Sony a9

[Jenningsmca]

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This weekend Sony has reduced the price of their flagship camera by $1300. 

Was thinking of picking one up to have for long lens, fast AF and low light performance for airshows and indoor shows. Leica does not want to share the specs of the SL and it probably won't have compatible HSS or tethering capability anyway. 

Anyone own a Sony a9 and a Leica SL to share their experiences ?

MJ

[ron777]

Not sure about the A9, but there are numerous members, myself included, who own and use an 7rIII.  Therefore, I cannot comment about the body, but I do own a few of the GM lenses and they are optically wonderful, although they are not lightweights.  What specifically would you like to know?

BTW, historically, when Sony begins drastic price cuts it often means a new model is on the horizon. That said, they have been cutting prices on the a7rIII as well.

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[caissa]

1 hour ago, Jenningsmca said:

This weekend Sony has reduced the price of their flagship camera by $1300. 

Was thinking of picking one up to have for long lens, fast AF and low light performance for airshows and indoor shows. Leica does not want to share the specs of the SL and it probably won't have compatible HSS or tethering capability anyway. 

Anyone own a Sony a9 and a Leica SL to share their experiences ?

MJ

If you wait a little longer, the price will fall even lower. But this is obvious for almost all manufacturers with the exception of Leica (within limits). Are you in a hurry to get a A9 ? If not, why not wait ?

[caissa]

47 minutes ago, ron777 said:

Not sure about the A9, but there are numerous members, myself included, who own and use an 7rIII.  Therefore, I cannot comment about the body, but I do own a few of the GM lenses and they are optically wonderful, although they are not lightweights.  What specifically would you like to know?

BTW, historically, when Sony begins drastic price cuts it often means a new model is on the horizon. That said, they have been cutting prices on the a7rIII as well.

The lenses are fine, as many tests have shown. But for a Leica owner (especially lenses) calling Sony lenses wonderful is close to blasphemy ...    The SL lenses (and also some Zeiss) are definitely optically better, but definitely more expensive.   (and as usual there is the law of diminishing returns.)

[Jenningsmca]

1 hour ago, caissa said:

If you wait a little longer, the price will fall even lower. But this is obvious for almost all manufacturers with the exception of Leica (within limits). Are you in a hurry to get a A9 ? If not, why not wait ?

Not really in a hurry but am not sure if the price will remain low for long and I will need time to familiarize myself to the Sony system before the airshow. I should wait until Leica puts its offerings on the table (SL2) but so far Leica does not really listen to their customers (HSS / C1 tethering/ NR off, Etc). Nikon use to do the same and they almost fell from grace, lately they have began listening more to what their customers want instead of thinking what they think we need.

I have booked a hotel and requested a 70-200 GM f/2.8 lens for August airshow. Trip next month I will use my m glass and manual focus I suppose. Will not buy anymore Leica glass until they spill the beans on the SL2.

I just read the Sony a9 has a AA filter so that kinda took a little bit of wind out of my sale, but the A7RIII does not. Decisions.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Jenningsmca

[Jenningsmca]

2 hours ago, ron777 said:

Not sure about the A9, but there are numerous members, myself included, who own and use an 7rIII.  Therefore, I cannot comment about the body, but I do own a few of the GM lenses and they are optically wonderful, although they are not lightweights.  What specifically would you like to know?

BTW, historically, when Sony begins drastic price cuts it often means a new model is on the horizon. That said, they have been cutting prices on the a7rIII as well.

When I was in Vegas I played with the 16-35 and found it slow and big. All the SL lenses I find rather large so I think when it comes to AF, all lenses other than m lenses are big. 

[Daedalus2000]

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The SL and the A9 are completely different cameras. From all the Sonys I like the A9 the best and the recent firmware update made it even better. I suggest you watch recent videos from this guy who will tell you a lot more (and more relevant) than  I can:

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Daedalus2000

[frame-it]

and this video

 

 

 

[ron777]

25 minutes ago, Jenningsmca said:

When I was in Vegas I played with the 16-35 and found it slow and big. All the SL lenses I find rather large so I think when it comes to AF, all lenses other than m lenses are big. 

Slow? Are you referring to AF, because it’s an F/2.8 lens. I own that lens, along with the 24-70 and I never felt them to be slow by any means, and that is with an a7riii, the a9 should be quicker if you are referring to AF

[caissa]

I do not really understand why you want the a9 so much. For using M lenses ? Not recommended. (Better the SL.) For AF ? Yes it is fast, but then I would rather buy a S1, especially for low light. Then you have a much wider choice of lenses (Sigma, Panasonic, Leica SL) at different prices.   Or the S1R with really extraordinary resolution if you are into that (instead of A7r iii). The Panasonic cameras have HSS and Tethering.

The A9 is now cheaper, but not really very cheap. But of course if small cameras are important for you, the Sony’s are the smallest, but the lenses do not fit in this regard.

For an air show I would find S1 and SL 90-280 more interesting than A9 plus GM 2.8/70-200.

