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

nandbytes said:
i am really tempted to get the 65mm f2 just because its odd lol
Though i can put my 45mm in apc-c crop mode for a similar field of view to try it i guess.

all in all sigma are doing really great lenses. can't wait to see what they will come out with next.
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I'm tempted to replace my 35, 55 and 85mm f1.8's with the Sigma 35 and 65mm as I've never really loved the Sony lenses as they all good or even very good but with their own little niggles.

The big advantage for the 65mm for me would be that it's obviously between 55 and 85mm so will give a slightly more pleasing tight perspective than a 50/55 but wont have me backed up against a wall struggling for space as an 85mm could indoors, and outdoors I wouldn't need to shout quite so loudly :D

LeeRatters said:
Nah. I've taken some nice landscape images at 85mm ;)
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Yes, I took about a zillion with a 50mm on MFT so I can see the attraction of a longer lens for landscape and I did enjoy having a wander with my Nikon 85mm recently but for me 85mm is more of a people length but I only want to do that once in a blue moon.
 
woof woof said:
I'm tempted to replace my 35, 55 and 85mm f1.8's with the Sigma 35 and 65mm as I've never really loved the Sony lenses as they all good or even very good but with their own little niggles.

The big advantage for the 65mm for me would be that it's obviously between 55 and 85mm so will give a slightly more pleasing tight perspective than a 50/55 but wont have me backed up against a wall struggling for space as an 85mm could indoors, and outdoors I wouldn't need to shout quite so loudly :D



Yes, I took about a zillion with a 50mm on MFT so I can see the attraction of a longer lens for landscape and I did enjoy having a wander with my Nikon 85mm recently but for me 85mm is more of a people length but I only want to do that once in a blue moon.
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I do like 85mm for car photography. Gives a nice look imo
 
Merlin5 said:
Thanks Alan for your help.

Can you run one side of a pec pad or swab a couple of times over the sensor to make sure it picks up as much dust as possible before turning it over to the other clean side of the pad, or only once? And when the job is done is it a rush to get a lens or cap back onto the camera to prevent more dust getting back on it?

I tried my a6600 built in sensor clean a couple of times. It vibrates for a second and that's it. Totally useless, didn't remove the spots.

I don't know what you mean by IS, are you talking about the image stabilisation mechanism?
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Yes, sorry, image stabilisation. The sensor will be a bit loose in its mount.

I only clean in one direction the theory being that if I reverse I'll wipe contamination back onto the sensor but I will do more than one wipe as my little home made tool doesn't cover the whole sensor, all swipes in the same direction, if you can follow what I mean.

My method is as follows...

- First I make the swab tool.
- I apply a drop or two of cleaning fluid to the edge of the tool.
- Remove the lens holding the camera downwards. Pick up the tool (having given the fluid a few seconds so that any excess dissipates.)
- Turn the camera over and wipe.
- Turn the camera downwards again, put the swab tool down.
- Pick up the lens and mount it.

I then take an out of focus picture of a white door at close distance and minimum aperture with a shutter speed of several seconds, moving the camera whilst the shutter is open. This makes sure that any detail on the door is blurred and any specks that appear in the final picture are definitely sensor contamination and not marks on the door. If there are any dust bunnies left, repeat the process.
 
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LeeRatters said:
Nah. I've taken some nice landscape images at 85mm ;)
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Thanks Lee, Good to hear! :)

I was starting to have my doubts today about my Sigms 56mm (84mm equivalent) purchase and that it might be a one trick pony for just street photography.

But since you say it's nice for landscape, that justifies the lens. Oh and I see you mention it's good for cars as well which also interests me.

I've only used the 16 (24mm equivalent) for landscape so far although admittedly not done much landscape yet except a few trees.
 
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i quite like 85mm and there is no need for shouting either. its not actually all that tight or long.
 
