The Sony A7 thread [Merged]

[edwardkaraa]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

dwbell, thank you very much for the comparison. I downloaded the files and in fact they all look great. I somewhat prefer the colors of the M (having a proper profile gives it an advantage) but I do agree that the cron is impressive on the A7R. The Zeiss is outstanding in its lack of CA and flatter curvature. It's really surprising for me but at this distance, my order of preference would be:

 

1. 7r + FE

2. 7r + cron

3. M + cron

 

Of course the story will be very different at infinity.

[dwbell]

How about infinity distance? I think this is where most corner problems occur, smearing and color shift.

 

I can do some but very rarely am I shooting at infinity. If was a landscape guy I'd be using a very different format with lens movements.

 

dwbell, thank you very much for the comparison. I downloaded the files and in fact they all look great. I somewhat prefer the colors of the M (having a proper profile gives it an advantage) but I do agree that the cron is impressive on the A7R. The Zeiss is outstanding in its lack of CA and flatter curvature. It's really surprising for me but at this distance, my order of preference would be:

 

1. 7r + FE

2. 7r + cron

3. M + cron

 

Of course the story will be very different at infinity.

 

I feel at 2.8 the 7R+Cron has the edge over both M240+Cron and 7R+FE, and I spend quite a lot of time at f/2.8.

 

More to come, thanks for your thoughts, all welcome and encouraged.

[edwardkaraa]

Dwbell, did you notice what looks like IR contamination in the black fabric bags in the upper border of the M? The 7r renders it as pure black so it must have a UV/IR filter of proper thickness. Maybe this is what causes the corner smearing of UWA RF lenses.

[Mr_Jones]

..

[dwbell]

Dwbell, did you notice what looks like IR contamination in the black fabric bags in the upper border of the M? The 7r renders it as pure black so it must have a UV/IR filter of proper thickness. Maybe this is what causes the corner smearing of UWA RF lenses.

 

Honestly I didn't. I was not at my most observant. I did notice no "smearing" in the top right on any of the combinations at this focus distance.

[Peter H]

DW, thank you for all the trouble you're taking to show us photos from the new camera. I hope you are getting the chance to actually enjoy using it!

 

I doubt that I'll be buying one now, but I'm still not totally sure and I'm certainly open to the idea. As soon as I see some beautifully convincing photos that make me think "I want to be able to do that", the little sod inside will start nagging at me! This is not a challenge to you, by the way: in time we'll get very familiar with the camera's output and its capabilities, and I suspect we'll need a bit of time to discover what it's really capable of.

[bcdano]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I'm not an UWA guy, 35 - 50 -75, but so far the pictures I've MADE (not seen) with the A7R and my M lenses of those focal lengths are astonishing.

 

Great news - looking forward to the 75 images. What adapter are you using?

[dwbell]

Great news - looking forward to the 75 images. What adapter are you using?

 

Novoflex.

 

---------

 

Outdoor scenes closer to infinity focus you can see smearing on the 35cron on the corners.

Todays shooting has been changing my mind on the 35FE vs 35Cron. I'm tending towards the 35FE being superior on the A7R. At 2:1 pixel level (I know, WTF right?) you can see that the cron is out resolving the FE on high frequency detail. But, the flip side to that is that the FE handles the corners beautifully and on 1:1 pixel level that 'lack' in resolving power is basically null and void. Add to that AF and it's weight advantage and it starts to win out in my opinion. Your mileage may vary. The value of your property may go up as well as down. Terms and conditions apply.

[naturephoto1]

Sony Alpha Rumors reports that faster lenses for the A7 and A7r are in development:

 

Interview with Sony A7-A7r developers: Faster lenses are in development! | sonyalpharumors

 

Rich

[AlanG]

Sony Alpha Rumors reports that faster lenses for the A7 and A7r are in development:

 

Interview with Sony A7-A7r developers: Faster lenses are in development! | sonyalpharumors

 

Rich

 

If the camera is selling better than they expected, Sony would be smart to get more lenses out as soon as possible in order to strike while the iron is hot.

[dwbell]

I'm posting as I learn so forgive the too and frow. I would want the person to do this if I was eagerly awaiting so I hope you don't mind.

 

I've got a landscape aperture sweep loading to drop box at present. My conclusions on this are;

 

A7R+35FE is highest IQ in the centre.

M240+35Cron is highest IQ in the very corners despite rez disadvantage

A7R+35Cron is worst IQ in the corner, smeared and colour cast magenta

 

For my shooting, where my subject is rarely in the very corner (you'll see just how extreme we're talking in the images, a tiny tree in the top left) the centre (and basically all round the frame where I care about) IQ win of the 35FE combined with AF and light weight is looking like the winner all things considered.

 

It's all pretty close though that at some point I don't think I care and will just go with the most versatile tool, which is the Sony for me.

