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The Sony A7 thread [Merged]

dmclalla

By dmclalla
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dwbell

dwbell

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Posted
Yeah, you could be spending it cleaning blobs off of your Sony Sensor.:eek: Do you think that our A7R is more prone to this because it is always exposed?

 

After determine that the 35 FE was better than my M lenses on the A7R (and as a package when compared to the M system) it's stayed on the A7R. So not many changes in comparison to those going through their M collection perhaps?

 

As for wake from sleep issues. I have always operated on/off methodology, but I find it no slower than any other camera. Don't do "street" though.

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Rick

Rick

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Posted
After determine that the 35 FE was better than my M lenses on the A7R (and as a package when compared to the M system) it's stayed on the A7R. So not many changes in comparison to those going through their M collection perhaps?

 

 

Duncan,

 

Same here. The Leica M-lenses (like the 35 FLE) do not work as reported by Sony. I've also abandoned my 35mm Leica lenses (and everything Leica below 75mm) on the A7R as well. They are not very good on the A7R.

 

I am now left wondering WTF to put on this camera. Sony hasn't provided much other than their 35, but that is too slow to build a system around. This camera is a big disappointment for me. And, I'm sure not going to buy into their big 50mm lenses. The Otus is huge and the 55 is1.8... that's ok, but I have one of the best 50mm lens ever made in the venerable 50mm Leica Summilux. What would I do with a big Sony 55mm f1.8?

 

Lot's of techie bang in this camera for sure, but a lot of fizzle for us M-lens owners. What are you going to do? Keep it or go back to the M? I'm still trying to decide if it even works well enough for me to use my R-lenses with?

 

Problem for me is that the focus peeking is so over done with the contrasty APO lenses I have that it is hard to focus. I don't think sony engineers factored in contrasty lenses like my 280/4 APO into their implementation of their focus peeking highlights. LOL! I'm on the low setting and still having such a wide range of focus that it is very often useless to use on the Leica APO lenses. Now I understand why Leica's focus peeking is hard to see for some people. It has to be, otherwise it would be so wide as to be useless.

 

I also am having frustrations getting consistently clear images with my R-lenses! I have a big Manfroto tripod, but I think I am going to have to get something bigger to tame the blur. I also may need a bigger ball head. I am not sure if it is the shutter (clunk) or if the extra pixels are the problem.

 

Hand held is also a problem. Again, not sure if it is the shutter, high pixels, or the light body and the heavy lenses I'm using. I think that there is a sweet spot where the camera weight and the lens weight provide a torsional stability that just isn't realized by a feather weight body like the A7R. My RX1 seems to be much better.

 

I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more returns than just Jono.

 

Rick

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MarkP

MarkP

Posted
Posted

I go back to that old saying we have in medicine -

you have to rush out and use the new drug before it doesn't work any more.

 

ie - always unrealistic expectations of the newest thing out there, but in the end it just finds its place like everything else.

 

 

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

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dwbell

dwbell

Posted
Posted
Duncan,

 

Same here. The Leica M-lenses (like the 35 FLE) do not work as reported by Sony. I've also abandoned my 35mm Leica lenses (and everything Leica below 75mm) on the A7R as well. They are not very good on the A7R.

 

I am now left wondering WTF to put on this camera. Sony hasn't provided much other than their 35, but that is too slow to build a system around. This camera is a big disappointment for me. And, I'm sure not going to buy into their big 50mm lenses. The Otus is huge and the 55 is1.8... that's ok, but I have one of the best 50mm lens ever made in the venerable 50mm Leica Summilux. What would I do with a big Sony 55mm f1.8?

 

Lot's of techie bang in this camera for sure, but a lot of fizzle for us M-lens owners. What are you going to do? Keep it or go back to the M? I'm still trying to decide if it even works well enough for me to use my R-lenses with?

 

Problem for me is that the focus peeking is so over done with the contrasty APO lenses I have that it is hard to focus. I don't think sony engineers factored in contrasty lenses like my 280/4 APO into their implementation of their focus peeking highlights. LOL! I'm on the low setting and still having such a wide range of focus that it is very often useless to use on the Leica APO lenses. Now I understand why Leica's focus peeking is hard to see for some people. It has to be, otherwise it would be so wide as to be useless.

 

I also am having frustrations getting consistently clear images with my R-lenses! I have a big Manfroto tripod, but I think I am going to have to get something bigger to tame the blur. I also may need a bigger ball head. I am not sure if it is the shutter (clunk) or if the extra pixels are the problem.

 

Hand held is also a problem. Again, not sure if it is the shutter, high pixels, or the light body and the heavy lenses I'm using. I think that there is a sweet spot where the camera weight and the lens weight provide a torsional stability that just isn't realized by a feather weight body like the A7R. My RX1 seems to be much better.

 

I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more returns than just Jono.

