I am system agnostic, and have used the R5 II, A1 and Z8 all extensively. I do mostly wildlife photography, including action (eg. flight, feeding, etc).
After I purchased the R5 II it became my goto camera, over both the A1 and Z8. Mainly because of i) raw pre-capture and ii) slightly better bird/animal AF than the A1, and perhaps a little more than slightly better than the Z8. That said, I still reach for the Z8 when I know that a TC lens would come in handy (which is very often !).
Now that the A1 II is announced, it looks to me it will be tough to choose between it and the R5 II. For my style of photography, here are the pros/cons I've noticed on paper so far:
Pros for the A1 II
- zebras (highlight warnings) when shooting
- two card slots that are the same
- single button press to toggle precapture (why Canon excluded this is a mystery)
- I prefer its style of fully articulated display (vs the swivel design of the R5 II)
- reported to have a larger buffer, with only a rate slow-down when full (vs a short period of no shots with the R5 II)
Pros for the R5 II
- full 14-bit raw at 30 fps (whereas the A1 is reported to (and presumably also the A1 II) drop down to 13-bit at 30 fps)
- 8K/60 (vs 8K/30 in the A1 II)
- excellent dynamic image stabilization in video including 120 fps (whereas the new 'dynamic active' stabilization in the A1 II reportedly is not supported at 8K or 120 fps).
(Re. the R5 II dynamic stabilization - I'm really impressed with it. This was shot from a kayak with a large lens hand held out over the gunwal https://www.instagram.com/p/DB8_9YzpACk/ )
Overall, I am underwhelmed with the A1 II announcement. When the original A1 came out, it broke through boundaries. IMHO, the A1 II barely catches up to the competetion - at least on paper.
That said, when the camera is available, I will borrow one, and see if in practice there are other advantages in the field. For example, I am curious to see if the new AI subject detect will significantly leap frog the R5 II, or maybe just catch up.
I am system agnostic, and have used the R5 II, A1 and Z8 all extensively. I do mostly wildlife photography, including action (eg. flight, feeding, etc).
After I purchased the R5 II it became my goto camera, over both the A1 and Z8. Mainly because of i) raw pre-capture and ii) slightly better bird/animal AF than the A1, and perhaps a little more than slightly better than the Z8. That said, I still reach for the Z8 when I know that a TC lens would come in handy (which is very often !).
Now that the A1 II is announced, it looks to me it will be tough to choose between it and the R5 II. For my style of photography, here are the pros/cons I've noticed on paper so far:
Pros for the A1 II
- two card slots that are the same
- single button press to toggle precapture (why Canon excluded this is a mystery)
- I prefer its style of fully articulated display (vs the swivel design of the R5 II)
- reported to have a larger buffer, with only a rate slow-down when full (vs a short period of no shots with the R5 II)
Pros for the R5 II
- full 14-bit raw at 30 fps (whereas the A1 is reported to (and presumably also the A1 II) drop down to 13-bit at 30 fps)
- 8K/60 (vs 8K/30 in the A1 II)
- excellent dynamic image stabilization in video including 120 fps (whereas the new 'dynamic active' stabilization in the A1 II reportedly is not supported at 8K or 120 fps).
(Re. the R5 II dynamic stabilization - I'm really impressed with it. This was shot from a kayak with a large lens hand held out over the gunwal https://www.instagram.com/p/DB8_9YzpACk/ )
Overall, I am underwhelmed with the A1 II announcement. When the original A1 came out, it broke through boundaries. IMHO, the A1 II barely catches up to the competetion - at least on paper.
That said, when the camera is available, I will borrow one, and see if in practice there are other advantages in the field. For example, I am curious to see if the new AI subject detect will significantly leap frog the R5 II, or maybe just catch up.
Nov 20, 2024 at 08:52 AM
Previous versions of matth4ever's message #16689440 « My take on the Sony A1 II »
