My a1 Review For Wildlife Photographers

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Wonderful review. Enjoyed every detail, so don't shorten these! Very accurate according to my experience with this camera.

Would love to see your setup. I'm still adjusting mine and any help would be greatly appreciated!

As always, thank you for a great video. :)
 
As a mirrorless-less lurker constantly reading the sometimes contentious threads, it was nice to get a great overview and comparison with the R5.
Enjoyed it so much I purchased an ebook as a thank you.
 
Great video Steve! I think your equipment reviews, be it cameras, lenses, or whatever, are spot on target for information I hope to gather. I know they require a lot of work by you and Rose, but I for one get a lot out of them. Keep up the great work!
 
One cannot overemphasize enough how customizable this camera is.

I will try Steve's set-up to have the small flexible spot on AF-on and the Tracking Zone of AEL back buttons - mine is set in reverse to that, and it causes one issue - the Zone is showing up at all times in the EVF but the location of the small spot only shows up when I hit the AEL button so I sometimes miss placing the small spot in the right place on the first try - with Steve's setting, the small spot is always visible and the Zone for some reason blinks on and off (although it's not hard to know where it is because of the size of it).
Mine AF modes are both set-up with tracking and C1 toggles tracking on/off if I need to get rid of tracking for some reason - works with both BBF.

But you could as easily set-up small spot on the shutter trigger, Zone on the back AF-on button and the tracking toggle on the AEL button... whatever feels right.

I also learnt one thing watching Steve's video - the ISO trick on back wheel is brilliant. On Nikon you need to press a button and turn one wheel to get out of Auto ISO and then press than button and turn another wheel to change ISO versus scrolling out and through the ISOs with that back wheel. So simple!

After using that set-up for a month and seeing the pictures of the Z9 without the second BBF on the back, i was like "well that sucks" - I find those 1 button features on the A1 so much easier than a button + wheel or double button presses of current nikons. I sure hope Nikon took the opportunity to offer both backward compatibility but also far more customization to accommodate those very convenient solutions. We'll know soon :)
 
After using that set-up for a month and seeing the pictures of the Z9 without the second BBF on the back, i was like "well that sucks" - I find those 1 button features on the A1 so much easier than a button + wheel or double button presses of current nikons. I sure hope Nikon took the opportunity to offer both backward compatibility but also far more customization to accommodate those very convenient solutions. We'll know soon :)

I thought about that too - I think Nikon really missed an opportunity here. Both Canon and Sony offer the back wheel (Sony's is better though since it also act like a Nikon Multi-Select button). The thing is, had Nikon added it, between the front and rear command dials, the back wheel and the lens function ring, you could have had shutter speed, F/stop, ISO , and exp comp all available instantly with a quick turn.
 
Question for Steve. At what distance does the eye focus mode drop off or become really unreliable? Thanks in advance.
It varies by how well the camera can detect the eye. If it's a standard-looking bird for mammal, by the time it falls off the DoF is deep enough that it doesn't matter anyway. For tricker subjects or in tougher conditions, it will fall off faster.
 
Steve...would you have any interest in providing your setup/settings in a CAMSET file for download? Even for a fee this might help others? Or, are there too many options / configurations to make this useful as it's uniquely setup for your style of shooting?

The reason I'm asking, Mark Galer has done this...


I thought it might be of interest to this community?

Just a thought :)

Thanks,
Hatch
 
Steve...would you have any interest in providing your setup/settings in a CAMSET file for download? Even for a fee this might help others? Or, are there too many options / configurations to make this useful as it's uniquely setup for your style of shooting?

The reason I'm asking, Mark Galer has done this...


I thought it might be of interest to this community?

Just a thought :)

Thanks,
Hatch
The problem is it would generate more problems than it's worth I think. I don't mind sharing my settings as long as someone understands what I did and why. The problem with downloads like that is that people don't watch the video / read the article and then I get a bunch of e-mails asking why their camera isn't working as expected. Usually along the Lins of, I loaded YOUR settings into my camera and not it's not working right - how do I fix it???"

I think it's better if they set it themselves :)
 
The problem is it would generate more problems than it's worth I think. I don't mind sharing my settings as long as someone understands what I did and why. The problem with downloads like that is that people don't watch the video / read the article and then I get a bunch of e-mails asking why their camera isn't working as expected. Usually along the Lins of, I loaded YOUR settings into my camera and not it's not working right - how do I fix it???"

I think it's better if they set it themselves :)


Makes sense :) A video would be great and you don't have to worry about those emails. :)

Thanks again,
Hatch
 
Yes. I haven't used it much, but it's a good lens and very versatile. I'm taking it to Africa in a week and a half (Along with the 600 F/4 of course). The 100-400 was good, but I think the 200-600 is more versatile for what I shoot.
Yes, I agree. I am taking my a1 and a9 with a 24-70, 70-200, 200-600 g oss with me to Botswana/Zambia tomorrow. This trinity should be good while keeping me under 44 lbs. I will use a two camera set up when out and about in a vehicle. Can't wait. Andy
 
The problem is it would generate more problems than it's worth I think. I don't mind sharing my settings as long as someone understands what I did and why. The problem with downloads like that is that people don't watch the video / read the article and then I get a bunch of e-mails asking why their camera isn't working as expected. Usually along the Lins of, I loaded YOUR settings into my camera and not it's not working right - how do I fix it???"

I think it's better if they set it themselves :)

i watched Mark’s video and I didn’t like how he is shooting (works for him but wouldn’t work for me) so I decided against buying his set up file but I can easily see that folks would buy the settings file and then complain if they are not happy without doing the due diligence upfront to see if your technique would fit them.
 
The problem is it would generate more problems than it's worth I think. I don't mind sharing my settings as long as someone understands what I did and why. The problem with downloads like that is that people don't watch the video / read the article and then I get a bunch of e-mails asking why their camera isn't working as expected. Usually along the Lins of, I loaded YOUR settings into my camera and not it's not working right - how do I fix it???"

I think it's better if they set it themselves :)
I tend to agree with you Steve. It would be very easy for someone to just take your settings and apply them to their camera. But the key missing piece is the why as you stated. We’ve all been in situations in the field where what settings we are using are not working. This requires changes based on the situation which become much more difficult if you don’t know the bases for the installed settings. Plus, as you state all the time, what works for you, may not be applicable to me.
 
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