I love the a9 ver I Once you get used to not hitting the exposure comp dial.. i shoot wildlife and motocross mainly and rarely have focus issues the a9 is now going for about 1200 to 1500 used now.. a great value
I've had mine for a couple years now but they're an even better deal now. I've seen them at +/- $1,700 now, often with minimal mechanical shutter actuations, a steal.
Once in a while I will buy one new if I really need it, but often I wait for them to come up on the used market. I guess I am too frugal to pay the high dollar :) Yes, the prices keep coming down on that camera. My only and I mean only real complaint with the A9 is the 4 frames mechanical. The only reason I don't like that is I do trigger trapping with it and it requires mechanical shutter. They corrected it in the a9 II, but it isn't enough of an issue for me to switch to that model.
Thanks do much for this review . I'm looking to migrate to mirrorless from my Canon DSLR system (70d, 7dmkii, 5dmkiii). I hadn't even considered an a9 , as to my mind they were a high end multi thousand dollar proposition. I see now that they are available for well under $2000 US. This ticks all the boxes for me . Time to start writing some eBay ad's.
I owned the a7 III, and I found it to be a good bird photography camera. The downside is that it is slower at AF than the a9, and it doesn't have a stacked sensor. That means you will need to shoot high action with the mechanical shutter. There is part of me that thinks the a7 III actually had slightly better image quality, but that is just a gut feeling. Some people have labeled it the a9 junior and to some degree it really is. Where it beats the a9 is in video. I always called the a7 III the loss leader for Sony. It was packed with features for a much less price. The other way it beats the a9 is mechanical shutter. The mechanical shutter is around 10fps on the a7 III whereas it is only around 5 fps on the a9. Flight shots were good with the a7III, but amazing with the a9.
i have got this camera second hand for a very very good deal, very used tho but works perfect, i wonder, do you know if the 200-600 has sync stabilization with the a9? have you tried hand held videos, like static ones for wildlife or birds? Great video, subscribed!
this might be a silly question, but i am new. i got the a6400 with the 200-600mm lens. so its like a 300-900mm since its APSC. how do i take photos like these? do you manually enter the settings or put it on aperture priority? because birds are fast and i think there would be no time to manually input the settings. thanks in advance for the answer ✌🏻 subbed to you
Most of the time I am in manual for exposure. You need to keep your shutter speed high at around 3200 or more. Now, since you are new, I might recommend to you that you try setting your shutter speed to 3200, your aperture to f6.3 and set your ISO to auto. With really fast birds, you might increase your shutter speed to 4,000 or higher. That is just a basic setting and depending on conditions, you may need to tweak these. Photography is really all about practice and that gives you the confidence and experience that will turn into good shots. It takes years to be good at it, but with the tech getting easier to use, it can really speed up the process. The A6400 is a good body, but realize that it is not an a9. I am not saying you can't make great images with it, because you can, but a1, a9, a9II are made for fast action. Get the best you can afford is always a good rule. The advantages of the a6400 are the compact size, APS-C crop and a good AF. The man behind the camera makes the shot.
@@MatthewCudado you shoot hand-held all the time with the 200-600mm? I have the same setup as above with the A6400 and I wondered if I should be using at least a monopod.
I am a beginner and want to start travel and wildlife photography should I get A9i/A7riii/A7iiior save more money to get A7iv. Should I get 70-200gm mk2 + 2x tele, 100-400gm and 200-600g please give me a recommendation?
That's a much more complicated question then it would appear. If you want to do wildlife then stay away from the a7R III. The autofocus is not as responsive as it needs to be for birds in flight. The a7 IV i(not R IV)s a good all around choice as it has a fast autofocus and a good resolution and video. The a9 is my primary camera and is made for speed of AF, good image quality and low light performance. Lenses are entirely different beast. When shooting wildlife, it is hard to beat the 200-600 for the money and quality. Travel is an entirely different animal also, as it uses a variety of lenses. Lenses in that genre go from 16mm to 200 typically. I am not a travel photographer, but I can tell you how to proceed in wildlife. If cost is an issue, the a9 is still king. If cost is not an issue, then the a1 is the best choice.
