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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · A7RIV, 100-400 GM and the 26MP APS-C Crop Mode with The Blue Angels | |
Have had the 100-400GM f4.5-5.6 for about a year and a half and it is excellent. At first I used with my A7III, but upgraded to the A7RIII 6 months ago the and lens performed beautifully with 42MP. Just a week ago I upgraded the A7RIII to the A7RIV on Friday and took the lens and new body out to shoot the Blue Angles on Saturday, which was their last day at their winter home in El Centro, CA. The lens AF was great and very sharp, just as before. I used the APS-C crop mode in-camera on about 75% of the shots and it was very helpful, giving me the added reach I needed without the bulk of a bigger 200-600mm lens. While I have the 1.4x TC I did not feel the need to use it, as you lose a stop and the sharpness can suffer slightly with the TC. The in-body cropping ability without a stop loss was the reason I wanted the upgrade to the A7RIV, and after this event I am so happy I did.
But what really blew me away was how reliable the tracking is on the A7RIV. First time in using the RT tracking, I took about 2,000 photos, all with zone tracking, and less that 25 photos are out of focus where the jets were very close to me at full speed on 2 series of shots, where even 1/8000 of a sec produced motion blur. I have the AF-C set to Balanced Priority, #2 for AF Tracking Sensitivity, Lens IS was on to #2 Panning.
The 4 photos below are using the APS-C crop mode where I end up with a 26MP file. The first 2 are at 400mm x 1.5 or 600mm and they were really moving on these, close to 300MPH. I could not be happier with this lens, the new body and the results. The only negative I have found to using the crop mode is that there is added noise, especially in the shadows as 2 of these photos are. However Topaz DeNoise cleaned up the files beautifully. Other than DeNoise and the APS-C crop these are full size and processed in LR with the standard Jpeg export treatment and some shadow recovery on the 2 photos of the jets underbellies.
On the last photo, even though this landing jet is about 1,500 feet away, with the crop mode at full reach 400mm x 1.5 or 600mm, you are able to read the very small lettering with the pilots name on the jet, Cdr. Ben Walborn! (in full size file at 6,240 x 4160). The 100-400GM is a very sharp lens on the A7RIV, even maxed out!
BTW, these are the new 2020 F/A-18 Super Hornets and this was their public debut. From here, the Blue Angels flew back to Pensacola, FL on Sunday to begin their 2021 show schedule.
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