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

Personally I find peaking accurate enough for a whole image shot and I actually find wider apertures easier to deal with as you have less peaking going on in the VF and where/what is in focus therefore seems more obvious.

Having said all that... no one is paying for my pictures.

I've thought about buying the primes but dropping the thick end of £2k on two primes seems a bit much even if they are very good ones when I seem to be able to manage and get images that are good enough for me with a few old Rokkors.
 
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Both can be had for about £1.3k in the uk. Or £1.1k import. Its nice to have AF.

Anyone looking to get the 70-200 yet? Doesn't seem to bad at £942.
 
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how much of an issue is the shutter on the A7R? Anyone really notice it affecting sharpness?
 
Nope not at all.
 
Cap'n Bill said:
I have a Hahnel Unipal plus. It works off mains and 12 car accessory plug (cigar lighter), charges batteries for all our cameras and has a USB power outlet for charging tablets, phones etc. One of the best £25 I have spent recently. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hahnel-Unipal-Universal-Battery-Charger/dp/B009LM3V5E
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Finally got round to getting one. Good call, it does the job perfectly can see it being a very handy charger.
Also got another couple of batteries so i have 4 in total now, which are great value at only £12.

Seen they have announced some more lenses, the 16-35 F4 OSS looks like it could be a cracker, really wished the 35mm had OSS.
The 28-135 as well, doubt it will be as good as the 24-70 so i doubt i would swap to it.
 
I have just done something I never thought that I would do - I have packed up my Leica M8 and Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses and shipped them all off to Ffordes to sell on commission. Why - because I have barely used them since buying the A7. OK it's not perfect but it really suits me, I hardly have touched the Leica stuff since buying it and can't justify several k's of equipment just sitting there. I did wonder about keeping a couple of lenses but the Sony equivalents seem just as good if a bit bigger.

So no longer a Leica lout after just over 50 years - now a Sony ? (slouch?), whatever. I have kept my two owner Leica lll though, it's its 80th birthday this year and my 50th year of owning it.

I may buy a cheapish Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 as a compact walkaround lens for the A7 though. I had the 35mm f1.4 and the focus shift bothered me on the Leica but it won't be an issue on the A7.
 
Not directly an A7 issue, but my cheap Picxo FD adapter packed up today - the Open/Lock ring will only stay at the Open position, so my FD lenses cannot be stopped down.

I've ordered a much better adapter from ciecio7 in Poland - the one I bought from him for m4/3 has been utterly solid and dependable for three years. The new design has an integrated, but removable tripod foot, which will help with heavier lenses that don't have one.
 
Cap'n Bill said:
I have just done something I never thought that I would do - I have packed up my Leica M8 and Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses and shipped them all off to Ffordes to sell on commission. Why - because I have barely used them since buying the A7. OK it's not perfect but it really suits me, I hardly have touched the Leica stuff since buying it and can't justify several k's of equipment just sitting there. I did wonder about keeping a couple of lenses but the Sony equivalents seem just as good if a bit bigger.

So no longer a Leica lout after just over 50 years - now a Sony ? (slouch?), whatever. I have kept my two owner Leica lll though, it's its 80th birthday this year and my 50th year of owning it.

I may buy a cheapish Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 as a compact walkaround lens for the A7 though. I had the 35mm f1.4 and the focus shift bothered me on the Leica but it won't be an issue on the A7.
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but dont some leica lenses have a certain look to them?
 
im going to keep my 50 summicron for it but ive heard the wide lenses like the 21 look awful
 
My internal jury is still out on the swap of manual focus lenses for the 35 and 55, but....if a 16-35 comes along that may be the clincher if it's not too big. I'd prefer a wide angle prime though, so 16, 35 and 55 would make a nice set.

Still - it's all very well talking about the kit but it doesn't help to take better photos. I'm off out now to shoot Reading v Burnley and will try and engage my artistic brain at least a little bit to justify the amount I've spent on kit.
 
I did a brochureware/advertising shoot for a new t-shirt company at the weekend, and used the A7R for all the shots, with an RX1 as backup and in case I needed fast flash sync. I can't show pics yet, but will get some up as soon as they go public.

It was a mix of studio work involving static product shots and models, and location work out in the open air. For the studio shots I used my 50mm f/2.5 Leica Summarit and lights triggered by pocket wizards. With an aperture around f/8 the detail in the pictures is astonishing - that lens is really something else especially when combined with the A7R's sensor. The clients were staggered by the level of detail.

For the outside location shots I thought I'd go out on a limb and use my Canon FD 50 f/1.2 to get a rather different look to the pics. Obviously I'm very conscious of the minutely shallow depth of field at f/1.2 but in this situation manual focus with magnification is brilliant as I know what I'm going to get. Far easier and more reliable than using a DSLR and autofocus. I explained to the clients what I was doing and why, particularly the desire to go for a different and less "digital" look for the pics and they were cool with that. The end results from that Canon 50 are excellent - we're all very pleased with them. I didn't use the RX1 in the end as I went with natural light so didn't need the 1/2000th flash sync.

I also used a Konica M-Hexanon 90 2.8 as well for the location shots which worked really well. Not as "characterful" as the Canon 50, but still very effective.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the results and happy my once broken A7R is working properly now. Key was explaining to the clients why I wasn't using my big 1D bodies and lenses which they saw sitting in the studio waiting in case I needed them. Once they knew what I was doing and why they were not at all bothered by the diminutive size of the Sonys. When they saw the end result they were well chuffed. Overall, a good day and it was nice to use the A7R in a real high stress situation where it didn't miss a beat. Only used one battery as well for 480 shots (airplane mode switched on).
 
