Sony A7RV | Why the A1 is Still King for Event Photography
#Sony #Mirrorless #A1 #Alpha1 #A7RV
While many photographers assume the stacked sensor in the Sony A1 only facilities the ultra-fast 30 fps burst rate there are many other advantages! The benefits of the stacked sensor add a lot of functionality that make the A1 a more ideal choice for event shooters compared to the A7RV even if you don't need the burst speed the A1 offers.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:02 Silent Shooting Performance
00:02:00 Banding Under LED/Fluorescent Lights (A7RV)
00:03:49 Banding Under LED/Fluorescent Lights (A1)
00:04:55 Anti-Flicker Shooting
00:06:24 Rolling Shutter Performance (Still Photography)
00:08:46 Rolling Shutter Performance (Video)
00:10:58 Flash Performance
Sony A7RV First Look:
• Sony A7RV First Look |...
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Great video, and thanks for explaining the tech, and the real world application differences.
This is an important aspect to demonstrate -- thank you for posting this.
You are welcome sir! Glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for the feedback. 😃
Thank you so much for the super camera demonstration. Very well done!
You are welcome! There will be another test in the future. 😃
GREAT INFOR.MATION tx
Much thanks. Very well explained. The A1 is awesome. There is a lot less chance of running into camera limitations with the A1. High resolution and high speed gives you the all in one performance previous cameras were incapable of. I no long think about upgrading the camera. At the high price, I just hope this camera lasts a long long time with out breaking down.
Awesome comparison and tech talk. Love my A1 💪🏾😤🔥 👑
Thank you! I appreciate you! 🙏🏽
Great video, Jeremy. You have convinced me to keep my Sony A1!
Dude. You are the MAN addressing this on such detail. Didn't know that about the anti-flicker
Thank you, I am really glad that you enjoyed the video! 😃
Nice Video!
This video is awesome!
Thank you 😃
Thanks man. This explains why I got that banding thing. I almost brought back my A7R5 to have it replaced :))
You are welcome! Glad I was able to help, I get this question about electronic shutter a lot and have talked to lots of people with the same issue as you. This is a topic that is not discussed enough in other reviews. 😃
Great compare & contrast of the mentioned camera function under certain conditions. I've yet to purchase the A7RV; however, your insight contributes to my research/diligence before committing.
Glad I was able to help! Stay tuned, I plan to do more testing soon. 😃
Precisely why I still love my A1s :) The readout speed from the sensor is all to me, + the 50mpix. ;)
Exactly! 😃
Very informative video Jeremy.I just feel, like a lot of people have pointed out, very frustrated that the A1 firmware hasn't been updated to bring in some features that other less expensive camera models have.If they bring out a A1 MkII this march as some have speculated I would be even more disappointed that I had invested so much money in this camera.
I personally think that it's too soon for an "A1 MkII" and while the A1 firmware feels really late at this point I believe we will see it in the next month or two. 🤞🏽
Thanks for this great review even though I watched it a bit too late after upgrading from A7IV to A7R5 for the quieter shutter sound and additional features. As an event photographer my Fuji X-H1 's shutter was sweet and quiet but lack in AF performance and 3rd party lens options so when I upgrade to A7IV and again A7R5 I was surprised how loud the mechanical shutter are. I even got participants complaining to the event organizers or rolling eyes in weddings on how distractive it was for them since I could not use electronic shutter with flash or to avoid bending under artificial lights which was very embarrassing. After doing some research including this video I found that the electronic sensor readout speed on the A7RIV/A7RV are at 99.3ms and A1 is at 3.8ms (260% slower) while the mechanical shutter is 3.5ms vs 2.4ms (45%) slower. I finally got an used A1 now and enjoying shooting with the silent blackout free electronic shutter in different events.
Indeed! This is why I no longer use the A7R series cameras, you will no doubt enjoy the A1! 😃
... A HUGE point that almost EVERYONE overlooks: Sony's proprietary IMX610 (also used in it's new VENICE 8K Cinema module) is BOTH stacked AND Back-side Illuminated!! This is how the A1 manages to have such a huge file size yet have excellent dynamic range... ON THE A7RV VS. THE A1: I've owned the A1 for 18 months, and used the A7R5 at Sony's Creative Space Event in NYC... The A7R5 is 'stickier' for original subject tracking due to it's new AI chip and algorithms... However the A1 still RULES due to it's 120 AF/AE calculations per second, which is TWICE as fast as even the A9II!! The A1 simply recalculates autofocus so fast that it simply adapts to changes far faster than the A7RV can, and practically eliminates rolling shutter with it's sensor/processor combo; there is no way the A7RV can match this without being stacked... but then again the A7RV is $2700 less...and that AMAZING LCD screen...and newer menus... and crazy IBIS.......!!!!! Great Video as Always!!
