Canon Northern Explorer of Light Moves To Sony a9

Check out Christopher Dodd's Recent Blog posts about his experience with the Sony a9 full-frame body and the Sony FE G Master 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 OSS lens and the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter.

I was with Chris when he captured some of those puffin shots and I've since bought my own a9/G Master 100-400/1.4x teleconverter. The autofocus is outrageous, IME, but I'll let you consider Chris' words, since he's had his rig longer and he's had the opportunity to shoot much tougher subjects than me. (50-mph puffins). My useage, so far, has been limited to slow, big waterbirds and deer jumping fences. I couldn't be happier. My keeper rate is way, way up versus my Canon rig.

See Chris' blog at:
http://naturephotographyblog.squarespace.com/

I think Dodd's images are lovely, and hope the Sony system works well for him. It is a very expensive camera body, and moving systems for the average amateur is a pricey proposition as well, even with excellent resale value. I for one am glad for the robust competition that continues to emerge from Sony and other mirrorless innovators. I think the technology will help push Canon and Nikon to improve their offerings both for mirrorless and DSLR systems.

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Originally Posted by Roger Smith

I think Dodd's images are lovely, and hope the Sony system works well for him. It is a very expensive camera body, and moving systems for the average amateur is a pricey proposition as well, even with excellent resale value. I for one am glad for the robust competition that continues to emerge from Sony and other mirrorless innovators. I think the technology will help push Canon and Nikon to improve their offerings both for mirrorless and DSLR systems.

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Actually, $4500 seems like a bargain. Chris is replacing $6000 bodies with $4500 bodies. (I doubt he pays that for either, but that's what I would pay) The a9/100-400mm G Master combo blows away my $3500, 5D MkIV in terms of AF acquisition and tracking. Add the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter and you've got a 100-560mm rig that just may be the best that there is at shooting fast moving things. The big missing piece is a 600/f4 G Master lens.

So, after a couple of weeks of carrying the Sony exclusively, I went back to carrying two bodies, with an a9/100-400/1.4x configuration and a 5D4/500-f4II/1.4xTC-III configuration. This weekend, I realized that I much prefer the Sony's control layout. After years of criticism, Sony seemed to have listened to users and put together a configuration that Canon users will find intuitive, but it's even better. The a9 has dedicated shutter-speed and aperture wheels, plus four programmable buttons that allow you to 693-AF points (wide) to single-point-expanded-lock-on, to single-point, etc. with the push of a programmable button.

Sony's 100-400 G Master costs $500 more than the comparable Canon Series II, but it's lighter and supports 20-fps. In my case, that's 20-fps, silent shooting, with no mirror blackout and accurate WYSIWYG exposure viewing in the amazing, 3.8mp, EVF. LCDs in an optical finder seem archaic in comparison. Really. Latency is 30-milliseconds, such that I don't notice it.

So, as a Canon user myself, I think that an a9/100-400mm G Master combo should be considered by anyone considering a 5D4/100-400 II combo. It's incrementally more expensive. Chris says it beats his 1DX II bodies. If affordability steers you to a 7D2, then I'm not sure, but I think that the a6300/100-400mm GM would be a competitive package, but lacking some bells and whistles from the a9. I'll see if I can borrow a 6300, to see how well it works with my 100-400 G Master lens.

Agreed Dave, I didn't think about coming from 1DX II bodies. Owners of the fast canon long whites will probably want to wait and see on Sony lenses but I see your point on how competitive the A9 / 100-400 +TC combo will be vs. similar set up in the canon line. How about weather proofing?

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Originally Posted by Roger Smith

Agreed Dave, I didn't think about coming from 1DX II bodies. Owners of the fast canon long whites will probably want to wait and see on Sony lenses but I see your point on how competitive the A9 / 100-400 +TC combo will be vs. similar set up in the canon line. How about weather proofing?

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I haven't shot it in heavy rain yet. Chris did, in the workshop before I arrived at the puffin paradise. He had a generic cover on it and it didn't skip a beat. I suspect that weather protection is down in the 5D-range. I'll probably use a cover in rain and try just blowing off the snow, like I did with my Canons.

I think this is a complete setup for those that just can't see themselves buying a big-white, at least for now. I know many shooters that are using a 400/5.6, EF 100-400mm or 150-600mm with inferior IQ. They might not see their way all the way to a big-white, but could see their way to $7000 for an a9/GM100-400mm rig. It that class, it's the top of the class.

I do think that Sony will likely be on the premium side of pricing. When they come out with a 500mm or 600mm, I'll bet that it's 20% to 25% more expensive than the comparable Canon. It'll likely be lighter, just as sharp (if not sharper, per DxOMark), quick focusing and capable of 20-fps. This is, indeed, a factor to consider when considering a Sony system. Their full-frame body a9, 100-400mm rig is $1500 more than the competing Canon 5D4; however, it's $1000 less than the 1DX MkII rig with the same focal length. (I don't think that the 7D MkII competes with either the 5D4 or a9 when it comes to AF acquisition and tracking.) However, lots of people are willing to put up with its shortcomings, understandably. I doubt that the 7D MkIII will leap to the level of an a9, but it might catch up with the 5D4 in AF and then be a heck of a bargain, if it stays at that price point. Still, Sony will be on to a newer version of the a6300 by then, as the battle continues...

I agree, it's healthy to have Sony in there, no matter whether you're a buyer of Sony or not. I think that mirrorless is the way to go and both Canon and Nikon have the wherewithal to give Sony a run for the money. They just need to get out of the starting blocks, before Sony laps them again.

Here's a great video, by photojournalist Rick Wilking for Reuters, showing him using an a9 to tell the total eclipse story. He ended up getting a shot of a airliner passing the sun during totality:

https://www.dpreview.com/videos/4635...0_dpr_nl_279_4

He talks about his a9 quite a bit and mentions his former 1D-X.