Sony A7R IV A7RIV oddness...

[Uncle Kevriano]

Just recently I've noticed a couple of oddities or misbehaviours on my now 36 month old A7RIV, in as much as it no longer goes into sleep mode after it's set time of one minute, it just stays on, eating the battery, and for certain the AF system is really playing up, hunting an awful lot more than it ever has, and I have changed nothing at all (save for not have my hot shoe cover on as I am swapping between using a flash and not quite a bit) Now I have considered doing a full reset to see if it helps, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues in the past.
It's getting so bad I am seriously thinking of jumping ship to the Olympus OM-1, because the images I'm seeing are mega impressive.

 

[spudhead]

Just recently I've noticed a couple of oddities or misbehaviours on my now 36 month old A7RIV, in as much as it no longer goes into sleep mode after it's set time of one minute, it just stays on, eating the battery, and for certain the AF system is really playing up, hunting an awful lot more than it ever has, and I have changed nothing at all (save for not have my hot shoe cover on as I am swapping between using a flash and not quite a bit) Now I have considered doing a full reset to see if it helps, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues in the past.
It's getting so bad I am seriously thinking of jumping ship to the Olympus OM-1, because the images I'm seeing are mega impressive.

Sorry to hear you have issues Kev as you know I don't have the a74r, but I guess the reset is the starting point and hopefully that will cure it. the Olympus om-1 is a great camera and system for sure

 

[Unframed Dave]

My mate in oz, has just got his hands on the om1 having used micro for a few years.

Based on his comments so far, I wouldn't be making the leap kev.

 

[Brownie]

My mate in oz, has just got his hands on the om1 having used micro for a few years.

Based on his comments so far, I wouldn't be making the leap kev.

Having come from M-4/3 myself and Panasonic's top of the line G9 stills camera, I still frequent the forum, although not posting. If I were going to leave FF the OM-1 would absolutely be my choice. While it's true there are some who complain about this or that, in capable hands the camera can do amazing things with its 20MP 4/3 sensor.

And don't forget the feature sets in M-4/3 like handheld night shot, in camera focus stacking, superb IS that surpasses every other company (I think the OM-1 is rated at 7 or 7-1/2 stops) and a HUGE selection of lenses.

 

[Unframed Dave]

Yep, I've heard plenty. But he's the first real life amateur photographer I know of that has one. I've seen plenty of his photos but he's yet to send me one out of the new camera.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Having come from M-4/3 myself and Panasonic's top of the line G9 stills camera, I still frequent the forum, although not posting. If I were going to leave FF the OM-1 would absolutely be my choice. While it's true there are some who complain about this or that, in capable hands the camera can do amazing things with its 20MP 4/3 sensor.

And don't forget the feature sets in M-4/3 like handheld night shot, in camera focus stacking, superb IS that surpasses every other company (I think the OM-1 is rated at 7 or 7-1/2 stops) and a HUGE selection of lenses.

I have honestly seen some fantastic stuff, a friend who is a long time Olympus user 9moved from Canon) has some truly remarkable shots. I love the colours they produce too. I could swap, buy some lenses and it would cost less than buying an A1, the only other option for me I think.

 

[Unframed Dave]

I have honestly seen some fantastic stuff, a friend who is a long time Olympus user 9moved from Canon) has some truly remarkable shots. I love the colours they produce too. I could swap, buy some lenses and it would cost less than buying an A1, the only other option for me I think.

You don't need the A1 kev. I've seen your photos.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Just recently I've noticed a couple of oddities or misbehaviours on my now 36 month old A7RIV, in as much as it no longer goes into sleep mode after it's set time of one minute, it just stays on, eating the battery, and for certain the AF system is really playing up, hunting an awful lot more than it ever has, and I have changed nothing at all (save for not have my hot shoe cover on as I am swapping between using a flash and not quite a bit) Now I have considered doing a full reset to see if it helps, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues in the past.
It's getting so bad I am seriously thinking of jumping ship to the Olympus OM-1, because the images I'm seeing are mega impressive.

