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Well mister conspiracies whilst I do love your videos I shall never be able to afford such fantastic equipment. Oh I shall carry on watching if only for your Slo-mo's and dry wit. but a old Canon 7D with a 24mm 50mm and a 70-200 L lens oh a wide angled thing from tamron which as much use as a chocolate fire guard. oh and a Nikon P900 is and I fear will always be as good as it gets for me. but that said I cannot complain even though the new camera phones will probably yield better results I do love to arse about with them, Anyway I am starting to ramble now All the very best from the UK
When you try to manually focus this lens, just rotate the foot to the bottom and have it lying in the palm of your hand. Then your fingers are free to zoom and focus ☺️ might be weird at the beginning but I find it really useful
That grackle footage is amazing. My favorite footage from you so far.It's good to see there doesn't appear to be a lot of loss of image quality with the 1.4x tele, at least to my eyes.
I use this lens on my Sony A74. At 4k 60p, it crops in to 1.5. But its oversampled, so the 4k is super sharp. So with my 1.4X Tele, I actually am filming in sharp 4k 60p at 1260mm. I get full AutoFocus with Tracking. Its pretty amazing. I slow it down to 40% and it looks really nice.
It's pretty much the best wildlife lens ever for under $2000. The zoom throw is a revolution. Obviously if you're shooting very static subjects, you don't understand the benefit. But when you have birds flying towards you at full speed, you will understand. Also its AF is great and it's definitely a lens made for AF.
I'm glad you brought up the Nikon 200-600mm that's supposed to be coming out. I watched this video specifically for the focal range and see what Sony was doing. I watched a video today looking for a certain topic and the RU-vidr was showing in his Nikon z6 II where you can change the focus throw. I think he mostly does video with his. I don't have a need for the z9 but u do want the 200-600 when it comes out. I have money saved up now for it. If they come out with a crop sensor version of the z9 to replace the d500 I'll buy it too. What a combo that would be. 600 at 1.5 crop factor. Nikon keeps coming out with lenses I don't need or want.
Though Sony started focusing on such a camera in 2006, and especially in 2013, do not forget Sony acquired Minolta, the company with a long history of making cameras too.
Mark has a modded mount on his lens that he places on his palm and thats how he hold the camera and lens. its like an extended mount and enables you to move your hand further forward. which helps stabilize i guess. also keeps his fingers free to manipulate the barrel for focus and zoom. he looks comfortable while shooting so maybe you should look into it. you're issue is kind of different though because most of Mark's video is objects in motion. its easier to lead than hold steady. and he also may use tripod for stationary video. just a thought. im enjoying your content
We photography hobos have similar issues as you video scrubs. When I'm holding my 200-600mm I have a replacement arca-swiss foot on the bottom and my hand is resting on it where my fingers are able to adjust the zoom without moving it accidentally. Most of the camera balance and weight is on the palm of my hand on the tripod foot. It's interesting seeing your journey through the same lenses and issues that we still photographers have lol. Best of luck to you bro!
Epic footage Kasey! It's amazing how far your search for the best camera has taken you. So inspiring man! I'm going to film the shit out of my ZV-1 after watching this 😆...
I'm sure someone else will mention this. But it's much easier to rest the tripod collar foot in your palm, and then you can focus or zoom a lot easier.
I have this lens. I don't have large hands and your assessment for hand holding comfort is not wrong. I do have a work around that I'm quite satisfied with. This may sound weird to you but try it for a little while and see what you think. I put my tripod collar in position to mount the camera on the tripod. Now rest the foot in the palm of your hand and your fingers will just reach up and both zoom and focus rings are right there. To fine tune it you can add a longer arca plate to position your hand further forward if you prefer.
Try turning the tripod collar 180 degrees so the handle is below the lens. Balance it with that on your hand and your fingers are free to move the zoom and focus.
You are probably my favorite camera review person on RU-vid… and also my favorite RU-vid person.. I say this because I only know you on youtube… alas.. keep it going man! Would love to shoot with you sometime.