Thought I'd post some recent shots from my A7 and new Sony 55mm, I can't see myself taking it off the A7

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I'm thinking of buying a Sony A7. I have a Sony A55 & one thing I don't like is when you are setting the shutter speed or aperture the brightness of the viewfinder goes with it. This is annoying when it is night time & I want to make a long exposure but I can't see the subject. Does the A7 have an override so the viewfinder remains constant while adjusting the exposure & aperture. Is the focus time fast as I am also considering a Nikon D7100.
 
Redspider said:
I'm thinking of buying a Sony A7. I have a Sony A55 & one thing I don't like is when you are setting the shutter speed or aperture the brightness of the viewfinder goes with it. This is annoying when it is night time & I want to make a long exposure but I can't see the subject. Does the A7 have an override so the viewfinder remains constant while adjusting the exposure & aperture. Is the focus time fast as I am also considering a Nikon D7100.
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As far as I know, the only two Sonys that didn't give you option of changing the liveview type were the a33 and a55.
 
a77 can turn off "liveview effect" or whatever they call it :)
the evf in the a77 and a7 series is nicer than the a55 too btw
 
Has anyone been to a Sony focus group before? I've been invited to one next week to discuss the A7 and am probably going and was wondering what to expect.

I've already got a list of things to bring up which hopefully will be taken into consideration!
 
Thanks for the replies. A couple more questions. I am concerned about the lack af any form of flash. Is there a very small flash unit that can be used? I read that it doesn't come with a charger, is that so? If so can one be bought from ebay etc? I have a Sony 70-400 lens about 3 years old. I believe this needs an adapter, is there a cheaper one with auto focus than the Sony ones?
 
There's only one very expensive sony flash I think. You charge it with USB to camera but can buy eBay charger and batteries (already mentioned in this forum). Not sure about the last question but I'd guess the Sony adapter is the only way to keep af.
 
the sony adapters have the thing needed to stop down the lens, as its lever with a mount, but electronic with e mount
 
Redspider said:
Thanks for the replies. A couple more questions. I am concerned about the lack af any form of flash. Is there a very small flash unit that can be used? I read that it doesn't come with a charger, is that so? If so can one be bought from ebay etc? I have a Sony 70-400 lens about 3 years old. I believe this needs an adapter, is there a cheaper one with auto focus than the Sony ones?
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I think the smallest flash you'll get is the F20M.

It comes with a USB charging cable and AC adapter which work well enough. I haven't yet seen an actual Sony charger, but there are a ton of compatible ones on ebay, amazon, etc. for around £15 - just search for "NEX charger" - the A7 uses the same batteries as the NEX 5, 6, etc. While you're at it pick up some batteries (np-fw50) too - they don't last too long. You can normally get 2 or 3 in a bundle with the charger.
 
I was photographing an event today and really needed a flashgun.

Looking at what is available I thought the Metz 44AF might do. I don't want a high power output, portability and lightweight is more important as I can always slave bigger manual non dedicated flashes if required.

Any experience anyone?
 
i have the 50 and like it, think youll need the adapter to go from the older minolta slot shoe to the new style one ?

oh the sony outlet has a7 and a7r for sale...
 
I have bought an A7. I don't have it here yet, in the meantime I need to get an adapter. I have a three year old 70-400 silver lens. Which lens mount adapter would be best? The LA-EA3 or LA-EA4. I have read the LA-EA4 is faster, is that so? I want the best & CHEAPEST for the lens I have. Best being the most important. If the LA-EA3 does the job & focuses just as fast then I would go for that one.
 
LA-EA4 has a mirror and AF unit in it that effectively turns your A7 into an SLT - complete with good AF speed and being limited to a few AF points in the centre of the frame DSLR-style.

LA-EA3 has no mirror, AF unit, or screw drive motor. You'll get slow AF for compatible lenses which is ok for static objects or just use manual focusing, but you don't lose any light to the mirror if that's important to you.

If AF speed is important at all or if your 70-400 is screw drive, you'll want the LA-EA4.
 
I reluctantly bought the LA-EA4 (£230) but have been pleasantly surprised by it. It is not as bulky as I feared and focusing speed is quite good.
 
Redspider said:
Thanks for the replies. A couple more questions. I am concerned about the lack af any form of flash. Is there a very small flash unit that can be used? I read that it doesn't come with a charger, is that so? If so can one be bought from ebay etc? I have a Sony 70-400 lens about 3 years old. I believe this needs an adapter, is there a cheaper one with auto focus than the Sony ones?
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Others may correct me, but would this adaptor work?

http://www.jessops.com/online.store...A to E Mount&gclid=CJjaroK_qL4CFYsfwwod85QAiA

I have to admit that the only thing putting me off the Sony A7 at the moment, is the price of the adaptors and compatible flash.
 
Tobers said:
I'm rather horribly tempted by a Canon FD 85 1.2 right now. I really like my Canon FD 50 1.2 and the 85 would be pretty impressive I think. Will keep you all posted...
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You'll like it alright,lovely lens that one.
 
Is there a cheap non Sony Remote for the Sony A7? Possible link? Thanks. Prefer corded version.
 
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No because the corded ones require a Multi-USB plug and they are still expensive.
 
OK thanks. I see I can download an app to my Pad & Phone to use as a remote, but in time I will get a corded one as sometimes the sun & so on sometimes stop the shutter actuating on infra red ones.
 
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