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

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So an A7 ii or iii. With an A mount adapter how to the old FF Minolta AF and Sigma 70-300 FF lenses behave and how would an A mount apc-s lens work or not ?
 
leaky5 said:
So an A7 ii or iii. With an A mount adapter how to the old FF Minolta AF and Sigma 70-300 FF lenses behave and how would an A mount apc-s lens work or not ?
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LA-EA4 adapter has the AF system built-in, so AF will be unchanged and there's no eye-AF. LA-EA5 adapter uses the cameras built-in AF AFAIK s an A7III will give better performance.

older minolta lenses were all screw drive, which means slow AF performance by modern standards. Sony A mount lenses with built-in motors will be faster. APS-C lenses will work, but expect vignetting - I would consider that unacceptable but YMMV.

IF you choose to use older lenses then select carefully. All the Minolta consumer-grade lenses with ilver plastic bodies were useless garbage i.e. 28-80, 28-100. The 28-105 isn't bad for a lens of that era and the 70-210 f4 is good. The various 75-300s vary between poor and usable but not great. Some Sigma 28-200s are usable, but some are very poor. The 28 f2.8 and 24 f2.8, 50 f1.7 are ok for the era. The 50 f1.4 has a lot of coma wide open, giving a beautiful rendering but not much sharpness. Be aware that many of the older and dirt-cheap consumer-grade Sigma and Tamron lenses were pretty poor, even at the time, and are worse now. Check out Dyxum.com for A mount lens reviews if you don't already know it.

I currently use the Sony 50 f1.4, Minolta 70-210 f4, Sigma 12-24 and a Tamron SP90 f2.8 Macro with the LA-EA4 on my A7III.

Lens tech has moved a long way, and modern lenses are both more expensive and better performing than older models.
 
ancient_mariner said:
LA-EA4 adapter has the AF system built-in, so AF will be unchanged and there's no eye-AF. LA-EA5 adapter uses the cameras built-in AF AFAIK s an A7III will give better performance.

older minolta lenses were all screw drive, which means slow AF performance by modern standards. Sony A mount lenses with built-in motors will be faster. APS-C lenses will work, but expect vignetting - I would consider that unacceptable but YMMV.

IF you choose to use older lenses then select carefully. All the Minolta consumer-grade lenses with ilver plastic bodies were useless garbage i.e. 28-80, 28-100. The 28-105 isn't bad for a lens of that era and the 70-210 f4 is good. The various 75-300s vary between poor and usable but not great. Some Sigma 28-200s are usable, but some are very poor. The 28 f2.8 and 24 f2.8, 50 f1.7 are ok for the era. The 50 f1.4 has a lot of coma wide open, giving a beautiful rendering but not much sharpness. Be aware that many of the older and dirt-cheap consumer-grade Sigma and Tamron lenses were pretty poor, even at the time, and are worse now. Check out Dyxum.com for A mount lens reviews if you don't already know it.

I currently use the Sony 50 f1.4, Minolta 70-210 f4, Sigma 12-24 and a Tamron SP90 f2.8 Macro with the LA-EA4 on my A7III.

Lens tech has moved a long way, and modern lenses are both more expensive and better performing than older models.
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Thanks. I currently own the following older metal body Minoltas. 35-70, 35-105 and the Beercan. My Sigma is the top rated of the Sigma 70-300’s on Dyxum and I have the SAL16-50 f2.8

I may have the option to buy an A7 and if I can use these to start with + maybe the 28-70 kit lens then I will probably go for it
 
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leaky5 said:
Thanks. I currently own the following older metal body Minoltas. 35-70, 35-105 and the Beercan. My Sigma is the top rated of the Sigma 70-300’s on Dyxum and I have the SAL16-50 f2.8

I may have the option to buy an A7 and if I can use these to start with + maybe the 28-70 kit lens then I will probably go for it
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I'd forgotten the 35-70 and 35-105, both good.
 
leaky5 said:
I have just read that screw drive only works on Mk IV upwards, when using the adaptor
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depends on the adapter. with LA-EA4 you will have AF as explain above by @ancient_mariner
But the AF is very basic but its actually kinda better than the native AF on the original A7.

Also if you are only interested in using Minolta glass then its probably better for you to get an a-mount body like A99 which can also be found at cheap prices these days.
 
Some pics from last saturdays photo walk with @dancook

1. EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (469 of 579)-Pano.jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

2.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (428 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

3.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (421 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

4.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (377 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

5.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (263 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

6.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (131 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

7.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (506 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

8.
EndOfSummerPhotoWalk (562 of 579).jpg by Jon Richy, on Flickr

If many here are up for it. i can arrange a TP Forums photo walk in london early next year?
 
jonneymendoza said:
Some pics from last saturdays photo walk with @dancook

If many here are up for it. i can arrange a TP Forums photo walk in london early next year?
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Great pictures Jonney. The first two are the standout ones for me.