Love your humour and love that you're in to wildlife filming now.. amazed and envious that you can get stable footage handheld..! all the best to you.. g
Cool video yet again. The combination of things you have said over time lead me to believe, most people should stick with the equipment they have and learn how to use it properly. This sort of skill is akin to learning how to play a musical instrument - it is about muscle memory. Changing camera systems is a bit like going from playing the violin to a clarinet. Master the one you like IMHO - one's ability will actually wipe out the technical differences whichever system you use as you will get a much higher hit rate. All systems have their weaknesses - the enjoyment for me actually is to solve how to work around them :) Keep this going - it is thought provoking and amazing :)
To further my musical instrument analogy, the problem I have with RU-vid reviewers, or anyone doing cross analysis, is that they invariably won't have spent enough time with each system. In the music industry you won't someone reviewing say both violins and cellos - which on the face of it is similar to cameras with their various options and use cases? I am staying with mine, as right now the one I have; I have at least 2years of learning left with it - no extra tech is going to help me out :)
put the tripod mount on the bottom of the lens, not the top. then when you have the lens up to your eye, cradle the mount in the palm of your hand, with your fingers on the lens ring controlling the focus.
Some people have the tripod foot under the lens and have it against their palm when shooting. That frees your fingers for zooming and focusing with the Sony 200-600. When you are doing that, it's nice to have loose zoom and focus rings.
I know this is an old review...but...the Sony 200-600/5.6-6.3 is the lens for me...(I use a simple A7c and no teleconverter). Street...River boats...people... etc. (I am not a fan of protruding external focus)...and a plus...the A7c is a small rangefinder style camera that fits my hand well.... (By the way... one can always buy a replacement handle if the Sony one is not right for you.). Cheers. (70 plus years and retired in Bangkok)
Great lens. The throw of the lens is excellent. It's heavy...yes but imo it's not that bad. You get 400mm of range...try carrying a sigma 105 1.4 with no range and u realise that the 200 600 is excellent. Looking forward to the version 2 when it comes out
8:57 - Yes, Panasonic GH6, G9 and GH5 II have "Focus Ring Control". GH5 doesn't. The little G9 is made with love. GH5 II is a sleeper camera with that Panasonic 100-400mm and Focus Ring Control. I get 2000mm equivalent handheld (2.6x 1:1 pixel readout in 1080p up to 144fps, no pixel binning or line skipping) upscaled to 4K with Video Enhance AI for glorious results. We're talking bird beak shots filled with freshly caught insects, from 20 feet away. Uploading the video clips this weekend to my channel. The Sony is nice but after all that money you spent, you realize deep down that it wasn't actually made for video. All it would need are some firmware updates, just some basic stuff to make it more ideal. But, Sony doesn't care.
@@ted5017 No camera is perfect. I don't own a G9, I did buy one for my girlfriend though with the Leica 12-60 and it's an incredible camera for the money. That little lens is amazing too with such a close minimum focusing distance. The G9 is probably the most under rated camera ever especially after the later firmware updates enabling 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 recording and such. I personally use the GH5 II (GH6 is great but too much camera for my needs). I shot an entire short film for some friends (4 day film set shoot) with GH5 II and Leica 10-25. I pulled focus myself. All manual. Film is called Treasure and will be out this year. Manual focus isn't that difficult. Just takes practice. And for wildlife, it's better than auto. I got news for Kasey. The guys who focus on the football in NFL games ... they aren't scrubs. They didn't die on autofocus hill. They actually manually focus on the football flying. I'm not into sports watching but seriously, manual focus is actually a skill. Experts can focus on birds in flight. I can to a degree but still practicing. Tired of scrubby RU-vidrs complaining all the time about autofocus. Lazy scrubs lol.
