Small birds - going over to the dark side with the Sony A7riv and 200-600mm
Full screen gallery below
So where to begin? A brief history before we get into the photos and the first impressions of this new combination. TLDR; It’s great, sort of! Its a really powerful combo, but it needs to be handled with respect. That glass is great, but the sensor with its 60+mpx is unforgiving if you just smash that shutter button. In short its a learning curve - all over again, but I like it!
A brief history
I started out in photography on a film camera, namely the Olymups mu. I loved that little camera, but in the end, no match for my SLR a few years later. That SLR was a Minolta, with a brief side step to Canon digital camera’s, I ended up with Sony bridge camera’s and eventually with my first DSLR, the Sony A100.
That was my first real, real, camera or so it seemed. I absolutely loved that camera, even more the A200 that followed. I ended up with a A700, but not really liking it at that time. Eventually I had money to spend and took the plunge and scored an A900 with Zeiss glass, man that was a great camera! Really! Beneath one of my favourite landscapes photos from my first visit to Iceland - with the A900.
I made a good, but short, professional career out of photography and loved most of it. However the other part was product photography and retouching work. Part of the job! But that was the problem, it became a job. With that my passion got lost somewhere, in the mean time I bought the A9 (which was a beast) and started out with nature and wildlife photography. The problem was that all that DSLR stuff and lenses weighed a ton!
I decided to stop with professional work and sell it all and got a lighter kit and found my love for hiking and photography again. I ended up with Olympus, with a few bodies and in the end settled on the OMD OM1. A good camera, however not with the best tele lenses. When the 300mmF4 got introduced the price was too high for my taste and I ended up with the then new Fujifilm 100-400mm lens. The rest is history or is it! Beneath one of the first photos with the 100-400mm.
Well after five year of Fujifilm, which I still do love, the world has evolved and so did lenses and camera’s. Fujifilm still makes the best compromise system in terms of weight, size, performance and price. However I’m getting more and more into bird photography, small birds and the 100-400mm is good lens, but the resolution together with the X-T3 is not optimal. Lets face it, its more than enough, but it just missed that last little extra. Which I do get from the colours, handling and overal weight/size when doing normal photography, but not really hitting the sweet spot when it comes to bird photography.
I always followed Sony, up till today as it was my real introduction into photography and loved it then. Even got the second generation A7 camera, but not really liking it in the end and sold it. However now with the latest generation the handing is perfect (if you ask me - Fujifilm take a good look at the grip and AF-ON button, please). The lens choice for E-mount is great and there is a lot to choose from in terms of weight vs performance.
So I couldn’t resist in trying out more reach and resolution to see if the A7riv and the 200-600mm lens would be an option for me. Hence this post. I pulled the trigger, got both and started testing the new equipment.
The Sony
The first thing I noticed is how good the handling is, buttons, custom options (menu still sucks) and battery life is outstanding. The camera for me is perfect, small enough that its not that much bulkier than the X-T3 with Arca grip and big enough to handle bigger lenses (although I might get the vertical grip).
The second thing is the weight, not of the camera, but the lens. The 200-600mm weights about 500gr more than the 100-400mm, which is significant. Still for me not really an issue as I found myself looking for a 600mm alternative on Fuji, as small birds are just to small to really get a proper photo of them (except being in a hide). The camera’s do not differ that much. Still it’s something to get used to, the weight.
The third thing is the auto focus! Fujifilm has improved the X-T3 with the latest firmware, but it still feels like a generation behind Sony. It just is. It track better, its way faster in acquiring focus and just more responsive.
So after a few tests is it that much better? Well I do not know, it feels better, due to the speed of the auto focus and the more detailed photos, especially with that 60+mpx sensor. In the end I get the same resolution if I would crop to APS-C mode and still have the 600mm reach! That is exactly why I wanted to test this combo. I don’t know if this is it, but its a damn good combination. It also makes me more aware and need to anticipate more with this combo than with the Fujifilm, due to the weight and that massive sensor - its not that forgiving. In the end this combo has an impressive amount of resolving power and detail, look at this Finch for example. Click to get the full image - disclosure this image is cropped to about APS-C size, so 900mm equivalent and still has this much resolving power!
The detail is really amazing if you nail the shots. That is also its weakest point, because when you don’t nail it, its noticeable. So that means a whole new learning curve, but I like it, it will make me a better photographer (I tell myself). At least that is what I think at the moment and sometimes you just need to switch gears to get further. So why not!
In the end I’m still trying out this combo, the photos aren't great, but good for learning. I’ll share some here. I still will be shooting with Fujifilm and will definitely keep my X100 - which I love! Lets find out what the future holds and Fujifilm - just hurry with the X-H2 and a good prime lens for birding - however that last one I’m not seeing happening anytime soon. Lets hope and see.
For now the photos. All shot with the Sony combo! And don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
