The Sony A7 thread [Merged]

[steveclem]

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[jaapv]

If this thread is to be so thoroughly redacted, can I suggest a few more posts in the exchange between Jaap and me are removed? They don't really contribute to the discussion, which is really about the A7r & Leica lenses, and why Leica should make a camera like this ...

There has not been any post moderated in this thread, as far as I can see. I may have missed one a couple of thousand posts back, but I cannot find one

[jaapv]

Just to illustrate my point above, I have highlighted the interesting bit of this post:

So Sony made a middle of the road camera

 

 

 

No, not a Leica fanboy at all, no!

Well, as Peter pointed out that the Sony was aimed at a customer base that is not sanguine about either a SLR or a RF,to which I responded (ergo) middle of the road, I cannot for the life of me see how that makes me a Leica fanboy. It makes me a Canikon fanboy at the same time, I guess.

[almoore]

And [Contax G2] didn’t make it in the end. A perfect example.

 

Well, unlike you I don't have the benefit of a crystal ball so I'm still unclear as to whether the A7 and its inevitable successors will grind to a manufacturing halt within a few years, but if I was forced to make the call I'd put money on Sony cameras being in the hands of more serious photographers than Leicas in ten years time. And there are plenty of G2s still churning out images after years of heavy use alongside similarly aged M6s.

[dwbell]

I think this will play out in an interesting way. I know for a fact the 75 Lux, 90 Cron AA, do drift in focusing with the M240/M9's because of the creep of the mounts/screws. I have had my 75 Lux recently readjusted for this reason, and it is very common. I really think with this close flange distance the tolerances will be critical, and the weight on the mount will marginally affect some adapters. I have already spoken to Wayne at Camera Clinic in Melbourne about the adapters for the A7r, and when needed they can be finely tuned for the A7r. I feel this will take a lot of the variability we are seeing with the field test results!

 

Some of the newer adapters have tripod threads in a foot / base. This would allow only the very slight weight of the A7 the chance to stress the mount, which it is designed to do.

[jaapv]

Well, unlike you I don't have the benefit of a crystal ball so I'm still unclear as to whether the A7 and its inevitable successors will grind to a manufacturing halt within a few years, but if I was forced to make the call I'd put money on Sony cameras being in the hands of more serious photographers than Leicas in ten years time. And there are plenty of G2s still churning out images after years of heavy use alongside similarly aged M6s.

 

I do indeed not have a crystal ball, but I would call this a fairly safe prediction. I have never said anything against the Sony. If it were a bit larger and heavier I would be a candidate for my heavier R lenses. Unfortunately Leica has not entered the EVIL arena.

[almoore]

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I do indeed not have a crystal ball, but I would call this a fairly safe prediction

 

In my experience there are precious few safe predictions in life but, given your confidence, I'd be interested to hear your reasoning.

[Thomas Chen]

Some of the newer adapters have tripod threads in a foot / base. This would allow only the very slight weight of the A7 the chance to stress the mount, which it is designed to do.

 

I use a R-to-E adapter with tripod mount on it, featuring a 1/4" thread socket.

[jaapv]

In my experience there are precious few safe predictions in life but, given your confidence, I'd be interested to hear your reasoning.

Fairly safe.

[dwbell]

No, you guys are diverting the argument by twisting my words...

 

Imagine that...

[almoore]

Imagine that...

 

I take solace from my belief that in a parallel universe there's a dentistry forum dominated by a shouty but ill-informed photographer...

[Peter H]

I know the simple answer to this is in the thread somewhere, but its a huge thread to trawl, so please forgive me for asking again:

 

What adapter would you most recommend for using M lenses with the A7R?

 

And for R lenses?

 

Thank you.

[dwbell]

I know the simple answer to this is in the thread somewhere, but its a huge thread to trawl, so please forgive me for asking again:

 

What adapter would you most recommend for using M lenses with the A7R?

 

And for R lenses?

 

Thank you.

 

KH (who is like, the king of adapters) recommends the Novoflex for M lenses. Which is the one I use in my tests earlier. No clue on R I'm afraid Peter.

[naturephoto1]

I know the simple answer to this is in the thread somewhere, but its a huge thread to trawl, so please forgive me for asking again:

 

What adapter would you most recommend for using M lenses with the A7R?

 

And for R lenses?

 

Thank you.

 

I know that KH recommends Novoflex adapters for his R lenses. I have them for my Fujifilm and M4/3 cameras and I also have one for the A7r but am still awaiting delivery of my camera.

 

Novoflex also offers a rotating collar for the NEX adapters which I will be ordering and is useful for heavier R lenses as well as larger lenses lacking a built in rotating collar.

 

Rich

[charles-k]

I was planning on calling CC myself.

Can you go into more detail?

Hi Mark,

You can contact Wayne Rogers, directly at Camera Clinic in Collingwood, Victoria, as they are authorized Leica repairers. There are quite a few options. I have noticed that with very well maintained lenses, there still may be some excess tolerances with the adapters, but yet on the M240 there is none. I have just received my A7r this afternoon with the Novaflex adapter and it is an amazing camera. The A7r is very intuitive, great files and will sit well with my M240:) The M lenses that work really well so far, are the 50 Cron Rigid DR, 24 Lux, 75 Lux. This is a great start, as I don't need any more other than the FE 35/55.

