-
Cameraderie, a friendly photography forum, join now for free!
Sony New Sony (A9 Mk1) User - My Experiences/Annoyances
.
AlwaysOnAuto
Hall of Famer
What do they say about the best laid plans?
An update. Camera received back a couple of weeks ago and used for an event (slow moving animals) where it worked with the 85mm extremely well.
Also, on static subjects I am more than happy with the sharpness results since its been repaired....
However, no matter what settings I use (manual - >1/1000s shutter, >f4 aperture, tracking sensitivity 1-5, keeping it on Tracking: expand flexible spot focus area, C-AF, elec shutter, 15-20fps mode, animal eye af on/off.... I just cannot get any decent results with my dog running towards me which is one of the reasons why I moved upto the Sony A9 in the first place. Extremely frustrating as my EM1.2 and the Fuji X-H1 were better. I'm on the verge of giving up on the A9 as I thought it would have excelled at this.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Also, on static subjects I am more than happy with the sharpness results since its been repaired....
However, no matter what settings I use (manual - >1/1000s shutter, >f4 aperture, tracking sensitivity 1-5, keeping it on Tracking: expand flexible spot focus area, C-AF, elec shutter, 15-20fps mode, animal eye af on/off.... I just cannot get any decent results with my dog running towards me which is one of the reasons why I moved upto the Sony A9 in the first place. Extremely frustrating as my EM1.2 and the Fuji X-H1 were better. I'm on the verge of giving up on the A9 as I thought it would have excelled at this.
Last edited:
AlwaysOnAuto
Hall of Famer
Have you set the camera on AUTO and just let it do its thing when shooting your dog?
a9 mk1 dog shots running towards me, one sideways. c-fc low burst. no eye focus it would have been
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
AlwaysOnAuto
Hall of Famer
No, I shoot full manual so I can control the shutter speed (so its 1/1250s minimum and shooting f4, f5.6). It may be just my small dog it struggles with, dark black/brown fur and dark eyes. I'm am frustrated though as I've seen countless of good 'running dog' shots but I don't seem to be able to replicate it with my dog. Nice shots @spudhead but I don't think the eye is completely in focus in a couple of those examples. With my dog with eye af on, it doesn't show that its focusing on the eye until the dog has completely filled the frame. I tried turning it off as suggested in other forums but it didn't really improve things.
Last edited:
AlwaysOnAuto
Hall of Famer
The camera probably can't even distinguish the dog's eyes with that coloring. The DOF is going to be pretty shallow at those apertures too so the dog is probably running right thru it by the time the image is recorded.
I'd suggest trying it on full AUTO before giving up on it. It might just surprise you.
I'd suggest trying it on full AUTO before giving up on it. It might just surprise you.
When you say 'auto' what do you mean? I can't see how auto would work as the shutter speed may be too slow to freeze the action? I was led to believe that the A9 recalculates the AF with its stacked sensor 20 times a second so should be able to keep up. She isn't a collie so not stupidly fast.
Yep it is not my thing dogs and I did say no eye focus on, but look at the shutter speeds, the shots were just one burst of about 10 simply not planned at all. I only shoot ever shoot in manual, I mainly shoot birds and don`t use eye focus for that either. Just saying it should be doable on the a9, I shot a dog on the a1 off subject but same again setup wise here they are, look at shutter speed again
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
AlwaysOnAuto
Hall of Famer
I'll try it but I would expect that camera to work in other modes too. Ref. @spudhead - anything over 1/1000s should be sufficient for dogs and i've had success at these speeds, like I said, I've got running dog shots with the Fuji X-H1 and the Oly E-M1.2 so its not like I've never captured running dogs before, I just expected it to work just as good but more reliably with the A9 in terms of nailing the focus on the eye; my experience thus far has shown this not to be the case.
Other camera dog shots:
Other camera dog shots:
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Attachments
More tests today and still not great. Tried @AlwaysOnAuto's suggestion of Auto and it failed miserably, changed some other settings (tracking modes) and it still failed badly. Tried turning IBIS off, upping the tracking sensitivity to 4/5, eye af back on and aperture up to f7.1 (might as well be shooting m43 TBH at these apertures). Best run out of 6 was shot with the aperture at f7.1, tracking expanded flexible spot, but then I only had circa 50% in focus and on examining the data/focus point, it still not focusing on the head let alone the eye (as I know in this practice area, it was in the shade so the eyes were even darker) and my wife was at the end of the lane but, I would of expected it on animal detect setting to lock on to the head of the animal moving towards the camera?. I just don't know what else to try at this point other than perhaps in better light with no other distractions in the frame.
Last edited:
AlwaysOnAuto
Hall of Famer
And these are with your 85mm lens?
I'd suggest better light(ing) to begin with, but what do I know.
My photo of the jets was taken @3:30pm with the sun going down and them flying into it basically as they were headed west, then turned north for the behind the tree shot.
Lost the internet connection in the middle of typing this. Train of thought lost since we went to the grocery store while it was out.
Ah the joys of growing old...
I'd suggest better light(ing) to begin with, but what do I know.
My photo of the jets was taken @3:30pm with the sun going down and them flying into it basically as they were headed west, then turned north for the behind the tree shot.
Lost the internet connection in the middle of typing this. Train of thought lost since we went to the grocery store while it was out.
Ah the joys of growing old...
L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
Maybe try and rent one of the GM primes or zooms and test them for 3 days. My own experience with an entir ecosystem of cameras is that some features and capabilities are more reliable and dependable with their too range lenses (I know, it's unfair). With Sony A7 IV I only had the Tampon zooms and the Sony budget primes (including your wonderful 85mm f 1.8).
More recently I have better success when using the Oly 12-40 and 40-150 Pro lenses then I had with the Oly 45mm f 1.8 or 60mm f 2.8 Macro.
It's what pushes me to getting the Oly f 1.2 primes in the future.
One of your shots here is 1/2000, and one is 1/3200. The test shot with the Sony is 1/1250. I agree that should be a fast enough shutter, but maybe try some at the faster speeds.
Also of note, your example shots appear to be on a beach and in a field with even light, while the A9 shot appears to be in a shaded alley or walkway with the dog in the shadows. The dog is also a lot farther away, unless your other shots are heavily cropped?
Last edited:
