Opticallimits (former Photozone) is a damn serious review site that has no fear to destroy a lens reputation when it deserves it. But luckily the 24-105mm FE managed to impress them:
Overall the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS is an obvious choice in the Sony lineup. It may not be able to touch the center quality of the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM but the border quality is surprisingly high for such a lens – at least when stopping down to f/5.6. Lateral CAs are moderate. The quality of the bokeh is quite good for a lens within its scope.
The Sony lens isn’t flawless but just to provide a framework for comparison – it is superior to both the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS II and Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G VR. So it’s certainly a lens we can recommend to Sony FE users.
Sony 24-105mm G FE at [shopcountry 66153].
Reminder: Don’t forget we from SAR are giving away one 24-105mm FE lens for free! Check this article to learn how to have a chance to win this lens.
Chuck Meyers sent us an email with this video link. He told me this “I made a video taking a closer look at some of the images I got while shooting an NFL Game with the A9 and A7RII.“
How to shoot continuous frames with the A9 and external flash, my findings by Alin Popescu – Sony Image Ambassador, Romania
My very first frustrations with the A9 and event photography was the use of flash in different situations. This was actually my only complain about this magnificent camera.
What bothered me most, except the lag before the shot was taken, was that it was almost impossible for me to take continuous sequences with flash, without getting a miss or two, and by that I mean a flash-missfire or out-of-sync during the continuous shoot. I knew Sony cameras can do it, since the launch of the A7R III back in London when we shoot at 10fps with Profoto gear.
So today I tried everything I could, with every setting I imagined it might have a “saying” in this situation and I’ve finally found the “perfect” solution. I’m not saying I’ve discovered the wheel, maybe I was too stupid and did something wrong before, but trust me, I’m no beginner at this.
What I did?
First of all, I’ve upgraded all my equipment to the latest firmware. So this is what I’ve used:
Even if the Godox is the TTL version, for consistency between frames, I prefer to go full manual and set the trigger accordingly to shoot at 1/32 power.
A9 was on continuous M and Mechanical Shutter (the only way you can use flash on the A9), at 1/125s and F4, with an ambient value at -2.0 EV so I could clearly see if a no-flash shot happened during my sequence. ISO was set to 100 for no variation either and focus was AF-C.
I’ve filmed this with my iPhone on Slow-Mo at 240 fps, just to be able to “see” if flash popped at every shutter opening.
What I’ve discovered?
The lag we all noticed before is still present, but only at the first frame of the sequence. You can see in slow-mo, the complete black-out of the LCD, just before the first flash was fired, and then no black-out or any other lag. I’ve tested also afterwards if focus is working accordingly and it did, moving the camera to close and distant objects, did the trick.
What is to be solved? This mysterious blackout at the initial start of shooting. I have no explanation for this, since it wasn’t a TTL sequence I could blame on, as the flash/camera needed to perform pre-ttl flash to measure everything. Hope Sony will give us a no-lag system soon, but until then I’m happy I can shoot sequences without missed frames.
Meike’s new MK-A9 Pro Battery Grip for the Sony A9 and A7rIII is now shipping at Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon UK. And a first video review is here too:
I took this lens to a football bowl game in December of 2017 and tried it with the Simga MC-11 adapter with the Sony A9. It worked really well, so well, in fact, that I think it is 90% of the experience of any FE lens. I’m really impressed.