The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

snerkler said:
I've been watching the 24-70mm GM II prices on Cotswolds and Panamoz for some time, however I've just gone onto Cotswolds and it's no longer showing, and Panamoz price have gone up £200. In fact Cotswolds no longer have any Sony lenses, just third party ones for FE. Also out of curiosity I've checked e-infinity and they don't have it listed either. Have Sony clamped down on grey market and we can no longer buy gear that way? :(

That really affects future purchases for me if that's the case :oops: :$
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Do you currently have a 24-70 type lens?
I’ve been considering buying the a7v with the 24-70gmii, but not sure the 800 ish it would cost me to change from the tamron 28-75 ish worth it
 
pmac said:
Do you currently have a 24-70 type lens?
I’ve been considering buying the a7v with the 24-70gmii, but not sure the 800 ish it would cost me to change from the tamron 28-75 ish worth it
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I have the 20-70mm but I was looking at getting the 24-70mm GM II for studio portraits rather than swapping primes all the time. I tried the 20-70mm at the last one I did but hit rate was down compared to my primes, I would hope the 24-70mm GM II would be better than the 20-70mm in this regard.
 
pmac said:
Never heard of them until now!
Decent to deal with? May be happier to Josh the extra 100 on a body and buy with panamoz
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Only dealt with them once but yeah no problems at all. Ordered 3 items which arrived about a week later, kept 2 and returned 1 with no fuss whatsoever.
 
Any room for a small one in the corner!

Not my original plan I had in my head, but I have ended up becoming a Sony user again. I sold off my Nikon Z8 & ZF and a load of lenses as I had an itch for a Leica Q3 and a smaller system for traveling and wildlife, which is my favourite genre of photography.

So initially I bought for travelling an Olympus OM1ii with the 12-40mm & 40-150mm f2.8 lenses along with a 1.4TC. Unfortunately the 12-40mm lens failed to AF after about 10 days and it put me off the system so I returned the Olympus gear for a refund.

I then decided on a A6700 with kit lens and added a SmallRig base plate to the camera as it felt a tad too small for my hands. I then tried the Q3 and it just didn't feel as comfortable as I remembered it, when my diabetes eye photographer who had one and let me have a play with the camera. I then picked up the A7R5 and that camera felt a lot better in my hands so I purchased one.

So I have gone to start me off.

A7R5
Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 lens
Voigtlander 28mm F2 APO lens (I had the 35mm & 50mm APO lenses on my Nikon Z system)
Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 ART lens which is the lighter version 2 of the lens.

A6700
Sony 16-50mm Kit lens
Sony 70-350mm G lens
Sigma 500mm f5.6 prime lens.

With the A6700 I'm probably going to buy a wider angle lens for travelling, so any thoughts what works great with the camera from 10/11mm >18/20mm ranges from Sony, Sigma or Tamron. My initial look at reviews seems to say the Sony 10-20mm f4 G lens is very good. Any users using this lens and thoughts please?
 
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snerkler said:
I have the 20-70mm but I was looking at getting the 24-70mm GM II for studio portraits rather than swapping primes all the time. I tried the 20-70mm at the last one I did but hit rate was down compared to my primes, I would hope the 24-70mm GM II would be better than the 20-70mm in this regard.
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Get the 28-70 f/2 if you want prime performance
 
Swanseajack said:
Any room for a small one in the corner!

Not my original plan I had in my head, but I have ended up becoming a Sony user again. I sold off my Nikon Z8 & ZF and a load of lenses as I had an itch for a Leica Q3 and a smaller system for traveling and wildlife, which is my favourite genre of photography.

So initially I bought for travelling an Olympus OM1ii with the 12-40mm & 40-150mm f2.8 lenses along with a 1.4TC. Unfortunately the 12-40mm lens failed to AF after about 10 days and it put me off the system so I returned the Olympus gear for a refund.

