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A7r, A7r2 - and why I'm keeping both ...

Knorp

Well-known member
Thanks Bart. Exciting indeed! :grin:
I am under the impression the GM 100-400 is supposed to ship in July.
So I'll wait and see what the reviews have to say.

BTW I have the Nikkor AF-S 80-400/4.5-5.6 and Commlite AF adapter. I'll try that on the A9.
Yes, the lens will come later.
No problem, I'll wait for both of your reviews ... :p

Kind regards.
 

Knorp

Well-known member
Thanks Vivek.
I have Lexar 64GB 2000x and 1000x cards that initially failed in the E-M1.2 and E-M5.2.
They got replaced free of charge with REV B cards, that work fine in the OM-Ds' UHS-II and UHS-I slots.

UPS delivered my A9 around noon, battery charging now.
BTW Sony included a battery charger, as well as an adapter to charge via USB. :thumbs:
The A9 has 1 UHS-II and 1 UHS-I slot.
I stuck in one 2000x UHS-II and one 1000x UHS-I Lexar 64GB REV B card.
So far, so good!
Knock on wood! :watch:
You want that Sony ... SF-G Series UHS-II SD Memory Card
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Bart, Tre, thanks.

I just shot a couple thousand images with the Lexar 64GB 2000x REV B in slot1 of the A9.
WOW! No glitch, nada! The card feels just as fast as on my E-M1.2 and E-M5.2.
Never ran out of buffer space. While emptying the buffer one can shoot the next salvo!
I shot compressed. :grin:

What a great camera! I am hooked! Need to work on the images so that I can post some! :banghead: :salute:
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Bart, Tre, thanks. I just shot a couple thousand images with the Lexar 64GB 2000x REV B in slot1 of the A9.WOW! No glitch, nada! The card feels just as fast as on my E-M1.2 and E-M5.2.Never ran out of buffer space. While emptying the buffer one can shoot the next salvo!I shot compressed. :grin:What a great camera! I am hooked! Need to work on the images so that I can post some! :banghead: :salute:
Headed to NYC for a wedding... Will see if the wife lets me venture off to B&H for a bit... the answer is probably no because I'm sure she's afraid I'd miss the wedding and come back with "wedding gifts."
 

Knorp

Well-known member
Apparently the Lexar cards are a bit faster in actual use. There's a few articles on it online. I'm hoping that Sony goes with a XQD/UHS2 combo on the A9R/S
Hi Tre, you're right - too bad for Sony as those cards seem very promising.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Any banding at ISO100 as "discovered" by a "reviewer"?


Bart, Tre, thanks.

I just shot a couple thousand images with the Lexar 64GB 2000x REV B in slot1 of the A9.
WOW! No glitch, nada! The card feels just as fast as on my E-M1.2 and E-M5.2.
Never ran out of buffer space. While emptying the buffer one can shoot the next salvo!
I shot compressed. :grin:

What a great camera! I am hooked! Need to work on the images so that I can post some! :banghead: :salute:
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
My first shots with A9 = Sony ILCE-9 :thumbup: :thumbs:


Sony ILCE-9 + Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300mm, ISO 2000, f/5.6, 1/2000s.


Sony ILCE-9 + Commlite Adapter + Nikkor AF-S 80-400mm F4.4-5.6 G @ 400mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/2000s.


Sony ILCE-9 + Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300mm, ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/2000s.

Observations:

• In terms of A9 focus accuracy and speed improvements relative to A7r Mark II, similarly to E-M1 Mark II over E-M1.

• Silent shutter seems to work pretty well, although in a few of the Hummingbird images I can still spot rolling shutter effects (not shown here). Compared to A7r Mark II major improvement though.

• I wish Sony releases soon an FE 400/2.8 prime lens that works well with their 1.4x and 2x tele-converters.

• I also wish they release soon an FE 100-400/4.5-5.6 zoom lens.

• I set up the A9 user interface very similarly to the one of my A7r.2

• The title of this thread should read now: A7r, A7r.2, A9 - and why I'm keeping all three ...
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
My first shots with A9 = Sony ILCE-9 :thumbup: :thumbs:


Sony ILCE-9 + Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300mm, ISO 2000, f/5.6, 1/2000s.


