The Sony A7 thread [Merged]

[algrove]

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Just curious....

 

How many M240 shooters, happy as we might be, have ordered a Sony å7R?

Peter

 

I did.

 

It might be used for some M lenses, perhaps 21/1.4, fixed 50's, WATE, MATE and longer M's or R lenses of all FL. I do not perceive it as a street camera (I will use for landscape work) at this point as I have seen too many hand held blurry images. Once I get the a7r, my opinion on that might change, especially if using FE lenses.

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[charles-k]

Just curious....

 

How many M240 shooters, happy as we might be, have ordered a Sony å7R?

 

It seems Sony is already delivering the body in Asia and DownUnder, from a couple of posts you can read on Stuff Huff's blog. So, maybe there is a forum member who has already taken å7R images with Leica M glass?

 

You would have to imagine that ISO 100, 1/8000th speed and "TTL" focusing would be very useful for Noct, 90 f/2 and another fabulous lens on the M240-- Zeiss 135mm APO Sonnar f/2.

Peter

 

I have the M240 with a demo backup in Solms for RF calibration with M lenses. Yesterday I received the A7r and FE35/2.8 and Novaflex adapter and the camera is excellent. So for the 50 Cron Rigid DR, 24 Lux Asph, 75 Lux and 50 Nocti f/1.0 are great. I have no need for other lenses for now!

 

I am a 50mm and longer FL shooter so the A7r made good sense as companion to the M240. If you are seeking for improved IQ, there will be very little difference seen with real images. On the one hand you have improved resolution, but at the expense of a sensor not fully matched to the lenses. Of course the FE series will be a different scenario.

 

In terms of wishing to pick up a camera and just take shots, the M240 is very hard to beat. The A7r for manual focusing still requires a two step process for now, and is not as fast as the M240. Both have LV. The A7r EVF has better resolution, but in practice the M240 add on EVF is fine. The advantage here is you can remove the EVF, and just use the accurately calibrated RF which is my preference or use the LV as a fall back.

 

The A7r is excellent and easy to use. I don't think there is any need to forever make side by side comparisons with the A7r and M240, as this will drive you crazy! I will keep my A7r next to the M240's. I also have the RX1R, and I used this as a backup when traveling, but now it will be the A7r:)

[AlanG]

Ok, you go ahead and let Sony off the hook for claiming the camera was designed for use with M-lenses and providing an M-E adaptor for this purpose ... but, of course Sony only ever meant for their customers to "try" their M-lenses. Sony never stated they would work.

 

 

If anyone is unhappy with how a particular lens performs with the A7 why don't they see if Sony will take the camera back for a full refund? If they will, then what is the concern?

[magosak]

If anyone is unhappy with how a particular lens performs with the A7 why don't they see if Sony will take the camera back for a full refund? If they will, then what is the concern?

 

One needs to first substantiate that Sony has made such a claim.

[MarkP]

Why not just test the lenses before leaving the store? Not that difficult to test them for red edge & corner smearing, and then check the results on a computer.

[uhoh7]

"now Sony is carrying the flag for the original vision of Oskar Barnack"

 

Leica Boss:

Is Sony the New Leica? | Leica BOSS

 

frankly I agree. The Ms are fantastic, I admire them. They are too big, too heavy, and too tempting to steal, for most rugged use in backcountry etc. For my taste, anyway.

 

I have never seen anyone ski with a Leica.

 

I'm sure it's been done, but I've skied thousands of days and never seen it.

 

The camera is a wonderful piece of luxury retro machinery which produces fantastic images, but is no relation to the original vision of Oskar Barnak, who was ready to compromise on negative size for portabilty. For a hiking camera.

 

Even the A7s are too big in my opinion, but they are the best option so far.

 

Of course Leica did make the CL, which was a step in the right direction--too much so since it killed the M5.

 

Now they go on about how a big lens on a small body is not the thing. Google image the CLE and you will see it with every RF lens you can imagine.

 

But I suppose the CL was a lesson they learned too well, and that is why there is no Leica EVIL with an M9 sensor, and a Nex-5 footprint. That would be Oskar's camera. The M240 is not--wonderful thing that it is.

[IkarusJohn]

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Too much pixel peeping here for me.