I want to get my first wildlife body so thinking of getting A9mk1 or save more to get A9mk2. I will get A7v and Fe200-600g in the future and I got A7mk1+24-70gm mk1
I shoot entirely in RAW. No, I never said that you use in-body noise reduction for raw files. If you send me the start time in the video, maybe I can clarify.
Correct, but depends on the subject as well. Fast movers like my flight shots of songbirds totally need 1/4000, but a slow mover like a great egret can easily be sharply photographed at 1/2000.
@@MatthewCuda Mark Smith is the expert on video, I don't do much video but have not had any trouble with the little I do. You have to keep the bird in the middle of the frame or it will not keep it in focus in my experience - which can be hard with smaller fast birds.
@@MatthewCuda at 1/3200 I find about 30% with tack sharp eyes. Over 1/4000 it is more like 90%. With swallows you need 1/8000s for 90% tack sharp - assuming focus doesn't let you down.
On the first double-crested cormorant, I called it an Anhinga. Sorry about that. I guess it was a middle-aged moment.
Just ordered an A9 coming from an Riii ! I do mainly BIF so definitely excited for this upgrade! thanks for your informative video!
It will be a major upgrade for flight
I love the a9 ver I Once you get used to not hitting the exposure comp dial.. i shoot wildlife and motocross mainly and rarely have focus issues the a9 is now going for about 1200 to 1500 used now.. a great value
@DAVE_WHITE do you have your motocross photos with your a9 anywhere online? :)
This is exactly the video I was looking for! Can’t wait to get this underrated setup and put it to work! Thanks Matthew, happy shootin!
You are welcome. It will work perfectly.
Man, that is some great shooting with that a9!
The a9 is without a doubt a true action camera and really allows me to capture my vision.
I've had mine for a couple years now but they're an even better deal now. I've seen them at +/- $1,700 now, often with minimal mechanical shutter actuations, a steal.
Once in a while I will buy one new if I really need it, but often I wait for them to come up on the used market. I guess I am too frugal to pay the high dollar :) Yes, the prices keep coming down on that camera. My only and I mean only real complaint with the A9 is the 4 frames mechanical. The only reason I don't like that is I do trigger trapping with it and it requires mechanical shutter. They corrected it in the a9 II, but it isn't enough of an issue for me to switch to that model.
Photos look great!
Thanks Nick!
A7riii autofocus works fine at f/9 - it will just lock focus on the first shot when shooting a burst. No need to manually focus.
Never use lock on tracking - just use wide are with subject detect for BIF. Same with the A1.
Yeah I have heard that but didn’t believe it until that trip.
Thanks do much for this review .
I'm looking to migrate to mirrorless from my Canon DSLR system (70d, 7dmkii, 5dmkiii).
I hadn't even considered an a9 , as to my mind they were a high end multi thousand dollar proposition. I see now that they are available for well under $2000 US.
This ticks all the boxes for me . Time to start writing some eBay ad's.
You are welcome! I sold off my canon gear as well and went to Sony. Although I like Canon, I have never really looked back.
Hi Mathew, what do you think about the A7III body for bird photography? would love to hear your take on it.
I owned the a7 III, and I found it to be a good bird photography camera. The downside is that it is slower at AF than the a9, and it doesn't have a stacked sensor. That means you will need to shoot high action with the mechanical shutter. There is part of me that thinks the a7 III actually had slightly better image quality, but that is just a gut feeling. Some people have labeled it the a9 junior and to some degree it really is. Where it beats the a9 is in video. I always called the a7 III the loss leader for Sony. It was packed with features for a much less price. The other way it beats the a9 is mechanical shutter. The mechanical shutter is around 10fps on the a7 III whereas it is only around 5 fps on the a9.