I recently reported a minor color issue that appears in skin tones in certain lighting conditions I noticed in Cine D2 profile of GH5 II, confirmed with my DSC Labs ChromaMatch Pro color chart and 10 days later, Panasonic released firmware 1.2 for GH5 II solving that issue. Fuji insulted Camera Conspiracies when he noticed autofocus occuring when in manual focus, they told him to attend a workshop or something lol ... Panasonic actually listened and didn't assume I was retarded. They care. And that's why all of my mirrorless cameras have been only Panasonic. I've been shooting on mirrorless since 2014.
You have passed the nerd wildlife photographer/videographer test - You captured a bird going all Freddy Krueger on a fish and found beauty in it. Welcome to club my friend! :)
'"And then this part where he ripped out the guts." Dammit man that is funny as hell. I'm having a rough day. Thank you for the laugh. You are getting better at shooting wildlife.
Put the tripod foot (it's not a top handle :p) on the bottom where it belongs and hold the foot instead of manhandling the lens with your hands on the movable rings.
FYI most people don’t know that Sony G lenses are actually Minolta…yep, Minolta. Minolta “invented” the auto focus lens back in the 80’s by stealing the tech from NASA. The decided to not compete with Canon once the digital age started…well they did a little by partnering with Konica but that didn’t pan out. So when Sony decided to join the DSLR game they decided to by out part of Minolta for its tech teams and engineering. So…Sony is really Minolta work it’s name and cash 💵 behind it. I always hoped Minolta stayed in the game and they kind of did. I was a Minolta pro in the 90’s and switched to Canon when Minolta decided to forgo the pro digital market then.
Remove the tripod mount and add a rolan pro camo sleeve and use the heavy duty sage green peak design strap plus the Sony a7iv. There my friend you have a perfect photographer set up.
Dude, as someone already pointed out, flip the damn tripod mount to the bottom of the lens where it belongs, use that to support the lens with your elbow tucked in to your body, while using your other hand to manipulate the focus and zoom rings.🤦🏻♂️
So the hand operating the zoom and focus has to do double duty operating the camera. You must be a filmmaker because a photographer would never utter such heresy lol
@@derrickkelly4745 um I'm a wildlife and landscape photographer as well as architecture/construction photographer. Frankly I'd never shoot the damn thing without a tripod. And I'd only very rarely use manual focus.
Aahahahahahah, Kasey you crack me up, you now know it's a Cormorant...but still not a black duck.....LMAO...keep em coming....I look forward to watching your delivery day after day. ....great stuff......and as a bonus I occasionally learn something about cameras......: )
Spot on with the ergonomics. I come back from shooting my Sony A7IV and your fingers are raw because the grip is too close to the lens. I use autofocus 85% of the time with 200 to 600. with high success rate. It is a little heavy but for a 200 to 600 it is reasonable. You have some decent sized guns, you can handle it. Really liked the A1 and used it for a month but for the same price you can get the A7IV and the 200 to 600 lens so I switched.
As much as people hate monopods, seems like out of a multi-axis instability problem, at least it removes part of it. Then your arms can brace on your arb friend and maybe this is enough with the G-OSS/IBIS
The correct way to hold the 200-600 would maybe rest the lens plate on your palm instead of the the lens barrel. If the lens plate isn’t long enough then get a longer replacement foot. 😉
I completely agree with you about the ergo of this lens. I’ve experienced the same issues and it doesn’t feel natural. You’re the only person I’ve seen ever mention this issue. Maybe, it’s just us. Great lens and it makes up for it in bunches tho.
You got the Sony for it's autofocus so use it. Yes you can autofocus the flying big duck, Have you seen Phillip Bloom's new Master Class on manual autofocus?
So with the cormorant you would turn down the sensitivity as it flew behind the branches and it would still af-c it. The Master Class shows how you would control the sensitivity to tracking subject change as you shoot with custom button settings..
Based on your excellent and unique wildlife videos, you must live in paradise. Near which wildlife sanctuary and on what continent are you located, may I ask?