Edited April 14, 2019 by caissa

[caissa]

Maybe to make it clearer (just my opinion), above text is maybe a bit confusing:
I would prefer S1 to A9
I would prefer S1R to A7R III
I would prefer SL for M lenses (generally, in special cases an S1R could be alright, so e.g. for the WATE or longer lenses (90 and up, maybe also 75. It depends what a user expects. Often it is possible to live well and be happy even with imperfect corners.)) (For example I use an older pre-asph M 28mm lens on the SL. According to specialists not as well corrected as the latest 28mm, but I am very happy with the results I get.)

Diglloyd published measurements to show the weakness of many M lenses on S1R (compared to the perfect results with M10). Funny enough for me it proved at the same time, that the S1R has such a big resolution, that even an imperfect M lens (or better a sensor not optimized for M lenses) still gives results that are usable for many occasions.  

Edited April 15, 2019 by caissa

[frame-it]

51 minutes ago, caissa said:

 

Diglloyd published measurements to show the weakness of many M lenses on S1R (compared to the perfect results with M10).

do people actually pixel peep at printed images in magazines, books or even hanging on a wall ? 😁

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by frame-it

[Jenningsmca]

23 hours ago, caissa said:

I do not really understand why you want the a9 so much. For using M lenses ? Not recommended. (Better the SL.) For AF ? Yes it is fast, but then I would rather buy a S1, especially for low light. Then you have a much wider choice of lenses (Sigma, Panasonic, Leica SL) at different prices.   Or the S1R with really extraordinary resolution if you are into that (instead of A7r iii). The Panasonic cameras have HSS and Tethering.

The A9 is now cheaper, but not really very cheap. But of course if small cameras are important for you, the Sony’s are the smallest, but the lenses do not fit in this regard.

For an air show I would find S1 and SL 90-280 more interesting than A9 plus GM 2.8/70-200.

I have not seen any convincing images that the Panasonic works well with Leica lenses. As ofr m lenses I am planning to keep the SL for that. I dont really trust Panasonic (yet) and know that Sony listens to their customers. 

[Jenningsmca]

23 hours ago, ron777 said:

Slow? Are you referring to AF, because it’s an F/2.8 lens. I own that lens, along with the 24-70 and I never felt them to be slow by any means, and that is with an a7riii, the a9 should be quicker if you are referring to AF

i am refering to the f stop, what is it 3.4 -4.5 for such an expensive lens i would have expected f/2.8 min.

[ron777]

I think we’re talking about two different m lenses

Edited April 15, 2019 by ron777

[ron777]

Sorry, thank was a typo, meant to say lenses, not M lenses 

[ron777]

13 hours ago, Jenningsmca said:

I have not seen any convincing images that the Panasonic works well with Leica lenses. As ofr m lenses I am planning to keep the SL for that. I dont really trust Panasonic (yet) and know that Sony listens to their customers. 

Are you referring to all Leica , I.e. sl glass or just M lenses?

[FlashGordonPhotography]

I have the Sony A9/A7R3, SL and S1R. For the Sony I have the 100-400GM. For the Leica/Panasonic I have the 90-280.

The Sony does have the superior AF. Especially in CAF. It's up there with my friends 1Dx2. In single shot the S1R is very close in speed. The S1R is much faster to acquire focus with the 90-280 than the SL is. The handling of the Panasonic is vastly better than the Sony, although heavier. Personally, for an airshow I would take the Panasonic because of the EVF, handling and the wonderful 90-280.

If you own the 90-280 I think the decision is easy. Get an S1 or S1R. If not, it's a much harder choice. If you do get the Sony you will definitely need the grip. Otherwise handling the long lenses is terrible. I would also favour the 100-400 over the 70-200 for airshows.

Gordon

[Jenningsmca]

On 4/16/2019 at 7:33 AM, ron777 said:

Are you referring to all Leica , I.e. sl glass or just M lenses?

I have not seen any posts that say the Panasonic S1 or S1R is as good as the Leica SL using the adapted M lenses. I really like the SL using M lenses better than a M camera, but then again I wear glasses and am considered old, sort of.

After reviewing multiple youtube / camera reviews of the Panasonic S1 / S1R it appears the Panasonic has a bit of work to perform to get the AF bugs worked out. As much as I like the camera and functionality, the AF must work. Its all about getting the shot.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Jenningsmca]

21 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

I have the Sony A9/A7R3, SL and S1R. For the Sony I have the 100-400GM. For the Leica/Panasonic I have the 90-280.

The Sony does have the superior AF. Especially in CAF. It's up there with my friends 1Dx2. In single shot the S1R is very close in speed. The S1R is much faster to acquire focus with the 90-280 than the SL is. The handling of the Panasonic is vastly better than the Sony, although heavier. Personally, for an airshow I would take the Panasonic because of the EVF, handling and the wonderful 90-280.

If you own the 90-280 I think the decision is easy. Get an S1 or S1R. If not, it's a much harder choice. If you do get the Sony you will definitely need the grip. Otherwise handling the long lenses is terrible. I would also favour the 100-400 over the 70-200 for airshows.

Gordon

I don't own any Sony gear and as of a few days ago no more Nikon gear either. I want something with fast AF for sports / airshows and want to keep the M lenses for when MF is available.

The Panasonic maybe that camera in a few years when they iron out the bugs.