Flight shots were good with the a7III, but amazing with the a9.
i have got this camera second hand for a very very good deal, very used tho but works perfect, i wonder, do you know if the 200-600 has sync stabilization with the a9? have you tried hand held videos, like static ones for wildlife or birds? Great video, subscribed!
this might be a silly question, but i am new. i got the a6400 with the 200-600mm lens. so its like a 300-900mm since its APSC. how do i take photos like these? do you manually enter the settings or put it on aperture priority? because birds are fast and i think there would be no time to manually input the settings. thanks in advance for the answer ✌🏻 subbed to you
Most of the time I am in manual for exposure. You need to keep your shutter speed high at around 3200 or more. Now, since you are new, I might recommend to you that you try setting your shutter speed to 3200, your aperture to f6.3 and set your ISO to auto. With really fast birds, you might increase your shutter speed to 4,000 or higher. That is just a basic setting and depending on conditions, you may need to tweak these. Photography is really all about practice and that gives you the confidence and experience that will turn into good shots. It takes years to be good at it, but with the tech getting easier to use, it can really speed up the process. The A6400 is a good body, but realize that it is not an a9. I am not saying you can't make great images with it, because you can, but a1, a9, a9II are made for fast action. Get the best you can afford is always a good rule. The advantages of the a6400 are the compact size, APS-C crop and a good AF. The man behind the camera makes the shot.
@@MatthewCudado you shoot hand-held all the time with the 200-600mm? I have the same setup as above with the A6400 and I wondered if I should be using at least a monopod.
I am a beginner and want to start travel and wildlife photography should I get A9i/A7riii/A7iiior save more money to get A7iv. Should I get 70-200gm mk2 + 2x tele, 100-400gm and 200-600g please give me a recommendation?
That's a much more complicated question then it would appear. If you want to do wildlife then stay away from the a7R III. The autofocus is not as responsive as it needs to be for birds in flight. The a7 IV i(not R IV)s a good all around choice as it has a fast autofocus and a good resolution and video. The a9 is my primary camera and is made for speed of AF, good image quality and low light performance. Lenses are entirely different beast. When shooting wildlife, it is hard to beat the 200-600 for the money and quality. Travel is an entirely different animal also, as it uses a variety of lenses. Lenses in that genre go from 16mm to 200 typically. I am not a travel photographer, but I can tell you how to proceed in wildlife. If cost is an issue, the a9 is still king. If cost is not an issue, then the a1 is the best choice.
I want to get my first wildlife body so thinking of getting A9mk1 or save more to get A9mk2. I will get A7v and Fe200-600g in the future and I got A7mk1+24-70gm mk1
Im thinking of getting a used a9 to go along with my a6700 for wildlife and birds because i like the idea of 20fps. what do you think
I actually use this exact combo. I use the 6700 for video mostly, but I also like it for more skittish birds.
You talked about in body noise reduction. You're shooting JPGs?
I shoot entirely in RAW. No, I never said that you use in-body noise reduction for raw files. If you send me the start time in the video, maybe I can clarify.
I just bought one for about 1700
Where do you sell your photos?
Mattcudaart.com
1/4000 to eliminate motion blur
Correct, but depends on the subject as well. Fast movers like my flight shots of songbirds totally need 1/4000, but a slow mover like a great egret can easily be sharply photographed at 1/2000.
Great channel by the way. Are you able track birds in flight using video?
@@MatthewCuda Mark Smith is the expert on video, I don't do much video but have not had any trouble with the little I do. You have to keep the bird in the middle of the frame or it will not keep it in focus in my experience - which can be hard with smaller fast birds.
@@MatthewCuda at 1/3200 I find about 30% with tack sharp eyes. Over 1/4000 it is more like 90%. With swallows you need 1/8000s for 90% tack sharp - assuming focus doesn't let you down.