I was one of those displeased with the original video mostly because I truly respect your content being presented as an industry professional focused on education versus the “influencer” creators. As a user of the A7RIV and A7RV, it was clear to me that you did not have all the information in the original video which is unlike what I’m accustomed to on your channel. This updated video to clear things up with better information only confirms why I respect you and your content, well done!
Hi Glyn! Been following your channel for some time now, and this is so refreshing. Nothing other than respect for you to admit a mistake and then make yet another video showing how the mistake was corrected. Been learning a lot from your tutorials (more of a portrait photographer myself as well), and hope you keep up all the awesome work you do! Cheers, Peter
I wonder if the 100% focus point coverage, combined with the reduced megapixels results in a stacking benefit to the sensor latency. I've heard that the "sensor is too slow to keep up with high speed birds" sort of thing, as an explanation for why shots are being taken on allegedly in-focus birds-in-flight and coming out blurry, from photographers who would know enough to increase the shutter speed.
As one of the first people to mention that you got the settings wrong in the first video, I want to thank you for re-doing it and owning your mistake. Good job!
Hi john, what settings would you recommend, took mine out today for the first time and whilst it was great at picking up cars and trains it wouldn't focus on birds and a small dog at all, thanks
So glad you updated your video, you maybe went off a bit half-cocked on the original one. A lot of folks pay attention to what you have to say, and am pleased you cleared the air
Glad that you got there in the end. These cameras do need a period of familiarisation to get the best out of them and that's where good youtube videos help us all out.
Thanks for the great tips! I do a ton of bird photography and have just received my new A7R v. I have set up my camera and Sony 200-600 lens as per your suggested settings. What an amazing camera. Best from Charleston, SC, USA.
Great Video and i find it really cool that you updated the first video. It's great that you admitted your mistake and stood by it. In the last few years I've gotten the feeling that no one is honest online. So thank you. I recently upgraded my a7RIII to the RV and i love it. So the step is even bigger, compared stepping up from IV to V.
i was going to buy an A1/a9III for local sport but ended up with RV who they said couldnt be used for sport but ive been doing great with it and still seem to get the money shots despite not being 30/120 fps
Very helpful. Just bought camera, swapping from canon, and today was my first day out with it. I had same issue with a surprising amount of missed focus. Followed your advice and it helped. So many settings to adjust, and new muscle memory to form, and a strange menu system, but the pictures were great.. very pleasantly surprised by higher iso performance with less noose than I feared.
I’ve just sold all my Fuji gear and am considering this camera. I shoot macro and wildlife, but not really birds in flight more like birds that are stationary. So far I am leaning towards this and a 200-600 lens to get started
@ads3453 I can't comment on macro.. I bought the 100-400 gm (mainly due to size and weight), I did have sigma 150-600 but although it was good, I found the size and weight made me think twice before I got it out, I find thec100 -400 at zoos is easier to carry and less conspicuous. If you get an a7rv then crop mode makes a huge difference and was a game changer for me. The new denoise feature in lightroom also helps.
Well Glyn, I t...... so. It takes a great man to admit his mistakes. When you put the tracking sensitivity to "1" (Locked on), instead of going the other direction (responsive), it sticks even more to the bird. In the Bird Eye AF you also have a sub-menu, containing 5 (FIVE) settings, to narrow down how you want that Bird Eye AF to behave. I bet you didn't look at those. But the biggest thing, in my opinion was Sony sending you a not upgraded 200-600, which has had an upgrade especially for enabling it to work with those sub-menu's, the AI -processor and the new Full Time DMF function. This upgrade causes me now to have trouble when using it on the A1 and not missing a shot on the wife's A7R V. I sticked around and I'm glad I did, because I love your work. Keep it up.
Yea.. this is what I notice too.. When I use cont AF, multi shot high. Af area set to wide... with Shutter Speed of 1/500 and steadyshot on although the green box falls on the human eyes.. sometimes the picture still goes out of focus.. I was so puzzled. Now I just stop using af area wide and use tracking af wide instead.. all other setting keeping the same and I get more shot in perfect focus. Now makes me wonder.. if that's the case.. why and who uses wide af when there is tracking wide af available.
Hi Glyn, and a lot of respect for standing up to the situation. As for brand preferences, the only thing I can say is that it always comes down to personal experiences, emotions and comfort zones. The best product in the world is the one that fulfills your needs entirely and makes you happy (in this case the camera body). It reminds me the definition of quality. What is quality? Short answer: the product or service that fully satisfies your expectations. Keep producing your videos, they fulfill my expectations 😉Cheers!
Great update. Mark Smith Photography is a great channel to follow for BIF settings/tips and tricks. Im excited to see what the new AI chip will do in the upcoming a9 update.
I wonder why you'd use a mechanical shutter for that bird in flight situation? What advantage does that have over the electroic shutter in terms of getting the focus right?
