p.1 #1 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
Hi all,
It's been a couple of years since the A2 was released, I've had my A1 for some time now and I'm considering picking up an A2.
If you made the move from the A1 to the A2, care to share you experiences with the camera? I've never loved the ergonomics of the A1, not horrible, not great. I think pre-capture would be a nice feature to have as well. The improved bird recognition, bonus.
Did you notice an improvement in ISO performance? I shoot a lot with the 400-800 and if it's not sunny without a cloud in the sky, the ISO jumps fast.
Just curious to know if you all are enjoying the A2 and if you would recommend the upgrade. Are we do for an A3 anytime soon? I haven't paid attention to the dev lifecycle of the cameras.
p.1 #2 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
I don't regret my decision to sell A1 and buy A1II. The net cost after selling made it bearable.
But I'm still disappointed at Sony's lack of effort into making any big improvements with the Mark II.
When I first bought it my favourite upgrades were pre-capture and the custom zones and XS spot. Of course now the A1 has the Zones and XS spot so that one isn't an upgrade anymore.
The BEAF for a perched bird is somewhat better. I did have the two cameras back to back for a few weeks before the A1 sold. It wasn't night and day but I found a few situations where the A1II would find the eye and the A1 wouldn't.
I don't really think the AF for BIF is noticeably better. The later FW 3.0 I had on the A1 before selling had made the AF sing on that camera. Prior 2.0 FW was not as good.
I don't think ISO performance improved much if any. But I really didn't compare.
Precapture was the main selling point for me. If A1 FW 4.0 had added precapture I'd have been pissed at spending the money on A1II. But so far Sony has kept that off the A1.
One other small benefit is the A1II can shoot indefinitely at 17FPS after the buffer is maxed at 30FPS. The A1 drops FPS down to ~10FPS after a brief stint at 16FPS. But most of the time this doesn't matter too much.
I think A1III is not likely till 2028-2029. The A1II was just short of 4yrs from the A1. 4 years from A1II would put us at December 2028.
p.1 #3 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
Appreciate the insight. Pre-capture is probably the main feature I'm most interested in having. I think the IBIS was improved on the a2 as well? A little extra stabilization would be nice. I think Sony made the right call not adding pre-capture to the A1, that would have been a big mistake for the brand/sales. The extra frames/buffer headroom is good to know. I don't often reach that limit on the A1 but it's nice to know there was in improvement made.
Custom zones sounds interesting and very useful!
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, it sounds like you are enjoying the camera. I'll sell the A1 to offset the cost as well... not a huge hit but every little bit helps.
p.1 #4 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
If you are using a fast shutter speed to capture motion, IBIS is barely relevant. Even the IBIS in the old a7iii was good enough to take the edge off of me shooting in a boat bobbing around in choppy seas, shooting whales, if the shutter speed was 1/500 or faster.
As noted above, the last firmware update for the a1 added several useful features, from better control of AF spots to focus stacking. For my use cases, both are very nice updates for the expensive a1 I already own, but neither would have caused me to buy a mk ii as a replacement for the a1. I could, however, see myself adding a mk iii as a second body, when it comes out. Sony having ultimately done the right thing on continuing to update firmware for the a1 would be a big part of the willingness to invest in another top tier body in the future.
p.1 #5 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
I personally have no regrets moving from the A1 to the A1 II
But I was someone that really disliked the grip on the A1 generation of bodies. I found it overly flat against the palm. And the way the grip angled where your finger tips go, made the move to A9III style body on the A1 II almost worth the price of admission. But that’s a very personal thing. Most people are fine with the A1 body
As far as the features and performance go, the pre-capture and Ai subject detection are both welcome additions. I also like the C5 button on front (I use this to quickly toggle pre-capture on/off)
AF is definitely improved. But not a night and day difference. As the A1 is already excellent. I sold my A1 before the lastest firmware update, so the gap may be even smaller
Super-tilty rear LCD is great! Best design on the market IMO. LCD quality is still lackluster though. Sony really needs to step up in that department
ISO performance remains virtually identical. As I believe the sensor is virtually the same, if not identical, to the A1. My guess is an A1III won’t be coming till late 2027, early 2028. But that’s just a guess
Overall, I think the A1II is more of a “sum of all the parts” upgrade. Rather than a game changer like the original was. But I’m still happy with my decision. And given the choice, I’d make the same choice again
p.1 #6 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
Grenache wrote:
If you are using a fast shutter speed to capture motion, IBIS is barely relevant. Even the IBIS in the old a7iii was good enough to take the edge off of me shooting in a boat bobbing around in choppy seas, shooting whales, if the shutter speed was 1/500 or faster.
As noted above, the last firmware update for the a1 added several useful features, from better control of AF spots to focus stacking. For my use cases, both are very nice updates for the expensive a1 I already own, but neither would have caused me to buy a mk ii as a replacement for the a1. I could, however, see myself adding a mk iii as a second body, when it comes out. Sony having ultimately done the right thing on continuing to update firmware for the a1 would be a big part of the willingness to invest in another top tier body in the future.