I then decided on a A6700 with kit lens and added a SmallRig base plate to the camera as it felt a tad too small for my hands. I then tried the Q3 and it just didn't feel as comfortable as I remembered it when my diabetes eye photographer who had one and let me have a play with the camera. I then picked up the A7R5 and that camera felt a lot better in my hands so I purchased one.

So I have gone to start me off.

A7R5
Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 lens
Voigtlander 28mm F2 APO lens (I had the 35mm & 50mm APO lenses on my Nikon Z system)
Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 ART lens which is the lighter version 2 of the lens.

A6700
Sony 16-50mm Kit lens
Sony 70-350mm G lens
Sigma 500mm f5.6 prime lens.

With the A6700 I'm probably going to buy a wider angle lens for travelling, so any thoughts what works great with the camera from 10/11mm >18/20mm ranges from Sony, Sigma or Tamron. My initial look at reviews seems to say the Sony 10-20mm f4 G lens is very good. Any users using this lens and thoughts please?
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Welcome, some nice gear there. I had the 10-20mm f4 PZ for a while, and used it on my A7RV in crop mode. I was impressed with the sharpness, but not so much the power zoom, I'm just not a fan of power zooms. If you don't mind these then it's a great little lens.
 
f/1.2 said:
Get the 28-70 f/2 if you want prime performance
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It's not prime performance I'm after per se as I'm shooting at f8 most of the time, it's GM AF reliability I'm after.
 
sjh2008 said:
@Swanseajack

I use this site as do a few others on here for decent reviews of Sony lenses.

phillipreeve.net

Sony FE Lenses: The honest Guide for the A7/A9/A1 Series - phillipreeve.net

Our Guide to FE mount lenses does not deliver a remix of the manufacturer's marketing hogwash but clearly names the strengths and weaknesses of all current FE-mount lenses.
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net
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I like that site and generally like the reviews but they lost about a million brownie points for me by failing to highlight some known issues with Artralab lenses. This all makes me question their independence and/or competence. Maybe both. I still look though :D
 
snerkler said:
It's not prime performance I'm after per se as I'm shooting at f8 most of the time, it's GM AF reliability I'm after.
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The 24-70 GMII is very good tbf. A.F performance is excellent the odd time I have actually used mine. :D
 
From Cotswold

“Thank you for your message.

We have temporarily paused listing Sony cameras and lenses on our website due to ongoing supply issues. That said, we are still able to arrange a special order for you.”

Maybe they are trying to cut down on grey market items then.
 
pmac said:
From Cotswold

“Thank you for your message.

We have temporarily paused listing Sony cameras and lenses on our website due to ongoing supply issues. That said, we are still able to arrange a special order for you.”

Maybe they are trying to cut down on grey market items then.
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They are all saying the same thing including e-infin, I suspect that Sony have come down hard on them and they have removed all Sony gear from their sites while still selling it under the counter. interesting turn of events.
 
pmac said:
From Cotswold

“Thank you for your message.

We have temporarily paused listing Sony cameras and lenses on our website due to ongoing supply issues. That said, we are still able to arrange a special order for you.”

Maybe they are trying to cut down on grey market items then.
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Sounds like something from the Epstein files!:oops: :$
 
snerkler said:
Welcome, some nice gear there. I had the 10-20mm f4 PZ for a while, and used it on my A7RV in crop mode. I was impressed with the sharpness, but not so much the power zoom, I'm just not a fan of power zooms. If you don't mind these then it's a great little lens.
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Thanks Toby. I think I will go for the Sony 10-20mm f4 lens. The 16-50mm V2 Kit lens which came with my A6700 is a PZ lens and from my very limited use I haven't used the PZ option just the focus ring.
 
Can I have some user advise please.

If I'm using my Sigma 500mm f5.6 lens on either my A6700 or A7R5 is it better to use electronic shutter and if using the electronic shutter can you add volume to the shutter sound?... I can't seem to have sound like on both my cameras like I had on my Nikon Z's.

