Pieter

It would help a lot if you could first identify the cause of the unsharpness without jumping to conclusions. 1. Are images produced by the camera sharp if you manually focus? If yes, the lens is fine and the camera is at least capable of producing sharp images. 2. If your subject is blurry when manually focussing, is some part of the picture in focus? If yes, at least the camera/lens combo is capable of producing sharp images. 3. If you use autofocus with spot focussing on your subject, is your subject sharp and in focus? If yes, nothing seems wrong with the camera. 4. If no under 3 above, is the plane of focus slightly in front or behind the subject? If yes, try tweaking a bit with AF Micro Adjustment: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00018531 5. What aperture value are you using? Because you say that lighting is bad, likely you're using a large aperture. This gives a very thin depth of field, so only a very small part of your subject will be in focus. 6. Have you disabled steadyshot on your camera/lens? Since you're shooting off a tripod, you should disable steadyshot or it might cause some unwanted motion blur. 7. ... I'm sure others can chime in with more possible causes for your problem. Some general comments: Yes, could very well be, especially combined with poor lighting. See #5 above. Not at all, unless your A77ii is defective. Especially for online images, the A77ii should be plenty sharp. Thr A7R-line is overkill for your needs. Not at all. If anything, you should be using single spot focussing anyway. But why use autofocus? Your subject is still, your camera is still, perfect use case for manual focussing, where you have full control over the plane of focus. Not to sound condescending, but I'm quite confident there's a share of user error in your blurry photos. Definately first rule this out before making unneccesary purchases. Unless you're heavily invested in A-mount glass or you can get the A99ii very cheap, I would not invest in the (EOL) A-mount system. Better get a used A7iii if your budget is tight. Good luck!

@XKAES extensive experience with cameras and lenses dates back to the analogue age, so his advice is colored by that experience 😉 You are correct: turning the focus ring while autofocussing with this lens is no problem at all. There is no physical connection between the focus ring and the focussing mechanism.

@FunWithCameras already answered that quite nicely. Apparently, they save enough or the switch would have been in all models. Thing is, some regions have a lower MSRP than others. For the same reason, different regional models only include a select set of languages. Iirc, models intended for the Chinese market for example don't include English, to prevent market undercuts in America/Europe by grey market resellers.

They will work together. If you switch stabilization off on the lens, it will also be turned off on the camera.

Ok agreed, shutter sound arguably being useful at times. I don't have the luxury of an A9 or A1 so shutter sound is a given for me and can only disable it on occasion with big compromises. As for all the other bells and whistles: please turn them off, for the sake of everyone around you.

Good for you! The first thing anyone should do with a new camera is disable all sounds. Not only are the sounds completely unneccesary (why a beep if you also have a green focus confirmation box?) but most of all they are incredibly distracting to people and wildlife around you. Unless subjects looking awkwardly puzzled or slightly frowning with annoyance are part of your creative expression.

Have you checked both these settings? https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2320/v1/en/contents/0414D_silent_mode_setting.html Set silent mode --> [Off] https://helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2320/v1/en/contents/0414H_shutter_type.html Set shutter type --> [Mechanical Shutter]

If I remember correctly, the exposure depends on where you start the panorama (or actually, the scene where you initiate focus acquisition). After that, focus and exposure are locked. If the rest of the panoramic scene is darker, most of your panorama will be under-exposed. Best to half-press the shutter button in a scene with moderate lighting and object distance, then point the camera to the start of the panorama and full-press the shutter button. If you have a scene with high dynamic range, some of your panorama will be over-/underexposed. In such a case it might be better to stitch the panorama in post so you can utilize the exposure latitude of the RAW files.

Someone regularly operating in manual mode likely isn't in the market for an A1... But then again, apparently I wrongfully thought noone using a 28-300 lens was. As far as I know all Nikon to Sony adapters are compromised in one way or the other. But the value of the A1 far exceeds the valie of those lenses combined, so if you can get a good deal on the A1 (and assuming it's features aren't overkill for your needs), best sell the lenses and buy some new (or used) E-mount ones.

https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1156435/sony-a7-iii-zwart.html

Noone knows when the A7Siv will be reseased, but based on experience it will hardly affect prices of the previous model. Have a look here at the price development of the A7iii in my country (Netherlands) when the A7iv was introduced on october 21 2021.

Another fact and the actual answer: the 70-350 doesn't take teleconverters so whatever you're considering is not a real option.

Small chance. Sony isn't exactly generous in its firmware updates, let alone facilitating the use of 3rd party hardware...

Yes, if aperture is set on the lens, that's the aperture that's being used. You can't override it with the aperture dial on the camera.

Fourth: if you want to get rid of the kit lens, you can sell it for pretty much the same as you payed for it in the bundle combo, as it is significantly discounted when bought as a bundle.