Sony A7R V A7RV and Bird Photography

XopheCasa

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Christophe Casamassima
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Hey, all:

I currently shoot with an A7IV and find it remarkable still after all these years. I typically shoot on the street, on the fly, capturing large crowds and their activities, but like the quieter side of the process, photographing birds. I've had a lot of success with the A7IV, but find it's somewhat hampered by the slow FPS ( shoot RAW), especially birds in flight and fast birds.

Granted: this camera was not meant to be a hi-speed beast like the A1 or A9, and for the record, as a enthusiast, can't justify spending $6000 on a camera that will not bring me any revenue (I don't shoot as a professional). I want the speed and the versatility, and will have to compromise, obviously, with my budget. I have two scenarios:

1. Purchase the A7RV and take advantage of the higher resolution, AI, etc., and practice birding with the caveat that speed is not an option (but I will have to practice my dexterity, and patience), and deal with larger file sizes.

2. Wait for the inevitable A7V, which to me (through rumors) appears to be slated for an increase in FPS, with most of the accoutrements of the A7RV, and possibly new sensor (I'm guessing), and hope that the megapixels go up no more than 45 or so.

I want to keep my A7IV for all-round use. It has never let me down. But it's not meant for quickness.

I'm hoping to hear about other enthusiasts that use the A7RV for birding, and if they're happy with their results. I veer on the fine art/experimental side of photography, but the act of patiently following the birds is my quiet place.

Thanks for your time, and feedback. And if, in my naivete, am missing something important, or have overlooked something, please volunteer some clarity.

Cheers!
Christophe
 
I would suggest that you wait. Something I noticed with my A7Riv was that medium and large birds (ducks and larger) all tend to have very consistent wing beats at like 1/10th or 1/20th a second meaning that I would end up with a collection of 20-30 images but only like 2 wing positions, if the position was good then great but more often than not I just had 20-30 crap positions. So to get better wing positions you either need to speed up or slow down, speeding up is obviously way better. The A7v might have a faster FPS but it might also stick with the 10fps, there could also be a large number of A1 available in the used market with prices under $4k. If there are tariffs on everything the used cameras might even be more attractive.

For birds in flight the most important thing is being able to bring the camera to the eye with the bird near center frame. You can practice this with a camera or with binoculars and even with still objects.
 
I have an A7RV. I'm not specifically a bird photographer but I do like like to photograph them if the opportunity arises. Here are some I took earlier this year when I was still learning the camera. The pelicans were not flying fast but the little terns were flying all about the place quite quickly. By the way, I was here to take photos of sea lions so these were taken with focus recognition set to animals not birds.





 
IMO -Assuming you have native Sony glass that can provide the high speed focusing, I would consider the 3rd option of an A1 Mk1 either second hand or new from tried and tested grey market sellers like Panamoz.
 

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