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

My goal...
Sony A9
Sony 12-24mm f2.8 GM
Sony 24-70mm f2.8 GM
Sony 70-200mm f2.8 GM
Sony 2.0x Tele-converter
Sony 50mm f1.2 GM
Sony 85mm f1.4 GM
Sony 135mm f2.8 GM Macro
Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8
Sony Zeiss 35mm f2.8

:) :o
 
Oh and a 2016 MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Watch 2, iPhone 7, NAS etc lol mmmmmm
 
I sort of understand all this gas but at the moment I don't feel very limited by the kit. I have my camera (A7) and the 35mm f2.8 and 55mm which are the AF lenses I'm mostly likely to want and use and for the other less frequent wants and needs I have the manual lenses :D

With the price prices seemingly affecting old manual lenses too, plus they're harder to find these days, I'm glad I'm pretty happy :D
 
woof woof said:
I sort of understand all this gas but at the moment I don't feel very limited by the kit. I have my camera (A7) and the 35mm f2.8 and 55mm which are the AF lenses I'm mostly likely to want and use and for the other less frequent wants and needs I have the manual lenses :D

With the price prices seemingly affecting old manual lenses too, plus they're harder to find these days, I'm glad I'm pretty happy :D
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Your a lot wiser than me, in control of your GAS!
I'm going to go for the same two lenses, will be my travel setup, A7RII, 35mm & 55mm lenses.
 
stevelmx5 said:
15% off the prices that have been increased by 30% now? Maybe if you don't need a lens until next March, you don't need it at all? ;0)
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Well, Zeiss lenses haven't had a price increase (yet). Hopefully they won't as a German company?

You're right about not needing the Zeiss lenses. I do however want them, so will get them (in time) ;)
 
Wissel said:
Well, Zeiss lenses haven't had a price increase (yet). Hopefully they won't as a German company?

You're right about not needing the Zeiss lenses. I do however want them, so will get them (in time) ;)
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I'm not so sure as grey prices on the Batis lenses may have increased, they are more than UK prices which might mean a possible UK price increase might be coming.
As much as I like my Batis lenses I can't justify keeping them after splashing out on the GM's.
 
Rizvan said:
I'm not so sure as grey prices on the Batis lenses may have increased, they are more than UK prices which might mean a possible UK price increase might be coming.
As much as I like my Batis lenses I can't justify keeping them after splashing out on the GM's.
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Yeah I noticed Panamoz prices on the Zeiss stuff was basically the same as the UK (WEX), despite Zeiss being a German company I don't think it makes any odds, the Pound has moved fairly sharply against the Euro as well as the dollar/Yen since Brexit.

Chris
 
rookies said:
Though you not agreed a price
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For clarity my 35mm f2.8 has not been "picked up". I've just got my name against the next one they have due in from Sony as they are currently out of stock.
Hence not agreed a price for it yet as I need to discuss it along with my 70-200 GM purchase :)
 
I'm in a right old pickle guys, torn between the basis or GM again as d day nears. I could keep my 90mm and get the Batis, or I need to sell the 90 to be able to get the GM.

What would you do, considering I'm doing mainly weddings and pet and baby portraits with this focal length......
 
pastyman said:
I'm in a right old pickle guys, torn between the basis or GM again as d day nears. I could keep my 90mm and get the Batis, or I need to sell the 90 to be able to get the GM.

What would you do, considering I'm doing mainly weddings and pet and baby portraits with this focal length......
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I think others will disagree, but I'd go with the Batis. I know the GM is the better lens, but there's something about the look of the files from the Batis 85 (and the 18 imo).
 
pastyman said:
I'm in a right old pickle guys, torn between the basis or GM again as d day nears. I could keep my 90mm and get the Batis, or I need to sell the 90 to be able to get the GM.

What would you do, considering I'm doing mainly weddings and pet and baby portraits with this focal length......
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Are you considering the Batis 85mm vs Sony 85mm GM?
For weddings a macro can also be useful for the important ring shots etc.
I've shot at a wedding with the Batis 25mm and 85mm and found them to be ok, but for my style a 24-70mm zoom is more useful.
I currently own both the Batis 85mm and Sony 85mm GM, they GM is the better lens but it's more expensive too.
I vital thing for me was being able to use the AF Hold button on the 85mm GM as the Eye-AF button!
 
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Wissel said:
I think others will disagree, but I'd go with the Batis. I know the GM is the better lens, but there's something about the look of the files from the Batis 85 (and the 18 imo).
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The Sony GM's have a look too, as I mentioned previously in this thread both have a different character and are very close, the Sony is cooler with the Zeiss being warmer, it's hard to explain.
In terms of bokeh the GM wins in my opinion but again a very subjective trait. I wouldn't say the Batis is rubbish, it's a awesome lens but if you try out the GM and then go back to the Batis you'll probably want the GM.
I've been lucky to own both and can't justify keeping two 85mm lenses in my collection, the Batis is going

By the end of this year you'll have the Batis 18mm, 25mm, 85mm and 135mm prime lenses, they will be drool worthy but I've decided to go the Sony GM route as I have a feeling they will be more future proof in terms of high resolution imagery which they have been designed for, that's when I believe the GM series may start to show the weaknesses of the traditional DSLR lenses which may not be able to resolve enough.
 
