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

Tricky01 said:
I've been toying with upgrading my Sony 35 1.8 to the GM, so opened up Captureone to go through all the images I've taken with the 1.8 and see if I'm happy or not. Turns out I've used it far more than I thought and I'm more than happy with the results. There is some very minor CA in some shots, but no where near as offensive as I find on zoom lenses. I'd go as far to say I had to go looking for it, rather than it leaping out at me. It's there, but it's kind of part of the character rather than a distraction. So for now, I'll stick with what I've got
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(whisper) "you need the GM" (/whisper)
 
One useful feature of the Sony 35mm f1.8 is that it focuses closer than your ordinary 35mm.
 
Tricky01 said:
I've been toying with upgrading my Sony 35 1.8 to the GM, so opened up Captureone to go through all the images I've taken with the 1.8 and see if I'm happy or not. Turns out I've used it far more than I thought and I'm more than happy with the results. There is some very minor CA in some shots, but no where near as offensive as I find on zoom lenses. I'd go as far to say I had to go looking for it, rather than it leaping out at me. It's there, but it's kind of part of the character rather than a distraction. So for now, I'll stick with what I've got
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It’s an okay lens with its major plus points being fast a.f, ability to focus close and being reasonably sharp. My missus uses hers a fair bit.

The downside with the 35mm f/1.8 is not just the C.A though, it has very busy ugly O.O.F areas and colours from it are very cold.

The 35 G.M is a very good lens, it’s sharper, O.O.F areas are much nicer, a.f is faster again. The main downside with the 35G.M that a lot of people don’t like is that it renders very warm. Personally I haven’t found it an issue but I know some people have had an issue with it.
 
f/2.8 said:
It’s an okay lens with its major plus points being fast a.f, ability to focus close and being reasonably sharp. My missus uses hers a fair bit.

The downside with the 35mm f/1.8 is not just the C.A though, it has very busy ugly O.O.F areas and colours from it are very cold.

The 35 G.M is a very good lens, it’s sharper, O.O.F areas are much nicer, a.f is faster again. The main downside with the 35G.M that a lot of people don’t like is that it renders very warm. Personally I haven’t found it an issue but I know some people have had an issue with it.
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I've never found the 35mm GM to be noticeably warm either.
 
snerkler said:
I've never found the 35mm GM to be noticeably warm either.
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It definitely does render warmer than the rest of the G.M range not an issue for me as I tend to edit on the warm side anyway.

Have only seen a few people that have a major problem with that though.
 
f/2.8 said:
It definitely does render warmer than the rest of the G.M range not an issue for me as I tend to edit on the warm side anyway.

Have only seen a few people that have a major problem with that though.
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Not obvious to me, SOOC jpegs taken with the 50mm f1.2 GM and 35mm f1.4 GM. They were taken on different cameras, but I can't see that one is particularly warmer. What I can see is that that A7RV produces more vibrant images than the A1.

Screenshot 2024-12-17 at 19.18.16.jpg


White's side by side, the one on the right looks a very slight tad warmer to my eyes.
Screenshot 2024-12-17 at 19.19.00.jpg
 
the_accidental said:
Bad weather can make interesting shots though, especially if you night ride as the wet surfaces reflect light. I tend to take the gravel bike out for photo missions, kit in a waterproof ortileb pannier - or use a dry bag for kit inside another bag.

I’ve a smallrig clamp with a little arm attached with a mini ball head on the end - lets you prop your bike and then clamp to bars or whatever to use your bike as a tripod (or just chuck the proper tripod in bottle cage/pannier).

I guess with a fat bike good chance you have bosses on the fork for an anything cage or similar that’d be great for tripod duties?
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I'm not looking for anything fancy, just trying to capture some different shots and it's an area where even an old FF camera is far better than a phone camera. I can't put anything on the bike since it could well be damaged hitting something or when the bike is crashed plus it's a little tricky wearing any weight on the backpack either since it can get thrown side to side a bit on faster trails. That said there's not much weight in something like the A9 and 28mm plus I think it's well protected in the bag if I hit something.
 
LeeRatters said:
Corn Street. Probably one of the busiest areas of central Bristol on a Saturday at midday!!!


