Daran wrote:
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....Show more →
"I can attest that it will skip BIF shots that would have been in focus".
You have some proof to back that up or is this just your theory ?
duncang wrote:
"I can attest that it will skip BIF shots that would have been in focus".
You have some proof to back that up or is this just your theory ?
Not sure what you are aiming at. Obviously the shots are missing, so I can't show them as being sharp.
If you have a sequence of a bird, that is not heading your way, and with a plain and distant background, keeping the focus on the bird rather isn't very demanding for the A1. So a sequence of sharp images with nothing out of focus is kinda the norm. Now if you shoot such a sequence with AF prio, you get less images compared to doing the same with balanced prio. As I think you know? Which I think proves my point?
PS: maybe "attest" was a bit strong a word and I would not claim that my conclusions reach the level of a theory like, say, the theory of gravity.
Daran wrote:
Not sure what you are aiming at. Obviously the shots are missing, so I can't show them as being sharp.
If you have a sequence of a bird, that is not heading your way, and with a plain and distant background, keeping the focus on the bird rather isn't very demanding for the A1. So a sequence of sharp images with nothing out of focus is kinda the norm. Now if you shoot such a sequence with AF prio, you get less images compared to doing the same with balanced prio. As I think you know? Which I think proves my point?...Show more →
It would be very unusual to get any skipped images in most sequences. I used to check the timestamps on individual images but stopped long ago because it hardly ever happened.
duncang wrote:
It would be very unusual to get any skipped images in most sequences. I used to check the timestamps on individual images but stopped long ago because it hardly ever happened.
So did I. It's easy enough as you can simply check the sub-second time recorded in EXIF. It seems the difference for a well focused subject is in the order of 10% or less. But I have repeatedly seen folks reporting balanced not being able to capture the full 30fps at all, reporting e.g. 27fps for the mode. Investigating multiple sequences taken in balanced mode, most had no missing images at all, so were almost exactly 30fps. Of course when capturing more demanding sequences, some images in the sequence were in fact missing, but it is hard to tell, whether they would have been in focus.
I think the essential observation is that the camera makes the decision whether to take a shot before it is taken. Which is completely obvious when using the mechanical shutter. Given the A1 ES, it could instead take all shots and more reliably decide after the fact which of them to keep. From all I can tell it does not work that way, though.
So what's peoples recommendation for AF-C priority set ? I'm willing to try anything if it helps , I don't mind if fps drops a little I'd just like a better hit rate
007Boarder wrote:
I’m still on 1.20 body version. Is it safe to say I’ve lucked out never being up to date on software? Is 1.20 the one to stay at for now?
I'd be happy with fw1.20 , it was great for the things I shoot , in comparison fw1.31 is far too inconsistent IMHO
Still no sign of any new fw update, I have a feeling I'll be stuck with it so might get rid of it whilst its worth something
multibit wrote:
Just not enjoying using it anymore , tbh I'm glad I didnt' get the 600 f4 so at least not fully invested
Do you think you will go with the Z9? I had been planning on getting an A1 or A1mkII at some point as an upgrade from my A9, but this thread is making me reconsider. If Nikon had a good 200-600, I would consider switching. I cannot currently justify the cost of a 400/600mm prime.
berimbolo wrote:
Do you think you will go with the Z9? I had been planning on getting an A1 or A1mkII at some point as an upgrade from my A9, but this thread is making me reconsider. If Nikon had a good 200-600, I would consider switching. I cannot currently justify the cost of a 400/600mm prime.
FWIW, I picked up an A7iv and I think bird eye AF performs better than my A1 at the moment. I'll have to do a reset on the A1 and start from scratch with the settings to see if there is something that I tweaked which may have affected eye-af performance
I'll try and test this weekend with an atomos ninja recording on both bodies
webmstrk9 wrote:
FWIW, I picked up an A7iv and I think bird eye AF performs better than my A1 at the moment. I'll have to do a reset on the A1 and start from scratch with the settings to see if there is something that I tweaked which may have affected eye-af performance
I'll try and test this weekend with an atomos ninja recording on both bodies
Ken, I am sorry to hear that yours has that problem. Indeed, I heard that resetting the camera will do the trick. I hope it works out for you. Please update us here.
