I'm getting bored of my Steller's Jays...want to trade a few Blue Jays for a few Steller's?
Great details.
I tried the 500PF on A7RIV today...garbage as always. Will have to try the 300PF next.
I did try the 400DOII and that worked really well. Bare 400 (which I almost never use on A9) was razor blade sharp on the A7RIV in 26MP mode....makes me itch for a 400GM now
I got out for the second time with the A7R4+200-600+1.4x this afternoon. Only a 30 minute walk, and again, didn't see much that was close by at least. But here's a quick example of the cropability of the A7R4.
I spotted a couple baldys a LOOOOONG way away, and couldn't get any closer because they were on the other side of the lake. Here's a full frame capture:
Also a few Gadwall Ducks, again from a LOOOONG way away. These are all significant crops. A7R4 tracked these flawlessly. They are fast but not erratic flyers. These are at f/9 1/2500 ISO 640.
Finally, a pair of Canadian Geese making an awkward landing on the lake. f/9 1/2500 ISO 1250.
Every one of the shots above was cropped heavily. I'm enjoying the added resolution, the much improved AF, and generally learning to set my shutter speed higher than I'm used to!
I also really enjoy the potentially creative crops enabled by the R4. A bit of a panoramic effect on the geese shot above.
Needless to say, none of these are great, but I wouldn't have gotten any of them with the R3.
Why I upped to the Riv.
This shot from an Riii.
The owls were there but always way way distant.
With the a9 I could AF-track them all day, but when I zoomed in chimping nothing but mush
The a9 just didn't have the pixel density needed for a huge crop.
I sat the a9 down and grabbed the A7riii. It took a bit longer to nab one, and it's not a fantastic picture, but I didn't walk away with nothing
The Riv will only be better in this application.
arbitrage wrote:
I'm getting bored of my Steller's Jays...want to trade a few Blue Jays for a few Steller's?
Great details.
I tried the 500PF on A7RIV today...garbage as always. Will have to try the 300PF next.
I did try the 400DOII and that worked really well. Bare 400 (which I almost never use on A9) was razor blade sharp on the A7RIV in 26MP mode....makes me itch for a 400GM now
Yes, both 500PF and 300PF on Riv suck. Tried both yesterday. Shame really.
400DOii+MC11+a9=native!
Every time I see one of your Stellars I'm blue with envy
I'd gladly trade for a Stellars. I tried and tried on the most recent trip. Only found 2 in Valdez hiding in dense fir branches/dark.
And the Stellars is my favorite J of them all.
MedicineMan404 wrote:
Why I upped to the Riv.
This shot from an Riii.
The owls were there but always way way distant.
With the a9 I could AF-track them all day, but when I zoomed in chimping nothing but mush
The a9 just didn't have the pixel density needed for a huge crop.
I sat the a9 down and grabbed the A7riii. It took a bit longer to nab one, and it's not a fantastic picture, but I didn't walk away with nothing
The Riv will only be better in this application.
My internal debate right now with the A7RIV is whether the A9 with 200-600 and 1.4TC is better than A7RIV and 200-600 (no TC). The A7RIV acts as a 1.6x TC so does give some more reach over the A9 combo....BUT....so far I'm finding too many compromises with the A7RIV from its pixel noise even at moderate ISO, its AF tracking ability (constantly flipping back and forth between the tracking square and the dancing dots or even grey square) and the blackout or slideshow when trying to track a BIF. (I found that full 10FPS in slideshow was my preferred mode over the 8FPS blackout and wasn't that bad but I still think it affects AF consistency due to worse tracking technique).
I almost just closed the book on it after 4 hours shooting yesterday when I got home and culled through 1600 files....but despite getting some sunny conditions mixed with clouds and some rain, I don't feel I've given it a fair shot so I'm going to keep testing a little longer.
I just wish I had a 400GM to test on it because I think that is where it will shine.
AF with the 200-600/1.4TC was abysmal (and I don't use that term lightly) for BIF....not even remotely feasible IMHO unless maybe shooting a bird against blue sky (but why bother with that?). And that was with relatively slow flying seagulls against distant darker backgrounds.
arbitrage wrote:
My internal debate right now with the A7RIV is whether the A9 with 200-600 and 1.4TC is better than A7RIV and 200-600 (no TC). The A7RIV acts as a 1.6x TC so does give some more reach over the A9 combo....BUT....so far I'm finding too many compromises with the A7RIV from its pixel noise even at moderate ISO, its AF tracking ability (constantly flipping back and forth between the tracking square and the dancing dots or even grey square) and the blackout or slideshow when trying to track a BIF. (I found that full 10FPS in slideshow was my preferred mode over the 8FPS blackout and wasn't that bad but I still think it affects AF consistency due to worse tracking technique).
I almost just closed the book on it after 4 hours shooting yesterday when I got home and culled through 1600 files....but despite getting some sunny conditions mixed with clouds and some rain, I don't feel I've given it a fair shot so I'm going to keep testing a little longer.
I just wish I had a 400GM to test on it because I think that is where it will shine.
AF with the 200-600/1.4TC was abysmal (and I don't use that term lightly) for BIF....not even remotely feasible IMHO unless maybe shooting a bird against blue sky (but why bother with that?). And that was with relatively slow flying seagulls against distant darker backgrounds....Show more →
CampK wrote:
Have you come to any final conclusions?
About 90% sure I will not be adding an A7RIV to my quiver. About 70% sure I will sell the A9 and get the A9II. That is actually a cheaper proposition for me because if I kept A7RIV, I would certainly keep my A9 and then have to juggle between them. But if I go with A9II, I don't need the A9 and the net cost is much less.
I am going to try and get a few full sunny days of shooting in but that won't be till next Thur/Fri at the earliest. After some sunny days, I will make my final decision.