I shot a few birds recently (which i don't normally do) using Mark Galer's specific Camset settings. The camera is fantastic, a beast.. more camera than i'll ever need as a casual hobby shooter 😅
I think there is a massive problem with the latest Cameras, they are so complicated, I recently got back into photography after around 30 years, bought a canon 5d mk4, and to be honest I'm struggling with what settings to use, there are so many options, try different things every time I go out, nearly 70 now so not got a lot of time lol, by the way I carried on using photoshop so have followed you from the start, you are a great photographer and teacher, thanks for your TH-cam channel.
This is my next camera. I don't really need blazing-fast frames per sec, but I do need to crop. A lot. So the 61mp would be helpful. Thanx for the review.
Would you think that being able to crop while still maintain acceptable amount of megapixels mean you can have more focal range for our lenses? Thus not needing to purchase certain focal length lenses? Sorry about the questions, I just need good reasons to upgrade my camera body and it's an old A7iii. Cheers
Been waiting on proper reviews and tests of this camera instead of the it's amazing you must buy it after a couple of hours of use ones. It's good to see there are a few genuine people out there
Great update, Glyn. I found your channel recently to help with my LR/Photoshop efforts - you have taught me quite a bit already. Saw the original video and wondered from the comments if something had gone awry! As you say, we all make mistakes and it takes confidence and maturity to put your hands up and admit it. I was delighted to see the new video - the A7RV looks amazing - I have the R3 and was looking at the R4, but now might have to reconsider and save up a bit more!! I have more confidence listening to and taking advice from someone who is open and honest and admits a mistake rather than someong who tries to brush it under the carpet and I look forward to more of your content.
I feel like this is part of Sony's fault though too. Some of these settings should be set up by default. One setting that nobody talks about is the ability to map one of your focus buttons to always track the subject regardless of where you're focus point is. This is super helpful for portrait and I could see it being helpful for animal as well. It means you could keep it on medium spot, and not need to switch to zone because it'll essentially act like zone cuz it doesn't matter where your focus point is.
@@loganbeach you go to the dial customization menu, And then when you choose a button, like the AF on button. You choose subject recognition I think is what it's called.
Not a lot of difference. The first 5 settings would be the same in any camera, then just Focus Tracking and Sensitivity, followed by 1 switch on a lens. So, not a lot for a BIG difference.
Thanks for the update. I went from the A7Riv to the A7Rv mostly because of the volume of smaller improvements, the AI focusing is a bonus. Things like the articulating and flip rear screen, lossless compressed raw, option for medium raws, focus bracketing, improved IBIS, display resolution, still/video/S&Q switch, bulb timer, better menu layout, touch menus, ultrasonic cleaning of the sensor, more reliable connection with the phone app (though still room for more improvement), exposure compensation dial is more flexible, potentially better weather sealing, pixel shift motion compensation (still room for lots of improvement and I want it in camera like Olympus does), better USB C 3.2, faster WiFi, faster in camera charging, CF Express card support (would have preferred type B), and faster image processor. BTW did you test the scenario again with the person stationary and the bird on his outstretched arm. Last time you found it focused on him not the bird despite being in bird subject mode.
Great tips, If I could add having the extra switch to separate still, movie, and S&Q settings make a huge difference. When I'm shooting birds in my back garden I also use two or three flashguns setup on light stands directed at the feeders
Thank you for this beautiful video. I think the real magic in the settings you make is switching to crop mode. Did you shoot with the same settings without using crop mode? Since it is reduced from 61mp to 26mp, the machine works faster and can record and focus faster. In my opinion, Sony A7R is a nice machine full of V, its only drawback is that it is slow. It definitely had to be able to Shoot 20fps with A7R V AF/AE Tracking.
I have no doubt I would enjoy shooting Sony cameras. But as a Nikon shooter, we always here how good Sony is. But then there are all these basics Sony is only upgrading to now. I guess it doesn’t which camera ecosystem we are a part of, none of them are perfect, but all of them are pretty good.
It can be very tempting to try something completely new BUT it’s also a HUGE investment. I wouldn’t be ‘given’ the kit as some might think. A discount yes, but certainly not given, so it’s still a BIG expense. I have my own thoughts about where all the technology is going and where photography is leading. It excites me BUT I don’t believe it involves DSLR , Mirrorless etc …
@@glyndewis - Thanks, and I can understand that completely. I have been a Canon shooter my entire career. When switching to mirrorless I had the glass already so it wouldn’t make sense to switch platforms. It is an interesting time in technology we are living in and traditional photography as we know it is getting the boundaries expanded at a rapid pace.
This video raises another issue for me - cameras are extremely complicated now. There are so many combinations of settings that it is easy to not have the optimal setup. I also find that Sony are very good at leaving gaps in their software, so I would not have been surprised if there had been issues. The A6400 is still a current model for Sony, yet you cannot track focus with animal eye detect switched on - so basically Sony is saying if you have an APS-C camera from them then you can only take static animals and not moving ones.
Thank you for this insights. Getting those good results from bird photography do you think the RV is also a good choice for dog (in action) photography. I would like to upgrade from my A7III and a camera like the a1 is out of my budget.
A lot of settings to setup.. would it be possible to assign one of the 3 custom shooting modes with all these settings? I always tell myself would be cool to have one for long exposures.. birding and landscapes.. but can never figure out how to do it or if it’s possible?
