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

I've just spent a happy half an hour testing my Nikon pre ai 50mm f2 :D

The scene. I might try a brick wall but wanted something with a bit of depth because real pictures normally have a bit :D

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It's ok across the screen at f2 but with some vignetting and softness at the very edges and in the very corners which are also way out of the dof. Things improve at f2.8 and it's sharp across the frame at f4. The sweet spot seems to be f11. One day when I have time I'd like to compare all of my decades old lenses with the same subject and lighting conditions but that wont be today. They're all useable though and that's what matters.

Whole picture and then a 100% centre crop at f5.6.

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I really like these old Nikon's. They're very well made, they feel lovely and they're useable wide open and even if the bokeh is a little wild with the wrong subject it soon settles when stopping down.
 
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I may do that tomorrow and pop down the apple store and get the 512gb 10inch one
That's a really weird coincidence , I've just spent the last 2 hours comparing different systems and I've decided on the Ipad Pro 12.9 inch. I'm going to go to the nearest Apple store to try out the Lightroom Mobile capability although I've probably seen enough on Youtube to convince me. I shall then probably get one from Apple Refurb.
 
I'm just watching Trump and Kim on the TV news and the machine gunning DSLR's caught my attention... It's time these guys went mirrorless if only so they can shoot silently at moments like this. Maybe in a few years time not hearing the machine gunning of DSLR's in news reports will be the norm, and it'll be for the better IMO.
 
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I've just spent a happy half an hour testing my Nikon pre ai 50mm f2 :D

The scene. I might try a brick wall but wanted something with a bit of depth because real pictures normally have a bit :D

View attachment 128474

It's ok across the screen at f2 but with some vignetting and softness at the very edges and in the very corners which are also way out of the dof. Things improve at f2.8 and it's sharp across the frame at f4. The sweet spot seems to be f11. One day when I have time I'd like to compare all of my decades old lenses with the same subject and lighting conditions but that wont be today. They're all useable though and that's what matters.

Whole picture and then a 100% centre crop at f5.6.

View attachment 128475

View attachment 128472

I really like these old Nikon's. They're very well made, they feel lovely and they're useable wide open and even if the bokeh is a little wild with the wrong subject it soon settles when stopping down.

Seems a bit extreme for a 50/2 to have a sweet spot of F11? I wouldn't expect it to be at its' best wide open but maybe F2.8-4 but obviously you won't get sharpness across the frame at that aperture (as you wouldn't with any lens).
 
Seems a bit extreme for a 50/2 to have a sweet spot of F11? I wouldn't expect it to be at its' best wide open but maybe F2.8-4 but obviously you won't get sharpness across the frame at that aperture (as you wouldn't with any lens).

Dunno what you mean Steve.

By sweet spot I meant sharpness across the frame which is often a couple of stops down from wide open with modern lenses. With these mass market older lenses it's common for them to be at their sharpest across the frame when stopped down a little more than a more modern lens, maybe, probably etc...

I'd expect a lens like this to be at it's best for across the frame performance at anything between f5.6 to f11 with maybe f2.8-4 being more modern lens territory? Maybe? But I don't know what you mean by having a sweet spot at f2.8-4 and not being sharp across the frame. Something like the Sony 55mm f1.8 is sharp across the frame very quickly but I can't remember at what aperture. These older lenses are nowhere near that level and I'm sure I have some that perform very well indeed across the frame at f5.6-8, relatively very well that is until you compare them to something like the 55mm f1.8.

I'd agree that f11 is maybe a little far and f5.6 to 8 might have been better but it is what it is and I'm pretty sure it's not the only old lens like this.

I've just Googled for review of this lens but I haven't spotted any that help much, one said it's at it's best f5.6-11. I'd say that mine is good across the frame at f5.6, better at f8 and at its best at f11. At f16 it's lost a bit which isn't too surprising. I might check it against my other 50's sometime. With this one anything between f5.6-11 is fine except when pixel peeping at 100%. IMO.
 
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I'm just watching Trump and Kim on the TV news and the machine gunning DSLR's caught my attention... It's time these guys went mirrorless if only so they can shoot silently at moments like this. Maybe in a few years time not hearing the machine gunning of DSLR's in news reports will be the norm, and it'll be for the better IMO.

I shot silent in an engagement shoot for a bit and they wondered if I was taking any photos, I explained and carried on, then after a while they told me to turn it back on, they prefer the noise of the shutter.

I can see an advantage if a silent shutter but in instances where people expects that noise, sometimes they end up wanting the noise.

At least in my limited real world experience.

So when a couple of politicians posing for photos, if it’s complete silence, they might not know at all (at least without flash) any shots are taken.
 
Dunno what you mean Steve.

