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

border_all said:
So long story short will stick with the Sony system might be tempted for the r2 but not at £2k +
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I might be tempted to a new camera at some point but everytime I think I am I try and think what's wrong with my A7 and the answer is very little.

For someone like me who likes the 35/50mm-ish FoV in a compact package I think that the A7 is very hard to beat and impossible to beat at the price point if you want t throw old manual focus lenses into the mix as the only other option for now is Leica.

The one thing I find myself most tempted to is new manual lenses as you can do away with the adapter or at least reduce its size and have a more compact package. The downside is that lovely though the Voigtlanders and the rest are they're quite expensive and I do get a kick out of using an old lens that's cheap and looks like it's seen a bit of life, just like me really :D
 
Excellent images something different. Where do I get these lens from I guess need converter and Manuel focuses?
 
rookies said:
Excellent images something different. Where do I get these lens from I guess need converter and Manuel focuses?
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Thank you.
I got mine from ebay (Contax G 90mm + adapter) for around £200
Very small sharp manual lens.
The problem is that they were designed for Contax AF cameras (as far as I know), so the focus ring is on the adapter.
I have the fotodiox adapter, the cheaper one and the focus is not very smooth.
One night I was so angry with the focus movement, that decided to experiment - so I put the adapter on the table, got the WD-40 and sprayed a lot.
It is still working. Better :)

But... You still need patience when you focus - I believe there is no full happiness :)
 
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Hi all,

I'm still on the fence about ditching Sony and moving to a Fuji XT-2.
I may bite the bullet and just sell all my lenses and a body and invest in the GM lenses! :o
 
Rizvan said:
Hi all,

I'm still on the fence about ditching Sony and moving to a Fuji XT-2.
I may bite the bullet and just sell all my lenses and a body and invest in the GM lenses! :o
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Go on you know you want to. Sell everything keep one body get those GM lens then u sorted wish I could go that far
 
I know they are different focal length but what they like sharpness and performance wise comparing the 2..

Sony 35mm 2,8 Zeiss
Sony 55mm 1,8 Zeiss..

Ive got my eyes are these 2 at used prices..
 
rookies said:
I know they are different focal length but what they like sharpness and performance wise comparing the 2..

Sony 35mm 2,8 Zeiss
Sony 55mm 1,8 Zeiss..

Ive got my eyes are these 2 at used prices..
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I don't think anyone would disagree that the 55mm is the better lens, its probably one of the best fast 50's you can buy on any system, the 35mm is also very good but I found f2.8 a little slower than I like in a prime.
 
chrism_scotland said:
I don't think anyone would disagree that the 55mm is the better lens, its probably one of the best fast 50's you can buy on any system, the 35mm is also very good but I found f2.8 a little slower than I like in a prime.
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I think f2.8 is just about acceptable for a 35mm and although I've said that I'd like a f1.8 of the same bulk I do know that in reality there'd almost certainly be compromises.

The 55mm f1.8 is a fantastic lens and the 35mm f2.8 may not match it for sharpness but an A7 with the 35mm mounted makes a very compact quality package that (arguably/probably) no other compact system camera can match.

Best own them both :D

PS.
I sort of understand all this Fuji love but come on people, the A7 series has a mix of reasonably priced (but I'm not getting into yet another argument about this) and more expensive lenses now and I think that the size/features/quality are hard to beat and I just don't see any great advantage in jumping to Fuji apart from the manual dials but I've now accepted that tempting though they are in reality I prefer the more widely used little front and back type wheels. Jump if it's right for you but you'll be jumping to an APS-C system with no great advantage that I can see.
 
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The Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM is as sharp if not sharper than the Sony Zeiss FE 55mm f1.8, now I'm beginning to understand why it's so darn expensive, it could easily replace my prime lenses! Mmmm
 
border_all said:
Would you say better than batis prime
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I've not had a chance to directly compare with my own Batis 25mm / 85mm unfortunately but I'd guess it would be splitting hairs, there is a YouTube video directly comparing the 24-70 GM against the Sony 55mm f1.8 using really world photos and I couldn't tell the difference @ 55mm.
The issue with the DxO scores for the 24-70mm is that they are still using the older A7R for their testing.
Selling off my Batis lenses & Sony 55mm would easily pay for the 24-70mm GM so I'm looking to sell them off and make the jump into GM glass but I don't have much time as from 1st August the prices go up. :(
 
Talking of sharpness issues, I offer my opinion that the Sony FE 90mm G OSS f2.8 macro is too sharp for portrait snaps. Very unforgiving.
Maybe I've mellowed with age but are any of our modern lenses not sharp enough?

When it comes to zooms, I'd be asking about barrel & pincushion distortion. My Nikon friend is always mentioning this annoyance in relation to some of his lenses. Perhaps there is light room software that can correct it?