Do you have the remote enabled Kev as that will disable sleep mode. Strange that it's now hunting more, did you update the firmware recently? A reset might be worth a try. The OM-1 does look quite interesting! Might be worth a hire first to see how you like it.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Do you have the remote enabled Kev as that will disable sleep mode. Strange that it's now hunting more, did you update the firmware recently? A reset might be worth a try. The OM-1 does look quite interesting! Might be worth a hire first to see how you like it.

Hi Tim. No, no remote enabled, unless I've hit it by mistake! I never use one. No firmware updates since the last, ages ago. The hunting is doing my nut in, and I've cleaned all contacts etc. Seems weird. As far as I know Sony haven't ever updated the 200 600 firmware, and I haven't anyway, so I have no clue why it's started. Reset it is

 

[Brownie]

I have honestly seen some fantastic stuff, a friend who is a long time Olympus user 9moved from Canon) has some truly remarkable shots. I love the colours they produce too. I could swap, buy some lenses and it would cost less than buying an A1, the only other option for me I think.

Of course there are trade offs. DR, Focus, and MP come to mind. Of course with MP instead of digitally cropping in post, the crop is automatic due to the sensor size. Still, these things are becoming less important as computational photography keeps getting better. OM has significantly reduced noise (but only under specific circumstances) and improved their focus to the point that they're now hanging with the big boys.

Lens selection is an important element. Between OM, Panasonic, Sigma, Sam/Rok, Tamron, and all the other players it's insane. One VERY cool unintended consequence of the smaller sensor is that with an adapted FF lens, you're only using the middle of it, automatically cropping out the softer corners. And there too, I have never seen a bad M-4/3 lens. I think it's just the nature of the beast, smaller is easier.

One very intriguing lens is the 150-400/4.5 It's awfully expensive, but with the built-in 1.25TC you get a hand-holdable 1000/5.6 equivalent lens that's slightly smaller than the Sony 200-600.

I still go through lens shock from time to time after making the switch. Here's a shot showing a G9 and Pana-Leica 100-400 (200-800 EQ) and an R-IV with the 200-600:

I could handhold the Panny for days, not so much the Sony.

This comparison is my normal carry at the track, then and now. Same FL EQ, Panasonic/Leica 50-200 on the Panny and Sigma 100-400 on the Sony:

After all of that though, there's still one big (at least to me) drawback. Even though OM has released a winner in the OM-1, they are still a 'new ' company. And let's not forget that the OM-1 is really a Olympus design, well underway before the change. Can OM sustain? There's supposedly an OM-5 in the works, a smaller body camera more along the normal M-4/3 size. When I moved to Sony part of it was due to Olympus selling off to OM. I didn't want to spend $2k on a new, unproven body only to have the company change hands yet again, or worse yet go under. That would still be a concern for me if I were considering a change.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Yes that 6.5K lens is an amazing beast for sure, but I get the concerns you have too, and echo them. It's an extremely impressive bit of kit though, spec wise.

 

[spudhead]

I have honestly seen some fantastic stuff, a friend who is a long time Olympus user 9moved from Canon) has some truly remarkable shots. I love the colours they produce too. I could swap, buy some lenses and it would cost less than buying an A1, the only other option for me I think.

I have use of my daughters om1 which I bought with her after her being a canon user and struggling with big heavy lenses, I can tell you the camera is very capable and if you add the right glass, it's really good, she has the 12-40 2.8 pro and the 40-150 2.8 pro and a 1.4 x and you get 2x crop factor, what is not to like. We have both had shots that easily match the sony a7iii and a9 I use

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I have use of my daughters om1 which I bought with her after her being a canon user and struggling with big heavy lenses, I can tell you the camera is very capable and if you add the right glass, it's really good, she has the 12-40 2.8 pro and the 40-150 2.8 pro and a 1.4 x and you get 2x crop factor, what is not to like. We have both had shots that easily match the sony a7iii and a9 I use

Yep, my friend has the 300 f4 Pro, and uses it with both teleconverters from time to time. Obviously that's 1200 f8 with the 2x. His images are fabulous. He also uses the 100 400, so effectively 200-800. It's a perfect reach for what we do.


@ Unframed Dave. Cheers for that :}

 

[spudhead]

Yep, my friend has the 300 f4 Pro, and uses it with both teleconverters from time to time. Obviously that's 1200 f8 with the 2x. His images are fabulous. He also uses the 100 400, so effectively 200-800. It's a perfect reach for what we do.