Thanks for your update video. I was using expandable spot/continuous focus, and that was highly unsuccessful, but switched over to medium spot/continuous focus tracking and things instantly got better with the bird photography. I tend to use Aperture Priority because of the changing light outdoors, and around ISO 400, which when using the 200-600mm in normal sun daylight generally gives me speeds of around 1/1250-1/2000. I'm hesitant to go up to ISO 2000 due to grain...how are your images shooting at the high of ISO in daylight?
Hi Robert Yeah the Tracking Spot Medium grest for me too when I switched over. Re 2000 ISO the grain is perfectly fine ... a totally useable file but yeah I agree ... always best to be lower if possible as you are.
I would not worry about bumping up that ISO to maintain shutter speed. Ive found shooting up to 5000 ISO and passing your images through Topaz photo AI still give outstanding results. It may well be possible to go even higher but as yet Ive not had the need.
nice video. do you use back button focus in photo ? in video mode, did you try the new "tracking" option we can set to AFON... ? It seems to be able now, with heavy long lens, to use high resolution EVF to track basketball players,... with a flexible spot M.
Any upgrade is a question of Need vs Want. Do you Need it or do you just Want it? If you can explain why you Need the upgrade in a way that makes proper sense, then go for it. Until then, save your cash.
Glyn...as usual a smartly produced video and further proof why you are good at what you do and a nice bloke. I did comment on the former video although it was mainly to point out that as a long time Canon user I would need some persuading to spend £4000 on a Sony. Frankly you would have been the only person likely to persuade me assuming of course that your review was so positive that I'd be a fool not to give it a go. To be honest, I'm still not convinced because it does seem such a huge faff to make the appropriate settings adjustments. It seems that you are required to have taken a degree in Sony Image Technology and Software Design, and eaten the User manual in order to understand how to drill through the menus and sub menus. It certainly doesn't look like its something that you could do (or remember to do) on the fly when out on location. I'm assuming that if you then went on to something else ( like photographing a landscape whilst out and about) you'd need to dial in lots of resettings. The whole idea of the in camera AI is a bit mindboggling and I wonder if its best to see how further iterations of the technology pan out (pardon the pun), especially if the clever folk at Canon plat with it for us mere mortals. Anyhoo, do you have any observations on Canon R5 versus R7 because there seems to be a school of thought that the cheaper R7 has enough going for it that means its difficult to justify the additional expense of the R5 (assuming the same decent Canon lenses of course)
The RIV was no where near as fast at tracking subjects or acquisition, looks like the RV is a big step ahead. Hope they push a firmware update for the A1 that can continue improving the subject tracking but it's almost foolproof now with "the right camera settings". I know I had assumed you were using focus tracking in your first review. Glad you reposted with new results
With the latest prices here in Sweden im Starting to look more and more at this camera or the a7iv When its time for me to go to mirrorless. If Canon wont let sigma etc make lenses with af pretty soon they Will loose me as a customer
Ah...never said publically that I'm moving over to Canon. Tempting ... but its' still vert much up in the air and I need to weigh up if the ££££ is worth it 😉
Glen enjoyed your update. I really like my RV but struggle at times with BIF. Some many opinions on You Tube for settings. Struggled with tracking sensitivity on #4 or 5 as recommended by many have suggested. Switched to #1 as suggested by Mark Galer and seemed to be more consistent. Granted, I don't have Sony 200-600 but Tamron 150-500 which is very sharp but wonder if the misses are lens or me or both. I've also found I'll find I'm getting good results using tracking M or L. then it out of the blue, won't lock on and find myself experimenting again. Not sure if anyone else is seeing this. Thanks
I am So tempted. Question, does the evf go black between frames in HS shutter? Does it have to finish buffering when you realise the shutter but want to shoot again almost immediately? All problems the make my A7R3 just a third angle video camera. Nobody seems to mention it in their reviews. Thanks Glyn.
Recommended to use Mechanical Shutter because as I was outdoors there would be no 'light' issues and also Mechanical Shutter can produce semingly sharper images.
hI GLYN very impressive, i have an A7mkii, can you recommend the best settings to use eye focus and is it possible to achieve this when using a remote shutter cntrol?
Hiya, interesting video. I have watched camera technology change over the fifty years of my photography. The opportunities that modern cameras now offer could not have been dreamed about when I started. But understanding the cameras inside out takes real research and maybe training, how long before camera manufacturers start offer a series of learning modules with the camera’s I wonder. Exciting times 😎
I can't count all the times I've been wrong in my 72 yrs. lol...I never got into shooting birds, but I love the idea of finding someone who trains them. What a great way to enter the genre. Now Glyn, you mentioned he was a friend but do you know how much these trainers charge to go out on a shoot with someone? About the camera, its out of my price range. I'm happy with my Pentax K3 MARK III.
Great update and review as well! I’m glad you were able, with the help of others, find the perfect settings for bird photography. It does seem like an extreme number of settings to get to that point though. I know the Sony menus have improved but, for my kind of photography, I just found the menus maddening and moved away from Sony. Just setting up a Sony camera (my last was a A7r IV) was an all day affair. To each his own I guess.
