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

Eventually picked up my Samyang 100mm Macro. Spotless and mint and a good deal for £150. It is, as expected completely dumb, but it is really sharp even at big apertures and the camera functions such as peaking and magnified view, EVF and histogram make it easy to manually focus and expose correctly. Very cheap way to have a macro option on the Sony but I will stick to my D850 for the stacking option and my macro flash lights when I do anything serious.
 
I had a wander about with my A7 and Chinon 28mm f2.8 while Mrs WW was at school. Unfortunately the light was poor and I didn't get anything I'd care to look at again but I am impressed with these Chinon lenses. I've mostly stuck to camera marque lenses although I do have a few third party ones. These Chinon's do look to be perfectly good and rather cheap options for anyone looking at some old film area primes.

As the light was poor I squirted these through Nik filters and picked a Kodak film emulation.

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woof woof said:
My M42 to Sony adapter arrived and I could try my Takumar 50mm f1.4.

First thing I noticed that when focusing on the hill I expected focus to be achieved at just a bit less than infinity, between 30m and infinity, but with this adapter and lens I hit focus between 7 and 10ft, 2/3m. I've got another M42 lens arriving later this week so I'll check that out. Apart from not being able to set the focus to be there abouts before looking through the evf I don't suppose there should be any problem, minimum focus distance doesn't seem to be affected.

Has anyone ever seen this before?

Apart from that from reading reviews I was expecting this lens to be pretty soft at f1.4 but I think it's easily sharp enough in the central area. The bokeh can be rough with a complex background though.
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I've had a couple of lenses that would focus short of infinity but nothing has bad has 2-3m. Maybe the adapter is at fault, maybe it is "pushing" the lens away from the body and in actual fact acting like some extension tubes for macro. Would explain why the focus is affected this way.
 
Stephen L said:
This shot has just made Explore on Flicker. Just shows that the A7C can cut it with the rest!
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Whilst I agree that the A7C can cut it with the rest (and why not it's a very good FF camera) making explore is more often than not (although not always when you look at some pics that make it ;)) about the shot and not what camera is used. Many explore photos are with phones, m4/3 etc etc (y)

Congrats on making explore btw (y)
 
nandbytes said:
I don't really know what that is but congrats :)
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Top rated photos of the day make it into Explore, and album where the best photos of the day are shown. No-one actually knows what the criteria is that gets you into explore though. It was thought it was based simply on likes and positive comments but we tried that theory on AVF by getting everyone to like and comment on a photo but it didn't work ;)
 
snerkler said:
Top rated photos of the day make it into Explore, and album where the best photos of the day are shown. No-one actually knows what the criteria is that gets you into explore though. It was thought it was based simply on likes and positive comments but we tried that theory on AVF by getting everyone to like and comment on a photo but it didn't work ;)
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It's one of the world's great mysteries. :D
 
woof woof said:
If it's more compact than previous Sigma efforts at that price even I might think about it :D
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he's given a comparison vs. sony but his figures are wrong. Sony only weighs 525g and is just 96mm long.
so make me wonder if the sigma figures are correct. but we'll know soon i guess
 
nandbytes said:
he's given a comparison vs. sony but his figures are wrong. Sony only weighs 525g and is just 96mm long.
so make me wonder if the sigma figures are correct. but we'll know soon i guess
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Yes, always best to wait for the real thing to arrive, and for the reviews and sample images too.
 
I’ve always shot raw and always shot auto WB, taking the A1 out for recreational photos and I notice how cold it makes this beautiful sunny day. Set the WB to daylight and the camera experience is much nicer...

Should have probably done this a lot earlier, but it’s only the Sony that doesn’t quite get it.

Followed mark galers setup and quite liking it.
 
dancook said:
I’ve always shot raw and always shot auto WB, taking the A1 out for recreational photos and I notice how cold it makes this beautiful sunny day. Set the WB to daylight and the camera experience is much nicer...

Should have probably done this a lot earlier, but it’s only the Sony that doesn’t quite get it.

Followed mark galers setup and quite liking it.
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I did that too Dan for the a7riv and a7riv - he knows his stuff alright :)

Les

Ps I always shoot Raw too
 
Two last A7 and Chinon 28mm f2.8 pictures. I've processed these way more than I'd like but hey-ho.

Peaceful. Just the sound of the sea and wind and time to scan the beach for interesting shells and pebbles.

aEUAQgs.jpg


Just before leaving the beach, along the steps towards the steel works.

yAIJCzV.jpg


I'm impressed with these Chinon lenses but I do have one complaint. The 50mm f1.4 and 28mm f2.8 work opposite, one needing to turn clockwise and the other needing to turn anti clockwise. You'd think Chinon would make them the same way. Other than that I think they're a good cheap option.
 
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Interested in the Sony 14mm f1.8?

A review!

Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM review by Albert Dros: “I can’t really think of any other lens I would want for landscape photography right now” – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

"Honestly, I can’t really think of any other lens I would want for landscape photography right now."

There you go. I said a few pages back this'd make a great landscape lens :D

PS.
There's a size comparison picture in there of the 14mm f1.8, 24mm f1.4 and 20mm f1.8 all in a row.
 
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I'm going to take back what I said a few comments ago and say, Yes, I'd love that 14mm f1.8 GM.