LeeRatters said:
I do like 85mm for car photography. Gives a nice look imo
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The only thing with the 85mm f1.8 for me, apart from the obvious focal length being a bit long if you can't back up, is the cats eye swirly bokeh. It isn't visible in every shot but when it is I remember my old Sigma 85mm f1.4 in Canon mount. That lens wasn't as sharp as the Sony but I always liked the rendering. Ditto their 50mm f1.4.
 
nandbytes said:
i quite like 85mm and there is no need for shouting either. its not actually all that tight or long.
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My tongue was slightly in cheek about the shouting but for anything like full body there's going to need to be some distance between the camera and the subject and that can involve shouting and / or other people appearing between the camera and the subject, IMO, and indoors 85mm can for me just be too much. I suppose it depends where you are.
 
woof woof said:
My tongue was slightly in cheek about the shouting but for anything like full body there's going to need to be some distance between the camera and the subject and that can involve shouting and / or other people appearing between the camera and the subject, IMO, and indoors 85mm can for me just be too much. I suppose it depends where you are.
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depends where you are and also on the subject. i can easily get full body shots of my 3 year old indoors with an 85mm :ROFLMAO:
 
My personal take is that the more interesting landscape photos are shot with a longer lens. A wide angle, especially an ultra wide in "capturing as much as i can in the frame" to me is without thought and lazy a lot of the time (there are exceptions). Often it's a just a nice scenary but it's not a nice photograph. A long lens for landscape forces you to think, forces you to frame the shot and it forces the photographer to make it meaningful.
 
nandbytes said:
depends where you are and also on the subject. i can easily get full body shots of my 3 year old indoors with an 85mm :ROFLMAO:
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Well yes, another way to get full body adult shots is to get the subject to sit down.

I hadn't used my Sony 85mm f1.8 for quite a while but taking pictures of Mrs WW on her birthday I just ran out of room indoors. I do think it's a nice focal length and can give a nice look but it's bordering on being too long for me. I do really like some of the 85mm pictures I've taken though, ditto 135mm which I use even less.
 
Raymond Lin said:
My personal take is that the more interesting landscape photos are shot with a longer lens. A wide angle, especially an ultra wide in "capturing as much as i can in the frame" to me is without thought and lazy a lot of the time (there are exceptions). Often it's a just a nice scenary but it's not a nice photograph. A long lens for landscape forces you to think, forces you to frame the shot and it forces the photographer to make it meaningful.
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Yup. I agree.
 
woof woof said:
Yes, sorry, image stabilisation. The sensor will be a bit loose in its mount.

I only clean in one direction the theory being that if I reverse I'll wipe contamination back onto the sensor but I will do more than one wipe as my little home made tool doesn't cover the whole sensor, all swipes in the same direction, if you can follow what I mean.

My method is as follows...

- First I make the swab tool.
- I apply a drop or two of cleaning fluid to the edge of the tool.
- Remove the lens holding the camera downwards. Pick up the tool (having given the fluid a few seconds so that any excess dissipates.)
- Turn the camera over and wipe.
- Turn the camera downwards again, put the swab tool down.
- Pick up the lens and mount it.

I then take an out of focus picture of a white door at close distance and minimum aperture with a shutter speed of several seconds, moving the camera whilst the shutter is open. This makes sure that any detail on the door is blurred and any specks that appear in the final picture are definitely sensor contamination and not marks on the door. If there are any dust bunnies left, repeat the process.
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Thanks. I guess there's different methods. One video I watched shows a swab being pulled along running in one direction with just enough pressure that the swab flexes like a paint brush does on a wall. Then at the end of the stroke, it's lifted off the sensor and run back in the other direction using the other side of the swab, again like the motion of a paintbrush going from left to right (or right to left).

I'm just nervous of doing it though, lol. My Canon needs a good clean too. I did that test you mentioned a few months ago, there's a ton of spots on my canon sensor.

I'm going to buy a set of full frame swabs and a set of aps-c swabs. I'll practise first on the Canon.
 
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Merlin5 said:
Thanks. I guess there's different methods. One video I watched shows a swab being pulled along running in one direction with just enough pressure that the swab flexes like a paint brush does on a wall. Then at the end of the stroke, it's lifted off the sensor and run back in the other direction using the other side of the swab, again like the motion of a paintbrush going from left to right (or right to left).
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Yes, you get 2 use from 1 swab, then bin. Remember to do it at a slight angle so you are not dragging dirt picked up from the last sweep over.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Yes, you get 2 use from 1 swab, then bin. Remember to do it at a slight angle so you are not dragging dirt picked up from the last sweep over.
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Not sure what kind of angle you mean Raymond, can you elaborate? If I'm running the second side (the remaining clean side) of the swab parallel to the sensor, could that re-contaminate?
 