I think the IBIS might help... some... at least in my shooting situations. I find myself photographing the local Coues deer towards sunset with the 400-800, the lens is fun but as we all know, it's slow. To avoid crazy ISO numbers I'll shoot around 1/500th a second hand-held. If the camera can squeeze out a little more stability... I'm all for it. Now of course, I could just shoot with faster glass (if anyone wants to donate a 600 /f4) and then IBIS doesn't come into play as much.
I think the pre-capture is the main feature I'm interested in with the new ergonomics coming in second.
p.1 #7 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
Grenache wrote:
If you are using a fast shutter speed to capture motion, IBIS is barely relevant. Even the IBIS in the old a7iii was good enough to take the edge off of me shooting in a boat bobbing around in choppy seas, shooting whales, if the shutter speed was 1/500 or faster.
As noted above, the last firmware update for the a1 added several useful features, from better control of AF spots to focus stacking. For my use cases, both are very nice updates for the expensive a1 I already own, but neither would have caused me to buy a mk ii as a replacement for the a1. I could, however, see myself adding a mk iii as a second body, when it comes out. Sony having ultimately done the right thing on continuing to update firmware for the a1 would be a big part of the willingness to invest in another top tier body in the future.
I think the IBIS might help... some... at least in my shooting situations. I find myself photographing the local Coues deer towards sunset with the 400-800, the lens is fun but as we all know, it's slow. To avoid crazy ISO numbers I'll shoot around 1/500th a second hand-held. If the camera can squeeze out a little more stability... I'm all for it. Now of course, I could just shoot with faster glass (if anyone wants to donate a 600 /f4) and then IBIS doesn't come into play as much.
I think the pre-capture is the main feature I'm interested in with the new ergonomics coming in second.
p.1 #8 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
No regrets on moving from A1 to A1 II.
Love the precapture. That was my #1 reason to jump. Hadn't really noticed a big difference in ISO performance but honestly do not care that much. Today's noise reduction algorithms make it a non-issue for me.
Multi-tilt screen is a definite upgrade. Enhanced subject recognition is noticeable too. Now that we see that the A7 RVI is *not* an A1 II killer - I'd say jump on in.
Seems like there are a couple great sellers here on B&S with attractive discounts on brand new A1 II units.
p.1 #9 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
robert614 wrote:
I personally have no regrets moving from the A1 to the A1 II
But I was someone that really disliked the grip on the A1 generation of bodies. I found it overly flat against the palm. And the way the grip angled where your finger tips go, made the move to A9III style body on the A1 II almost worth the price of admission. But that’s a very personal thing. Most people are fine with the A1 body
As far as the features and performance go, the pre-capture and Ai subject detection are both welcome additions. I also like the C5 button on front (I use this to quickly toggle pre-capture on/off)
AF is definitely improved. But not a night and day difference. As the A1 is already excellent. I sold my A1 before the lastest firmware update, so the gap may be even smaller
Super-tilty rear LCD is great! Best design on the market IMO. LCD quality is still lackluster though. Sony really needs to step up in that department
ISO performance remains virtually identical. As I believe the sensor is virtually the same, if not identical, to the A1. My guess is an A1III won’t be coming till late 2027, early 2028. But that’s just a guess
Overall, I think the A1II is more of a “sum of all the parts” upgrade. Rather than a game changer like the original was. But I’m still happy with my decision. And given the choice, I’d make the same choice again
Many thanks for the insight. I tolerate the body of the A1, it's never been my favorite. I moved over from Nikon and really liked the feel of their camera bodies. My finger gets wedged between the lens and the camera, often. The new body design is also attractive to me. Honestly, If I've opened up the rear LCD more than 5 times since I've owned the camera I would be shocked. It's something I never thing to do. Having the tilting ability might get me to use it.
Thanks again for sharing your experience with the camera.
p.1 #10 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
liggy wrote:
No regrets on moving from A1 to A1 II.
Love the precapture. That was my #1 reason to jump. Hadn't really noticed a big difference in ISO performance but honestly do not care that much. Today's noise reduction algorithms make it a non-issue for me.
Multi-tilt screen is a definite upgrade. Enhanced subject recognition is noticeable too. Now that we see that the A7 RVI is *not* an A1 II killer - I'd say jump on in.
Seems like there are a couple great sellers here on B&S with attractive discounts on brand new A1 II units.
Many thanks for the comments.
Pre-capture appears to be at the top of the list when it comes to improvements over the A1. I didn't think the A1rVI would be an A1/A2 killer, I figured it would be a nice upgrade and it appears to be one. I shoot a lot in panning situations and I like to photograph hummingbirds as well. The thought of rolling shutter distortion turned me off to the camera, unless I'm missing something. The videos I've watched all call out the readout times and it appears to be less than the previous model but I don't want to deal with it.
p.1 #14 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
hatch1921 wrote:
Hi all,
It's been a couple of years since the A2 was released, I've had my A1 for some time now and I'm considering picking up an A2.
If you made the move from the A1 to the A2, care to share you experiences with the camera? I've never loved the ergonomics of the A1, not horrible, not great. I think pre-capture would be a nice feature to have as well. The improved bird recognition, bonus.
Did you notice an improvement in ISO performance? I shoot a lot with the 400-800 and if it's not sunny without a cloud in the sky, the ISO jumps fast.
Just curious to know if you all are enjoying the A2 and if you would recommend the upgrade. Are we do for an A3 anytime soon? I haven't paid attention to the dev lifecycle of the cameras.
A bit early to be talking about an A1iii IMO, but I currently have an A1ii and an original A1. In terms of final output I find them largely indistinguishable (I shoot them side by side on some gigs and never notice which camera shot what). Maybe the ii is slightly better at high ISO but it's somewhat moot since I generally use NR in post. The AF of the newer model is slightly better (faster, stickier, more subject/setting options), but how much better will depend on individual use cases and lenses. Ergonomically it's pretty much a wash for me -- I never had a problem with the physical shape of the original A1 and am not a huge fan of the added bulk of the ii but I suppose it's slightly more comfortable, most notably in the bigger gap between lens barrel and grip.
Pre-capture is the real game changer for me and I've found it amazingly useful for both wildlife and humans in far more scenarios that I'd have imagined. Two other changes have proven to be far more useful that I thought they would -- the super-articulated screen, and the additional custom button on the front of the body (which I have set to toggle pre-capture on and off)
p.1 #15 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
In addition to the features of the A1 II mentioned above, I love the 2095 dot 3.2" screen on the new camera, vs 1440 dot 3" on the A1. It made a big difference for my old eyes. The new tilt-flip feature was also nice.
Also quite noticeable was the IBIS increase from 5.5 stops to 8.5 stops.
p.1 #16 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
My main reasons for upgrading were pre-capture and AI detect modes missing on the A1.
AI first... I find that that AF is better with AI than the A1 could do on it's best day. The addition of insect ID AF is terrific for butterflies and dragonflies in flight. Subjects that can be tough with the 600mm GM are now easier. The most recent firmware seemed to give slight improvement to subjects where contrast might be an issue like backlit or low contrast in pre-dawn light. Overall the AI has helped here
Pre-capture... I find that it works well with larger subjects and is "stickier" to hold that focus, adjust the to the plane of focus and track the eye through the entire sequence. On smaller birds it is far less accurate, far less able to keep up and often stays locked on the point where they were perched. To back this up I have provided Sony engineers with about 20 sequences of this in the form of RAW files that could be analyzed and where they provide feedback. These sequences were shot with tracking on every setting from 1-5, across multiple zone types and with different duration for the pre-capture setting. Basically everything that can be changed was for the examples. These are use cases where you might get 3 frames where the bird is visible moving laterally in the frame (right to left or left to right). Obviously if you pull back you can expect 4 or 5 frames but then you are down to about 3-4MP in resolution with the final crop. In summary what I can tell you from their feedback is that tracking small, fast birds that are perched and begin moving laterally or at you is pushing the limits of the current technology. Their words, not mine. To be fair some of this limitation could be the older motors on the 600GM but it also happens with the 300mm + 1.4x and that has the latest motor tech
That said, I feel given the fact that I had the A1 for 5 years and the resale was fair, that the A1 II was a worthy update.
p.1 #18 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
hatch1921 wrote:
Thank you all for sharing your experiences with the A1II, I pushed the "Buy button" and it should be here Thursday/Friday of next week.
p.1 #19 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
hatch1921 wrote:
Thank you all for sharing your experiences with the A1II, I pushed the "Buy button" and it should be here Thursday/Friday of next week.
Any setup guides worth mentioning?
Thanks again all and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!
Hatch
I found Colby Brown's to be excellent. Mark Smith has unfortunately gone to a paywall and his guide is rather expensive
p.1 #20 · You made the move from the A1 to the A2 - Questions
hatch1921 wrote:
Hi all,
It's been a couple of years since the A2 was released, I've had my A1 for some time now and I'm considering picking up an A2.
If you made the move from the A1 to the A2, care to share you experiences with the camera? I've never loved the ergonomics of the A1, not horrible, not great. I think pre-capture would be a nice feature to have as well. The improved bird recognition, bonus.
Did you notice an improvement in ISO performance? I shoot a lot with the 400-800 and if it's not sunny without a cloud in the sky, the ISO jumps fast.
Just curious to know if you all are enjoying the A2 and if you would recommend the upgrade. Are we do for an A3 anytime soon? I haven't paid attention to the dev lifecycle of the cameras.
I would recommend the A1 II for me the most important improvements are
- pre capture
- better AF with more customization
- better EVF quality at 120Hz (high mode)
- better IBIS (noticeable difference actually) for handheld static shots
- a bit faster write time and faster buffer recovery
no visible difference in noise / IQ
no one really knows when the new A1 III will come out.
- I'd say jump on in. 