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

I thought this looked quite compact and I thought that if it is I might be tempted to get one to replace my Sony 55mm but then I read it's APS-C. Oh dear. Never mind.

Now in Stock: new Brightin Star 50mm f/1.4 AF FE lens | sonyalpharumors

The new lens is now in Stock for $239 at Amazon US&EU (Click here). This is the first Full Frame autofocus lens fro the chinese company Brightin Star. I am sure they will announce many more such lenses in 2025.
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com
 
This looks quite nice...

phillipreeve.net

Review: Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.5 Nokton - phillipreeve.net

The Voigtländer VM 35mm 1.5 Nokton is a very compact yet fast 35mm lens for the Leica M-mount, but how does it
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

I was briefly interested in this as a replacement for my E mount 35mm f1.4 which is possibly my most used lens but it does have a couple of issues but sadly it has a focus tab rather than a focus ring. I just can't get away with focus tabs so this lens is definitely not for me.
 
Another Chinese AF lens but this time it's FF.

New reviews of the Sirui 85mm f/1.4 FE lens | sonyalpharumors

You can preorder it now at Amazon US, BHphoto, Amazon DE, Amazon FR, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Amazon ES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3lvDDF0zOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr410PrgqDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPKoB0nO-Wc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3-wLoqBbCs...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Having owned several new Chinese manufacturer MF lenses I think the first thing I'd do is test it to make sure that it actually is what it claims to be and that the apertures are at least somewhere near accurate.
 
woof woof said:
Another Chinese AF lens but this time it's FF.

New reviews of the Sirui 85mm f/1.4 FE lens | sonyalpharumors

You can preorder it now at Amazon US, BHphoto, Amazon DE, Amazon FR, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Amazon ES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3lvDDF0zOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr410PrgqDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPKoB0nO-Wc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3-wLoqBbCs...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Having owned several new Chinese manufacturer MF lenses I think the first thing I'd do is test it to make sure that it actually is what it claims to be and that the apertures are at least somewhere near accurate.
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I think for the average person, the FE85 is pretty hard to beat for the price, size, weight.

Wedding and portrait photographers will probably disagree and want for more though.
 
LeeRatters said:
I think for the average person, the FE85 is pretty hard to beat for the price, size, weight.

Wedding and portrait photographers will probably disagree and want for more though.
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I think there’ll be a lot of wedding and portrait photographers who use and are very happy with the FE 85mm f/1.8 (y)
 
I know there are some 28mm fans here, what do we think of this? Fast, compact, MF, and electronic contacts so you get EXIF, zoom on focus and 5-axis IBIS...

Just announced: New Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5 FE lens! | sonyalpharumors

Today Cosina Japan announce the new Nokton 28mm f/1.5 FE lens. There is no pricing info and preorder will open in January only. A couple of image samples can be found on that official product page. Press text: Compatible with Sony E-mount Equipped with electronic contacts, the lens usage status...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Google translate of the source page.
 
the_accidental said:
I know there are some 28mm fans here, what do we think of this? Fast, compact, MF, and electronic contacts so you get EXIF, zoom on focus and 5-axis IBIS...

Just announced: New Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5 FE lens! | sonyalpharumors

Today Cosina Japan announce the new Nokton 28mm f/1.5 FE lens. There is no pricing info and preorder will open in January only. A couple of image samples can be found on that official product page. Press text: Compatible with Sony E-mount Equipped with electronic contacts, the lens usage status...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Google translate of the source page.
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Wow!

Thank you for posting as I haven't seen this anywhere :D

At last... a modern MF 28mm I might actually buy.

I have the Sony f2 and it is perfectly good and I have the 14mm f2.5 for MFT again it's perfectly good but I have wanted a tactile and involving 28mm and so far I've been limited to film era ones but they need to be used with adapters and the modern MF 28's that exist haven't appealed to me for one reason or another. This one looks to be nicely built and seems to be styled like their 50mm f1.0 which has had rave reviews but is more expensive than their f1.2 lenses so I expect the price of this 28mm to be quite high but it's "only" f1.5 so maybe not :D We'll have to wait and see. If it's under £1 I'll probably buy it.