Merlin5 said:
Thanks Lee, Good to hear! :)

I was starting to have my doubts today about my Sigms 56mm (84mm equivalent) purchase and that it might be a one trick pony for just street photography.

But since you say it's nice for landscape, that justifies the lens. Oh and I see you mention it's good for cars as well which also interests me.

I've only used the 16 (24mm equivalent) for landscape so far although admittedly not done much landscape yet except a few trees.
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Pop through my Flickr for mainly 85mm car meet shots. You will have to go back to pre covid 2019 though
 
Merlin5 said:
Not sure what kind of angle you mean Raymond, can you elaborate? If I'm running the second side (the remaining clean side) of the swab parallel to the sensor, could that re-contaminate?
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Don't stick it down at 90 degree across the whole way. So it's leaning the most at the start and when it gets to the edge you are straight or almost straight. That way the very edge of the swab is not the only surface area being used.
 
Raymond Lin said:
My personal take is that the more interesting landscape photos are shot with a longer lens. A wide angle, especially an ultra wide in "capturing as much as i can in the frame" to me is without thought and lazy a lot of the time (there are exceptions). Often it's a just a nice scenary but it's not a nice photograph. A long lens for landscape forces you to think, forces you to frame the shot and it forces the photographer to make it meaningful.
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Recently my set up has been 40mm and 80-200mm. I only take the 21mm if I know I'm in a tight space or waterfalls etc
 
Merlin5 said:
Thanks. I guess there's different methods. One video I watched shows a swab being pulled along running in one direction with just enough pressure that the swab flexes like a paint brush does on a wall. Then at the end of the stroke, it's lifted off the sensor and run back in the other direction using the other side of the swab, again like the motion of a paintbrush going from left to right (or right to left).

I'm just nervous of doing it though, lol. My Canon needs a good clean too. I did that test you mentioned a few months ago, there's a ton of spots on my canon sensor.

I'm going to buy a set of full frame swabs and a set of aps-c swabs. I'll practise first on the Canon.
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I might have just been incredibly lucky but I've done a lot of wet cleans with no problems at all. I suppose it helps to remember you're not cleaning the sensor you're cleaning the glass (or whatever it is) in front of it which is pretty robust. With normal care I think you'd have to be exceptionally unlucky to do any damage. Practicing on the Canon to get your confidence up seems like a good idea. Make sure there's plenty of strength in the battery as you don't want it to power down and close the shutter.
 
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woof woof said:
I might have just been incredibly lucky but I've done a lot of wet cleans with no problems at all. I suppose it helps to remember you're not cleaning the sensor you're cleaning the glass (or whatever it is) in front of it which is pretty robust. With normal care I think you'd have to be exceptionally unlucky to do any damage. Practicing on the Canon to get your confidence up seems like a good idea. Make sure there's plenty of strength in the battery as you don't want it to power down and close the shutter.
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That's a good point about the battery!

Also, the Sony sensor is easier to access than the Canon. On my 5d2 it's recessed further in from what I remember. So the Sony should be much easier to clean after practicing on the Canon. I'm glad you reminded me it's glass over the sensor, I forgot about that tbh and was thinking I'd be cleaning a flimsy membrane.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Don't stick it down at 90 degree across the whole way. So it's leaning the most at the start and when it gets to the edge you are straight or almost straight. That way the very edge of the swab is not the only surface area being used.
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Ah I see what you're talking about now. No I wasn't going to hold the swab absolutely vertically down with only the edge of the swab touching, but at an angle like a paintbrush so that the main body of the swab is in contact.
 
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Regards sensor cleaning why does the shutter not stay closed when you switch the camera off so when changing lenses less chance of getting anything on the sensor.

Weirdly I don't like the idea of cleaning my sensor yet in work we clean tens a day with a long free cloth and IPA. Something we do as well is always use compressed air first so as to remove as much as possible before contact is made.
 
robj20 said:
Regards sensor cleaning why does the shutter not stay closed when you switch the camera off so when changing lenses less chance of getting anything on the sensor.

Weirdly I don't like the idea of cleaning my sensor yet in work we clean tens a day with a long free cloth and IPA. Something we do as well is always use compressed air first so as to remove as much as possible before contact is made.
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Because Sony and Nikon, andf Fuji and all the others.