 

It looks like the A7r works fine with the following:

• 21 Summilux ASPH
  
• 35 Summilux (FLE)
  
• 50 Summilux ASPH
  
• Noctilux 0.95
  
• 75 Summilux &
  
• AA 90 Summicron,
  

and that's enough to make it worth keeping. Question mark still hangs over the 28 Summicron ASPH and the 15/2.8 Distagon ZM is pretty much unusable, but that's not really a problem as the others are fine.

 

PS - add the Nikkor AF-S 80-400 zoom, and I'm not sure that I need more. That's not to say that I won't pick up the best Zeiss has to offer for this camera native (particularly in the 24mm to 28mm range).

[MarkP]

Thanks for the update John. Does this apply at all f-stops with the wider lenses?

[k-hawinkler]

"now Sony is carrying the flag for the original vision of Oskar Barnack"

 

Leica Boss:

Is Sony the New Leica? | Leica BOSS

 

frankly I agree. The Ms are fantastic, I admire them. They are too big, too heavy, and too tempting to steal, for most rugged use in backcountry etc. For my taste, anyway.

 

I have never seen anyone ski with a Leica.

 

I'm sure it's been done, but I've skied thousands of days and never seen it.

 

The camera is a wonderful piece of luxury retro machinery which produces fantastic images, but is no relation to the original vision of Oskar Barnak, who was ready to compromise on negative size for portabilty. For a hiking camera.

 

Even the A7s are too big in my opinion, but they are the best option so far.

 

Of course Leica did make the CL, which was a step in the right direction--too much so since it killed the M5.

 

Now they go on about how a big lens on a small body is not the thing. Google image the CLE and you will see it with every RF lens you can imagine.

 

But I suppose the CL was a lesson they learned too well, and that is why there is no Leica EVIL with an M9 sensor, and a Nex-5 footprint. That would be Oskar's camera. The M240 is not--wonderful thing that it is.

 

 

Welcome to the Forum!

 

I see you'll have an A7R pretty soon. Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless - FM Forums

Congratulations. So, which will be your goto lenses for that camera?

Thanks.

[uhoh7]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

I see you'll have an A7R pretty soon. Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless - FM Forums

Congratulations. So, which will be your goto lenses for that camera?

Thanks.

Oh. I'm not new. I just never say anything

 

zm18 28cron 28 elmarit v3 CV 35/1.2&1.4 m-rokkor 40/2 50cron CV 50/1.1 Canon LTM 50s 1.2&1.4 Red scale elmar nikkor RF 50/1.4 Canon LTM 85/1.5&1.8 CV 75/2.5 tele elmarit 90 Canon LTM 100 etc. I've been shooting them all on the Nex5s for years, just waiting for the A7

a few of them here:

[Thomas Chen]

Thomas,

 

Since you have the camera a bit longer, have you been pleased with the edge and corner performance of the R 28mm f2.8 Elmarit V2 on the A7r?

 

Thanks.

 

Rich

 

Rich,

 

I see no serious problem on R28/2.8, it outperforms M28 Cron so much.

 

Please see what in the link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tvwjzs486pb5jjp/h7yxkizBL9

 

The pictures are boring but just for the purpose of observation.

 

BTW, I bought from Sony online store in Taiwan a value pack ACC-VW including a bettery NP-FW50 (for both NEX and A7) and a battery charger BC-VW1 (it is designed for NEX, a bit of bigger than the coming one fro A7). About US$ 30 saving if buy them separate.

 

Regards,

 

Thomas Chen

[zlatkob]

But I suppose the CL was a lesson they learned too well, and that is why there is no Leica EVIL with an M9 sensor, and a Nex-5 footprint. That would be Oskar's camera. The M240 is not--wonderful thing that it is.

 

Sony is not the "new Leica". Nor is it Leica's "nightmare" as another article claims. While Leica may lose some camera sales, they may gain some lens sales. I think they will serve different market segments -- with some overlap. Leica seems to have a market base that is not very price sensitive, and that really values the rangefinder.

 

Is it true that the CL "killed" the M5? Perhaps the M5 was unpopular on its own, not due to competition from the CL. A cheaper model generally adds to sales, attracting buyers with a different budget. Those with a greater budget still buy the top model. That's why a cheap, small Canon Rebel doesn't "kill" the 1DX or the 5D3. So manufacturers fill out their product lines with cameras & lenses at every price point. Leica sort of does that with the X, M and S. If they were a bigger company, likely they would offer products at a few more price points.

