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Unofficial Review of Sony A7s From A Professional Event Photographer

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Fast AF is clearly not a strong point of the a7S. It works fine for most things, but events are going to be a challenge. The single point focusing is really tough to use as you say and definitely belongs on the con list as you placed it. We want these things to improve, right? The a7S should have gotten the focusing of the a6000 (this is an assumption because I've never used one) but it didn't, so here we are. On the flip side, it destroys my d800 for manual focusing my nikkors.

Definitely try out a few other focusing modes you wouldn't have thought to use in DSLR days. If any of my DSLRs ever had face detection, I didn't notice. I also wouldn't have used AF lock-on outside of tracking fast moving objects (like .0002% of my photography). Pre-AF? What the heck is that? Because, like you and countless other SLR users, I selected my focus point, put that over the thing I wanted in focus and hit my AF-On button like a boss.

I was never much of a focus-and-recomposer, but now I've got my AF lock-on on, AF-C engaged, I'm selecting the middle focus point and I'm recomposing like a crazy person. Face detection is also very effective (even on my dog.) These two things alone have really filled the usability gap for me and have gotten me in the area of the midrange 1.4 AF-S nikkor primes. They have a high-tech terminator-vision kinda feel and are right at home on an EVF. They are the right tool for the tool. When in Rome...

I really like the camera and have a lot more playing around to do. I have a cons list too, though. The settings management was created by a complete psychopath. Seriously. This person fully lacks empathy and has never made a meaningful human connection.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielwharton
 
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I assume you don't shoot film exclusively and that you probably shoot digital due to advantages it affords you. Fast handling is one advantage many people have become accustomed to with modern cameras; especially DSLRs. The OP, as a professional, is not competing with other professionals that are using film cameras, so the argument doesn't really hold up there. They can't say, oh well, good thing everyone else is shooting film, so the client probably won't mind that I missed that shot Jonny would have also missed because he was changing rolls. At the end of the day, it is their call on what gear to use and maybe they aren't using the right stuff.

You and I on the other hand are probably in similar boats and slowing down doesn't bother me either. I agree with the sentiment that the a7 may be better off without a bunch of professional features or anti-features mucking it up. It definitely can use a few hot fixes, though.
 
Very interesting, I'll see if can replicate...

Could be related to a bug related to how flash interacts with exposure in software - the low light focus performance is surely due to the ability of the sensor to produce an very high S/N image with ISO boost...
 
Photo Candy said:
I'm shooting with a:

Sony FE 28-70mm 3.5-5.6

or

Sony Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8

For all of my events. I've been shooting events for about 6 years, so I have my settings & technique down. I know how to deliver high quality images in impossibly dark scenarios with a DSLR/SLT, but apparently not a Mirrorless camera.

What is a new news to me is that the external flash (Sony HVL-43 in this case) may be interfering with the autofocus of the Sony A7s (according to some posters here). I will have to do further investigating here.

However, no doubt about it, single spot af (what I have been shooting on for 6 years with no problems) is poor in low light conditions with an external flash attached to the sony a7s.

Just trying to figure out why now.
Click to expand...
As I said turn settings effect to 'off' when using a flash. Also you might consider using the LEDs in the F43M instead of the flash as another option?
 
I don't think using the LED on the HVL-F43 flash will work for autofocus at event shooting. First, if the LED is on then flash mode does not operate, so it can't be used as an AF assist light. Second, it is very uncomfortable for the subject to be looking at the camera when an LED is shining into their eyes. Third, the LED is relatively weak. When doing decor shots before an event I usually use one of those common 160-LED video lights, to help highlight a table setting or decor piece. I tried using the HVL-F43's LED; it was not really sufficient for that purpose.
 
aut0maticdan said:
Fast AF is clearly not a strong point of the a7S. It works fine for most things, but events are going to be a challenge. The single point focusing is really tough to use as you say and definitely belongs on the con list as you placed it. We want these things to improve, right? The a7S should have gotten the focusing of the a6000 (this is an assumption because I've never used one) but it didn't, so here we are. On the flip side, it destroys my d800 for manual focusing my nikkors.

