The Sony A7 thread [Merged]

[jdlaing]

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Thanks for the feedback, even if it's very bad news.

 

I don't know if it's VERY bad news.

Some of that can be fixed but taking longer to post process that it takes to set up and capture the image is not to my liking.

 

It's my feeling that buying a body just to try and use non native lenses has trade offs.

[CaptZoom]

Some JPEG samples onSteve Huff's site using the Voigtlander 12mm f/5.6 on the A7 and A7r.

I expected worse than can be seen his JPEGs.

[jdlaing]

Thanks, I appreciate your feedback.

I assume it's based on real data, but you cannot elaborate.

Soft corners kills it of course.

 

Are there any WA Leica M lenses that work?

 

Yes. Real data.

The corners are more dragged than soft if you understand what I mean.

I'm not too familiar with "smearing" but if someone has a moderate sample of what smearing is I could compare.

 

The 35mm 1.4 was more than acceptable from what I took and looked at and had a lot less darkening,

[dwbell]

Genuine question.

 

What type of photography requires very small bodied WA 35mm images?

Are there not other options specifically designed to meet this need?

 

WA shooters seem to be on a permanent hunt for the right kit. Interested why?

 

Edit - example comment 3 from Huff's site;

"That is pretty good, but how is it in very low light at ISO 6,400 and above?"

Add "very low light" to my list of requirements? And 14mm!?

[250swb]

That is a generic assumption, and as such it is both true and false

 

Yes but Richard was talking to the people who had already tested lenses on the camera, it is that information I was asking for, not about the theory that one may work and one not work, specific's in other words. Because it is an important point, if everything does work OK from 28mm and up then anybody buying the camera may only need to buy the Zeiss super-wide designed for it, if they even use super-wides like a 21mm. It may be a panic over not much at all for most peoples photography where using Leica RF lenses is concerned.

 

Steve

[jdlaing]

I think I need to clarify something here.

 

I take pictures for my job in places the majority of people are not allowed to see for a variety of reasons.

 

I test new cameras and lenses for a company that shall remain nameless until I no longer do that.

 

My company gets these cameras and lenses for me to tempest test. Dust, dirt, vibration, extreme heat, very very bright light, radiation, etc, etc. That's my part of it. I get to peruse the photos as part of the rigor.

 

That is why I am not allowed to display the photos ......... At this time.

 

I would dearly love to test new Leica gear but that ain't in the cards.

[jdlaing]

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Genuine question.

 

What type of photography requires very small bodied WA 35mm images?

Are there not other options specifically designed to meet this need?

 

WA shooters seem to be on a permanent hunt for the right kit. Interested why?

 

Edit - example comment 3 from Huff's site;

"That is pretty good, but how is it in very low light at ISO 6,400 and above?"

Add "very low light" to my list of requirements? And 14mm!?

 

My type of photography. The paid part.

I get into a tight area and have to get as close as I possibly can and capture as wide and image as possible. The image cannot be stitched or adulterated in any way. Otherwise I could use a 50mm and do a pano. The pure RAW Image is what is submitted. Then I am told what rudimentary processing I can do for clean up.

[AlanG]

I went to the Sony booth about three times yesterday and spent probably a half hour with the camera. I like the ergonomics and the shutter did not seem loud to me. The camera is quick in use and I adjusted to it right away.

 

One very interesting thing they had was a Canon 24-70 2.8 mounted on the A7r via a Metabones AF adapter. The focus speed was decent, usable for most things I do, but certainly not "quick." They told me that Metabones is working on the firmware to get the AF faster. They also said that Metabones was trying to make a Nikon AF adapter. I wonder if Sony is directly involved with them in some way.

 

So obviously Sony sees some importance in poaching customers from other brands without requiring them to actually switch systems.

 

I could not see a difference in focusing speed between the A7 and A7r. But they only had the 35, 55 and 28-70 so this might vary with longer lenses and lower light. With the EA4 SLT adapter, long Alpha lenses focused quickly. I have no idea how well they track vs. Canon and Nikon.

 

One Sony person told me that the AF eye tracking only worked on the A7 and not on the A7r. But I think he is incorrect because it doesn't say that in the literature. And I haven't seen that mentioned on-line. As mentioned, everyone was feeling their way around menus and features because the camera is so new.

[jdlaing]

What about the chance that R wides could throw any vignetting off and beyond the FF sensor edge?

 

Isn't an R lens designed for a 35mm image circle?

I don't know the R system at all.

[naturephoto1]

Rich, thanks for your a7 report. Do you have any impressions of the viewfinder you care to mention? Responsiveness and ability to focus manually w/o magnification are important to me.

