MikeMikeyMike
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I haven't been happy with BiF focussing with the A7iii. Is the A9 that much better?
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I have an A7iii, does it make sense to get an A9 for bird photography?
- Thread starter MikeMikeyMike
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AZheaven
Senior Member
If you have the money? A9 without a doubt. But honestly I'm trying to fathom just how good the A9 is over the A7iii. I've taken random shots of BIF with my A7iii and 24-105 f4 and it simply shames the Nikon D7200 I previously owned. The A7iii is no slouch either. Maybe if the A9 drops more in time I'll "retire" my A7iii.
JpGomez
Leading Member
With a9's real time tracking, it is the better choice.
But I've seen great BIF pics from a7iii, maybe you gotta improve your technique, etc? Post sample images can help.
MikeMikeyMike
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Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering. Is the A9 that much better than the A7iii (to be clear, not the A7R)?
Does anyone have both?
Does anyone have both?
MikeMikeyMike
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MikeMikeyMike
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Last edited:
Colin Franks
Senior Member
There is no question, the a9 is the tool for the BIF job.
Yesterday I was on a shoreline shooting a distant Horned Grebe in the water, and had to put the 2X extender on (200-600). During that time, a Pelagic Cormorant flew quickly past and I thought I'd give it a try just for fun. It did this:
Cormorant.
I abandoned my D850 and 500 f/4E because of the a9. You can get a used one now for a great price.
Yesterday I was on a shoreline shooting a distant Horned Grebe in the water, and had to put the 2X extender on (200-600). During that time, a Pelagic Cormorant flew quickly past and I thought I'd give it a try just for fun. It did this:
Cormorant.
I abandoned my D850 and 500 f/4E because of the a9. You can get a used one now for a great price.
LarryRC
Senior Member
Great photo!There is no question, the a9 is the tool for the BIF job.
Yesterday I was on a shoreline shooting a distant Horned Grebe in the water, and had to put the 2X extender on (200-600). During that time, a Pelagic Cormorant flew quickly past and I thought I'd give it a try just for fun. It did this:
Cormorant.
I abandoned my D850 and 500 f/4E because of the a9. You can get a used one now for a great price.
Colin Franks
Senior Member
Thanks, it's not very contrasty, but I mean for a zoom lens with a 2X extender @f/13??? Unbelievable!
Tristimulus
Veteran Member
Yes - the A9 is better.
But not if technique is lacking. Which focus settings do you use for BIF?
MikeMikeyMike
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For BiF, I've tried every lock-on mode. Drive mode is High rather than H+ so I can follow the bird better. Silent shooting is off. AEL w/shutter is set to auto. Manual mode: 1/2000, wide open or f/8, auto ISO
Looking at the photos on the laptop, the focus points start on the bird and then tend to lag behind for many of the shots. Also, I'm just comparing shots with birds against a plain blue sky.
For birds in trees I use flexible-spot s (not lock-on)
I welcome any suggestions.
And thanks to all of you nice people for the feedback so far.
Looking at the photos on the laptop, the focus points start on the bird and then tend to lag behind for many of the shots. Also, I'm just comparing shots with birds against a plain blue sky.
For birds in trees I use flexible-spot s (not lock-on)
I welcome any suggestions.
And thanks to all of you nice people for the feedback so far.
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In a word yes.
For catching moving subjects the A9 (or I guess also now the A9ii) simply has no peer.
You'll have more sharp "in focus" shots to pick from than you will with any other camera. And birds move quickly and are rarely still.
I think you'll find that simply being properly focused and capturing more moments matters much more than the number of pixels on your sensor.
arbitrage
Leading Member
I haven't shot with the A7III, I've briefly shot the A7RIII and shot the A7RIV for 2 weeks. My main Sony is an A9 for the past 1.5 years and all I do is bird photography. I also own D500/D850 and have owned just about every Canon body 7D and higher since 2010.
Even compared to the A7RIV, the A9 is significantly better so I'm fairly certain you will find a lot more success in the A9 over the A7III. The A9 is also better than all the Canon and Nikon gear I've owned although it does have a few AF quirks that the Nikons do better with (particularly coming in from distance to a close perch where Sony AF just doesn't want to recognize the grossly OOF near distance perch).
If you want to first try and improve your A7III shots, I would suggest not using the Lock-On modes. Even on the A9 which does 60 AF calculations per second vs the A7III's 20 calculations/s, the lock-on modes never worked well for me. For BIF before FW 5.0, I relied on Zone and Wide on the A9 and I would try those with your A7III if you don't get the A9. The Real-Time Tracking in A9 is much improved on the lock-on modes which it replaced. I still find certain situations that I prefer the old Zone and Wide modes over the tracking modes but I do make use of the tracking modes a lot more now with FW 5.0.
One other big advantage you will find for BIF with the A9 is the blackout free EVF. It is so much easier to pan along smoothly while firing the shutter than with either H or H+ in the A7 series of cameras. Also being able to shoot silently without compromises is a big plus as you don't scare away critters and you don't put wear and tear on the shutter over time.
Personally, I wouldn't even be shooting Sony if it wasn't for the A9. I'd just keep on with my Nikon gear (which I still use some of the time mostly for the 500PF).
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nataphoto
Active member
I had both but that was before the a9's new update.
For what it's worth I've had no issues with the a7iii's focusing speed. If you can't do sports or wildlife with an a7iii, it's definitely you. It's hard to complain when my sports keeper rate is in the high 90s. The hardest thing I've ever shot was vault in gymnastics, and the a7iii just breezed through it.. at 1.4..
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MikeMikeyMike
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I’m fully willing to accept that I need better technique for BiF.
But I should mention that I haven’t had any problems shooting action shots with sports or mammals. People are much bigger than birds, and people move in more predictable patterns
MikeMikeyMike
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Thanks so much for your extended write-up. It's very helpful. I will try without track-on. I also noticed in your (great!) photos that several of them use a much higher shutter speed than I have been using. I'll try that too.
Rachael P
Leading Member
And if the image isn't focussed at the pixel level, there is no gain at all...
I am persuaded. I have an A9 arriving this week. The A7Riii will then be a fine landscape camera (and portraits, when I have time to get into it). I have had some lovely shots with the A7Riii, but many more which were a waste of pixels. Will just have to get closer to the action... (and will be able to use the 1.4x TC with the 200-600 anyway)
MikeMikeyMike
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Nice shot. I have a friend who shoots dragonflies with a Canon and does it all with manual focus. So I know technique is important. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do that, so some help from the camera is needed.
Common Green Darner f.
An A9 example. For this purpose, I find the 100-400 works better than the 200-600.
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