The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

Iiyama said:
I’m hankering for another lens for my Sony A6700. I already have a Sony 16-55 2.8 and a Sony 70-350. I’m after something for low light such as indoor gigs, family christenings etc. all usually low light. I want to retain the benefits of the fast autofocus I have at present and sharpness.

I’m thinking a 1.4 prime something in the focal length between 35-50mm. Google reviews are confusing me or I may be looking for a unicorn lens! I seem to read a review and the lens is very sharp but the autofocus is slow. Or the autofocus is fast but the lens is not very sharp.

Since selling all my Canon RF gear to avoid silly money I’ve been happy with my Sony choice so far. However, this will probably be my last purchase for low light occasions and I want to get it right.

Any thoughts on a suitable lens?
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how much do you want to spend? Love my little Samyang 45 1.8 when I had my crop body, and they're cheap too.
 
T_J_G said:
how much do you want to spend? Love my little Samyang 45 1.8 when I had my crop body, and they're cheap too.
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Thanks for all the responses. I'm happy to spend between 500-1000. Including second hand options. But closer to £500 would feel better :)
 
Iiyama said:
I’m hankering for another lens for my Sony A6700. I already have a Sony 16-55 2.8 and a Sony 70-350. I’m after something for low light such as indoor gigs, family christenings etc. all usually low light. I want to retain the benefits of the fast autofocus I have at present and sharpness.

I’m thinking a 1.4 prime something in the focal length between 35-50mm. Google reviews are confusing me or I may be looking for a unicorn lens! I seem to read a review and the lens is very sharp but the autofocus is slow. Or the autofocus is fast but the lens is not very sharp.

Since selling all my Canon RF gear to avoid silly money I’ve been happy with my Sony choice so far. However, this will probably be my last purchase for low light occasions and I want to get it right.

Any thoughts on a suitable lens?
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When I had an A6400 as my holiday camera the Sigma prime trinity APSC lenses were great.

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN
Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN

All 3 are relatively inexpensive being lenses that are designed for APSC and in my opinion a better choice than buying full frame lenses for an APSC camera unless you are planning in upgrading to full frame later on.
 
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f/2.8 said:
When I had an A6400 as my holiday camera the Sigma prime trinity APSC lenses were great.

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN
Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN

All 3 are relatively inexpensive being lenses that are designed for APSC and in my opinion a better choice than buying full frame lenses for an APSC camera unless you are planning in upgrading to full frame later on.
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Thank you
 
Iiyama said:
Thank you
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Seen you mentioned £500-£1000 budget all three of those could be bought used for well under £1000 even new all 3 would be around £1200,

When I got mine I bought all 3 used for around £600. They tend to run at around £200-220 each used if you are buying privately.
 
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Micro-four-thirds said:
That’s great to know, thank you. Can I ask is af and tracking good enough with the a7cr etc that it negates the need to be fiddling with the focus point all the time?
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Not sure, my experience has been with A9i,ii and iii and A1s. I pretty much use medium or large spot tracking and AFC for all my shooting. There are instances I will use wide and zone and I have used custom on the A9iii but that is on the rare occasions I cant get a spot mode to work eg I was shooting agility at the weekend and was covering one jump which I could just reach with the 600. It did have a fence or two in the way as the dog approached. On that occasion I would shoot the previous obstacle with spot and then change to wide, pre-focus on the rail and track the dog as it approached grabbing focus as it took flight. That worked the majority of the time and I would likely have hit the background with spot. In short I use spot until I feel it isn't getting results, which is rare. I mostly shoot moving objects. If I was shooting portraits I would always use medium spot real tracking with eye af. Landscapes I would probably manual focus. There isn't a right way, just go with the strength of the camera
 
Iiyama said:
I’m hankering for another lens for my Sony A6700. I already have a Sony 16-55 2.8 and a Sony 70-350. I’m after something for low light such as indoor gigs, family christenings etc. all usually low light. I want to retain the benefits of the fast autofocus I have at present and sharpness.

I’m thinking a 1.4 prime something in the focal length between 35-50mm. Google reviews are confusing me or I may be looking for a unicorn lens! I seem to read a review and the lens is very sharp but the autofocus is slow. Or the autofocus is fast but the lens is not very sharp.

Since selling all my Canon RF gear to avoid silly money I’ve been happy with my Sony choice so far. However, this will probably be my last purchase for low light occasions and I want to get it right.

