I've no problem with the A1 features , just the inconsistency bird eye focus since latest update . If we could roll back fw I'd be more than happy , at least then the user gets to choose what FW suits best . For me it was fw1.20
multibit wrote:
I've no problem with the A1 features , just the inconsistency bird eye focus since latest update . If we could roll back fw I'd be more than happy , at least then the user gets to choose what FW suits best . For me it was fw1.20
Could you ask Sony to install the older firmware to your camera at service?
I'm waiting to see all these horrible A1s for sale in the classifieds. Just kidding. Seriously, what pro would buy a camera that didn't have the features they need expecting it to be added later? From what I'm reading here is that some people would be happy if Sony released an unfinished product (looking at you Nikon) and then just kept adding the features that they planned to have included from the beginning but didn't want to keep losing ground to Sony.
Josef K. wrote:
According to a Sony press release yesterday, there’ll be a FW update in Spring for the α7R V, FX3 and FX30 to support the new Creators App.
Josef K. wrote:
According to a Sony press release yesterday, there’ll be a FW update in Spring for the α7R V, FX3 and FX30 to support the new Creators App.
I'd not read too much into that because the Creators' App is not really geared towards the professional market and I'd hazard a guess that agencies etc. are not going to want their photogs using A9 and A1 bodies (both not mentioned in the PR) to have access to such a potentially-risky cloud-based app.
In my opinion, it's one thing to expect completely new features added, like we can I think agree that it would be nice to have precapture added out of the blue like on Z9 but Sony has no obligation or reason to do so though.
On the other hand, not sharing features across cameras on the same gen is simply a deliberate anti-consumer decision. Sony is basically pointing me now towards A7RV for my casual shooting, because it's easier to control eyeAF on multiple persons in the frame, than on their "one " camera...
In general, I think being content with Sony's approach only validates it and lessens the chances of any positive change... Look at the firmware upgrade, not long ago people were arguing there's no need to introduce the option to do it from the card and now Sony promoted it to the only way on A7IV...
Edit: regarding Creator's App, I doubt Imaging Edge Mobile will be developed any more, so any new features or improvements will go into CA, which again leaves A1 out... The good thing is you can still send photos obtained via IEM to CA's cloud .
j4nu wrote:
In my opinion, it's one thing to expect completely new features added, like we can I think agree that it would be nice to have precapture added out of the blue like on Z9 but Sony has no obligation or reason to do so though.
On the other hand, not sharing features across cameras on the same gen is simply a deliberate anti-consumer decision. Sony is basically pointing me now towards A7RV for my casual shooting, because it's easier to control eyeAF on multiple persons in the frame, than on their "one " camera...
In general, I think being content with Sony's approach only validates it and lessens the chances of any positive change... Look at the firmware upgrade, not long ago people were arguing there's no need to introduce the option to do it from the card and now Sony promoted it to the only way on A7IV...
Edit: regarding Creator's App, I doubt Imaging Edge Mobile will be developed any more, so any new features or improvements will go into CA, which again leaves A1 out... The good thing is you can still send photos obtained via IEM to CA's cloud ....Show more →
"Sony is basically pointing me now towards A7RV for my casual shooting" - this is my feeling as well. When I bought the A1, I thought I would not need another camera for many years. How wrong I was - the G.A.S. never goes away. I have practically decided that I am going to add A7RV this summer (I am not selling the A1, though).
Regarding the A1, I purchased the camera because of the features it offered. The most outstanding one is the fast and accurate autofocus. It is this feature that I expect Sony should maintain and possibly refine and improve through FW updates.
At the moment, I feel that there are some problems after the latest update (1.31). The problem that happens to me from time to time is when, in review, I see the small square on the bird's eye, yet the bird's eye and the head are not in focus. Thus, the eye AF engaged and did not have problem locating the eye - but the focus distance was miscalculated, apparently. This does not happen every time, yet the overall accuracy of the eye AF has decreased, in my experience. This is disappointing. I can only hope that there is going to be an update sooner or later.
I was photographing some small birds with my a1 and 200-600, no matter what focus-mode I used it never once located the eye, the images all look soft. Something is definitely off, I may try a full reset of the camera.
LiveShots wrote:
I was photographing some small birds with my a1 and 200-600, no matter what focus-mode I used it never once located the eye, the images all look soft. Something is definitely off, I may try a full reset of the camera.
Frustrating!
As I mentioned, eye AF seems to be working on my A1 with the 200-600 (except that the focus distance is miscalculated from time to time). I did perform a full reset ("initialize") recently, then manually customized the camera. There is no way to know if this helped in any way. It might be a total waste of time, but should do no harm.
Having recently tried a Z9 with latest firmware using 100-400 and 500pf I don’t think it’s the way to go for me . I’m not spending more money on Sony yet until the A1 is at least as good as it used to be . Regards the A7Rv I don’t think I could live without the stack sensor whilst panning BIF
Josef K. wrote:
According to a Sony press release yesterday, there’ll be a FW update in Spring for the α7R V, FX3 and FX30 to support the new Creators App.
