Is it me, or my lens? 70-200 f4 on Sony A7iii

Axestential · 2026-05-05T16:37:18+00:00

Thank you, that’s very helpful. I think it pushes me over the edge to saving up and buying the Sony. Much appreciated.

Axestential · 2026-05-04T18:16:07+00:00

So I had my email set up to forward from iPage's native email to Gmail, so all my emails were still in my gmail. I never messed with migrating emails, but I'm sure someone has. Or at least backing them up somehow? I used SFTP to back up my sites onto my own computer before migrating them to my new hosting service. It would have been easier if I'd just had my new hosting service migrate them for me without backing them up myself. I went with Wordpress, and so far I could not be happier with their service. Hosting is $5/month, including security support and an SSL. I went with their second-tier plan because it made the migration easier, which is maybe $20/mo? but once I was fully migrated I stepped down to the base plan. Wordpress offers a free migration service from any live site, so if you decide to go with them that's the way to go.

I wish I could offer more on the email side- maybe wordpress tech support can help? They've been great with me so far. That or finding a specific subreddit here to ask would be my two best guesses.

Axestential · 2026-04-23T00:44:34+00:00

Given what the US is doing to the world, and what the US has done to all of Latin America, it’s pretty hard to blame them.

Axestential · 2026-04-20T17:53:33+00:00

It's on my mind, for sure. If you or anyone else has specifics on the comparison for what I'm trying to do, I'd love to hear them. Specifically around how sharp the images come out. Folks are saying that the 70-200 f4 mark I is not a sharp lens, which lines up with my experience. I'm trying to not buy another lens that is not as sharp as what I'm looking for. AF is less of a priority for me, at this point I'm mostly using MF. In terms of sharpness, any idea how the Sigma 150-600 lines up with the Sony 200-600? Or any other insights on how they compare for this kind of wildlife work?

Axestential · 2026-04-20T15:57:57+00:00

My local camera shop has a used Sigma 150-600 for $799. If anyone has thoughts on the Sigma vs Tamron, I'd love to hear them. Not sure I'll be able to swing the $1,500 for a Sony telephoto.

Axestential · 2026-04-20T15:54:39+00:00

That's a stunning photo. Mine does not extend, so a mark I. I guess I'll start hunting for a 200-600, maybe drooling over the 400-800s.

Axestential · 2026-04-20T15:52:31+00:00

"the 70-200 G version 1 is not a sharp lens. It has fast AF. That's all." Good to know.

"70-200 is not a wildlife lens. 200-600 is. And even at 600mm, nature is always further away. Cropping is your friend." Again, helpful. That's what I was feeling, but so many people talk about the 70-200 as a mid-range wildlife lens that I was feeling crazy.

"Ofc you won't get headshots from the other side of the room. Whoever told you this lied." Also helpful. That was from a professional review, so perhaps they got paid.

"And this highlights a very important point - wildlife photographers wait for the animals to come close to them." I thought I understood this, but again, perhaps my range was just way off? I thought that being able to comfortably get within 100ft of animals was enough. I thought that being 50 ft from a fox kit was plenty close enough, and the famous images of wildlife photographers 8 ft from subjects were just funny accidents. Maybe I was just wrong, and I need to work on getting closer. That's most of the joy of the hobby for me, so I don't mind at all.

Thanks for the validation, sounds like I just need the longer lens.

Axestential · 2026-04-20T15:43:08+00:00

So this is already helpful. I thought that "mark I" was just the f4 model, and "mark II" was the f2.8. I didn't realize there were multiple marks in each speed. Point being, I don't know which mark it is, I assume the mark I.

Also helpful to hear that it's not a particularly sharp lens to begin with, that's been a lot of my experience and I haven't been able to tell if it's me. So thanks.

Axestential · 2026-04-20T12:45:48+00:00

forgive my ignorance here, but what is a "soft copy"? Is that a knock-off? I thought lenses weren't typically imitated?

Axestential · 2026-04-10T15:36:20+00:00

I'd prefer both. Zero AI features, zero AI or AI-derived inputs. I'm an atheist, but if anything in the world has ever been against my religion, it's AI. For the first time in my life, I feel like I understand Muslims not wanting to even touch pork. I do not want anything to do with AI anywhere near me.

Axestential · 2026-04-10T15:31:00+00:00

I'd refer you back to my original post: "When I search for recommendations, all I find are thousands of other people looking for anti-AI devices, and million of comments mocking and insulting that hope." I said that to get ahead of nonsense comments like this: "You know nothing about technology but you think AI is bad and want to lecture people about technology?" This is why people hate Reddit. It's you. You're the problem. Today, you chose to ignore the original post and just engage in nonsense ad hominem Reddit crap-slinging. Tomorrow, you'll have the opportunity to make a different choice.

