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

If you were looking at the A7R the A7II still wont do what you want it to.
 
robj20 said:
If you were looking at the A7R the A7II still wont do what you want it to.
Click to expand...
No but the A7Rii is surely just an announcement away and this time with stabilisation and surely an electronic first shutter will solve the issue of shutter shake and make it a great camera.
 
I wouldn't count on it to be honest. I can see the R and S being on much longer cycles than the basic 7.
 
I'm really looking at the A7 I think - almost to dip my toes in and see what I think v the D800 I already have - I've tried mirrorless before but struggled with the image sizes and quality (Fuji and Olympus M4/3) as I've been using a D600 and now D800 for over a year.

The full frame sensor should finally rest any worries I have about mirrorless but I think as a first try the 24MP (& cheaper) A7 would be a good bet - I'd consider either the A7ii or the rumoured A9 as a replacement for the D800 next year anyway if I get on fine with the A7!
 
I have bought the 24-70 F4 Zeiss for my shiny new A7. Just a few test shots but looks great. Only issue so far is that like Pavlov's dogs I am used to using the tab on the front of the shutter release to zoom, and now keep turning off the A7 :)
 
The new A7II seems to being well received pretty much everywhere.

Luminous Landscape are amongst those enthusing...

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/camera_of_the_year_2014.shtml

I'd love in body IS but not so much that I want to sell my A7 and buy a II. Maybe not :D I am tempted but it's a lot of money for IS and a redesigned grip and shutter button in a slightly bigger and heavier camera. Hmmm.

People seem to like the increased bulk and weight but I have to say that as a prime user and lover of more discrete kit I'd much rather have less bulk and weight. I also just don't get the view that a real mans camera must be big and heavy and made of metal. Anyway, there's the way I see it and how the world is... People seem to like the new grip and shutter button placement but I have to say that these are non issues for me with the A7. Plenty of real mans metal cameras are just oblong boxes with the shutter on the top plate :D

Has anyone here bought a II or decided to?

Other than that, I weakened and ordered the 55mm f1.8.

I really don't like no marking no feel FBW lenses and I really do like my old cheap manual primes but when taking shots of people it just takes too long with a manual lens. I'll probably carry the 55mm AF lens on camera as it's my most used length and use my manual 28, 85 and 135 occasionally via adapter as normal.
 
Last edited:
Nope, not a fan of increased size and weight. Would i like IBIS, yes. But not at the cost of MP and an AA filter, size and weight.
 
I can, i can see the R and S being on a longer interval.
Maybe even discontinued and the A9 replacing them both. I would love an A7R with 36MP min and the silent shutter from the S, i would even give up the AA filter as long as its high MP.
 
robj20 said:
I can, i can see the R and S being on a longer interval.
Maybe even discontinued and the A9 replacing them both. I would love an A7R with 36MP min and the silent shutter from the S, i would even give up the AA filter as long as its high MP.
Click to expand...

No R or S? I could see the R going and being replaced by a 9 but surely the S's reason to exist is the low light ability and could that be matched by a high mp count 9? Dunno... We'll maybe have to wait and see... Silent shutter would be nice but I don't find my A7 as loud as some on the net seem to think... but I had a Canon 20D for seven years and its shutter sounded like an anvil being thrown into a tin bath so anything is an improvement after that.

One thing I would like is a firmware update and the ability to turn the bl@@dy back screen OFF without diving into the menu!!!!!! I'd just love the ability to be able to toggle between EVF and back screen like I can with my MFT cameras. Can't be too much to ask :D
 
The silent shutter i'm not interested in it for its lack of noise but more the shutter lag. There wouldn't be any also flash sync would be a lot higher.
 
I'll be surprised if there are any nasties waiting for early buyers. I bought my A7 early and I have no real complaints... other than the turning the back screen off issue :D

While I'm here and off topic...

I read on Ken Rockwells site (I know...) that the Canon 7DII is wonderful and better than last years FF jobbies but his own ISO samples look horrible to me at the dizzy heights of ISO 3200. The bloke need to sit down and be quiet and have a nice cup of tea.

Cough...
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/7d-mk-ii.htm#highisos
 
Last edited:
chrism_scotland said:
Was hovering over the buy button when I noticed the A7ii in stock but a bit wary of early adopter remorse, think I'll likely wait and see what the early thoughts are.
Click to expand...

