From astro, macro, landscape, portraiture, wildlife, to BIF it looks like the A7Riv is the new king Swiss-army knife/do-it-all in the camera world. Just good to see so many of us coming on board.
Where's the thread where we voice complaints/wishes/etc. on this camera?
I've only got one so far. When I pop into crop mode (frequent it seems) I have to wait until the FF shots have written to the card.
It's certainly a great camera but just not for me. I'll be sticking with my A9 and probably upgrade to the A9II once the first discounts happen. I'm sure over 2+ years of FW updates the A9II will pull ahead of everything else on the market but the upgrade price is pretty steep right now.
arbitrage wrote:
It's certainly a great camera but just not for me. I'll be sticking with my A9 and probably upgrade to the A9II once the first discounts happen. I'm sure over 2+ years of FW updates the A9II will pull ahead of everything else on the market but the upgrade price is pretty steep right now.
Hi Geoff,
Right now I have gone backwards having just purchased an A7rII to have Kolari modify to an UT sensor for the best performance with my WA M mount lenses. I attended the Sony Creative Space display in NYC this past Thursday (day of Photo Plus) and I spoke to a Sony Rep who shoots birds and wildlife. First, he indicated that Sony would continue to produce both the A9 and A9II cameras (the A9 was not going to be discontinued). We were discussing whether I should get an A7rIV, A9, or an A9II. The Sony Rep indicated that rather than purchase an A7rIV or an A9II that I would be better off purchasing the A9; he also indicated that the A9 is the camera that those of us shooting wildlife and birds require. The A9II is more for magazine, news, media, sports photographers, etc. that need the new features, features that those of us shooting birds and wildlife don't need. In any case, I will probably purchase an A9 sometime hopefully in the middle of next year.
arbitrage wrote:
It's certainly a great camera but just not for me. I'll be sticking with my A9 and probably upgrade to the A9II once the first discounts happen. I'm sure over 2+ years of FW updates the A9II will pull ahead of everything else on the market but the upgrade price is pretty steep right now.
Geoff, this reminds me the debate about D850 versus D5. We discussed this countless time about which camera is great for what. There are people at Conowingo dam who shoots with D5 and 1DX mrkII and swear by the focus accuracy and speed and there are people who uses D850 and 7D IV and love the resolution. Now we have A7RIII, A7RIV versus A9 in Sony land.
Yesterday, I was finally comfortable using A7RIV for fast action for eagles ( not small birds) and over the next few months, will do better with it. It reminded me the struggle I went through with D850 when I switched from D5. But if you like to print the size of the image you get from D850 or A7RIV is much more valuable than D5 or A9, at least for me.
Anyway, hopefully , I will get my hand on A9II this coming Friday and see what are the improvement from A9 AF. I am 100% sure that by the end of next year A9II will become A9III.
Mukesh, what is the reason for the absolute certainty? The a9 series got it’s first new release at just over 2 years from launch - slower than the a7r and a7 series. Given the focus of the a9ii, I’d wager another 2 years before we see a significant release on the a9 body.
GSP_ wrote:
Mukesh, what is the reason for the absolute certainty? The a9 series got it’s first new release at just over 2 years from launch - slower than the a7r and a7 series. Given the focus of the a9ii, I’d wager another 2 years before we see a significant release on the a9 body.
Given the track record of Sony with FW upgrade and not hold back on new functionality and having a upgraded BIONZ processor, there is a room for updates. This is my best assumption and I could be wrong but with given attitude of Sony to capture the Top end market, I am certain.
I'll be keeping the Riv as a jack of all. Will keep the a9 of course as the BIF machine it is.
Instead of the a9ii I'm looking at a ZWO CMOS for the 4 or 5 times a year I get to shoot astro. I'll
revisit the a9 when it becomes the iii
Sony ILCE-7RM4
DT 400mm F4 SAM
ƒ/5.0 400.0 mm 1/640 640
Well some good news on the Nikon side of things.
For perched bierds, where I'm going from point to point in a 3-5 foot depth, I've found the 300PF via the Commlite on the Riv works fine.
When going from say a target at 15 feet to one 45 feet it is too slow to acquire. It will acquire, just not fast enough
for bierds that land-hop-land-fly-land-hop.
But for the 'bierd studio' out back it works fine for me.
Here's an American Gold Finch non-breeding male (no chart needed Geoff
I learned some things to day and I it made all the difference in the world. First off, for me at least with my 200-600 going to F9 made a remarkable difference (that I don't notice as much on my a9). I tested on a second copy of the lens with the exact same results. I have had luck wide open, but a dramatically reduced keeper rate.
2) keep the damn shutter speed up
3) use support when possible. I am not a statue.
We have an American White Pelican staying in the area on its way south. Its a bit of a local celebrity since we don't usually see them.
buffalowolff wrote:
I learned some things to day and I it made all the difference in the world. First off, for me at least with my 200-600 going to F9 made a remarkable difference (that I don't notice as much on my a9). I tested on a second copy of the lens with the exact same results. I have had luck wide open, but a dramatically reduced keeper rate.
2) keep the damn shutter speed up
3) use support when possible. I am not a statue.
We have an American White Pelican staying in the area on its way south. Its a bit of a local celebrity since we don't usually see them....Show more →
Great shots and interesting observation. F9 to get better depth of field or to increase keeper rate?