Ok the camera did a good job but all those setting/adjustments are a bit over whelming I feel ( wonder how the Canon would have managed ? ) but that's a Sony, menu after menu. Great video though Glyn. 👍
Cheers Warren. TBH though .. the first 5 settings would be the same in every camera, and then there just 2 more ... tracking and sensitivity ... and those settings are also availabnle in Canon to fine tune the result, so ... 🤷♂️ There are definitely times when tyou seem to have to dive deeper and deeper though, I'll admit that for sure.
Wildlife photographer Steve Perry did a video last week on subject detection and he said in his Nikon Z9 switching to APS-C (DX) mode improved the camera's ability to detect subjects eyes, but the same was not true in his Sony A1. I thought that was odd.
Thank you very much Glyn for this excellent and fun review. I am going to buy myself the Sony A7R5 - in about six months when the bugs that invariably afflict a new entry in any field of tech are worked out and someone else had to go through pain of enduring them! Interestingly, I was once a falconer and had a Harris Hawk (which for those who are not raptor (fancy name for a bird of prey) aficionados is a hawk (not falcon) that is native the the United States South West - including Texas etc. It is not as fast as - as a goshawk - but close - and definitely has a wonderful disposition whereas goshawks - American or European are the proverbial handfuls - being skittish as a young girl at her first debutante dance! I also flew a Peregrine - which is the ultimate bird of prey - in my estimation as a former falconer; my brother is still into it so when I get my Sony 7AR5 I will be doing some shooting for him. The pictures you took of the Harris Hawk for your friend are beautiful, and I am sure he was very happy to "help" you with your test! Keep up the good work, because? We inquiring minds want to know! Happy New Year from NYC!
As they say, it takes a big person to admit they were wrong. Don't feel too bad, at least you have some smart subscribers that care enough to educate you.
Putting the camera in APS-C mode doesn't just help with the focus points, but also with giving you a faster sensor read-out speed (since it doesn't have to read out the whole sensor).
I was one of those displeased with the original video mostly because I truly respect your content being presented as an industry professional focused on education versus the “influencer” creators. As a user of the A7RIV and A7RV, it was clear to me that you did not have all the information in the original video which is unlike what I’m accustomed to on your channel. This updated video to clear things up with better information only confirms why I respect you and your content, well done!
That’s very good of your to say … thank you
Not a Sony user, so won't comment on that, but man, do I love a guy who can say "I was wrong!" - especially in a public forum. 💜
Thank you so much Alison
Hi Glyn! Been following your channel for some time now, and this is so refreshing. Nothing other than respect for you to admit a mistake and then make yet another video showing how the mistake was corrected. Been learning a lot from your tutorials (more of a portrait photographer myself as well), and hope you keep up all the awesome work you do! Cheers, Peter
Thanks so much Peter; that’s very kind of you to say 👍
I wonder if the 100% focus point coverage, combined with the reduced megapixels results in a stacking benefit to the sensor latency. I've heard that the "sensor is too slow to keep up with high speed birds" sort of thing, as an explanation for why shots are being taken on allegedly in-focus birds-in-flight and coming out blurry, from photographers who would know enough to increase the shutter speed.
As one of the first people to mention that you got the settings wrong in the first video, I want to thank you for re-doing it and owning your mistake. Good job!
Thank you John
Hi john, what settings would you recommend, took mine out today for the first time and whilst it was great at picking up cars and trains it wouldn't focus on birds and a small dog at all, thanks
So glad you updated your video, you maybe went off a bit half-cocked on the original one. A lot of folks pay attention to what you have to say, and am pleased you cleared the air
No worries Dennis .. it feels good to hold my hands up
Glad that you got there in the end. These cameras do need a period of familiarisation to get the best out of them and that's where good youtube videos help us all out.
👍🏻
Really happy to hear you changed your mind. I just bought mine over the weekend and look forward to using it!
No problem Farah
Thanks for the great tips! I do a ton of bird photography and have just received my new A7R v. I have set up my camera and Sony 200-600 lens as per your suggested settings. What an amazing camera. Best from Charleston, SC, USA.
That's fantastic to hear ... thanks so much for letting me know. Enjoy 😃👍🏻
Great Video and i find it really cool that you updated the first video. It's great that you admitted your mistake and stood by it. In the last few years I've gotten the feeling that no one is honest online. So thank you. I recently upgraded my a7RIII to the RV and i love it. So the step is even bigger, compared stepping up from IV to V.
i was going to buy an A1/a9III for local sport but ended up with RV who they said couldnt be used for sport but ive been doing great with it and still seem to get the money shots despite not being 30/120 fps
Very helpful. Just bought camera, swapping from canon, and today was my first day out with it. I had same issue with a surprising amount of missed focus. Followed your advice and it helped. So many settings to adjust, and new muscle memory to form, and a strange menu system, but the pictures were great.. very pleasantly surprised by higher iso performance with less noose than I feared.