By sweet spot I meant sharpness across the frame which is often a couple of stops down from wide open with modern lenses. With these mass market older lenses it's common for them to be at their sharpest across the frame when stopped down a little more than a more modern lens, maybe, probably etc...

I'd expect a lens like this to be at it's best for across the frame performance at anything between f5.6 to f11 with maybe f2.8-4 being more modern lens territory? Maybe? But I don't know what you mean by having a sweet spot at f2.8-4 and not being sharp across the frame. Something like the Sony 55mm f1.8 is sharp across the frame very quickly but I can't remember at what aperture. These older lenses are nowhere near that level and I'm sure I have some that perform very well indeed across the frame at f5.6-8, relatively very well that is until you compare them to something like the 55mm f1.8.

I'd agree that f11 is maybe a little far and f5.6 to 8 might have been better but it is what it is and I'm pretty sure it's not the only old lens like this.

I've just Googled for review of this lens but I haven't spotted any that help much, one said it's at it's best f5.6-11. I'd say that mine is good across the frame at f5.6, better at f8 and at its best at f11. At f16 it's lost a bit which isn't too surprising. I might check it against my other 50's sometime. With this one anything between f5.6-11 is fine except when pixel peeping at 100%. IMO.

When I say that a lens wouldn't be sharp across the frame at 2.8 I mean because of shallow depth of field in real world use. That is, a 50mm lens is more commonly used as a portrait focal length (although yes, any lens can be used for landscape of course!) so would generally be shot at wider apertures. If you shoot a portrait, for example, at F2.8-4, you're going to get sharpness falloff at the edges with even modern lenses due to physics, not necessarily due to the lens quality.
 
I can see your point but with mirrorless you can have a bleep and maybe set the volume? At the Trump/Kim interview / photo op they were talking and I thought the shutter sound was a bit too loud and distracting. You'll see it on the news if you haven't already.

I can shoot silently with MFT and no one has ever asked me to turn the sound up. Maybe some are more used to silent or at least quieter cameras than your lot at the enguagement.
 
When I say that a lens wouldn't be sharp across the frame at 2.8 I mean because of shallow depth of field in real world use. That is, a 50mm lens is more commonly used as a portrait focal length (although yes, any lens can be used for landscape of course!) so would generally be shot at wider apertures. If you shoot a portrait, for example, at F2.8-4, you're going to get sharpness falloff at the edges with even modern lenses due to physics, not necessarily due to the lens quality.

Ah sort of see what you mean and in that case older lenses are IMO very often good enough at f2.8-4 in the main subject sort of area as is this one. Looking across the frame to stopped down is still valid as these areas will obviously still be a part of the image and I have to remember what works :D and with the way out of the dof bits you will still be able to form an opinion based on how the detail falls away and aberrations and general lens design weirdness take over :D That's something that's completely different when looking at something like the 55mm f1.8, that is simply excellent.

I just wanted to do a quick test and although not a brick wall that shot gave me a chance to check performance across much of the frame not just in the central main subject areas. I'll take some picture of Mrs WW from wide open to min aperture and see what looks best and decide if wide open where lenses like this are most unique is a definite no no except in emergencies :D

These small old lenses and indeed similarly designed modern lenses like the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 aren't going to give the buttery bokeh a large modern lens like an art or GM will give at the widest apertures and with an unfriendly scene they can give a look that's rather characterful :D but that's part of the appeal and is to an extent tamed as you stop down. I do tend to see these old lenses as dual personality lenses as at their widest apertures you often get the funkiness you might expect and love or hate but stopped down they are very often just nice lenses :D I can't imagine anyone other than an extreme nerd (er, ok that's us :D) complaining about most of the old lenses I have once they're stopped down a bit.
 
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Second shooter over the weekend just passed, never done weddings before, really enjoyed it. Sony A7iii and 85FE 1.8 worked together beautifully and used silent shutter along with eye AF and spot, not once did I have AF issues and some of the shots it nailed were incredibly tough, sensor performance top notch and I shot in EXTREME backlight in some cases. Also flicked between APSC crop at times to get some more reach which was nice.

What a superb camera.
 
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Just bought the meike grip from Amazon. Anyone here use it ?
Yes have had one for around a week. No issues from my perspective so far. Haven't had a Sony official one before so haven't got any comparison to the official one.

Have had meike ones before on Canon DSLRs though and never had any issues with them previously either
 
Yes have had one for around a week. No issues from my perspective so far. Haven't had a Sony official one before so haven't got any comparison to the official one.

Have had meike ones before on Canon DSLRs though and never had any issues with them previously either

Can the remote be used to trigger the camera without having the grip attached
 
Second shooter over the weekend just passed, never done weddings before, really enjoyed it. Sony A7iii and 85FE 1.8 worked together beautifully and used silent shutter along with eye AF and spot, not once did I have AF issues and some of the shots it nailed were incredibly tough, sensor performance top notch and I shot in EXTREME backlight in some cases. Also flicked between APSC crop at times to get some more reach which was nice.

