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Archive 2021Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
p.5 #1Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
AJay wrote:
Size does matter when it comes to eye recognition on the A1 -- at least with Sandhill Cranes. I was out photographing our local sandhill crane pair the other day and noticed that when the birds were out maybe 100' or more (at 840mm focal length), the eye autofocus worked great. As the birds approached closer, eye autofocus no longer worked and the A1 reverted back to forming a box around the bird's head. This was consistent as the birds meandered between being close to me or further away.
Very interesting! I would have initially thought the opposite would be the case. The eye is such an unusual structure, round and sometimes with a very distinguishable black pupil. I would have thought it would be easy to detect it if it were very large in the frame. I mean, the human mind is instantly attracted to eyes, so a ML algorithm should theoretically be able to easily find it also.
Size does matter when it comes to eye recognition on the A1 -- at least with Sandhill Cranes. I was out photographing our local sandhill crane pair the other day and noticed that when the birds were out maybe 100' or more (at 840mm focal length), the eye autofocus worked great. As the birds approached closer, eye autofocus no longer worked and the A1 reverted back to forming a box around the bird's head. This was consistent as the birds meandered between being close to me or further away.
Very interesting! I would have initially thought the opposite would be the case. The eye is such an unusual structure, round and sometimes with a very distinguishable black pupil. I would have thought it would be easy to detect it if it were very large in the frame. I mean, the human mind is instantly attracted to eyes, so a ML algorithm should theoretically be able to easily find it also.
Mar 13, 2021 at 09:30 AM
p.5 #2Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
JeyB wrote:
JeyB, here is a teaser I posted in a different thread, the A1 image thread: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1690968/9#15529968. But I will post more and with some explanation here later.Fine! The photo of the falcon is critically sharp on the eye? Wtihout being picky, it looks to me that the left wing of the bird is what got the focus point. But it may be DoF circle of confusion if it is not a very cropped image.
JeyB, you made a good point. You could see how much I cropped above. Somehow, it looks like the eye was not critically sharp. The AF point may have drifted to the left wing and at the same time, at high magnification, I could see some slight streaking of the body, including the head/eye. And that may have added to the slight perception not to be in critical focus. The falcon flew at a high speed, although I shot that at 1/2000sec. but that speed was not still enough to freeze the motion entirely. I did increase my shutter speed to 1/4000 last year using my A9 II. I will try to do it again this season and see the effect of that. With that said, I may also use a slower shutter speed more for panning to accentuate the movement. I will have to experiment the best shutter speed to get the most out of that.
Here is another frame a little bit further down of the same falcon during the same sequence. I noticed the same phenomenon as in the previous image, ever so slight streak of the head and body...but less here. Oh, well.
Streaking peregrine falcon
AGeoJO wrote
[JeyB, here is a teaser I posted in a different thread, the A1 image thread: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1690968/9#15529968. But I will post more and with some explanation here later.
JeyB, you made a good point. You could see how much I cropped above. Somehow, it looks like the eye was not critically sharp. The AF point may have drifted to the left wing and at the same time, at high magnification, I could see some slight streaking of the body, including the head/eye. And that may have added to the slight perception not to be in critical focus. The falcon flew at a high speed, although I shot that at 1/2000sec. but that speed was not still enough to freeze the motion entirely. I did increase my shutter speed to 1/4000 last year using my A9 II. I will try to do it again this season and see the effect of that. With that said, I may also use a slower shutter speed more for panning to accentuate the movement. I will have to experiment the best shutter speed to get the most out of that.
Here is another frame a little bit further down of the same falcon during the same sequence. I noticed the same phenomenon as in the previous image, ever so slight streak of the head and body...but less here. Oh, well.
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Streaking peregrine falcon
Mar 13, 2021 at 09:34 AM
p.5 #3Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
AGeoJO wrote:
JeyB, here is a teaser I posted in a different thread, the A1 image thread: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1690968/9#15529968. But I will post more and with some explanation here later.Fine! The photo of the falcon is critically sharp on the eye? Wtihout being picky, it looks to me that the left wing of the bird is what got the focus point. But it may be DoF circle of confusion if it is not a very cropped image.JeyB, you made a good point. You could see how much I cropped above. Somehow, it looks like the eye was not critically sharp. The AF point may have drifted to the left wing and at the same time, at high magnification, I could see some slight streaking of the body, including the head/eye. And that may have added to the slight perception not to be in critical focus. The falcon flew at a high speed, although I shot that at 1/2000sec. but that speed was not still enough to freeze the motion entirely. I did increase my shutter speed...Show more →
Remember if you were shooting something with 24Mp with a shutter speed that was just at the edge of critical sharpness, then if you double the number of pixels (1.4x in linear density), you will have to increase the shutter speed by 1.4 to still be at the edge of pixel-level sharpness... Methinks you will have to get used to shooting at a higher speed to see the Mp advantage.