Your comments about Sony ergonomics ares unfair: they have been making video cameras of every level for decades. With mirrorless photography cameras their first priority has been to make it as small and light as possible (which was the big selling point of mirrorless). Ergonomics came second but with the 7R4/S3/A1 ergonomics were clearly improving. I've got XXL hands and the only ergonomic problem I have is the flapping pinky problem (FPP.) An L bracket helps as does the Peak Design Clutch which I think is essential. I go out walking with my dog and an A1/200-600 (or 70-200GM2) with the camera slung from a Peak Design shoulder strap fixed to the tripod bracket (I use the Wimberly replacement). Camera is balanced, with my right hand in the V3 Cutch (strap is slack) and I can swing this combo up real quick (you ought to do a gun slinger scene). My one criticism of Sony is that their obsession to go as small as possible is that the sensor is very/too close to the mount and we are stuck with it (like SECAM coming before PAL)
13:40 "It might be the best lens ever made, except for this handle sucks. Not even close to comfortable. But that's the Sony way: they hurt you to get the good footage." It's funny 'cos it's true.
I have the tripod foot set to the regular downward position and rest it in my palm, and turn the zoom ring with my middle and pinky finger. I do not use manual focus though, that’s gonna be tough.
Hi, I was inspired by your videos a bought a Sony A7siii + Tamron 150-500mm to film birds in 4K 120. However, I need more reach and today ordered the Sony 200-600mm + 2x teleconverter. However, I’m worried about the image quality with the 2x teleconverter and wondered if I should cancel and get the 1.4 teleconverter instead. Please can you kindly give me your opinion on this? Thanks
Take the lens hood off the lens when it's windy and your lens will shake less. You could wear a strap around your neck and pull it taut to stabilize your camera
They should have a sensitivity toggle for fine manual focus. So you can map it yourself. OR a separate focus ring for fine adjustment ;) BTW have you tried focus tracking on flying birds? Would love to see you try that with the touch focus. Just remember to change your autofocus settings so it doesn't change the subject as soon as twig comes in frame. Another thing. What shutter speed are you using when going 120p? It looks like more motion blur than 1/240 or am I wrong?
I'm kind of thinking of becoming a wildlife photographer/videographer and need a recommendation. If I ever do decide to follow in your footsteps, can you please recommend a seppuku sword for me?
If your footage is unstable, I must have of Huntington's Disease. With GH6 + 100-300mm! And there is ZERO shake there. Just the sway... That is user error!
Most important part is the blue eyes imho. Same bird here, love them. I will post my vid in the near future.. Gonna be a bit long winded and try and help you here Casey, those sony focus rings are a bitch indeed. On my Nikon 200-400, the focus ring is the furthest thing forward right before the lens hood. So much so, if I flip the hood the focus ring is pretty much inaccessible. Still it's where it should be.. Even then though, in video, I usually rely on AF, switching between various modes, and using back button selectively. Pin point is often useful, as are the box modes. If you can get comfortable with that, try holding the lens under the hood, or right before it, and even holding it with a couple fingers insider her.. er, the hood... Sorry, that was too easy.. in all seriousness, a photographer I know does this finger in the hood hold on occasion and it does sometimes result in great results. Be careful, or your fingers become foreski... ground bokeh. In general with heavy lenses, I find switching your hold around and not committing to one hold is a realistic approach to extended shooting. Think of it like standing on one foot all day.. you're better off switching feet at some point, putting your foot on the inside of your knee.. etc.. A bit of long lens Yoga goes a long way. FYI, I literally do long lens yoga in the house with lens in hand when I remember, I swear it helps.
Could you evaluate Nikon 200-500 for wildlife video. I tried that lens with Nikon d500 for photos with good results but never tried with video because I use video camera for that purpose. Thanks, I like your idea, video is video, photo is photo, don't mix it. I am not a professional photographer at all.