I’ve just sold all my Fuji gear and am considering this camera. I shoot macro and wildlife, but not really birds in flight more like birds that are stationary. So far I am leaning towards this and a 200-600 lens to get started
@ads3453 I can't comment on macro.. I bought the 100-400 gm (mainly due to size and weight), I did have sigma 150-600 but although it was good, I found the size and weight made me think twice before I got it out, I find thec100 -400 at zoos is easier to carry and less conspicuous. If you get an a7rv then crop mode makes a huge difference and was a game changer for me. The new denoise feature in lightroom also helps.
Not sure if true, but what I have read online is that with the Sony A7R5 focus braketing flash can be used. The Canon R5 Mark I flash isn’t supported.
Well Glyn, I t...... so. It takes a great man to admit his mistakes. When you put the tracking sensitivity to "1" (Locked on), instead of going the other direction (responsive), it sticks even more to the bird. In the Bird Eye AF you also have a sub-menu, containing 5 (FIVE) settings, to narrow down how you want that Bird Eye AF to behave. I bet you didn't look at those. But the biggest thing, in my opinion was Sony sending you a not upgraded 200-600, which has had an upgrade especially for enabling it to work with those sub-menu's, the AI -processor and the new Full Time DMF function. This upgrade causes me now to have trouble when using it on the A1 and not missing a shot on the wife's A7R V. I sticked around and I'm glad I did, because I love your work. Keep it up.
Thank you so much Stephaan
Glad to hear you had success with the bird photos, Glyn! Keep up the good work! And good luck with your seascape photos!
Cheers Brian 😉
Nice to find people able to make mistakes and recognise them. Only who make mistakes learns.
Thank you
Yea.. this is what I notice too.. When I use cont AF, multi shot high. Af area set to wide... with Shutter Speed of 1/500 and steadyshot on although the green box falls on the human eyes.. sometimes the picture still goes out of focus.. I was so puzzled. Now I just stop using af area wide and use tracking af wide instead.. all other setting keeping the same and I get more shot in perfect focus.
Now makes me wonder.. if that's the case.. why and who uses wide af when there is tracking wide af available.
Yeah good point 🤔
Appreciate this so much. Love my A7RV, but have not tried it on wildlife yet.
You're more than welcome Jim. Truth be told neither had I until the first video ... hence why I had to do this updated one 🤣
A gimbal head also helps you a lot when it comes to taking photos of fling birds.
👍🏻
Hi Glyn, and a lot of respect for standing up to the situation. As for brand preferences, the only thing I can say is that it always comes down to personal experiences, emotions and comfort zones. The best product in the world is the one that fulfills your needs entirely and makes you happy (in this case the camera body). It reminds me the definition of quality. What is quality? Short answer: the product or service that fully satisfies your expectations. Keep producing your videos, they fulfill my expectations 😉Cheers!
Thank you so much Serge, and thank you for the support ... VERY much appreciated
Thank you very much for manning up and correcting the mistake. This helped me a lot
No problem ... more than happy to put my hand up and admit I was wrong
Great update. Mark Smith Photography is a great channel to follow for BIF settings/tips and tricks. Im excited to see what the new AI chip will do in the upcoming a9 update.
Exciting times
How do you feel about this a year later? Switching from R IV to R V?
Didn't end up changing ... yet 😉
I wonder why you'd use a mechanical shutter for that bird in flight situation? What advantage does that have over the electroic shutter in terms of getting the focus right?
Recommended by Sony as being outside with no light issues PLUS mechanical appears to produce sharper images
I shot a few birds recently (which i don't normally do) using Mark Galer's specific Camset settings. The camera is fantastic, a beast.. more camera than i'll ever need as a casual hobby shooter 😅
That’s great to hear Rexx
I think there is a massive problem with the latest Cameras, they are so complicated, I recently got back into photography after around 30 years, bought a canon 5d mk4, and to be honest I'm struggling with what settings to use, there are so many options, try different things every time I go out, nearly 70 now so not got a lot of time lol, by the way I carried on using photoshop so have followed you from the start, you are a great photographer and teacher, thanks for your TH-cam channel.
This is my next camera. I don't really need blazing-fast frames per sec, but I do need to crop. A lot. So the 61mp would be helpful. Thanx for the review.
You’re welcome … thanks for tuning in
Would you think that being able to crop while still maintain acceptable amount of megapixels mean you can have more focal range for our lenses? Thus not needing to purchase certain focal length lenses? Sorry about the questions, I just need good reasons to upgrade my camera body and it's an old A7iii. Cheers
Been waiting on proper reviews and tests of this camera instead of the it's amazing you must buy it after a couple of hours of use ones. It's good to see there are a few genuine people out there
Thank you Mike
It isn't about making mistakes, but what you do once you realize you did. Good on ya to set things straight.
I’d buy it for the new flip/tilt screen
Great update, Glyn. I found your channel recently to help with my LR/Photoshop efforts - you have taught me quite a bit already. Saw the original video and wondered from the comments if something had gone awry! As you say, we all make mistakes and it takes confidence and maturity to put your hands up and admit it. I was delighted to see the new video - the A7RV looks amazing - I have the R3 and was looking at the R4, but now might have to reconsider and save up a bit more!! I have more confidence listening to and taking advice from someone who is open and honest and admits a mistake rather than someong who tries to brush it under the carpet and I look forward to more of your content.