What a superb camera.

How many batteries did you go through?
 
How many batteries did you go through?

Still had remaining life on the first (Took about 400 shots). I couldn't stay the whole day, I did some location stuff and to exchange of vows where main tog did his thing as I wanted to stay out the way, then did confetti, drinks outside and finally back in for speeches and dinner. Then I made a move home.

It was a taster for me as Ive always been nervous about weddings for some reason.
 
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Second shooter over the weekend just passed, never done weddings before, really enjoyed it. Sony A7iii and 85FE 1.8 worked together beautifully and used silent shutter along with eye AF and spot, not once did I have AF issues and some of the shots it nailed were incredibly tough, sensor performance top notch and I shot in EXTREME backlight in some cases. Also flicked between APSC crop at times to get some more reach which was nice.

What a superb camera.
So your not gunna sell it?
 
Can you use it to shoot exposures longer than 30 seconds ?
Yes if you put the camera into bulb mode (ie manual and then make it longer than 30" so says bulb).

Then you hold down the remote button for approx 3 seconds and can then let go. The remote will then show long long the exposure has been going for. You then press the remote again to stop the exposure
 
Hi all i am looking at an ipad or ipad pro for travelling with. The main use for a tablet is to watch and consume movies offline, browse the net, maybe play a few games here and there and to also view raws and maybe make use of lightroom mobile.

My question is, can the ipad pro/normal one be able to connect to an external hdd or even an sd card reader?


cool i just saw. can you stream content through it thoug or do you have to transfer any videos across?

Also, is there also an adapter to connect the ipad pro to a hdmi connected hdTV for watching in full screen mode?

No, you can only copy images directly from it to the iPad. You can't stream from a directly connected storage media. Alternatively, if you want to stream video, you can use a wifi drive.

Same site (Apple)

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MD826ZM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter

Cool ok I do have a wd WiFi hdd I can use for that.also the review for the HDMI adapter is not great so maybe there are 3rd party ones I could use.


That's a really weird coincidence , I've just spent the last 2 hours comparing different systems and I've decided on the Ipad Pro 12.9 inch. I'm going to go to the nearest Apple store to try out the Lightroom Mobile capability although I've probably seen enough on Youtube to convince me. I shall then probably get one from Apple Refurb.

Just wanted to quote all of this and try and reply to bits of it as I've been using as 12.9" iPad Pro since January as basically my main editing device and went through a lot of pain with some of this!!

I wouldn’t rely too much on being able to connect other devices directly, for SD cards the Apple SD Card reader works well, you need to import the RAWs into Apple Photo’s and then import into Lightroom Mobile though (I then delete of “photos”), fairly quick to import though but something to consider when looking at which capacity you want to buy.

I also have the USB adapter however I’ve found that few of my USB peripherals actually work, most seem to require additional power (or a powered USB hub) to work, I tend to use it to plug in an Ethernet cable when uploading to the Adobe CC Cloud.

The HDMI adapter is pretty dire - I ended up buying an Apple TV for screen mirroring (and a whole lot more!) instead!!

File Management is a lot better than it used to be, I bought an app called FileBrowser for Business (£10 I think) which is just amazing, lets me share almost anything into various different apps / cloud, etc - it also works very nicely with my Western Digital Wireless Drive - this means I can open and stream movies straight from the Hard-Drive without relying on connecting it via USB/Lightening, etc - its also possible to import RAW files using a wireless drive, but again you need to go through the same process (import into a Photo’s album then into Lightroom).

I’ll maybe write up a guide to help folk as its been a lot of trial and error for me over the last few months.

Also along with Lightroom, spend the £20 on Affinity (or keep an eye out for an offer) - more than worth the money, its brilliant being able to do a but more involved editing on the move!!!
 
I am getting tired of everything being relative to Nikon, even as someone who owned a Nikon SLR for a loooong time and recently bought some primes I'm just getting sick of this with him and to be honest I couldn't wade through this review. If you want to here it is.

What are you talking about? He only mentions Nikon 22 times in the review.
 
He's not as objective as he could be. He clearly loves Nikon and goes into his reviews with that mindset. Reviews shouldn't be about cheap and snide sniping at both the camera, it's manufacturers and other reviewers.

I've noticed how when it's an area where the Nikon does have the edge he talks about them, but at other times when tearing into the Sonys on things like, focus peaking, evf, card slots, burst shooting and buffer, he often doesn't mention Nikon - the D750, for example, has two UHS-1 slots, fewer fps and an atrocious buffer, no EVF, terrible LV focusing and no focus peaking.
 
He's not as objective as he could be. He clearly loves Nikon and goes into his reviews with that mindset. Reviews shouldn't be about cheap and snide sniping at both the camera, it's manufacturers and other reviewers.