 

It will be interesting to see the entire lens system for the A7/A7r. Right now we are only seeing the beginning. Sony's own lenses will be the real test of their system. Using 3rd party lenses is a nice bonus, but the native lenses need to stand on their own.

[AlanG]

It will be interesting to see the entire lens system for the A7/A7r. Right now we are only seeing the beginning. Sony's own lenses will be the real test of their system. Using 3rd party lenses is a nice bonus, but the native lenses need to stand on their own.

 

If it turns out that lots of people will happily pay $800 for a 35mm 2.8, $1000 for a 55mm 1.8 and $1200 for a 24-70 f4 then they won't have any problem building other quality lenses at those and higher price points. They can also easily make E mount versions of some of their current A mount lenses if they want.

[uhoh7]

Sony is not the "new Leica". Nor is it Leica's "nightmare" as another article claims. While Leica may lose some camera sales, they may gain some lens sales. I think they will serve different market segments -- with some overlap. Leica seems to have a market base that is not very price sensitive, and that really values the rangefinder.

 

I think the point he is making is that the current Leicas have little to do with why the Leica was invented.

 

A guy with asthma wanted a hiking camera.

 

Again, don't get me wrong. I own an M6 and someday I'll have an M9. But I won't take them hiking.

 

The Sonys won't replace what Leica is today. They are more along the lines of what Leica was first envisioned to be.

[IkarusJohn]

Thanks for the update John. Does this apply at all f-stops with the wider lenses?

 

Not sure yet - my assessment at this stage is based purely on the performance of the sensor, so f-stop is less of a concern. Smearing is the issue. The f-stop really affects vignetting, and colour shift - those I can correct, if I notice them ...

 

Cheers

John

[Rick]

"now Sony is carrying the flag for the original vision of Oskar Barnack"

 

Leica Boss:

Is Sony the New Leica? | Leica BOSS

 

 

This article, to be nice, is pure fantasy made up by the author. What a totally BS piece of crap article by an author that seems to display no in depth knowledge of the history of Leica and especially the evolution. Erwin Puts where are you?

 

ps I absolutely love to take my M hiking. What else would I bring? Canon 5DIII? Only thing I can think of that would be close is my Olympus XA4 (film).

[uhoh7]

Oh, what does asthma and hiking have to do with the current M.

 

Nothing. That's the point.

 

You don't agree that Oskar had asthma?

 

You don't agree the original Leica was made to take hiking?

[MarkP]

Oh Rick, lighten up a bit

Let newcomers get at least 50 posts up before you go for the jugular.

 

Sony aren't Leica and in particular don't have the lenses.

 

Nevertheless Sony has a long and accomplished history in electronics and miniaturisation which should not be scoffed at. The A7Rs may not be as important as Leica's contribution to photography but the A7/A7R do look like they will shake up the market.

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[zlatkob]

I think the point he is making is that the current Leicas have little to do with why the Leica was invented.

 

A guy with asthma wanted a hiking camera.

 

Again, don't get me wrong. I own an M6 and someday I'll have an M9. But I won't take them hiking.

 

The Sonys won't replace what Leica is today. They are more along the lines of what Leica was first envisioned to be.

 

But many small cameras could be said to be "carrying the flag for the original vision of Oskar Barnack". Barnack's camera was smaller and more portable than the common cameras of his day -- which I understand were using larger formats of roll film and sheet film. The current M and its small lenses are certainly easier to take hiking, skiing, etc., than a typical full-frame DSLR with its lenses. In that sense the M still carries the vision of Oskar Barnack. But if making the camera smaller defines Barnack's camera, then any of a long list of current cameras could be said to meet that definition, including mirrorless cameras from Olympus, Fuji, Sony, Panasonic, etc. Something like the little Canon Eos M could meet the needs of "a guy with asthma" who wants "a hiking camera". The Leica X Vario could too.

[CheshireCat]

This article, to be nice, is pure fantasy made up by the author. What a totally BS piece of crap [...]

 

Cool down. The author is explaining his opinions. Why don't you do the same ?