a1 firmware 3.0

[kybob]

Now that FW3.0 gives the a1 focus stacking, I plan to focus stack a cheetah in Africa later this year. Ok, maybe not. But my question now is about 2nd camera bodies. If I purchase an a1 Mark II, what is your thought on keeping my original a1 as a second body for wildlife and BIF here in the States and on that future African Safari? I will add my question as a separate post if appropriate.

For the African safari I would definitely keep it and use it as a second body if you do not have another. You will not a) want to because of then dust which is a major problem, b) will not have time to change lenses. I used one body with a 300 f2.8 w/ 2x teleconverter and the other with the 70-200 /f2.8 on the second, this combo worked great. I would start the morning out without the teleconverter on the 300 then when we would stop for the morning break put the 2x on.

 

[JimFromAZ]

For the African safari I would definitely keep it and use it as a second body if you do not have another. You will not a) want to because of then dust which is a major problem, b) will not have time to change lenses. I used one body with a 300 f2.8 w/ 2x teleconverter and the other with the 70-200 /f2.8 on the second, this combo worked great. I would start the morning out without the teleconverter on the 300 then when we would stop for the morning break put the 2x on.

This is exactly the setup I'm considering! Thanks @kybob !

 

[SMB]

Well it took most of the day but the update is pretty straight forward. I have two A1 bodies with 1.32 firmware. I took camera A and went through all the steps to get the firmware to 3.0. Then used the settings from Camera B and manually reset camera A.
Then Camera B was updated to 3.0 and I was able to then use a card to quickly transfer settings. Each update step takes some time but the Sony site does spell it out pretty well.
Now I've got to shovel snow.