p.123 #1 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Ronny Olsson wrote:
Great shot Geoff !
Thanks, I shot that through a thick, old sliding glass door because as soon as I tried to slowly open it, it bolted. I was actually impressed with the IQ shooting through that thick glass.
p.123 #6 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
I need to get around to around 2400mm for shooting the moon. Using the 200-600mm 5.6-6.3 G OSS only on a A7R II, will I do better cropping to 4x digital zoom, which means the final moon images would have 42.4/(4^2)=2.65MP resolution with option to use F/6.3 and faster shutter speed, lower ISO.
Or is better to use the 200-600mm with the FE 2x teleconverter, and digitally crop to 2x, which will result in 42.4/(2^2)=10.6MP images, but limited to F/13, and because of that slower shutter and/or higher ISO.
Aug 02, 2020 at 06:06 AM
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p.123 #7 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Jpeg and clear zoom or digital zoom would give alot of artifacts compared to Raw.
I have found that using large spot metering, uncompressed raw and 18mp mode on my A7RIII+1.4 TC (if frame was filled more with the moon FF mode would be better), stopping down to F11 with Teleconverter were the lens will be a bit sharper than wide open, then crop the pic closer in processing, and minimal sharpening and denoising in Topaz, has given me the best results so far.
This a hand held one before dark on Flicker, that I posted here a while back. Tripod would be better.
Igor Sotelo wrote:
I need to get around to around 2400mm for shooting the moon. Using the 200-600mm 5.6-6.3 G OSS only on a A7R II, will I do better cropping to 4x digital zoom, which means the final moon images would have 42.4/(4^2)=2.65MP resolution with option to use F/6.3 and faster shutter speed, lower ISO.
Or is better to use the 200-600mm with the FE 2x teleconverter, and digitally crop to 2x, which will result in 42.4/(2^2)=10.6MP images, but limited to F/13, and because of that slower shutter and/or higher ISO.
Aug 02, 2020 at 06:51 AM
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p.123 #8 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
p.123 #10 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Taken on a raft.. tried to line up this shot a few times as I was floating by. Finally got only 2 frames with the bird where I wanted it. Can't imagine trying this w/o the 20fps..
p.123 #14 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 1:40 PM.
Looking at an American Coot.
Heavily cropped, tripod mounted 200-600mm G set to 600mm and A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 200, f8.0, 1/800 second.
Exposure corrected +0.10 Stops.
January 2, 2020
Along Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL.
p.123 #15 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Got the A9ii + 200-600 a few days ago, its very different to what I'm used to (D850 200-500 ). Decided to get the Sony set up first ,I'm thinking of getting the 500mm PF a little later to go with my D850, thank you to Geoff for the advice
p.123 #16 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Rehype wrote:
Awesome shots arbitrage! What settings did you use for the BIF shots? And what was your overall experience with the new settings?
The main things I did different than in the past was to use OSS OFF or OSS 3. I figured out awhile ago that the OSS setting makes the biggest difference. OSS 1 is terrible with this combo but ironically I use OSS 1 all the time on the A9II and all the time on both bodies with my 100-400 and 600GM.
The other notable change I did this time was stop down to f/8 and f/11 (with 1.4TC). I put my TS on 3. I used to use 5 and then used 1 for awhile because I use 1 all the time on the A9/A9II. I just decided to try default of 3 this time. I'm not sure if the TS makes much difference.
I also used ES for everything but the flight.
I also find focus is best on the first one or two shots and even though I used 10FPS mode I'd try and just do single shots of the perched birds. Also for the BIFs I mostly did just 3-4 shot bursts, paused, and then another short burst. With the A9 you can just hammer down at 20FPS as long as you like and consistency is maintained, with the RIV you lose focus after a few shots and long bursts are hopeless. That may have to do with the laggy EVF and me not keeping up properly and/or with the slower AF calculations which eventually lose the subject.
I still think stopping down and OSS settings make the biggest difference in turning this combination into an effective tool for birding.