[luigi bertolotti]

to get back onto the a7 track:

 

To be honest this thread is so long- and conjecture about M lenses and the a7's so fraught- I have not been bothered to follow it all in detail. I just check in every so often to see if any consensus has formed. It seems as if one has: some M lenses are indeed problematic- especially wides- others are awesome.

 

However can I ask what is the consensus these days on the use of vintage SLR lenses? I am assuming they will mostly be OK if not perfect? I have a nice little pile of Takumar M42 lenses- can I assume that these will mostly work well on the Sony cameras?

 

The other day I bought two Pentax SLR's with 5 prime Takumars- for the princely sum of $90- if those 5 lenses work well on the A7- I for one will be happy and not overly concerned that some M lenses are better off an an M camera.

 

I have the A7 on order- and look forward to a 'crazey comparison': M240 with vintage Leica gla$$ v the budget a7 with vintage-dime a dozen- Takumar glass.

 

I don't expect my $12 f1.4 Takumar to out-compete my $1600 V1 summilux- but I would like to see for myself.

 

Imho that's the RIGHT approach.... ... why continuing an insane discussion on precious Leica glass on these cameras ? My first thought on the A7 has been that IT (and not even the A7r) with a little bunch of cheap (and good) old SLR lenses (*) can be a fun economical way for a FF digital set... very appreciable in situations in which, for the most various reasons (environment included) one wouldn't like to carry with him a costly Leica and 2 or 3 costly lenses... (but of course, this isn't related to this forum, too)

 

(*) 15 days ago saw at a flea market Praktica M42 + 20/50/200 Pentacons for 120 Euros... handled the lenses an seemed ok...

[jaques]

yes Luigi- this is also on my mind- the a7 is much less of a risk to carry around for casual shooting- than 10,000USD in the form of a summilux and M240.

 

some of the Pentacon lenses are pretty damn good- nice solid build quality and good look too. I think those old SLR lenses will match the sony A cameras very well -aesthetically and ergonomically.

 

After all the a7 is really modeled on a compact vintage SLR like the venerable Minolta XD-7- and can be set up to shoot the same with aperture or shutter priority, manual focusing, etc.

 

And the old manual focus SLR lenses are really quite small - not much larger than M equivalents. Plenty of very nice, fast lenses out there.

 

so I ordered the A7 with kit lens. To me it seems the best value as you get a dedicated AF lens designed for the camera (for very little money) and a free adapter ring for Leica m. I think will use the kit lens- and not buy any of the dedicated Zeiss lenses - using my Takumars, Rokkors and Nikkors instead as primes.

 

People act as if kit zoom lenses are so bad they are utterly worthless- this is not my experience. They take fine photos. I have taken thousands of photos with my crappy canon kit zoom lens- for use on the web- and it serves its purposes admirably. I expect the Sony one will be very useful as well (to me).

[Jaybob]

I know the simple answer to this is in the thread somewhere, but its a huge thread to trawl, so please forgive me for asking again:

 

What adapter would you most recommend for using M lenses with the A7R?

 

And for R lenses?

 

Thank you.

 

Some of the newer adapters have tripod threads in a foot / base. This would allow only the very slight weight of the A7 the chance to stress the mount, which it is designed to do.

 

The adapter! I use a Fotodiox Pro adpater for M to E. I think it was about 65 dollars. It fits properly to the camera and locks tight to the lens, but I occasionally have to check/adjust the retaining springs if I sense any play in the lens mount to adapter fit.

 

I would suggest spending the extra money and looking into the Voight or Novatron adapters, testing them on the specific camera or specific lens if you can. The cheaper you go, the more sketchy the fit. Using a cheap adapter that doesn't fit snugly to the lens and/or body is just going to compromise the parallel-ness of the lens mount to the sensor, and then those brick walls or white walls wont look so good...

 

M to E there isn't much room for a tripod mount. On the bigger R to E mount, tripod mounts are more prevalent, but not on every model.

[Lucklik]

My A7 is delivered, unpacked and charging.

The A7 is a lighter then the M7 but not too light.

The camera looks and feels better then I expected.

 

However .... It takes 310 minutes to charge the batteries so I'm waiting .... waiting ....

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[mben]

I know the simple answer to this is in the thread somewhere, but its a huge thread to trawl, so please forgive me for asking again:

 

What adapter would you most recommend for using M lenses with the A7R?

 

And for R lenses?

 

Thank you.

 

On the Nex6 and now on the A7r I use a Voigtlander adapter, which I had to "calibrate" in order to have the infinity focus as close as possible to the lenses infinity tab stop (but not beyond). Only the adapters with screws on the camera side can be properly "calibrated".

 

From some friends, I understood that the Metabones adapter gives infinity focus exactly at the tab stop, but it is fairly expensive at about $180.

 

Most adapters, included the Voigtlander, set infinity focus well before the tab stop so that marked distances cannot be used as they are. In this case calibration is made by "thickening" the adapter - I used tape layers and got very close to the tab stop, but not exactly.

 

Another option is a "helicoid" adapter, like the Hawks, which can be adjusted to allow closer focus distances but also to precisely set tab stop infinity focus.

 

I will buy the Metabones as to replace the Voigtlander since precise tab stop infinity focus is very convenient in terms of focusing speed.

 

Best regards,

 

Mauro