kdrk888 wrote:
Great shots and interesting observation. F9 to get better depth of field or to increase keeper rate?
F9 to increase keeper rate. At F6.3 it was noticeably less sharp on the R IV, added with its ability to show every flaw in my form, it was a necessary adjustment. With the same lens I do not see nearly the difference between those apertures on the a9. The R IV is basically out resolving my 200-600 wide open. On a tripod in a perfect scenario it is not very noticeable, but in real life conditions it was getting frustrating.
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, I love the # 3,
Also, your observation is closed to mine. with A7Riv, the SS needs to be up but than again I have get away with 1/2500 sec in low light for BIF.
With A9, 24 mp sensor, it's lot more forgiving then 61 mp of A7Riv and you can get away with sloppy shooting technique. I do use A9 for close BIF when I don't have much time to react and walk away with acceptable results, you try that with A7RIV and it's delivers the disappointments.
After using the A7Riv for 6 weeks or so, it's a steep learning curve and if you are patience and keep refining your techniques, it does deliver great results and top of that now you can have big print hanging in study to showoff...! -
Love to hear more from everybody what they have learned so far.
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.
I take it you are giving up on A7R IV, but your BIF images with 200-600 with and without 1.4X TC are far better than anything I (and most others) can produce from that combo.
Would you be willing to share in detail what settings you have been using to achieve such fantastic results?
Are you using EFCS or silent shutter or sticking with mechanical and at what frame rate H+ or H?
What setting for AF - Zone? Tracking with flexible spot? What size spot?
AF tracking sensitivity? 1-5?
Aperture Drive in AF?
AF area registration?
Finder frame rate?
Live view display setting? On/off
Last question is about ISO. Looks like many of your shots are using shutter speed of 2500 and f9 and ISO setting lower than I would expect for that combo. Are you utilizing the ISO invariance and pushing in post? Or am I exposing too far to right which is effecting my results? Are you intentionally staying at or below ISO 640?
I am sure that a lack of talent is my biggest problem in being able to achieve better BIF results with the A7R IV, but I sure would like to eliminate as many other variables as possible.
Thanks for any assistance you can provide here. Your work on forum is an inspiration to many of us.
Is it just me or are all of these bird photos dull, lifeless, lacking snap?
It is sad. I look at my shots of barely moving humans and they are blurry and dull - the photos I mean. Of course, the camera is important but the operator is most important. Really nice work here regardless of the camera.
billsnature wrote:
I take it you are giving up on A7R IV, but your BIF images with 200-600 with and without 1.4X TC are far better than anything I (and most others) can produce from that combo.
Would you be willing to share in detail what settings you have been using to achieve such fantastic results?
Are you using EFCS or silent shutter or sticking with mechanical and at what frame rate H+ or H?
What setting for AF - Zone? Tracking with flexible spot? What size spot?
AF tracking sensitivity? 1-5?
Aperture Drive in AF?
AF area registration?
Finder frame rate?
Live view display setting? On/off
Last question is about ISO. Looks like many of your shots are using shutter speed of 2500 and f9 and ISO setting lower than I would expect for that combo. Are you utilizing the ISO invariance and pushing in post? Or am I exposing too far to right which is effecting my results? Are you intentionally staying at or below ISO 640?
I am sure that a lack of talent is my biggest problem in being able to achieve better BIF results with the A7R IV, but I sure would like to eliminate as many other variables as possible.
Thanks for any assistance you can provide here. Your work on forum is an inspiration to many of us.
I may still consider an A7RIV in the future as I can make it work for a lot of things within its limitations but for now I'm happy with my other two cameras (D850, A9) and the R4 just didn't add enough to make it worth the $5K CDN investment.
Here are answers:
Are you using EFCS or silent shutter or sticking with mechanical and at what frame rate H+ or H?