As for the flight, the mallard, KF and PF all had very consistent hit rates...this is something I've never seen before although I hadn't done much flight after figuring out the OSS settings months ago. The swallow hit rate was very low but there was heat waves and really two days before I shot the same location, same conditions with the A9II and it didn't do much better.
Aug 03, 2020 at 08:02 AM
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p.123 #17 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
Maybe similar to what I found with my A7RIII+TC 1.4, were stopping down helps with getting all in focus with such a narrow depth of field.
arbitrage wrote:
The main things I did different than in the past was to use OSS OFF or OSS 3. I figured out awhile ago that the OSS setting makes the biggest difference. OSS 1 is terrible with this combo but ironically I use OSS 1 all the time on the A9II and all the time on both bodies with my 100-400 and 600GM.
The other notable change I did this time was stop down to f/8 and f/11 (with 1.4TC). I put my TS on 3. I used to use 5 and then used 1 for awhile because I use 1 all the time on the A9/A9II. I just decided to try default of 3 this time. I'm not sure if the TS makes much difference.
I also used ES for everything but the flight.
I also find focus is best on the first one or two shots and even though I used 10FPS mode I'd try and just do single shots of the perched birds. Also for the BIFs I mostly did just 3-4 shot bursts, paused, and then another short burst. With the A9 you can just hammer down at 20FPS as long as you like and consistency is maintained, with the RIV you lose focus after a few shots and long bursts are hopeless. That may have to do with the laggy EVF and me not keeping up properly and/or with the slower AF calculations which eventually lose the subject.
I still think stopping down and OSS settings make the biggest difference in turning this combination into an effective tool for birding.
As for the flight, the mallard, KF and PF all had very consistent hit rates...this is something I've never seen before although I hadn't done much flight after figuring out the OSS settings months ago. The swallow hit rate was very low but there was heat waves and really two days before I shot the same location, same conditions with the A9II and it didn't do much better....Show more →
Aug 03, 2020 at 09:46 AM
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p.123 #18 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
p.123 #19 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
BIF is hard!! This is from my very first outing with the A9 after trading in the A7iii. There is a spot along a river where cedar waxwings and various swallows catch flies above the river. It takes them about 2-3 seconds to cross the river, so after they launch from a tree, I have 1 second to pick them up with a clean background, about 0.5 second to lock focus, and then about 1 second to try a burst. A lot of empty frames, as I am not so good at keeping them in frame while they loop and lunge for flies. Reminds me of my extremely failed attempts at skeet shooting decades ago as a teenager. I need to match their flight better - any tricks to doing so would be appreciated! Sometimes the waxwings come right up to the bridge so I could get a closer shot, but the angle of their approach has a busy background of trees and I can't seem to lock focus (no surprise there). Anyway, this is a very tight crop of two waxwings catching flies. They are so much easier to shoot when they eat berries on a tree!
p.123 #20 · Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G Image Thread
photonoclast wrote:
BIF is hard!! This is from my very first outing with the A9 after trading in the A7iii. There is a spot along a river where cedar waxwings and various swallows catch flies above the river. It takes them about 2-3 seconds to cross the river, so after they launch from a tree, I have 1 second to pick them up with a clean background, about 0.5 second to lock focus, and then about 1 second to try a burst. A lot of empty frames, as I am not so good at keeping them in frame while they loop and lunge for flies. Reminds me of my extremely failed attempts at skeet shooting decades ago as a teenager. I need to match their flight better - any tricks to doing so would be appreciated! Sometimes the waxwings come right up to the bridge so I could get a closer shot, but the angle of their approach has a busy background of trees and I can't seem to lock focus (no surprise there). Anyway, this is a very tight crop of two waxwings catching flies. They are so much easier to shoot when they eat berries on a tree!...Show more →
Still a great shot! Highly recommend watching Mark Smiths videos on Youtube. Even though he now shoots with the A7RIV and 600mm f4. There is a video out there with the A9 and 200-600. He also has a setup video for BIF's on the A9 and A7RIV.
