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

CharleyBird said:
Woof woof, my Nikon friend has a collection like that despite occasional rationalisation of stock.
And 13 camera bodies. And he still has gas. Makes me feel normal
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I feel normal :D Some people have a lot more of everything, people with hundreds of cameras and hundreds of lenses.
 
footman said:
Later this month I intend going into London with my Sigma version to get some similar headshots of politicians involved in this brexit stuff. I did the same in the 2010 election aftermath and it was very rewarding photographically.
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Sounds like an interesting project :)
 
nandbytes said:
is Sony dropping prices to basically compete with R/RP and Z6 at the same time? lol
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If I remember correctly around £1800 is where the A73 should have been at release after converting to either USD/GBP and adding in taxes.

So you could argue that they're just no longer charging a premium for it.
 
JJ! said:
Done! Used my JL vouchers to get the 50. So will list the 35 now.
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Picked up @JJ! 's 35/2.8

So unbelievably small and light.

It more than holds it's own against my 24-70 2.8 GM at the same focal length, tad sharper perhaps as you might expect from a prime, more contrasty too.

For the most part it's going on the A7III as a light weight travel kit when I'm not specifically going out with photography in mind, and I'll leave the A9, the 24-70GM, 85GM and 100-400GM etc at home - the latter coming in at a total of approx 7KG in a backpack, the former weighing it at a total of 800g. The A9 with just the 24-70GM is 1.7KG.

That means I can finally retire my last Fuji - a trusty X100T that I could not sell-on as I purposely 'distressed' the body to make it less likely to be nicked when out and about late at night.

Just need some horrible QC issues with the new 135mm so I'm not tempted to buy one. The 135 f/2 was an oddball for me when I shot with a Canon 5DIII. My least useful / used lens in terms of focal length, but the one that took the pictures I look back on and like the most!
 
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Hi all, would be interested to hear some advice with using the Sony A7 II (or original A7 since they are similar) with regard to auto focus, custom buttons and how you use your cam generally. I know I am late to the party and that the A7 RII, A7 III, A9 have the superior modern focus with eye detect etc, but the A7 II is still a great cam for me and a nice inexpensive way to enter full frame and I can't afford, nor justify the A7 III currently. I'm really happy with it so far but just need to get the best out of it.

Some things I noticed... the Sony 50mm f/1.8 is obviously not the fastest lens in the world to AF, which is fine. I will be tending to use it more for people and portrait work where focus speed will not be so much of an issue (i.e. more posed/static shots).. I have read that the eye AF only works in single shot focus mode so I will try this out and see how I get on.

I have ordered the Tamron 28-75 so will generally use this lens when I require slightly better AF speed for moving targets. I have not set up back button focus on the cam yet. Not sure if I will. I found the face detect thing in the menus but it looks like I have to register a face to make the most of it? Despite this, it seemed to be tracking quite nicely on faces in continuous focus mode but it's confusing with the "lock on AF" and many combinations of modes.

Something I find people saying is to use continuous focus mode since it is faster than single shot. I can easily see that as I think it adds phase detect focus in this mode. But...surely it is likely to hunt and miss-focus more in this mode? Especially if you want to use focus/recompose type shots. Once you swing the camera over to re-compose, it's going to lock on to something else as you depress the shutter? Without sounding like captain obvious....is this why back button focus goes hand in hand with utilizing Contiunous Af since you lock on focus quickly then take your finger off it, then press the shutter without affecting the already selected focus point?

Cheers :)
 
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simonbarker said:
If I remember correctly around £1800 is where the A73 should have been at release after converting to either USD/GBP and adding in taxes.

So you could argue that they're just no longer charging a premium for it.
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Yep it was actually cheaper to order from B&H from US and pay taxes+international postage. Came to just under £1850 IIRC. I posted the proof at the time on this thread.
 
Furtim said:
Picked up @JJ! 's 35/2.8

So unbelievably small and light.

It more than holds it's own against my 24-70 2.8 GM at the same focal length, tad sharper perhaps as you might expect from a prime, more contrasty too.

For the most part it's going on the A7III as a light weight travel kit when I'm not specifically going out with photography in mind, and I'll leave the A9, the 24-70GM, 85GM and 100-400GM etc at home - the latter coming in at a total of approx 7KG in a backpack, the former weighing it at a total of 800g. The A9 with just the 24-70GM is 1.7KG.

That means I can finally retire my last Fuji - a trusty X100T that I could not sell-on as I purposely 'distressed' the body to make it less likely to be nicked when out and about late at night.

