AlphaPhotography wrote:
I wish Sony would be more vocal about this 200-600 RIV issue and if/when a fix is coming.
As I mentioned before, the service center would have to tinker extensively with the RIV and the 200600 in order to make it work.
However it would be a loss for the service center.
AlphaPhotography wrote:
Any updates? I have a Canon R5 + 100-500mm on pre-order but the price + overheating concerns for video as a hybrid shooter are making me nervous. My 200-600 is in an open warranty claim (1-year warranty expiring July 30) but I haven't shipped it to Precision because they don't respond to any of my emails.
I'm torn as to whether the R5 is the right investment, if I should hold off and just get a used A9/
A9II instead to use with the 200-600, or if I should sell the 200-600 and replace it with a 100-400 + 1.4x.
I wish Sony would be more vocal about this 200-600 RIV issue and if/when a fix is coming....Show more →
Sony says nothing other than send the camera and lens in. That's not much different than other camera manufactures though my faith in their service is less than with CPS. I've given up on my a7riv and sold it along with the 200-600 while keeping one of my a9's. I just couldn't afford a 600 f/4 and now have freed up some capital. I think in the long haul, I'll be happier with an a9, 600 f/4 prime + TC's. Maybe if the prices of the 200-600 drop a bit, I'll pick another one up used. Unfortunately, I miss the a7riv already especially for perched birds or when I have to crop. Sure, the sensor is noisy as hell at 1:1 but with Topaz NR, the resolution is outstanding.
In the meantime, while I save for the 600 f/4 it is worthwhile to keep an eye on the R5 and if it pans out, I may move back to Canon since I have a ton of Canon glass that wasn't worth selling at the fire sale prices. 45 MP may be the sweet spot between an image large enough to crop and noise? Could Canon have stumbled on the new "H" sensor equivalent? Personally, I wouldn't worry about the video issue. Who shoots at 8k all day instead of capturing a few minutes at a time? What I find more troublesome is returning to the days of carrying a pocket full of batteries.
Has anyone had success getting the issue fixed by sending the camera and lens in?
armd wrote:
Sony says nothing other than send the camera and lens in. That's not much different than other camera manufactures though my faith in their service is less than with CPS. I've given up on my a7riv and sold it along with the 200-600 while keeping one of my a9's. I just couldn't afford a 600 f/4 and now have freed up some capital. I think in the long haul, I'll be happier with an a9, 600 f/4 prime + TC's. Maybe if the prices of the 200-600 drop a bit, I'll pick another one up used. Unfortunately, I miss the a7riv already especially for perched birds or when I have to crop. Sure, the sensor is noisy as hell at 1:1 but with Topaz NR, the resolution is outstanding.
In the meantime, while I save for the 600 f/4 it is worthwhile to keep an eye on the R5 and if it pans out, I may move back to Canon since I have a ton of Canon glass that wasn't worth selling at the fire sale prices. 45 MP may be the sweet spot between an image large enough to crop and noise? Could Canon have stumbled on the new "H" sensor equivalent? Personally, I wouldn't worry about the video issue. Who shoots at 8k all day instead of capturing a few minutes at a time? What I find more troublesome is returning to the days of carrying a pocket full of batteries....Show more →
This thread made me feel a whole lot better. I currently own the A7riv, A7rii, 200-600, and 100-400GM. I didn't mean to end up with both of those lenses, but through my original 100-400GM needing repairs I ended up buying the 200-600 to fill the void while it was at the shop.
I swear I've tried every combination of settings and I just have such a bad keeper rate with BIF that I thought I'd never improve. I hope Sony can give us some sort of information, as this is my first decent system. Just buying an A9 or 600f/4 is not possible with where I am at. I really have no idea what to do. Would my rii be a better birding camera at this point?
Trust me we feel your pain and considerable frustration. It's still amazing to me how some seem to have no problem whatsoever with the combination, but I think it's safe to say at this point there is enough pros and seasoned shooters who have recognized that something IS wrong with this combination. Regarding your current situation, all I can tell you is for me going back to the RIII with the 200-600 has made things so much better and enjoyable for BIF, so perhaps your RII can fill the role as well. Good luck!
John
HoldenMN wrote:
This thread made me feel a whole lot better. I currently own the A7riv, A7rii, 200-600, and 100-400GM. I didn't mean to end up with both of those lenses, but through my original 100-400GM needing repairs I ended up buying the 200-600 to fill the void while it was at the shop.
I swear I've tried every combination of settings and I just have such a bad keeper rate with BIF that I thought I'd never improve. I hope Sony can give us some sort of information, as this is my first decent system. Just buying an A9 or 600f/4 is not possible with where I am at. I really have no idea what to do. Would my rii be a better birding camera at this point? ...Show more →
I hate to say it but this is why i sold off my A7RIV and moved to A9ii. They likely can't fix this due to hardware limitations (sensor readout, AF calculations etx). Got tired of missed out of focus shots. I'm sure the R5 will end up being very similar...I'm staying away from hi res bodies in foreseeable future for any Birding. Just more trouble than their worth for me... less pixels, better ISO handling and fast readout speed for me moving forward
1bwana1 wrote:
It is inexcusable that Sony remains officially silent on this well established issue.
Privately they have acknowledged awareness of the issue since late last year.
Makes one wonder how much value Sony puts on the importance of the customer experience, and satisfaction.
Gotta admit it is more than a little disappointing. My prior experience with Canon’s CS was stellar. When I initially contacted Sony about this problem many months ago, I got quick feedback and troubleshooting support. However after I sent in RAW files per their request, I never heard another thing, and they failed to respond to my multiple follow-up emails & messages. Our conversations were always polite and positive so it wasn’t like I was being a tool...oh well
Jochenb wrote:
None.
I contacted them a few times about different things and they never even answered.
I went out shooting this morning, and was able to position myself at eye level with a perched Osprey. He took off and I fired two bursts of 10-12 shots as he flew past me and up in the trees. Just got back, and looking at the RAWs in C1, only one of the 20+ pictures was slightly out of focus. The RIII tracked and focused perfectly, what a difference from the RIV
johnvanr wrote:
It's exactly this that makes me wary of choosing Sony (or Nikon) for the long term.
While I judge Sony harshly on this particular issue, you should look at the brands in the whole. Sony and Nikon both make huge lines of products. Most of these are very high quality, and function at a high standard of performance.
Where would you go, Canon? Another very high quality line of photographic equipment. However, I don't think you will find perfection there either. Look at some of the quality issues coming out with some of Canon's latest releases.
Pick a brand that makes products that are attractive to you. Watch the boards and reviews and do your best to avoid individual products in that line that have known issues.
I have been extremely happy overall with both my Nikon and Sony equipment.
1bwana1 wrote:
While I judge Sony harshly on this particular issue, you should look at the brands in the whole. Sony and Nikon both make huge lines of products. Most of these are very high quality, and function at a high standard of performance.
Where would you go, Canon? Another very high quality line of photographic equipment. However, I don't think you will find perfection there either. Look at some of the quality issues coming out with some of Canon's latest releases.
Pick a brand that makes products that are attractive to you. Watch the boards and reviews and do your best to avoid individual products in that line that have known issues.
I have been extremely happy overall with both my Nikon and Sony equipment.
S29H wrote:
Here's the latest from Sony Pro Support LA on Friday 7/10/20:
(Reminder: They've had my 7RM4 & 200-600 since May 5, 2020)
"We are excepting a response from our engineering team next week. My manager is requesting a conference call with our teams and you next week to discuss the findings."
Stand by for news...
UPDATE
So... After going up the chain at Sony, they agreed that the 200-600 is not a good fit for what I want to do with the 7RM4. (meaning, take pictures that are reliably in focus) I can't get into specifics about what they did for me, but I'm very satisfied with the outcome. I've been using a Sony 100-400 both with and without at 1.4x TC while they have been working on my case and it has been working MUCH better. It took awhile, but the team at Sony did a great job of really listening to my concerns and investigating them fully.
