p.1 #1 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Hello! I'm primarily interested in bird photography and currently use a Sony A9ii paired with Sony 200-600. While I get some good photos with my A9ii (you can see some of my photography on my website -- https://aviansnaps.com/), my keeper rate is low. With small bird photography, I sometimes find it hard to focus on the birds' heads (if they're moving around) with my current setup. I've rented an A1 and was highly impressed by its bird eye focus and that gave me significantly more keepers than my A9ii. I have since been in the market for buying a used Sony A1, but I keep putting it off because a used A1 (in good condition) still costs more than $4,000. The Sony A7v was recently announced and it is below $3,000 and many reviews mention that is a very capable camera for bird photography. The feature that made me interested in it is it's autofocus capabilities. It has several bird autofocus modes and that makes it look like it might work better for me than my current A9ii. Again, the main concern for me is the keeper rate. If it can give me more keepers than what I get with my A9ii but still give me similar or better image quality I would be interested in getting a new A7v over a used A1. What do others think? I know the best thing to do is to test it out, but there are many people here that know how to read the specs of the camera better than me. Thank you for your time!
p.1 #2 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
I think the A7V would be an upgrade over the A9II except for rolling shutter issues like distorted wings in very fast BIF. You will also see more leaning lines in the backgrounds if panning with a BIF. Trees, grass, reeds etc will be angled more than with an A9II (and A1 is even better than A9II).
Between an A1 and A7V I think the AF differences won't amount to much in either direction. A1 AF on the latest 3.X FW (last FW I used before selling) is on par with A1II for BIF. A1II, A9III and likely A7V are a bit better at perched bird eye-af but it isn't a big difference.
IMO I think the only reason I'd buy an A7V over an A1 is for pre-capture. A1 just got the adjustable Zone AF modes and XS and XL which were previously another big plus for the newer cameras.
A1 still does twice as many AF calculations per second over the A7V. That is probably still important for BIF. Likely not important for more static birds. A1 won't distort fast wing beats.
Bottom line is I'd go A1 if I was really into BIF (especially challenging BIF) and I'd go A7V if I was more into bird portraits.
These two images I screenshot from Jan's A7V review and show some examples of distorted wings....
p.1 #4 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
For the current used price of the A1, I think it's a steal. I haven't shot the A7V but based on my experience with the A1 and what I am reading about the A7V, I would buy a used A1 with no hesitation, unless you really want pre capture feature, like Geoff said.
p.1 #5 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Same here, a well cared for used A1 is your best bet. I'd highly recommend purchasing here on FM in the Buy&Sell forum.
FYI: make sure it already has ver 3 firmware installed and that it's wifi capability works. There were a number of posts regarding upgrading firmware in owner's A1 from ver 1.xx to 2.xx to 3.xx where that functionality ceased. Can't remember off the top of my head which, but someone here can point out the upgrade version that was the culprit. FYI, this didn't happen to all bodies and there was no correlation tied to s/n's. Sony never admitted they had an issue and subsequently the only solution was to send in for repair at the owner's expense which was significant. That functionality I believe can be verified by using Sony's new Creative app.
p.1 #6 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Thank you very much for the responses and details! And special thank you to Geoff for the link to that Youtube review. My subjects are usually bird portraits and I rarely take BIF photos. I have been leaning towards the A1 (used) but that review by Jan Wegener has increased my interest for A7v now .
And apologies if this question had been asked earlier. I tried looking for posts with the keyword "A7v" in them, but couldn't find the one I was looking for.
p.1 #7 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
I certainly can't make a definitive statement without ever having shot an A7V but having had an A9 II + A1 my take would be for bird on a stick the A7V would be workable but for BIF and pretty much any other use case you'd be crazy not to look for a clean used A1 for the money.
Pre capture is nice to have and one of the things that justified my upgrade to the A1 II but it wouldn't be enough for me to get the A7V over a used A1.
My A1 is gone now so I haven't experienced the latest firmware but it sounds promising.
p.1 #9 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Lots of good comments on this thread. I would add a couple more in favour of the A1: the larger sensor means you can crop in more without losing as much IQ than the A7V & for birds I always end up cropping. Also the A1 EVF is better. Making sure the Firmware is up to date and that WiFi/Bluetooth works before buying is really important.
p.1 #10 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
A7V will be better for "bird portraiture". This much should be obvious from the early reviews already. Whether the difference in that aspect is substantial enough to outweigh A1's other advantages is another matter (though A7V has some other nice things too like battery life and full articulated screen) .