 

Hi Doug,

 

We had issue as I mentioned with the ability to position the magnification for the viewfinder for the MF Leica R 24mm lens to begin with as mentioned. Once we were able to take care of the magnification and to be able to move the focus point around everything seemed OK and certainly reasonably fast. I did not check with any longer lenses because I believe as with SLR cameras wide angle lenses are more difficult to focus than telephoto lenses. Also, I was occupying more time at the camera than I probably should so I didn't push it. I can not say at this point though as to how fast that you could pan to follow a moving target to try to maintain focus (that is I didn't try to see if the image would smear as I panned the camera). But the EVF was much better than the one for my Fujifilm X-E1 and I would say faster, more responsive, and less likely to smear the image as I moved the camera (the refresh rate is much higher in the Sony A7r).

 

Also, it must be understood that everything that any of us were checking was all hand held and not pistol grip/shoulder stock, monopod or tripod mounted.

 

I will definitely say though that I believe the camera to be a far better R solution certainly for most applications than the Leica M with all of its accessories. It will be far better in my estimation for using zooms, telephoto, and macro work. The only question at this point that I can really see is how the camera works with WA RF lenses and how all kinds of Legacy MF lenses work.

 

At this point, I see no reason for me to cancel my Pre-order for the camera and look forward to receiving mine.

 

Rich

[wildlightphoto]

What about the chance that R wides could throw any vignetting off and beyond the FF sensor edge?

 

I'd expect Leica-R wide-angle lenses to perform no worse than Minolta or Sony A-mount wide-angle lenses because they share the same mirror box specs and in a few cases they share the same design and manufacturer.

[zlatkob]

I went to the Sony booth about three times yesterday and spent probably a half hour with the camera. I like the ergonomics and the shutter did not seem loud to me. The camera is quick in use and I adjusted to it right away.

 

One very interesting thing they had was a Canon 24-70 2.8 mounted on the A7r via a Metabones AF adapter. The focus speed was decent, usable for most things I do, but certainly not "quick." They told me that Metabones is working on the firmware to get the AF faster. They also said that Metabones was trying to make a Nikon AF adapter. I wonder if Sony is directly involved with them in some way.

 

So obviously Sony sees some importance in poaching customers from other brands without requiring them to actually switch systems.

 

This is good to know. The camera will also appeal as a 2nd, 3rd or 4th camera in a photographer's existing system, not necessarily a camera for which one switches systems entirely. It can be seen as a super-compact FF body to supplement a 5D3 or D800, etc. Someone who already has the fantastic Canon 24-70/2.8II may not be eager to also buy the Sony 24-70, but may see an advantage in having the little A7/A7r in their bag.

[wildlightphoto]

... It can be seen as a super-compact FF body to supplement a 5D3 or D800, etc. Someone who already has the fantastic Canon 24-70/2.8II may not be eager to also buy the Sony 24-70, but may see an advantage in having the little A7/A7r in their bag.

 

And once the E-mount body is in the bag the photographer can consider E-mount lenses next time s/he needs or wants a new lens. This is the same strategy Leica is using with the S system and its adapters.

[algrove]

I'd expect Leica-R wide-angle lenses to perform no worse than Minolta or Sony A-mount wide-angle lenses because they share the same mirror box specs and in a few cases they share the same design and manufacturer.

 

Should I cautiously say that sounds encouraging. Better hold on to my seldom used wide R's (excluding the 15/2.8 which will stay with me always) just in case they might come in handy for uses other than on the M240.

[AlanG]

Someone who already has the fantastic Canon 24-70/2.8II may not be eager to also buy the Sony 24-70, but may see an advantage in having the little A7/A7r in their bag.

 

I was almost shocked to see a manufacturer demonstrating their camera with the lens from a competitor. Sony will be pulling no punches on the compatibility front and I wonder how they will promote this.

 

If I were running Sony's camera division, I'd funnel some technical expertise, R&D resources, and marketing funds to Metabones. Metabones could then "independently" promote how well the A7 camera works with various 3rd party lenses.

[Thomas Chen]

One Sony person told me that the AF eye tracking only worked on the A7 and not on the A7r.

 

He might be right.

 

In the page 21 of A7/A7r's product guide brochure, there write:

"Enhanced Fast hybrid AF and 5fps Continuous shooting with AF tracking (a7)"

 

Af eye tracking may need to be supported by phase detection AF.

[CaptZoom]

CV 12mm RF lens + A7r:

[Guido]

CV 12mm RF lens + A7r:

Am I the only one who thinks that the 100% view of the first file looks like a cellphone photo uprezzed to 7300 pixels? Sure, it's a blurred handheld indoor snap, but the image and color detail (e.g. in the center) looks blotchy way beyond what I'm used to from the current generation of Canikons at high ISO.

[lct]

Hard to criticize at 5000 iso. Corners look quite acceptable at first glance.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[algrove]

Just checked the Sony site again re a7r only

 

It says that eye AF is a specification of the a7r. Sure hope that is correct.