Sony A7RV vs Nikon Z9 Animal Eye AF

In this video the Sony A7RV and Nikon Z9 both equipped with their native 50mm f/1.2 lenses will face off in animal eye tracking. In this video, there will be no commentary. It is up to you to decide in the comments which one performs better.

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Nikon Z9
Sony A7RV
Nikon Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.2 S
Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 G
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Apple Studio M1 Max
Apple Studio Display

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#sony #nikon #photography #sonycamera #nikonusa

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I'm ZWade the ZWade in ZWade Photo and I pride myself on having the most honest, no BS photography content on my channel where you can laugh, learn, consume photography in live photoshoots, get the latest news in informative yet comedic format, or maybe fill that itch to see a review for or watch before you buy photography tech such as cameras, lenses, and photography accessories.

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[marcusalanphotography]

Need to see results but I what IO saw was pretty equal and if I had to give an edge it would go to the Nikon…IMO

[photographydiscourse]

Hi ZWade - interesting to see them in action side by side. As to which is better, the only conclusion I can come to is that they are so close in this one particular area that it is irrelevant. To compare the cameras now we would have to look beyond eye AF - something Sony folks have been loath to do since the beginning.

To be totally fair though, you were using an A7 RV and not an A9II or A1 - the two latter being better know to be Sony's sports/action cameras - so a comparison like this with an A1 would be very interesting and it would be interesting to see if the A1 did markedly better and the A7 RV and/or the Nikon - but as good as the Nikon was doing, the question has to be asked - how much better is really needed.

The days of Sony AF dominance are now clearly numbered - as the Canon's are also at that level (or better in some cases) as well.

Thanks for the video!
-PD

[gaucphotography]

Z it seems to be a fair way to make a comparison., same subject and light conditions. Don’t see any clear advantage to THE Sony AF. It also shows both systems sometimes fail, but on this test the Z9 seems to be a little be better. I think you are going to get a lot of comments!, brace yourself…

[dmootzphotography]

I was impressed that the Sony did not pick up that eye at the rear end of the dog around the :15 sec mark, ;) All kidding aside they seemed to be equally as good. I prefer the Nikon set to Large area then locking in with 3D tracking once it catches the eye. I use my shutter button to focus with Large area set to animal eye detect and once it locks on the eye of the animal I am shooting I lock 3D tracking with back button. Nikon latest firmware has come a long way.

[longrider]

Z what were your AF settings on the R5?

[apstudios]

Now that’s interesting. Curious to see what others think.

[livejames]

Z9 did better, especially at distance. So much for the AI chip.

[leeR]

I hate to tell ya but your Sony settings were OFF. There are a number of special setting to dial in the Tracking Speeds, Sensitivity and more per the subject. It would have made a difference. I see the Z9's stickiness has been vastly improved as well.

[roybixby]

I would have expected the Sony to be better.
I'd be happy with either system.
And it strange how your dog has a face/eye at both ends...🦘

[Battlemnk]

Have a feeling Sony spent most of it's resources training their AI chip for human subjects. They emphasized a lot on it understanding human poses and body parts. Guessing where the eye is even while obstructed like wearing a motorcycle helmet etc. Their animal detection didn't see any better prior models.

[saltymanos]

On the Sony you had matrix metering and Nikon you had spot metering, using like settings on both help keep it a balanced match.

[j.kimmer]

Sony's main chip is not fast enough so Sony had to add an additional chip and their marketing dept decided to call it "AI" chip like it was some kind of harry potter out of this world magic. BS. Z9 doesn't need a separate "AI" chip... the camera don't need it. Z9 is just as good if not better. As a product and design manager; it is always better to reduce cost, parts NOT add another chip - that tells me their legacy hardware SUCKS and just added more cost and time to production; and the consumer is paying for it. Suckers.

[kaminobatto]

I felt the Sony fared better in acquiring eye focus from a greater distance except in the quick action sequence where it continued to struggle acquiring focus across the test. Another observation is that sometimes the Sony was stickier to the eye while at other times the Nikon felt a bit stickier, I just couldn't put my hand on the shooting conditions where the two exchanged blows from watching it a second time. I guess I'll have to watch it a few more times for more insights. Otherwise, the AF performance was largely very comparable IMHO. Question Z; is the Nikon's firmware updated to the latest one? Because I know that they improved AF performance, and what you have hear looks a bit better than the last AF test I watched on YT.

[realnikonlover]

Very interesting comparison. Either camera is good. I am good with the Z9 results as that is what I am shooting with. I opted to do so because of the stable of F lenses I already own and will add to the farm with the Z lenses.

[Hrishi]

Comparing Z9 now and where it was when it launched, there is so much improvement!!!

[j.kimmer]

Oh btw, my A1 seems to track better than the A7RV without the "AI" chip. & yes I have all the right settings. Saving up for a Z8 with trickle down Z9 engine.

[OracleTestlab]

Nikon is quite Good I see. The autofocus hypes of Sony is not that much of a game changer compared to Nikon Z9.

[hitmanhart]

Nikon seems to me like the better of the 2