JeyB wrote
AGeoJO wrote
[JeyB, here is a teaser I posted in a different thread, the A1 image thread: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1690968/9#15529968. But I will post more and with some explanation here later.
Remember if you were shooting something with 24Mp with a shutter speed that was just at the edge of critical sharpness, then if you double the number of pixels (1.4x in linear density), you will have to increase the shutter speed by 1.4 to still be at the edge of pixel-level sharpness... Methinks you will have to get used to shooting at a higher speed to see the Mp advantage.
Mar 13, 2021 at 01:48 PM
p.5 #4Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
arbitrage wrote:
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
Let's be honest here... Did anyone really ever think that Tony WASN'T an idiot? This is not new news. He is a controversy salesman. He sells controversy, even if he has to manufacture it.
I've only watched him a handful of times, but you have to have a large degree of skepticism and realize that it is just entertainment without the facts.
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
Let's be honest here... Did anyone really ever think that Tony WASN'T an idiot? This is not new news. He is a controversy salesman. He sells controversy, even if he has to manufacture it.
I've only watched him a handful of times, but you have to have a large degree of skepticism and realize that it is just entertainment without the facts.
Mar 13, 2021 at 02:03 PM
p.5 #5Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
arbitrage wrote:
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
I would not rule out both being true...
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
I would not rule out both being true...
Mar 13, 2021 at 02:16 PM
p.5 #6Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
I’m sure he will say that Sony tweaked the firmware after he reported the “problems” to the engineers (I think he mentioned this in one of the videos). So at the end we are all happy because “he acted early”. Either all this is true or his controversy strategy is just excellent.
To be honest he has raised a number of ridiculous issues deliberately, so I tend to believe that he is just fake.
Tony Ross wrote:
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.I would not rule out both being true...
Edited on Mar 13, 2021 at 02:24 PM · View previous versions
To be honest he has raised a number of ridiculous issues deliberately, so I tend to believe that he is just fake.
Tony Ross wrote:
arbitrage wrote
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
Edited on Mar 13, 2021 at 02:24 PM · View previous versions
Mar 13, 2021 at 02:21 PM
p.5 #7Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
shadow9d9 wrote:
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.He is a controversy salesman. He sells controversy, even if he has to manufacture it.
That about sums it up.
arbitrage wrote
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
That about sums it up.
Mar 13, 2021 at 02:21 PM
p.5 #8Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
phishbone wrote:
This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.He is a controversy salesman. He sells controversy, even if he has to manufacture it.That about sums it up.
So stop watching his videos. Don't feed his ego. For those of us here in the states, he's like the "My Pillow Guy" of camera reviews.
shadow9d9 wrote
arbitrage wrote
After being out for 2 hrs now all I can say is either Tony Northrup is an idiot or Sony tweaked the BEAF pre production FW.This BEAF is every bit as good as the R5. It is picking up eyes on everything I point it at. Even speedy buffleheads in flight.
So stop watching his videos. Don't feed his ego. For those of us here in the states, he's like the "My Pillow Guy" of camera reviews.
Mar 13, 2021 at 02:48 PM
p.5 #9Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
AGeoJO wrote:
JeyB, you made a good point. You could see how much I cropped above. Somehow, it looks like the eye was not critically sharp. The AF point may have drifted to the left wing and at the same time, at high magnification, I could see some slight streaking of the body, including the head/eye. And that may have added to the slight perception not to be in critical focus. The falcon flew at a high speed, although I shot that at 1/2000sec. but that speed was not still enough to freeze the motion entirely. I did increase my shutter speed...Show more →
Yes, it may be the shutter speed. Even with a killer body and lens it may not be easy to freeze these falcons.
Decreasing the SS and panning will surely reward you with great photos plenty of true sense of velocity. It may be a good start shooting from an elevated position over the falcon as you seldom do. I will be looking at your results
JeyB, you made a good point. You could see how much I cropped above. Somehow, it looks like the eye was not critically sharp. The AF point may have drifted to the left wing and at the same time, at high magnification, I could see some slight streaking of the body, including the head/eye. And that may have added to the slight perception not to be in critical focus. The falcon flew at a high speed, although I shot that at 1/2000sec. but that speed was not still enough to freeze the motion entirely. I did increase my shutter speed...Show more →
Yes, it may be the shutter speed. Even with a killer body and lens it may not be easy to freeze these falcons.
