I've come to the conclusion that for ME (probably nobody else on this forum or maybe a few) I won't be committing to a Sony body till they produce a:
* 50-60mp sensor with BSI and Stacked with a very very fast speed sensor to eliminate any rolling shutter.
* Have the updated and maybe even more so improved AI chips for best subject tracking in it.
* Keep that 9.7 Million Dot EVF but speed it up so it doesn't drop it's frame rate when shooting.
* Has the screen of at least the A7R5 design
* I don't care if it has a mechanical shutter, better yet something like the Z9 Nikon but have it be so there are NO drawbacks such as use with a flash sync speeds or issues with LED lighting.
I'm pretty sure there is a very high possibility if a A1MkII comes out it will be as described above. But if they bring out any hammers forget about it. Guess the next year or so will be quite revealing as to what is coming out. I don't see Sony resting on their laurels not updating the A1 at this point. Down a nearby road are some high performing Nikon and Canon's on the horizon. Time for Sony to step things up a notch.
Honestly, I'd skip the A7r5 and just get the A1, been around the block with just about everything and nothing is as compact/fast with exceptional iq like the A1 currently or for the foreseeable!
Once you start using these newer style bodies, the A1 body feels especially annoying. As good as the camera is, it does not sit right to pay for something you don’t love.
I would say the ignorance is bliss factor weighs heavily against the A1, not a lot of folks have used it, safer to spend less on camera these days, they’re all so darn powerful.
The issue you've got is with the top left dial? Other than that looks like any other gen4 body.
Maybe it's the lack of separation between photo and video setting?
The left stuff is borderline useless
switching AF->MF during video or Vice versa, impossible during a live shoot
actually very useful and so is the drive dial
have you used a non flagship camera? It’s ridiculously simple as is
the double decker dial on the right is far superior of an upgrade in practice, much easier because it is clear and concise. You know what mode of video you are on, even with the camera off
that dial is simply a mode dial which is much more static than the left dial you would need another control concentric to be of some use as a minimum drive mode and then you are left with something else for focus which will be another dial of some shape
The ergonomics of two dials are just fine
it’s not that simple
that mode switch gives you 3 custom modes for stills, 3 for video, 3 for S&Q
not only is it faster, it’s more intuitive
When dealing with shooting mode, video is tied to s firmware, photos is tied to hardware, which is the opposite of intuitive
I have no idea what you are talking about but I do not like the idea of a mode dial and autofocus dial without the drive
The drive is essential I do not want to navigate menus to tell the camera to do burst speed 2. Thats ok for a camera used for statics stuff not for a fast one
there is no menu digging involved.............
the repurposed exposure comp dial, a massive improvement. SLOG3 requires +1.7 ev, a dynamic EC is possible on the A1, if you’re willing to sacrifice that dial, not intuitive and the controls are more difficult afterwards.
not true slog3 exposes fine on the A1 where it is and if you wanted to overexpose you would do it in manual
+1.7 is EC in auto modes, that should be self explanatory, I often use other modes outside manual, like shutter and aperture priority.
Nope is a bad idea the camera exposes fine as is. The camera does have some challenges as it adjusts exposure too fast but the calculations are fine and +1.7 will clip a lot as soon as you have some light in the frame. Dialling overexposure point blank is a bad recipe on any camera system
turns out, you dont have much experience with SLOG3
i have experience with several log formats and I know how they work
when I get a nee camera i run my own tests in a controlled lightbox
i never ever overexpose unless for creative reasons once I have confirmed the camera meters correctly
slog3 has middle grey at a low 41% which in general terms is low but that is the way it is designed to be you don’t overexpose systematically otherwise you loose dynamic range
the lut maps it to 44% which is what I like in fact slog3 cine is great nothing to mess around with on this camera. Haven’t tried others ao can’t say if all implementations are the same
i have now used the camera past twilight and i see no need to make systemic corrections in fact I am near or at clipping most times as i shoot in high dynamic range situations
and yes I’ve used the a9 for a number of years and the a1 for a number of weeks. Quite frankly, I won’t go back to an EC dial body, that is the biggest annoyance. The the mode dial is less annoying, I can work with it.
