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Morg

Mirror-less Cameras and Autofocus - Specifically Panasonic

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Hey all, Im looking to upgrade my setup from 2 x gopros and add a higher end stills camera.

I have a bit of canon gear currently (60d, 11-16mm tokina, 18-55mm kit lens and a bite switch). However with the 11-16 mounted, the 60d becomes very heavy.

The obvious option for me would be to grab a cheap 100d body and off I go. However I feel that it fills a similar role to my 60d and its hard to justify owning 2 bodies of similar specs (weight excluded). Hence my desire to maybe step into the 4/3 mirror-less range, any investment I make will be into a range of lenses and gear that fullfills a completely different role to my current setup.

Looking into these cameras I can't seem to find anything with good manual focus. I have seen that people are getting good results from their GX1's but at the camera store today I was told the more modern GF7 will get superior images at a similar price. However it has even less manual focus ability because the kit lenses has no focus ring at all.

I guess I really want to now if you guys flying mirror-less cameras are using auto focus or not? If so is it any good and what kind of problems are you having? Will it focus in low light, sunset loads etc....

The setup is for shooting tandems, but I want to branch out into other disciplines as time and experience allows.

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Currently using Sony A6000 with kit lens. Fastest auto focusing camera on the market. I can shoot 7fps with the camera focusing every shot. For tandems its overkill. For FS I would use its full 11fps ability to ensure I get a great exit shot. The A5000 shoots slower, is lighter, and the card loads from the side.

IMO the Sony A5000 and A6000 are the best options.

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jtiflyer

Currently using Sony A6000 with kit lens. Fastest auto focusing camera on the market. I can shoot 7fps with the camera focusing every shot. For tandems its overkill. For FS I would use its full 11fps ability to ensure I get a great exit shot. The A5000 shoots slower, is lighter, and the card loads from the side.

IMO the Sony A5000 and A6000 are the best options.

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Does the A6000 ( or 5000 ) have a buffering problem in continuous mode. I had a Canon Rebel which was like a rock, never buffering during a jump. My A 5n NEX though could barely get off the hill before it began buffering, always making me wonder, am I still getting shots. What I mean of course ... I want to exit with my tongue on the switch and let it go during deployment and I want the shutter to never miss a beat .... is that asking too much .... :S

Life is short ... jump often.

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Thanks for responding. I don't see a need for high frame shots per second. I am happy with 3. I just want a quality picture from a lighter weight camera. I've always used manual focus because of focus lag times. A super quick auto focus ( A 6000 ) would be nice.
Life is short ... jump often.

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Cheers for the info guys. I haven't
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been on here for a few days.
Had a look at the a6000s and they seem pretty great.

However ended up going with am olympus em-5 mk2. Seems fairly untested in the skydiving world so hopefully it was a good decision :).

Autofocus is fast and it should be able to replace my DLSR for non skydiving video jobs as well as being a great all round camera for travel snaps etc...

I will post some pics and a bit of a write up once I get it setup in a few weeks :).

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jtiflyer

Currently using Sony A6000 with kit lens. Fastest auto focusing camera on the market. I can shoot 7fps with the camera focusing every shot. For tandems its overkill. For FS I would use its full 11fps ability to ensure I get a great exit shot. The A5000 shoots slower, is lighter, and the card loads from the side.



What mode are you shooting in to get those kind of bursts with autofocus?

I got an A5000 to try after talking to a couple people and reading reviews on here, but I'm having some issues (probably self-induced). For one thing, it's pretty slow using Continuous AF in Tv mode- maybe 1.5 fps, at most- sometimes slower. Single shot AF in Tv is much faster but a lot more of the shots are out of focus. I use Intelligent Auto with the flash for in-plane/hangar shots and it works great. Haven't tried either of the auto modes in freefall- should I?

Also, I recently had to replace a worn out tongue switch. Put the new one in (Conceptus- same as the old one), and it worked fine on the ground, and in the plane, but I got very few or no freefall shots (yes, I was pushing on it). Happened three jumps in a row, so I gave up for the day and took it home to troubleshoot. Took the tongue switch out, along with the $90 Hypoxic 2.5mm to MULTI adapter (:S), and of course couldn't duplicate the problem no matter how hard I tried. I did notice that the 2.5mm plug is pretty loose in the adapter, so I'm wondering if that was causing some of my issues- although if it was, I wasn't able to recreate them at my kitchen table.