I have 4 Sony mount Voigtlanders, 35mm f1.2 and f1.4 and 50mm f1.2 and f2 and one film era one. I should sell 2 of the Sony mount ones but they are all slightly different so I'm struggling to make the decision.

This 28mm on my A7 and the Sony 40mm on my A7III would be a nice combination and would avoid lens changes when out and about.

Anyone else potentially interested in this new lens?

PS.
There's a 28mm f1.5 in M Mount, I wonder if this new Sony mount lens is the same lens but optimised for Sony? There's a review here...

phillipreeve.net

Review: Voigtländer VM 28mm 1.5 Nokton

The Voigtländer VM 28mm 1.5 Nokton is the fastest 28mm M-mount lens by Cosina, compared to the VM 28mm 2.0 Ultron it is
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

High vignetting and flare seem to be the weaknesses.
 
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the_accidental said:
I know there are some 28mm fans here, what do we think of this? Fast, compact, MF, and electronic contacts so you get EXIF, zoom on focus and 5-axis IBIS...

Just announced: New Voigtländer Nokton 28mm f/1.5 FE lens! | sonyalpharumors

Today Cosina Japan announce the new Nokton 28mm f/1.5 FE lens. There is no pricing info and preorder will open in January only. A couple of image samples can be found on that official product page. Press text: Compatible with Sony E-mount Equipped with electronic contacts, the lens usage status...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Google translate of the source page.
Click to expand...
Looks an interesting lens, I know it's f/1.5 but it'd be better if it was a pancake lens.
 
I do like smaller kit but making lenses smaller usually involves compromises. I haven't seen any pictures from this lens and I only have the M mount to go on plus my experiences with the modern and film era lenses I have but I'd guess that making this lens a pancake or even just making it smaller than this one would impact on its optical qualities to the point that they'd become more obvious and would lead to negative comments in reviews and that could hit sales even if the issues are only more obvious wide open to f2.x or so as with their existing small Sony mount 35mm f1.4.

I'm all for smaller kit but I have I think very few people reading this would accept the image quality especially at wider apertures. One good example of this (and ignoring the new make far eastern lenses like the Pergear and Artralab for a moment) is that E mount Voigtlander 35mm f1.4. Its performance at f1.4 has obvious flaws and people will avoid it for that reason ignoring its performance stopped down. I'd imagine that a similar sized 28mm with similar flaws would be an even more niche seller than this larger and probably better performing but larger lens. Of course Voigtlander could have avoided some of the performance hitting difficulties and made a smaller 28mm f2.8 but do people want that these days? I think f1.5 is even stretching it, I think people would much rather see f1.4 at a minimum even if that affects size and price. The fact that I'd probably accept a smaller f1.4 with issues means nothing as I'll be in a minority within a MF minority. I'm pretty sure that the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 was a better seller than the f1.4 despite the additional size and weight but I could be wrong.

I am a bit surprised by this new 28mm f1.5. I thought they might do a 28mm similar in size and weight to their 35 and 50mm f1.2's but for whatever reason it looks like they're aiming between their 35mm f1.4 and the f1.2 lenses maybe based on what they thought people wanted for the M mount lens.

I'll have a look at this lens when it hits the reviews and forums and I might buy one but having said that I've not done much picture taking in the last couple of months so I really shouldn't put more money into kit that'll hardly get used... but then again... You're only here once :D
 
woof woof said:
PS.
There's a 28mm f1.5 in M Mount, I wonder if this new Sony mount lens is the same lens but optimised for Sony? There's a review here...

phillipreeve.net

Review: Voigtländer VM 28mm 1.5 Nokton

The Voigtländer VM 28mm 1.5 Nokton is the fastest 28mm M-mount lens by Cosina, compared to the VM 28mm 2.0 Ultron it is
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

High vignetting and flare seem to be the weaknesses.
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Same optical formula looking at the diagrams in the spec sheets… but then closer minimum focus (28cm down from about 70) so maybe there are other changes too.

