Nordstjernen
Veteran Member
Today I tested the A77 for tracking fast moving objects and for panning. My goal was to find out if EVF lag is a problem for action photography, and how reliable the autofocus is for tracking fast moving objects. For all photographs the camera was set to 8 frames per second, and short bursts was no limitation. I did not test the 12 fps mode, as I don't know if I will ever use this option.
For tracking my young and fast moving biker the camera was set to continious autofocus, shutter priority and central group autofocus points. With the A700 and A900 the 'shutter priority' setting is a mixed bag, so with these cameras I always used to set this menu option to 'autofocus priority' when photographing flying birds and other fast moving objects. If not, the result was too many out of focus shots.
The A77 autofocus seems to be much faster than with earlier Sony cameras - and more important - much more reliable than the A700 and A900 autofocus. Using the shutter priority option worked very well, with a lot of keepers. Actually, almost all of my images were well focused. And we tested for hours! For this kind of shots I did not even think about viewfinder lag.
So what about panning? To make this test as though for the EVF as possible, I used the lens at the longest end and found a spot for the camera so that the biker filled most of the frame. I have to use a well developed panning technique for this kind of shooting, since this is quite a challenge even with an optical viewfinder. After a few test shots I got used to the viewfinder. I had no problem following the biker, or to correct when the biker was off-center.
After today's testing I know that photographing birds in flight should not be a problem with the A77. This camera will for sure do better than previous Sony cameras, no matter OVF or EVF.
The lens used for all tests was my Sony G 70-400 mm f:4-5.6 set to the longest end. For tracking I used f:5.6 to minimize depth of focus, and for the panning shots I used 1/60 and 1/125 sec to get the blurred foreground and background.
Conclution:
Photographing action is no problem with the A77. Developing a good technique for action photography is much more important than the limitations of the electronic viewfinder. This is especially true for panning, which is more challenging than focus tracking fast moving objects. I am impressed with the A77 as an action camera!
Tracking 1: 400 mm, 1/1500 sec at f:5.6, ISO 800:
Tracking 2 downhill: 400 mm, 1/2000 sec at f:5.6, ISO 800:
Panning downhill:
For tracking my young and fast moving biker the camera was set to continious autofocus, shutter priority and central group autofocus points. With the A700 and A900 the 'shutter priority' setting is a mixed bag, so with these cameras I always used to set this menu option to 'autofocus priority' when photographing flying birds and other fast moving objects. If not, the result was too many out of focus shots.
The A77 autofocus seems to be much faster than with earlier Sony cameras - and more important - much more reliable than the A700 and A900 autofocus. Using the shutter priority option worked very well, with a lot of keepers. Actually, almost all of my images were well focused. And we tested for hours! For this kind of shots I did not even think about viewfinder lag.
So what about panning? To make this test as though for the EVF as possible, I used the lens at the longest end and found a spot for the camera so that the biker filled most of the frame. I have to use a well developed panning technique for this kind of shooting, since this is quite a challenge even with an optical viewfinder. After a few test shots I got used to the viewfinder. I had no problem following the biker, or to correct when the biker was off-center.
After today's testing I know that photographing birds in flight should not be a problem with the A77. This camera will for sure do better than previous Sony cameras, no matter OVF or EVF.
The lens used for all tests was my Sony G 70-400 mm f:4-5.6 set to the longest end. For tracking I used f:5.6 to minimize depth of focus, and for the panning shots I used 1/60 and 1/125 sec to get the blurred foreground and background.
Conclution:
Photographing action is no problem with the A77. Developing a good technique for action photography is much more important than the limitations of the electronic viewfinder. This is especially true for panning, which is more challenging than focus tracking fast moving objects. I am impressed with the A77 as an action camera!
Tracking 1: 400 mm, 1/1500 sec at f:5.6, ISO 800:
Tracking 2 downhill: 400 mm, 1/2000 sec at f:5.6, ISO 800:
Panning downhill:
