Sony Lounge Thread MKIII (All Sony cameras welcome)

I need to talk myself out of buying this

TAP AF limited to central area on A9, likely same with R3
Silent shooting still doesnt have fast readout, sort of defeats my goal for using that feature as normal shutter, A9 has this
FF 4K pixel binning.... was shooting inside a cave exhibit, had to immediately switch to crop mode and lose FOV. Thankfully, 12mm is still plenty wide on crop.
No more SR my classic A7r and A7ii would definitely be sold off in favor of the r3. I dont plan to use the A7r classic till at least MW season next year, so may get it out of the way now. When a good deal hits, I'll swap the 7ii for the r3

Just realized that I'm talking myself back into buying it

mystik610 wrote in post #18483100
man this is the most epic hard drive failure I've ever seen. usually its an issue of a drive not being mountable, but this one doesn't show up at all....so no chance to try to repair the drive, salvage files, or even format and try to recover something after the fact.

I'm wide open to suggestions...

there are specialty shops that can recover. Happened to one of my old employers and I was in charge of fixing it. They charged a few hundred for the data retrieval.

I generally make it standard practice to finish processing or backing up before I format my cards.

Charlie wrote in post #18483108
Just realized that I'm talking myself back into buying it

Im definately not maybe might going to buy it too

Charlie wrote in post #18483109
there are specialty shops that can recover. Happened to one of my old employers and I was in charge of fixing it. They charged a few hundred for the data retrieval.

I generally make it standard practice to finish processing or backing up before I format my cards.

Yeah I might have to take it in...which sucks.

I usually don't format cards till I'm done either, but weddings burned through my cards faster than I could process them. I definitely need to come up with a better system.

mystik610 wrote in post #18483114
Yeah I might have to take it in...which sucks.

I usually don't format cards till I'm done either, but weddings burned through my cards faster than I could process them. I definitely need to come up with a better system.

if you're on a laptop, then cloud is probably needed. I have a home cloud with my FTP server, and I even read that the riii does FTP, however you need a lot of bandwidth or time. Import then FTP (will take all night or longer). Another strategy would be to DNG the files to 10mp and FTP those in hopes of a reasonable backup time. 10mp dngs are still plenty good up to 8x10 prints

Charlie wrote in post #18483120
if you're on a laptop, then cloud is probably needed. I have a home cloud with my FTP server, and I even read that the riii does FTP, however you need a lot of bandwidth or time. Import then FTP (will take all night or longer). Another strategy would be to DNG the files to 10mp and FTP those in hopes of a reasonable backup time. 10mp dngs are still plenty good up to 8x10 prints

Yeah I have a NAS that I use as a back-up at home...its really slow so I only do it every so often. I need to get a faster wifi router. The problem is we've been staying at my in laws house lately and I haven't had a chance to back up in a while. Really sucks.

The good news is that the drive is physically OK....so just a matter of getting the data off of it somehow

Big battery, joystick, My Menu, dual SD, 10fps, pixel shift, improved AF, improved EVF: Yes, I wish I could get an a7R III...seems like an amazing camera and I think you guys with real jobs should upgrade imo. Also, let’s just get real: you are going to buy an a7R III it’s just a matter of how long you delay your buying decision. It’s a bigger leap than was 5D II to 5D III: well worth it imo.

I will likely not be upgrading because I have a mostly undemanding style of photography...and the ways I am demanding the a7R II mostly addreses: 42 MP + 13.9 EV DR. But, I’m mainly not upgrading because I am on a tight income (totally my free choice!) for the next 5 years until we can start accessing our retirement income flows. So, I’ll be gassing up big time till I can finally have a massive camera/lens/computer fartfest. Something to look forward to.

I do wish Sony would improve DR the way Nikon does: implementing a lower base ISO.

Just had a check back there and realised I’ve had the a7rii for over 2 years. That’s the longest I’ve ever had any body in my 6 years shooting. That must say something

Edit - not sure what haha

mystik610 wrote in post #18483067
Yes. Looking at the specs, it looks like the CDAF system is what got a significant upgrade...so I'm wondering how much better things like AF tracking, and adapted lens performance really is, since those are PDAF driven. Also, while the AF sensitivity of the a7rII is good, it slows down a lot in low light because the sensitivity of the PDAF system can't see in the dark and its relying solely on slower CDAF to focus at that point (this is also why adapted lenses suck in low light on the a7rII, since you there is no CDAF to lean on with adapted glass). The CDAF system is 1 stop more sensitive in low light, but looking at the specs, I actually don't expect the camera to reach a9 levels in terms of speed and tracking in low light

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You have a very good points but with my experience last wedding on shooting the bride/groom and their entourage processions to the alter, I was already satisfied with the RII tracking ability(Thanks to you for teaching me, 99.9% of my shots on that part were all in focus with the 35mm), this means it's not a really big issue(at least for my use). The other bells and whistles though like the dual cards, joystick, improve eye AF, 10FPS, bigger batteries, better DR, touch screen for pulling focus(awesome for video) will justify my plan for the upgrade. i guess.

based on FM, a lot of Nikon and Canon bodies are also being sold. this might mean a lot of photogs will join the revolution. The RIII is going to be a hotcake. expect a shortage of supply in the beginning.

mystik610 wrote in post #18483126
Yeah I have a NAS that I use as a back-up at home...its really slow so I only do it every so often. I need to get a faster wifi router. The problem is we've been staying at my in laws house lately and I haven't had a chance to back up in a while. Really sucks.