Different distance to focal plane could explain that, also would affect vignetting. You’d expect a different design at the back for the Sony sensor vs film/thinner lenses on a leica sensor. As to flare, coatings might be different.

So I’d expect it to be no worse than the M mount but there are good reasons it could do better…
 
the_accidental said:
Same optical formula looking at the diagrams in the spec sheets… but then closer minimum focus (28cm down from about 70) so maybe there are other changes too.

Different distance to focal plane could explain that, also would affect vignetting. You’d expect a different design at the back for the Sony sensor vs film/thinner lenses on a leica sensor. As to flare, coatings might be different.

So I’d expect it to be no worse than the M mount but there are good reasons it could do better…
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Looking at the 35mm f1.4 I had in M Mount and the optimised for Sony E mount version I still have the Sony mount one is about a million times better on my A7, just about everything seems to have improved so I'm hopeful the same will be true of this 28mm.
 
woof woof said:
I do like smaller kit but making lenses smaller usually involves compromises. I haven't seen any pictures from this lens and I only have the M mount to go on plus my experiences with the modern and film era lenses I have but I'd guess that making this lens a pancake or even just making it smaller than this one would impact on its optical qualities to the point that they'd become more obvious and would lead to negative comments in reviews and that could hit sales even if the issues are only more obvious wide open to f2.x or so as with their existing small Sony mount 35mm f1.4.

I'm all for smaller kit but I have I think very few people reading this would accept the image quality especially at wider apertures. One good example of this (and ignoring the new make far eastern lenses like the Pergear and Artralab for a moment) is that E mount Voigtlander 35mm f1.4. Its performance at f1.4 has obvious flaws and people will avoid it for that reason ignoring its performance stopped down. I'd imagine that a similar sized 28mm with similar flaws would be an even more niche seller than this larger and probably better performing but larger lens. Of course Voigtlander could have avoided some of the performance hitting difficulties and made a smaller 28mm f2.8 but do people want that these days? I think f1.5 is even stretching it, I think people would much rather see f1.4 at a minimum even if that affects size and price. The fact that I'd probably accept a smaller f1.4 with issues means nothing as I'll be in a minority within a MF minority. I'm pretty sure that the Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 was a better seller than the f1.4 despite the additional size and weight but I could be wrong.

I am a bit surprised by this new 28mm f1.5. I thought they might do a 28mm similar in size and weight to their 35 and 50mm f1.2's but for whatever reason it looks like they're aiming between their 35mm f1.4 and the f1.2 lenses maybe based on what they thought people wanted for the M mount lens.

I'll have a look at this lens when it hits the reviews and forums and I might buy one but having said that I've not done much picture taking in the last couple of months so I really shouldn't put more money into kit that'll hardly get used... but then again... You're only here once :D
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Yeah I get that there'll be compromises, it's just when I read the blurb about it compact I expected something truly tiny.
 
snerkler said:
Yeah I get that there'll be compromises, it's just when I read the blurb about it compact I expected something truly tiny.
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Yup. Me too but these days so people seem to think that anything short of a GM zoom lens is small and there are those who seem to think the f1.4 and f1.2 GM primes are small. I'd imagine size wise this 28mm is going to be mid way between their 35mm f1.4 and 35mm f1.2. Maybe not too big, IMO.

Of the Voigtlanders I have the 35mm f1.4 is probably the weakest with the 35mm f1.2 being better in just about every respect but being questionably soft by todays standards wide open. The f1.4 is possibly my most used lens ever and it'd be hard to part with but the f1.2 does have its charms despite being soft wide open. The 50mm f2 is IMO just about perfect but the 50mm f1.2 although being not as good gives that extra flexibility that the wider aperture gives.