I use the 6600 and this lens, which is a newer release and probably the most underrated lens ever. It's light and super easy to hold, has awesome build quality and beautiful G glass that is tack sharp. Forget moving your feet, that 105-525mm range is so useful and makes you feel like a sniper!
I thought about ditching Nikon but as a photographer…. I’m happy with vintage f primes like 300mm f4 af-s d lens. It’s got the vintage look and 3d pop not to mention extremely saturated colourful Toneh - Sony fanboys wouldn’t get it.
Since you're a pro in vlogging and health related stuff..... When do you think will Sony jump on the organic camera tech wagon and announce a camera fully made of broccoli, recording on sheets of bamboo?
Here is what bird eye af gets you on the A7iv with the 200-600 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GkTbEE_A1vw.html. The lens is rather amazing
@@LeeDillion I own the a7mk3 from release and I hate the grip, screen, evf, menu, no full touchscreen, no real-time tracking, can't change the focus point colour, it's slow lags a lot.. Still thinking if it's worth ditching it for mk4
@@Super01041994 I upgraded from the A7iii and am reallly happy, but I also appreciated the iii. In terms of grip, I use a bottom plate or l-bracket on both, and the back screens are marginal on both but don’t matter much to me since I rely on the eve with my eyesight issues. In terms of everything else you mention the iv is a big step up.
Bro i got you covered, you dont have to spend your money on sony expensive gear , here is the deal : You get yourself a canon m50 in 4k it has 1.7 crop + apac crop factor of 1.6 you are already at 2.72X ef to efm adaptor + 1.4 X télé converter + ef 100 to 400 If you do the math my friend you are already at 1550mm and you have 3000 usd in you pocket but it’s 4k 24 that hurts no dynamic range that hurt also . But any way you are not National Geographic we are the only ones watching this so who cares
Hey I love your videos you're a way of doing them is definitely a one on par with all these idiots out there that don't know what they're doing and brag about what they got
You need to watch Phillip Bloom's epic on Sony video autofocus to master all the ridiculous choice of settings .... err tripod required so thats a non-starter for you
@@cameraconspiracies Yes same here, I will have to watch it several times. He did say it took him 9 months of exhausting testing to work all this out and thats for a professional film maker with 30 plus years of experience. Way too complicated Sony - not everyone has that amount of time to work out your focus system. Not only that Sony hid Part 2 in the subscription only Alpha Academy only available through Sony Europe. Rant over
Your yellow Finch is a female American Goldfinch. Try kneeling or sitting if you can, or (as you said) using a tree or boulder if you can. Also try holding your breath; that's easier with photography, obviously. The only thing wrong with that lens is the body it's attached to. Video of animals in MF is unnecessarily hard with an A7S III. You need an A7 IV with that animal eye AF. No, the Alpha 1 doesn't have animal eye AF in video either. Dare I say ... the upcoming APS-C Canon R7 and the RF 100-500 with the 1.4x extender? Way lighter than what you're using. I already have the lens, will likely get the body when it comes out. P.S. there are no pelagic cormorants in Ontario. Those are double-crested cormorants. Yours may be a sub-adult.
I think you're right, I saw both the Pelagic and Double Crested in my book and thought it looked more Pelagic but I'm wrong as hell. If A1 doesn't have animal eye detect I will lose my shit.
Comedy value only. Anyone who is serious about securing a Sony G Master Lens is best served by those who actually know how to shoot a 600mm! Your monologues, albeit funny at times, do not in anyway provide me with confidence about buying gear you pitch. Sorry Kasey. That is how I feel.
Merely for lens, the 150-400F4.5 of Olympus is the best zoom lens for wildlife since its focal length is same as 300-800 of full-frame, and it provides very sharp IQ.
No animal or bird eye detect in the A1, I got a cfexpress recently so trying some 120p on all intra 240mbit. Its nice... 240p sucks on HD, havent really done much with it. Been raining here from the NWO cloud seeding so cant get out and do any vids :( A1 Bird eye for photo mode is unreal.