*** by Lee, on Flickr


*** by Lee, on Flickr


*** by Lee, on Flickr


*** by Lee, on Flickr
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They're great, I bet they are very happy with them. Lovely processeding too.
 
snerkler said:
Not obvious to me, SOOC jpegs taken with the 50mm f1.2 GM and 35mm f1.4 GM. They were taken on different cameras, but I can't see that one is particularly warmer. What I can see is that that A7RV produces more vibrant images than the A1.

View attachment 441214


White's side by side, the one on the right looks a very slight tad warmer to my eyes.
View attachment 441215
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Tear away at shooting graphs. Hundreds of weddings use between lenses / cameras (same 35GMs over multiple bodies) tell me otherwise that it renders skintones much warmer than other lenses. The 35GM is amongst my least favoured lenses ever.
 
f/1.4 said:
Tear away at shooting graphs. Hundreds of weddings use between lenses / cameras (same 35GMs over multiple bodies) tell me otherwise that it renders skintones much warmer than other lenses. The 35GM is amongst my least favoured lenses ever.
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Yeah I get test charts don't alwyas correlate to real world use, but as I said above I've not seen any discernible difference in the real world (including people taken in natural light and studio light), and just used the test chart to confirm what I'm seeing.

Now obviously I can't comment on what other people are seeing, and I can't summise as to why there's a difference as I wouldn't expect sample variation with GM lenses. I've seen reviews stating that the 35mm GM is warmer than the f1.4 Zeiss but not warmer than other GMs. However, I'm not disbuting that you've found your lens to be warmer, just that this might not be the case across the board (y)
 
snerkler said:
Yeah I get test charts don't alwyas correlate to real world use, but as I said above I've not seen any discernible difference in the real world (including people taken in natural light and studio light), and just used the test chart to confirm what I'm seeing.

Now obviously I can't comment on what other people are seeing, and I can't summise as to why there's a difference as I wouldn't expect sample variation with GM lenses. I've seen reviews stating that the 35mm GM is warmer than the f1.4 Zeiss but not warmer than other GMs. However, I'm not disbuting that you've found your lens to be warmer, just that this might not be the case across the board (y)
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This wasn't one lens. I've owned 4 of them.
 
f/1.4 said:
This wasn't one lens. I've owned 4 of them.
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How odd. I have to say the 35mm GM is becomming my favourite lens. I love the 50mm f1.2 too but it's not as nice to use due to the size and weight.
 
That said there's not much weight in something like the A9 and 28mm plus I think it's well protected in the bag if I hit something.
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Yeah it’d certainly be fine in a bag, wrap it if you’re concerned. I’ve taken my x100 downhilling in the alps and it survived fine in a bag just inside a dry bag. And for more XC-ish stuff I’ve had it just in a back jersey pocket. IMO the bigger risk if you’re in a higher crash risk scenario is the damage to yourself from the camera. You’re probably squishier than an A9!
 
So I wanted a remote shutter release for my camera, something simple/quick and easy to use - I didn't want to need to get my phone out or need the complexity of the Sony apps tethering with the phone etc. So I made one, emulates the shutter button press on a Sony bluetooth remote:
https://flic.kr/p/2qAzHPw

As it just emulates the shutter button, you can still shoot on timer or continuous etc, just setup the camera like that. I primarily made this for shots like my twin bridges one above (taken with this) where I have a long lens on a tripod.

It's not on the App Store or anywhere people can get it*, just thought people might be interested to see it.


*cos that'd cost me money to do, and this is way too niche to ever make the money back IMO. Maybe I'll open source it so at least people with the means to build apps can use it.
 
the_accidental said:
So I wanted a remote shutter release for my camera, something simple/quick and easy to use - I didn't want to need to get my phone out or need the complexity of the Sony apps tethering with the phone etc. So I made one, emulates the shutter button press on a Sony bluetooth remote:
https://flic.kr/p/2qAzHPw

As it just emulates the shutter button, you can still shoot on timer or continuous etc, just setup the camera like that. I primarily made this for shots like my twin bridges one above (taken with this) where I have a long lens on a tripod.

It's not on the App Store or anywhere people can get it*, just thought people might be interested to see it.


