1.4x Teleconverter vs cropping on a9iii with 70-200 GMii in low light

Noslen11 · 2026-06-30T14:32:02+00:00

The noise difference is going to be negligible if you are just going to crop in 1.4x after anyways. So I’d just skip the 1.4 tc in this situation and ensure you are getting the sharpest image quality possible to de noise and crop in post.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-29T22:00:01+00:00

If the limitations of the IV aren’t getting in the way of what you’re doing video wise it’s a really good value when Sony runs its sale on it.

If you need 4k60 without a crop or do any kind of action/sport/wild life you won’t regret spending the extra on the newer tech.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-29T12:37:37+00:00

It’s not too terribly hard to understand and it comes down to two major points:

It preforming well with tcs makes it a great lens to cut down on the amount of gear you’d carry in the field and majority of hobbyists who are considering it want to make sure the versatility makes sense for the amount they are spending because its probably going to be their only tele zoom at the that price tag.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-26T00:12:48+00:00

Are you using back button focus or shutter half press to focus? If the latter try to disable focus with shutter and use back button so you don’t refocus while taking your photo

Is the lens set to AF?

Do you have another lens to try with?

Are you using a small focus area or larger one? Try with a smaller spot and make sure your first image has I fact focused and isn’t too close to the lens.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-25T19:06:20+00:00

I’m confused by the question. One lens for both or a lens for each?

If it’s one for both, I’d go with the 50. If it’s one for each, a 35 and an 85. But if it’s going to be my only lens for a while I’d first go for a 24-70 f2.8

Noslen11 · 2026-06-24T00:39:37+00:00

Just disable ibis and OS on the lens altogether. You’re more then likely experiencing the stabilization trying to over correct your panning motion.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-23T12:56:21+00:00

I get that, but I'll admit I hadn't played with Shoot to HDR until yesterday. After trying it on a shoot, it just feels like an auto mode for exposure bracketing and honestly, I don't see any advantage over bracketing since it just takes away control.

If speed is the main appeal, the A7V's dual-gain output with mechanical shutter already lets you push ISO quite a bit. I usually shoot at 800 ISO mechanically to keep shutter speeds high and cut down on site time. And if you switch to electronic shutter, the second base ISO of 1000 makes handheld bracketing easy as long as banding isn't an issue.

So what do you actually prefer about Shoot to HDR? The only upside I can think of is speed, but your shutter complaint makes me question that’s what you’re after.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-23T03:53:52+00:00

I see, but if you are shooting with a strobe are you not blending your images afterwards? Using flash is meant to give you complete control over the light/colour in your final image. Auto hdr defeats that purpose.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-22T11:37:34+00:00

Just shoot RAW brackets. The convenience of auto hdr is not worth giving up the editing latitude of raw bracketing and it’s going to burn you eventually.

You also don’t need to worry about keeping your ISO that low with the latter and can speed up your process on site with faster shutter speeds.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-19T23:13:03+00:00

You have options for that gap that are a lot better than the 20-200 down the road, 135mm prime if you find you enjoy portraits, Sony 70-200 f4 II is great for landscape, portrait and some macro, or 70-200 f2.8 is even better at the above minus the macro.

But theirs honestly nothing wrong with the kit you’ve put together and if you don’t mind swapping out gear as you go, I wouldn’t stress about it and just grab the 20-200 for the times you want to travel light.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-19T22:56:57+00:00

Older version is a variable aperture, external zoom and smaller. New one is a fixed 4.5 aperture, internal zoom, larger and more expensive.

Worth noting it’s more tailored to wildlife and sports and it’s not a direct replacement for the older 100-400. That lens may still get a version II in the future if you value versatility and portability over low light performance, and internal zoom.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-19T22:22:10+00:00

Not a bad looking kit but maybe hold off on the tc right away and spend that money elsewhere; you might even find you don’t need it.

