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

Tempted to trade my gear towards one of these with the 35 and 55mm lenses, as I'm starting to need AF and higher ISO performance for some paid work I'm doing. I currently own a Leica M9 with 4 high quality lenses, including leica 35mm f2, zeiss 50 f1.5, voigtlander 75mm F1.8 and a leica 90mm F2.8. What would you guys do in my position? Something massive is completely out of the question so a DSLR isn't ideal, so these interest me, but Ive read some horror stories in regards to shutter vibration and light leakage. I've also seen quite a few of them for sale already...
 
James J said:
Tempted to trade my gear towards one of these with the 35 and 55mm lenses, as I'm starting to need AF and higher ISO performance for some paid work I'm doing. I currently own a Leica M9 with 4 high quality lenses, including leica 35mm f2, zeiss 50 f1.5, voigtlander 75mm F1.8 and a leica 90mm F2.8. What would you guys do in my position? Something massive is completely out of the question so a DSLR isn't ideal, so these interest me, but Ive read some horror stories in regards to shutter vibration and light leakage. I've also seen quite a few of them for sale already...
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A7 doesnt suffer from shutter vibes, if the 35 and 55 suit you then its a decent option. Your Zeiss/CV and 90 should also work okay. I wouldve thought M9 and 35 F2 will cover your outlay.
 
James J said:
...but Ive read some horror stories in regards to shutter vibration and light leakage. I've also seen quite a few of them for sale already...
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I've not had any shutter vibration and have only had any blur in shots the first time that I went out with the camera and then pixel peeped and the cause was exactly what would have caused blur with any other camera - too low a shutter speed. Once I stopped playing with my new toy and instead kept an eye on my settings as I would/should do with any camera the blur went away.

I haven't tested for light leaks but if you follow the link a few posts above you may see that other cameras display the same thing or even worse when set to very high ISO and blasted with a strobe. I may be wrong but at the moment I think I'm more likely to be kidnapped by aliens than suffer a real world light leak :D
 
Interesting stuff. I'll have a think.

Edit: I've put a thread up in classifieds if anyone fancies the switch to a lovely Leica M9 :)
 
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James J said:
Tempted to trade my gear towards one of these with the 35 and 55mm lenses, as I'm starting to need AF and higher ISO performance for some paid work I'm doing. I currently own a Leica M9 with 4 high quality lenses, including leica 35mm f2, zeiss 50 f1.5, voigtlander 75mm F1.8 and a leica 90mm F2.8. What would you guys do in my position? Something massive is completely out of the question so a DSLR isn't ideal, so these interest me, but Ive read some horror stories in regards to shutter vibration and light leakage. I've also seen quite a few of them for sale already...
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Keep the M lenses as manual focus is pretty easy on the A7/R. They are also a lot smaller than the Sony lenses. If you cant get on with it you can sell the M lenses and pick up the 35 and 55. Worth keeping the 75 and 90 though if you do buy the shorter Sony lenses.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Has anyone who has bought either the A7/A7r come from a full frame DSLR? I've been tempted to downsize from a D800 particularly considering that I mostly use 35mm all the time.
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Me, Ive owned 5D, 6D, D700, D800. I bought the A7... then sold it.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Has anyone who has bought either the A7/A7r come from a full frame DSLR? I've been tempted to downsize from a D800 particularly considering that I mostly use 35mm all the time.
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No but i was moments away from buying a 6D but chose the A7R for the smaller/lighter package. With the 35mm attatched it fits in my pocket.
 
I've had a squint at the manual FWIW but I'm getting no joy. Has anyone successfully programmed 1 and 2 on the mode dial to their own requirements? I'm drawing a blank here and I keep accidentally changing settings while using the camera. On that note, is there also a method of locking the buttons during use as it's inevitable for me to inadvertently change settings due to the size of my hands /fingers and the relative compactness of the camera?
 