*cos that'd cost me money to do, and this is way too niche to ever make the money back IMO. Maybe I'll open source it so at least people with the means to build apps can use it.
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That looks handy, I wonder why no-one else has thought of a watch controlled shutter :thinking:
 
There are some apps out there that look like they'd do it, but all as part of a larger feature set. I didn't want that, I just wanted it simple - which turned out to be a fair bit of effort to make it fast/simple etc, but in the end for me, it's great. That video isn't edited or pre-set up other than the first-use pairing with the camera. It really is just tap to launch the app, then tap to trigger the shutter.

I figure if I want more control etc then I'll just launch the phone app and tether etc. I just wanted a way to press the shutter without touching the camera. I know I could use a 3s timer or whatever and I have done that in the past, but that's no good if you're trying to capture a moment, and also 80% of the time I'll forget to take it off timer, and next time I go to take a photo it's "press... why's it not working? hmm? click. Oh, I left it on timer".
 

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So, 2024 marks 20 years I have been into photography, purely in the digital age.
During this time I've had lot's of gear : expensive fast primes, high end macro lenses & lights, long telephoto F2.8 sport lenses and starting out with a Canon system, then switching over to Sony.

Now 'proper' photography is something I do occasionally, so value for money is the priority. But when I do it, I still want quality sharp photos.
This is my current camera gear, which gets used for sports and family portraits, when the iPhone doesn't cut it.

Going into 2025, I'm interested in seeing what Sony will bring with the new A7 Mk5 and some of the new cheaper 85mm F1.4 / F1.8 prime lenses look interesting too.
 

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SDK^ said:
.... But when I do it, I still want quality sharp photos.
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Sixty years ago I learned the valuable lesson that a boring, sharp picture is far less appreciated than an interesting but not so sharp image.

Of course, one man's fascinating shot is another woman's "why did you bother?", so disabuse yourself of the idea that you can ever win! ;)

Still, I like this grabbed shot of a Stilt Dancer in Exeter, recorded through a Tamron 16~300mm onto an A65, a few years ago...

Stilt dancer in Princesshay Exeter A65 DSC00354 (5).jpg
 
SDK^ said:
So, 2024 marks 20 years I have been into photography, purely in the digital age.
During this time I've had lot's of gear : expensive fast primes, high end macro lenses & lights, long telephoto F2.8 sport lenses and starting out with a Canon system, then switching over to Sony.

Now 'proper' photography is something I do occasionally, so value for money is the priority. But when I do it, I still want quality sharp photos.
This is my current camera gear, which gets used for sports and family portraits, when the iPhone doesn't cut it.

Going into 2025, I'm interested in seeing what Sony will bring with the new A7 Mk5 and some of the new cheaper 85mm F1.4 / F1.8 prime lenses look interesting too.
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AndrewFlannigan said:
Sixty years ago I learned the valuable lesson that a boring, sharp picture is far less appreciated than an interesting but not so sharp image.

Of course, one man's fascinating shot is another woman's "why did you bother?", so disabuse yourself of the idea that you can ever win! ;)

Still, I like this grabbed shot of a Stilt Dancer in Exeter, recorded through a Tamron 16~300mm onto an A65, a few years ago...

View attachment 441374
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I sort of sit 50/50 on the sharpness/IQ thing.

And I keep swapping sides too :ROFLMAO:

I want the A7Riii/35GM performance in the X100f please :)
 
LeeRatters said:
I sort of sit 50/50 on the sharpness/IQ thing.

And I keep swapping sides too :ROFLMAO:

I want the A7Riii/35GM performance in the X100f please :)
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Yeah it definitely needs to be sharp, but of course we all have our own thoughts on what's acceptably sharp ;)

You're searching for the same holy grail I've been searching for for many years ;)
 
I won the Session Days Best Female Portrait on Location 2024 award last night. Very chuffed as I don't see a lot of merit in my photos but it's nice that others do :)

Screenshot 2024-12-20 at 08.10.26.jpg
 
trevorbray said:
Haha. Now that I’m Nikon i don’t feel I should comment.

But believe me when I say I’m always looking over my shoulder..
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You know you miss those GM lenses :naughty: ;)
 
Well it just gets better :eek: :)

471051901_9063729123649057_5723305866387807951_n.jpg




Here's my awards over 2024 (the colours look a little muted on the screenshots) All shot on Sony of course ;)

Screenshot 2024-12-20 at 20.17.19.jpg
Screenshot 2024-12-20 at 20.20.24.jpg
 
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