 

Rick

 

Well, seeing as you asked Rick, you can be the honourable recipient of my "Dear John" letter.

 

All of this is IM(not so humble)O;

 

What am I going to do? Give the 55 FE a week and if it proves equal or better than my 35 FE the M240, 35cron, 50lux and 75cron are goin on the classifieds. My M9-P is already on there.

 

It's kind of bizarre to me to read this circuitous tortuous route that "Leica users" are going through here in these forums. Desperately trying to find a replacement for their R lenses, as Leica didn't deliver, and also looking for a "better" body for their M lenses - whilst at the same time defending the M in all it's beauty? I just don't get it. I don't have R lenses mind you. I have three M lenses but have found a cheaper, lighter, higher IQ system which is one lens away from being perfect (75, or 85 whatever it will be). So I dump the M stuff. Simples. They're tools, even if they're hand crafted, brass chiseled, crocodile skin wrapped tools they're still tools. As with all tools technology plays a part in their development. My father was a carpenter and has some beautiful hand drills. He loved them dearly, I can appreciate the quality of the craftsmanship that goes into them. But he moved to electric power tools decades ago, got better results with them and never looked back.

 

My love is for photography for the images I can't yet make to my satisfaction, not for Leica, of Manual Focus, or rangefinder focus, or Sony, or canon.

 

If I'm carrying a small system around, because the canon gear is starting to get a bit to heavy for me, then it needs to be light, for obvious reasons, have "excellent" IQ, again obvious and have versatility. Cheap is in fact a factor and money doesn't even play a role in my purchase decisions. If I'm going to drop it in the river, get it stolen, bang it against a wall, have the bag hit by a passing bus in a busy street - all things which have happened - then I prefer it to be reasonably cheap and, get this, easily replaceable. Most electrical superstores will be stocking the Sony's, if not it's an internet session and overnight delivery away.

 

Also, in full honesty, I can't get with the whole "Leica User" thing. It starts with Leica's behaviour, both in the market place, to it's customers and in one instance their attitude towards a dear friend at their facility (I know what happened, but don't want to make accusations here). It continues with the boutiques but also with types of people on the main M240 forum. I just don't fit in. It's all about "US" (Leica). Which jibes with me. I think it should all be about the image firstly, then the viewers reaction to it and then at a distant third the photographer. The head in the sand, arrogant, conservative, old fashioned, technophobic, exclusive, pseudo-luxury thing just doesn't sit well with me and I'll be better off for leaving it behind.

 

I had a question on my 5DII last weekend at a shoot. Live View engaged wasn't triggering the hot shoe radio strobe trigger (I normally shoot OVF with that system). I googled it, got a link to one thread in one forum on dpreview and found the setting that needed changing. THAT is the total extent to which I have participated in canon forums over the last, dunno - 4 years? Same with Fuji, same with Sony to date. I spend a ridiculous amount of time in these forums just trying to get the camera fixed (firmware) and work with people together to find work arounds to colour, noise, lock-ups, improvement requests etc. It's simply a waste of my time which I should be using to photograph or play with my daughter.

 

So I've enjoyed learning and understanding rangefinder photography. I can't help feeling that for the vast majority of users it isn't the best solution, even if it's the preferred solution. Which is personal preference and none of my business. If I was Leica, I'd be perfectly happy with the loyal following and defence of my brand. Look at Ferrari - being thrashed every year by a a soft drinks company in the F1 championship and still making more money through selling caps than selling cars. There are many ways to make money, Leica have chosen theirs.

 

So, I'll gladly post the comparisons that you gracefully term dry f***ing Rick ;) for those of a technical mind who do want to d/l and evaluate the results in their own ways. And will report back the good and the bad of the lens that way. But I'm actually hoping it's on a par with the 35 so I can get out of here finally.

 

dwbellphotographer

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viramati

viramati

Posted
Posted

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have the A7 and while it is a fantastic piece of technology and I believe will have a place in my line up, at the end of the day nothing can really compare to an OVF be it in a RF or SLR type camera. Especially with the RF you have a contact with your subject that you just can't get with an EVF. This for me is very important for shooting people and in a documentary style and is the field in which any Rf camera really shines (this is the area that I work in most). I just find it hard to really judge the moment and get the intuitive feel for it with an EVF. This being said I am holding high hopes for the A7 and the FE55/f1.8. I have tried it out at it seems very good and what I want is autofocus on this focal length as i have had had so many problems with the 50 lux asph. The other thing that I find disturbing with the EVF is the shimmering that you get with high contrast subjects, trees against skylines, water etc.(obviously with peaking turned off) This gets better if you put the display quality to high but it drains the battery very quickly!!

