As far as Sony full frame camera bodies go, I have the a9, a7Riv and two copies of the a7Riii. My favorite and most used are the a7Riii bodies. I find that 42 megapixel sensor to be sublime; I love it.

I rarely need the speed of the a9. I do, however, like the extra dial on top of the a9. Since some of the functions are on that dial instead of in the menu like on the a7 series, it has, on occasion, caused me to pause to think when working with both the a9 and one of the a7 series bodies. If working with only an a9 series body, the selection of those functions can be a tiny bit faster - probably just a fraction of a second if you’re proficient with both bodies.

For me, I do like to use the a7Riv with the 100-400 (or other lenses like 135mm or 90 Macro) when I go hiking or trying to catch birds in flight so I can crop heavily in post processing. Of course, I can also crop a lot using the a7Riii, just not as much as the iv.

The a9 and a7Riv may have a little more responsive autofocusing but I haven’t noticed much difference from the a7Riii.

I guess you can already tell my love for the a7Riii. In my opinion, it’s the best bang for the (now reduced) cost. The extra speed or extra resolution provided by one of the newer bodies is overkill for most users.

A couple of more comments:
My copy of the 100-400 does exhibit lens creep. It extends completely to 400mm while hanging by my side. It doesn’t bother me though. Most of my shots are taken at the 400mm focal length anyway. I’m still surprised how sharp they are.

Last year, my first a7Riii with 100-400 lens dropped from about 3 feet. Of course, I cringed when I heard the thud as they hit the wood floor. Sure enough, both were damaged. I had Precision Camera out of Austin send them to Sony for repair. (I know how blessed I am to have been able to ...) immediately order a new copy of each. I love them both and couldn’t bear to be without either. When the repaired items came back, I kept the a7Riii body. That’s why I have two. Can’t bear to part with either of those identical bodies. I sold the repaired 100-400 to a fellow photographer (who is one of the best photographers I know and way more knowledgable than me). She recently used that repaired 100-400 lens almost exclusively on an extended photo trip to Africa.

Hope this helps a little bit.

Wow! What an amazing photo. Made me smile.

I had a Canon 28-300 with a “push-pull” zoom that I did not like. I kept it for many years but didn’t often use it and finally sold it. The Sony 100-400 GM has the zoom ring instead of push-pull. I like it much better.
I too thought I’d be bothered by the lens extension on zooming in and out but it has not bothered me. I really don’t even think about that any more.

I have the 100-400 but not the 200-600. I do love the 100-400. Since buying it, I have rarely used my 70-200 f/2.8. I use it on my a9, a7R3 & a7R4. I love it for hiking and wildlife photography. I get nice sharp images. The downside is that you won’t get the gorgeous bokeh you’d get with something like a Canon 300mm f/2.8 but that costs a premium. I have the button on the 100-400mm lens customized to toggle between full frame and crop modes.
I know this doesn’t answer your question about comparison to the 200-600 but some of this might help you.

I see the woman.

I’ve had about 30 camera bags. (Probably more - I always seem to underestimate.)
My favorites have been Lowepro and Think Tank - as have been previously mentioned. My most often used are the Think Tank Streetwalker v2 and the Streetwalker Pro v2. But I use those mostly for Sony mirrorless bodies. In my opinion, the Pro is better for a DSLR body because of the larger size.

Personally, I use Lowepro bags for my DSLR bodies.i like the way the larger DSLR camera bodies fit in the middle of the bag without constraint instead of on the side where the fit isn’t quite as natural. That’s just my opinion and experience. Also why I suggest the Pro v2 if you were to go Think Tank route. The Think Tanks truly are built extremely well and tough.

I personally like Domke inserts that I use not only in Domke bags but also in other bags, backpacks & rollers.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Inserts/ci/4382/N/4232860913

Peregrine Falcons like the tall buildings in urban areas because they can scan below for prey. They dive bomb pigeons and other food sources from their lofty perch at great speed.

Yes, Glad you’re up to getting out shooting so soon after surgery, Mike

At first glance, the image didn’t do much for me until I realized you made the image look like it was taken using the shift feature of a tilt shift lens. Notice the vertical lines of the building are vertical and not converging. Note how it looks like you are pointing the camera at the bottom of the stairs instead of at the middle of the image. Did you crop off part of the bottom of the image to create this effect? Or did perspective correction do it? Or some other method employed? You’ve got me curious about it.

As part of your research, you may want to check out Eizo monitors. They are not cheap though.

Thank you, John, for not only sharing the beautiful images but also the educational narrative. 👍🏽

I’ve encountered the same thing with prints being too dark. To correct, I’ve reduced the (transmitted light) brightness on my MacBook to around 6, then increased exposure in Lightroom. I also try to get histogram exposure balanced when adjusting exposure. Now, my prints from Costco are usually correct on exposure (with the reflected light on the print).

There are probably others on here who can explain that better.

I hope they don’t close the photo center in the Costco I use. They do about 95% of my printing. I’m very satisfied with the quality. I no longer use Walgreens except in rare necessity.

Mirrorless has come a long way in the past few years. My experience with sports has been predominantly high school boys football and girls volleyball.

When I use DSLRs, I use Canon. Bodies: 1DX, 5D4, 5D3 & 7D2; Lenses: 70-200 f/2.8, 24-70 f/2.8, 200-400 f/4 w/ 1.4 TC, 200 f/2, 300 f2.8

When I use Mirrorless, I use Sony. Bodies: a9 and a7R3 (previously a7R2); Lenses: 70-200 f/2.8, 24-70 f/2.8, 24-105 f/4, 100-400 f/variable

For me, I prefer using these new Mirrorless combinations. Early Mirrorless were horrible for fast action for sports and fast action. They have come a long way. There is still a lag when waking up the Mirrorless compared to DSLRs but when they are already awake, they work great. On rare occasions, I notice a missed shot on Mirrorless that I probably would have gotten with a DSLR.

For bad wet weather though, I’ll typically take my DSLRs. I don’t think the Mirrorless compare on weather sealing. DSLRs have decades of ergonomic evolution. Mirrorless evolution, still behind in some respects, is catching up and surpassing quickly.

Those are my opinions.

Clever 👍🏽
Thanks for responding.