@ Unframed Dave. Cheers for that :}

Yep, Kev it's tempting I keep trying to get her to buy the 100-400 but no look so far, she is so happy with the system, and she has all the reach she needs but that does not help me

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Yep, Kev it's tempting I keep trying to get her to buy the 100-400 but no look so far, she is so happy with the system, and she has all the reach she needs but that does not help me

Terrible selfishness

 

[spudhead]

Terrible selfishness

I am ok with it

 

[Brownie]

Yep, my friend has the 300 f4 Pro, and uses it with both teleconverters from time to time. Obviously that's 1200 f8 with the 2x. His images are fabulous. He also uses the 100 400, so effectively 200-800. It's a perfect reach for what we do.


@ Unframed Dave. Cheers for that :}

OM is wisely pushing the OM-1 as a sports/wildlife camera. Between the burst rates, IS, FL EQ, improved tracking and AF, and their incomparable weatherproofing, it's tough to beat as an overall outdoor system.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

OM is wisely pushing the OM-1 as a sports/wildlife camera. Between the burst rates, IS, FL EQ, improved tracking and AF, and their incomparable weatherproofing, it's tough to beat as an overall outdoor system.

Yeah, I'm quite sure Sony will have looked at some of the tech and had a bit of a sweat.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Update on the not switching off. Tim was right, for some reason IR Remote was on, now I've turned it off it's doing what it should, so cheers for that. Now to sort the hunting...

 

[Brownie]

Yeah, I'm quite sure Sony will have looked at some of the tech and had a bit of a sweat.

I was surprised at the lack of special features when I came to Sony, but I don't know that it's not normal for Canikon to do the same, it's a different culture. I think M-4/3 has focused on cool features as a way to better compete with other sensor sizes.

One of my favorite 'cheat' settings on the Panasonics was Handheld Night Shot. It would take a bunch of photos in quick succession and stack them in camera for the correct lighting. It worked on everything from city streets to Orion. I say 'cheat' because it was jpeg only in automatic mode, you had no settings choices. Still, it turned out pretty good photos considering all you had to do was point and shoot.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

I was surprised at the lack of special features when I came to Sony, but I don't know that it's not normal for Canikon to do the same, it's a different culture. I think M-4/3 has focused on cool features as a way to better compete with other sensor sizes.

One of my favorite 'cheat' settings on the Panasonics was Handheld Night Shot. It would take a bunch of photos in quick succession and stack them in camera for the correct lighting. It worked on everything from city streets to Orion. I say 'cheat' because it was jpeg only in automatic mode, you had no settings choices. Still, it turned out pretty good photos considering all you had to do was point and shoot.

They certainly have some clever tricks, like the pre-focussing. The burst rate is frankly overkill, it's basically taking a still from every frame of a slow mo video, which is clever, no question, but I'd never use it. I doubt I'd use 20 or 30 either, but I would like some snappier AF, and I am beginning to question the accuracy of the A7RIV when I look at some shots from other systems. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with what I achieve with it, but it's not without increasing frustration.

 

[Brownie]

Yeah, I never shot those ridiculous burst rates. One cool feature though was the 6k burst. I could shoot a brief video in 6k, then go back and extract single frames to keep, all in-camera. They'd save as an 18MP jpeg image.

I really don't think you'll improve AF over the A1, and the A7-IV to a lesser extent. They are remarkable. Poor action AF was the main reason I left Panasonic behind, and even though OM has stepped up it still isn't rated as highly as Sony in the tests I've seen. Maybe @spudhead can post his hands-on observations.

 

[davepnc]

Just recently I've noticed a couple of oddities or misbehaviours on my now 36 month old A7RIV, in as much as it no longer goes into sleep mode after it's set time of one minute, it just stays on, eating the battery, and for certain the AF system is really playing up, hunting an awful lot more than it ever has, and I have changed nothing at all (save for not have my hot shoe cover on as I am swapping between using a flash and not quite a bit) Now I have considered doing a full reset to see if it helps, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues in the past.
It's getting so bad I am seriously thinking of jumping ship to the Olympus OM-1, because the images I'm seeing are mega impressive.