Sony ILCE-9 + Commlite Adapter + Nikkor AF-S 80-400mm F4.4-5.6 G @ 400mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/2000s.


Sony ILCE-9 + Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300mm, ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/2000s.

Observations:

• In terms of A9 focus accuracy and speed improvements relative to A7r Mark II, similarly to E-M1 Mark II over E-M1.

• Silent shutter seems to work pretty well, although in a few of the Hummingbird images I can still spot rolling shutter effects (not shown here). Compared to A7r Mark II major improvement though.

• I wish Sony releases soon an FE 400/2.8 prime lens that works well with their 1.4x and 2x tele-converters.

• I also wish they release soon an FE 100-400/4.5-5.6 zoom lens.

• I set up the A9 user interface very similarly to the one of my A7r.2

• The title of this thread should read now: A7r, A7r.2, A9 - and why I'm keeping all three ...
Nice shots and your impressions seem consistent with what other owners and reviewers are seeing. Also some reviewers are saying that the A9 is pretty useable up to ISO 25600 (and maybe even 51200 for B&W shots) which would give it about a legitimate 1.33x stop high ISO advantage over the A7RII IMO. Most say that base ISO is still cleaner on the A7RII and that the IQ is better there as well which is no surprise with the megapixel advantage.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Thanks! I am not sure what the sony folks have against the stars..:rolleyes:

A possible exception could be the Sun. They would love to call all their lenses "sonnars". :rolleyes::ROTFL:

Mmm, another 'source' also reported overheating and star-eating behaviour.
 

Knorp

Well-known member
Thanks! I am not sure what the sony folks have against the stars..:rolleyes:

A possible exception could be the Sun. They would love to call all their lenses "sonnars". :rolleyes::ROTFL:
Hopefully it can all be fixed in firmware.
Anyway, K-H's photography seems not affected too much, if at all.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Let us hope that they will come to their senses and literally see the light (and delete the "star eater" stuff)!
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Bliss :watch:



ILCE-9 + Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300mm, ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/2000s - Silent Shutter.
Problems, what problems? I am afraid I didn't get the memo! No problems at my end. :LOL:

I picked up a few useful pointers from various forums.

• Using a battery grip keeps the batteries away from the camera body proper.
• So they do not contribute as much to the heat load of the body.
• With the a99II, the combination of Remote Control ON and video format 4K is going to overheat just in standby.
• Set for HD and RC OFF and the a99II never even warms up. Might be the same for a9.
• That's the parameters my camera came with and that I used. Now I know what to pay attention to. :facesmack:
• BTW no heat issues at all in the bright New Mexico sunshine while shooting thousands of images! :thumbs: :clap:

• I use Power Battery Holders on all my cameras that can use them. The PBH for my A9 should arrive this coming Tuesday.
• The battery grip will also solve another problem. Without it the peak design clutch plate interferes with the TechArt Pro (TAP) AF adapter.
• The TAP works fine on A9, same as on my A7r.2!
 
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k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Nice shots and your impressions seem consistent with what other owners and reviewers are seeing. Also some reviewers are saying that the A9 is pretty useable up to ISO 25600 (and maybe even 51200 for B&W shots) which would give it about a legitimate 1.33x stop high ISO advantage over the A7RII IMO. Most say that base ISO is still cleaner on the A7RII and that the IQ is better there as well which is no surprise with the megapixel advantage.
Thanks Tre for the pointer. Here is my quick ISO 25,600 shot.



A9 + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ ISO 25,600, f/2.8, 1/50s.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
I picked up a few useful pointers from various forums.