EXACTLY 😃 hopefully soon I will be able to quantify the differences between the AF performance of the A1 and the A7RV. Sony's fastest sensor readout speed vs their slowest... AI tech or not the A7RV can't compete it's funny how so many just gloss over this big detail. The A7RV is an awesome camera as well of course but the A1 has some huge advantages most folks don't understand.
@@JeremySmithPhotography If price was no object, I would go for A1 myself too, despite some of the advantages the A7R V had - Sadly, bills must be paid :D
Great video Jeremy. I had to laugh when you said, A Special Kind of Terrible.
Agree with your findings, but that price... Hoping for a stacked sensor APS-C body soon to compliment my A7RV.
I might be wrong but I don't see Sony doing a stacked APS-C cam, I do however feel that we will soon seen something at the $4,500 price point (A9III). The A9II is also a great option, you can get a used one in excellent condition for under $3K.
A1, A9II, A7SIII, A7IV, A7RV :)
Yeah, I've got an a7IV and a7RV that are great, but the banding issue is bugging me more and more these days. The prospect of being able to do all my event work with silent shutter, even when using flash, is mighty tempting. Are these benefits available from the a9II?
i have the A7Rv and i doubt to trade it fir the A1. i noticed that low light on de a7rv is giving much more noise then in the A7IV.. so the RV is not so good with high ISO. what do you know of this noise/iso problem in comparison with the A1?
Even at 1/60s at 2:12, the A7R5 has banding, not atrocious but very noticeable and certainly annoying. It's because its readout speed is much slower than 1/60. The A1 delivers a much better IQ. Also, I found 1/250s to be barely enough to freeze slow action, with a 61MP sensor. There will often be motion blur with anyone walking at that speed.
Oh for crying out loud the flicker is NOT called "Banding" Banding is lines of noise found in low light scenarios, not the results of flicker lines. They are 2 different issues.
@@leerothman7570 Below is the same Sony support doc link... again. Note banding being listed as a type of flicker. Banding is used to describe high ISO noise patterns that can occur (particularly in the shadows) but yes... the term is used for this specific type of flicker as well. www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00008839
Can you please tell what the 1/500 saved you from in this "crappy" light situation - as you described it to be ? You meen it was too(?) bright ? And You saw no other way than renouncing to fullframe, just for this? I dont get it. (The speed difference is aprox. a quarter of an f-stop, is it not ?l
I assume you are speaking of the flash example at 13:55? "Sometimes I get sent to some locations and it's mid-day..." This means that yes the light was extremely bright, harsh, and unflattering for my subject. The point isn't that I didn't "see any other way" the point is that the higher sync speed gave me more flexibility. I could have shot at a smaller aperture to control the bright ambient light but that would have changed my DOF, using an ND filter would have dictated the use of a more powerful strobe, and using high speed sync would have robbed me of about 2 stops of flash output. So the goal here was to avoid using high speed sync and still maintain a fairly wide open aperture to have somewhat shallow DOF. Had I been limited to the 1/250th flash sync speed of the A7RV or even the 1/400th flash sync speed of the A1 in full-frame mode this wouldn't have been possible due to the very bright mid-day sun.
@@JeremySmithPhotography Thank You for your answering in length, made me also re-watch all, with pleasure. Now I get it what precisaly you mean. Thank You!
Amen, my A1 is still my workhorse compared to a7R5
Do you think Sony will release a new upgraded model soon like an a1x (a1s etc) possibly adding 2-way flippy screen etc or just add a firmware upgrade to include things like focus breathing compensation and other newer features as seen on most models since a7iv? Or maybe continue doing nothing and let their so called flagship 'wither on the vine'?
From what I can discern it seems that there is a big Sony F/W update coming, allegedly in December. I am optimistic... I do believe an updated A1 will appear with all the hardware changes we see on the A7RV (new tilting/swiveling screen, customizable exposure comp button, etc.) but I think it's still another year away. Next I believe we will see an updated A9 model. While things like focus breathing comp, animal eye AF in video, and focus stacking are glaring omissions from the A1 I still think the A1's hardware shows that it's the true flagship in Sony's lineup... at least for now.
