Sony A1

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I really like your Yellow-billed Magpie photo... blacks and whites both show nice feather detail. Hmm, I could get the Sony a1 and 600 GM if I sold my house. Do you live in the Sacramento/San Joaquin valley... the only place you find YB Magpie. I'm from there but now in Oregon and we have only the Black-billed Magpie.

Thanks Karl! I live in eastern Sacramento County.
 
I'm loving the A1 as well. AMAZING! The 200-600... not so much. The stabilization is useless for me. The only way I can get acceptably sharp images is with OSS completely off. I'm used to my Nikon 500 PF and D780 combo where I could leave stabilization on at any SS, monopod or not.
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So it is a decision point for me. Buy the D6 and stay in Nikon for however much longer, hope the Z9 shows up in some time frame that is reasonable and is available within a year, OR use this moment to change to the Sony A1 and system. I was about to do the D6 until I read this thread. Steve - Do you see yourself going all in on Sony? Your A1 purchase was a big investment. I can't imagine the cognitive discontinuity going between all of the bodies you seem to use.
 
If Z9 lives up to our hopes and imagination then I would prefer to keep all of the glass have. I’m concerned that the used D6 prices will crash when the Z9 comes out.
 
Is there an adapter that would allow one to use the Nikon 300 mm and 500 mm PF lenses on an A1, while maintaining the great autofocus that users are reporting from their A1s?
 
So it is a decision point for me. Buy the D6 and stay in Nikon for however much longer, hope the Z9 shows up in some time frame that is reasonable and is available within a year, OR use this moment to change to the Sony A1 and system. I was about to do the D6 until I read this thread. Steve - Do you see yourself going all in on Sony? Your A1 purchase was a big investment. I can't imagine the cognitive discontinuity going between all of the bodies you seem to use.
I don't think so, but I'm a unique case. I have a lot of Nikon books and followers, so I'll keep shooting both. However, right this moment if that weren't the case, I'd probably switch. The a1 is a game changer in every sense of the phrase. Just yesterday we were photographing a fox cub and the animal eye AF made it so easy to concentrate on composition. Most of the time when you have an animal moving its head all over you spend all your energy trying to keep an AF point on an eye - especially when it's a real frame filler. With the a1, I have my AEL button set to Wide AF. With animal eye AF on, the AF system took care of keeping an AF point on the eye and I got to concentrate on the more artistic aspects.

EDIT: BTW - I've actually sold off most of my excess bodies :) I have a D6, D850, and D7500 for DSLRs, plus a few mirrorless and the Sony stuff.
 
If Z9 lives up to our hopes and imagination then I would prefer to keep all of the glass have. I’m concerned that the used D6 prices will crash when the Z9 comes out.
I'm worried about that too. I'm pretty much all mirrorless now, but I'm hesitant to sell my D6 - I love that "dinosaur" quite a bit - really fun to use. I know if I wait too long though my idea of financing a Z9 with D6 proceeds may not work out as well as planned!
 
I'm worried about that too. I'm pretty much all mirrorless now, but I'm hesitant to sell my D6 - I love that "dinosaur" quite a bit - really fun to use. I know if I wait too long though my idea of financing a Z9 with D6 proceeds may not work out as well as planned!
I think the Nikon Z9 will be a defining moment for Sony as much as Nikon. It will be save for Nikon or the next rush to Sony. The Nikon glass is so good and versatile that it is hard to leave. I think I will hold off on the D6 purchase however. I wish I still had my D5 to bridge. :). Thanks Steve for all you do.
 
I don't think so, but I'm a unique case. I have a lot of Nikon books and followers, so I'll keep shooting both. However, right this moment if that weren't the case, I'd probably switch. The a1 is a game changer in every sense of the phrase.
Steve, how about a Poll to determine interested level in a Sony book given the new A1 is a “game changer”. You have a great forum and are HIGHLY respected as in this EF Hutton vintage TV commercial.
 
Steve, how about a Poll to determine interested level in a Sony book given the new A1 is a “game changer”. You have a great forum and are HIGHLY respected as in this EF Hutton vintage TV commercial.
The problem isn't an unwillingness to write a book or a worry about an audience - it's a lack of experience. I had a decade shooting Nikon professionally before I wrote a book specific to the brand. I may do a Sony book, but I have to first really learn the system, inside and out and figure out what works best under a wide variety of conditions. It takes time to gain that experience (although not a decade) and there aren't any shortcuts.
 
Steve, how about a Poll to determine interested level in a Sony book given the new A1 is a “game changer”. You have a great forum and are HIGHLY respected as in this EF Hutton vintage TV commercial.
lol truth
 
The problem isn't an unwillingness to write a book or a worry about an audience - it's a lack of experience. I had a decade shooting Nikon professionally before I wrote a book specific to the brand. I may do a Sony book, but I have to first really learn the system, inside and out and figure out what works best under a wide variety of conditions. It takes time to gain that experience (although not a decade) and there aren't any shortcuts.
That’s why your ebooks are so good!
 
... The a1 is a game changer in every sense of the phrase. Just yesterday we were photographing a fox cub and the animal eye AF made it so easy to concentrate on composition. Most of the time when you have an animal moving its head all over you spend all your energy trying to keep an AF point on an eye - especially when it's a real frame filler. With the a1, I have my AEL button set to Wide AF. With animal eye AF on, the AF system took care of keeping an AF point on the eye and I got to concentrate on the more artistic aspects.

Same for me... the bird eye AF does a great job following a hummingbird from flower to flower or a wren flitting around in a bush allowing me to concentrate on behavior, posture & composition.
 
Just for fun....149 consecutive frames at 30FPS put into a .gif
ezgif.com-gif-maker-3 by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
This video is what sold me on dumping my Nikon DSLR gear and switching to Sony back in April...............the smartest thing I ever did so thanks again for posting it. BTW, I'm not sure how many readers of this thread realize how fast Hooded Mergansers fly...............making this even more impressive!!
 
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