That means a lot Phil … thank you so much
Really enjoying the few videos I've seen so far, helpful and entertaining! Cheers and subscribed!
That's great to hear ... thanks Simon
I feel like this is part of Sony's fault though too. Some of these settings should be set up by default.
One setting that nobody talks about is the ability to map one of your focus buttons to always track the subject regardless of where you're focus point is. This is super helpful for portrait and I could see it being helpful for animal as well. It means you could keep it on medium spot, and not need to switch to zone because it'll essentially act like zone cuz it doesn't matter where your focus point is.
How do you do that?
@@loganbeach you go to the dial customization menu, And then when you choose a button, like the AF on button. You choose subject recognition I think is what it's called.
That was a lot of different setting to adjust just to get the focus right. Couldn't Sony have made it simpler?
Not a lot of difference. The first 5 settings would be the same in any camera, then just Focus Tracking and Sensitivity, followed by 1 switch on a lens. So, not a lot for a BIG difference.
Glad you were pleased and thanks for revealing your settings. Rgds Gary
You’re welcome Gary; thanks for watching
I want the CR because it's less weight to hold up for hours pointing up at birds and monkeys.
Even better than the first one, Glyn! Saw both vids. It‘s like my personal learning curve. 😅
Thanks so much Peter
Like the before andf after mistake !
Just bought a a7Rv and the possibility are very complete.
No worries ... enjoy the camera 👍🏻
Yes I thought that first assessment was a bit unfair. Great update. Tx
😉
thanks Paul, ive just about to purchase my a7r v today but was humming and haring but you've made my mind up for me, great video and setting guide
Glyn----Crop mode gives you 100% sensor/AF coverage but isn't the active field of the viewfinder restricted? It is with Canon in crop mode.
A correction was definitely in order..nice job!!
👍
very well done and informative thanks!
Thanks a lot
Hi, Thank you Glyn for once again another inspiring and educational video.
You’re welcome Jehan … thanks for watching
Thanks for the update.
I went from the A7Riv to the A7Rv mostly because of the volume of smaller improvements, the AI focusing is a bonus. Things like the articulating and flip rear screen, lossless compressed raw, option for medium raws, focus bracketing, improved IBIS, display resolution, still/video/S&Q switch, bulb timer, better menu layout, touch menus, ultrasonic cleaning of the sensor, more reliable connection with the phone app (though still room for more improvement), exposure compensation dial is more flexible, potentially better weather sealing, pixel shift motion compensation (still room for lots of improvement and I want it in camera like Olympus does), better USB C 3.2, faster WiFi, faster in camera charging, CF Express card support (would have preferred type B), and faster image processor.
BTW did you test the scenario again with the person stationary and the bird on his outstretched arm. Last time you found it focused on him not the bird despite being in bird subject mode.
Yeah all good … I showed the focus on the arm in a Facebook LIVE that followed the TH-cam Premiere of this video
Respect Glyn 👍🏼
Thank you Carl
Great tips, If I could add having the extra switch to separate still, movie, and S&Q settings make a huge difference. When I'm shooting birds in my back garden I also use two or three flashguns setup on light stands directed at the feeders
Thank you for this beautiful video. I think the real magic in the settings you make is switching to crop mode. Did you shoot with the same settings without using crop mode? Since it is reduced from 61mp to 26mp, the machine works faster and can record and focus faster. In my opinion, Sony A7R is a nice machine full of V, its only drawback is that it is slow. It definitely had to be able to Shoot 20fps with A7R V AF/AE Tracking.
Good info! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome Ashley
Spot on Glyn....top man
Cheers Jim
Well done Glyn, good 'update' well explained and expertly presented. Thanks for sharing 😎😎😎
Thank you mate and thank you for the support … as always
nice update !!!
Thank you
Have you tried a similar shoot with the rIv. I’d be interested to see how it compared
I will at some point Sarah
Nice one Glyn
Cheers John
I bought it yesterday and I'm impressed with the AF, I love it.
I have no doubt I would enjoy shooting Sony cameras. But as a Nikon shooter, we always here how good Sony is. But then there are all these basics Sony is only upgrading to now. I guess it doesn’t which camera ecosystem we are a part of, none of them are perfect, but all of them are pretty good.
Great Video, Glyn! So does this mean you are going to stick with the Sony Camera lineup or are you going to potentially still migrate over to an R5?
It can be very tempting to try something completely new BUT it’s also a HUGE investment. I wouldn’t be ‘given’ the kit as some might think. A discount yes, but certainly not given, so it’s still a BIG expense.
I have my own thoughts about where all the technology is going and where photography is leading. It excites me BUT I don’t believe it involves DSLR , Mirrorless etc …
@@glyndewis - Thanks, and I can understand that completely.
I have been a Canon shooter my entire career. When switching to mirrorless I had the glass already so it wouldn’t make sense to switch platforms.
It is an interesting time in technology we are living in and traditional photography as we know it is getting the boundaries expanded at a rapid pace.
Great video Glyn, this is the first camera that may convert me from Canon.