Decreasing the SS and panning will surely reward you with great photos plenty of true sense of velocity. It may be a good start shooting from an elevated position over the falcon as you seldom do. I will be looking at your results
Mar 13, 2021 at 07:55 PM
p.5 #10Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
j4nu wrote:
I think SD cards will do fine if you are shooting compressed raw or jpeg. I just ordered 2 256 GB ProGrade SD cardsThank you. I usually shoot raw+jpg. With the file size I may have to avoid jog for wildlife to save some space. I will be shooting lossless compressed if I get A1. The price per GB for CFE is too much right now. I will try to live with SD for a while..You can extract a full sized jpeg out of the raw file for what it's worth. It's standard quality though I think.
UHS-II cards seem plenty fast to me, I'm contemplating buying a 256 gb one as A1 raws take up the space quite quickly
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Be wary! The 256GB cards all appear to be slower than the fastest 128GB (and below) cards.
I'm using Sony Tough G cards with a write speed of 299MB/s, but they top out at 128GB; the larger cards are M cards, and they have a lower write speed (150MB/s - effectively half the speed). Same with the other brands I looked at. They'll quote a higher speed, but that's the read speed - the write speed isn't always easy to find...
Jemini wrote
coderunner01 wrote
Jemini wrote
Wow! That's some crop. I assume you are talking about SD cards (because there's no 128GB CFE A card). Do you think we can live with fastest SD cards? Then I'd get a couple of 256gb SD cards for the price of single 160gb CFE AUHS-II cards seem plenty fast to me, I'm contemplating buying a 256 gb one as A1 raws take up the space quite quickly
.Be wary! The 256GB cards all appear to be slower than the fastest 128GB (and below) cards.
I'm using Sony Tough G cards with a write speed of 299MB/s, but they top out at 128GB; the larger cards are M cards, and they have a lower write speed (150MB/s - effectively half the speed). Same with the other brands I looked at. They'll quote a higher speed, but that's the read speed - the write speed isn't always easy to find...
Mar 14, 2021 at 02:26 PM
p.5 #11Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
Does anyone... know a secret location that has the A1 in stock?
Mar 14, 2021 at 02:53 PM
p.5 #12Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
Not sure what I am doing wrong. Two issues I am finding.
1. Shown in this post, eye AF with small flexible spot does not guarantee a sharp result even when it shows focus point over eye, in some cases.
2. Shown in next post and reported by others (and hopefully will be improved with a future update), obvious and distinct eye not being detected.
The first and second sequences are with small Flexible spot. BEAF is enabled, NOT using the tracking version.
A7Info is showing the focus point to be right on the bird (eye, in fact), yet it is acting just like I have seen many times with the 7Riv and 9, with any lens, where it actually focuses on something in the background.
The third sequence is where I tried using tracking, wide and DMF. Got on the bird, used DMF to get close to correct focus and then used AF. It got the eye perfectly and tracked it for a couple images, even when the eye was partially blocked in another image.
Is the second method (using DMF and tracking) the only way to get birds in complex surroundings (other than using pure MF, difficult with the 600GM)? I didn't try small spot with tracking and DMF to see if it would focus properly. Next time.
The crop doesn't show it, but there was a lot of clutter around this bird, but maybe not as much as the earlier Warbler in the first two sequences
All sequences show a snippet from A7Info, followed by a crop using Lightroom.
Kim
1. Shown in this post, eye AF with small flexible spot does not guarantee a sharp result even when it shows focus point over eye, in some cases.
2. Shown in next post and reported by others (and hopefully will be improved with a future update), obvious and distinct eye not being detected.
The first and second sequences are with small Flexible spot. BEAF is enabled, NOT using the tracking version.
A7Info is showing the focus point to be right on the bird (eye, in fact), yet it is acting just like I have seen many times with the 7Riv and 9, with any lens, where it actually focuses on something in the background.
The third sequence is where I tried using tracking, wide and DMF. Got on the bird, used DMF to get close to correct focus and then used AF. It got the eye perfectly and tracked it for a couple images, even when the eye was partially blocked in another image.