Yes I use the settings a lot. they are infinitely easier than the similar on an Olympus OM-D.

All you do is to set the camera up as you want it, then on menu go to Camera Settings/page 7/memory and choose whether to save to register 1 or register 2.

To use, just select 1 or 2 on the mode dial. You can change settings while on Mode 1 or 2 but it won't affect the stored settings, only storing via the memory changes that. To go back to the stored settings just move the mode dial to something else then back onto the required mode 1 or 2.
 
Don't you just make your settings then go to the memory option to save them and assign to either 1 or 2.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Any particular reason you didn't keep the A7 Twist?
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Couple, average build quality, average/slow AF in low light, few/expensive lenses. I use primes so zooms are of no interest, the current zooms are slow and the roadmap shows no signs of improvement. The 35 is very good but its F2.8 and costs as much as a Sigma 35mm 1.4. I went back to Fuji as I saw negligible difference at ISO 3200/6400 and Fuji has nicer primes and the colour/skintones out of camera are better IMO.

Id say the only benefit if you downsize is literally that, size.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Has anyone who has bought either the A7/A7r come from a full frame DSLR? I've been tempted to downsize from a D800 particularly considering that I mostly use 35mm all the time.
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I came from a 5D Mk 1 and I am enjoying it.

I did buy an A7 with the kit lens, but I am using it with manual focus legacy primes (FD, mostly but also CY and OM) 99% of the time. That was my intention when getting the A7.
 
twist said:
Me, Ive owned 5D, 6D, D700, D800. I bought the A7... then sold it.
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+1 (well, 5D and 6D), sadly mine is now for sale here. It's a lovely small size, but I can't get on with the EVF for manual focusing. I'm just way better with an OVF.

Edit: I should add that it's great for AF, but I can't justify spending the money required for those lenses (on top of the body) for a second system. I'm keeping my 6D as the main camera and have picked up an Olympus E-PL5 for fun AF stuff (and will pair with the Oly 25/1.8).
 
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manualfocus-g said:
+1 (well, 5D and 6D), sadly mine is now for sale here. It's a lovely small size, but I can't get on with the EVF for manual focusing. I'm just way better with an OVF.

Edit: I should add that it's great for AF, but I can't justify spending the money required for those lenses (on top of the body) for a second system. I'm keeping my 6D as the main camera and have picked up an Olympus E-PL5 for fun AF stuff (and will pair with the Oly 25/1.8).
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I think I was a little spoiled by Nikons 51 pt AF in the D700 and D800, in comparison to the 5D and 6D the AF is decent, I liked my E-PL5. Have you considered a used EM5, they seem to go for nothing nowadays and there are quite a few benefits over the E-PL5.
 
twist said:
I think I was a little spoiled by Nikons 51 pt AF in the D700 and D800, in comparison to the 5D and 6D the AF is decent, I liked my E-PL5. Have you considered a used EM5, they seem to go for nothing nowadays and there are quite a few benefits over the E-PL5.
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Hi, yes I nearly picked up an em5 the other day, but guessed the pen would be more discreet for street shooting, even with an evf attached. Nice looking camera tho, as is the em10.
 
manualfocus-g said:
Hi, yes I nearly picked up an em5 the other day, but guessed the pen would be more discreet for street shooting, even with an evf attached. Nice looking camera tho, as is the em10.
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Once you add the EVF (at a lot more cost), its a lot chunkier. EM5 has better screen, 5 axis, weather sealing, 9FPS and it handles better IME with more controls.

Can see controls etc here.
http://camerasize.com/compare/#382,289

If youre going to use it purely for street and want something small with big output consider a Ricoh GR.
 
twist said:
Once you add the EVF (at a lot more cost), its a lot chunkier. EM5 has better screen, 5 axis, weather sealing, 9FPS and it handles better IME with more controls.

