AGeoJO wrote:
Yes, him being there out of 10 people definitely threw off the percentage .
You brought up Tamron and Sigma 150-600mm users and that's the market segment Sony is targeting with the G 200-600mm. They know that the majority of the weekend bird shooters use either of those lenses and some of them as a leftover from the Canon days with an adapter. They priced that lens just slightly more than those and those folks can sell the adapter and get the native AF performance. That's an enormous deal! The native AF performance makes a huge difference.
Two or 3 years ago, I tried Nikon D500 and a 200-500mm lens for my birding while I used Sony for the rest. It wasn't what I was looking for AF-wise. I sold both after a month of trying. Earlier this year, I bought a Nikon 500mm PF lens and a D850. I thought I would try a body with a native lens for a change since I was adapting a lens with mixed results. While the lens is great and light but I don't think I could go back to a DSLR again. I sold that lens to Fred Amico, another shooting buddy and he is happy with it on his D500. I kept on using both Canon 600mm f/4 Mark II and 400mm f/4 DO Mark II on my A9 for birding. I pre-ordered both the G 200-600mm and GM 600mm and after I received both Sony lenses, I sold both Canon lenses.
I am not sure whether you already sold your long Canon lenses or not but their prices have tanked lately. I am sure it is in direct relation to the Sony's acceptance among bird/wildlife shooters after those 2 long lenses became available. ...Show more →
Well, I haven't received my Sony lens yet but from what I hear and read, it's sharper wide open at 600mm than the Tamron or Sigma. I have the Nikon 200-500mm, but haven't used it after I got the PF. Probably selling it soon, esp. since the zoom throw on that lens is too long.
I'm not sure which way I will go. I do like the D500 much better as a body than the Sony A-series. I really have no clue which way I will go until I see how I like the Sony lens and what both Nikon and Sony will offer in upcoming bodies (not to forget if Olympus ever gets its CAF act together).
I'm painfully aware the Canon prices have fallen. I think it's not just related to the Sony lens, but rather to the abundance of used 600mm II lenses on the market, which makes it hard to price the 500mm (while still the latest in that focal length) as expensive as the used 600mm. And the 600mm are on the market because people move up to the new and lighter 600mm III. With the used prices on the Canon 600mm I almost decided to stay with Canon and go 100mm longer at f/4. In the end, I think the DSLR days are ending, I don't want to spend a fortune for one stop and I don't like what I see in terms of Canon's FF mirrorless offerings.
arbitrage wrote:
Sony is slowly increasing in my area. I also know some dual/triple system shooters
I also know some that are very close to moving over. One waiting to see what 1DXIII brings vs A9II.
I think once the D6 and 1DXIII are announced people will have a very clear picture of the next 4 years and make their decisions. I predict a lot more Sony bird/wildlife shooters now that 400/600GM and the 200-600/100-400 are available. If they also release the patented 500GM it will open the floodgates even more.
In the German wedding industry Sony is growing clearly. We know many many Sony shooters now (we were among the first using Sony for weddings), get regular emails and PNs for people with questions and wanting to switch. My wife makes Instagram polls in her stories asking about the number of Sony users, regularly. In two years from almost nothing to around 30% (10k participants, mostly pro shooters) and growing every month. Even some of the bigger wedding "businesses" now switched to Sony.
Holger wrote:
In the German wedding industry Sony is growing clearly. We know many many Sony shooters now (we were among the first using Sony for weddings), get regular emails and PNs for people with questions and wanting to switch. My wife makes Instagram polls in her stories asking about the number of Sony users, regularly. In two years from almost nothing to around 30% (10k participants, mostly pro shooters) and growing every month. Even some of the bigger wedding "businesses" now switched to Sony.
Interesting numbers. Particularly about 30% growth in the professional category. Given the explosive growth we keep hearing about, but too many online try to tell Sony is spinning the numbers...this certainly aligns with the financial reports we are seeing.
As Sony improves the Menu one-touch screen issues, connectivity speed/instability, GPS, notation voice recording and limitations dictated when the buffer is writing to the card, the move to Sony will continue.
bwcolor wrote:
As Sony improves the Menu one-touch screen issues, connectivity speed/instability, GPS, notation voice recording and limitations dictated when the buffer is writing to the card, the move to Sony will continue.