• Using a battery grip keeps the batteries away from the camera body proper.
• So they do not contribute as much to the heat load of the body.
• With the a99II, the combination of Remote Control ON and video format 4K is going to overheat just in standby.
• Set for HD and RC OFF and the a99II never even warms up. Might be the same for a9.
• That's the parameters my camera came with and that I used. Now I know what to pay attention to. :facesmack:
• BTW no heat issues at all in the bright New Mexico sunshine while shooting thousands of images! :thumbs: :clap:

• I use Power Battery Holders on all my cameras that can use them. The PBH for my A9 should arrive this coming Tuesday.
• The battery grip will also solve another problem. Without it the peak design clutch plate interferes with the TechArt Pro (TAP) AF adapter.
• The TAP works fine on A9, same as on my A7r.2!
Thanks a bunch! Really useful! :thumbs:

Lovely capture as well! :)
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Bliss :watch:



ILCE-9 + Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300mm, ISO 640, f/5.6, 1/2000s - Silent Shutter.
Problems, what problems? I am afraid I didn't get the memo! No problems at my end. :LOL:

I picked up a few useful pointers from various forums.

• Using a battery grip keeps the batteries away from the camera body proper.
• So they do not contribute as much to the heat load of the body.
• With the a99II, the combination of Remote Control ON and video format 4K is going to overheat just in standby.
• Set for HD and RC OFF and the a99II never even warms up. Might be the same for a9.
• That's the parameters my camera came with and that I used. Now I know what to pay attention to. :facesmack:
• BTW no heat issues at all in the bright New Mexico sunshine while shooting thousands of images! :thumbs: :clap:

• I use Power Battery Holders on all my cameras that can use them. The PBH for my A9 should arrive this coming Tuesday.
• The battery grip will also solve another problem. Without it the peak design clutch plate interferes with the TechArt Pro (TAP) AF adapter.
• The TAP works fine on A9, same as on my A7r.2!
Great shot and thanks for the tips. I'm going back and forth on this right now but this camera is looking more and more hard to pass on.
 

Pradeep

Member
Thanks so much for the shots, K-H. Great to know that I did not make a mistake either. Yet to put my A9 through its paces, been too busy here with a wedding. However, the silent shooting at more than single frame/s is absolutely fantastic. Can't do that with the A7RII.

Will hopefully get some testing done later this week when I get back home. I did order the 100-400 lens but there is no ETA on it yet. I plan to take the Canon version with me on my trip to Namibia.

From your images, it seems that the Sony 70-300 is sharper on the A9 than the A7RII and almost as good if not better than the adapted 80-300 from Nikon. How did the AF go with the Nikon lens? hHat is the one thing that worries me, speed of AF using third party lenses via adapters. On the A7RII it is quite slow esp at the long end.
 
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k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Thanks Vivek, Bart, and Tre.

Sure, the A9 costs a lot of money, but back then I spent more on each of the Nikon D3 and Leica M9. I simply loved the way the 12 MP D3 handled and the images it produced. Same for the M9. When I got the D800E I gave the D3 to my son as he had a need for it and I didn't use it enough to justify keeping it. It's still going strong. I finally will send in the M9 for free sensor replacement as Leica is canceling that program later this summer.

Although I like keeping that gear in good working order and occasionally use it, I have moved on and fully embraced mirrorless cameras of Olympus and Sony type, each with their own strengths. No regrets whatsoever. Technology has really moved on and I have gotten used to IBIS and EVF.

What the E-M1 Mark II and the ILCE-9 have in common is that, compared to their predecessor cameras, snappy and accurate automatic focusing without focus hunting has finally arrived for interchangeable lens mirrorless cameras. So, with these new cameras I have no problem snapping birds in flight. That fact alone is worth it for me and makes use of these cameras even more enjoyable. As I keep my older cameras and can compare them directly to their newest models, I have also noticed that automatic focusing has become not only faster but also more accurate by focusing on the intended subject instead of in front or behind it. That improvement is really quite noticeable when shooting older and new cameras side by side.

20 or 24 as compared to 16 MP is quite noticeable when it comes to cropping an image. However, 24 relative to 36 or 42 MP has also the disadvantage of putting roughly half the number of pixels on a subject. That becomes apparent when viewing images at pixel level detail on a computer display. So, while shooting a 90mm lens on the 42 MP A7r.2, I need to increase that focal length by square root of 2 for a 24 MP camera at the same focus distance in order to view the subject with the same number of pixels on the monitor. Or of course reduce the focus distance accordingly by moving closer in.

So Tre I wish you good luck for making the right decision after you have tried out the A9 during your next visit to NY. The A9's user interface will look quite familiar coming from using on A7r or A7r.2 as in my case.
 
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