There is nothing wrong with the A1 body controls actually the only ergonomics issue is the non articulated lcd and the position of the remote shutter control
i can guarantee these changes on the A7R5 regarding the body, will make it to the A1 mii in a few years, nothing wrong isn’t the same as not optimized
I do not like cameras with a single dial they are a bad idea and just good for static shooters
If there is one thing that is good about the A1 is the body controls if you don't need them probably you don't fit the use case for the camera but there is no point wanting the ergonomics to be destroyed for those who actually like the settings
since your against the EC dial, you're also against having an EXTRA LOCKABLE WHEEL? That's just silly
there is no change in the ergonomics, the EC wheel is repurposed, which you CANNOT do on the A1
That ec wheel is no use to me when I want to overexpose I shoot manual but doesn’t bother me either
the body is great as is except the lcd
again, I dont believe that you've used the newer bodies or slog3
so the old saying goes ____________ is bliss.
the new bodies are better
slog3 is typically exposed at +1.7 for high dynamic scenes, even higher for low dynamic scenes
It isn’t
you need to stop watching gerald undone and learn how log and a camera works
There is good documentation on Sony pro site read it
you work fast, you're not going to be sitting around with a grey card to expose, you let the camera do it.
here's a +1.7 in a high dynamic scene
It doesn't clip
I've logged hundreds of hours with SLOG3, it's known for the high dynamic range
+1.7 is very safe, +2 is fine most the time if ok with occasional clipping
The scene you just posted has light coming from behind and as such it is simply bright while in fact is a flat low dynamic range scene. Based on this example you cannot draw any conclusions
if you look at the stops table for slog3 you can refer to lutcalc you will see that the gamma has 6 stops over middle grey and 9 below. The clipping point is 94% IRE it doesn’t reach 100% but it clips anyway
if you overexpose two stops you reduce the highlight headroom to 4 stops. This will work fine as long as your scene didn’t have more than 4 stops over middle grey to start with otherwise it will clip
in addition overexposed footage looks washed out because the highlights are heavily compressed and contain limited color information so when you bring the exposure back you end up with the classic washed out blues in the sky as seen in many video and in your example
the situation is different if the camera meters middle grey you are not clipping but the interesting part of your scene is dark, in which case you will spot meter on that part of the frame which would result in an overexposure of the entire frame but correct exposure of your subject and if the rest desaturates who cares
understanding how things work is important you can’t just follow a recipe without knowing the implications
it's not simply bright, there's a big prominant black jacket that is exposed well, and a WHITE helmet, that can clip easily, yet it's not. I will tell you that any mode outside of LOG will clip the helmet, and it probably wouldnt bother me much, the whole point is that +1.7 is safe, a tried and true number with SLOG3. That is one of the main selling points of using sony cameras, for their vast dynamic range and
ease of use
along the theme of ease of use is another reason I use SLOG3 95% of the time, bright scenes, dark scenes, it doesnt matter. I dont carry a grey card and I know from experience, where the cameras tend to clip.
as for the SLOG gamma curve, it's not good on the shadows, it shifts for contrast in the dark areas, hence you dont expose it for middle grey conventionally (prior to gamma correction).
as for the scene looking "washed out", it's not, there's no application of contrast curves, it's simply a conversion lut for color, there is plenty of information in the file.
you can expose lower and pull the shadows, but if you knew that there's a curve at the bottom of SLOG, you would think twice about doing that.
as an aside..... the panasonic s5 iix...... money will part my wallet...... wowzers
, what a fantastic argument you got there, A1 unfortunately by actual good birders been choosen as the best for BIF, but they surely must be wrong. 