Is the second method (using DMF and tracking) the only way to get birds in complex surroundings (other than using pure MF, difficult with the 600GM)? I didn't try small spot with tracking and DMF to see if it would focus properly. Next time.
The crop doesn't show it, but there was a lot of clutter around this bird, but maybe not as much as the earlier Warbler in the first two sequences
All sequences show a snippet from A7Info, followed by a crop using Lightroom.
Kim
© Maynard Knapp 2021
© Maynard Knapp 2021
© Maynard Knapp 2021
© Maynard Knapp 2021
© Maynard Knapp 2021
© Maynard Knapp 2021
Mar 14, 2021 at 04:13 PM
p.5 #13Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
2. BEAF doesn't find eye.
This is one from a series where I tried using Zone (and the whole bird was in the zone) and flexible spot (medium). The BEAF indicator never showed. I got some good sharp shots, but only by using methods I have used in previous cameras.
This one is not new news, just wanted to document it.
Don't misunderstand these posts. I am very happy with it, just trying to get the best out of it.
Also, my AF settings are still pretty neutral, Balanced Emphasis and Tracking Sensitivity 3
This is one from a series where I tried using Zone (and the whole bird was in the zone) and flexible spot (medium). The BEAF indicator never showed. I got some good sharp shots, but only by using methods I have used in previous cameras.
This one is not new news, just wanted to document it.
Don't misunderstand these posts. I am very happy with it, just trying to get the best out of it.
Also, my AF settings are still pretty neutral, Balanced Emphasis and Tracking Sensitivity 3
© Maynard Knapp 2021
Mar 14, 2021 at 04:26 PM
p.5 #14Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
kimknapp wrote:
2. BEAF doesn't find eye.
This is one from a series where I tried using Zone (and the whole bird was in the zone) and flexible spot (medium). The BEAF indicator never showed. I got some good sharp shots, but only by using methods I have used in previous cameras.
This one is not new news, just wanted to document it.
Don't misunderstand these posts. I am very happy with it, just trying to get the best out of it.
Also, my AF settings are still pretty neutral, Balanced Emphasis and Tracking Sensitivity 3
There is a setting in the camera you need to check to make the green box for faces and BEAF box visible. Otherwise it is engaged but you don't see it.
MENU → AF/MF (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Frame Disp.] → desired setting.
2. BEAF doesn't find eye.
This is one from a series where I tried using Zone (and the whole bird was in the zone) and flexible spot (medium). The BEAF indicator never showed. I got some good sharp shots, but only by using methods I have used in previous cameras.
This one is not new news, just wanted to document it.
Don't misunderstand these posts. I am very happy with it, just trying to get the best out of it.
Also, my AF settings are still pretty neutral, Balanced Emphasis and Tracking Sensitivity 3
There is a setting in the camera you need to check to make the green box for faces and BEAF box visible. Otherwise it is engaged but you don't see it.
MENU → AF/MF (Focus) → [Face/Eye AF] → [Face/Eye Frame Disp.] → desired setting.
Mar 14, 2021 at 04:54 PM
p.5 #15Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
kimknapp wrote:
2. BEAF doesn't find eye.
This is one from a series where I tried using Zone (and the whole bird was in the zone) and flexible spot (medium). The BEAF indicator never showed. I got some good sharp shots, but only by using methods I have used in previous cameras.
This one is not new news, just wanted to document it.
Don't misunderstand these posts. I am very happy with it, just trying to get the best out of it.
Also, my AF settings are still pretty neutral, Balanced Emphasis and Tracking Sensitivity 3
Kim, did you see the Daran's post here:
Daran wrote:
Sony says so in their rather helpful focus hint page for birds and animals: https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/support/ilc/autofocus/ilce1/en/animaleyeaf.html
I am sure that it has to do with your setting in the camera. Sorry for stating the obvious and I hope you get the issue sorted out soon. I find the Eye-AF to be working really well, whether for birds, animal and humans. Since I do a fair amount of portraits, I programmed in the C4 of my camera to toggle through the different settings, human, animal and bird.
The image below was captured using the animal setting earlier this morning, where the camera picked up the eye right away. Not the best image though... Oh, well
Red Fox
Edited on Mar 14, 2021 at 06:17 PM · View previous versions
2. BEAF doesn't find eye.
This is one from a series where I tried using Zone (and the whole bird was in the zone) and flexible spot (medium). The BEAF indicator never showed. I got some good sharp shots, but only by using methods I have used in previous cameras.
This one is not new news, just wanted to document it.