From what I read online it seems to state to use electronic shutter.
 
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Swanseajack said:
Can I have some user advice please.

If I'm using my Sigma 500mm f5.6 lens on either my A6700 or A7R5 is it better to use electronic shutter and if using the electronic shutter can you add volume to the shutter sound?... I can't seem to have sound like on both my cameras like I had on my Nikon Z's.

From what I read online it seems to state to use electronic shutter.
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If your are shooting anything moving it's better to use mechanical shutter with those bodies. Electronic shutter will cause rolling shutter issues.
 
Swanseajack said:
Can I have some user advice please.

If I'm using my Sigma 500mm f5.6 lens on either my A6700 or A7R5 is it better to use electronic shutter and if using the electronic shutter can you add volume to the shutter sound?... I can't seem to have sound like on both my cameras like I had on my Nikon Z's.

From what I read online it seems to state to use electronic shutter.
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As Anand says you don’t want to use the electronic shutter on the A7RV for anything moving, sensor readout time is very slow. I can’t comment on the A6700.

IIRC you can’t enable an electronic shutter sound on the A7RV, it’s one of the those weird omissions. I always thought you could as I can on my A1, but I remember looking into it and it’s not available on the A7RV and a number of other bodies.
 
pmac said:
Was just coming to say this.
Cotswold/ camera Dori and e-infinity no longer have Sony gear.

Do remember it’s still the Chinese new year festival for a few days as they tend to take a week of.
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Must have been a glitch or website update as they're back on Einfin now. :)
 
Kieran_89 said:
Must have been a glitch or website update as they're back on Einfin now. :)
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Nope it wasn’t a glitch.

I emailed them and received an email back saying stock issues but special order was an available as did my mate.

Cotswold and Cameras Dori were also saying the same thing.

There was a reason they were removed they just don’t want to share the reason why.
 
f/1.2 said:
Nope it wasn’t a glitch.

I emailed them and received an email back saying stock issues but special order was an available as did my mate.

Cotswold and Cameras Dori were also saying the same thing.

There was a reason they were removed they just don’t want to share the reason why.
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Not checked but price increase?
Only one I saw was a7v was 2149 now 2179 on e infinity, not much of an increase though.
 
pmac said:
Was just coming to say this.
Cotswold/ camera Dori and e-infinity no longer have Sony gear.

Do remember it’s still the Chinese new year festival for a few days as they tend to take a week of.
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I emailed Cotswold yesterday. They have taken Sony products off teh site at the moment due to stock shortages. I have spend loads with them over the last couple of years and never had any issue. To me it is probably the sign of an honest company pulling products off a site they cannot deliver on
 
wookie6262 said:
I emailed Cotswold yesterday. They have taken Sony products off teh site at the moment due to stock shortages. I have spend loads with them over the last couple of years and never had any issue. To me it is probably the sign of an honest company pulling products off a site they cannot deliver on
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Too bad that honesty conveniently goes missing when they declare camera and lenses as worth £10 ;)
 
pmac said:
Not checked but price increase?
Only one I saw was a7v was 2149 now 2179 on e infinity, not much of an increase though.
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No I don't believe it was anything to do with prices.

It is more likely that they are all buying from the same source and there was some sort of issue there, I don't believe for one minute that it was stock issues as they could of just marked them as out of stock. It is a lot more work to remove the actual items and would have also had a negative impact on their performance in Google search so removing them for that reason would have been idiotic.

In all honesty e-infin, Cotwolds and their other brand Cameras Dori are very untrustworthy and I wouldn't believe anything they say.

Panamoz I feel are the only importer that I can have trust in, buying from the others gives me the same vibe I had buying Ecstasy in the 90's from the boys at the back of the club near the fire exit door. :D I will still buy from them when needed, I am just more careful when I do and were possible prefer to use a more trusted source.
 