I should really sell a 35 and a 50mm but I can't make my mind up and if I do get this 28mm I'll probably have 5 Voigtlanders not 3. I should really slim my film era lenses down more too.

PS.
Of the film era 28mm's I've had the Rokkor MD f2.8 and the Nikon AIS f2.8 seemed to be the best with the Rokkor MC coming in next but of course they're all f2.8 and the Sony f2 is IMO clearly better than them all... after corrections. If this new lens is somewhere between the film era 28's and the Sony f2 in size and is without major glaring obvious weaknesses and is anywhere near decent I think it'll be a good buy if it's £800 or under rather than knocking on for £1,000 or more.
 
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55mm long, 320g

Not sure how that compares to your other lenses?

Quick look and that’s 12mm shorter and a bit lighter than the 35mm f/2 APO. Same length as the 50 1.2 but narrower and 100g less…

So it’s pretty compact? It’ll balance lovely on an A7…
 
Longer than the 35mm f1.4 but shorter than the 35mm f1.2 SE and the Sony 28mm f2. Not as small as I'd like but small does come with potential compromises. I'll take a long hard look at this when the reviews come out and if it's within budget I might treat myself. Balanced against that is that my photography has dwindled to next to none recently.
 
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snerkler said:
I think there’ll be a lot of wedding and portrait photographers who use and are very happy with the FE 85mm f/1.8 (y)
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Not so much, most have moved on from that lens as it has pretty bad C.A especially in backlit situations.
woof woof said:
Another Chinese AF lens but this time it's FF.

New reviews of the Sirui 85mm f/1.4 FE lens | sonyalpharumors

You can preorder it now at Amazon US, BHphoto, Amazon DE, Amazon FR, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Amazon ES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3lvDDF0zOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr410PrgqDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPKoB0nO-Wc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3-wLoqBbCs...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

Having owned several new Chinese manufacturer MF lenses I think the first thing I'd do is test it to make sure that it actually is what it claims to be and that the apertures are at least somewhere near accurate.
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To be fair the lenses you are talking about were cheap manual focus rubbish, that you bought for peanuts.

Sirui are not that sort of manufacturer they have been around for a good long while and are widely regarded as producing some of the best manual focus cinema lenses available. Have no idea if their first ever a.f lens will have the a.f performance to compete with what's already available but if the stuff they have produced previously is anything to go by, optically the new lens should be very good.
 
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f/2.8 said:
To be fair the lenses you are talking about were cheap manual focus rubbish, that you bought for peanuts.

Sirui are not that sort of manufacturer they have been around for a good long while and are widely regarded as producing some of the best manual focus cinema lenses available. Have no idea if their first ever a.f lens will have the a.f performance to compete with what's already available but if the stuff they have produced previously is anything to go by, optically the new lens should be very good.
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The Artralab isn't peanuts it's knocking on the price of a Sony mini G and apart from the fantasy apertures it's far from rubbish but yes some manufacturers may usually be more trustworthy than others but I check everything no matter who made the lens.
 
Never thought I would see the day when people would casually be asking for camera settings to shoot alien drones. :LOL:

IMG_1191.jpeg
 
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Stress, depression, being busy and the weather has just about stopped it for me. The last couple of times I've been out I haven't even bothered taking a camera with me as the light was just awful with no sky, dead light, poor contrast and drizzle. What's the point in weather like that.
 
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woof woof said:
Stress, depression, being busy and the weather has just about stopped it for me. The last couple of times I've been out I haven't even bothered taking a camera with me as the light was just awful with no sky, dead light, poor contrast and drizzle. What's the point in weather like that.
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Sorry to hear that Alan. The weather and light was awful yesterday but I forced myself to take the camera and I'm actually reasonably happy with the Betty photos :)
 
Ditto the dull weather - I’ve been waiting ages for a chance at that double bridge shot and it’s not ideal, too much moisture in the air.