Biggest problem with A1 is animal/bird eye detect in video. This is a massive deal breaker to me as a filmmaker first. Still, I think A1 is still the most complete camera to date. I was planning to get the a7Rv with massive hesitance, but I think I should buy the A1 even if it's a bit outdated now it was still ahead of its time + my a7SIII. Found it for 2,100 OMR ($5,460 USD) which is a good deal, I think. Even if the new A1 II comes in 2024 I'll get that and still use the A1 I with it + a7Rv.
I agree with animal eye AF in video, hopefully Sony will eventually give as a F/W update for the A1. 🤞🏽 If not "A1II" it is... 😬
@@JeremySmithPhotography Thank you for your thorough analysis. There are rumors that the a9 III might get the 50MP sensor, so I should wait and see. Not buying the A1 before September anyway.
I shoot events for social media, the tilt/swivel screen on the A7R5 is the big plus for me. Also the auto wb and metering are supposed to be improved which have been confirmed by Taylor Jackson and Manny Ortiz who both said they would now use AWB on Sony for the first time. Also the stabalisation is supposed to be the best for any Sony camera - so to many wins for the A7R5 for me - oh plus the price as well
the a7siii/a1/a7r5 all use the same dedicated external white balance sensor, so there isn't going to be much if any difference in awb between those three bodies... no other camera has that feature, including the z9/r3/etc., they all use ff sensor data for white balance measurements.
@@DragRacingTV ses Taylor Jackson and Manny Ortiz on the A7R5 auto white balance
@@markshirley01 read my post again.
@@DragRacingTV I have just read it again. See Taylor Jackson and Manny Ortiz on the A7R5 auto white balance performance compared to their other Sony cameras
Bit of a coincidence but Ive just watched this review on the A7R5 it covers the colour at 11:30. He is a Nikon shooter, so a different perspective kzhead.info/sun/jJeIl89-bWKYna8/bejne.html
Why the alpha sign in the background? Is there a conflict of interest here?
How so? Every camera in Sony's lineup from the A6100 to the A1 uses the Alpha designation that's what the "A" stands for 😃 here we are looking at the Alpha 7RV and the Alpha 1 the sign kinda goes with the theme wouldn't you say?
I meant that on the wall was a large alpha symbol, making me wonder whether the reviewer was sponsored by Sony.@@JeremySmithPhotography
Because I am a camera nerd I have variety of camera manufacturer related items in the background of all my videos (there is a Zeiss sign below the Alpha one) but my videos are not sponsored by camera or lens manufacturers. @@JKdrumdoc
Thanks!@@JeremySmithPhotography
Really interesting to see how Pros value features. I want an A1 Mark 2, but I don’t care about rolling shutter performance or flash sync, since I have never noticed rolling shutter ever in any movie or TV show in my life, and I would never carry around a flash as photographing professional shots isn’t part of my job. I do want a flippy screen, maximum quality, best silent shooting etc… waiting on the next A1 to deliver!
"Best silent shooting", "rolling shutter performance" and "flash sync" are all consequences of a fast stacked sensor. Basically you can't have 1 without having the other 2. So, you might not care about 2 of those features, but because you care about 1 of them, you will get the other 2 as well, for free.
@@njrtech it’s the best camera in Sony’s lineup, despite lacking some of the latest features from a7r5 and simple features from other a7, and it’s getting older. Definitely would feel bad to buy one now, will look forward to the mk2 instead
If you needed to pick one camera to take a pic to save the world which one would you pick?
Interesting question... if I had no idea what kind of pic it needed to be I would take the A1 since I could do nearly anything with it. But for certain images I can think of many camera I would reach for, if that pic needed to be high-res I'd go for something like the Hasselblad X2D. I'd likely go analog in a situation like that since a doomsday scenario is likely at hand.
It's been over a year since the release of the a7rV. As a professional photographer, you have to admit after all your testing of the AF system it's far superior to the A1. I believe that's why we haven't seen any comparison videos yet. People need to justify to themselves after spending 6500 dollars on a camera that a cheaper model that cost less cant be better in any area. The A1 calculates faster than the a7rV so how can the AF system on the rV be better and acquire focus faster. It's new technology. I don't believe anyone will see this post as you will delete it as fast as you can so no one will read it. Please post this AF comparison you've been stating you're going to do. I'd appreciate it. You're a much more experienced photographer than I am and all your posts have been honest and accurate.
Partially agree and partially disagree. A1 is for tracking really fast moving targets. Because there is no AI it's easy for the system to get confused sometimes. A7R5 has AI so it's much better at subject recognition but it doesn't have the speed to track fast moving subjects. Side to side it can track because focus does not change much. Diagonal movements and A7R5 cannot keep up. The professional using the A1 will know it's quirks and lock on to the subject using the tools there is. After the lock, A1 will keep up much better with action. For the enthusiast shooting portraits, flowers, and some sports A7R5 is much more than good enough but not the same.
