p.8 #1 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Re: pixel shift vs longer focal length stitching [and downsizing]. In my experience with pixel shift on Pentax, enhancement is mainly to high frequency detail with a reduction in shadow noise for an increase in DR. Shooting with a longer focal length, stitching and downsizing seems to improve contrast at all frequencies high and low (to my eye). You can also benefit there from the more uniform sharpness across the field of many telephoto vs typical wideangle.
p.8 #2 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
You really should be shooting on a tripod anyway if you are trying to actually utilize MP that are in that realm.
You don't need a tripod for sharp images if you have steady hands, reasonable shutter speed for lens focal length, and EFCS.
I used a tripod for years, but I found through my own testing that it is not needed most of the time.
I like to experiment with a lot of different compositions and ideas, and setting up a tripod for all of that would destroy my ability to work that way.
I do use a tripod when I have to deal with long shutter speeds.
p.8 #4 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Isn't a new 5DS replacement on the horizon? I assumed they would release it at the NY show this week.
eyal.ma wrote:
I have been holding on upgrading my 5D3 since the 5D4 felt like a side upgrade than a bigger upgrade.
The only think I bought in the last couple of years, was a A6500 while I was in NYC a few months ago. With the sigma adapter, it has been doing great as my every day body now.
With this big upgrade for the ArIII, faster capture, 2 cards, professional focus, I can finally consider starting my upgrade away from canon.
To be honest, I'm not very shocked. I knew something like this was coming.
I was just hoping that canon will release something to rival it. But canon feels like dragging their feet around.
I love canon glass, but in the last 3 years, their bodies have been meh. So sony finally releasing amazing bodies was just a matter of time, but definitely not a surprise.
The bigger surprise is canon's body lineup not having any answer....Show more →
p.8 #5 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Chris_88 wrote:
The big question for me is how much heavy lifting is needed for that 400 2.8 financially and in terms of pumping iron .
If the a7riii and the lens weigh as much as a D500/7D2 class camera and a 500 FL/500 USM II, then it would be a handholdable combo for me.
42 MP basically works like an in-built 1.4x TC, meaning that this 400 2.8 with a 1.4x TC and some cropping (down to 18 or 20 MP) would give me the equivalent of 800mm FL, while being only at f4.
18MP would get you 1.5x crop factor, so 600mm with the 400mm lens.
p.8 #6 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
taemo wrote:
what's Sony camera life-cycle versus versus Canon or Nikon?
are these upgrades life changing that will make your pictures better?
ultimately it's the photographers vision that will make a photo good, not the camera.
Except in those situations, which some of us actually encounter, where the technical limitations of a camera limit or preclude getting the shot we want. The "it's the photographer not the camera" mantra is certainly true in many cases, but it gets tired when trotted out with every new camera/lens release.
p.8 #7 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Why would they remove PlayMemories? That is such a great feature. I use that often as an excellent remote and back up to tethering in certain situations. Is there an alternative to it?
Edit - I just read all the specs on the Sony website and they list PlayMemories as included with all the apps. wifi-, smartphone etc. Where did you read that PlayMemories was not available on this camera?
Vcize wrote:
I know I'll be called ungrateful but this is rather disappointing as a landscape shooter. I can see the draw for people shooting more moving subjects but there seems like a lot of overlap there with the A9. Do wedding shooters want 42mp?
Remember these announcements are usually pie in the sky and then as reviews really solidify we typically find that a lot of the promises are under delivered. For instance I'm guessing "A9 AF" means they used some similar algorithms but in practice with the hardware and sensors involved the AF will be well behind the A9's.
I'm guessing same sensor means same long exposure noise issues? And if so more star eater algorithm. If I'm wrong on this that would be one big advancement I could get behind, but with Sony's poor direction in firmware already being semi-confirmed in other annoying areas I am not optimistic.
Still drops to 12 bit in lots of instances. One less instance, which is nice, but still way too many. No lossless compressed.
Whereas play memories could be a real game-changer if they opened it up a la a user-developed app store, instead we are going backwards and eliminating it entirely. Very very disappointing as a landscape shooter.
No mention of touchless shutter, which is actually really useful for landscape shooters. I'm guessing with play memories being dropped it's gone completely now. Just another half finished idea from Sony that could have been great if they'd put the last 5% of work in, instead of getting it 95% done and then abandoning it.