Any thoughts?

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EatSleepFly

***Currently using Sony A6000 with kit lens. Fastest auto focusing camera on the market. I can shoot 7fps with the camera focusing every shot. For tandems its overkill. For FS I would use its full 11fps ability to ensure I get a great exit shot. The A5000 shoots slower, is lighter, and the card loads from the side.



What mode are you shooting in to get those kind of bursts with autofocus?

I got an A5000 to try after talking to a couple people and reading reviews on here, but I'm having some issues (probably self-induced). For one thing, it's pretty slow using Continuous AF in Tv mode- maybe 1.5 fps, at most- sometimes slower. Single shot AF in Tv is much faster but a lot more of the shots are out of focus. I use Intelligent Auto with the flash for in-plane/hangar shots and it works great. Haven't tried either of the auto modes in freefall- should I?

Also, I recently had to replace a worn out tongue switch. Put the new one in (Conceptus- same as the old one), and it worked fine on the ground, and in the plane, but I got very few or no freefall shots (yes, I was pushing on it). Happened three jumps in a row, so I gave up for the day and took it home to troubleshoot. Took the tongue switch out, along with the $90 Hypoxic 2.5mm to MULTI adapter (:S), and of course couldn't duplicate the problem no matter how hard I tried. I did notice that the 2.5mm plug is pretty loose in the adapter, so I'm wondering if that was causing some of my issues- although if it was, I wasn't able to recreate them at my kitchen table.

Any thoughts?

The A5000 doesn't have anywhere near as high fps on continuous shooting as the A6000 - http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=sony_a5000&products=sony_a6000

3.5fps for A5000 and 11fps for A6000. So that may be some of the issue. Add in autofocus, which isn't as fast on the A5000 either (25 contrast points, versus 179 contrast and phase points on the A6000) and that will probably account for the rest of the drop off on your shooting rate.

I don't know if the A5000 is fast enough in autofocus to get anything much in the air, as it may be continually trying to focus, which could be why you haven't got anything on those jumps. Try it in manual focus and see if you get the same results?

And $90 for that adaptor?!?! :o
I'll stick with my £12 ($18) one!!
Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

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EatSleepFly

***Currently using Sony A6000 with kit lens. Fastest auto focusing camera on the market. I can shoot 7fps with the camera focusing every shot. For tandems its overkill. For FS I would use its full 11fps ability to ensure I get a great exit shot. The A5000 shoots slower, is lighter, and the card loads from the side.



What mode are you shooting in to get those kind of bursts with autofocus?

I got an A5000 to try after talking to a couple people and reading reviews on here, but I'm having some issues (probably self-induced). For one thing, it's pretty slow using Continuous AF in Tv mode- maybe 1.5 fps, at most- sometimes slower. Single shot AF in Tv is much faster but a lot more of the shots are out of focus. I use Intelligent Auto with the flash for in-plane/hangar shots and it works great. Haven't tried either of the auto modes in freefall- should I?

Also, I recently had to replace a worn out tongue switch. Put the new one in (Conceptus- same as the old one), and it worked fine on the ground, and in the plane, but I got very few or no freefall shots (yes, I was pushing on it). Happened three jumps in a row, so I gave up for the day and took it home to troubleshoot. Took the tongue switch out, along with the $90 Hypoxic 2.5mm to MULTI adapter (:S), and of course couldn't duplicate the problem no matter how hard I tried. I did notice that the 2.5mm plug is pretty loose in the adapter, so I'm wondering if that was causing some of my issues- although if it was, I wasn't able to recreate them at my kitchen table.

Any thoughts?


Most likely it was your adapter I had a problem with one when using a cam eye and adapter on a cx video camera. If I rotated the 2.5mm plug the light would go out but still be functioning. So I solved it by taping the plug in place when funcitoning. BTW the hypoxic adapter is not made by hypoxic. He just carries them in stock.

As for what mode I shoot in. With the A6000 I can put it in intelligent plus mode and get beautiful shots every time. Another guy at the dz has the A5000 and has similar focusing and fps problems you are having. When he shoots in shutter or aperture priority he has much better results.

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I shoot a GX7 with a 8mm fisheye and have no problems or complaints in any area. All you need is a cheap remote release extension cord. It will plug directly into your camera on one end and into your standard tongue switch on the other.
i'll huff and I'll puff and I'll burn your packing tent down

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