Definitely try out a few other focusing modes you wouldn't have thought to use in DSLR days. If any of my DSLRs ever had face detection, I didn't notice. I also wouldn't have used AF lock-on outside of tracking fast moving objects (like .0002% of my photography). Pre-AF? What the heck is that? Because, like you and countless other SLR users, I selected my focus point, put that over the thing I wanted in focus and hit my AF-On button like a boss.

I was never much of a focus-and-recomposer, but now I've got my AF lock-on on, AF-C engaged, I'm selecting the middle focus point and I'm recomposing like a crazy person. Face detection is also very effective (even on my dog.) These two things alone have really filled the usability gap for me and have gotten me in the area of the midrange 1.4 AF-S nikkor primes. They have a high-tech terminator-vision kinda feel and are right at home on an EVF. They are the right tool for the tool. When in Rome...

I really like the camera and have a lot more playing around to do. I have a cons list too, though. The settings management was created by a complete psychopath. Seriously. This person fully lacks empathy and has never made a meaningful human connection.
Click to expand...
 
Patrick Murphy said:
I don't think using the LED on the HVL-F43 flash will work for autofocus at event shooting. First, if the LED is on then flash mode does not operate, so it can't be used as an AF assist light. Second, it is very uncomfortable for the subject to be looking at the camera when an LED is shining into their eyes. Third, the LED is relatively weak. When doing decor shots before an event I usually use one of those common 160-LED video lights, to help highlight a table setting or decor piece. I tried using the HVL-F43's LED; it was not really sufficient for that purpose.
Click to expand...
Yep, non-event photographers wouldn't grasp that fact. The whole idea of not using an LED is to not annoy people/draw a lot of attention to yourself in a dark room.

I will try to turn the "settings" off on my hvl 43 (sounds vague), but I'll look into it and give it a shot and report my findings.
 
I bet, and maybe having the A6000 PDAF sensors wouldn't make it all that much better in very low light, but it should have a big impact in normal lighting conditions. I'd still take it assuming it didn't take away from the a7S sensor.
 
Photo Candy said:
Yep, non-event photographers wouldn't grasp that fact. The whole idea of not using an LED is to not annoy people/draw a lot of attention to yourself in a dark room.

I will try to turn the "settings" off on my hvl 43 (sounds vague), but I'll look into it and give it a shot and report my findings.
Click to expand...
It's the "Live View display" menu on the A7s itself, which has two choices "Setting effect on" or "Setting effect off".

See this Sony page for an explanation.

The default is "On" which shows you (more or less) what the camera will record. When an external flash such as the HVL-F43 is used, the EVF and monitor will increase the gain of the view which in turn may improve the autofocus ability.

"Off" is used in situations such as using a Pocket Wizard external flash trigger, where you have manual settings for such a short exposure that the EVF and monitor go dark when Setting Effect is On. Turn it off and you can compose with the EVF/monitor.
 
Patrick Murphy said:
Photo Candy said:
Yep, non-event photographers wouldn't grasp that fact. The whole idea of not using an LED is to not annoy people/draw a lot of attention to yourself in a dark room.

I will try to turn the "settings" off on my hvl 43 (sounds vague), but I'll look into it and give it a shot and report my findings.
Click to expand...
It's the "Live View display" menu on the A7s itself, which has two choices "Setting effect on" or "Setting effect off".

See this Sony page for an explanation.

The default is "On" which shows you (more or less) what the camera will record. When an external flash such as the HVL-F43 is used, the EVF and monitor will increase the gain of the view which in turn may improve the autofocus ability.

"Off" is used in situations such as using a Pocket Wizard external flash trigger, where you have manual settings for such a short exposure that the EVF and monitor go dark when Setting Effect is On. Turn it off and you can compose with the EVF/monitor.
Click to expand...
Ahh, I see, thanks for the explanation. I'll give it a spin.
 
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