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k-hawinkler

k-hawinkler

Posted
Posted

Being interested in both technology developments and photography the A7R is certainly a very educational tool as it solicits such diverse reactions. Today I used this combination Sony A7R + Carl Zeiss Sonnar FE 2.8/35 ZA T*. My take; a fantastic FF P&S camera with great colors. In case you are interested I posted a couple images here.

 

The GetDPI Photography Forums - View Single Post - A7r - and why I'm keeping it ...

The GetDPI Photography Forums - View Single Post - A7r - and why I'm keeping it ...

 

The A7/R cameras are being looked at by many folks from different points of view and their images and findings are being reported on equaly diverse websites. What have I learned so far reading a lot of those posts and getting some hands on experience myself?

 

- Well, there is a new for me feature called Zebra, apparently adopted from video cameras, that shows overexposed areas with a Zebra stripes pattern in the EVF or on the LCD. Seems useful to me. But it may also create problems with the EVF for contrasty scenes and especially non native lenses before one has established focus. One only sees overexposed glare. Turning the exposure compensation dial briefly to expose less seems to enable the camera to cope with this and display a non-glary image. After focusing and turning the exposure compensation dial back one then can see and shoot a correctly exposed image. I wonder whether this issue couldn't be addressed through a firmware change.

 

- Owners of Leica M lenses seem to find that some of their lenses don't perform well on the A7R with excessive vignetting, discoloring, and corner smearing. Whereas the former two imperfections can be dealt with in post with the flat field correction, corner smearing can't and can ruin a picture. Certainly a very disappointing outcome. So far the only M lens I have tried is my WATE and the images produced with it on the A7R seem fine. The 21 and 24 Summiluxes that I don't own also reportedly produce acceptable results on the A7R. But other WA and even normal FL M lenses seem to encounter problems. I yet have to try my other M lenses and see what I find. Other folks have tried other lenses and in some cases reported excellent results for fairly inexpensive older WA lenses, even some M lenses, for example the Minolta MD 24-35mm f3.5 constant aperture zoom. I have tried my Nikkor 28/1.4 on the A7R and it seems to perform just fine.

 

- Folks also seem to be reporting issues with fuzzy pictures especially for longer lenses. Although some folks suspected the A7R shutter as the culprit it now appears mostly to be a problem with the mechanical support through tripods and the like. I still have to find out how my R lenses are doing.

 

- Novoflex seems to have changed the design of the ASTAT-NEX. http://www.getdpi.com/forum/554357-post115.html. I changed mine so that the tightening screw doesn't interfere with my fingers on the camera grip.

 

- Certain older - but not all - M to E adapters that were built for use with APS-C sensors sometimes can have an insufficient inner diameter and can cause vignetting for some lenses. Such is the case for the Phigment adapter, my favorite adapter for handheld shooting the NEX-7. It vignettes for 90 mm and above focal length on the A7R.

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ryan1938

ryan1938

Posted
Posted
Duncan,

 

Same here. The Leica M-lenses (like the 35 FLE) do not work as reported by Sony. I've also abandoned my 35mm Leica lenses (and everything Leica below 75mm) on the A7R as well. They are not very good on the A7R.

 

I am now left wondering WTF to put on this camera. Sony hasn't provided much other than their 35, but that is too slow to build a system around. This camera is a big disappointment for me. And, I'm sure not going to buy into their big 50mm lenses. The Otus is huge and the 55 is1.8... that's ok, but I have one of the best 50mm lens ever made in the venerable 50mm Leica Summilux. What would I do with a big Sony 55mm f1.8?

 

Lot's of techie bang in this camera for sure, but a lot of fizzle for us M-lens owners. What are you going to do? Keep it or go back to the M? I'm still trying to decide if it even works well enough for me to use my R-lenses with?

 

Problem for me is that the focus peeking is so over done with the contrasty APO lenses I have that it is hard to focus. I don't think sony engineers factored in contrasty lenses like my 280/4 APO into their implementation of their focus peeking highlights. LOL! I'm on the low setting and still having such a wide range of focus that it is very often useless to use on the Leica APO lenses. Now I understand why Leica's focus peeking is hard to see for some people. It has to be, otherwise it would be so wide as to be useless.

 

I also am having frustrations getting consistently clear images with my R-lenses! I have a big Manfroto tripod, but I think I am going to have to get something bigger to tame the blur. I also may need a bigger ball head. I am not sure if it is the shutter (clunk) or if the extra pixels are the problem.

 

Hand held is also a problem. Again, not sure if it is the shutter, high pixels, or the light body and the heavy lenses I'm using. I think that there is a sweet spot where the camera weight and the lens weight provide a torsional stability that just isn't realized by a feather weight body like the A7R. My RX1 seems to be much better.

 

I have a feeling there are going to be a lot more returns than just Jono.

 

Rick

 

You need to actually use an a7 before making those assumptions. The 50 lux and 35 chron are EXCELLENT on the a7... Some say they are better on the Sony than they are on the digital m.

