The Things That I Hate About the World's Best Bird Photography Camera, the Sony Alpha 1

What’s Up?

I was unable to get my MacBook Pro (and the almost surely messed-up back-up drive) for shipment to the data recovery outfit by Fed-Ex Overnight on Saturday afternoon; the Fed Ex depot in Lake Wales was closed when I got there. It will ship today. Fingers still crossed. I will spare you the gory details until I learn more.

If you need to get in touch with me, please shoot an e-mail to staffbaa@att.net with the “ATTN: artie” as the Subject Line. Or try me on my cell at 863-221-2372.

The favored Kansas City Chiefs destroyed the upstart Cincinnati Bengals in the first half, leading 21-3. They botched the last few seconds of the second quarter, leaving a bit of a sour taste in fans’ mouthes, but what could go wrong? Well, pretty much everything. Led by cocky young gunslinger Joe Burrow, the Bengals took the lead late in the game. The quarterback of the “Dynasty of One,” Patrick Mahomes, led the Chiefs to a trying field goal at the end of the fourth quarter. Ominously for the Bengals, the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss as they had in their miraculous come-from-behind win over the Buffalo Bills last weekend. But the Bengals intercepted a deflected Mahomes’ pass and drove for the point-blank game-winning field goal.

The Bengals are on to their first Super Bowl since 1988 to face the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams beat their long-time rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, with the second second-half comeback of the day. San Fran had beaten the Rams in the last six games they had played over the past three seasons. So much for winning streaks.

In the Super Bowl, to be played on Sunday February 13, I will be pulling for the cocky young gunslinger. I fly to Anchorage for the Homer IPTs on the 15th.

Today is Monday 31 January 2022. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. It finally got below freezing here today: 30 degrees! It is supposed to warm up this week. This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes 80 days in a row with a new one.

Again, please realize that having three back-ups of your images should be mandatory (he said after the horses may have escaped from the barn …)

My Recent Comment at the “Disaster Pending” blog post here:

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions. I may be getting back to some of you for help when the smoke clears. As far as the expense of data recovery, that is fortunately pretty much irrelevant to me. The laptop should be fine, unless the Fed Ex plane crashes.

Mentally, I am in pretty good shape and will be, no matter the outcome, that thanks to The Work of Byron Katie. As far as cloud storage and backup, one of the problems here at ILE is that we have very slow internet with lots of promises but zero options at present. Please correct me if upload and download speeds have nothing to do with cloud storage.

with love, artie

This image was created on 18 October 2021 at Sebastian Inlet. I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera (while standing –double gasp!). ISO 1000. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that this exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:58am on a variably sunny morning. Tracking: Zone AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2A: Osprey rising after missed strike — re-crafted as a vertical!

The Things That I Hate About the World’s Best Bird Photography Camera, the Sony Alpha 1

I love the quality of color of the Sony a1 raw files. I love the fine-feather detail of the sharp 51MP images. And most of all, I love that the remarkable AF system of the a1 with its Bird Eye/Face Detection feature has enabled me to become both a better flight photographer, and a better all-around bird and nature photographer as well.

There are however, several things that I strongly dislike about this great mirrorless camera body. Keep reading to learn about my pet a1 peeves.

Your Favorite Camera Body

If anything really bugs you about your favorite camera body, consider leaving a comment and sharing that information with us. Be sure specify your camera system and the particular body you use, and let us know what pisses you off.

Tied for First: Why Image Playback Forever?

When you press the Playback button to review an image, you must either press the Playback button again or half-press the shutter button to get back to active Shooting mode. If you forget to press the Playback button again or half-press the shutter button, you will see the image in the viewfinder when you raise the camera to your eye. Then you must either press the Playback button again or half-press the shutter button to clear the viewfinder. If you were after an action shot, sorry Bud, you missed it. If you were after a particularly nice pose that lasted only an instant, you were screwed again.

I first complained to Sony about this with the a9 and then with the a9 II. The folks at Sony said, “Don’t worry about it. It will become second nature.” Well, three years later, it has not. It continues to happen to me several times during most shooting sessions. I have suggested often to Sony that a simple Firmware update could give users the option of having the reviewed image turn off automatically after three, five, or even 10 seconds. Or Never, if anyone out there would like that option. Obviously, I could never understand why anyone would want the reviewed image to be displayed forever, or understand why that is the default in the first place.

