Getting that better consistency with BIF is the most important thing I want back , only additional feature I’d love with a fw update is close focus recall assigned to a button
In desperation I've ordered another 200-600 to see if it helps with the BIF problems I've had just to rule the lens out . Typical the weathers been awful in the UK so not had chance to test it properly.
TBH not getting my hopes up for them releasing a new FW update
Interesting , I got the new 200-600 lens at the weekend , its been mostly raining in the UK so I've only managed to briefly try it . Whats interesting is that its noticeably sharper than my older lens , also just a few Pigeons etc in fight just to test but the hit rate is looking to be better . The strange thing is though its seems a little less quick at seeing those distant BIF but when it does the hit rate is better . I've noticed this newer lens has the older FW on compared to my other one that has the updated fw . I wonder if its making any difference or my original lens was just a worse copy ? I don't think I'll update the lens fw just incase
Did you have time to practice more with your new copy? Maybe side to side with the old one?
You report interesting findings, which however increase the confusion about what is actually going on with high mp bodies and this lens.
multibit wrote:
Interesting , I got the new 200-600 lens at the weekend , its been mostly raining in the UK so I've only managed to briefly try it . Whats interesting is that its noticeably sharper than my older lens , also just a few Pigeons etc in fight just to test but the hit rate is looking to be better . The strange thing is though its seems a little less quick at seeing those distant BIF but when it does the hit rate is better . I've noticed this newer lens has the older FW on compared to my other one that has the updated fw . I wonder if its making any difference or my original lens was just a worse copy ? I don't think I'll update the lens fw just incase ...Show more →
Douglas L wrote:
Some of us are waiting for the A1 FW update like that squirrel in the video at 11:22.
I gave up, sold my A1, bought the A7RV, and haven't looked back. No doubt Sony will leave the A7RV suspended in "firmware hell" in the future, and I will move on. Again. Not a bad sales tactic for Sony.
smpetty wrote:
I gave up, sold my A1, bought the A7RV, and haven't looked back. No doubt Sony will leave the A7RV suspended in "firmware hell" in the future, and I will move on. Again. Not a bad sales tactic for Sony.
It depends what you are shooting. For wildlife, BIF, sports, A1 Is still number. The A7R5 seems like a nice camera and I was checking it out last Friday but for what I’m shooting it is a step backwards.
smpetty wrote:
I gave up, sold my A1, bought the A7RV, and haven't looked back.
which proves that you never needed the a1 to begin with.
the a7rv probably has the slowest sensor readout speed of any ff camera on the market today, it's not suitable for electronic shutter use, it's an entirely different class of camera.
I just spent the better part of 3 days photographing a very cooperative loon, from a kayak.
I was using the a1 on firmware 1.31, with the 200-600.
Most of the time the loon was 5 to 15 yards away. Thus, the depth of field was very shallow.
I shot about 7,000 images. I captured several hundred sellable images; with gobs of on camrea similars. However, about 1/3 of the time the AF would lock on the contrasty black and white plumage on the loon's neck and back, even though the bird's red eye was in plain sight.
I mostly used AFC, wide with bird eye AF selected. That is my preferred method so I can concentrate on timing, light, composition and keeping the water line straight and let the camera work on AF. When I could tell the AF was confused and focused on the bird's body instead of the eye, I'd switch to single spot or expand spot with better success.
Don't get me wrong, I captured some excellent images but I also missed some great poses due to AF errors. I believe I would have had better success with firmware 1.30.
Come on Sony help us a1 owners out with a more consistent bird eye AF!
Thanks,
Lon
osv2 wrote:
which proves that you never needed the a1 to begin with.
the a7rv probably has the slowest sensor readout speed of any ff camera on the market today, it's not suitable for electronic shutter use, it's an entirely different class of camera.
You are right in that I am not a sports shooter and only dabble in BIF.
I don't understand avoiding electronic shutter if I'm not shooting rapidly moving subjects. And what is too fast for the A7RV electronic shutter? It works well with my dogs and kids and horses, still or moving.
A9Lon wrote:
I just spent the better part of 3 days photographing a very cooperative loon, from a kayak.
I was using the a1 on firmware 1.31, with the 200-600.
Most of the time the loon was 5 to 15 yards away. Thus, the depth of field was very shallow.
I shot about 7,000 images. I captured several hundred sellable images; with gobs of on camrea similars. However, about 1/3 of the time the AF would lock on the contrasty black and white plumage on the loon's neck and back, even though the bird's red eye was in plain sight.
I mostly used AFC, wide with bird eye AF selected. That is my preferred method so I can concentrate on timing, light, composition and keeping the water line straight and let the camera work on AF. When I could tell the AF was confused and focused on the bird's body instead of the eye, I'd switch to single spot or expand spot with better success....Show more →
- for the best af, use the widest aperture
- 5 (locked-on) may not be the best choice for fast action
- when the eye isn't automatically recognized with wide-area af-c, like the bif guys use, you may have use real-time tracking af-c and manually put the expand flexible spot box on the head; that's how i had to do it with this lizard photo that i posted earlier.
then run the problematic shots up in a7info, the focus spot should have these markings if it's all done correctly:
Laslo Varadi wrote:
It depends what you are shooting. For wildlife, BIF, sports, A1 Is still number. The A7R5 seems like a nice camera and I was checking it out last Friday but for what I’m shooting it is a step backwards.
Last Friday, I received an a7rv for one week on a loan from Sony and the immediate feeling (after using a1) is that a7rv is slooow. Another immediate feeling is that the subject selection (human,bird, etc) is convoluted. I can be easily wrong but I no longer feel as enthusiastic about adding a7rv to pair with the a1 as I was before trying the camera.