(oops. my part ex relationship with LCE came into force, early adopter alert) Busy at work until late Friday. I should get a chance for a play over the weekend...
 
I received my 55mm f1.8 today. It seems well made and works nicely and the distance scale in the EVF is nice. I compared it to my 50mm f1.4 Minolta Rokkor and...

At f1.8 to maybe f2.8 the Sony AF lens is sharper even at f1.8 with less blooming / glow and vignetting but once you're at apertures of maybe f2.8 and definitely f4 I think anyone wanting to see any difference in the centre of the frame will have to look very very closely and even then it might be difficult to tell processed pictures apart. I haven't had a chance to check away from the centre performance and bokeh but I assume that the Sony is going to better than the Rokkor towards the edges and that it will render out of focus highlights as circles whereas other than wide open the Rokkor doesn't.

Other than that, I'm impressed that the Rokkor does so well. Basically once it's stopped down just a bit it can live with the Sony at least in the centre of the frame. Not bad for a lens you can get for £60 or less. Still, I bought the Sony for AF and the Rokkor can't do that.

One other point... moving the focus point with an AF lens is a faff on.
 
Well I ordered an A7 and I've picked up a 35mm f2.8 from MPB.
Quite impressed with it so far, I ordered from Amazon so I could return easily if I didn't like it - seems nice and the IQ is excellent I can see it supplanting my D800, I'm actually pondering if I should return this and swap for the A7r and sell off my Nikon Gear (D800, Tammy 24-70 f2.8, 50mm f1.8 and a 16-35 f4) I think selling that lot would easily net me an A7r and another lens, or I could keep the A7 and add a couple of lenses!
 
When first looking at these I just couldn't see myself needing the r. I was happy with the resolution and image options that my 20D and 5D gave and I thought I'd be perfectly happy with the 24mp A7 and didn't need the 36mp of the r. Unless there's some other advantage of the r?

A7 v II is another question... if the A7 is a good price v the II I'd say keep it. IS is very nice but there are a lot of shots it's no good for and for hand held shooting I find that dialling in a faster shutter speed and letting the ISO drift up is ok on many occasions as the higher ISO image quality is quite good these days.
 
I wouldnt be without my R now, love the high MP for cropping and that extra sharpness. The R is also ideal if you ever want to use the other E-Mount lenses as you retain a lot more resolution after cropping. I simply live the sharpness.
 
I know what you mean about the sharpness. The R really is capable of amazing detail that I have only really got the hang of how to pp properly over the last few weeks (Capture One has cirtainly helped here). Going to the A7 MKII took a bit of thought but in the end it came down to 2 main points;
1. I don't actually need all those extra pixels for 99% of my pictures (for normal viewing)
2. 5 axis in body stabilization. All my best pictures over the years have been hand held, and this will help.

Whatever, all the A7's are great cameras capable of superb images.

My initial thoughts on the A7 MKII. Not a lot of photo time yet but fell wise it is solid. I mean carved from granit like solid! The new grip is an improvement. Just snapping around the house the stabilization feature seems very good.
Now just need a bit of sunshine over the weekend.
 
I'm just disappointed that the A7 is already putting on weight. Its already on the limits of what i want to carry around.
 
Lol. Know what you mean but still half the size and weight than when I had my 5D2. This and the 16-35 (or 35f2 if going really light) is ideal for a day out in the hills without having to leave the extra water bottle behind.
 
Granted I've not seen an A7ii yet but I can see that the slightly better grip might be a benefit for me, the A7 is nice with the 35 f2.8 but I'm not sure how I'd find it with a larger zoom lens, that said I'd probably want to add the battery grip for when I'm out just for shooting (tripod etc)
 
Well I decided to return the Amazon A7 because it was a grey import and not cheap! But I've purchased an A7 and 28-70 from the classifieds. I'm hoping to be able to use it alongside the D800 for a spell to help me make my mind up but the shots I've had out of the original A7 so far are very impressive, its certainly more than a match for the Nikon D600 I had and the high ISO is just spectacular, taking the cheaper option for now but if I get on fine with it the D800 and bits will be getting sold too, I'll be keeping a close eye on the rumoured A9 - if we can get the 5 axis IBIS, 36mp sensor and improved grip of the A7ii I'll be in!
 
i was going to trade my RX1r for a A7ii but the px price i was offered at WEX was just too low, think i'm going to hold out for an A7Rii equivalent now whatever that will be called
 
I am seriously considering upgrading my wonderful a6000 for a A7 but can not work out if the upgrade would be beneficial to me and I know FF will be better as in better higher iso and slightly better overall picture quality but will that equate to £500 or so better.