This video raises another issue for me - cameras are extremely complicated now. There are so many combinations of settings that it is easy to not have the optimal setup. I also find that Sony are very good at leaving gaps in their software, so I would not have been surprised if there had been issues. The A6400 is still a current model for Sony, yet you cannot track focus with animal eye detect switched on - so basically Sony is saying if you have an APS-C camera from them then you can only take static animals and not moving ones.
I use the same settings for stills and video recording
Thank you for this insights. Getting those good results from bird photography do you think the RV is also a good choice for dog (in action) photography. I would like to upgrade from my A7III and a camera like the a1 is out of my budget.
Absolutely yes for dog photography 👍🏻
Thank you for your fast reply, I am happy to hear that. :)
A lot of settings to setup.. would it be possible to assign one of the 3 custom shooting modes with all these settings? I always tell myself would be cool to have one for long exposures.. birding and landscapes.. but can never figure out how to do it or if it’s possible?
Yeah that can be done Michael
Thanks for your update video. I was using expandable spot/continuous focus, and that was highly unsuccessful, but switched over to medium spot/continuous focus tracking and things instantly got better with the bird photography. I tend to use Aperture Priority because of the changing light outdoors, and around ISO 400, which when using the 200-600mm in normal sun daylight generally gives me speeds of around 1/1250-1/2000. I'm hesitant to go up to ISO 2000 due to grain...how are your images shooting at the high of ISO in daylight?
Hi Robert
Yeah the Tracking Spot Medium grest for me too when I switched over.
Re 2000 ISO the grain is perfectly fine ... a totally useable file but yeah I agree ... always best to be lower if possible as you are.
I would not worry about bumping up that ISO to maintain shutter speed. Ive found shooting up to 5000 ISO and passing your images through Topaz photo AI still give outstanding results. It may well be possible to go even higher but as yet Ive not had the need.
Is the crop mode still in Raw and 10FPS?
nice video. do you use back button focus in photo ? in video mode, did you try the new "tracking" option we can set to AFON... ? It seems to be able now, with heavy long lens, to use high resolution EVF to track basketball players,... with a flexible spot M.
I'm on the fence ..I'm using the a7rii and I can see how these upgrades will up my game.
Any upgrade is a question of Need vs Want. Do you Need it or do you just Want it? If you can explain why you Need the upgrade in a way that makes proper sense, then go for it. Until then, save your cash.
Agreed
Glyn...as usual a smartly produced video and further proof why you are good at what you do and a nice bloke. I did comment on the former video although it was mainly to point out that as a long time Canon user I would need some persuading to spend £4000 on a Sony. Frankly you would have been the only person likely to persuade me assuming of course that your review was so positive that I'd be a fool not to give it a go. To be honest, I'm still not convinced because it does seem such a huge faff to make the appropriate settings adjustments. It seems that you are required to have taken a degree in Sony Image Technology and Software Design, and eaten the User manual in order to understand how to drill through the menus and sub menus. It certainly doesn't look like its something that you could do (or remember to do) on the fly when out on location. I'm assuming that if you then went on to something else ( like photographing a landscape whilst out and about) you'd need to dial in lots of resettings. The whole idea of the in camera AI is a bit mindboggling and I wonder if its best to see how further iterations of the technology pan out (pardon the pun), especially if the clever folk at Canon plat with it for us mere mortals. Anyhoo, do you have any observations on Canon R5 versus R7 because there seems to be a school of thought that the cheaper R7 has enough going for it that means its difficult to justify the additional expense of the R5 (assuming the same decent Canon lenses of course)
I have the RV with the 200-600mm sony. When you set the lens to mode 3... do you keep the cameras IBIS system on or off? Thank you. Great video.
Update the 200-600 improves on the a7RV. Also update the A7RV improvements on stability. Now I get super sharp images at slow shutter speeds. 😊
Very good video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
The RIV was no where near as fast at tracking subjects or acquisition, looks like the RV is a big step ahead. Hope they push a firmware update for the A1 that can continue improving the subject tracking but it's almost foolproof now with "the right camera settings". I know I had assumed you were using focus tracking in your first review. Glad you reposted with new results
You’re welcome Brent … thank you
Sony are non believers in firmware updates… Nikon on the game
With the latest prices here in Sweden im Starting to look more and more at this camera or the a7iv When its time for me to go to mirrorless. If Canon wont let sigma etc make lenses with af pretty soon they Will loose me as a customer
I'm hearing this a lot from other people too Johan
Great video, thanks!
I saw that 1st video and thought.. “wait til he finds out.. 😂” I’m glad you found out.. cheers!
Was I dreaming or didn't you say you were moving to the Canon R5? If you have (even) better portrait settings, I'd love hear those too!
Ah...never said publically that I'm moving over to Canon. Tempting ... but its' still vert much up in the air and I need to weigh up if the ££££ is worth it 😉
That’s fair mate - good on you 👍🏼
Felt it was the right thing to do mate
Glen enjoyed your update. I really like my RV but struggle at times with BIF. Some many opinions on You Tube for settings. Struggled with tracking sensitivity on #4 or 5 as recommended by many have suggested. Switched to #1 as suggested by Mark Galer and seemed to be more consistent. Granted, I don't have Sony 200-600 but Tamron 150-500 which is very sharp but wonder if the misses are lens or me or both. I've also found I'll find I'm getting good results using tracking M or L. then it out of the blue, won't lock on and find myself experimenting again. Not sure if anyone else is seeing this. Thanks
Thanks life saver.