[edwardkaraa]

Fantastic job, DW. I'm learning more about this camera and how it interacts with M lenses, and how it compares to the M 240 in your last couple of posts than in thousands of posts on this forum and FM. My salutes to you.

[dwbell]

Fantastic job, DW. I'm learning more about this camera and how it interacts with M lenses, and how it compares to the M 240 in your last couple of posts than in thousands of posts on this forum and FM. My salutes to you.

 

Thanks. Glad to be of help.

 

I'll post when the latest sweep files are up.

 

The pixel level detail when you take the A7R+35FE raw files without LR sharpening into Nik RAW pre sharpening is just unbelievable. I haven't touched Sony's raw converter as yet.

[Thomas Chen]

The A7R arrived this afternoon, I shot with several Leica lenses:

 

WATE, 21/2.8 ASPH, 28/2.0 ASPH, 35/2.0 ASPH, MATE and

R 21-35/3.5-4.0, R28/2.8. The OOC JPEGs are all taken at the aperture when wide open and f8 for a particular focal length, they are posted within the link bellow, the ARW files are too big to exceed my Dropbox capacity.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t36mj7vyxjgk0q5/vuKizeQjCn

 

The image files just show the relative extent of vignetting and color shift among different leica WA lenses. No intention for other purpose.The scene is not a good one only using my room as an ad-hoc set-up.

 

Still need to learn more about how to better use this camera.

[naturephoto1]

The A7R arrived this afternoon, I shot with several Leica lenses:

 

WATE, 21/2.8 ASPH, 28/2.0 ASPH, 35/2.0 ASPH, MATE and

R 21-35/3.5-4.0, R28/2.8. The OOC JPEGs are all taken at the aperture when wide open and f8 for a particular focal length, they are posted within the link bellow, the ARW files are too big to exceed my Dropbox capacity.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t36mj7vyxjgk0q5/vuKizeQjCn

 

The image files just show the relative extent of vignetting and color shift among different leica WA lenses. No intention for other purpose.The scene is not a good one only using my room as an ad-hoc set-up.

 

Still need to learn more about how to better use this camera.

 

Thomas,

 

Thanks for running the tests.

 

Is that the R28mm f2.8 Elmarit version 1 or version 2?

 

Thanks.

 

Rich

[Thomas Chen]

Thomas,

 

Thanks for running the tests.

 

Is that the R28mm f2.8 Elmarit version 1 or version 2?

 

Thanks.

 

Rich

 

I think it is the latest version with floating element inside. It was listed in the 2001/07 "Leica. The Program" (Leica product catelog)

 

The serial number is 3701293.

 

I feel better with these two R lenses on A7R than M WA, maybe ecause they are bigger enough to hold in the left hand, more stable for hand-held shooting.

[algrove]

Very meaningful for me as I have many of the same lenses you posted. Well done.

 

ASA M lenses, I can see a WATE, MATE and 75/90 combo working very well with 3 lenses giving a 16-75 range.

 

The R 21-35 seems to work well and I suppose the 28-90 might work too giving a 21-90 range with 2 lenses.

 

This is exciting.

 

Does the plastic bayonet mounting bother you as far as longevity is concerned?

[dwbell]

Landscape shots are up.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w0156nkar8g2r69/HuUyibKPCS

 

Let me know your thoughts.

[edwardkaraa]

I'm posting as I learn so forgive the too and frow. I would want the person to do this if I was eagerly awaiting so I hope you don't mind.

 

I've got a landscape aperture sweep loading to drop box at present. My conclusions on this are;

 

A7R+35FE is highest IQ in the centre.

M240+35Cron is highest IQ in the very corners despite rez disadvantage

A7R+35Cron is worst IQ in the corner, smeared and colour cast magenta

 

For my shooting, where my subject is rarely in the very corner (you'll see just how extreme we're talking in the images, a tiny tree in the top left) the centre (and basically all round the frame where I care about) IQ win of the 35FE combined with AF and light weight is looking like the winner all things considered.

 

It's all pretty close though that at some point I don't think I care and will just go with the most versatile tool, which is the Sony for me.

 

To my eyes, the A7r+FE combination seems to give the best results overall. At f/2.8 and f/4, the cron seems to have a weakness in the borders and corners on the M, and is completely unusable at those apertures on the A7r. Very illuminating test. Thanks again!

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[dwbell]

To my eyes, the A7r+FE combination seems to give the best results overall. At f/2.8 and f/4, the cron seems to have a weakness in the borders and corners on the M, and is completely unusable at those apertures on the A7r. Very illuminating test. Thanks again!

 

I agree at this point.

 

This has encouraged me to consider ordering the 55 f/1.8 FE and do the same against M240+50Lux. If that turns out similar then I'm 2/3 of the way to smaller, lighter, cheaper and amazingly a better carry round system. Bit shocked at how good it is.