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

woof woof said:
I tend more towards 35-50mm and generally prefer primes. One thing I do like is taking shots of any nice flowers I pass :D so 50mm or a bit longer and close focusing are handy too :D
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For the 35 I guess it's the Sony fe 35 f2.8? What about the 50?
 
Yes, I have the 35mm f2.8 and 55mm f1.8 but will probably take manual lenses out tomorrow. I'm often tied to the house for long periods and have a GF too so I look forward to getting a break and the chance to get out by myself.
 
si019 said:
When you are on walk about is it more enclosed surrounding? I like my wider lenes but find much below 50mm dose not have the reach I need. I have been using my 70-200 fe f4 as a walk about recently.
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Tend to gravitate toward 35, if I was taking only one lens it would be that, however I'm leaning toward trying out a 24/50 combo instead...
 
Will post some dead light no sky shots tomorrow :(
 
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twist said:
Very cool. Be interesting to see what the addition ads in terms of cost.
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Hopefully not too much. Their lenses are right up there optically (a bit weak in areas but nothing's perfect), and if they can add AF without sacrificing too much on either cost or quality they could be onto a winner. It will also be interesting to see if they stay Sony exclusive for FF AF lenses like Zeiss.
 
Crossroads said:
Hopefully not too much. Their lenses are right up there optically (a bit weak in areas but nothing's perfect), and if they can add AF without sacrificing too much on either cost or quality they could be onto a winner. It will also be interesting to see if they stay Sony exclusive for FF AF lenses like Zeiss.
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Yeah, interesting times.
 
macvisual said:
We need more images posted here.......please.
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Hah - I was just thinking, this is one of the strangest camera-specific threads going, Most of the chat seems to be about cameras other than Sony A7x's, people buying Canon/Nikon/Fuji cameras and all seem to suffer from chronic GAS...

FWIW I took mine out into the bluebell woods on Sunday, and it was lovely. I however don't have internet at home at the moment, so can't post a picture up (yet).
 
macvisual said:
We need more images posted here.......please.
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A few experiments with the new lenses

Taken with a sony 90mm macro G OSS



Our tireless dog

35mm loxia

Before you ask, I don't know

25mm Batis

First ever tower block in the UK


Docklands church by Hawksmoor

21mm Loxia, those are my Vans in the foreground:
 
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Crossroads said:
Well Samyang just grew up. They've announced their first two AF lenses, and they're both full frame Sonys. Very interested in seeing how these work out, Samyang have produced some optically amazing lenses at very low prices, so interesting to see how that changes with the addition of autofocus.
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Very cool, be very interested to see pricing I have to say... cheap used A7 or A7r with a couple of these could make an outstanding setup (to go with my X-Pro 2)
 
si019 said:
To be honest I thought the prices of the original a7 range would have dropped more than they have on the 2nd market and that it would have been flooded.
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I think the 2nd prices may have bottomed out for a while, may take another hit when generation III is out.
I think the problem is even if you buy a cheap 2nd hand body, the lenses are still high. :)
 
si019 said:
To be honest I thought the prices of the original a7 range would have dropped more than they have on the 2nd market and that it would have been flooded.
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To be fair, used A7s are still incredibly cheap modern full frame cameras. The price can only fall so far before demand rises up to match it.
 
jonneymendoza said:
o snap!

Samyang out of the blue!

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/offi...-autofocus-50mmf-1-8-and-14mm-f2-8-fe-lenses/
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Wowza. That's nice :D

Looking at the pictures these seem to be quite large lenses but maybe not too much so. It'll be interesting to see what the image quality is like and of course the price too and another thing I'd be interesting in is the build quality. It's not something that I'd worry about when buying a big name lens but I have read some pretty shocking reports about Samyang and more worryingly the problems seem to be by design rather than a cock up at the factory.

Time will tell I suppose.
 
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macvisual said:
We need more images posted here.......please.
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You didn't specify good ones so I'll post some.

I managed to get out for a few hours with my A7 and Minolta Rokkor 24mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.2. It's a while since I've used these so I was happy that despite the windy conditions and manual focus I didn't get any obviously and unacceptably out of focus shots and indeed the only ones I deleted were the ones when the shot wasn't good because my decisions weren't the best or because I'd taken more than one picture. I sometimes do this when I think I'm on the edge... windy conditions and f1.2 might be an issue :D

Minolta Rokkor 24mm f2.8.







And a 100% crop from one, using the lens as a macro :D



As usual for me these will look a little less good than on my screen as they're via Photobucket and I don't know how to get the best of it.

This one was an attempt at a sun star, but they're not very good :D



What is rather good is that the camera coped so well with this extreme shot. I boosted the shadows quite a bit and the result is something that no camera I've ever owned could have got close to. My 5D would have produced a mess.

This lens is ok in the centre but wont match a good modern lens towards the edges. Other than that all shots needed a boost to contrast but the colours look good and so do whole images.

This is a shot I've taken many times and I use it to assess lenses. The modern Sony Zeiss 35mm f2.8 and 55mm f1.8 do very well, this old Minolta doesn't get close to them.



It's a while since I used a 24mm as in recent times I've gravitated more to 35 and 50/55mm so it was nice to go back to a wide and indeed I found myself wanting wider. At one time my Sigma 20mm f1.8 and especially my 12-24mm got a bit of use and indeed the 12-24mm was for quite a while my most used lens.

It might be nice to get a wide for my A7 :D
 
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Minolta 50mm f1.2 but at a sensible aperture :D



I also have a Minolta 50mm f1.4 and it's the best manual 50mm I have. The f1.2 doesn't quite match it but it's good enough. This is a 100% crop from another shot, These old lenses look ok for whole images and are pretty sharp in the centre when stopped down but of course they can't live with a modern lens like the excellent Sony 55mm f1.8 at wider apertures or away from the centre of the frame.



