[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by SimmoW

Thanks for the links to Brian's pics Andrew, I'll contact him and get more details.

Brian must have noticed my post. Here's the reply he sent me, with a couple of edits for correct typos:

I saw a reference to one of my A7S albums on [IIS]. Since I’m not a member and can't respond directly I thought I’d drop you a note.

I’ve had the A7R since Nov 2013. Used it for about two months unmodded then had it modded to full spectrum.

I’ve had the A7S since it was released in Canada, ~ July 2014. I used it unmodded for three months. It is now also modded to full spectrum.

I use both cameras for astrophotography, nightscape photography, IR photography and daytime photography with various different filters; both clip-in and front mounted.

I tend to use the A7R, with its higher resolution, for wide angle imaging and the A7S for longer scopes and targets that require a touch higher ISO. My cutoff is about 500mm focal length which sort of equates to 1.5-2.0 arcsec/pixel, although I do like the A7S with all of my wide angle lenses when I want to shoot something like the Aurora Borealis handheld or in video, and it is quite possible to shoot handheld under moonlight (which I still find quite amazing!). I also love the A7S for indoor, low light shooting w/o flash and in silent mode.

The A7S outperforms any OSC camera I've ever owned; several DSLR's, a QHY8, QHY8Pro and QHY9C. It is pushing my mono CCD but I can't come to any conclusion on this until I've done some additional testing. I've just starting testing the A7S with an Ha filter at present. In one aspect it already outperforms my mono CCD and that is exposure times. With the ATIK 428Ex I'm looking at 5-20 min. exposures. With the A7S and same scope configuration I’m looking at 20-30 second exposures. This makes a HUGE difference in requirements for polar alignment, tracking/guiding, flexure considerations, whether I use an EQ or Alt-Az mount or a tripod, etc. In fact, I haven't used my guide system since I purchased the A7R last November. Shooting full imaging sessions in 15-20 minutes on a target also agrees with the weather on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, i.e.: weather can change drastically in 20-30 minutes; clear sky to rain/snow .

I have a large number of both A7S and A7R albums and images on Google+ at:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11626...9398213/albums
A lot of the images in the above albums are testing, i.e.: what can the camera do under moonlight at ISO200000?, what kind of noise do I get at ridiculous ISO's, how good is video quality, ad nauseum. So a lot of the images are not show quality... you see the good, the bad and the truly ugly.

Up to this point I've been a pretty solid Canon fan boy. I’m now selling my full spectrum Canon 60D and my QHY8Pro (the QHY8 and QHY9C are long gone). I'll keep my unmodded 60D for situations where I need fast focus, i.e.: wildlife shooting, since the A7's w/ adapters are far from fast autofocus. I already have a Sony FE 28-70mm zoom and have just ordered the Sony FE 70-200mm, f/4 zoom (to gain back a little of that longer fast focus). At present I adapt Canon FD & EF, Pentax, Minolta, Tamron, Sigma, M42 and T2 lenses to the A7R and A7S with what I consider excellent results. Love this capability, specially with the Canon FD lenses which I haven't used since my old FD body cratered years ago and they are great old 35mm film lenses.

Enough said... I am thoroughly enjoying both cameras!

Enjoy!

bwa