The good news is that the drive is physically OK....so just a matter of getting the data off of it somehow

do you have files on that drive that only exist on the drive?

your points about the r3 and AF make me happy I have the a9...and I really don't have any urge to upgrade the r2...gonna be content with what I have for now.

David Arbogast wrote in post #18483140
Big battery, joystick, My Menu, dual SD, 10fps, pixel shift, improved AF, improved EVF: Yes, I wish I could get an a7R III...seems like an amazing camera and I think you guys with real jobs should upgrade imo. Also, let’s just get real: you are going to buy an a7R III it’s just a matter of how long you delay your buying decision. It’s a bigger leap than was 5D II to 5D III: well worth it imo.

I will likely not be upgrading because I have a mostly undemanding style of photography...and the ways I am demanding the a7R II mostly addreses: 42 MP + 13.9 EV DR. But, I’m mainly not upgrading because I am on a tight income (totally my free choice!) for the next 5 years until we can start accessing our retirement income flows. So, I’ll be gassing up big time till I can finally have a massive camera/lens/computer fartfest. Something to look forward to.

I do wish Sony would improve DR the way Nikon does: implementing a lower base ISO.

hopefully, you can knock some sense into me. Went through 700+ frames yesterday of my kids running around a fairly empty museum, many dark halls, and didnt have much issue

on the flip side, HOW COOL IS THE R3

vinmunoz wrote in post #18483176
Yo The other bells and whistles though like the dual cards, joystick, improve eye AF, 10FPS, bigger batteries, better DR, touch screen for pulling focus(awesome for video) will justify my plan for the upgrade. i guess.

For wedding work, those are more than bells and whistles...they're really important. I think for a main body dual cards, faster operation, better AF, better battery, all that stuff is pretty key.

Like everyone else, my head is running in circles about how to build my kit now.

I'm leaning towards a9 and a7rIII combo now haha, but if I go that route, I likely won't pick up another body till March of next year when Travis and I shoot that wedding. Things will slow down for me again starting in mid Dec.

TRhoads wrote in post #18483190
do you have files on that drive that only exist on the drive?

Yeah. Dropped the ball big time on my part I know...I've been lugging my laptop and external HD around everywhere as I haven't really been home lately. That said I'm going to be revamping my network and NAS situation at home after this. I need a fast way to create a redundant backup...preferably wirelessly. Thankfully, black friday is right around the corner.

The good news is that I was able to get the drive to display on my PC (no luck with the Mac)....so its a matter of recovering the partition, and if that doesn't work....salvaging what files I can.

TRhoads wrote in post #18483190
your points about the r3 and AF make me happy I have the a9...and I really don't have any urge to upgrade the r2...gonna be content with what I have for now.

After seeing your motosport photos, definitely keep the a9. I don't think the a7rIII could pull that off as well. I'm sure 20fps went a long way in terms of timing since those cars are moving really fast.

Some lens musings after my short-but-fun 5-night camping trip to the Chilhowee Recreation Area near Benton, TN,:

1. I learned that I love the CV 65mm! It's a fantastic addition that is, for me, an optical replacement for my Otus 55mm. It's not better, though it has better sunstars, but it's really really good. The size/weight savings are tremendous. It's a fun lens to use and if Voigtlander had a (native) 21mm and 35mm of superior or even near-equal optical performance as Loxias, I'd switch in a heartbeat. Love the Voigtlander handling.

2. The FE 100-400mm GM was really great to have - I'm super glad I added that lens to my kit. Often 100mm is perfect for landscapes, and 300-400mm opens up unique composition possibilities; so the whole range is fantastic to have. Can't say enough good things about it. However, since I don't shoot birds, I had zero wishes for added reach (via a6500 or 1.4x/2x extenders).

3. My Batis 135mm got pulled out only once - just to force myself to use it - but I had no actual need for it on this particular outing. I keep wondering if the 100-400mm, which is so damn sharp, renders the lens needless for me.

4. There is only one lens I wished I had: the FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA I can't just go buy one, but I can sell something to pay for it. So, which would I enjoy owning more: the Batis 135mm or the FE 35mm 1.4 ZA? The Batis is optically superior and can create even more sense of depth as medium telephoto and it's just about the finest native lens available for a7/a9, so I love having it in my kit, but I love 35mm as my ideal general purpose walkaround lens - it's way more useful to me than 135mm is. I'm torn - right now I'm slightly leaning towards selling the Batis and buying the 35mm, but I need to push that to 75%+ before I'll act.

5. The new CV 40mm 1.2 looks enticing, with a lower price tag than the FE 35mm, but I think I prefer the overall bokeh rendering of the FE 35mm, and AF would be really nice on my main walk-around lens.

6. The new FE 24-105mm G is quite appealing, if I had the money for it, I'd buy one.