Any thoughts on a suitable lens?
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35mm F1.4 GM is a fantastic lens for gigs. Very quick focus and fairly small too.
Stramash by Simon Wootton, on Flickr
 
f/2.8 said:
Seen you mentioned £500-£1000 budget all three of those could be bought used for well under £1000 even new all 3 would be around £1200,

When I got mine I bought all 3 used for around £600. They tend to run at around £200-220 each used if you are buying privately.
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Yes, I had a look and the pricing is a very pleasant surprise.
 
Iiyama said:
Thanks for all the responses. I'm happy to spend between 500-1000. Including second hand options. But closer to £500 would feel better :)
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A used FF Sony 55mm f1.8 is easily below your lower figure but it really depends what field of view you want. Decades ago when I took pictures at gigs I was often at the long end of my 28-70mm but you may be happier with a wider view. Lots of choices :D
 
snerkler said:
I love the 35mm GM but I'm not sure if it would be wide enough ona crop body for certain things?
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My favourite APS format wideangle is the Sigma 10-20mm.

Given its low price, some think it can't be much good but I'm very happy with it...

Glasshouse interior Sigma 10-16 A65 DSC03769.JPG
 
To summarize the helpful advice on here taking cost into consideration. I'm probably going to get the Sigma 30mm 1.4 DC DN and the Sigma 56mm 1.4 DC DN.

Something WoofWoof said about field of view got me thinking a little more about my preferred focal length. I found a helpful video showing the trinity of Sigma 1.4 lenses shot from different distances back from the subject. I realised I preferred the 30mm and 56mm.

The video is here for the benefit of anyone interested
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKSAlUf-JTw


Again thank you
 
Iiyama said:
To summarize the helpful advice on here taking cost into consideration. I'm probably going to get the Sigma 30mm 1.4 DC DN and the Sigma 56mm 1.4 DC DN.

Something WoofWoof said about field of view got me thinking a little more about my preferred focal length. I found a helpful video showing the trinity of Sigma 1.4 lenses shot from different distances back from the subject. I realised I preferred the 30mm and 56mm.

The video is here for the benefit of anyone interested
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKSAlUf-JTw


Again thank you
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They are both excellent performers. I really liked the 56mm but found myself using the 30mm much more often.
 
Back when I was talking pictures at gigs I wasn't towards the front, more towards the back opposite the bar :D so I often used a longer focal length which came in handy for head and shoulder/upper body pictures closer by too but really this comes down to what you want to achieve and where you're going to be stood.

Other news.
I missed that there was a super moon last night. Mrs WW just told me and sent pictures from Thailand and Singapore.

Out of Mrs WW's family home window in Thailand and then out of brother and SIL's apartment window in Singapore,

IMG-20240819-WA0000.jpg

IMG-20240819-WA0001.jpg

I'll have a look tonight but have doubtless missed it. The next are apparently 17th October and then 16th November.

Just on lenses....

I haven't used my Sony 85mm f1.8 much but I have taken some pictures I really like with it. I'm currently looking at reviews of the Sigma 90mm f2.8 which does look nice and it's quite compact too. I do have too many lenses but one more wouldn't hurt :D I'll have a think. I was thinking 24mm on my A7 and 40mm on my III would be nice but a compact 90mm f2.8 might be a nice addition to the compact set up.
 
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Iiyama said:
To summarize the helpful advice on here taking cost into consideration. I'm probably going to get the Sigma 30mm 1.4 DC DN and the Sigma 56mm 1.4 DC DN.

Something WoofWoof said about field of view got me thinking a little more about my preferred focal length. I found a helpful video showing the trinity of Sigma 1.4 lenses shot from different distances back from the subject. I realised I preferred the 30mm and 56mm.

The video is here for the benefit of anyone interested
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKSAlUf-JTw


Again thank you
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This is a similar one for Full Frame portraiture (y)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Tm2_dmqWI&t=535s
 
Oh dear. Compete cloud cover and rain here. No point going out to see the moon this evening.
 
woof woof said:
Oh dear. Compete cloud cover and rain here. No point going out to see the moon this evening.
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I think I've taken enough moon photos to last me a lifetime :LOL:
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
It was the same here too, even at 4am this morning going to work it was thick cloud and nothing in sight.
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The news has just said that the moon could be nice tonight, on the wane but still nice. At the moment it's pouring down here and the sky is just grey and featureless so I'm hoping for a massive improvement. I doubt it though.
 