Don't misunderstand these posts. I am very happy with it, just trying to get the best out of it.
Also, my AF settings are still pretty neutral, Balanced Emphasis and Tracking Sensitivity 3
Kim, did you see the Daran's post here:
Daran wrote:
Sony says so in their rather helpful focus hint page for birds and animals: https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/support/ilc/autofocus/ilce1/en/animaleyeaf.html
I am sure that it has to do with your setting in the camera. Sorry for stating the obvious and I hope you get the issue sorted out soon. I find the Eye-AF to be working really well, whether for birds, animal and humans. Since I do a fair amount of portraits, I programmed in the C4 of my camera to toggle through the different settings, human, animal and bird.
The image below was captured using the animal setting earlier this morning, where the camera picked up the eye right away. Not the best image though... Oh, well
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Red Fox
Edited on Mar 14, 2021 at 06:17 PM · View previous versions
Mar 14, 2021 at 06:12 PM
p.5 #16Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
kimknapp wrote:
Not sure what I am doing wrong. Two issues I am finding.
1. Shown in this post, eye AF with small flexible spot does not guarantee a sharp result even when it shows focus point over eye, in some cases.
2. Shown in next post and reported by others (and hopefully will be improved with a future update), obvious and distinct eye not being detected.
The first and second sequences are with small Flexible spot. BEAF is enabled, NOT using the tracking version.
A7Info is showing the focus point to be right on the bird (eye, in fact), yet it is acting just like...Show more →
I have been seeing the Eye-AF grab the background even though the small icon stays lit green on the eye. This happens in situations like your example with the catbird. Dark subject and bright contrasty background. What was weird in my instances is the Zone AF was working fine staying on the subject but when the Eye-AF recognized the eye it drew the box over the eye but immediately went to the background. I just had this happen again while doing some backyard testing with just bright sky behind the bird.
Not sure what I am doing wrong. Two issues I am finding.
1. Shown in this post, eye AF with small flexible spot does not guarantee a sharp result even when it shows focus point over eye, in some cases.
2. Shown in next post and reported by others (and hopefully will be improved with a future update), obvious and distinct eye not being detected.
The first and second sequences are with small Flexible spot. BEAF is enabled, NOT using the tracking version.
A7Info is showing the focus point to be right on the bird (eye, in fact), yet it is acting just like...Show more →
I have been seeing the Eye-AF grab the background even though the small icon stays lit green on the eye. This happens in situations like your example with the catbird. Dark subject and bright contrasty background. What was weird in my instances is the Zone AF was working fine staying on the subject but when the Eye-AF recognized the eye it drew the box over the eye but immediately went to the background. I just had this happen again while doing some backyard testing with just bright sky behind the bird.
Mar 14, 2021 at 06:16 PM
p.5 #17Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
** 1st Lock-up Experience **
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera that way that it would not trigger the shutter if the AF is not achieved. And honestly, I am not sure whether the AF was working or not. The experience startled me and I didn’t want to take any chances, I turned the camera off, took the battery out, waited a few seconds, I inserted the battery back in and voila, it was working again. I was shooting for the rest of the morning fine after that.
In the afternoon I had a short portrait session just to try out how well the Eye-AF works on human, relative to the A7r IV. I never used my A9 or A9 II for portraits or people photography in general. Hands down, the A1 is better than the A7 r IV for portraits, too and ithat doesn’t surprise me.
My shooting buddy was there and she uses her Canon R5 and I asked her about whether she had experience any lock-ups. According to her about a handful of time in the last 7-8 months or so. Anyway, apparently the Sony A1 is not immune to that issue, too. Thankfully, the timing of my lockup today wasn’t bad. I would have been really pissed had I missed something really critical and once in a life-time opportunity or something similar.
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera that way that it would not trigger the shutter if the AF is not achieved. And honestly, I am not sure whether the AF was working or not. The experience startled me and I didn’t want to take any chances, I turned the camera off, took the battery out, waited a few seconds, I inserted the battery back in and voila, it was working again. I was shooting for the rest of the morning fine after that.
In the afternoon I had a short portrait session just to try out how well the Eye-AF works on human, relative to the A7r IV. I never used my A9 or A9 II for portraits or people photography in general. Hands down, the A1 is better than the A7 r IV for portraits, too and ithat doesn’t surprise me.
My shooting buddy was there and she uses her Canon R5 and I asked her about whether she had experience any lock-ups. According to her about a handful of time in the last 7-8 months or so. Anyway, apparently the Sony A1 is not immune to that issue, too. Thankfully, the timing of my lockup today wasn’t bad. I would have been really pissed had I missed something really critical and once in a life-time opportunity or something similar.
