GAS or Good Decision?

[MyDogsOwner]

I tend to photograph Wildlife and Landscapes typically. Occasionally, I will be asked to do portraits. I have the 24-70 2.8 and am considering adding either the Zeiss 55 1.8 or the FE 85 1.8 for those jobs. Do I have a case of GAS? Will the Zoom suffice just fine, or should I decide between the other two Primes? I'm looking for the best bang for the buck too.

Which Prime, 55 or 85, would offer more versatility and end up being used for images other than just portraits? My Fuji kit has lots more lenses to get the job done, but the AF has been frustrating to work with.

 

[Brownie]

That's a great deal! Congratulations! I'm basically happy with the A7RIV right now, but know I could be happier with the A1. I will wait it out. I do appreciate the head's up though. I can't wait to see your image posts with the A1.

Well, look around. I've had it for a couple of months, got it right after the first of the year. Most of my images are posted as a link via Flickr, so you won't see the exif unless you click the image and look at it on Flickr.

For what I've been shooting since I got it, image quality-wise it isn't all that much different from my A7 IV or the A7R III I had, it's overkill. In fact, I think I liked the A7R III sensor better. I won't really get to appreciate it until I use it in the situation it was purchased for, which is still a few months away. To be honest I was hoping the A9 III would just be an upgraded A9 II, more MP but with the A9II's speed for around $5k. I had already decided that if the A9 III didn't turn out to be something I wanted, I'd get the A1. When I saw the A9 III specs on release I seriously considered selling everything and moving to Canon.

 

[MyDogsOwner]

To be honest I was hoping the A9 III would just be an upgraded A9 II, more MP but with the A9II's speed for around $5k. I had already decided that if the A9 III didn't turn out to be something I wanted, I'd get the A1. When I saw the A9 III specs on release I seriously considered selling everything and moving to Canon.

Me too, with the A9III. I was hoping for at least 50mp. They went down the speed path instead. The AI is their flagship and will do it all, which is why it's perfect for me. I am all over the place with what I like to shoot. I considered the Z8, but I have very petite hands.

 

[Brownie]

Me too, with the A9III. I was hoping for at least 50mp. They went down the speed path instead. The AI is their flagship and will do it all, which is why it's perfect for me. I am all over the place with what I like to shoot. I considered the Z8, but I have very petite hands.

It wasn't even a 'speed path', they already had some extremely fast cameras. The A9 III is just thumbing their nose at the collective, "looky what we can do".

I just never wanted 50MP. The 42MP of the RIII was a sweet spot. I don't really even need that much speed, I have my mid set to 10FPS and that's where it'll get used. If the RIII had the update AF and tracking I would've just stayed there, but after two years of using it as a second camera it had to go. I also thought about just getting another A7 IV and leaving it at that. Seems kind of silly to spend that much $ on a camera I really didn't even want. But I am not a fanboi, Sony, Nikon, Canon, whatever works is fine by me.

 

[MyDogsOwner]

It wasn't even a 'speed path', they already had some extremely fast cameras. The A9 III is just thumbing their nose at the collective, "looky what we can do".

I just never wanted 50MP. The 42MP of the RIII was a sweet spot. I don't really even need that much speed, I have my mid set to 10FPS and that's where it'll get used. If the RIII had the update AF and tracking I would've just stayed there, but after two years of using it as a second camera it had to go. I also thought about just getting another A7 IV and leaving it at that. Seems kind of silly to spend that much $ on a camera I really didn't even want. But I am not a fanboi, Sony, Nikon, Canon, whatever works is fine by me.

I want high MP cameras for the ability to shoot wildlife in APS-C Mode, and still have some wiggle room for cropping in. I kept going back and forth between the A7RIV and the A7 IV. Yesterday, I tried to shoot butterflies in flight at a butterfly house. My camera's tracking just couldn't lock on. I tried several tracking sensitivities and modes with no success. I got a few close ones, but none sharp enough to use. Maybe someone more familiar with the camera is able to, but I found myself really wanting "insect detect".

I ended up passing on the A7IV due to the 33 mp. The A7RV was going for way more than I wanted to pay for the camera body. I got my A7RIV, with only 815 clicks on it (it even looks unused), for about $1800 USD. That was too good to pass up while I debated cameras in my head. I'm happy with it for now. I'm learning how to use DeNoise in LRC now to help deal with that. I was using Topaz DeNoise, but hear the AI in LRC handles it better.