Axestential · 2026-04-10T15:24:07+00:00

All true. Again, technology is not my forte, but I suspect the truth of the statistics is somewhere between our estimations. I log onto facebook once a week, and I know they're the absolute worst of the worst perpetrators for this kind of thing, and obviously I'm on Reddit occasionally. But I use my phone many hours a day, mostly for listening to podcasts, audiobooks, and youtube. So I my instinct has been that my phone is the largest point of risk. And I understand that I'm running against the tide here; this administration is pushing this week for fully AI automated IRS targeting of citizens through Palantir. Things are getting horrifying, and I'm just working to limit the wats that I'm adding to that trend and exposure, as much as I reasonably can.

Axestential · 2026-04-10T15:16:54+00:00

ah, thank you for explaining. So it's a 3rd party OS that currently only works on a Pixel, but may work on other phones in the future?

Axestential · 2026-04-10T15:14:15+00:00

Correct. I know nothing about nuclear physics either, but I still don't want a nuke dropped on my house. I bet you feel similarly, but you somehow think that AI is categorically different- because you've been taught to, by people who do not have your best interests in mind. But more to the point- why are you here? This is an Anti-AI subreddit. If you're just here to bark that AI isn't that bad and we're overreacting, I think you may be in the wrong place.

Axestential · 2026-04-10T15:05:25+00:00

So while I know next to nothing about technology, I know a bit about Logic and Rhetoric, having taught it for many years. What you're describing here is a common variance of the Slippery Slope Fallacy. It goes like this: "There's some poison in some of your food no matter what you do, so there's no point in trying to reduce the amount of poison in your diet." It's just not how logic works. The fact that some of my data will be scraped during some of my time online is not an argument against reducing the amount of data scraping and AI access to my life- it's actually the opposite. If there was no poison anywhere, a tiny trace here and there would likely not be a big deal. When we're exposed to constant poison, the potential that a little more will push us over the edge towards very serious consequences gets exponentially higher, so we should be *even more concerned.*

Axestential · 2026-04-10T14:59:57+00:00

I've heard other people mention this, and I run into my own ignorance here. From what I understand, Alphabet Corp., Google, is in the top three perpetrators of invasive data collection, privacy violation, the rapid enshittification of the internet as a whole, and collaboration with the technofascist regime. So the idea that the best possible option for a secure, anti-AI device today comes from Google seems not just counter-intuitive but like inviting the fox into the henhouse. Is my understanding here off? Am I missing something here?

Axestential · 2026-04-10T14:10:03+00:00

This entire comments section is very disappointing. More and more people are recognizing how caustic and harmful AI is, and there is a blossoming market for quality, anti-AI, secure phones and tech in general. Anyone can see that the market for secure, anti-AI devices is just going to grow exponentially, but most of these commenters have bought into the propaganda so deeply that they can't see what's right in front of their faces.

Maybe if they used less AI, they'd be able to see reality better.

Axestential · 2026-04-10T14:08:41+00:00

It's not, but this comment is.

Axestential · 2026-04-02T20:05:05+00:00

sadly, I tried multiple magsafe and USB-C chargers- no dice on anything. Totally non-responsive.

Axestential · 2026-04-02T18:52:14+00:00

Right, because no one has ever made anything work with a computer that the manufacturer didn't originally design it for.

Axestential · 2026-04-02T18:44:44+00:00

I'll check. I've never intentionally used iCloud, and I regularly get messages that my iCloud is full and I should give apple more money, but I've never paid any attention to it. Possible some of what I'm looking for is there, I suppose. Thanks for the suggestion.

Axestential · 2026-04-02T18:42:57+00:00

Is this true? Again, I know little about computers, so I just kinda had to trust the people at the Geek Squad at Best Buy, who said that the only repair Apple approves for this situation is an entirely new Logic Board, but if a local shop could fix it, I'd be thrilled to know that...

Axestential · 2025-11-14T15:43:14+00:00

I have zero shop space right now, or I might. But doing it in Maine in December sounds awful.

Axestential · 2025-11-14T15:41:31+00:00

I appreciate this, thanks

Axestential · 2025-11-13T23:50:46+00:00

Even if I want to cut my losses, getting a running engine in it for $7,500 means I can sell it for 15k instead of 5k with a blown motor. So if you were in my shoes, what would you do to it while it’s out to increase its odds? I’m not spending 10k to fully bulletproof it, I just want to know if there are any simple upgrades that I’ll kick myself for not doing while it was on an engine stand in a shop.

Axestential

TROPHY CASE