Mar 14, 2021 at 07:32 PM
p.5 #18Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
I've had something similar happen on my a7riv. Turning it off and on partially dismounting the lens and reconnecting fixed it for me. Almost like the camera lost contact with the lens af.
AGeoJO wrote:
** 1st Lock-up Experience **
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera...Show more →
AGeoJO wrote:
** 1st Lock-up Experience **
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera...Show more →
Mar 14, 2021 at 08:02 PM
p.5 #19Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
buffalowolff wrote:
I've had something similar happen on my a7riv. Turning it off and on partially dismounting the lens and reconnecting fixed it for me. Almost like the camera lost contact with the lens af.
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera that way that it would not trigger the shutter if the AF is not achieved. And honestly, I am not sure whether the AF was working or not. The experience startled me and I didn’t want to take any chances, I turned the camera off, took the battery out, waited a few seconds, I inserted the battery back in and voila, it was working again. I was shooting for the rest of the morning fine after that.
In the afternoon I had a short portrait session just to try out how well the Eye-AF works on human, relative to the A7r IV. I never used my A9 or A9 II for portraits or people photography in general. Hands down, the A1 is better than the A7 r IV for portraits, too and ithat doesn’t surprise me.
My shooting buddy was there and she uses her Canon R5 and I asked her about whether she had experience any lock-ups. According to her about a handful of time in the last 7-8 months or so. Anyway, apparently the Sony A1 is not immune to that issue, too. Thankfully, the timing of my lockup today wasn’t bad. I would have been really pissed had I missed something really critical and once in a life-time opportunity or something similar.
Thank you for your feedback, Jon. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that it had to do with the camera not being able to focus or activate the focus system, especially now, after you have mentioned your experience. It wasn’t a complete lock-up as such but more like an AF fart.
I've had something similar happen on my a7riv. Turning it off and on partially dismounting the lens and reconnecting fixed it for me. Almost like the camera lost contact with the lens af.
AGeoJO wrote
** 1st Lock-up Experience **While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera that way that it would not trigger the shutter if the AF is not achieved. And honestly, I am not sure whether the AF was working or not. The experience startled me and I didn’t want to take any chances, I turned the camera off, took the battery out, waited a few seconds, I inserted the battery back in and voila, it was working again. I was shooting for the rest of the morning fine after that.
In the afternoon I had a short portrait session just to try out how well the Eye-AF works on human, relative to the A7r IV. I never used my A9 or A9 II for portraits or people photography in general. Hands down, the A1 is better than the A7 r IV for portraits, too and ithat doesn’t surprise me.
My shooting buddy was there and she uses her Canon R5 and I asked her about whether she had experience any lock-ups. According to her about a handful of time in the last 7-8 months or so. Anyway, apparently the Sony A1 is not immune to that issue, too. Thankfully, the timing of my lockup today wasn’t bad. I would have been really pissed had I missed something really critical and once in a life-time opportunity or something similar.
Thank you for your feedback, Jon. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that it had to do with the camera not being able to focus or activate the focus system, especially now, after you have mentioned your experience. It wasn’t a complete lock-up as such but more like an AF fart
. Mar 14, 2021 at 08:17 PM
p.5 #20Sony A1 - Bird Photography Camera for Dummies
I had the same thing happen twice the first day. Would not focus on anything or trigger for about 15 seconds or so each time. I didn't report it because I thought I might be doing something wrong. It came back by itself after trying to focus far and close several times. This was not like when a lens is focused all the way close and then has a hard time finding a distant subject.
Never happened yesterday. Only setting difference was I extended sleep time from default to the next longer setting.
AGeoJO wrote:
** 1st Lock-up Experience **
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera...Show more →
Never happened yesterday. Only setting difference was I extended sleep time from default to the next longer setting.
AGeoJO wrote:
** 1st Lock-up Experience **
While I am happy with the AF performance of this camera, including how the Eye-AF for the 3 options works, I experienced my very first lock-up with the A1 this morning, or actually my very first lock-up with any Sony camera in the last 7+ years, starting with the original A7r.
Here what I experienced: I completed a mating sequence and while waiting, the camera went to sleep. When there was another action, I lightly touched the shutter button and it came alive right away but I couldn’t take any images then. I set my camera...Show more →
Mar 15, 2021 at 06:19 AM