I have no idea why, DSLR all closes with the shutter down, Sony claims it's to product the shutter as between the 2 (shutter vs sensor), the shutter is more vulnerable.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Because Sony and Nikon, andf Fuji and all the others.

I have no idea why, DSLR all closes with the shutter down, Sony claims it's to product the shutter as between the 2 (shutter vs sensor), the shutter is more vulnerable.
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Years ago I was fitting a new roll of film to my Bessa when my tie somehow went into the back of the camera and like a guided missile straight into the shutter where it jammed. I probably couldn't have done it again if I tried. I removed it as carefully as I could but the shutter was banjaxed. I took it in for repair thinking I was the only one this could possibly happen to but the guy said "No no, it happens all the time."

These days, the last time I wore a tie was my wedding day.

If I remember correctly... Sigma did a DSLR with a glass plate between the mount and the sensor. I don't know how effective this was but Sigma claimed that any contamination on the glass would be too far from the sensor to show as a dust bunny.
 
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nandbytes said:
i am really tempted to get the 65mm f2 just because its odd lol
Though i can put my 45mm in apc-c crop mode for a similar field of view to try it i guess.

all in all sigma are doing really great lenses. can't wait to see what they will come out with next.
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im amazed they havent released a 70-200 f2.8. im wondering if they had planned to just bang on an adapter to the sport version and dish that out - but after seeing tamron and canons new versions have gone back to the drawing board.
 
Am I the only one who are not excited by any of these lenses?

It's smaller in size but the image is not different enough to existing lenses for me to be interested.


@Merlin5

Tips on cleaning sensor.

1 - Prep. Prep everything ready before you open the lens cap.

If you are doing it in the bathroom, get everything in place, camera, lenses you need to test, spare swab etc before getting the room steamed up (as moisture falls, it catches dust out of the air and take it down).

2 - Don't do it by a window with it open

3 - Have a clean surface to work on. Tip, instant clean work top by putting down clingfilm.
 
addicknchips said:
im amazed they havent released a 70-200 f2.8. im wondering if they had planned to just bang on an adapter to the sport version and dish that out - but after seeing tamron and canons new versions have gone back to the drawing board.
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indeed especially as they were so quick to bring out the 14-24mm/2.8 and 24-70mm/2.8 lenses.
The canon RF 70-200mm doesn't seem all that good looking at some reviews. can't say i am impressed for £2.7k lens!
the tamron is phenomenal though.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Am I the only one who are not excited by any of these lenses?

It's smaller in size but the image is not different enough to existing lenses for me to be interested.
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I was hoping for a more compact design but I could still be interested as they look lovely and will feel different to the plastic Sony lenses, more like a film era prime as they're metal with aperture rings. The image quality may be a bit better than the Sony 35mm f1.8 with possibly better bokeh and less ca. Downsides could possibly include vignetting and maybe focus speed, oh and a less close minimum focus distance.
 
woof woof said:
I was hoping for a more compact design but I could still be interested as they look lovely and will feel different to the plastic Sony lenses, more like a film era prime as they're metal with aperture rings. The image quality may be a bit better than the Sony 35mm f1.8 with possibly better bokeh and less ca. Downsides could possibly include vignetting and maybe focus speed, oh and a less close minimum focus distance.
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Pity I’m sorted for lenses (just need a camera!) as I would value aperture rings.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Am I the only one who are not excited by any of these lenses?

It's smaller in size but the image is not different enough to existing lenses for me to be interested.
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Exactly. Build quality is obviously very high and they have a manual aperture ring, but that's the only special thing. TBH I find the Sammy 35 f1.8 more interesting because it's small, light and apparently optically excellent apart from some onion rings. I keep hoping everyone will flog their ART lenses cheap in the rush for these. [emoji6]
 
I can't really see people replacing f1.2 and f1.4 Arts for these f2's.

Maybe these will appeal to people who want a well made / well styled lens with nice bokeh and an aperture ring which is still quite compact. Maybe these may steal sales from the Sony 35mm f1.8 which has been criticised for ca and harsh bokeh although personally I think the bokeh isn't exactly harsh, more par for the course for a 35mm but not better than expected.
 
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