In the past when that happened to me I found that I had left the Sony RMT-P1BT Wireless Remote Commander connected, which prevents it from sleeping. The other option to try is to BACK UP your settings and then do a factory reset. If that's not it, I got nothing!

 

[spudhead]

They certainly have some clever tricks, like the pre-focussing. The burst rate is frankly overkill, it's basically taking a still from every frame of a slow mo video, which is clever, no question, but I'd never use it. I doubt I'd use 20 or 30 either, but I would like some snappier AF, and I am beginning to question the accuracy of the A7RIV when I look at some shots from other systems. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with what I achieve with it, but it's not without increasing frustration.

Kev are you aware you can test drive the Olympus cameras and lenes, just visit the Uk site and the info is there, it's a full 24-hour loan cost free through the Uk retailers, I think it's called test and wow

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Kev are you aware you can test drive the Olympus cameras and lenes, just visit the Uk site and the info is there, it's a full 24-hour loan cost free through the Uk retailers, I think it's called test and wow

Nope. I will have to try!

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

In the past when that happened to me I found that I had left the Sony RMT-P1BT Wireless Remote Commander connected, which prevents it from sleeping. The other option to try is to BACK UP your settings and then do a factory reset. If that's not it, I got nothing!

Yep it was IR on causing it.

 

[Unframed Dave]

I've no dog in the fight, but here's my mates latest with the OM1. Check out his comments.

Instagram

www.instagram.com

 

[Brownie]

I've no dog in the fight, but here's my mates latest with the OM1. Check out his comments.

Instagram

www.instagram.com

Instagram wants me to sign in, I don't have an account.

As with any camera gear you should always do a lot of research before buying, especially if you're planning to jump ship and change to the extent it requires new lenses. Looking at one image or set of images from one person isn't a good way to go about it. I've seen posts in lens showcase threads that make me think I'd never buy a specific lens, then someone else posts directly under it and the images are stellar. The wider and more diverse the samples, the better you can understand the gear. Our own @spudhead is a prime example. He gets closeup results out of his 200-600 that to date, I haven't seen anyone else duplicate. Not to say someone else can't, and I think some of us have gotten close, I just haven't seen the same results yet.

 

[Unframed Dave]

Totally agree, I'm just highlighting that just because the OM ambassadors say it, doesn't necessarily mean it will work wonders for you or solve your issues. This guy in particular was unhappy with the sharpness of his bifs, and still is.

There are no bad cameras at this price point and another maybe unpopular opinion on the way, but really, have we reached a point where, is there any gain to an amateur? There's plenty to be gained by the manufacturers.

I'd argue not, but then I'm not a technical photographer. I like to think I've an eye for a snap and I get some good results when it comes together. I don't really want to regard myself as a master of the menu system or a software program. I respect others right to oppose my views, but horses for courses and all that.

I know the names of a dozen or more brilliant photographers from the days before digital, but I don't think I know anyone held in such high esteem now.

They didn't have in camera focus stacking, image stabilisation or topaz. They had 3 days of stubble, a permanent hangover and a battered Billingham with a few kilos of zeiss glass in it. God I love the past. Other deities are available.

 

[spudhead]

Totally agree, I'm just highlighting that just because the OM ambassadors say it, doesn't necessarily mean it will work wonders for you or solve your issues. This guy in particular was unhappy with the sharpness of his bifs, and still is.

There are no bad cameras at this price point and another maybe unpopular opinion on the way, but really, have we reached a point where, is there any gain to an amateur? There's plenty to be gained by the manufacturers.

I'd argue not, but then I'm not a technical photographer. I like to think I've an eye for a snap and I get some good results when it comes together. I don't really want to regard myself as a master of the menu system or a software program. I respect others right to oppose my views, but horses for courses and all that.

I know the names of a dozen or more brilliant photographers from the days before digital, but I don't think I know anyone held in such high esteem now.

They didn't have in camera focus stacking, image stabilisation or topaz. They had 3 days of stubble, a permanent hangover and a battered Billingham with a few kilos of zeiss glass in it. God I love the past. Other deities are available.

It's true Dave in the old days the skills and technique counted for more, and we all have every edge that tech and editing provides regardless of brand.