The theory is that the 61 megapixels of the 7RM4 need more light to help AF than the 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 can provide. Although they did say that one wildlife photographer found the f8 seemed to be the "sweet spot" for getting AF to work reliably. (shooting in broad daylight, I'm guessing)
Based on my conversations with upper level tech support, Sony is fully aware that there is an issue with the 7RM4 and the 200-600. They are still waiting for guidance from engineering in Japan but everything has been severely slowed down by the Coronavirus. There doesn't appear to be a "fix" yet. So, if you're having an issue with your 7RM4 and 200-600 I highly recommend reaching out to Sony support.
S29H wrote:
UPDATE
So... After going up the chain at Sony, they agreed that the 200-600 is not a good fit for what I want to do with the 7RM4. (meaning, take pictures that are reliably in focus) I can't get into specifics about what they did for me, but I'm very satisfied with the outcome. I've been using a Sony 100-400 both with and without at 1.4x TC while they have been working on my case and it has been working MUCH better. It took awhile, but the team at Sony did a great job of really listening to my concerns and investigating them fully.
The theory is that the 61 megapixels of the 7RM4 need more light to help AF than the 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 can provide. Although they did say that one wildlife photographer found the f8 seemed to be the "sweet spot" for getting AF to work reliably. (shooting in broad daylight, I'm guessing)
Based on my conversations with upper level tech support, Sony is fully aware that there is an issue with the 7RM4 and the 200-600. They are still waiting for guidance from engineering in Japan but everything has been severely slowed down by the Coronavirus. There doesn't appear to be a "fix" yet. So, if you're having an issue with your 7RM4 and 200-600 I highly recommend reaching out to Sony support. ...Show more →
That’s good to hear. Thank you for the update! It is understandable that the global pandemic is causing the delayed reaction from Sony but I certainly hope that Sony will sort this out before too long.
S29H wrote:
UPDATE
So... After going up the chain at Sony, they agreed that the 200-600 is not a good fit for what I want to do with the 7RM4. (meaning, take pictures that are reliably in focus) I can't get into specifics about what they did for me, but I'm very satisfied with the outcome. I've been using a Sony 100-400 both with and without at 1.4x TC while they have been working on my case and it has been working MUCH better. It took awhile, but the team at Sony did a great job of really listening to my concerns and investigating them fully.
The theory is that the 61 megapixels of the 7RM4 need more light to help AF than the 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 can provide. Although they did say that one wildlife photographer found the f8 seemed to be the "sweet spot" for getting AF to work reliably. (shooting in broad daylight, I'm guessing)
Based on my conversations with upper level tech support, Sony is fully aware that there is an issue with the 7RM4 and the 200-600. They are still waiting for guidance from engineering in Japan but everything has been severely slowed down by the Coronavirus. There doesn't appear to be a "fix" yet. So, if you're having an issue with your 7RM4 and 200-600 I highly recommend reaching out to Sony support. ...Show more →
Simply saying, send the camera and lens in is about the most I could get out of Sony. It didn’t matter how many times I pointed out that the camera worked fine with other lenses and the lens worked fine on the a9. It didn’t matter how many series of images I sent where the af points were nowhere near the subject in spite of the green boxes dancing all over the subject. They didn’t seem to want to acknowledge anything was wrong.
The theory is that the 61 megapixels of the 7RM4 need more light to help AF than the 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 can provide
Well that doesnt make a lot of sense to me - my A7R4 focuses better than my old R3 with the 100-400 and teleconverter.
S29H wrote:
The theory is that the 61 megapixels of the 7RM4 need more light to help AF than the 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 can provide. Although they did say that one wildlife photographer found the f8 seemed to be the "sweet spot" for getting AF to work reliably. (shooting in broad daylight, I'm guessing)
This makes no sense as the 100-400/1.4TC at f/8 light does fine. As does my 600GM/2xTC at f/8. Once again Sony is blowing smoke up you know where. What a load of BS.
There has to be some FW coordination issue between these two pieces of equipment and Sony needs to STSO....
