The short version of the story ... After selling all of my Nikon gear, this was my first outing with my A1 and 600mm F4. It was mainly a testing and learning adventure, and this Northern Harrier treated me to a quick fly-by. I'm liking what I see so far!
For those of you who have been using this lens longer than I have (a day), do you follow Sony's instructions for SteadyShot modes or have you developed your own sense of what works best in certain situations?
• MODE1: Compensate for normal camera shake.
• MODE2: Compensate for camera shake when panning moving subjects.
• MODE3: Compensate for camera shake to minimize framing disturbances. This helps you to keep up with fast and irregularly moving subjects for photography, for example, in sports games.
How about this statement?
"We recommend setting the SteadyShot switch to OFF when shooting with a tripod."
Do you follow that religiously, or are there situations where you use SteadyShot while on a tripod?
What do you do when you're panning action on a gimbal head?
How much of your decision-making process is shutter speed dependent?
mmm55 wrote:
For those of you who have been using this lens longer than I have (a day), do you follow Sony's instructions for SteadyShot modes or have you developed your own sense of what works best in certain situations?
• MODE1: Compensate for normal camera shake.
• MODE2: Compensate for camera shake when panning moving subjects.
• MODE3: Compensate for camera shake to minimize framing disturbances. This helps you to keep up with fast and irregularly moving subjects for photography, for example, in sports games.
How about this statement?
"We recommend setting the SteadyShot switch to OFF when shooting with a tripod."
Do you follow that religiously, or are there situations where you use SteadyShot while on a tripod?
What do you do when you're panning action on a gimbal head?
How much of your decision-making process is shutter speed dependent?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can share....Show more →
Congrats on your new A1 and 600mm GM, Mike!
Frankly, I couldn’t detect much of a difference, if any, between the modes. But since most of the time, I am shooting targets that show some movement, and I use my setup to follow that movement, I set mine either on mode 2 or mode 3.
For sure, I have the SteadyShot on 100% of the time, whether handheld, on monopod (with harness support) or on tripod. I use my gimbal head if on tripod. That statement is more from yesteryear when the OSS/IS was in its infancy; the current crop can detect that and adjust automatically. Let me rephrase that, I have not seen any ill effect of that feature being on even if used on a tripod for static shots.
mmm55 wrote:
The short version of the story ... After selling all of my Nikon gear, this was my first outing with my A1 and 600mm F4. It was mainly a testing and learning adventure, and this Northern Harrier treated me to a quick fly-by. I'm liking what I see so far!
Congrats on this super combo. I may be follwing you next year: selling all my Nikon gear and going for the 600GM, for use on my new A7RIVA in my case (I don't really need the A1's top performance for my intended uses and expect the A7RIVA to be enough for me).
Only one thing can hold me back though: the coming Nikon 800mm f6.3PF. It will be one of those though, I decided to stop compromising on lenses and get one single lens that can do it all, and do it well.
Your new lens certainly is such a lens!
ChrisMak wrote:
Congrats on this super combo. I may be follwing you next year: selling all my Nikon gear and going for the 600GM, for use on my new A7RIVA in my case (I don't really need the A1's top performance for my intended uses and expect the A7RIVA to be enough for me).
Only one thing can hold me back though: the coming Nikon 800mm f6.3PF. It will be one of those though, I decided to stop compromising on lenses and get one single lens that can do it all, and do it well.
Your new lens certainly is such a lens!
The 600 GM can get you to 840mm at f5.6, the Nikon 800 f6.3 can't get you to 600 f4. Of course there is the weight and cost difference. In terms of weight, I hand hold the 600 GM most of the times. I can't hold it up at eye level more than several minutes, but I can carry it around all day, it's very manageable.
Douglas L wrote:
The 600 GM can get you to 840mm at f5.6, the Nikon 800 f6.3 can't get you to 600 f4. Of course there is the weight and cost difference. In terms of weight, I hand hold the 600 GM most of the times. I can't hold it up at eye level more than several minutes, but I can carry it around all day, it's very manageable.
Douglas, IMHO the best way to manage carrying around the 600 GM all day long is to balance yourself out by carrying a 400 GM in the other hand 😎
mitesh wrote:
Douglas, IMHO the best way to manage carrying around the 600 GM all day long is to balance yourself out by carrying a 400 GM in the other hand 😎
Maybe I should try holding the 400 f2.8 to my left eye and the 600 GM to my right eye, even better balance
Douglas L wrote:
The 600 GM can get you to 840mm at f5.6, the Nikon 800 f6.3 can't get you to 600 f4. Of course there is the weight and cost difference. In terms of weight, I hand hold the 600 GM most of the times. I can't hold it up at eye level more than several minutes, but I can carry it around all day, it's very manageable.
True about the aperture, the 600GM can do early morning and twilight better too.
About the weight: the A1 (or A7RIV) give you the option to leave off the battery grip, should you want to. That saves you a whopping 600 grams compared with the Nikon Z9. That should more than make up for any possible lower weight of the 800PF.
AGeoJO wrote:
Congrats on your new A1 and 600mm GM, Mike!
Frankly, I couldn’t detect much of a difference, if any, between the modes. But since most of the time, I am shooting targets that show some movement, and I use my setup to follow that movement, I set mine either on mode 2 or mode 3.
For sure, I have the SteadyShot on 100% of the time, whether handheld, on monopod (with harness support) or on tripod. I use my gimbal head if on tripod. That statement is more from yesteryear when the OSS/IS was in its infancy; the current crop can detect that and adjust automatically. Let me rephrase that, I have not seen any ill effect of that feature being on even if used on a tripod for static shots. ...Show more →
Thanks, Chris. What finally pushed me over the edge (besides seeing what amazing work the guys in this forum can do) was the size of the Z9. That was like a slap in the head to wake me up!
ChrisMak wrote:
Congrats on this super combo. I may be follwing you next year: selling all my Nikon gear and going for the 600GM, for use on my new A7RIVA in my case (I don't really need the A1's top performance for my intended uses and expect the A7RIVA to be enough for me).
Only one thing can hold me back though: the coming Nikon 800mm f6.3PF. It will be one of those though, I decided to stop compromising on lenses and get one single lens that can do it all, and do it well.
Your new lens certainly is such a lens!
ChrisMak wrote:
True about the aperture, the 600GM can do early morning and twilight better too.
About the weight: the A1 (or A7RIV) give you the option to leave off the battery grip, should you want to. That saves you a whopping 600 grams compared with the Nikon Z9. That should more than make up for any possible lower weight of the 800PF.
Some people like the built-in grip, some don't. I belong to the later camp. I use my cameras for birds, travel, landscape, city, everything. I can't imagine I would ever want to hug a heavy camera around for occasions when the grip serves no purpose. Even when shooting birds with the 600 GM, I just use an RRS base plate, really comfortable to hold the camera.
Douglas L wrote:
Some people like the built-in grip, some don't. I belong to the later camp. I use my cameras for birds, travel, landscape, city, everything. I can't imagine I would ever want to hug a heavy camera around for occasions when the grip serves no purpose. Even when shooting birds with the 600 GM, I just use an RRS base plate, really comfortable to hold the camera.
I also fit into that camp, I used the Z7 with a similar Meike grip extender, and it was perfect. I also don't mind to swap a battery now and then...
. Of course there is the weight and cost difference. In terms of weight, I hand hold the 600 GM most of the times. I can't hold it up at eye level more than several minutes, but I can carry it around all day, it's very manageable.
