ST

Thanks, Caroline. I'll have to check that out.

Hi, Caroline, "when I do raw+jpeg" When do you do that "raw+jpeg". When I started, I captured both, but never ended up looking at the jpegs. That's probably because I was anxious to learn Capture One, and by shooting raw, it locked me in to that workflow. That was intentional. What do you do with jpegs straight from the camera?

Every day, I walk two-three hours around a beach and environmentally protected area here in southern BC Canada. In August I took up photography and I got an A7IV and 24-105 F4 and took them with me every day. Since I was just learning, I took a lot of pictures as I tried things I learned about in courses and online. Along the way, I picked up a PZ 16-35 F4 - mainly to do some video, but it's also been a lot of fun for landscapes. Recently I added a 70-200 F 2.8 GM II. Oh my, that was a revelation. It also got me aching to do some more wildlife photography, but I didn't have the reach I wanted with the 200 mm, and I felt I was missing shots. Unfortunately, I'm pretty much at the weight limit for packing gear for two-three hours. I want to get a 2x teleconverter for the 70-200 GM II. I've read several reviews that suggest I should get performance similar to the 100-400 GM. Unfortunately, the teleconverters are hard to come by. The other thing to try was a camera with a higher megapixel sensor. I considered the A7RV, but I wanted to try going for birds in flight and maybe some action photography. So the only thing left was the A1. From today with the A1 and 70-200 F2.8 GM II (and some deep cropping). " ... how often do you get out with your camera and what is your favorite genre of photography?" Every day and I don't know about genre yet.

Tony, I forgot to mention that listening to your Sony AlphaShooters podcast is inspirational and fun. I look forward to each new episode for an inside insight into another interesting photographer. It's an odd twist to enjoy an audio exploration of people who live in a visual medium. https://www.sonyalphaphotographers.com/ PS Please consider turning up the audio level a little. I always have to turn up the volume, but it's always worth it.

Thanks to all for your inputs. I'll try to make sure I have the lens fully zoomed out when I want that 200 mm. What was concerning was the inconsistency (sometimes 200, sometimes 197). But I'll accept user-error as an explanation for now.

Still new to all of this, so I'd barely scratched the surface. When I look back to August when I got my camera, I realize that I was merely keeping a travelogue of my daily walks. That got stale once the novelty wore off. Reviewing the photos since then, I can trace the path of the various courses and tutorials I've watched about the technical aspects of the camera, and later, topics like composition. Most of this is early (clumsy) attempts to apply ideas. Staying fresh? So far, that's through studying, and looking for ways to apply what I'm learning on my daily walks with the camera. Of course, there's the gear side of it. I got the 24-105 F4 with the A7 IV back in the fall. A few months later, I got the PZ 16-35 F4 to do some close-up video and photos of musicians. But I've it's also been interesting to explore that for nature shots. And last week I got the 70-200 GM II. I've got so much to explore. It all remains fresh as long as I'm deliberate and intentional. Except for a 2x teleconverter, I think I'm set for gear for now. I doubt that spending any more money is the path to becoming a better photographer.

Thanks for your input folks. This is a new lens and a new pursuit (photography) for me. I'm still learning what is and is not relevant.

Hi, All. I just got my FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II, and easily half of the shots I intend to take at 200 mm appear to be at 197 mm in the metadata (and in the image review in the camera) Is my lens defective? Should I go back to the store and exchange it for another one? Metadata ILCE-7M4 Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II (SEL70200GM2) ISO 100 1/100 s f/3.2 197 mm

Hi All! New to photography - at this point, not quite five months in. I'm out for two to three hours every day - mainly on the same patch of beach and environmentally protected area*, and decided to get into photography. I had an A7C with the 28-60 mm kit lens for about a week but switched that up for the A7 IV with a FE 24–105 mm F4 G OSS. That's been great company on my daily walks and a lot of fun. (*Southern coast of BC, Canada) In September, I got Capture One, and that was a new experience. In November, I got the FE PZ 16–35 mm F4 G to do some environmental portraits and some video (not vlogging, although I understand it's good for that too). Wow - that lens compels you to get in close to the action. It's also intriguing to explore landscapes through the wide-angle perspective. For the last month or so, I've been frustrated with the 105 end of the 24-105. There are lots of birds, and well - they often feel out of reach. Spring is coming, and there will be plenty to see, so after a lot of hand-wringing over the 100-400 GM or the 70-200 GM II, I picked up the 70-200 GM II five days ago. I had planned to get a 2X teleconverter too, but it looks like they are out of stock everywhere. Here are a couple of shots from the first outing with the newest lens. Oh - there's so much to learn! Thanks for having me.