Now how much are kidneys going for on ebay?......................................................
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I'm going to take back what I said a few comments ago and say, Yes, I'd love that 14mm f1.8 GM.

Now how much are kidneys going for on ebay?......................................................
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I think I'll just check if there's a Chinon 14mm f1.8 on evil bay for £35.
 
dancook said:
I’ve always shot raw and always shot auto WB, taking the A1 out for recreational photos and I notice how cold it makes this beautiful sunny day. Set the WB to daylight and the camera experience is much nicer...

Should have probably done this a lot earlier, but it’s only the Sony that doesn’t quite get it.

Followed mark galers setup and quite liking it.
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You can customise WB settings so you can make AWB produce warmer shots (and a different tint) if you prefer (y)
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I'm going to take back what I said a few comments ago and say, Yes, I'd love that 14mm f1.8 GM.

Now how much are kidneys going for on ebay?......................................................
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I knew this is where things would end up eventually so I didn't bother going through the first "I don't need it" indenial step
 
snerkler said:
You can customise WB settings so you can make AWB produce warmer shots (and a different tint) if you prefer (y)
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I agree I mostly shoot jpeg and set WB at 6000k you just find the warmth that you want in your shots .

Rob.
 
nandbytes said:
I knew this is where things would end up eventually so I didn't bother going through the first "I don't need it" indenial step
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For a while my 12-24mm was my most used lens but these days I do wonder if I'd use it much and apart from the usefulness of wide lenses there's the care and difficulty aspect.

I have 28, 24, 20, 19 and 17mm lenses and I do think that as lenses get wider the care needed when taking shots increases. OK, these lenses can give you a distinctive look but these days I wonder how many times I'd want that look or want to take the care needed when taking the shot.
 
Do Canon make the mount info and protocols available? If not it could be extra hassle and problems for the 3rd party guys and more disappointment for customers if future firmware updates give issues with existing 3rd party lenses.
 
woof woof said:
Do Canon make the mount info and protocols available? If not it could be extra hassle and problems for the 3rd party guys and more disappointment for customers if future firmware updates give issues with existing 3rd party lenses.
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they don't. Would require sigma and Tamron to reverse engineer and then maintain the lenses as RF is updated over time. its bit of a pain but not impossible.
Considering Canon is already a very close second to sony in terms of mirrorless sales it'd seem to be worth the investment in reverse engineering.
 
woof woof said:
Two last A7 and Chinon 28mm f2.8 pictures. I've processed these way more than I'd like but hey-ho.

Peaceful. Just the sound of the sea and wind and time to scan the beach for interesting shells and pebbles.

aEUAQgs.jpg


Just before leaving the beach, along the steps towards the steel works.

yAIJCzV.jpg


I'm impressed with these Chinon lenses but I do have one complaint. The 50mm f1.4 and 28mm f2.8 work opposite, one needing to turn clockwise and the other needing to turn anti clockwise. You'd think Chinon would make them the same way. Other than that I think they're a good cheap option.
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That 28mm seems to give more pleasant images than its 50mm cousin, in my view.
 
Stephen L said:
That 28mm seems to give more pleasant images than its 50mm cousin, in my view.
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It's difficult for me to judge too much as I've only used these lenses briefly so far and yesterday when I took the 28mm out the light was really poor but I do like the 28mm ones I took of Mrs WW tending the plants.

I think the biggest issues with the 50mm f1.4 is the nervous bokeh (but it's not as nervous as some old lenses) and the outlining of bokeh balls being quite visible. If the scene isn't too messy or likely to produce outlined bokeh balls then I have no real complains and the fall off when stopped down does look nice to me so far. I quite like the 50mm ones I posted a few pages back.

The 28mm too seems to have nervous bokeh but again it's not the most nervous I've seen and every picture I've posted here has been at either f5.6 or f8 so the bokeh isn't really a factor.

I think both lenses are definitely worth looking at as cheaper alternatives to the likes of Rokkor, Zuiko, FD and the rest.

I'm usually more drawn to 35mm but I just thought 28 and 50 would make a nice pairing. 24 and 50mm is maybe more attractive though and you get a greater chance to play with perspective with 24 than 28mm.
 
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I've just received my Takumar 28mm f3.5. It's in nice condition and with a hood and performance wide open seem to be very good. This will partner my Takumar 50mm f1.4 and completes my collection of old lenses and I wont be buying any more.
 
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Thinking to get a spare battery for the A7iii, I guess it's still some scam on ebay, a few listing for the NP-FZ100 at £32 and a few listing for both battery and charger for £50. Some have good feedback but seem to sell nothing camera-related apart from this. I guess it's best to avoid.
 
Lemaildetom said:
Thinking to get a spare battery for the A7iii, I guess it's still some scam on ebay, a few listing for the NP-FZ100 at £32 and a few listing for both battery and charger for £50. Some have good feedback but seem to sell nothing camera-related apart from this. I guess it's best to avoid.
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99% of the NP-FZ100 batteries on eBay are fake. Avoid!
 
Lemaildetom said:
Thinking to get a spare battery for the A7iii, I guess it's still some scam on ebay, a few listing for the NP-FZ100 at £32 and a few listing for both battery and charger for £50. Some have good feedback but seem to sell nothing camera-related apart from this. I guess it's best to avoid.
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definitely fakes
MPB normally have a quite a number of used ones if you want to buy one.
 
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