Regards
Andy
 
CharleyBird said:
Talking of sharpness issues, I offer my opinion that the Sony FE 90mm G OSS f2.8 macro is too sharp for portrait snaps. Very unforgiving.
Maybe I've mellowed with age but are any of our modern lenses not sharp enough?

When it comes to zooms, I'd be asking about barrel & pincushion distortion. My Nikon friend is always mentioning this annoyance in relation to some of his lenses. Perhaps there is light room software that can correct it?

Regards
Andy
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Hi Andy,

I think your right, most lenses are sharp enough and I was considering moving to Fuji but I can't help but think I'd be missing the full-frame Sony goodness.
The GM lenses are highly regarded there is no doubt about it hence their cost!

Lightroom should correct your friends lens distortions etc without too much worry.
Most lenses have this trait, it's just how done optics work.
 
I was shooting an all day event yesterday, I used the a7rii only hitch worked flawlessly. For lenes I used the mc11 with the sigma 24-104 f4, this worked well but ocsaonllay gave focusing issues (it would lock focus and then loss it as the shutter release was fully passed) which seems to get more noticbale as the day went on. Also used the 55mm f1.8 for when I wants more bokar, this was perfect for the entire day without any issues, used the Sony 70-200 f4 at the end as the sigma was starting to get annoying. For those on a battery count I used almost 3 fully charged battery's and 1 64gb memory card, I did delete any scrap pictures as I went long.

Things I learnt, adapted lens are good and give options that the e mount lineup dose not have but native lenes are still better from a functional point of view, going to start saving the for 24-70 f2.8!
 
si019 said:
I was shooting an all day event yesterday, I used the a7rii only hitch worked flawlessly. For lenes I used the mc11 with the sigma 24-104 f4, this worked well but ocsaonllay gave focusing issues (it would lock focus and then loss it as the shutter release was fully passed) which seems to get more noticbale as the day went on. Also used the 55mm f1.8 for when I wants more bokar, this was perfect for the entire day without any issues, used the Sony 70-200 f4 at the end as the sigma was starting to get annoying. For those on a battery count I used almost 3 fully charged battery's and 1 64gb memory card, I did delete any scrap pictures as I went long.

Things I learnt, adapted lens are good and give options that the e mount lineup dose not have but native lenes are still better from a functional point of view, going to start saving the for 24-70 f2.8!
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Calphoto are doing 24 months interest free credit today so you could get the 24-70mm f2.8 GM now and beat the August price increases? ;)
 
Something else to watch for...3D pop. Very simplistically expressed, it seems the more elements of glass the light is slowed & bent through, the flatter the resulting image is likely to be.

Is this perceptual and unscientific? I don't know, but when a photo has 'pop', you feel it.
 
Just getting into the Sony A6000 which I'm really liking,i won't be parting with it if and when I get a FF Sony so just saying there is a SH A7 for £540 ,tempted to get it to get on the Sony FF band wagon but not sure wether to wait and go for a more top end one in another 6 months or so?
Alan you like your A7,what do you suggest?
 
SsSsSsSsSnake said:
Just getting into the Sony A6000 which I'm really liking,i won't be parting with it if and when I get a FF Sony so just saying there is a SH A7 for £540 ,tempted to get it to get on the Sony FF band wagon but not sure wether to wait and go for a more top end one in another 6 months or so?
Alan you like your A7,what do you suggest?
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Is that THIS Alan with a first gen A7? Or the other Allan?

If it is... me... I like my A7 and I have no plans to change at the moment. I like the compact size and I seem to be ok with the 1st gen body design but others seem to prefer the redesigned body of the MK2's. One thing I have thought about is in body IS but in reality I doubt it'd be a great advantage to me. Apart from a couple of minor niggles such as I'd love an EVF / back screen toggle switch like Panasonic have, I'm happy.
 
SsSsSsSsSnake said:
Just getting into the Sony A6000 which I'm really liking,i won't be parting with it if and when I get a FF Sony so just saying there is a SH A7 for £540 ,tempted to get it to get on the Sony FF band wagon but not sure wether to wait and go for a more top end one in another 6 months or so?
Alan you like your A7,what do you suggest?
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Having owned both the original A7 and the A7II there isn't much in it IQ wise, it all comes down to your budget, if your planning to use 3rd party lenses then I'd opt for the A7II as IBIS would be a positive.

A point worth noting is that Sony is putting its prices up in August which will have a knock on affect on the 2nd market so anybody looking to buy should do so now, I can't say for 100% that second hand prices will also increase but they should solidify at the very least.
Sensor production was also affected so supply might be limited for a good few months, Fuji managed to get their first batch of XT-2 sensors before the earthquake but others didn't.