In this respect, a half finished version of pixel shift that is 5 times the PITA as the versions that have been on the market for years is unsurprising. As someone above mentioned if you have to take separate raw files into software anyway it's not that different from shooting a longer FL and stitching, which probably handles moving leaves and water better than pixel shift anyway.
Any word on the processor? A7r2 is incredibly laggy compared to DSLRs. Would be a big win if this thing lets you move around the menus faster and doesn't those couple second hang-ups regularly.
Bottom line is software is really the direction where I wanted to see Sony improve, and they seem to be only going backwards even further there. No real improvements on the software front, and elimination of playmemories which was useful as a landscape photog (though it, like everything else software driven by Sony, needed improvements).
Great hardware, mind-numbingly dumb software. Par for the course with Sony. I was really hoping the next camera would fix a lot of these issues instead of exacerbating them and I could put those Canon/Nikon mirrorless announcements we all know are coming on ignore because I really really love Sony's lens lineup. But looks like I'll still end up where I was before, if they can deliver on hardware/lenses without the horrible software "quirks" that Sony makes us endure, I'll have to pay attention....Show more →
p.8 #8 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
To the people who feels a bit under whelmed by the specs of the A7rIII : Did you expect a camera performing exactly like the A9 but with a 42mp. sensor and costing much less ?. Who would buy an A9 then ?. Speed wise, the A7rIII seems to sit in-between the A7rII and A9. Price is like the A7rII when first released, so this is reasonable.
Now let’s move along, folks. The new questions are when/if Sony will release the A9r, A7III, A7sIII, A7rIV...
As a side note, long fast teles seem to be still far ahead. No 135/2 at all. Maybe that 400/2.8 will be ready for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and a few more of them for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Oct 25, 2017 at 10:25 AM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.8 #9 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
From the other thread here is my take:
This is a very nice upgrade, but let's keep what they accomplished in perspective. The major advantage is better AF, shooting speed, and likely the operating speed of the camera. I think this was important as the 7r series has moved to be a very competitive jack of all trades professional and advanced hobbyist camera. So, in evaluating the camera we will need to know how good the AF actually is. That we won't know for a month or so as people put it through the paces. We also have to know how nimble and quick the operating speed of the camera is. That we will know pretty quickly. In addition, to these advances in speed of the AF and operation of the camera, they also added a number of things that people wanted; dual card slots, a bigger battery, better IBIS, pixel shift for higher resolution with static subjects, a better EVF, looks like a bit better sealing, better video including slog3, and something about increasing the DR to 15 stops (but I still don't quite understand what this claim is based upon). Those are important improvements as well. So, I think this is a great upgrade; incremental but they did address most of the major issues people had with the camera. Not everything, however; I am sure people will still be disappointed that there isn't lossless RAW, and it doesn't look like they have addressed issue with astro shooting either.
Still to keep it real, we need to understand how this camera is different from the A9 and it is I believe in important ways. Here are some of the important ways: 1) the A7r III is clearly designed to be primarily used with a mechanical shutter (at least in EFC mode), whereas the A9 is clearly designed to be primarily used with an electronic shutter. Sure the A7r III will be able to shoot silently, but we can bet that sensor read out will not be faster than 1/50 (which is still much faster than the A7r II) whereas the A9 has a sensor read out of 1/150 as measured by Jim Kasson. That means the silent shutter for the A7r III will have a lot of rolling shutter effect whereas the silent shutter for the A9 has basically none. 2) I will be very surprised in the A7r III actually has zero VF blackout. I expect it will be shorter than the A7r II, but I expect there will still be some black out. The A9 of course has zero view finder blackout. 3) It is becoming more obvious that the claim at SAR that the A7r III has the A9 autofocus was a vague and largely inaccurate claim. I am sure the A7r III will have much improved AF over the A7r II, but I will be very surprised if it is close to the A9. I actually expect it will be about halfway in between the A7rII and the A9, which is still pretty damn good. We already know for example that the A7r III has fewer AF points than the A9, and I think, not surprisingly with the fewer points, the AF also covers less of frame. Next I bet we will learn it isn't quite as fast especially in tracking.
What I think that means is that if you have an A9, I wouldn't be selling it just yet. I don't think the only advantages of the A9 will be that it shoots at 20 fps instead of 10. I think for many types of shooting it will be superior to the A7r III, especially when AF is especially challenging and when you want to shoot a bunch in silent mode. I think the experience of shooting the A9 will also be snappier and the zero blackout will still be a great experience.
p.8 #10 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Justin Stone wrote:
Seems like they left the door wide open for an a9r megapixel monster. By repeating the sensor density, they are signaling that something else could be coming.
