Sony A7 ? worth it

andyred

andyred

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Hi,

After some advice for father in law, he's thinking of buying the Sony A7...

He might be having issues with his A700 (I'm going to have a look at it on Monday) and he's seen a 2nd hand A7, which I believe is a different lens fitment, so I presume he will also have to but the sony adapter for his lenses to work.

Is it a good buy, is it a good body to get - it's a smaller size than he's used to, so may or may not be better for him to hold with his dicky shoulder ?

He's quite a bit invested in Sony / Minolta stuff, so don't really think a swap to different make is on at present, but it is something I thought about - see if he could trade all his stuff in for...

Any help / advice would be appreciated (y)

Cheers
A
 
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What does he photograph? If he wants to keep his lenses he would imo be better off getting a dslt, weight wise not far off the original a7 and adapter and the dslt af will be better and it's more comfy.
 
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twist said:
What does he photograph?
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A lot of different things - grandchildren, Steam trains, Motor racing / bikes when I can get him to Oulton Park and recently birds in back garden...
 
andyred said:
A lot of different things - grandchildren, Steam trains, Motor racing / bikes when I can get him to Oulton Park and recently birds in back garden...
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As above if he wants to keep his a mount lenses I think a dslt is a better choice than the a7. A58 / 68 / 77 or 77ii.

What lenses is he using?
 
I have a 1st generation A7 and whilst I like it I will admit that the AF may be a bit leisurely for some action stuff so it may be best to check before buying.
 
twist said:
As above if he wants to keep his a mount lenses I think a dslt is a better choice than the a7. A58 / 68 / 77 or 77ii.

What lenses is he using?
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Cheers mate, yes I was thinking this - can't remember the actual lenses, but he has various from 35mm to 400mm range

Think I'm going to look at the DSLR range to see if I can find something in case his A700 is on it's last legs...
 
woof woof said:
I have a 1st generation A7 and whilst I like it I will admit that the AF may be a bit leisurely for some action stuff so it may be best to check before buying.
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That's very good know, cheers mate, this could be an issue for his motor sport as he's not the fastest to move about either, so a good snappy AF is a help for him...(y)
 
andyred said:
Cheers mate, yes I was thinking this - can't remember the actual lenses, but he has various from 35mm to 400mm range

Think I'm going to look at the DSLR range to see if I can find something in case his A700 is on it's last legs...
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It's the cheapest option, switching will cost him big time with losses on those A mount lenses. He will see a big improvement in sensor performance and AF over the old a700 with any newer dslt I mentioned.

May be worth checking what it's all worth on used market but I have a feeling to get the equivalent in another brand for similar money is going to work out a lot more.
 
I have the A7. It's great for what it is. It suits me just fine with some native lenses & some 'legacy' lenses.

More importantly, for you, is that the original A7 isn't well known for it's connectability and focusing performance with adapted lenses compared to the newer bodies.
 
LeeRatters said:
I have the A7. It's great for what it is. It suits me just fine with some native lenses & some 'legacy' lenses.

More importantly, for you, is that the original A7 isn't well known for it's connectability and focusing performance with adapted lenses compared to the newer bodies.
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That's good to know about, cheers mate (y)
 
LeeRatters said:
I have the A7. It's great for what it is. It suits me just fine with some native lenses & some 'legacy' lenses.

More importantly, for you, is that the original A7 isn't well known for it's connectability and focusing performance with adapted lenses compared to the newer bodies.
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With A mount via laea4 it's decent with middle af area but a little pointless because dslt will be same size weight and probably lower cost.... And he's going to lose reach because it's ff.
 
I think the gist from the short time the threads been up, is the A7 probably isn't the best option for him with his lenses and that he'll have to factor in an adapter as well - so going to look at some of the DSLR bodies that have been mentioned and see what price 2nd hand they are for him.

Thanks for everyones input so far (y)
 
I went from an A700 to an A68, the focus system is superb on the A68 and the image quality is in my opinion very good, I also find the tilting screen a great help for composing as I have mobility issues.
 
Bearair said:
I went from an A700 to an A68, the focus system is superb on the A68 and the image quality is in my opinion very good, I also find the tilting screen a great help for composing as I have mobility issues.
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That's great to hear and hadn't thought about a tilting screen - that could help him with his shoulder (y)
 
Another vote for Sony A-mount (A68 or A77-2). The A7 AF system is slow for action to begin with, add an adapter and it’s even worse. I’d only consider the A7 if he’s willing to go all in and get e-mount lenses as well.
 
snerkler said:
Another vote for Sony A-mount (A68 or A77-2). The A7 AF system is slow for action to begin with, add an adapter and it’s even worse. I’d only consider the A7 if he’s willing to go all in and get e-mount lenses as well.
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Cheers mate - will have a look to see if I can find one of the A68 2nd hand for him. I think if he was doing that route of all in, I’d be tempted to get him to swap makes so he could use some of my lenses as well.
 