Just need some horrible QC issues with the new 135mm so I'm not tempted to buy one. The 135 f/2 was an oddball for me when I shot with a Canon 5DIII. My least useful / used lens in terms of focal length, but the one that took the pictures I look back on and like the most!
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I too have the 35mm/2.8 and it is indeed a terrific little lens, excellent value for money and an ideal travel lens on the A7 series. Just to increase your temptation level concerning the Sony 135mm, I have the Sigma Art FE mount version and it's probably the sharpest lens I've ever owned and the Sony is supposed to be better if that's possible. I agree it's a tricky focal length though. Hope that's put your mind at rest:LOL:
 
nandbytes said:
The rest of the lenses are either already pretty sharp wide open or sharpen up stopped down. Any other FE lenses you don't feel do this?
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I can only go from reviews ATM, but like you say, the 24-70, 28-70 kit, the 50 f1.8, think I came across one review of the 28 f2 that said similar, plus a couple of others that I don't recall the specifics of (I'm read too many reviews, and I'm awash with too many opinions from other people right now). It was enough that it looked like a trend in the less expensive lenses - I'm not likely to own GM glass. There seemed to be relatively few lenses that behaved traditionally, increasing sharpness and contrast substantially up to f11, with several topping out at f5.6 and then declining. Maybe they just all had bad copies? :p
 
ancient_mariner said:
I can only go from reviews ATM, but like you say, the 24-70, 28-70 kit, the 50 f1.8, think I came across one review of the 28 f2 that said similar, plus a couple of others that I don't recall the specifics of (I'm read too many reviews, and I'm awash with too many opinions from other people right now). It was enough that it looked like a trend in the less expensive lenses - I'm not likely to own GM glass. There seemed to be relatively few lenses that behaved traditionally, increasing sharpness and contrast substantially up to f11, with several topping out at f5.6 and then declining. Maybe they just all had bad copies? :p
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The 28-70 kit lens is half decent but it's a kit lens.
The 24-70 as I said doesn't sharpen up a huge lot on corners but centre is very sharp.

The FE28 is rather sharp lens from wide open. Usable at f2 but from f2.8 it's great throughout the frame. The issue people have with it is the distortion and some smearing as a result in corners rather than sharpness.

The FE 50/1.8 is sharp in centre wide open and sharpens up when stoped down espy past f2.8. it's a nifty fifty and as far as I can see the best one and more expensive one of the lot. Canon 50mm F1.8 STM is probably the better value for money in terms of quality.

The FE85 F1.8 is sharp from wide open across the frame.
 
nandbytes said:
Canon 50mm F1.8 STM is probably the better value for money in terms of quality.
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I just saw a youtube video where someone in the comments reckons their Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM is faster to AF than the Sony 50mm even when using the MC11 adapter. Thing is the MC11 adapter adds £180 so the "budget" Canon lens becomes more costly. I can't see much difference in them optically though.
 
footman said:
I too have the 35mm/2.8 and it is indeed a terrific little lens, excellent value for money and an ideal travel lens on the A7 series. Just to increase your temptation level concerning the Sony 135mm, I have the Sigma Art FE mount version and it's probably the sharpest lens I've ever owned and the Sony is supposed to be better if that's possible. I agree it's a tricky focal length though. Hope that's put your mind at rest:LOL:
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This forum needs the facebook 'annoyed' button :-)
 
clicktor said:
I just saw a youtube video where someone in the comments reckons their Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM is faster to AF than the Sony 50mm even when using the MC11 adapter. Thing is the MC11 adapter adds £180 so the "budget" Canon lens becomes more costly. I can't see much difference in them optically though.
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Apparently the AF is much improved since the FW update. It can keep up with A9 and shoot at 20fps with that lens. Even the FE55 can only shoot at 15fps. That kinda says the AF is fast and accurate.
Optically its better than 50mm STM but not 2x better.

have a look at the field maps on dxomark - https://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Comp...E-28mm-F2-on-Sony-A7R-II__1541_1009_1516_1035
 
nandbytes said:
Apparently the AF is much improved since the FW update. It can keep up with A9 and shoot at 20fps with that lens. Even the FE55 can only shoot at 15fps. That kinda says the AF is fast and accurate.
Optically its better than 50mm STM but not 2x better.

have a look at the field maps on dxomark - https://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Comp...E-28mm-F2-on-Sony-A7R-II__1541_1009_1516_1035
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Apart from the slight noise of focus in real world shooting the focus between near and far objects is pretty quick. No different from the Nikon 1.8g.

It is made of plastic but it’s pretty solid for something so cheap!
 
I'm going to add a mirrorless body to my current equipment (Nikon) and apart from the Z6 I'm obviously interested in Sony and Fuji.
Why is it that the XT thread is jam packed full of members posting their images, and the Sony thread is full of everything else, with the occasional image?
Just an observation..............
 