I just can't see it - Sony's strength lies in speed - moving large amounts of data off sensor very quickly. When it comes to 35mm full frame cameras they have never been the leader in terms of resolution (A7R followed the D800, A7RII followed the 5Ds). I don't think they have much of a desire to release a megapixel monster unless the competition forces them to as they wouldn't be able to push the boundaries on shooting/AF speed. The A9 is the pro line, but now they are including dual card slots and the bigger battery the only thing differentiating the A9 is speed.
Oct 25, 2017 at 10:29 AM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.8 #11 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
stevesanacore wrote:
Why would they remove PlayMemories? That is such a great feature. I use that often as an excellent remote and back up to tethering in certain situations. Is there an alternative to it?
They most certainly are not removing play memories. I think there will just be a new version. Play memories in mentioned many times in the spec page. See here:
p.8 #12 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Steve Spencer wrote:
They most certainly are not removing play memories. I think there will just be a new version. Play memories in mentioned many times in the spec page. See here:
p.8 #13 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Steve Spencer wrote:
They most certainly are not removing play memories. I think there will just be a new version. Play memories in mentioned many times in the spec page. See here:
p.8 #14 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
drewmey wrote:
Wants more resolution but hates to use a tripod....
You do realize that in order to really find that additional resolution noticeable, you are going to either use a tripod or start shooting at a loooot faster shutter speeds when hand held? In other words either increasing your ISO or only shooting in really bright conditions. You really should be shooting on a tripod anyway if you are trying to actually utilize MP that are in that realm.
Not really. I've just come back from a trip where I intentionally left the tripod at home. I shot some images at 1/10s at 55mm without noticeable camera shake. It's just a matter of good technique and IBIS. I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to keep to the 1/fl rule with a higher resolution (say 60-80MP) sensor when combined with a 5 stop IBIS system. You might get some artifacts with wide lenses from the IBIS, but then the shutter speed requirements are even lower.
1/fl takes you well beyond "really bright conditions" only for landscape usage.
p.8 #15 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Steve Spencer wrote:
They most certainly are not removing play memories. I think there will just be a new version. Play memories in mentioned many times in the spec page. See here:
p.8 #16 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
Playmemories Home is mentioned.
Playmemories Mobile is mentioned.
But in the spec page '-' is listed for use with the Playmemories apps
in question such as Timelapse, Smooth-Reflections, etc.
Same with the a9 and the RX10iv.
I would not get my hopes up.
A co-worker in the hospital who uses an A7Rii and HATES fiddling with filters saw the
release specs on the Riii said 'not interested if no apps'...I knew this was linked to his
avoidance of filters.
The only hope is smartphone implementation of this like timelapse I'm afraid.
I wasn't surprised on my a9 but the RX10iv that came last week did take me back thinking
apps have consumer level written all over them and that the RX10iv would be something the
smartphone users could relate to.
p.8 #17 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
I must say I am pretty impressed with this upgrade. Subject to real life review of the AF (for sports, BIF), I may get one in a couple months. I was really hoping it would have the focus stacking feature though...
p.8 #18 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
For me one of the most important bullet point in the Sony promo video was "Skin tone and texture reproduction significantly improved". I owned A7rII twice and even though I learned to live with its snail like functionality I just couldn't get over how bad skin tones it produced OOC. I really hope that Sony has address that issue.
As for the other specs, it definitely looks like a minor but much needed upgrades and with Sony keeping the price competitive I'm sure it will sell well.
Now who is ready to sell me their A9 for under $3K ?
p.8 #19 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
jhinkey wrote:
Except in those situations, which some of us actually encounter, where the technical limitations of a camera limit or preclude getting the shot we want. The "it's the photographer not the camera" mantra is certainly true in many cases, but it gets tired when trotted out with every new camera/lens release.
not disagreeing with you on that, and definitely if there's some technical limitations with the current cameras that have been resolved with the new one for you.then it is worth it.
just that a majority of enthusiasts just buys the latest and greatest out there expecting that their photos will turn out award winning images.
technically they might but artistically it still depends on the photographer
p.8 #20 · Pre-orders open! Sony A7R III and FE 24-105mm f/4 OSS lens!
I hope there's no banding with silent shutter. I use my A7rii on silent all the time but always have to remember to use 1/60 for indoor lighting to avoid banding, or switch to mechanical. I really think silent shutter is the future.
.