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

:ROFLMAO:

You will just buy it, then a week later be on here moaning about it then flog it on again. Why bother?

Although I bought a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for my A6400 and a 45mm equivalent f.o.v isn't too bad to be honest. Have found myself using it more than the other lenses I got for the A6400.

True man, going by my track record with them that will probably be the case lol
 
Anyone here done Skomer? I'm wondering if 70-200 2.8 or 100-400 is the best option. I can only take one, I will have an 85mm 1.4 along for the ride too (and the 28-75 2.8).
 
@ukaskew I did Skomer a few years back when I had a 5D2 with 24-105 / 70-300 and it worked fine, the puffins are right by your feet so the Tamron will be fine. For BIF then 200mm would be ok, but they speed past you at a fast speed so AF lock on was difficult but the 5D2 was never great at quick AF
 
Rained all day at yesterdays wedding, just light drizzle, but was annoying as the B+G weren't keen to go out in it. Shame as the gardens were gorgeous. Managed a few mins, took an assistant with us (roped in a guest) to carry an umbrella for her and duck out between shots!

jasmine-mike-1.jpgjasmine-mike-2.jpgjasmine-mike-5.jpg
 
For someone that generally despises Samyang AF lenses I'm super interested in the 45 1.8 for out and about with the family. Any word on its release ?

I'll be interested and will read the reviews. I have a film era 45mm f2 and my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic, had a 43mm f11 lens so I do have a soft spot for that sort of focal length.
 
Rained all day at yesterdays wedding, just light drizzle, but was annoying as the B+G weren't keen to go out in it. Shame as the gardens were gorgeous. Managed a few mins, took an assistant with us (roped in a guest) to carry an umbrella for her and duck out between shots!

That's a shame. I hope everyone still had a wonderful day.
 
That's a shame. I hope everyone still had a wonderful day.

They didn't bat an eyelid, day was still awesome, but it was a shame as they'd booked that venue specifically for the gardens!

Still, no one can control the weather and everyone had fun :)
 
Rained all day at yesterdays wedding, just light drizzle, but was annoying as the B+G weren't keen to go out in it. Shame as the gardens were gorgeous. Managed a few mins, took an assistant with us (roped in a guest) to carry an umbrella for her and duck out between shots!

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Two quite different styles but equally nice images :)
 
@ukaskew I did Skomer a few years back when I had a 5D2 with 24-105 / 70-300 and it worked fine, the puffins are right by your feet so the Tamron will be fine. For BIF then 200mm would be ok, but they speed past you at a fast speed so AF lock on was difficult but the 5D2 was never great at quick AF

Thanks, I'm leaning towards the 70-200 rather than the 100-400.
 
I visited Skomer a few years ago when I was using Nikon equipment I found a 70-200 to be more than adequate.
 
I was in Liverpool last night to see an exhibition of work from students of Liverpool College so grabbed a few shots around the Albert Dock/Pier Head on my way home.

Both with the RX1 on a Manfrotto Pixi tripod.

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They’ll be compressed by the forum app so will upload them to Flickr later. The first one was an extreme test of DR as it was metered for the sky, which left the foreground/building basically black. Good to see I could pull back the details without going full on HDR.
 
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Is there a way to have the live preview on for when you want to deliberately underexposed by 5-6stops?

As soon as I drop it that low I then get a “useable” view that I didn’t really want...
 
Is there a way to have the live preview on for when you want to deliberately underexposed by 5-6stops?

As soon as I drop it that low I then get a “useable” view that I didn’t really want...

Live view display effect on/off in the menu. I haven’t got my camera in front of me, but basically one way shows the exposure as it will be (underexposed), the other one will gain up the EVF to show a view regardless of the exposure settings.
 
Live view display effect on/off in the menu. I haven’t got my camera in front of me, but basically one way shows the exposure as it will be (underexposed), the other one will gain up the EVF to show a view regardless of the exposure settings.

That isn't the problem as I had the effect ON at all times. It ramped up the exposure even though it was ON. It's not a major pain but it would've helped (but on the other hand I can totally see why it does it - so you can compose/focus etc)
 
That isn't the problem as I had the effect ON at all times. It ramped up the exposure even though it was ON. It's not a major pain but it would've helped (but on the other hand I can totally see why it does it - so you can compose/focus etc)

Have you tried turning it off? You should get a ‘real’ view through the EVF then which is massively underexposed.
 
Anyone tried these Integral memory cards?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FBB8K9N/ The 256gb 100/90mbs they are a bargain at only £26.99.

I was a bit dubious at first so started by only using them as a back up card but have used them for loads of things since and they haven't skipped a beat. Much better value than the Sandisks and seem just as fast as the extreme pro 95mb's cards.

Based on some posts I have seen on Facebook recently half the wedding photographers in the U.K that shoot Sony have switched over to these. :LOL:
 
Anyone tried these Integral memory cards?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FBB8K9N/ The 256gb 100/90mbs they are a bargain at only £26.99.

I was a bit dubious at first so started by only using them as a back up card but have used them for loads of things since and they haven't skipped a beat. Much better value than the Sandisks and seem just as fast as the extreme pro 95mb's cards.

Based on some posts I have seen on Facebook recently half the wedding photographers in the U.K that shoot Sony have switched over to these. :LOL:

I bought them originally for video Tommy but just use them as my main cards now. Absolute bargain they are man
 
Anyone tried these Integral memory cards?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FBB8K9N/ The 256gb 100/90mbs they are a bargain at only £26.99.