Malfis said:
I'm going to add a mirrorless body to my current equipment (Nikon) and apart from the Z6 I'm obviously interested in Sony and Fuji.
Why is it that the XT thread is jam packed full of members posting their images, and the Sony thread is full of everything else, with the occasional image?
Just an observation..............
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Because the Fuji bunch have forgotten which sub forum they’re in. Nothing wrong with talking about equipment in the equipment section ;-)
 
Malfis said:
I'm going to add a mirrorless body to my current equipment (Nikon) and apart from the Z6 I'm obviously interested in Sony and Fuji.
Why is it that the XT thread is jam packed full of members posting their images, and the Sony thread is full of everything else, with the occasional image?
Just an observation..............
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A lot of regulars on this thread use their Sony bodies professionally. Wedding and portrait photographers seldom post their work. Fuji thread is frequented by hobbyist who are more open to sharing pictures.
 
Malfis said:
I'm going to add a mirrorless body to my current equipment (Nikon) and apart from the Z6 I'm obviously interested in Sony and Fuji.
Why is it that the XT thread is jam packed full of members posting their images, and the Sony thread is full of everything else, with the occasional image?
Just an observation..............
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No idea. I guess we like to talk more about gear here. It's not really a photo sharing thread here.

Lots to talk about Sony atm
 
clicktor said:
Hi all, would be interested to hear some advice with using the Sony A7 II (or original A7 since they are similar) with regard to auto focus, custom buttons and how you use your cam generally. I know I am late to the party and that the A7 RII, A7 III, A9 have the superior modern focus with eye detect etc, but the A7 II is still a great cam for me and a nice inexpensive way to enter full frame and I can't afford, nor justify the A7 III currently. I'm really happy with it so far but just need to get the best out of it.

Cheers :)
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Can't help too much but thought I'd mention a couple of things...

I don't bother much with the buttons anymore and instead just have pretty much everything I need in the custom menu. Other than that I have two custom modes set up, one for aperture priority with face detect and the other for manual with face detect and 1/250, both with auto ISO.
 
nandbytes said:
Apparently the AF is much improved since the FW update. It can keep up with A9 and shoot at 20fps with that lens. Even the FE55 can only shoot at 15fps. That kinda says the AF is fast and accurate.
Optically its better than 50mm STM but not 2x better.

have a look at the field maps on dxomark - https://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Comp...E-28mm-F2-on-Sony-A7R-II__1541_1009_1516_1035
Click to expand...

Used it over the weekend and in decent light is had quick focus but it’s issue lies when the light gets low and it does hunt a fair bit. Sometimes it will focus then re-focus and sometimes it just really struggles!
 
Daniel_Paul said:
Great read, thank you for sharing! You mentioned about using an adapter for some of your nikon glass, what adapter did you go for?
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I just use a metabones adapter for my manual nikon lenses. With focus peaking and zoom, they're actually much better on sony than they ever were on my nikon DSLRs. I'm sure Z6/7 users will find the same.
 
Just playing with this with Nik filters, A7 and Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 in the rain...

pPIiOTU.jpg
 
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Yes, f1.4 is always tempting over f1.8 even if it's mostly gas.

I have the Sony 85mm f1.8 and I think the only real question mark over it is the bokeh at the widest apertures. I prefer the bokeh I got from my old non Art Sigma 85mm f1.4 but the newer f1.8 Sony is definitely sharper at wide apertures. I went for the Sony f1.8 rather than the f1.4 to save bulk and weight and of course it's a lot cheaper but really for me it's the bulk and weight of the current Sony f1.4 that's off putting. If the Samyang is decent and they've kept the bulk and weight down I could be tempted.
 
I have a Sanyang 50 f1.4 on the way for the A7III. My understanding is that it's significantly softer than the Sony 50s, but both bokeh and skin are smoother with the lens wide open, although stopped down it sharpens up well enough. Perhaps the 85 is similar - if it used the same optical formula as my manual 85 then I'd be quite happy with that.
 
Furtim said:
Picked up @JJ! 's 35/2.8

So unbelievably small and light.

It more than holds it's own against my 24-70 2.8 GM at the same focal length, tad sharper perhaps as you might expect from a prime, more contrasty too.

For the most part it's going on the A7III as a light weight travel kit when I'm not specifically going out with photography in mind, and I'll leave the A9, the 24-70GM, 85GM and 100-400GM etc at home - the latter coming in at a total of approx 7KG in a backpack, the former weighing it at a total of 800g. The A9 with just the 24-70GM is 1.7KG.

That means I can finally retire my last Fuji - a trusty X100T that I could not sell-on as I purposely 'distressed' the body to make it less likely to be nicked when out and about late at night.

Just need some horrible QC issues with the new 135mm so I'm not tempted to buy one. The 135 f/2 was an oddball for me when I shot with a Canon 5DIII. My least useful / used lens in terms of focal length, but the one that took the pictures I look back on and like the most!
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Sellers regret as soon as you drove away lol
 
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