I use a Sigma 60mm F2.8DN which is a unbelievably sharp lens and I would go so far to say it is the best lens I have used for image quality and it gives me that WOW factor with pictures.

I take it the Sigma will work on the A7 as that is also the E mount.
 
If you remove the rear baffle of that lens, easy 2 minute screwdriver job it will give almost full frame coverage.
 
Not sure what you mean Brazo is this on the A6000 or remove the baffle for the use of the A7?
 
N0chex he means that the Sigma 60mm is designed for the APSC image circle but is oversized and by removing the baffle (blank) in the back of the lens the image circle is enlarged to almost cover the A7's 35mm sensor size. Some cropping of the image is required later ... but still a good lens and unbelievably cheap for what it does.
 
n0chex said:
Not sure what you mean Brazo is this on the A6000 or remove the baffle for the use of the A7?
Click to expand...

As Ulfric says its a bit of plastic on back of lens. That's why the corners on the 60mm are so sharp... Coz they ain't the corners ;-)
 
Hi guys, good to find this thread and have a read through :) Basically I use a 5d3 as my main camera and a Panasonic G5 converted to Full Spectrum for Infra Red shooting via external filters. Ive been saving up for the a7R for a while with the idea to use it primarily for IR but also with a low pass filter (so it works as normal again) while fell walking as the 5d3 etc is just too heavy to lug about. Then along came the spanner in the works... the a7II has been announced and released.

It really seems that this is the right camera for me for a few reasons. A : The new layout makes it similar to the layout on the G5 where its like a mini dslr as in the past ive tried rangefinder type cameras and found the shutter button placement is awkward.

B : The focusing has been improved over the original models which would probably help with the Canon lenses I would be using via adapters. I have earmarked a few primes specifically for this camera and one is the MF Voigtlander 20mm f3.5.

C : The main thing is the new IBIS system... anyone familiar with IR filters will know that theyre very opaque when you get near full Infra Red (Hoya R72 & B&W 093) so your shutter speed can drop to around 1/10 -1/40 at f5.6 even in sunlight and i've found this to be a problem recently. I took a lot of IR shots in NYC earlier this year which looked fine in camera but when I got home upon processing them and cropping in noticed many of them are soft. The IBIS would be brilliant for this as I always use the IR camera handheld. I know theres an argument that I could ramp the ISO to get the shutter speed up but atm on the Panny I keep it at the base 160. I actually bought the B&W filter in NYC so had no experience of it before so didnt think the shots were bad until as I saying cropping in in PS :[

My only thing now is I would like to have a choice, is there gonna be an a7RII around the corner? Also the fact the a7II is brand new to the market so my budget is blown straight away. I have to factor in conversion, Metabones and the camera.
 
seriously considering getting a A7ii next year. How well will they work with canon lenses with an adaptor? will autofocus speed still be very slow? I'm looking for a really high quality, small, all round street camera and would love something FF...but have a load of canon L lenses...
 
rampanthamster said:
seriously considering getting a A7ii next year. How well will they work with canon lenses with an adaptor? will autofocus speed still be very slow? I'm looking for a really high quality, small, all round street camera and would love something FF...but have a load of canon L lenses...
Click to expand...

 
rampanthamster said:
^ thanks, but that's a7r - wondering if the a7ii improves things
Click to expand...

I can see that the in body stabilisation should help but from a focus perspective I can't see that much will change, its a 3rd party adaptor after all.
 
rampanthamster said:
seriously considering getting a A7ii next year. How well will they work with canon lenses with an adaptor? will autofocus speed still be very slow? I'm looking for a really high quality, small, all round street camera and would love something FF...but have a load of canon L lenses...
Click to expand...

Ricoh gr
Sigma dp might work, but depends on how you shoot

Old film camera will get you more warmth from people tho....
 
Wonder why Panamoz dont have the a7II?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top