South East Devon was cloudy last night but around 11:30 PM the moon did the dance of the seven clouds and shone for a few seconds, Unfortunately, I only had my Ixus 70 with me, so no chance of getting a decent image. :(
 
woof woof said:
The news has just said that the moon could be nice tonight, on the wane but still nice. At the moment it's pouring down here and the sky is just grey and featureless so I'm hoping for a massive improvement. I doubt it though.
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Thanks for the info, will keep an eye out.
Hopefully the weather improves for us all.
 
woof woof said:
It's really coming this time. It is. Honest.

One week to go: Sony 85mm GMII coming on August 28 – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Oh, and I might be changing one of my cars. Stay away from car show rooms! :D
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Car show rooms are dangerous :LOL:

Once upon a time I'd have been excited about this lens, but it's not on my radar at all. I'm guessing it's going to be around £1799 which is going to be a very tough ask considering how good the Sigma DG DN is. I think it needs to be 650g or less to have any appeal.
 
snerkler said:
Car show rooms are dangerous :LOL:

Once upon a time I'd have been excited about this lens, but it's not on my radar at all. I'm guessing it's going to be around £1799 which is going to be a very tough ask considering how good the Sigma DG DN is. I think it needs to be 650g or less to have any appeal.
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I think it will be cheaper than that and I also think once the fools have hoovered up enough of these they will launch an f/1.2 version.
 
f/2.8 said:
I think it will be cheaper than that and I also think once the fools have hoovered up enough of these they will launch an f/1.2 version.
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The gen 1 is still listed as £1499 on the Sony site (I know it's cheaper elsewhere), I'd be surprised if it's the same price :thinking:

I don't understand why they've not brought an f1.2 out before now.
 
T_J_G said:
I’m waiting to replace my Sigma 85 piece of junk :ROFLMAO: come on Sony!
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So here’s my prediction.

It will be sharper than the original and sharp across the frame albeit with heavy distortion (corrected in camera/post).

It will be lighter, maybe on par with the Sigma.

AF will be better than the original.

It’ll be £1600-1800.

I doubt I’ll win any awards with this prediction, it’s pretty much a given :LOL:
 
I've just been made aware of a new function in the Canons called pan assist, where the IBIS helps with panning to try and correct unwanted movement from the tog (too fast, too slow etc), I wonder if Sony will bring anything out like this? I know they have a 'panning mode' on their lenses but that just corrects for vertical movement and doesn't actually analyse the frame and adjust accordingly.
 
snerkler said:
I've just been made aware of a new function in the Canons called pan assist, where the IBIS helps with panning to try and correct unwanted movement from the tog (too fast, too slow etc), I wonder if Sony will bring anything out like this? I know they have a 'panning mode' on their lenses but that just corrects for vertical movement and doesn't actually analyse the frame and adjust accordingly.
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Canon's ibis has been ahead of Sony for a while now.

Only reason I haven't swapped to canon is because they don't have lenses I need/want.
 
nandbytes said:
Canon's ibis has been ahead of Sony for a while now.

Only reason I haven't swapped to canon is because they don't have lenses I need/want.
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I’m kinda surprised that it’s not in the A9 III, I wonder if it can be added by a firmware update as I believe Canon did it this way :thinking:
 
It seems to be a similar concept to the interchaneable mount systems, such as the Tamron Adapatall, but with autofocus motors built in.

I take it that adapters will be available for other lens mounts. at some point.
 
Does anyone else find that eye AF sometimes (more often than they'd like) chooses the 'wrong' eye, i.e. the one furthest away? Sometimes even if I put the AF point over the nearest eye and focus it sometimes flicks over to the other eye, or flicks from one eye to the other :thinking:
 
snerkler said:
Does anyone else find that eye AF sometimes (more often than they'd like) chooses the 'wrong' eye, i.e. the one furthest away? Sometimes even if I put the AF point over the nearest eye and focus it sometimes flicks over to the other eye, or flicks from one eye to the other :thinking:
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nope pretty much always picks up the nearest eye. Never had issues.
 
nandbytes said:
nope pretty much always picks up the nearest eye. Never had issues.
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Which camera do you have these days, the A7R V? I find the A1 can do it with both people and animals :( Don't get me wrong, it picks the closest eye more often than not, but it's far from infalable.
 
snerkler said:
Which camera do you have these days, the A7R V? I find the A1 can do it with both people and animals :( Don't get me wrong, it picks the closest eye more often than not, but it's far from infalable.
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A7RV yes, no body is infallible, I am sure they all fail under certain conditions, but not enough times that I have noticed or it has bothered me.
 
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