@arbitrage I see that you now own both the A1 and A9III, and you've created some fantastic images with both. I am an A1 + A7RV shooter, and shooting with the A7RV, it makes me want a good bit of its software features in my A1, which Sony has decided will remain near a 1.0 state on features. My salt aside, do you feel the shift to 24mp from 50mp is really that much of a loss? Looking at your images (specifically the hummingbirds), the A9III images actually appear sharper to me than the A1 shots, by a tiny hair. Clearly the A9III didn't replace the A1 for you, but do you think that's a viable switch?
trippalhealick wrote:
@arbitrage@ I see that you now own both the A1 and A9III, and you've created some fantastic images with both. I am an A1 + A7RV shooter, and shooting with the A7RV, it makes me want a good bit of its software features in my A1, which Sony has decided will remain near a 1.0 state on features. My salt aside, do you feel the shift to 24mp from 50mp is really that much of a loss? Looking at your images (specifically the hummingbirds), the A9III images actually appear sharper to me than the A1 shots, by a tiny hair. Clearly the A9III didn't replace the A1 for you, but do you think that's a viable switch?...Show more →
I had the A9III on loan for 3 weeks but in the end I didn't end up buying one.
I liked all the QOL improvements that you already know about from the A7RV. I got some cool images using the pre-capture and higher FPS options and can't wait to have pre-capture and maybe 60FPS on an A1II.
But the 24MP killed it for me. I trashed lots of shots that I would have been able to keep if I'd used the A1. The action happened too far away for on a number of occasions and after trying to crop in to a reasonable FOV, the image had just a couple MPs left and I deleted them.
Comparing the few A9III hummer shots I posted, the fountain one is shot very close up so does look very sharp. The one catching bugs is a huge crop and if you go to Flickr you can see it doesn't have much resolution.
Overall, I found the A1 images to be superior. In the past 18-24MP sensors I owned had the ISO advantage and that helped their IQ make up for some of the lack of pixels. But the A9III doesn't have that high ISO advantage over an A1 because of the global shutter and therefore the A1 images are always looking better due to more pixels.
For me, using the A9III solidified my decision that the A1II is the camera for me and I'll save my money for that instead of adding an A9III to the bag.
arbitrage wrote:
I had the A9III on loan for 3 weeks but in the end I didn't end up buying one.
I liked all the QOL improvements that you already know about from the A7RV. I got some cool images using the pre-capture and higher FPS options and can't wait to have pre-capture and maybe 60FPS on an A1II.
But the 24MP killed it for me. I trashed lots of shots that I would have been able to keep if I'd used the A1. The action happened too far away for on a number of occasions and after trying to crop in to a reasonable FOV, the image had just a couple MPs left and I deleted them.
Comparing the few A9III hummer shots I posted, the fountain one is shot very close up so does look very sharp. The one catching bugs is a huge crop and if you go to Flickr you can see it doesn't have much resolution.
Overall, I found the A1 images to be superior. In the past 18-24MP sensors I owned had the ISO advantage and that helped their IQ make up for some of the lack of pixels. But the A9III doesn't have that high ISO advantage over an A1 because of the global shutter and therefore the A1 images are always looking better due to more pixels.
For me, using the A9III solidified my decision that the A1II is the camera for me and I'll save my money for that instead of adding an A9III to the bag.
I would say that I agree with this almost 100%. The main difference is that I kept the A9III I ordered and I still use it about half the time--mainly when the number of pixels won't matter because either the subject is larger or because I know I'll be closer to the action. I also tend to carry two cameras when I'm out--one on the 600GM on a tripod and one slung over the shoulder (now with the 300GM). That gives me the flexibility to switch to whichever is best at the given moment. All of that said, I have no doubt that the moment the A1II is released I'll be selling my A9III and switching to two A1II's.