 

Thus far, I've only found issues with m-mount glass under 35mm - everything above seems fine. That said, the VC 21mm f1.8 is excellent on the a7.

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naturephoto1

naturephoto1

Posted
Posted

Well this will explain why the new RRS L bracket for the A7 and A7r is so expensive at $175; it also solves the problem that we had regarding the straight mini USB remote cable release connection interfering with the usage of an L bracket: :)

 

BA7-L Set: Includes Base + L-component - BA7-L-Set - Kit Configuration Page

 

http://reallyrightstuff.com/mmRRSNET/Images/gallery/BA7LSET-sliding-oncamera.gif

 

http://reallyrightstuff.com/mmRRSNET/Images/gallery/BA7LSET-cables-front.png

 

http://reallyrightstuff.com/mmRRSNET/Images/gallery/BA7LSET-cables-rear.png

 

Rich

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jankap

jankap

Posted
Posted

Beautiful pictures, K-H!

Due to the discussions in the various threads I have learned that my GXR has a noiseless electronic shutter. Perhaps my my pictures of the eclipse in Australia would gave been sharper, if I would have used this feature with my Telyt R f8/500mm mirror lens.:(

Have to have a nearer look at this. The next eclipse will come.

Jan

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Mike Lavigne

Mike Lavigne

Posted
Posted

new to Leica, have an M, 28 cron, and 0.95 Noct. very much enjoying Leica and RF.

 

after shooting the 28 and 50, I can see I'm going to want a 35. either the cron ASPH or the FLE. leaning toward the FLE.

 

what stopped me was considering the A7r with the FE35 as a package as an alternative to either Leica 35mm lens. I've read almost this whole thread (3575 posts :eek:) while pondering this question. doing the Sony would give me another body with certain attributes, but conflict my Leica RF direction. I go back and forth. OTOH I think I need to focus on the Leica direction until I attain a higher competency before I dilute my attention.

 

from a budget perspective I can't do both of these choices.

 

a couple of days ago I did get a chance to briefly handle an A7r with the FE35 at a dealer, it seemed almost too small and light to hold firmly. maybe something I could get use to but it did give me pause. the M could be lighter but I like it's solid purposeful feel.

 

not exactly a life-altering dilemma but one I'm stuck on none-the-less. please tip me over as I need to move on.

 

I did purchase a Novoflex M to E converter in a moment of temporary clarity but I'm still on the fence.

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JimKasson

JimKasson

Posted
Posted
what stopped me was considering the A7r with the FE35 as a package as an alternative to either Leica 35mm lens. I've read almost this whole thread (3575 posts :eek:) while pondering this question. doing the Sony would give me another body with certain attributes, but conflict my Leica RF direction. I go back and forth.

 

Mike, how about the RX-1, with either the AA filter or not? Buy the lens at Leica prices, get the camera free. Unbelievably quiet, non-vibratory shutter. Downside: the external EVF, but you can flip it up and look down (like the M240 finder) which you can't do with the a7 or a7R. Another downside compared to the a7R is "only" 24 megapixels. I find the menus on the RX-1 less terrible than those on the a7R.

 

Jim

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algrove

algrove

Posted
Posted

Mike

The Sony is not for street in my opinion and for me is only a tripod able solution for me. You might be different.

 

If you really like RF get the 35 FLE and be done with it. The M has more of a solid feel to it for my liking versus the a7r, even with FE35.

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viramati

viramati

Posted
Posted
Mike

The Sony is not for street in my opinion and for me is only a tripod able solution for me. You might be different.

 

If you really like RF get the 35 FLE and be done with it. The M has more of a solid feel to it for my liking versus the a7r, even with FE35.

A7 (not the R) with FE35 from my first outing in the streets while shopping with my wife

Untitled Moustache | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Meat | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Usually I use the M with the 28 cron asph for street but the A7 can be set up pretty well for this sort of work and auto-focus is fast

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Guest polygamer

Guest polygamer

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Posted

Prost! Have a nice weekend!

 

(SONY a7, Leica Summicron 2/50, open, JPEG ooc)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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gyoung

gyoung

Posted
Posted
You need to actually use an a7 before making those assumptions. The 50 lux and 35 chron are EXCELLENT on the a7... Some say they are better on the Sony than they are on the digital m.

 

Thus far, I've only found issues with m-mount glass under 35mm - everything above seems fine. That said, the VC 21mm f1.8 is excellent on the a7.

 

Well, even without using one there is plenty of evidence that the 35/2 asph seems very good at near and medium distances, but like some other lenses gets soft at the edges when at or near infinity. If your work requires that then the performance is certainly not 'excellent'. And the 21/1.8 showed what I would class as extreme curvature of field in some of the shots shown. Fred Miranda forum has some examples if they are not here.

 

Gerry

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

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