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Oh no, not news I want to see. My wife just treated me to the 35mm GM (first GM) lens from Cotswold - order says processing so fingers crossed. I was going to buy myself and now wondering if I should save the money or treat myself to another lens/GM. My Tamron 28-75 has been my work horse and I have a Samyang 85mm 1.4 which is great but I barely use.
 
nandbytes said:
If your are shooting anything moving it's better to use mechanical shutter with those bodies. Electronic shutter will cause rolling shutter issues.
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snerkler said:
As Anand says you don’t want to use the electronic shutter on the A7RV for anything moving, sensor readout time is very slow. I can’t comment on the A6700.

IIRC you can’t enable an electronic shutter sound on the A7RV, it’s one of the those weird omissions. I always thought you could as I can on my A1, but I remember looking into it and it’s not available on the A7RV and a number of other bodies.
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Thanks both for your replies.
 
My first chance to test a new toy but unfortunately although the weather is a little bit better it's still miserable and spotting on.

1-DSC00926.jpg

The lens extends as you focus closer and vignetting is therefore more evident and in fact there's a lot of it if you focus at further distances at wide apertures. It doesn't really go away by f8 but it is lessened. It's wide open in the above shot and at f5.6 and focused closer in this next one.

1-DSC00928.jpg

The corners are rubbish but it all relatively ok for £56.19.
 
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xibinim said:
Oh no, not news I want to see. My wife just treated me to the 35mm GM (first GM) lens from Cotswold - order says processing so fingers crossed. I was going to buy myself and now wondering if I should save the money or treat myself to another lens/GM. My Tamron 28-75 has been my work horse and I have a Samyang 85mm 1.4 which is great but I barely use.
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I’m in the process of switching up all my kit.
Selling my a7iii and 85 1.8 today
I also have the 28-75(v1) and was considering selling that and buying my a7v with the 24-70gmii. But not sure the extra £800 is worth the upgrade.
Will definitely all be bought grey

I’ve got my heart set on the 50 1.2 gm but I’m questioning if the 1.4gm would be enough or if I would regret not buying the 1.2… typically I just missed a used one for sale at £800 in as new condition ‍. That would have 100% made my mind up.
Seems very nice on reviews many saying not much difference in images but scroll random images of each I always fine some of the 1.2 just having something special looking about them.. could just be more of the users are better photographers.

I’m the most indecisive person ever and have a million different opinions on my head

1.2 with extra cash and save for another lens (Viltrox 85 1.4 maybe)or kit or 50/35 1.4 at the same time…
Then is owning the 28-75 silly‍
 
woof woof said:
My first chance to test a new toy but unfortunately although the weather is a little bit better it's still miserable and spotting on.

View attachment 475414

The lens extends as you focus closer and vignetting is therefore more evident and in fact there's a lot of it if you focus at further distances at wide apertures. It doesn't really go away by f8 but it is lessened. It's wide open in the above shot and at f5.6 and focused closer in this next one.

View attachment 475415

The corners are rubbish but it all relatively ok for £56.19.
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Is that your missus?


IMG_4673.jpeg


Seen this when looking for something else and it looks so much like her.
 
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Yes that's her. Taken with Voigtlander 40mm f1.2. Taken in 2021, with my A7.
 
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I emailed e-infinty, they say that they've removed Sony cameras due to image copyright but they're still selling them on their facebook site. Their main site still shows now Sonys for me

Screenshot 2026-02-23 at 08.46.58.jpg
 
pmac said:
Facebook site? Found what I’m guessing is there page but it’s not been updated since 2016
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Sorry I misread the email, it says you can log onto their website using your facebook account and they will show up, I didn't even know that was a thing.
 
woof woof said:
Yes that's her. Taken with Voigtlander 40mm f1.2. Taken in 2021, with my A7.
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Some guy posted them on reddit.

At first I thought it must have been you but then realised he was based in the states.

Then I thought that maybe Mrs. WW just had a thing for photographers :oops: :$

Then realised he had screen grabbed from here. :D
 
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