I consider myself lucky that mine performs as well as before the FW upgrade. I used mine not for birding lately but I went to my favorite falcon site and spent a few hours there in the last two days. I got approximately the same keeper rate as I had before. I am pleased with its AF performance but I am not sure what I did correctly or more like differently… Judging by the posts on the Sony A1 image thread though, and those are jaw-dropping images, the number of folks that experience some issues seems fairly small, albeit quite loud.
Peregrine falcon - the last frame out of a take-off sequence of 14 shots at 20fps
ILCE-1FE 600mm F4 GM OSS lens600mmf/4.01/2000s1250 ISO0.0 EV
AGeoJO wrote:
Ken, I am sorry to hear that yours has that problem. Indeed, I heard that resetting the camera will do the trick. I hope it works out for you. Please update us here.
I consider myself lucky that mine performs as well as before the FW upgrade. I used mine not for birding lately but I went to my favorite falcon site and spent a few hours there in the last two days. I got approximately the same keeper rate as I had before. I am pleased with its AF performance but I am not sure what I did correctly or more like differently… Judging by the posts on the Sony A1 image thread though, the number of folks that experience some issues seems fairly small, albeit quite loud....Show more →
It does/doesnt help to read threads like this, it made me recognize the "struggle" I was seeing but I still have a high keeper rate when it's finds the eyes. In comparison to the Canon shooters around the A1 still performs better haha
I didn't have a second body which had bird eye-af until recently. Luckily we have some photogenic great horned owls which have some distinct eyes. Will keep y'all posted
If there was a 200-600 I’d be seriously tempted, I’ll need to try friends Z9’s more first though . At the moment though I’m looking into it berimbolo wrote:
Do you think you will go with the Z9? I had been planning on getting an A1 or A1mkII at some point as an upgrade from my A9, but this thread is making me reconsider. If Nikon had a good 200-600, I would consider switching. I cannot currently justify the cost of a 400/600mm prime.
More and more shots posted though are using the 600mm f4. I understand the 600 is a better lens (as it should be ) but for me I’d still use the 200-600 a lot . Using fw1.20 I could rely on the A1 200-600 , it would get me the shots I wanted . My main idea was to get the 600 and I’d be covered . At the minute for me the A1 200-600 with fw1.31 is not as reliable anymore , when you use this combo all the time you notice performance differences . I also have a lot of photography friends and few of them mainly use A1 200-600 and they’ve noticed inconsistency since latest fw , one of them also said fw1.30 wasn’t as good as fw1.20 for BIF .
Beautiful shot of the Falcon btw
AGeoJO wrote:
Ken, I am sorry to hear that yours has that problem. Indeed, I heard that resetting the camera will do the trick. I hope it works out for you. Please update us here.
I consider myself lucky that mine performs as well as before the FW upgrade. I used mine not for birding lately but I went to my favorite falcon site and spent a few hours there in the last two days. I got approximately the same keeper rate as I had before. I am pleased with its AF performance but I am not sure what I did correctly or more like differently… Judging by the posts on the Sony A1 image thread though, and those are jaw-dropping images, the number of folks that experience some issues seems fairly small, albeit quite loud....Show more →
multibit wrote:
More and more shots posted though are using the 600mm f4. I understand the 600 is a better lens (as it should be ) but for me I’d still use the 200-600 a lot . Using fw1.20 I could rely on the A1 200-600 , it would get me the shots I wanted . My main idea was to get the 600 and I’d be covered . At the minute for me the A1 200-600 with fw1.31 is not as reliable anymore , when you use this combo all the time you notice performance differences . I also have a lot of photography friends and few of them mainly use A1 200-600 and they’ve noticed inconsistency since latest fw , one of them also said fw1.30 wasn’t as good as fw1.20 for BIF .
Beautiful shot of the Falcon btw
Thank you, Leon! I do have the 200-600mm lens as well but the last time I used the combo (the A1 with the new FW) it was for some flamingos in Namibia. Yes, the keeper rate was high, actually excellent but flamingos are not that demanding in terms of AF requirement. I may go back to that site this coming Thursday and depending on the situation, I may take both lenses with me to try out. The problem is that site requires some fence scaling and the cliff may be less stable since we are expecting a significant rain storm tomorrow, Tuesday.