No mention of the A1.
this is 25gb of free cloud storage for many sony owners, with the future possibility of being opened up to other brands of cameras, and it's also being developed as a cloud-based community with editing/distribution capability; that has nothing to do with any specific model of sony camera. https://creatorscloud.sony.net/catalog/en-us/index.html
nikon gives you 2gb or 20gb of cloud storage, canon gives you 10gb of long-term cloud storage?
afaik you can't access the cloud with the imaging edge mobile app, but even with an older camera like the a1 you can still install the creators app on the phone and upload content that's on the phone to the cloud, and of course access the cloud from a pc.
multibit wrote:
Having recently tried a Z9 with latest firmware using 100-400 and 500pf I don’t think it’s the way to go for me . I’m not spending more money on Sony yet until the A1 is at least as good as it used to be . Regards the A7Rv I don’t think I could live without the stack sensor whilst panning BIF
I’m pleased it still works as well for you nice shots btw , I’ve always enjoyed using the A1 it’s just after the fw1.31 update I’ve had issues . I only have the 200-600 and the lighting is often poor in the UK but this setup always used to get me the shots , now it seems it’s way off compared to what it used to be
multibit wrote:
I’m pleased it still works as well for you nice shots btw , I’ve always enjoyed using the A1 it’s just after the fw1.31 update I’ve had issues . I only have the 200-600 and the lighting is often poor in the UK but this setup always used to get me the shots , now it seems it’s way off compared to what it used to be
I was wondering whether the A1 with the latest FW suffers from the same issue as the A7r IV when used in combo with the 200-600mm lens. It certainly looks more and more like it. Even back then, the issue was noticed not universally and not across the board but only by a percentage of A7r IV users. How big the percentage is now, of course, hard to figure out. I am not denying the issue but personally, I am not encountering any issues but I feel for you, Leon… .
arbitrage wrote:
This is probably the most accurate statement as I believe all three brands will release updates in early 2024 before the Summer Games.
Unfortunately, said upgrades will cost $6-8K each in the way of the A1II, Z9II and R1.
AGeoJO wrote:
I was wondering whether the A1 with the latest FW suffers from the same issue as the A7r IV when used in combo with the 200-600mm lens. It certainly looks more and more like it. Even back then, the issue was noticed not universally and not across the board but only by a percentage of A7r IV users. How big the percentage is now, of course, hard to figure out. I am not denying the issue but personally, I am not encountering any issues but I feel for you, Leon… .
The big picture is a bit confusing. I have seen comments reporting that bird eye AF simply does not work - apparently it would not engage, would not lock on the eye. My experience with the 200-600 has been different since the latest update - I do see the eye AF engaged and there is a green small square on the eye when I review the pictures in camera, however the subject (perched birds) sometimes is not in focus (not merely "soft" - really out of focus; by the way the priority in AF-C is set to Balanced Emphasis).
This brings some questions. First, while A1 recalculates AF 120 times per second, how fast can the 200-600 respond? I use the lens handheld and even when shooting perched birds, the camera in my hands moves all the time by a few millimeters (my hands and leg are not made of steel or carbon fiber). The DOF at 600 f/6.3 is shallow, thus the lens must respond all the time to the camera recalculating AF to keep the subject in focus. If the lens is lagging, for some reason, this would result in some images where the subject is out-of-focus. Thus, the question: are the motors in the 200-600 fast enough to stay in sync with 120 AF calculations per second?
The other question I am asking myself is about the meaning of the "priorities" AF - Release - Balanced Emphasis?
I understand "AF" and "Release", but what does the "Balanced Emphasis" do? This makes me wonder whether "AF" might be the more appropriate setting with the 200-600? I know that this would not allow 30 fps, and I am fine with this.
There are many settings in A1 and a large number of ways to customize the camera. This is a bit of a problem when it comes to performance issues, because we are not exactly shooting the same cameras - the customizations and the preferred ways of operating the camera can be significantly different between different users.
ruthenium wrote:
I understand "AF" and "Release", but what does the "Balanced Emphasis" do? This makes me wonder whether "AF" might be the more appropriate setting with the 200-600? I know that this would not allow 30 fps, and I am fine with this.
During AF-C AF is measured using the PDAF pixels. When the subject is constantly moving, that will return a sequence of approximate phase distances, or rather a set of such distances within the tracking area. These are not precise (there is noise involved), the subject edges to focus on are usually complex shapes and if the subject is fast enough, they won't really go to zero. Hence the question of whether the subject is or will be in focus when the image will be taken isn't necessarily binary.
So my interpretation of balanced priority, that seems to agree with my observations, is that it will shoot about as long as the subject isn't definitely OOF. Whereas AF priority shoots only if the camera is positive the subject is in focus, which given above may still be wrong. Release priority obviously shoots no matter what PDAF is reporting.
So while AF priority may make sense for reasonably still subjects, I can attest that it will skip BIF shots that would have been in focus.
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