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| p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Wildlife photography using Sony E-mount system - Part II | |
Over a year ago, I posted this thread: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1453361/0, detailing a real life experience of shooting wildlife in Costa Rica using Sony A7r II and Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 Mark II. My general experience was very positive but the wildlife there was mostly semi-stationary and when in the air, it was mostly hovering near flowers, like hummingbirds. So, the setup didn't encounter much issues focusing.
More locally, the setup struggled to keep up with flying ospreys, owls and other fast flying birds in random flight pattern. I took the setup to Bosque del Apache in New Mexico last year and it worked decently. The sandhill cranes are fairly large and their flight pattern is more predictable, since it was mostly during landing and/or take off. Yet, the keeper rate was only decent. The closer the target flying towards you, the more the combo has to struggle.
Last summer, Sony introduced the A9 and GM 100-400mm lens. Sony loaned me that lens and after testing it for a week, I walked away very impressed. I ended up buying that lens and the A9  . That setup is great for what I needed it for. Most of the time, the lens, being only 400mm at long end, feels a little short. I do have a 1.4X TC and I used that combo a lot during the burrowing owl season between August-September. No problem in tracking the owls in flight and the keeper rate increased dramatically in that respect. In addition, being a FF format of 24MP, there is still plenty of room for cropping.
Yet, for semi stationary targets, similar to the situation in CR, I prefer my Canon long lens since, at f/2.8, it is faster, and its bokeh rendition is quite a bit smoother under the same condition compared to that of the zoom lens. So, that's when I started using that Canon lens on the A9. Needles to say, the AF of that camera is more responsive and actually, it is quite good when used in combo with Metabones. After getting more encouraged of using my Canon long lens on the A9, I took the setup to Bosque again just recently. So, this is more about the gear, setting and experience from that trip.
- Adapter: I used Metabones V and I used the green mode exclusively. The rear throat of the version V is larger and can adapt Sony FE tele converters. I had both and used FE 1.4X and FE 2X TCs in combination with the Canon 1.4X TC. That’s the main reason for me to upgrade from the IV to the V.
- Sony A9 setting: Aperture priority (mostly wide open or one-stop down), auto ISO (with selectable minimum shutter speed depending on circumstances) and AF mode set to continuous. I used the back button to trigger the AF. I had the silent shutter on all the time. Other photographers might think that I wasn’t taking pictures or just pointing my gear towards birds. The silent shutter makes you unaware on the number of images you actually take. I easily took double the typical number on this trip. This is my 6th or 7th trip to this location, BTW. Using an adapted lens, the maximum burst is limited to “only” 10fps, which was more than sufficient. In a few cases, I set it to only 5fps, mainly to lower the total number of files generated. In a few cases, when the target was locked on but still far away, I didn’t trigger the camera until it was more frame filling.
- Sony A9 AF mode: Previously, and more locally, I set the AF to Wide and let the camera choose the AF automatically. This method worked great if the surrounding area is fairly clean, especially the foreground since it picked up the closest, contrasty targets to the camera that have distinctive lines. But there, I noticed that what the AF system tended to pick up the foreground more while the main target was out-of-focus. I changed that to Selectable - Large and sometimes to just Center. As long as I could keep the main target within the “frame” of the AF area, it worked just fine. It was reassuring and it was sweet to see the flickering AF lights were locked on your target during a sequence of shots. And the no-black out viewfinders for this purpose is just sweet. You can clearly see what’s going on. If you have just a single target, then Lock-On AF worked just fine, too, BTW.
- Camera support: Tripod was used 100% of the time.
- A few random tips/tricks: since target or targets were far away, I set the focusing distance on the lens to prevent the lens from focusing to the minimum focusing distance. This minimizes the hunting or at least the hunting time. I did pre-focus the lens. In other words, if you sets the distance to be close to your target, it will find and AF on the target faster. I didn’t remember I had to do this using a Canon body but I remembered that it didn’t find the focus right away, especially if the lighting conditions were less than ideal and the target less contrasty. Since I do not have any Canon body anymore, I cannot compare the responsiveness between the two here. The target may be in perfect focus but it may still blurry due to the movement. So, a high enough shutter speed is necessary to freeze the flight. Depending on the size of the birds in the viewfinder and speed of the flight, the bare minimum is 1/250sec, preferably 1/500sec. In general, the higher the shutter speed, the better. That's where a slow lens shows its weakness.
In summary:
The notion that a mirror less system would not be "good" enough for wildlife is being challenged, at least party. That was my conclusion using the A7r II and now even more so with the A9. The closeup images of flying birds during the last trip to Bosque were spotty and I did get more environmental images previously or had more luck with flying birds at a distance. I would say that this setup is perfectly suitable for my next trip to Costa Rica next February. In my previous trip to Costa Rica, I did some “spray and pray” approach and now, I feel more confident with targeting and getting closer to the wildlife there. Knowing what your gear can do, you can push the ability of your gear to the limit, but adjust to the changing condition is the key.
That adapted lens focused swiftly and in 90% of the time, it was able to latch on the target as long as the target is within the AF frame. My confidence level has increased with the A9 setup. That much so that I would not hesitate to take it to Africa on safari or use it for strictly BIF purposes now. That’s a pretty bold statement, huh ? Of course, you supplement that with the GM 100-400mm lens for tricky conditions and something to fall back on as a safeguard.
I can imagine that folks will be asking the following questions and here are just a brief answer to those:
1. Is this as good as the Canon 1Dx II with the same Canon lens? No, I would say it is close but not there yet. Not until Sony introduces a native long FE lens. Currently, the adapted lens setup is still lagging behind although both the new FW of the A9 and the latest Metabones FW are closing the gap.
2. How good is the AF performance of new A7r III compared to the A9? I don’t know the answer to this. I broke down and bought the A7r III and I haven’t tried the setup on that body. Frankly, I am not sure whether I would use that camera for wildlife, at least right now.
3. How is the Metabones V compared to the Sigma MC-11? I am not endorsing Metabones, just from my own experience, I prefer Metabones since I can use it only in the green mode that takes advantage of the PDAF of the A9. In addition, I can mount a Sony FE tele converter in the rear of the Metabones V to increase the effective focal length of any lens you mount in the front of the adapter.
Thank you for reading this long post and please feel free to ask any questions.
Joshua
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