p.1 #1 · Sports/Birding Photography A6700 or Canon R7?
I have been shooting sports and wildlife photography with a Nikon D500 coupled with a Nikon 200-500mm lens. Because the D500 has an APC-S senosr, I get an equivlanet of a 750mm lens. I have been happy with this setup for years, but its time to move on to another setup. I don't want to break the bank with a FF alternative so I'm thinking of sticking with APC-S bodies, for extra reach, and looking at either the Sony A6700 paired with the Sony FE 200-600 (or Sigma 60-600), or the Canon R7 paired with the Canon 100-400 II plus a 1.4 TC. I'm getting mixed reviews with Canon and 3rd party lenses, but for those who are familiar with these crop sensor cameras, which setup would you get? Cost point seems to be a wash, to the most part, as I will be buying used gear on this site, but the Canon alternative might be a little cheaper. As far as reach, the Sony set up will give me an equivalent of 900mm and the Canon will yield 896mm with a 1.4 TC. Although I will lose one stop of light. Focal length is a wash as I will be in the same range, but when it comes to ISO and low light situations (outdoor night soccer games), is there a difference between both. Also, when it comes to image quality, which is best? The main advantage I see with the Canon R7 is the FPS, 15 vs 11 with mechanical shutter format. In electrical shutter format its a 30fps advantage vs 11 for Sony A6700. Without recommending to go ahead and get the Nikon Z8 or an expensive Sony FF counterpart, which way would you go for birds in flight, outdoor soccer and baseball night games, or early am/dusk birding photography? Help me, please.
p.1 #2 · Sports/Birding Photography A6700 or Canon R7?
For example, many High School lit fields are notorious for poor lighting as well as some colleges. Depending on the lighting for these events, even lenses fixed at ƒ4 can struggle to provide good service for action sports. In good daylight conditions the 200-600 can work. The 100-400 with its 4.5-5.6 will work for evening games if the lighting is decent but you will be at very high ISO. I'd personally forget adding a 1.4tc to that lens under these conditions. Reach is important but first you've got to be able to acquire, lock and maintain focus on a rapidly moving target. Attempting to do that in low light becomes increasingly more difficult. That's why shooting action sports in low light conditions is the realm of fast glass ƒ2.8.
Do yourself a favor and at least rent the lenses and work with them before shelling out money on glass that actually may not provide satisfactory service.
p.1 #3 · Sports/Birding Photography A6700 or Canon R7?
It's full frame, but if you're considering Sony, you may want to look at a used a9 or a9ii as the price is not likely to be much more expensive than the a6700 and it'll have a bit better noise performance than the crop sensor. The AF on both is fantastic and you'll learn to love the silent shooting. The only downside is the crop factor.