The horrible high ISO performance makes the A7R5 unusable for event photography. I don’t know what happend to the shadow areas of the files, but push the shadows of files over ISO 5000 just a little bit and you end of with a horrible color noise that results in white dots. I never saw such bad shadows.
I haven't tried this as much on the A7RV but I noticed it on the A7RIV which of course uses the same sensor. IMHO the A1 is a better balance between resolution and high-ISO performance.
@@JeremySmithPhotography Yep, it definitely is. If I would’ve the choice, I would say Sony go for the old 42mpix of the A7RIII, stack the sensor and the result would be the perfect allrounder.
I traded in three a7RIIIs for an a7IV and a7RV. The former are about 1/4 of a stop cleaner at high ISO, about the same difference as between the a7III and a7RIII. Hardly a deal-breaker, and definitely not "unusable" for event work, which is how I make a living. I shoot 'em up to ISO 25,600, run 'em through DxO's DeepPRIME noise reduction, and they look very clean. Whatever RAW processing you're using, that's probably where your issue lies.
Theoretically it should not make any difference; however, after using few generations of Fuji cameras with grips that has "Boost" mode to improve the performance/stability/drive speed and now switched to Sony, I wonder if anyone has done testing on A1 if the "very minor" color shifting would be minimized or eliminated all together when the Anit-Flicker is on with the vertical grip installed. Theory is only a theory until proven true or... I should just drop the camera and be a politician! 🤣.
Funny you mention that, on cameras like the A7RV and A1 Sony uses one battery at a time in the grip. Interestingly enough though the new A9III uses a "boost" mode of sorts and draws from both batteries simultaneously... Sony says this improves battery life... no performance benefits have been claimed though.
I think the A1 can’t be beaten with or without firmware upgrades by anyone at the moment …. Anyways, rumours are telling us that a firmware upgrade is on its way …..
Hopefully we see that f/w update soon, I am eagerly awaiting it and of course I will give it a proper test. 😃
That is what the electronic shutter. Moot point when you're using the mechanical shutter
Unless you need that electronic shutter for quiet events as he mentioned. More versatile to be able to use both without worry. 😉
@@BrandonBurch nobody dials at the A1 is a fantastic camera. It is flagship body for the Sony e-mount system. This is why you cannot expect other offerings like the A7R5 to have every single feature that is in the A1. I'm not even sure why people compare the two different price points designed for different purposes. Everybody doesn't have $6,000 to spend on a camera body.
@@donaldstuckey9096 But the A1 is much older than the A7R5 by nearly 2 years. it’s not unreasonable to compare these two cameras, and as you can see the A7R5 outperforms it in some respects (resolution, IBIS most notably)
@@mjingj when Sony released the A1 it represented at that time all of the best technology that they could come up with they placed in that camera. That included a new sensor, fast readout speed, fast setter speed great performance for both mechanical and electronic shutter etc. The difference with the A7R 5 is that it uses the same sensor that was developed years ago. They just decided to relief some additional features most notably the AI auto focusing system and flippy screen. That is literally the main differences. So it is not sensible to compare the A1 which represents the best of what's Sony had to offer at the time to a camera that was a arguably incremental update from its predecessor which has been the strategy when it comes to the A7R cameras. But Sony should do more firmware updates for all of cameras
@@donaldstuckey9096 But Every camera is an incremental upgrade, that's basic business. The A1 is a new flagship model, but it's a 2 years old. There's still a pretty big $2500 price difference, but for pros and prosumers that aren't price sensitive, that hardly matters. I could have picked up an A1 but went with an A7R5, only because I would really want some key features on the A1 Mark 2 - like the display and IBIS. I certainly compared the 2x when shopping, so I'm going to a lot of people will compare the A7R5 and the A1. I would love the silent shooting and better noise and video performance of the A1, but doesn't feel as good value right now, with the key features it's missing in hardware, even compared to the a7 IV and A7R5.
OK you need to be fair and real. The things you are referring as "Banding" on the A7R5 is NOT banding. It is flicker. 2nd the A7R5 has a scan function the A1 doesn't have that will automatically find the frequency the LED lights are at to eliminate it's flicker. If one is NOT quickly panning in their shooting style or shooting a very very fast moving subject, rolling shutter is NOT an issue. So you too are exaggerating the A1's advantages.