I'm predicting that all Sony bodies and lenses will see between £100-200 price increases come 1st of August, I'll try and find out more next week as I'm considering pulling the trigger on the GM lenses.
 
woof woof said:
I think f2.8 is just about acceptable for a 35mm and although I've said that I'd like a f1.8 of the same bulk I do know that in reality there'd almost certainly be compromises.

The 55mm f1.8 is a fantastic lens and the 35mm f2.8 may not match it for sharpness but an A7 with the 35mm mounted makes a very compact quality package that (arguably/probably) no other compact system camera can match.

Best own them both :D

PS.
I sort of understand all this Fuji love but come on people, the A7 series has a mix of reasonably priced (but I'm not getting into yet another argument about this) and more expensive lenses now and I think that the size/features/quality are hard to beat and I just don't see any great advantage in jumping to Fuji apart from the manual dials but I've now accepted that tempting though they are in reality I prefer the more widely used little front and back type wheels. Jump if it's right for you but you'll be jumping to an APS-C system with no great advantage that I can see.
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Advantages for me off the top of my head are:
8 frames per second vs 5.
Continuous drive mode in silent mode
Up to 1/32,000 vs 1/8,000
Film mode pre sets in RAW in LR
Better phone application
Better battery grip
Nice sounding shutter vs the worst I've ever heard
More Manual dials
Better looks
 
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addicknchips said:
Advantages for me off the top of my head are:
8 frames per second vs 5.
Continuous drive mode in silent mode
Up to 1/32,000 vs 1/8,000
Film mode pre sets in RAW in LR
Better phone application
Better battery grip
Nice sounding shutter vs the worst I've ever heard
More Manual dials
Better looks
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Got to agree with the above mmmm I'm still thinking about the XT-2 but the next Sony body will probably address most of these issues.... I'm probably going to stick with Full-frame & Sony and see where it goes, one things for sure, it's not going to be a cheap journey lol!!
 
addicknchips said:
Advantages for me off the top of my head are:
8 frames per second vs 5.
Continuous drive mode in silent mode
Up to 1/32,000 vs 1/8,000
Film mode pre sets in RAW in LR
Better phone application
Better battery grip
Nice sounding shutter vs the worst I've ever heard
More Manual dials
Better looks
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Vs
Sony IQ,
lack of detail smearing,
the ability to shoot raw at any ISO
and the ability to change shutter, aperture and ISO with the slightest touch from just one thumb or finger with camera to my eye.
All that vs your list = No Contest. At least for me. Sony all the way :D Gotta go the way that suits us though.

And with my serious head on for just a mo you think that the Fuji looks better and this is something that you add to the list of things that influence you? I made a living in practical physical things but I'd consider myself also an artist but even so how a camera looks hardly enters into my head. It'd have to be a real dogs dinner to put me off... and I don't think either the Sony or the Fuji are quite that.

You'll want to pimp your camera next? :D
 
woof woof said:
Vs
Sony IQ,
lack of detail smearing,
the ability to shoot raw at any ISO
and the ability to change shutter, aperture and ISO with the slightest touch from just one thumb or finger with camera to my eye.
All that vs your list = No Contest. At least for me. Sony all the way :D Gotta go the way that suits us though.

And with my serious head on for just a mo you think that the Fuji looks better and this is something that you add to the list of things that influence you? I made a living in practical physical things but I'd consider myself also an artist but even so how a camera looks hardly enters into my head. It'd have to be a real dogs dinner to put me off... and I don't think either the Sony or the Fuji are quite that.

You'll want to pimp your camera next? :D
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You'll notice that it was near the bottom of the list.
But yes I want something that is easy on the eye.
When you buy a car do you for example decide that a VW is the one for you, Then take the pink one with the "my other car is a Ferrari" sticker in the window - simply because it does the same job as the jet black one next to it?
 
woof woof said:
and the ability to change shutter, aperture and ISO with the slightest touch from just one thumb or finger with camera to my eye.
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Cant you do this with most higher end cameras? :confused:
 
addicknchips said:
You'll notice that it was near the bottom of the list.
But yes I want something that is easy on the eye.
When you buy a car do you for example decide that a VW is the one for you, Then take the pink one with the "my other car is a Ferrari" sticker in the window - simply because it does the same job as the jet black one next to it?
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Maybe I need a sticker similar to that for my fugly big DSLR :p
 
Rizvan said:
The Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM is as sharp if not sharper than the Sony Zeiss FE 55mm f1.8, now I'm beginning to understand why it's so darn expensive, it could easily replace my prime lenses! Mmmm
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No way. It's not even as sharp as the canon
 
jonneymendoza said:
No way. It's not even as sharp as the canon
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Hi,

have you managed to test the lenses back to back, I just saw a YouTube video comparing it with the Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 and there wasn't any real-world difference between then two.
 
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All the way through watching this my money was on the right hand lens and I can't understand why he felt there was nothing in it?
 
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