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There’s been a lot of buzz around the new real-time Eye AF and AF tracking on the recently announced Sony A6400. Even more exciting, though, is that this system is also coming to the Sony A9, A7III and A7RIII full-frame mirrorless cameras in a future firmware update.
Photographer Patrick Murphy-Racey recently got the chance to try out the new real-time autofocus tracking with version 5.0 of the firmware for the Sony A9 in Los Angeles. And, fortunately, he filmed it for the rest of us to see.
It looks like Sony are taking a leaf out of the Fuji playbook by introducing new substantial features through firmware updates rather than entirely new bodies. The Sony A9, A7RIII and A7III are about to get quite a significant feature upgrade with new firmware updates coming out over the next few months.
The first firmware update for the Sony A9 is due in March bringing the realtime Eye AF performance expected in the newly announced Sony A6400. The Sony A9 will see Animal Eye AF added in a second update coming in summer. The A7RIII and A7III will also receive these updates in a single firmware in April.
You have seen (and maybe even ordered) a tiny LEGO Leica. It doesn’t take photos, but what if I told you that you can turn your working Sony mirrorless into a LEGO camera? Well, you won’t exactly use the tiny bricks, but this skin cover that makes your camera look like it was made out of LEGO.
For today and tomorrow, B&H has the flagship mirrorless Sony A9 on sale with $1,000 discount, with the price currently at $3,498. The Sony A7RIII also sees a pretty significant $400 drop bringing the price temporarily down to $2,798.
Sony recently pulled Firmware v2.0 for the Sony A7III and A7RIII that was released in October due to the discovery of two fairly major bugs. These bugs would cause photographers to lose RAW images they’d shot along with random lockups of the camera.
Well, now, Sony has released firmware v2.1 to resolve these issues. It also seems to fix a compatibility problem with certain memory cards. They don’t call SanDisk out by name, but they do cite “specific third-party memory cards”. So, presumably, that’s this issue, reported shortly after the V2.0 release.
Sony mirrorless cameras are used worldwide for a reason, but just like all brands, they have some quirks you may find annoying. Michael Andrew a.k.a. Michael The Maven shoots primarily with Sony, and he shares 14 of the biggest weaknesses of all Sony cameras. Some of them are just minor annoyances, but the others could be dealbreakers for some of you. So, before you switch systems, maybe you’ll want to watch this.
Sony has become rather popular for its video features over the last few years. But with the latest round of mirrorless cameras from Fuji, Nikon and Canon, we’re starting to see them lag a little behind. The new cameras from all three of those brands shoot 10Bit video (through HDMI, even if not all internally), while the Sony still only puts out 8Bit.
Can Sony still keep up? Well, yes, kind of. It’s not quite the same as shooting actual video, but the burst modes, according to Josh Yeo are so quick that it might as well be video. He uses the burst mode to create full raw file image sequences to use in his videos.
Should you switch from APS-C to full-frame? Or perhaps shoot large format? Does it matter? What will it change? Ah, so many questions. In this video, Jay P. Morgan and Kenneth Meryl have decided to test four sensor sizes side by side and give you the answers. They shot with a large format, a full-frame, an APS-C and a micro 4/3 camera. Here you can compare the images side-by-side and see for yourself how much of a difference there is.
While many photographers are switching from DSLR to mirrorless, photographer Clifford James has decided to make it the other way around. After using Sony mirrorless cameras for about seven months, he decided that a Nikon DSLR is a better choice after all. In this video, he shares his experience and the reasons why he changed back to a Nikon DSLR after shooting with two Sony mirrorless cameras.
The new Sony A7III has finally been announced, and the first impressions are mainly positive. Photographer Manny Ortiz compares the Sony A7III with the A7RIII, which was announced a couple of months earlier. If you are wondering why you should choose the A7III over the A7RIII or the other way around, Manny gives you a couple of reasons for both options. Hopefully, these will help you make the final decision.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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