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Thanks, I think I've made my mind up, the focus hold for eye af would be a real bonus, plus the af/mf switch. The macro side I could probably cover with the 30mm, quite cheap and seems to be plenty good enough for ring shots, got the 55 1.8 for other table details etc..

Just need to shift my 90mm in the classifieds to get my hands on the GM....
 
So these buttons on the Lens like the 70-200 F4 i have can they be altered within the setting then to do what I want are all the 4 button same or can each button be difference?
 
A mere 19 manual lenses for me and only 13 AF lenses. How on earth do I manage! I can see some Panic buying sometime soon...
 
I need try an get some manual lens asap to have a go at it.. Got a convertor for MD lens at the moment but no lens to sit on it lol
 
Whilst we're talking about manual, adapted lenses, are there any reasonably priced (but great optically) macro lenses that anyone recommends?

I'd really like a macro but wouldn't get enough use to justify spending a lot.

Actually I'd also love a fast wide angle for astro and a tilt-shift as well if these are available quite cheaply?

On another subject, I was going to buy a descent laptop for work and editing. After looking around and not being overly impressed, I dragged an old Dell out of the cupboard that I've only ever used to watch a bit of TV on in bed. It's something that was given to me a year or so ago after a company was sold off (so had no drive). Checking the spec it was quite a recent i5 with a terrible 15" screen. I had a spare SSD doing nothing so fitted it and was quite impressed.

So I ordered a few new parts for it. I added 8gb of ram, a second 1tb drive (removed the DVD and slipped a hard drive caddy in it's place) and a backlit keyboard. I fitted all the parts today and gave it a good clean and can't believe how good it runs. I then tried my screen calibrator on it (Spyder5 Pro) and surprisingly the screen now looks great. Honestly this thing probably runs better than anything I could have bought for around £600. Not bad for £100 :)
 
I've used three different manual macro lenses on my GF1/Nex/A6k;

Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm 3.5 macro

IMG_1470255003.901982.jpg

Tamron 90mm macro

Kiron 105mm macro

IMG_1470255013.022304.jpg

They all deliver excellent results but my favourite was the Zuiko as it's much smaller/lighter and the crop body means a longer equivalent focal length to account for the wider mm.
 
Forgot to add, the widest common manual primes will be 24/2.8 like the OM Zuiko but you can also find the OM in 21mm (pricey!) or use an EF mount Tamron 19-35 as an alternative which you could also shoot AF with an active adaptor.

Wider than that will be getting into the fisheye area for manual lenses which are less common in 35mm mount so not cheap.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Forgot to add, the widest common manual primes will be 24/2.8 like the OM Zuiko but you can also find the OM in 21mm (pricey!) or use an EF mount Tamron 19-35 as an alternative which you could also shoot AF with an active adaptor.

Wider than that will be getting into the fisheye area for manual lenses which are less common in 35mm mount so not cheap.
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Cheers Steve.
 
Wissel said:
Whilst we're talking about manual, adapted lenses, are there any reasonably priced (but great optically) macro lenses that anyone recommends?

I'd really like a macro but wouldn't get enough use to justify spending a lot.

Actually I'd also love a fast wide angle for astro and a tilt-shift as well if these are available quite cheaply?

On another subject, I was going to buy a descent laptop for work and editing. After looking around and not being overly impressed, I dragged an old Dell out of the cupboard that I've only ever used to watch a bit of TV on in bed. It's something that was given to me a year or so ago after a company was sold off (so had no drive). Checking the spec it was quite a recent i5 with a terrible 15" screen. I had a spare SSD doing nothing so fitted it and was quite impressed.

So I ordered a few new parts for it. I added 8gb of ram, a second 1tb drive (removed the DVD and slipped a hard drive caddy in it's place) and a backlit keyboard. I fitted all the parts today and gave it a good clean and can't believe how good it runs. I then tried my screen calibrator on it (Spyder5 Pro) and surprisingly the screen now looks great. Honestly this thing probably runs better than anything I could have bought for around £600. Not bad for £100 :)
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The old Cosina plastic fantastic is pretty decent by all accounts. The Asahi Pentax Macro-Takumars are good too. Splash a bit more and you should be able to find a Contax mount Carl Zeiss Planar 60/2.8 or 100/2.8 too.
 
Wissel said:
Whilst we're talking about manual, adapted lenses, are there any reasonably priced (but great optically) macro lenses that anyone recommends?
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I have an old film era Sigma 50mm f2.8 in Minolta mount. It gives 1:1 and seems to be a good lens, I think I paid £60 for it but prices do seem to be rising.
 
I have a (probably more modern) Sigma 50mm macro f2.8 autofocus in Nikon mount. I agree it is an excellent lens for the price, though the autofocus is useless for macro.
 
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For macro and pseudo macro stuff I don't worry about AF but you need to change the aperture somehow and as many modern lenses don't have an aperture ring I'd always double check that any lens of potential interest does.
 
Bit quiet in here now lol
 
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