Not long ago, after a few back-and-forth sessions with the two teleconverters on the 70-200mm f2.8 GM II, it became apparent that a limitation with the 2X extender was autofocus on the a7r5. Unfortunately the problem appears to be most pronounced when the subject matter is birds.

On landscapes and other static matter, the camera captures insane amounts of detail, generally rendering relatively cleanly even in questionable light. On a bird with foliage in the background, even three-digit ISO can sometimes look as though someone threw black pepper on an image.

And when AF fouls things up further, as it did repeatedly this afternoon, it can be maddening. At one point, AF completely balked on a slightly backlit critter friend for several seconds until the shot was gone. On others, it near-missed, as in the shot below.

It’s almost as though the “AI” in the camera is programmed to really screw up the image whenever it recognizes a bird in the frame. And tracking? With anything other than a clear sky background, there’s little hope of it.

The a7cII does a little better in both noise control and AF. But it gives up a significant amount of relative reach when compared to the a7r5. And anyway, I’m already spoiled to the bigger EVF. Since that arrived, the a7cII has sat idle.

It’s starting to look as though this whole foray into Sony, which was okay-ish for a few months there, no longer does what I need it to do. And well all know what happens when that’s the problem, right?

a7r5/70-200 f2.8 GM II/2X . . .