Hello from Leicestershire UK

[AlphaArt]

Thanks for letting me join, going to be buying a new setup shortly once my early pension is received. I can't decide whether to get the a7r or the A9. I am a wildlife and macro enthusiast and also use my photos for my art. Always had cannon in the past.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Hi Julie, have you decided now? Which a7R are you looking at? The a7R III has great autofocus performance and is a good all-rounder, whereas the a9 is incredibly fast so well suited to birds in flight and sport. If you shoot a little of everything I'd probably be leaning towards the a7R III. There's a Black Friday offer on the a7R III right now as well, you get £500 cashback instead of £300 until Dec 3rd.

 

[AlphaArt]

Hi Julie, have you decided now? Which a7R are you looking at? The a7R III has great autofocus performance and is a good all-rounder, whereas the a9 is incredibly fast so well suited to birds in flight and sport. If you shoot a little of everything I'd probably be leaning towards the a7R III. There's a Black Friday offer on the a7R III right now as well, you get £500 cashback instead of £300 until Dec 3rd.

Hi Timothy, thanks for your reply. I know what I want but its looking like I will be missing the offers as Prudential is taking its time with my pension. Once this is sorted I am hoping to get the following...
Sony Alpha A7RIV, Sony 200-600, Sony 2x converter, Sony FE 100-400, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DGDN Macro Art, Sony 1.5x converter and possibly the Sony Alpha 6400 with vlogging kit.

Long term will be used for my joy of photography, art, crafting and my YouTube channel that I started in 2007. There is a lot of plans but probably be 2 years before they happen, in the meantime I will be taking photos in the garden of birds, squirrels and the flowers I grow.

 

[Tim Mayo]

That's quite the collection of gear Julie! I'd recommend the 1.4x teleconverter over the 2x especially with the a7R IV and the 200-600. The reason being when you add the 2x to the 200-600 you lose two stops of light and this drops your aperture to f/13. The a7R IV only supports the faster phase detection autofocus up to f/12, at f/13 only the slower contrast detection autofocus will work, and if you shoot continuous bursts only the first shot of the burst will normally be in focus. The 2x is also a little softer than the 1.4x on both the 100-400 and the 200-600. What's your YouTube Channel called?

 

[AlphaArt]

Thanks very much for the information, I'll leave the 2x converter for now. My YouTube channel is best pre 2017 and is mostly, gardening, the playlists will show other content. Here is a link to a bird slide show https://youtu.be/i2mwH2kMh4I that will give you access to the channel.

Can you offer any advice on microphones?

 

[Tim Mayo]

I

Can you offer any advice on microphones?

I'm not much of an expert when it comes to sound recording I'm afraid. I've experimented with a few microphones myself for my own YouTube videos and I'm currently using the RODE Wireless GO. I have less difficulties with reverbs when shooting indoors with this mic compared to shotgun mics that I have also tried. I only watched one of your videos but the sound seems perfectly fine to me!

 

[Joshbinx]

That's quite the collection of gear Julie! I'd recommend the 1.4x teleconverter over the 2x especially with the a7R IV and the 200-600. The reason being when you add the 2x to the 200-600 you lose two stops of light and this drops your aperture to f/13. The a7R IV only supports the faster phase detection autofocus up to f/12, at f/13 only the slower contrast detection autofocus will work, and if you shoot continuous bursts only the first shot of the burst will normally be in focus. The 2x is also a little softer than the 1.4x on both the 100-400 and the 200-600. What's your YouTube Channel called?

Hi, quite new to the forum and just received my A9 ii with the 200-600 lens. Im still trying to learn everything that the A9ii does. Don't understand the phase detection af mode it has. Im gonna use my camera for wildlife purposes mainly. do I need this function on?

 

[Tim Mayo]

Hi, quite new to the forum and just received my A9 ii with the 200-600 lens. Im still trying to learn everything that the A9ii does. Don't understand the phase detection af mode it has. Im gonna use my camera for wildlife purposes mainly. do I need this function on?

Hey Jonathan. The a9II using phase detection by default, you can't actually turn this off. It will switch to the slower contrast detection at apertures of f/16 and above. Great combo!