shows the eye focus was maintained on a static subject as I moved the camera around.

Animal Eye AF video 1 by -Rob - Nikon-

Video 2 is from the end of the sequence showing the eye AF was lost as it turned towards me. Trying to hold the phone to take video and adjust focus on the camera at the same time meant I wasn’t able to regain focus before it was off.

Animal Eye AF video 2 by -Rob - Nikon-

Animal eye AF isn’t perfect by any means but it’s potential is amazing. If they can get it to track the eye of a moving animal that would be astounding. I’m still trying to work out if wide area or single point/expanded point is the better AF option to use with it.

What I did also learn from the trip is the silent shutter is awesome for close wildlife as there is no disturbance caused by shutter noise. That coupled with animal eye AF means the next test will be remote wide angle wildlife. Thats always been very hit and miss due to having to set a main focus point and guess when it’s in the focal plane. As soon as the shutter fires the subject is often off in the opposite direction!
 
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I was reading this DPR review of the Fuji GFX 50r and when I got to the end I wondered why they didn't include an A7x in the compared to its peers section...

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilm-gfx-50r-review/7

I think it's a very nice looking camera as is the Hasselblad X1D but I can't see myself spending this much on a camera even as a special birthday present to myself.
 
Size comparison sort of...

Samyan.jpg

I image its 28 f2 size - probably quicker that the Sony 1.8 50. Will be interesting to see how it fairs IQ wise!
 
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After a day with the Sony 50mm f2.8 macro I now worry about the Sony lenses with cheaper focus systems. I hope this Samyang has decent if not game changing AF.
 
woof woof said:
After a day with the Sony 50mm f2.8 macro I now worry about the Sony lenses with cheaper focus systems. I hope this Samyang has decent if not game changing AF.
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Care to tell a little more? It's not like this is exactly a cheap lens (Sony don't have a single cheap lens in their whole line up - even the council house 50 1.8 is quite a lot more than Nikon's 'new' and relatively expensive 50 1.8G: list £280 vs £219).
 
ancient_mariner said:
Care to tell a little more? It's not like this is exactly a cheap lens (Sony don't have a single cheap lens in their whole line up - even the council house 50 1.8 is quite a lot more than Nikon's 'new' and relatively expensive 50 1.8G: list £280 vs £219).
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I have an A7 so it may be a problem that's fixed on later models but when I got the Sony 50mm macro I'd read that it could hunt so I was prepared for some of that but I found the focus to be utterly and completely unreliable.

It would maybe lock on but be clearly off and then hit the next subject bang on and upon returning to the original target hit that and then miss the next one etc... I honestly couldn't get three in focus shots in a row. Even if it hit a target if I tried the same target again it might miss. Even though I've been using AF cameras for decades and think I give the camera a good chance at locking on I needed a confidence check so I took the macro off and mounted the 55mm f1.8 and voila! Problem solved.

I bought it from Bristol Cameras and they took it back without issue. It may be a problem with that lens and my A7 or it may have just been a duff lens but it did put me off that lens and I never bothered buying another.
 
New camera being announced at 3p.m according to the rumour site.

Expect it will be the A7SIII or A9II.
 
f/2.8 said:
New camera being announced at 3p.m according to the rumour site.

Expect it will be the A7SIII or A9II.
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I believe at 3pm he'll announce the rumour detailing the next FF Sony not the camera itself.
I don't think it'll be A9ii considering they just gave it a new live with the latest fw update and we are still expecting fw v.6 too.

Think it'll be A7SIII or A5 to counter the RP.
 
I wonder if they'll do a better RX1?

It must be annoying to have a camera regarded by many as being soundly thrashed by the Leica Qx. If I was Mr Sony I think I'd want to do some Leica thrashing with a new model.
 
Livin The Dream said:
You could be mistaken with this image, that she was up for a picture today.I do like the challenge.. (not exactly as wanted)

33793158148_82a76de665_b.jpg
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Lovely image, love the rendering (y)
 
nandbytes said:
I believe at 3pm he'll announce the rumour detailing the next FF Sony not the camera itself.
I don't think it'll be A9ii considering they just gave it a new live with the latest fw update and we are still expecting fw v.6 too.

Think it'll be A7SIII or A5 to counter the RP.
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Ooh must have read it wrong, just seen it on their facebook when it came up in my feed.

Don't think they need anything to compete with the RP.

The A9 is old now in comparative terms so still think there will be a chance for an A9II, the software update was just to stop people from jumping ship until the new one launched, I thought.

So still expect it to be an A7SIII or A9II as they are the two models that haven't had an update in some time.
 
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f/2.8 said:
Ooh must have read it wrong, just seen it on their facebook when it came up in my feed.

Don't think they need anything to compete with the RP.

The A9 is old now in comparative terms so still think there will be a chance for an A9II, the software update was just to stop people from jumping ship until the new one launched, I thought.

So still expect it to be an A7SIII or A9II as they are the two models that haven't had an update in some time.
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An A9-II with more room between the grip and lens would be very interesting indeed :D
 
f/2.8 said:
Ooh must have read it wrong, just seen it on their facebook when it came up in my feed.

Don't think they need anything to compete with the RP.

The A9 is old now in comparative terms so still think there will be a chance for an A9II, the software update was just to stop people from jumping ship until the new one launched, I thought.

So still expect it to be an A7SIII or A9II as they are the two models that haven't had an update in some time.
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True but there isn't really anything especially after the recent firmware update that now fully competes with A9.
TBH at this point I'd be more excited to see more lenses and possibly PF lenses on Sony rather than another body.
 
rob-nikon said:
I’m back from a trip to the lakes. I got the chance to try out the animal eye AF with Red Squirrels. It seemed to do a reasonable job, much better than I was expecting. I took a video of it in action (please excuse the wobbly mobile phone video).

Edit: I think you have to click through to Flickr to view the videos.

Video 1 shows the eye focus was maintained on a static subject as I moved the camera around.

Animal Eye AF video 1 by -Rob - Nikon-

Video 2 is from the end of the sequence showing the eye AF was lost as it turned towards me. Trying to hold the phone to take video and adjust focus on the camera at the same time meant I wasn’t able to regain focus before it was off.

Animal Eye AF video 2 by -Rob - Nikon-

Animal eye AF isn’t perfect by any means but it’s potential is amazing. If they can get it to track the eye of a moving animal that would be astounding. I’m still trying to work out if wide area or single point/expanded point is the better AF option to use with it.
!
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I think at present it only 'properly' works for dogs and cats which could explain why it struggled with a squirrel. A friend who photographs dogs has said it's revolutionary.
 
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