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The Sony A7 thread [Merged]

dmclalla

By dmclalla
in Digital Forum

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k-hawinkler

k-hawinkler

Posted
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Are you sure you choosed the right smiley considerung the stocks the currently show at SAR?

 

Thanks. Pretty much. I never take anything at face value.

Be prepared for the worst and accept what's coming.

That way, more often than not, one gets a happy surprise. :)

 

If my A7R hasn't shown up by 12/2014 I still might exercise an M option provided it's beyond the beta testing phase then.

For the time being my M9, D800E, NEX-7, and E-M1 will keep me entertained. :cool:

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MarkP

MarkP

Posted
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Yikes, look at the number of boxes of A7 and A7r cameras and accessories:

 

LAE4 adapter in Stock at BHphoto. And look at that large Stock of A7r in Hong Kong. | sonyalpharumors

 

Rich

 

Well we are talking about Sony, not Leica.

 

Considering the size of the company why would one be surprised about Sony's ability to produce and deliver ample supplies of a new product?

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naturephoto1

naturephoto1

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Well we are talking about Sony, not Leica.

 

Considering the size of the company why would one be surprised about Sony's ability to produce and deliver ample supplies of a new product?

 

Mark,

 

That is in only 1 location or facility in each image. Besides, Sony is much more than a photographic imaging company as was Leica before it was broken into 3 separate entities all sharing the same name and logo.

 

Rich

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algrove

algrove

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I just happen how contrarian this situation at B&H is.

 

So Leica after 6 months trickles out initial lug nut problem M's and after 14 months cannot get an adapter out to us.

 

So after one month Sony has an adapter at dealer shelves, but no camera yet.

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AlanG

AlanG

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Possibly dumb question - but since when has that stopped me!

 

There's no route, via Sony adapters, to get PDAF on the A7R with the new FE lenses. Is there? And if not - are the lenses that you can achieve PDAF via the adapter full frame but with a longer registration distance and therefore in crop mode, or are they full frame?

 

Apologies, I still don't speak Sony, but learning every day.

 

Yes, it is a bit confusing and I think I have it all figured out...

 

The A7r will only have PDAF when used with the EA-4 adapter and "A" mount lenses.

 

Most of these A mount lenses are for full frame but some are for APS. The APS ones are marked "DT" at the beginning of their description. They should all work with the PDAF adapter on the A7 and A7r. The full frame lenses will produce full frame images and the APS lenses will vignette or require crop mode when used on the A7 and A7r. This same adapter can be used on the APS Nex cameras and of course will crop in on the full frame lenses with those cameras.

 

Sony has 4 categories of lenses that all work on the A7.

 

1. Alpha FE mount full frame lenses that don't require an adapter.

2. Alpha Nex E mount APS lenses that don't require an adapter.

3. Alpha A mount full frame lenses that require a PDAF adapter or simple adapter.

4. Alpha A mount APS lenses that require a PDAF adapter or simple adapter. The APS A mount lenses are marked "DT" at the beginning of their description.

 

The A7 has phase detect focusing spots on the imaging sensor but this only functions with the FE and E mount lenses. So if you want PDAF and full frame with Alpha lenses you need the EA-4 PDAF adapter and A mount full frame lenses. This approach can be used on the A7 and A7r.

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Thomas Chen

Thomas Chen

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Yes, it is a bit confusing and I think I have it all figured out...

 

The A7r will only have PDAF when used with the EA-4 adapter and "A" mount lenses.

 

Most of these A mount lenses are for full frame but some are for APS. The APS ones are marked "DT" at the beginning of their description. They should all work with the PDAF adapter on the A7 and A7r. The full frame lenses will produce full frame images and the APS lenses will vignette or require crop mode when used on the A7 and A7r. This same adapter can be used on the APS Nex cameras and of course will crop in on the full frame lenses with those cameras.

 

Sony has 4 categories of lenses that all work on the A7.

 

1. Alpha FE mount full frame lenses that don't require an adapter.

2. Alpha Nex E mount APS lenses that don't require an adapter.

3. Alpha A mount full frame lenses that require a PDAF adapter or simple adapter.

4. Alpha A mount APS lenses that require a PDAF adapter or simple adapter. The APS A mount lenses are marked "DT" at the beginning of their description.

 

The A7 has phase detect focusing spots on the imaging sensor but this only functions with the FE and E mount lenses. So if you want PDAF and full frame with Alpha lenses you need the EA-4 PDAF adapter and A mount full frame lenses. This approach can be used on the A7 and A7r.

 

I suspect that the 36MP sensor has already featured PDAF on board, but SONY just disables this function for the purpose of A7 and A7R segmentation.

 

This trick is very common in the computer industry considering the development cost and semi-conductor fab sophistication (it takes around 450 to 500 processes to make a chip) of a particular ASIC (application-specifc IC).

 

Therefore I will not be surprised if SONY brings out a PDAF-enabled A8R withing 6 months and we propably will see some PDAF-enabled 36MP cameras such as Nikon, Pentax, or even Leica in the near future.

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Thomas Chen

Thomas Chen

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Since I have no experience with manual lens focusing via EVF, I'd like to know how this works in practice:

 

* Focus wide-open, then stop down (possibly with the risk of introducing focus shift); or

* Stop down, then focus (with potential focus error due to depth of field and/or insufficient light)

 

How do those of you with an EVF on your M, NEX, or whatever do this?

 

I read the English version of A7/A7R instruction manual, in the page 37 under the title "Camera Setting" there is the function "Auto Slow Shutter: Set the function that automatically adjusts the shutter speed following the brightness of the environment (On.Off)".

 

Perhaps with this function "On" we can make focusing and metering with aperture wide open and allow camera to determine the shutter speed when stop down the aperture. Of course if shutter speed is not the subject.

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AlanG

AlanG

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I suspect that the 36MP sensor has already featured PDAF on board, but SONY just disables this function for the purpose of A7 and A7R segmentation.

 

This trick is very common in the computer industry considering the development cost and semi-conductor fab sophistication (it takes around 450 to 500 processes to make a chip) of a particular ASIC (application-specifc IC).

 

Therefore I will not be surprised if SONY brings out a PDAF-enabled A8R withing 6 months and we propably will see some PDAF-enabled 36MP cameras such as Nikon, Pentax, or even Leica in the near future.

 

I have no knowledge on this but some have said that an AA filter is required for on sensor PDAF. So it may have nothing to do with the mega pixel count. The 24MP camera has several other differentiations beside the sensor. Sony apparently thought there were good reasons to make two similar models. I guess sales will tell the story. Of course they are likely to upgrade or supplement these models pretty rapidly as Sony's recent history would indicate. I wonder what they are working on right now.

 

In any case the new Canon sensors with dual pixel PDAF seem like the best current way to implement on sensor PDAF. So we'll see if they make a full frame mirrorless any time soon. And Canon did have that technology on a chip in their C100 video camera without activating it until now. Apparently they had the chip ready when the camera was made but not the firmware or something else needed to make it work at that time. While it is a video camera and not full frame the C100 is a mirrorless camera design and it uses Canon AF lenses.

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