New to Sony

[RHerr]

Hi,

My photography passion is bird photography.

i am about to change from Nikon Z6ii to Sony A7IV.

The main reason for the change is that i am unhappy with the Nikkor lens i have been using, Nikkor 200-500mm. I find the auto focus very slow and the lens battles to keep focus on birds in flight.

Overall the Nikon Z6ii is a fine body especially in low light conditions.

I discovered that the Sony 200-600 lens does work on a Nikon Z6ii but a "Tchart" adapter is need which is unavailable in my country (South Africa), one thing led to the next and i sold all my Nikon equipment and bought the A7IV and the 200-600mm lens. I did some research and did comparisons between the A9ii and A7iii and settled on the A7IV, i really hope my choice is correct.

I only shoot in Raw.

Currently i am using Lightroom Classic version 8.2, this is the last stand alone version before the subscription was introduced. My question is, does anybody know if the RAW format on the A7IV ARW is supported by my version of Lightroom.

If my version does not support the ARW format, what are my options? Do i go for the subscription version of Lightroom or is there any other post processing software that is recommended? Does Sony have their own post processing software?

Next question, what is the performance of the A7IV with 200-600mm lens and a 1.4TC, does anybody use this combination.

Finally, may i request from other bird photographers using A7IV to send me a list of their preferred settings for bird photography.

Looking forward to be part of this forum, and hopefully i will be able to add some meaningful contributions to the forum.

regards

Ronnie

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Welcome Ronnie. You've come to the right place, we have many bird photographers here.
I don't know about that version of Lightroom, but there is a free version of Capture One available for Sony users: https://www.captureone.com/en/capture-one-express/sony
You can always start there if your version of LR doesn't work.
I've recently been enjoying ON1 as a single purchase (non-subscription) option for photo editing.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Welcome Ronnie.....

A few Comments....

As an Ex Nikon user and Birder myself, moving across to Sony is not a bad move.....I am very happy with my move.

On your choice of camera, it depends on whether your needs are more about BIF's, static birds and/or higher resolution needs and budget constrained.

As a past owner of the AR7 iv i found the focus tracking to be less efficient than the A9 ii, but the A7 iv I have no experience with, whilst having looked at the general specs it doesn't seem you should have any issues.

The 200-600 with a x1.4 teleconverter may limit auto focus speed a bit View attachment 23108but for static birds should be ok...

For the camera settings suggest you check with Marc Galer, Steve Perry(Back country Gallery) and Marc Smith Youtube sites...
Galer is a Sony ambassador and has settings listings for most Sony cameras at his site, Marc Smith and Steve Perry are hardcore
birders and they also have settings lists at their sites.

On the Issue of Lightroom versus the A7 iv RAW files please see the listing i downloaded from the Web...it seems you may be ok....
but i would double check with Adobe if I were you........

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Welcome Ronnie.....

A few Comments....

As an Ex Nikon user and Birder myself, moving across to Sony is not a bad move.....I am very happy with my move.

On your choice of camera, it depends on whether your needs are more about BIF's, static birds and/or higher resolution needs and budget constrained.

As a past owner of the AR7 iv i found the focus tracking to be less efficient than the A9 ii, but the A7 iv I have no experience with, whilst having looked at the general specs it doesn't seem you should have any issues.

The 200-600 with a x1.4 teleconverter may limit auto focus speed a bit View attachment 23108but for static birds should be ok...

For the camera settings suggest you check with Marc Galer, Steve Perry(Back country Gallery) and Marc Smith Youtube sites...
Galer is a Sony ambassador and has settings listings for most Sony cameras at his site, Marc Smith and Steve Perry are hardcore
birders and they also have settings lists at their sites.

On the Issue of Lightroom versus the A7 iv RAW files please see the listing i downloaded from the Web...it seems you may be ok....
but i would double check with Adobe if I were you........

 

[Jeff A]

Sorry to report that your A7 IV ARW files require a much newer version of Lightroom. Welcome to the Forum from a happy user of the Adobe Photography plan.