"The things you are referring as "Banding" on the A7R5 is NOT banding. It is flicker." If you are going to shout at least get your terminology straight first. You do realize that we are essentially talking about the same thing right? "Flicker" is often used in a broad sense to describe the effects of shooting under pulsing (flickering) light sources. Flicker can manifest itself in several ways... uneven exposure (brightness), color variation, or guess what? Banding. By using the term banding I was being specific about the type of flicker that was visible. 🙂 To help get your terminology straight take a look at the Sony support document linked below. Even the title: "How to reduce flickering, which is partial or total discoloration of an image or horizontal banding" supports the use of my terminology. If you care to delve deeper you can read Canon and Nikon's support docs on the topic, they also use the same terminology. 😉 www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00122281 This Sony support link shows banding as one example of flicker... it looks familiar for some reason... could it be the same as my examples? 🙃 www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00008839 "2nd the A7R5 has a scan function the A1 doesn't have that will automatically find the frequency the LED lights are at to eliminate it's flicker." False, both the A1 and A7RV have the ability to do what you describe, this setting is called "anti-flicker" shooting. There is one key difference though, the A7RV can only do this with the mechanical shutter while the A1 can do it with the mechanical and the electronic shutter. This is covered at 4:55 in the video. "If one is NOT quickly panning in their shooting style or shooting a very very fast moving subject, rolling shutter is NOT an issue." Right... if you don't shoot this way then congratulations, you won't see issues. For those that have had issues they now have some additional insight. I make videos based on my interactions with other photographers and I know this has been an issue for some. Now folks that had the A7RIV know that the A7V doesn't make sense if they want to improve in this area. 🙂
@@JeremySmithPhotography Hmmm, I turned on silent shutter, took out my Sony A7R V and it did indeed scan to find the frequency to avoid banding/flicker. What it can only do in mechanically is to time the shutter to avoid flicker. Which technically means it delays the picture taking (in a way I can`t imagine is humanly detectable).
@@Nomine69 Thanks for the reply and clarification. We are all referring to different things, what you and Lee are describing is a setting called "variable shutter". This setting can be used in the electronic shutter mode and as you say the A7RV can detect the frequency of the flickering light source. What I tested in the video is the "anti-flicker shoot" setting which can only be used on the A7RV when in mechanical shutter mode. On the A1 you can use the anti-flicker shoot setting in mechanical shutter or electronic shutter and you still have access to the variable shutter setting as well. This gives more flexibility with the A1 because sometimes the variable shutter setting alone isn't enough to prevent banding in electronic shutter mode and the anti-flicker shoot setting is preferred. All this comes back to the stacked sensor of the A1; even without considering the variable shutter or anti-flicker shoot setting the A1 is inherently less prone to banding in the first place. The A7RV sensor scan time is somewhere around 1/15th sec whereas the A1 falls somewhere in the 1/200th sec range. A faster sensor scan time means that the camera has a higher chance of capturing flickering light sources at their peak brightness and color... hence less banding and color shift. Of course even the A1 can still have issues under flickering light sources but that's where the mechanical shutter can be used as a last resort... interestingly enough the A1's mechanical shutter is also a bit quieter than the unit found in the A7RV but that's a topic for another day. I'm glad this topic came up, I sense a followup video coming. 😃
@@JeremySmithPhotography Thank you for the reply, I am referring to this function " 2nd the A7R5 has a scan function the A1 doesn't have that will automatically find the frequency the LED lights are at to eliminate it's flicker." As I understood your comment, before mine, you were saying this does not exist on the Sony A7r V in electronic shutter. The mechanical function in your reply to me as you refer too is the same as the one I mentioned in my comment ;) As I said, on the A7R 5 it only does this when using the mechanical shutter. The variable shutter is intended to reduce flicker/banding after all - two functions with the same goal and different approaches to reach that end goal.
@@Nomine69 You’ve chosen to conflate two separate functions, i.e., variable shutter and anti-flicker shoot, to bolster your incorrect interpretation of Mr. Smith’s initial observation. Referencing equipment documentation in one’s communication is a best business practice when attempting to counter a point of someone who has read and comprehended said literature.
There's a reason why the A1 is $6k+.
Yes, certainly!
How do I fix the crappy screen on the a1? The screen worse than on my Nikon z6
I know how the screen compares on paper to the Z6 and you are right 2.1 million dots on the Z6 VS 1.4 million dots on the A1 is certainly a difference. The A7RV also has a 2.1 million dot screen. After spending time using all 3 camera though I don't see a difference in the real world. Perhaps it's because I either shoot tethered or review my images using the camera EVF. For times when I really need to review my images in detail I find that the camera LCD screen (on any camera) doesn't quite cut it for me. Of course this is my preference. 😃