*I used EFCS on when using mechanical. I used both silent and mechanical. I used silent H (I didn't like how H+ looked, I couldn't tell when it was taking shots in Silent) for perched birds and H+ mechanical for flight (to avoid distortion). I found that the H+ slideshow effect and the H blackout weren't all that big of a deal. Still prefer non-blackout A9 but I got used to the R4 fairly quickly.
What setting for AF - Zone? Tracking with flexible spot? What size spot?
* I mostly used Zone (non-tracking) for BIF and some Zone:Tracking. I found the R4 tracking would often revert back to dancing dots or grey square for BIF so I mostly used non-tracking Zone.
I used S and M FlexSpot sometime with Tracking and sometimes not for perched birds. I used Zone (no tracking) for foraging shorebirds and ducks on the water. I think overall I'd stay away from the Tracking modes on the R4...they just aren't sticky enough and had way more tendency to drift down to the body or water than the A9 does. Even on the A9 I don't always trust the Tracking mode to not drift on a smaller bird and certainly not when there is clutter around the bird.
AF tracking sensitivity? 1-5?
*At first 3 but the last 3 test days I used 1 in order to try and maximize the stickyness of the tracking modes.
Aperture Drive in AF?
*Not sure about that setting...probably whatever the default is. I shot wide open all the time so don't think that setting matters.
AF area registration? If I'm thinking about the correct setting (long press Fn button to register an AF mode?) then I make use of that setting to quickly switch between two frequently used AF modes. I have C2 to toggle between the registered mode and the regular mode.
Finder frame rate? Hi
Live view display setting? On/off: *ON
As for the ISO. 1/2500, f/9, 640ISO is the perfect whites in full sun setting. So some shots without white in them or any not in sun may have been underexposed and then pushed in post. I do often shoot a little dark on average. I am so used to using 640 ISO as that is where the A9 steps up and there is no reason to shoot below that unless you really drop below it to ISO 200. I know that with the R4 that level is at ISO 320 but I didn't get down to ISO 320 all that often or if I could often would err on raising SS instead to try and keep pixel level sharpness.
Ke you are too kind.
Way too kind. I'm no astrophotographer and any real astro type would tear that apart.
But I do what I can living where I do (cloudland/Bortle 6). And it's fun in its own way.
You know when we shoot BIF the camera does a lot of the work for us, especially these days.
In astro it's up to me to get the focus right.
But I do love the Riv for my astro pursuits. I could probably get very similar results with the wife's a6400
but I hate those bodies. The Riv is really easy to use (even with cold fingers) and the two times I've used the Riv
for astro it was in crop mode which has benefits of its own.
MedicineMan404 wrote:
Ke you are too kind.
Way too kind. I'm no astrophotographer and any real astro type would tear that apart.
But I do what I can living where I do (cloudland/Bortle 6). And it's fun in its own way.
You know when we shoot BIF the camera does a lot of the work for us, especially these days.
In astro it's up to me to get the focus right.
But I do love the Riv for my astro pursuits. I could probably get very similar results with the wife's a6400
but I hate those bodies. The Riv is really easy to use (even with cold fingers) and the two times I've used the Riv
for astro it was in crop mode which has benefits of its own....Show more →
I have never tried the astro but looking at this image, I may have to try it some day. I live in DC area and have to go at least 150 miles away to find decent area without man made lighting. Will try some day.
At Conowingo dam, we are at the mercy of rain fall and how much water is released by Dam at given day. If they open small turbine, we get the flow of fish closed to shore but if it is opened all the way most of the fishes are at least 700 feet away so the all action.
Having A7RIV does helps with long reach, here is the example.
Shot taken with A7RIV, 600 GM, 1/32oo sec @ f/4, ISO 400, it was overcast and light wasn't great .
ke3vg wrote:
Few more from past weekend. A7RIV, 600 GM
Looks like great fun (despite the weather). We're schedule to be there end of November. I hope for lots of rain between now and then and of course sunny skies and hungry eagles when we are there. Fat chance I know