p.1 #11 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Lots of great feedback above
I'd add my 2 cents here: with the A1 you can crop to APSC and still have decent MP for a detailed image Think of this as getting another .5 reach for your lenses
Like in the automobile world, nothing beats displacement
Even though the A7V is of great value, I'd still get a second hand A1 whose prices fall around $3.5K now
The slower sensor readout could still yield some unwanted distortion, mostly with wings motion
Other not too minor advantages on the A1: better EVF experience and longer buffering for shotgun shots
Just get the A7V and learn to live with its shortcomings
Cheers,
p.1 #12 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Before letting go of my a1 (to upgrade to the a1 II), I checked the actuation count. After 4 years of ownership, it had 28. Yes, 28.. NOT 28,000, NOT 2800... 28. I never activated my mech. shutter the entire time, yet I probably took hundreds of thousands of photos. A good day of birding, I might come home with 1-2k shots. My point is... There are lots of used a1 bodies out there with VERY low shutter count. I would go that route before getting the a7V, but that is... unless you must have pre-capture or plan on doing birding/wildlife video
p.1 #13 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Thank you very much for all the great responses! I will keep my eyes open for a reasonably priced used A1. There are some on eBay (Japanese gray market ones, I believe). The only thing that I have against buying a used A1 is that since I will be using it for a few years it's technology might get outdated. Since the A7v is brand new, it will be regarded as newish tech for the next 2-3 years at least.
p.1 #14 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
Yes and no. A1 is fully stacked, which is better tech, despite the "partially stacked" being newer. More autofocus points is universally better. 50 mp is better than 33, despite the 33 sensor being "newer." The precapture on a7v is indeed newer.
Always silent shooting, with no vibration, and no banding, ia exquisite to me. I will never go back to a non fully stacked sony camera after experiencing the a1 and beyond.
tausif wrote:
Thank you very much for all the great responses! I will keep my eyes open for a reasonably priced used A1. There are some on eBay (Japanese gray market ones, I believe). The only thing that I have against buying a used A1 is that since I will be using it for a few years it's technology might get outdated. Since the A7v is brand new, it will be regarded as newish tech for the next 2-3 years at least.
p.1 #15 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
tausif wrote:
Thank you very much for all the great responses! I will keep my eyes open for a reasonably priced used A1. There are some on eBay (Japanese gray market ones, I believe). The only thing that I have against buying a used A1 is that since I will be using it for a few years it's technology might get outdated. Since the A7v is brand new, it will be regarded as newish tech for the next 2-3 years at least.
Careful that you don't get a Japanese model where the menu is ONLY in Japanese (unless they don't do that anymore, but there was a time when Japanese Sony cameras only had menus in Japanese and there was no fix, if I recall correctly)
p.1 #16 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
shadow9d9 - those are great points. I guess flagship camera will continue being better than lower priced models even if they were released a few years ago.
trainerKEN - true, I will ensure that it has English language support before I buy it.
p.1 #17 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
tausif wrote:
shadow9d9 - those are great points. I guess flagship camera will continue being better than lower priced models even if they were released a few years ago.
trainerKEN - true, I will ensure that it has English language support before I buy it.
It kinda depends what you value more, so I can't say it's a complete win for A1.
A7V AF will recognize the bird in more difficult scenarios + pre-capture will allow you to capture some shots A1 won't.
BTW, you can unlock other languages (including english) on japanese A1, but you need to run some programs on your computer to do it. There was a thread about it recently here...
Found it: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1922279/
p.1 #18 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
I just sold my A1 to buy an a7V
Used prices of A1 = price of a7V + change for 1-2 lenses
I will buy the next iteration of A1 when it comes in couple of year. It should have all the latest tech (a9iii global shutter with new a7V sensor tech) and more by then, and my A1 will have lost lot of value by then. Meanwhile a7V is more camera than I need right now.
I am most pleased with the comprehensive build quality improvements that a7V brings. I think it's the first a7 camera with mag alloy unibody frame, right to the grip.
Also, the flip out monitor is a big deal for me. I can just slap it back on body and never use it.
p.1 #19 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
No bad choices between the two. I shoot the A1 and the AF seems like cheating, it’s so good! But the V has some attractive new features: pre capture and an amazing floppy screen. If you are shooting vertically from a low angle, that screen is awesome (also on the IV). You will get great captures and love whichever camera you buy.
p.1 #20 · Will the new Sony A7v be comparable to a used Sony A1 for bird photography?
+1 vote for the A1 if as you stated you are primarily interested in bird photography. For me I shoot mostly people and occasionally birds so the A75 was a better choice with the updated WB, DR & AF algorithms.
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