Has there been any indication of them expressing intent to improve these things?
I don't know how much it can be reliable but...... an employee in a Sony shop here in Dubai told me he heard that the new a9 II will have TWO sensors.... maybe not true but intriguing in any case
Alf70 wrote:
I don't know how much it can be reliable but...... an employee in a Sony shop here in Dubai told me he heard that the new a9 II will have TWO sensors.... maybe not true but intriguing in any case
Couple of questions, if I may, for folks that follow the Sony system for prolonged time.
Coming from the Canon world, that lacks major firmware updates, can one assume that recent A9 firmware update will delay A9II announcement/availability?
If there are no delays, what is the average availability of the new cameras after the announcement? Quick search shows that A7R IV was announced in mid July and preorders started to ship in early September? Can one assume that the similar timeframe will be true for A9II?
kosin wrote:
Couple of questions, if I may, for folks that follow the Sony system for prolonged time.
Coming from the Canon world, that lacks major firmware updates, can one assume that recent A9 firmware update will delay A9II announcement/availability?
If there are no delays, what is the average availability of the new cameras after the announcement? Quick search shows that A7R IV was announced in mid June and preorders started to ship in early September? Can one assume that the similar timeframe will be true for A9II?
Thanks in advance!
A small correction: Sony A7RIV was announced in July, not in June. I would estimate about a couple of months from announcement to delivery, if you pre-order early enough. The more expensive the camera is the less demand will have, so availability shouldn't be a major issue. Unless Sony underestimates the demand.
- 36mp sensor
- A9 AF, a bit refined (maybe 120 calculations per second instead of 60)
- same buffer
- 14-bit file in burst/af-c
- uncompressed RAW
- lighter AA filter (or no filter at all, but I doubt this)
- A7RIV-like body
- improved touch screen
- improved ISO under 640 (+1ev)
- Anti-flicker
No global shutter
Let's see how many points I'll take...
(some people assure me that Sony's seniors smiles are indicating a really strong product is coming... but I wait and see)
randomguy wrote:
I'll believe it when I see it... How many released today/tomorrow/in two days and so on did he have with the R4?
Zero...R4 was a mystery till Nokoshita found the product page ahead of publication.....guess what, Nokishita tweeted that they have found the A9II product page and yesterday had found an unpublished news article about the A9II announcement.
Nokishita also found these types of pages for the 200-600 and 600GM right before announcement....I think it will come today....my preorder is in regardless.
I just really hope it does hit the 36MP number which would keep me from lusting after an A7RIV also. If it comes in at 30 then I may have to entertain the RIV in addition.
If there are indeed autofocus improvements I can't wait to see what they are, the a9 is already kind of black magic as it stands. Hopefully more than just keeping up with whatever the new sensor size is.
johnvanr wrote:
Not my experience here. I see a few Sony’s, but the majority are still Canon and Nikon shooters, about evenly divided. Still a change. A year ago Sony was even more rare.
I have never ever seen a Sony shooter out in the wilds in Australia shooting birds or wildlife, other than myself. The few people out shooting with serious kit are invariably Canon or Nikon. Even at the zoos I've never noticed a Sony mirrorless and I do always check out people with big glass. I have a foot in each camp, I alternate between Nikon and Sony.
buffalowolff wrote:
If there are indeed autofocus improvements I can't wait to see what they are, the a9 is already kind of black magic as it stands. Hopefully more than just keeping up with whatever the new sensor size is.
A big start would be x-type phase sensors, improvements in backlight and a big increase of AF calculations/s. If this thing does shoot at 20fps+ @ 36MP, it would need to work at least 50% faster than now which is currently 60 calculations/s. I wouldn't be surprised to see it do higher than 20fps as all of the potential sensors being rumoured can do 28-36fps even in 14 bit mode.
It's such a dilemma. The a7r iv is a great camera, but I'm still not sure I need 61MP as I was very happy with the 42MP of the a7r iii. I do like to carry two bodies, but I imagine if the a9ii comes around with 36MP (which, for me, is close enough to the resolution of the a7r iii) I will probably favor it over the a7r iv for an all around camera.
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