70-300 with clear image zoom = 140-600?

mcrksman

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So I have an a7ii and an ea3 with a Tamron 70-300. Its hardly enough for birding but im going to keep it until a 150-600 option with decent AF arrives. So far I've just been shooting in RAW then cropping in post, but I just thought of this: I could shoot in jpg with clear image zoom at 2x and since clear image zoom supposedly loses not much quality, it should be better than cropping.

The downsides are:

Jpg (I don't alter wildlife photos that much anyway)

AF settings are fixed

I only tested this out inside my house and it seems to work quite well.

Thoughts?
 
And clear image zoom = cropping.

The final outcome should be pretty much the same.
The thing is, all the articles I can find on Google say that clear image zoom is better than cropping
 
Wow why has this feature not been talked about before. I have had my a7rII for over a year and just found out about it.

I just tried it on my 90 F2.8 Macro and it works as advertised very sharp cannot tell a difference.



Clear Image Zoom with the A7RII

Set camera to jpeg instead of RAW

Turn on the camera and set it to either S, P, A or M

Press menu then go to Gear Icon number 3 and change Zoom Setting

to Digital Zoom or Clear Image Zoom

Then press menu and go to Camera Icon number 6 and highlight zoom.

You can then adjust the zoom now using the scroll dial at the back.
 
So I have an a7ii and an ea3 with a Tamron 70-300. Its hardly enough for birding but im going to keep it until a 150-600 option with decent AF arrives. So far I've just been shooting in RAW then cropping in post, but I just thought of this: I could shoot in jpg with clear image zoom at 2x and since clear image zoom supposedly loses not much quality, it should be better than cropping.

The downsides are:

Jpg (I don't alter wildlife photos that much anyway)

AF settings are fixed

I only tested this out inside my house and it seems to work quite well.

Thoughts?
i did a test on my a6000, the result was that I get the same results or even a bit better using RAW, cropping to any of the clear image zoom equivalent ratios and then enlarging.

pros of NOT using clear image zoom:
- you shoot RAW.
- some will argue that it is easier to compose on camera, I prefer to be able to recompose in PP.

cons:
- none?
 
So I have an a7ii and an ea3 with a Tamron 70-300. Its hardly enough for birding but im going to keep it until a 150-600 option with decent AF arrives. So far I've just been shooting in RAW then cropping in post, but I just thought of this: I could shoot in jpg with clear image zoom at 2x and since clear image zoom supposedly loses not much quality, it should be better than cropping.

The downsides are:

Jpg (I don't alter wildlife photos that much anyway)

AF settings are fixed

I only tested this out inside my house and it seems to work quite well.

Thoughts?
i did a test on my a6000, the result was that I get the same results or even a bit better using RAW, cropping to any of the clear image zoom equivalent ratios and then enlarging.

pros of NOT using clear image zoom:
- you shoot RAW.
- some will argue that it is easier to compose on camera, I prefer to be able to recompose in PP.

cons:
- none?
This is pretty much my finding. But I also observe that the object being photographed has a lot to do with the final results.

If there is no fine detail, clear image zoom works great. BUT if there is fine detail, it doesn't do as well. The camera does a resizing operation and is challenged with fine detail.
 
Wow why has this feature not been talked about before. I have had my a7rII for over a year and just found out about it.

I just tried it on my 90 F2.8 Macro and it works as advertised very sharp cannot tell a difference.

Clear Image Zoom with the A7RII

Set camera to jpeg instead of RAW

Turn on the camera and set it to either S, P, A or M

Press menu then go to Gear Icon number 3 and change Zoom Setting

to Digital Zoom or Clear Image Zoom

Then press menu and go to Camera Icon number 6 and highlight zoom.

You can then adjust the zoom now using the scroll dial at the back.
I set one of my camera memory profiles to always be at 2x clear image zoom so that I can switch quickly when necessary
 
And clear image zoom = cropping.

The final outcome should be pretty much the same.
The quality of the algorithm can be debated but it is certainly not cropping since you get full results files.
 
Wow why has this feature not been talked about before. I have had my a7rII for over a year and just found out about it.

I just tried it on my 90 F2.8 Macro and it works as advertised very sharp cannot tell a difference.

Clear Image Zoom with the A7RII

Set camera to jpeg instead of RAW

Turn on the camera and set it to either S, P, A or M

Press menu then go to Gear Icon number 3 and change Zoom Setting

to Digital Zoom or Clear Image Zoom

Then press menu and go to Camera Icon number 6 and highlight zoom.

You can then adjust the zoom now using the scroll dial at the back.
Under-recognized, but very usefull function. Turns a prime a zoom, doesn't it?
 
It helps with setting the right exposure when the small dark subject fills the frame when using Clear Image Zoom. So it is sometimes useful when in hurry.
 
The quality of the algorithm can be debated but it is certainly not cropping since you get full results files.
 
Wow why has this feature not been talked about before. I have had my a7rII for over a year and just found out about it.

I just tried it on my 90 F2.8 Macro and it works as advertised very sharp cannot tell a difference.

Clear Image Zoom with the A7RII

Set camera to jpeg instead of RAW

Turn on the camera and set it to either S, P, A or M

Press menu then go to Gear Icon number 3 and change Zoom Setting

to Digital Zoom or Clear Image Zoom

Then press menu and go to Camera Icon number 6 and highlight zoom.

You can then adjust the zoom now using the scroll dial at the back.
Under-recognized, but very usefull function. Turns a prime a zoom, doesn't it?
Wait - what??? How have I never heard of this function before!
 
Here is a video from Sony on the tech

 
So I have an a7ii and an ea3 with a Tamron 70-300. Its hardly enough for birding but im going to keep it until a 150-600 option with decent AF arrives. So far I've just been shooting in RAW then cropping in post, but I just thought of this: I could shoot in jpg with clear image zoom at 2x and since clear image zoom supposedly loses not much quality, it should be better than cropping.

The downsides are:

Jpg (I don't alter wildlife photos that much anyway)

AF settings are fixed

I only tested this out inside my house and it seems to work quite well.

Thoughts?
Please post pictures with the 70-300mm + Clear Image Zoom.
 

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