I've noticed how when it's an area where the Nikon does have the edge he talks about them, but at other times when tearing into the Sonys on things like, focus peaking, evf, card slots, burst shooting and buffer, he often doesn't mention Nikon - the D750, for example, has two UHS-1 slots, fewer fps and an atrocious buffer, no EVF, terrible LV focusing and no focus peaking.

Yup. If his site was called "The Great Nikon Love In" I wouldn't be whinging and as a former owner I'd probably happily read it. I somehow thought he'd retain some objectivity but I think that's too much to hope for as he does seem to be completely Nikon centric. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, it's my expectations that are off and I'll try and keep that in mind next time I visit his site.
 
He's not as objective as he could be. He clearly loves Nikon and goes into his reviews with that mindset. Reviews shouldn't be about cheap and snide sniping at both the camera, it's manufacturers and other reviewers.

I've noticed how when it's an area where the Nikon does have the edge he talks about them, but at other times when tearing into the Sonys on things like, focus peaking, evf, card slots, burst shooting and buffer, he often doesn't mention Nikon - the D750, for example, has two UHS-1 slots, fewer fps and an atrocious buffer, no EVF, terrible LV focusing and no focus peaking.

Thom Hogan has always struck me as a know it all with some sort of superiority complex. His website grinds my gears and I had forgot about him until there was a link to his "unbiased" A7III review lol

He writes as if hes the oracle and all knowing guru of cameras. Dishing out advice on what the companies need to do.

A Ken Rockwell of sorts lol
 
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Gave up on the iPad.price Vs amount of use Is what swayed me. Definitely been money pinching this year
I really needed to get it or at least something equal to it as now we have family living in the USA and soon to have grandchildren we will be spending quite a bit of time there. The thought of being there for weeks on end and not being able to process my shots would drive me crazy, the laptop I have weighs more than 3 times the Ipad!
I went into the Apple store in Kingston with the full intention of just looking and buying a refurb but lust got the better of me and I decided to buy a new one.

As often it was chaos in there but I eventually got the attention of a staff member, just about to start the conversation when some woman nearby started having a massive rant about if she bought her Ipad there then that store would set it up for her but if she bought it elsewhere then that shop would have to do it. She was going mental and was taking up the time of every available staff member. "Sod it I thought,I'll buy the refurb" and out I walked but I had to walk past John Lewis so I popped in there. End result, it was £50 cheaper and I got 2 years warranty instead of one year. Sorry about the long story:D
 
Thom Hogan has always struck me as a know it all with some sort of superiority complex. His website grinds my gears and I had forgot about him until there was a link to his "unbiased" A7III review lol

He writes as if hes the oracle and all knowing guru of cameras. Dishing out advice on what the companies need to do.

A Ken Rockwell of sorts lol

I've read bits and pieces on his site for a long time so I don't know what got to me today :D

I'd expect a review to contain some facts, figures and opinions and at the end a comparison to other kit, isn't that the way it's normally done? :D not the constant and repetitive use of Nikon as a reference point. I'll try and calm down :D

I look at Ken Rockwell's site now and again and I think he does some stuff quite well, for example his pieces on the Nikon primes are nice and helped me to make a decision. Here's one...

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/50mm-f2.htm

When he does stuff like that I think it's good and helpful :D
 
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I really needed to get it or at least something equal to it as now we have family living in the USA and soon to have grandchildren we will be spending quite a bit of time there. The thought of being there for weeks on end and not being able to process my shots would drive me crazy, the laptop I have weighs more than 3 times the Ipad!
I went into the Apple store in Kingston with the full intention of just looking and buying a refurb but lust got the better of me and I decided to buy a new one.

As often it was chaos in there but I eventually got the attention of a staff member, just about to start the conversation when some woman nearby started having a massive rant about if she bought her Ipad there then that store would set it up for her but if she bought it elsewhere then that shop would have to do it. She was going mental and was taking up the time of every available staff member. "Sod it I thought,I'll buy the refurb" and out I walked but I had to walk past John Lewis so I popped in there. End result, it was £50 cheaper and I got 2 years warranty instead of one year. Sorry about the long story:D
There are 13 inch notebooks I'd rather use. You cant do a full edit on the ipad Pro and you need to import all images first into the camera role..

The fille system is rubbish to say the least you'd need a 512 version of the ipad which costs same as a top end notebook
 
I have a Sony A9 and whilst I like it I think I would be better off with an A7R mk3. I've discussed a part exchange with my usual supplier and I would need to add about £470 to do the swap. I could afford that but if anyone can persuade me to stick with the A9 it would save me some money :). I mostly shoot still life and food, sometimes I shoot architecture. I certainly don't need 20 fps and would like a better tethering socket and USB 3 which the A7R mk3 would give me.
 
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