I won't be giving Sony another dime for the upcoming A1 mkii. Not happening, no way! I'm done investing in a Company that clearly does not care about existing user base. Competition is catching up, nice to have options
supermilch wrote:
I wonder if Sony is waiting to see what Canon and Nikon are about to release. On one hand it might make sense to stuff as much as they can into a firmware update to make Canon/Nikon launches underwhelming, on the other hand it could make sense to release a firmware update right after a competitor launches to better capture the short attention span of consumers, and get the last word in so to say (one can easily imagine a 1-2 combo of videos from any photography content creator "I used the new Nikon Z8 and it changes everything" followed by "Why I'm sticking with my Sony A1" a week later)
Or maybe the A1 will just never see another update. Perhaps Sony saw that investment into the A9 as a platform didn't yield as many returns as they had hoped and so they abandoned that strategy. Realistically there are very few high end camera manufacturers to choose from, and are most people really going to take a hit of a few hundred to a few thousand $$$ to swap their entire lens stable over to a competitor? If they just slap the AI processor into an A1II it would be an insta-buy from many A1 owners, regardless of whether the A1 got breathing compensation, improved IS, video AF, car/train/plane/insect AF modes, full time DMF or focus stacking via firmware update. Even the 4-axis screen would probably make it an insta-buy for a lot of people ...Show more →
Maxxus46 wrote:
I won't be giving Sony another dime for the upcoming A1 mkii. Not happening, no way! I'm done investing in a Company that clearly does not care about existing user base. Competition is catching up, nice to have options
For me I will do a fair evaluation of the A1 II and determine if its best in class or a minor update with features I already bought in my A7R V purchase. Owning both give me a ton of capability. Sure its not all in on body but the new AF and IBIS are flappy-tilt rear LCD features I would want to see the most and I don't think those will ever be in the current A1 with any firmware changes. The only firmware used change I want is. tweak to the AF to removes the version 1.31 bug. Since I don't do video the new FX3 feature are not high on my priority list but for videographers I understand their want. I tried the Z9 for year and it really did not really out perform my A1 so I won't go their. Will be interested to see what Canon's EOS R5 II delivers since I also have an RF system.
Maxxus46 wrote:
I won't be giving Sony another dime for the upcoming A1 mkii. Not happening, no way! I'm done investing in a Company that clearly does not care about existing user base. Competition is catching up, nice to have options
I really don't get this attitude. We bought an innovative new camera that was by far ahead of the rest of the industry at the time of release. Since then we got some bug fixes, and very nice extra features through firmware updates. What we still have today is a camera that arguably remains the industry leader.
Other manufactures have now released some cameras that are competitive with A1. Some of these cameras were released claiming features that actually were not in the initial release. They have spent the next year releasing updates that fulfilled the initial specs, fixed some deficiencies, and yes added some new features. But overall the frequency, and scope of these updates were mostly catchup. People seem to be mistaking catchup with better customer care, primarily based on the number of firmware updates.
I want to emphasize that if firmware 1.6.1 did in fact introduce problems in focus that didn't exist in prior version, I do fully hold Sony accountable for that. In such a case I view a lack of a fix as very poor customer care on Sony's part. In my view there is a huge difference between bugs and features in this regard.
I have no doubt that a1 II will be an outstanding camera, with several innovative features.
However, somewhere in 2027 (should I be alive at the time) I expect to see a new thread on FM
"A1 II to get firmware update in ...?"
I’ve been using the lens for a couple of weeks now , although not perfect I am definitely getting better hit rate for BIF.
Sharpness for static perched birds is the same so I don’t understand why the hit rate for BIF is better .
The only real difference between this newer lens and my older one is that the new one uses original firmware , older lens uses the updated firmware.
baltmin wrote:
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.
I'm starting to wonder if the 200-600 FW update was done separately by development from the a1 FW update, and there is an incompatibility between the two.
I still have both lenses , after continuous swapping I’m definitely finding the newer lens better for BIF . Unfortunately there’s no way I can do a direct controlled comparison. Both look same for static subjects , the older lens though is giving much higher slightly off shots for BIF . Very odd maybe the older lens has a slight issue with the focus motors or it’s the fw . Seems strange though the problems started after camera and lens firmware . I didn’t test BIF after I just done the camera firmware because the weather in the UK was mainly dark cloudy . I updated the lens and went to photograph the local peregrines, that’s when I noticed the issue and it became a regular thing with any BIF LiveShots wrote:
I'm starting to wonder if the 200-600 FW update was done separately by development from the a1 FW update, and there is an incompatibility between the two.
LiveShots wrote:
I'm starting to wonder if the 200-600 FW update was done separately by development from the a1 FW update, and there is an incompatibility between the two.
There's definitely not a global issue. I see reports here, but personally I have one, as do two close friends, and using all three 200-600's across four different A1's none of us have any issues at all. All of the A1's are on 1.31 and the three 200-600's are also all on the newest firmware.
I think it's a combination of some bad copies of the lens, and some user error in some cases all mixed in with some confirmation bias. It's most definitely not a global uniform problem with this lens and camera. Given that there were also early issues with the A7RIV I suspect it's mostly copy variation issues with the lens than anything else.
Hello, guys. I managed to buy a1 body at very good price. Btw i noticed that firmware version stays at 1.20. After so long discussion on this topic regarding eye af issues etc., what are the final conclusions or impressions? Should I upgrade directly to 1.32 or maybe try to find the *exe file for 1.30? I shoot mainly portraits and street photography.
spotter84 wrote:
Hello, guys. I managed to buy a1 body at very good price. Btw i noticed that firmware version stays at 1.20. After so long discussion on this topic regarding eye af issues etc., what are the final conclusions or impressions? Should I upgrade directly to 1.32 or maybe try to find the *exe file for 1.30? I shoot mainly portraits and street photography.
Thanks in advance!
1.30 was the best for me when it comes to human eyeAF accuracy and non-action shooting...
1.31 the worst, 1.32 maybe a bit better but still worse than 1.30 I think.
Thang wrote:
hope i am not too late. but from weeding through all the pages, fw 1.2 is golden for action shooting. don't upgrade to 1.3x series
Strange I use the latest version and shoot very challenging subjects and have seen no degradation in AF performance. There is an improvement in the subject detection and stickiness so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the latest version for wildlife action. Can't speak much to other kinds of action though.
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