At f1.2 and then stopped down :D



 
Lastly and not A7 series related.

I read and contributed to another thread about zoom lenses and I was surprised by some of the views expressed. I've always thought of a zoom as just a long list of primes in that I'd position myself for the shot I wanted and set the zoom to the required focal length... adjusting the zoom for minor effect if I couldn't be bothered to move :D I see obvious exceptions to using them like this for example if you can't alter position relative to your subject (bird in flight, you're on the edge of a cliff, you're up against a wall and can't move back any further etc...) Some in that thread seemed to be saying that you use the zoom to frame the shot... but of course that ignores perspective. If you stand in one place and alter the zoom length all you're doing is keeping the same perspective and zooming in or out. That's fine if you know what you're doing but I'm not convinced that everyone does.

These two shots get "Saltburn" at more or less the same position and size in the frame but as one was taken with a 24mm lens and the other was taken with a 50mm lens the pictures look quite different. Isn't perspective something people think about any more?



 
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jonneymendoza said:
Yea
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Doesnt look much different to me.... Id be surprised if it performs better than the Sigma at F1.4.

Pic shows Sigma WITH adapter.

Bildschirmfoto%202016-05-04%20um%2008.34.52_zpsbatukwzk.png
 
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woof woof said:
Lastly and not A7 series related.

I read and contributed to another thread about zoom lenses and I was surprised by some of the views expressed. I've always thought of a zoom as just a long list of primes in that I'd position myself for the shot I wanted and set the zoom to the required focal length... adjusting the zoom for minor effect if I couldn't be bothered to move :D I see obvious exceptions to using them like this for example if you can't alter position relative to your subject (bird in flight, you're on the edge of a cliff, you're up against a wall and can't move back any further etc...) Some in that thread seemed to be saying that you use the zoom to frame the shot... but of course that ignores perspective. If you stand in one place and alter the zoom length all you're doing is keeping the same perspective and zooming in or out. That's fine if you know what you're doing but I'm not convinced that everyone does.

These two shots get "Saltburn" at more or less the same position and size in the frame but as one was taken with a 24mm lens and the other was taken with a 50mm lens the pictures look quite different. Isn't perspective something people think about any more?
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I'm with you on that one. Zooming is no substitute for being in the right place for the right photo. Perspective and positioning. It's why "zoom with your feet" is such a stupid saying. Sure I guess that kind of works if you're taking a photo of a single 2 dimensional object with no background, like a brick wall, but for any photo with a background or more than one subject moving will change the photo.

Zooming is just an optical crop anyway, not really all that different to cropping on your PC, but positioning and perspective are fixed the second you press the shutter button.
 
Crossroads said:
I'm with you on that one. Zooming is no substitute for being in the right place for the right photo. Perspective and positioning. It's why "zoom with your feet" is such a stupid saying. Sure I guess that kind of works if you're taking a photo of a single 2 dimensional object with no background, like a brick wall, but for any photo with a background or more than one subject moving will change the photo.

Zooming is just an optical crop anyway, not really all that different to cropping on your PC, but positioning and perspective are fixed the second you press the shutter button.
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+1, love my primes, they wont be replaced by zooms.
 
Right I'm going to Scotland next week samyang 14mm sony e mount are like rocking horse crap at the mo I can get a Canon mount delivered tommrow I have an adapter already will I notice any picture quality loss in getting the Canon version for my a7ii ? Mainly using it for landscapes and night photography I already have the sony 24-70 f4 by the way so stick with what I have or go wider
 
krisuk2008 said:
Right I'm going to Scotland next week samyang 14mm sony e mount are like rocking horse crap at the mo I can get a Canon mount delivered tommrow I have an adapter already will I notice any picture quality loss in getting the Canon version for my a7ii ? Mainly using it for landscapes and night photography I already have the sony 24-70 f4 by the way so stick with what I have or go wider
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Good UK dealer. £4.99 next day.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Samyang-1...474703?hash=item542d9c5bcf:g:D~sAAOSwtPZXHjt7
 
twist said:
Doesnt look much different to me.... Id be surprised if it performs better than the Sigma at F1.4.

Pic shows Sigma WITH adapter.

Bildschirmfoto%202016-05-04%20um%2008.34.52_zpsbatukwzk.png
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It looks marginally shorter and a bit less girth too, but yes it's not far off.

However it really does remind me of a Sony Zeiss lens in appearance though - if you asked which lens family it was part of, this, or this, how many people would say the latter? I'm starting to wonder if this might not actually be entirely a Samyang design.
 
krisuk2008 said:
Right I'm going to Scotland next week samyang 14mm sony e mount are like rocking horse crap at the mo I can get a Canon mount delivered tommrow I have an adapter already will I notice any picture quality loss in getting the Canon version for my a7ii ? Mainly using it for landscapes and night photography I already have the sony 24-70 f4 by the way so stick with what I have or go wider
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To be honest, the E mount Samyangs are just DSLR versions with an adapter glued on the back anyway. In theory you could lose a little bit of sharpness if the adapter is tilted one way or the other though.
 
Crossroads said:
It looks marginally shorter and a bit less girth too, but yes it's not far off.

However it really does remind me of a Sony Zeiss lens in appearance though - if you asked which lens family it was part of, this, or this, how many people would say the latter? I'm starting to wonder if this might not actually be entirely a Samyang design.
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Yeah, I like the fact that they thought about the design. Price is under $600 but more than $400, lets say $500. Good price for a FE 50 1.4, AF is slower than the 55 but slightly faster than the (slow) 50 FE 1.8. Seems like they have priced it right if the optics are very good. Hope they put the Samyang logo on the bottom of the lens lol.
 
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