Can see controls etc here.
http://camerasize.com/compare/#382,289

If youre going to use it purely for street and want something small with big output consider a Ricoh GR.
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Yep, but I've already got the evf (to be used occasionslly) and picked up the pen in Olympus's current firesale with a free 17/2.8 for £349 which is pretty cheap :)
 
I hope the soon to be released firmware allows fully turning off the rear screen, and minimum shutter speed in A mode please.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Has anyone who has bought either the A7/A7r come from a full frame DSLR? I've been tempted to downsize from a D800 particularly considering that I mostly use 35mm all the time.
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I too went from 5D mk1 to A7.

I had Sigma 20mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 150mm f2.8, 12-24mm, Canon 20-35mm and 70-300mm.

I now have 7D+ 28-70mm (unused apart from a few test shots around the house when it first came.)
Minolta 24mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f2, 135mm f3.5 and a Tokina 70-210mm.

I'm very happy and although the 5D was a nice thing especially with the Sigma 50, 85 and 12-24mm lenses the A7 with any lens (the 50mm seems to be my fav) is just a joy to use. It's about the same size as my G1, the dynamic range is amazing, the hish ISO performance is fantastic and the images at low to medium ISO's are... well, I couldn't ask for better image quality and the images can be processed very heavily in CS5 before they start to fall apart.

The only negatives for me are that I'd love a fully articulated screen as per the G1 and I'd love the ability to TURN THE SCREEN OFF!!!!! without diving into the menu.

I may go for AF primes at some point especially if a longish f2.8 macro comes along, something in the region of 100mm, but right now MF lenses are IMVHO a joy to use and so much so that when I use AF lenses now on my G1 I worry that the camera isn't going to focus on exectly what I want :D
 
I don't get the problem with turning the screen off. I have it assigned to C3 and it's no hasle. A press on C3 ans it's off. another and it's back on. I use mainly legacy lenses and currently have focus peaking level on control ring down and this seems to work well for me.
 
There currently is only one way to disable the screen and that's deep in the menus and cant be assigned to a button. What your referring to isn't turning the screen off.
 
Cap'n Bill said:
I don't get the problem with turning the screen off. I have it assigned to C3 and it's no hasle. A press on C3 ans it's off. another and it's back on. I use mainly legacy lenses and currently have focus peaking level on control ring down and this seems to work well for me.
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The only way I can turn the screen off is to dive into the menu.

The other way I can do it is to assign "deactivate monitor" to a function key (I chose C3) but this option leaves some shooting information on screen and a level of backlight remains on - so obviously the screen is not as off as it is when turning it off in the menu. Plus when just deactivated mine at least insists on coming on again at certain times such as when pressing a button like Menu or play whilst having my eye away from the EVF.

I'd really like a true screen off that can be assigned to a custom button.
 
robj20 said:
There currently is only one way to disable the screen and that's deep in the menus and cant be assigned to a button. What your referring to isn't turning the screen off.
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Indeed. It tells lies :(
:D
 
Did the light leak test before on mine, lens cap on, tin foil taped around end of lens, f22, 30s, ISO 25600. Used a very bright light all around the mount no sign of anything just black.
 
twist said:
Once you add the EVF (at a lot more cost), its a lot chunkier. EM5 has better screen, 5 axis, weather sealing, 9FPS and it handles better IME with more controls.

Can see controls etc here.
http://camerasize.com/compare/#382,289

If youre going to use it purely for street and want something small with big output consider a Ricoh GR.
Click to expand...

I currently own a A7, OMD EM5 and Ricoh GR. The GR is soooo underated, one of the best cameras I've owned, brilliant for street shooting .

On a different topic, I had Bren considering the 35mm but now thinking of the 55mm, anybody got the 55?
 
I have the 35 and the 55. The 35 is a fantastic lens. Small, sharp, produces wonderful images. The 55 is on my camera most of the time.....
 
Thanks Phil, nice to see some landscape shots taken with the 55mm. I'd be looking to use it as an all purpose everyday lens myself
 
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