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The A7 is going to be much better in low light though no? I'm sure it's good enough for panning motorsport shots too?
 
Cagey75 said:
The A7 is going to be much better in low light though no? I'm sure it's good enough for panning motorsport shots too?
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Possible improvement in low light, but I’m not sure how much low light he does v potential issues with lens mount and cost associated. Going to have a look at the one he found tomorrow, but thinking I’m going to move him to the DSLR route that’ll take his lenses directly :)
 
Cagey75 said:
The A7 is going to be much better in low light though no? I'm sure it's good enough for panning motorsport shots too?
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No mention of using a camera in low light, and whilst any camera is good enough for panning, birds are a different ball game (y)
 
snerkler said:
No mention of using a camera in low light, and whilst any camera is good enough for panning, birds are a different ball game (y)
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It's birds in the garden though, I often shoot those using old MF lenses. I just know that coming into winter low light is very helpful, early evening you're at 3200 very quick just for those birdies
 
Cagey75 said:
It's birds in the garden though, I often shoot those using old MF lenses. I just know that coming into winter low light is very helpful, early evening you're at 3200 very quick just for those birdies
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Either way it’s still a fudge using a-mount lenses with an adapter (y)
 
The IBIS fitted to the later A-mount models works well and may well negate any advantage in high ISO the non stabilised A7 has.
 
snerkler said:
Another vote for Sony A-mount (A68 or A77-2). The A7 AF system is slow for action to begin with, add an adapter and it’s even worse. I’d only consider the A7 if he’s willing to go all in and get e-mount lenses as well.
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WRONG! The LAEA4 is not slow on the A7, it has SLT phase detect AF built into the adapter.
 
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snerkler said:
Either way it’s still a fudge using a-mount lenses with an adapter (y)
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Is it much different to using adapters on M43? I was a little tempted by the likes of the A7II for a while, I would definitely want the ability to adapt old lenses and make use of the peaking/IBIS and other MF assists
 
Cagey75 said:
Is it much different to using adapters on M43? I was a little tempted by the likes of the A7II for a while, I would definitely want the ability to adapt old lenses and make use of the peaking/IBIS and other MF assists
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No, you still get all that with old manual lenses using the A7.
 
Cagey75 said:
Good to know, cheers. It's bonuses like that make these mirrorless bodies more appealing to budget shooters like me
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The A7 is a ridiculous bargain these days, brand new body only after cashback and a incl kit lens sale and you're looking at £500 for a new FF body.
 
twist said:
The A7 is a ridiculous bargain these days, brand new body only after cashback and a incl kit lens sale and you're looking at £500 for a new FF body.
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It's certainly very tempting for that kind of money. I know it's probably a bit petty, but I've grown to like IBIS so much i feel I'd want the mkII, I hear it's not great for video but that's fine, I use the video function maybe once every few months. I like IBIS for composing stills, and love that it works with any lens you can stick on there.
 
Cagey75 said:
Is it much different to using adapters on M43? I was a little tempted by the likes of the A7II for a while, I would definitely want the ability to adapt old lenses and make use of the peaking/IBIS and other MF assists
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Are we still talking about the same thing lol? I was comparing using a-mount lenses on something like the A68 (ie native) to using a-mount via an adapter on the A7 (y)
 
Cagey75 said:
It's certainly very tempting for that kind of money. I know it's probably a bit petty, but I've grown to like IBIS so much i feel I'd want the mkII, I hear it's not great for video but that's fine, I use the video function maybe once every few months. I like IBIS for composing stills, and love that it works with any lens you can stick on there.
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The quality of the video itself is very good, just the ibis wont be like Oly or panny. Sony ibis for stills is good, it helps a lot.
 
snerkler said:
Are we still talking about the same thing lol? I was comparing using a-mount lenses on something like the A68 (ie native) to using a-mount via an adapter on the A7 (y)
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Ah gotcha, I thought you meant adapters for old lenses. Dumb adapters really. The AF ones for Canon lenses are appealing to, opens you up to a shed tonne of older cheap AF Canon glass
 
Cagey75 said:
Ah gotcha, I thought you meant adapters for old lenses. Dumb adapters really. The AF ones for Canon lenses are appealing to, opens you up to a shed tonne of older cheap AF Canon glass
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Canon af adapted via a7 MK1 is poor, slow but for still life and landscape it's alright.
 
twist said:
Canon af adapted via a7 MK1 is poor, slow but for still life and landscape it's alright.
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Seen a few vids on adapting Canon to Sony in the past, seemed that it was as much lens dependent. Some working pretty snappy, some just ok and some not at all [Canon 50mm 1.4 I believe doesn't like adapters] The 50mm 1.8 seemed to be just as quick as a native lens though. If I was to go that route I would certainly be researching more into compatibility
 
I tried a cheaper [not Metabones, etc] EF-Sony E adapter a few years ago before I sold my 135L & it wouldn't even recognise the lens was attached let alone have any basic control over it.
 
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