Tied for First: What AF Method Was I Using?

With camera bodies from every major camera manufacturer that I know of, you are able to examine a raw file on your computer and determine what AF Method was used. Period. And simple. Sony’s Imaging Edge software, though a pain to use, allows you to see the location of the active AF point, but it does not tell you whether you were using Spot S, Tracking: Zone, or Tracking Spot S. How are you supposed to learn about the AF system of the a1 (or the AF systems of any of the other Sony bodies for that matter), if you are not able to determine after the fact which AF Method you used to create a given image?

This situation is utterly ridiculous; Sony should be embarrassed.

Third: Why Can’t Custom Key Settings Be Saved With Memory Recall?

Like most camera bodies, the a1 allows you to register different groups of settings that can be recalled almost instantly by choosing 1, 2, or 3 on the mode dial. On most cameras, this is a great time-saving feature that allows you to switch tracks quickly and easily. Like this, from the Sony a1 Help Guide:

Memory Recall (MR): Recall Camera Settings. You can call up frequently used modes and numerical value settings that have been registered in advance.

The huge Memory Recall problem with the a1 is that you cannot save Custom Key Settings when using MR. When I go from shooting in M (Manual mode) to working in S (Shutter Priority Mode), as I do often when creating pleasing blurs (or trying to), I first set AUTO ISO and then go to Custom Key Settings and assign Exposure Compensation to the Thumb Wheel. When I go back to working in Manual Mode I need to retrace my steps by going back to Custom Key Settings and assign ISO to the Thumb Wheel.

It would be nice, not to mention super-convenient, to be able to save both of the above configurations as say MR 1 and MR 2 so that that could be accessed by turning the mode dial. But Sony MR does not save Custom Key Settings. This is not something that I would expect or hope for with a $6500.00 camera body.

Fourth: Why No Vertically Tilting Rear Monitor?

I love shooting ground level images using the tilted rear monitor (especially when I have my reading glasses with me). I’ve done this with the camera body and/or the lens on the ground, with my rig mounted on a Panning Ground Pod or a splayed tripod, using the ankle-pod technique, or recently, in San Diego, simply holding the camera below me in midair while I was seated. With the a1, however, you are pretty much restricted to working in horizontal format. There have been dozens of times when I’ve wished that the a1 had an articulating screen that could be used to shoot both horizontals and verticals at ground level.

Fifth: Why Only +/- Two Stops on the Analog Exposure Scale in Manual Mode?

When you are working in an automatic exposure mode like S (shutter priority), A (Aperture Priority), or P (Program), the analog exposure scale at the bottom of the viewfinder is active from -5 stops to + five stops. When you are working in M (Manual mode) as I do for more than 95% of my bird photography, the analog exposure scale is active only for -2 to +2 stops. If you are at +2 stops and you add one click more of light, the indicator jumps to off scale plus with the right-facing triangle on the right end of the scale flashing to indicate more than 2 stops of over-exposure (rather than indicating the exact amount from +2 1/2 to +5 stops).

Why? Again, this makes zero sense to me and seems like something that could easily be fixed with a firmware update.

Sixth: Shutter Closing on Power Off Too Slow

The a1 offers a great Menu item that gives users the option to have the camera close the shutter when it is turned off. This helps keep the sensor clean. The problem is that it takes five seconds (and sometimes longer, possibly related to the battery power), for the shutter to close. So when you are in a situation where you need to add or remove a teleconverter right now, this instant, folks will often forget to wait to hear the soft clunk that signifies that the shutter has closed. Summing up, this is a great feature. I just wish that it were a lot faster, perhaps instantaneous.

Seventh: A Recommendation for the Manufacturers of all Digital Camera Bodies

I have thought of this one for well more than a decade. When you are working in an automatic exposure mode such as Tv (time value or shutter priority), or Av (aperture value or priority), all camera bodies record the Exposure Compensation (EC). You know if you were working at +2 stops or -1/3 stop. At present, however, it is not possible to know the EC when you are working in Manual mode (unless you happened to be looking at the analog exposure scale at the moment the image was made and either remembered or wrote down the EC value).

When you are working in Manual mode, all digital and mirrorless camera bodies know the exact difference between the exposure suggested by the camera and the actual exposure at the instant each and every photograph is created. If the cameras could record the data from the analog exposure scale and record it in the EXIF, users could access that information and learn more about exposure than ever before. Just a thought.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.