Glyn is there any reason my exposure comp in photo will go to +5 but in video will only go +2
I am So tempted. Question, does the evf go black between frames in HS shutter? Does it have to finish buffering when you realise the shutter but want to shoot again almost immediately? All problems the make my A7R3 just a third angle video camera. Nobody seems to mention it in their reviews. Thanks Glyn.
nice one !
👍🏻
Can you explain why Mechanical Shutter - I'd have thought Electronic Shutter would be much better suited to shooting birds or any fast motion?
Recommended to use Mechanical Shutter because as I was outdoors there would be no 'light' issues and also Mechanical Shutter can produce semingly sharper images.
hI GLYN very impressive, i have an A7mkii, can you recommend the best settings to use eye focus and is it possible to achieve this when using a remote shutter cntrol?
Buy it :-)
😃
Hiya, interesting video. I have watched camera technology change over the fifty years of my photography. The opportunities that modern cameras now offer could not have been dreamed about when I started. But understanding the cameras inside out takes real research and maybe training, how long before camera manufacturers start offer a series of learning modules with the camera’s I wonder. Exciting times 😎
I hope Sony will give as some new update for Sony A7lV. This camera stil has issues
That’s not good to hear especially as it’s quite a recent camera
I can't count all the times I've been wrong in my 72 yrs. lol...I never got into shooting birds, but I love the idea of finding someone who trains them. What a great way to enter the genre. Now Glyn, you mentioned he was a friend but do you know how much these trainers charge to go out on a shoot with someone? About the camera, its out of my price range. I'm happy with my Pentax K3 MARK III.
Thank you Al. As for pricing of going out with the birds and flying them, you’re looking under £100
How many of this settings are missing on the A7RIV?
Great update and review as well! I’m glad you were able, with the help of others, find the perfect settings for bird photography. It does seem like an extreme number of settings to get to that point though. I know the Sony menus have improved but, for my kind of photography, I just found the menus maddening and moved away from Sony. Just setting up a Sony camera (my last was a A7r IV) was an all day affair. To each his own I guess.
Has Sony explicitly stated that the A1 and A7IV will not be receiving the features?
The silence and lack of action / response to 'many' requests from users over the past few years / models ... sadly speaks volumes.
nice one.
👍🏻
Ok the camera did a good job but all those setting/adjustments are a bit over whelming I feel ( wonder how the Canon would have managed ? ) but that's a Sony, menu after menu. Great video though Glyn. 👍
Cheers Warren.
TBH though .. the first 5 settings would be the same in every camera, and then there just 2 more ... tracking and sensitivity ... and those settings are also availabnle in Canon to fine tune the result, so ... 🤷♂️
There are definitely times when tyou seem to have to dive deeper and deeper though, I'll admit that for sure.
Wildlife photographer Steve Perry did a video last week on subject detection and he said in his Nikon Z9 switching to APS-C (DX) mode improved the camera's ability to detect subjects eyes, but the same was not true in his Sony A1. I thought that was odd.
Hmmm 🤔
Great video. New subscriber 👍
Thank you very much Glyn for this excellent and fun review. I am going to buy myself the Sony A7R5 - in about six months when the bugs that invariably afflict a new entry in any field of tech are worked out and someone else had to go through pain of enduring them!
Interestingly, I was once a falconer and had a Harris Hawk (which for those who are not raptor (fancy name for a bird of prey) aficionados is a hawk (not falcon) that is native the the United States South West - including Texas etc. It is not as fast as - as a goshawk - but close - and definitely has a wonderful disposition whereas goshawks - American or European are the proverbial handfuls - being skittish as a young girl at her first debutante dance!
I also flew a Peregrine - which is the ultimate bird of prey - in my estimation as a former falconer; my brother is still into it so when I get my Sony 7AR5 I will be doing some shooting for him.
The pictures you took of the Harris Hawk for your friend are beautiful, and I am sure he was very happy to "help" you with your test!
Keep up the good work, because? We inquiring minds want to know!
Happy New Year from NYC!
As they say, it takes a big person to admit they were wrong. Don't feel too bad, at least you have some smart subscribers that care enough to educate you.
…. And some who have a quite a way with words, but thankfully there’s a ‘block’ option
Did you see the difference between r5 colors and menus
The colours of the menu?
@@glyndewis the image colors & how easy are the menu?
Thanks!
No problem
Crop Mode deliveres 26mp images not 28mp. Nice video btw and thx for the tips for BIF.
Thanks for the correction Michael
Hi Glyn I am Henry easton son of Phil I heard he talked to you about me and he said I should get in touch with you
Seems like alot to go through to do photos when nikon can just do it.
Not by default it can’t
Putting the camera in APS-C mode doesn't just help with the focus points, but also with giving you a faster sensor read-out speed (since it doesn't have to read out the whole sensor).
Nice one