I was a bit dubious at first so started by only using them as a back up card but have used them for loads of things since and they haven't skipped a beat. Much better value than the Sandisks and seem just as fast as the extreme pro 95mb's cards.

Based on some posts I have seen on Facebook recently half the wedding photographers in the U.K that shoot Sony have switched over to these. :LOL:

Blimey they are cheap...£11 for 64GB (which is max id use). I used to use integral and never had a problem with them. May order 4 and see how I get on with them. The equivalent Sandisk I use are £24 each at the moment, but regular come down to £15-6
 
Blimey they are cheap...£11 for 64GB (which is max id use). I used to use integral and never had a problem with them. May order 4 and see how I get on with them. The equivalent Sandisk I use are £24 each at the moment, but regular come down to £15-6

I used the Ultima cards for quite a while, the little plastic fins near the gold bits are the fragile bit, they break quite easily. Still, cheap and lasted at least 1 year, never had card read/write issues, slower than the Sandisk Extreme 170 though but a decent card for little outlay.
 
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Anyone here done Skomer? I'm wondering if 70-200 2.8 or 100-400 is the best option. I can only take one, I will have an 85mm 1.4 along for the ride too (and the 28-75 2.8).
Staying overnight or day trip? Depending on the answer to that question would depend on my answer to which I would say to take. Also will you be interested in other wildlife like the Little Owls or the Short Eared Owls or is it just the the Puffins? I’ve been on day trips and also stayed 3 years running between 2015-2017 so have some experience shooting on Skomer.

If it’s a day trip the wick gets very very busy. There can be up to 250 day trippers on the island, quite a few of these go and stay at the wick. There is a small path that doesn’t have much room as it’s about 50cm with ropes on either side. With photographers on it there isn’t much room to pass them so you can’t really photograph at that point easily during the day. During the evening it’s much easier as there are only 16 overnight guests so space isn’t as bad (usually not all 16 are photographers so can be 4-6 people there). There is a wider section further down which is easier to get low at.

Day trip- 100-400 because the extra length could be useful plus you can get boating images at the jetty.

Staying overnight- 70-200 because it will be faster as light drops. 100-400 could be useful if you fancy some boating Puffin photos.

To be honest I would leave the 85mm behind in favour of taking the 70-200 and 100-400. I tried a 85mm f1.8 and found it was neither fast enough or long enough. The problem with Puffins is the length of their beaks. You need f5.6 or f8 to get all in focus when it can be 1-3m away.

Over the years I’ve used a 300mm f4, 200-400mm f4, 70-200 f2.8 & f4, 85mm f1.8 and 24-70 f2.8. My most used lens has been a 70-200 because of the focal length is get for being close and the lighter weight made it easier getting low, but I did stay over. Staying over is the best way to do Skomer. You get the best light and a lot less people in the evening- makes it a no brainier for me. Loved getting out in the morning and evenings- it was fantastic to have the accommodation to hide in when the day tripper boats came in.

I have a gallery of Skomer images on my website.
https://robcain.photography/atlantic-puffins-skomer-island

I also have a gallery on Flickr that has the camera and lens exit available for each photo if that’s helpful.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robcain/albums/72157634052226693
 
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I bought them originally for video Tommy but just use them as my main cards now. Absolute bargain they are man

I know, I can't get over how cheap these are.

Blimey they are cheap...£11 for 64GB (which is max id use). I used to use integral and never had a problem with them. May order 4 and see how I get on with them. The equivalent Sandisk I use are £24 each at the moment, but regular come down to £15-6

I ditched my 64gb cards a while back I always needed to change cards for weddings and while that's no big deal it just got to be a pain in the hole. I now have 40 odd spare 64gb cards laying in a drawer. :ROFLMAO: Handy for when my eldest loses cards, which she does, a lot.
 
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Anyone tried these Integral memory cards?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FBB8K9N/ The 256gb 100/90mbs they are a bargain at only £26.99.

I was a bit dubious at first so started by only using them as a back up card but have used them for loads of things since and they haven't skipped a beat. Much better value than the Sandisks and seem just as fast as the extreme pro 95mb's cards.

Based on some posts I have seen on Facebook recently half the wedding photographers in the U.K that shoot Sony have switched over to these. :LOL:

No real need for one right now but I might just grab a couple to have as back ups! Funny that the 32GB is more expensive than the 64GB :D
 
Life has its ups and downs. Sold A9 when things were looking pretty low. But now for the moment things are on the up.

Was tempted to look at the Z6 before I realised I probably want the A9 back. Wonder if the buyer had had enough of it?!
 
I know, I can't get over how cheap these are.



I ditched my 64gb cards a while back I always needed to change cards for weddings and while that's no big deal it just got to be a pain in the hole. I now have 40 odd spare 64gb cards laying in a drawer. :ROFLMAO: Handy for when my eldest loses cards, which she does, a lot.

I never shoot more than 64GB on a wedding day (on each camera) so they'll do me for now.

Wish they'd sort the wake up time of the A7iii's, it makes a massive difference on battery life. Had one to 10 secs sleep and it had 64% left whereas the other one a minute (I can't remember actually) had 22% left. But then the wake up time is hideous.
 
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