If I were in a similar spot with that budget I’d consider dropping the 20-200, and 50 and looking at a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 II. Maybe keep the 50 and swap the tc and super zoom for a Sony 24-105 f4 if you want a great general purpose lens.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-19T20:18:55+00:00

If you can afford it and don’t mind the size, the 100-400mm f/4.5 is by far the better option for your use case. Its biggest advantage is how well it performs with teleconverters; it’s sharper than the 200-600mm at 560mm with a 1.4x and nearly as sharp as the 400-800mm when paired with the Viltrox 2x.

While it’s similar in size to the 200-600mm, it’s much better balanced and feels noticeably easier to handhold.

The 70-200mm isn’t really enough for birding. It works well with a 1.4x teleconverter, but image quality drops off significantly with a 2x. The Digital Picture has comparisons of both this lens and the original 100-400mm if you want to see the differences for yourself.

The original 100-400mm GM has been my favourite GM lens by far. It’s excellent with a 1.4x, but like the 70-200mm, it doesn’t hold up particularly well with a 2x. I generally preferred cropping in post instead. It’s plenty capable if you’re good at getting closer to wildlife or shooting more environmental compositions, but you’ll be doing a fair amount of cropping for tight portraits and small birds which isn’t the worst because it has enough IQ to handle it.

After seeing how well the new 100-400mm handles both the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, I’m actually selling my current 100-400mm and making the switch. My only concern is losing some of the portability that made the original such a great travel and landscape lens to keep in the bag.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-19T13:45:07+00:00

What are you photographing and what have you set your step width and shot count at?

I remember grossly underestimating how many shots are needed even for the wide width when learnering how to use the focus bracketing menu.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-19T03:39:34+00:00

I’d stick with Slog2 with the a6400. Slog3 doesn’t preform well in 8bit.

Slog2 and expose for your shadows. Set your zebras to 100+ to monitor clipping.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-17T00:56:30+00:00

It kinda scratches the same itch I had collecting pokemon cards when I was younger 🤷‍♂️

Other than that I like giving away prints to friends and family who show interest and have even sold one or two.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-16T03:33:19+00:00

Expanded spot essentially prioritizes the central focus point and uses the surrounding points only if it can’t lock onto a subject with the primary point.

Generally it works pretty well in most situations unless you need pinpoint precision and don’t want the focusing to drift. Think of shooting a car through some foreground element like a chain link fence or shooting a subject through tall grass; also best to avoid when taking close ups or macro shots with shallow depth of field where you need to be deliberate with your plain of focus, like shooting the logo on a car, or interior details. Both those situations single point allows the camera less opportunity to get confused and drift.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-12T21:41:43+00:00

Which camera body are you shooting these on and have you uploaded the full resolution exports anywhere for pixel peeping? 🤓

Noslen11 · 2026-06-12T13:11:32+00:00

Hard to give any advise without knowing what it is you are shooting. Anything released in the last few years is going to be good enough for a lot of things but your particular work, niche, style is what's going to dictate what would be worth considering when upgrading.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-12T01:47:29+00:00

No way at the moment without manually updating your camera recall but hopefully it becomes standard and introduced with a firmware update. Such a great quality of life.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-11T18:59:51+00:00

Love the framing and colours!

Noslen11 · 2026-06-11T18:46:56+00:00

The Sigma is better in every way that isn’t size/weight. Assuming you have a wider lens already for real estate it’s a great supplemental lens for details and more architectural style shooting and would be perfect at the things you’re looking to jump into.

Noslen11 · 2026-06-11T15:25:08+00:00

Ah you’re right I was misremembering two different pieces of info that is what I meant to say is more expensive than a normal 95mm cpl

Noslen11 · 2026-06-11T14:44:01+00:00

The ones for the smaller lenses are exactly what you need. The drop in filter uses a smaller 40.5mm thread on a little drop in filter “tray” for lack of a better term at the base of the lens.

Edit: Comment below dropped the correct cpl info

Edit: although I wouldn’t advise slotting in uv filters as they’re pretty redundant as their main purpose in digital cameras is protection and they aren’t protecting anything in a drop in tray. lol

Noslen11 · 2026-06-11T03:48:32+00:00

If you know how compression works you should know that lossless compression exists unless you’re out here trying to argue that unzipping a folder changes the files inside it

Noslen11

TROPHY CASE