I’m hoping for some cold, dry, crisp days… then try to avoid the ice getting up Dundry…

I partly have my macro lens for dull days, if you look up and it’s cloudy, look down?
 
snerkler said:
Sorry to hear that Alan. The weather and light was awful yesterday but I forced myself to take the camera and I'm actually reasonably happy with the Betty photos :)
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I'm a bit time limited at the mo as Mrs WW is in Thailand and calls me every day at 1pm so wherever I am I have to be back at 1. Church and do gooding takes up Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday mornings plus one afternoon. We usually chat for 1 hour until her bed time and by 2pm really it's a bit late to try and go anywhere as it'll be dark at 4pm. During the summer I could go out in the evenings but these short days trips out with a camera are difficult... unless I want a long exposure shot! Local places, I've shot a million times and I just don't need any more drab light shots of my local haunts.
 
woof woof said:
I'm a bit time limited at the mo as Mrs WW is in Thailand and calls me every day at 1pm so wherever I am I have to be back at 1. Church and do gooding takes up Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday mornings plus one afternoon. We usually chat for 1 hour until her bed time and by 2pm really it's a bit late to try and go anywhere as it'll be dark at 4pm. During the summer I could go out in the evenings but these short days trips out with a camera are difficult... unless I want a long exposure shot! Local places, I've shot a million times and I just don't need any more drab light shots of my local haunts.
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Why do you need to be home at 1p.m to take a call?

Would it not be easier for her to video call you on your mobile and then you can be wherever you want?
 
f/2.8 said:
Why do you need to be home at 1p.m to take a call?

Would it not be easier for her to video call you on your mobile and then you can be wherever you want?
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I don't want to do an hour long Whatsapp chat in the middle of Saltburn beach. Even if there's an acceptable connection it's just not really practical. Plus I lose the ability to show her "things." Calm Down. For eg I often show her things such as anything she/we have received, the state of her orchids etc. Being at home is just so much more convenient apart from it interfering with my photography.
 
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woof woof said:
I don't want to do an hour long Whatsapp chat in the middle of Saltburn beach. Even if there's an acceptable connection it's just not really practical. Plus I lose the ability to show her "things." Calm Down. For eg I often show her things such as anything she/we have received, the state of her orchids etc. Being at home is just so much more convenient apart from it interfering with my photography.
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Each to their own an all that.

I wouldn’t be making sure J was home every day at a certain time just to speak to the missus.
 
I've had my fat bike overhauled recently so trying to make more of an effort to get out in the awful weather since it can handle it all with ease. I've also been taking the RX1r out and enjoy getting shots in the darkness with only bike lights providing any illumination, despite its age it's still impressive what it can do in poor conditions. Despite getting the backpack that was recommended here last year to take the A9 out with me instead I've chickened out of it for fear of making a mess of the bag and/or the camera. I see there is a rain cover though so that's maybe the option to go for.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
. Despite getting the backpack that was recommended here last year to take the A9 out with me instead I've chickened out of it for fear of making a mess of the bag and/or the camera. I see there is a rain cover though so that's maybe the option to go for.
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Bad weather can make interesting shots though, especially if you night ride as the wet surfaces reflect light. I tend to take the gravel bike out for photo missions, kit in a waterproof ortileb pannier - or use a dry bag for kit inside another bag.

I’ve a smallrig clamp with a little arm attached with a mini ball head on the end - lets you prop your bike and then clamp to bars or whatever to use your bike as a tripod (or just chuck the proper tripod in bottle cage/pannier).

I guess with a fat bike good chance you have bosses on the fork for an anything cage or similar that’d be great for tripod duties?
 
I've been toying with upgrading my Sony 35 1.8 to the GM, so opened up Captureone to go through all the images I've taken with the 1.8 and see if I'm happy or not. Turns out I've used it far more than I thought and I'm more than happy with the results. There is some very minor CA in some shots, but no where near as offensive as I find on zoom lenses. I'd go as far to say I had to go looking for it, rather than it leaping out at me. It's there, but it's kind of part of the character rather than a distraction. So for now, I'll stick with what I've got
 
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