You're all welcome to come and walk on Saltburn beach :D
 
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People still watch Tony and Chelsea? I got annoyed with them a while ago where one minute they was praising a product and next month they slate and bash it to bits....

One minute they are sony fanboys, next they are pantex lovers. I cant quite understand them.

Plus they do tend to "flex" alot showing off there mansion house and there tesla's and what not.
 
woof woof said:
From the rumor site...

No sale at any price?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHCny5In9Z0&t=564s


Would anyone buy one?

I suppose another comparison could be to a film era manual lens.
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I may watch this later. Whether I'd buy one depends on the rendering really, rather than sharpness or presence of flaws. There was a Sony 85 f1.8 up for sale recently at a great price, but although the AF is fantastic and images sharp, it's not going to work as well for me as other lenses that are less good in those areas.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I may watch this later. Whether I'd buy one depends on the rendering really, rather than sharpness or presence of flaws. There was a Sony 85 f1.8 up for sale recently at a great price, but although the AF is fantastic and images sharp, it's not going to work as well for me as other lenses that are less good in those areas.
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My Sony 85mm f1.8 sits unused for month after month. I used my Sigma 85mm in Canon mount more but as the years have passed I've mover more to wider lenses and currently it seems to be 35 and 28 rather than 50 and 85. I might try and sell my Zuiko, Rokkor and Nikon 85's when I get round to it but going by stuff I've sold recently they'll probably go for £20 each with me paying the postage.
 
Hiya all, does anyone use a Sony branded (I won’t to stick with Sony) Flash on camera?

I’m looking for recommendations of one specifically to use with my A7iv & 90mm for Macro.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Joe94 said:
Hiya all, does anyone use a Sony branded (I won’t to stick with Sony) Flash on camera?

I’m looking for recommendations of one specifically to use with my A7iv & 90mm for Macro.

Thanks in advance :)
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Nope. I got a Nissin i40, though I hardly ever use flash I have never been happy with the photos when using a flash.
 
robj20 said:
Nope. I got a Nissin i40, though I hardly ever use flash I have never been happy with the photos when using a flash.
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They’re nice and compact iirc? I’ve got the Godox TT685S as I wanted high power (y)
 
LeeRatters said:
Same here. Not used it for a while thoug
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robj20 said:
Nope. I got a Nissin i40, though I hardly ever use flash I have never been happy with the photos when using
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snerkler said:
They’re nice and compact iirc? I’ve got the Godox TT685S as I wanted high power (y)
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Thank you all for your replies. You have mentioned you don’t use them much, is this in general or when doing Macro photography? Is it best to stick with natural light for Macro would you say?
 
woof woof said:
From the rumor site...

No sale at any price?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHCny5In9Z0&t=564s


Would anyone buy one?

I suppose another comparison could be to a film era manual lens.
Click to expand...

That has to be one of the most annoying voices that you could imagine for a youtube reviewer.

I'd buy one if I were on a really tight budget & needed something light and small-ish - bokeh is quite nice and the slight lack of sharpness isn't necessarily a problem. Overall though I'd probably look for a used Sony 85 f1.8 & just do a bit more in post to smooth things out.
 
Joe94 said:
Hiya all, does anyone use a Sony branded (I won’t to stick with Sony) Flash on camera?

I’m looking for recommendations of one specifically to use with my A7iv & 90mm for Macro.

Thanks in advance :)
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Hardly anyone uses Sony branded flash they are ridiculously over priced for what you get.

Godox V860III and V1 are two most popular options for Sony e-mount.
 
f/2.8 said:
Hardly anyone uses Sony branded flash they are ridiculously over priced for what you get.

Godox V860III and V1 are two most popular options for Sony e-mount.
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Yea I seem to be finding this, I may have to have a look at these :)
 
LeeRatters said:
Sorry, I read that back and it sounds a bit blunt & sarcastic.

It wasn't meant to be :)
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Ahh no don’t be silly, I didn’t think that at all aha :)

If I’m honest it’s actually a fair point and makes me think of my situation, because although I’m looking for one for Macro, it really will just be for that odd occasion it’s needed. The other types of photography I do wouldn't require flash, so I think anything I do get just needs to be a smaller and basic flash, nothing extravagant.
 
Joe94 said:
Thank you all for your replies. You have mentioned you don’t use them much, is this in general or when doing Macro photography? Is it best to stick with natural light for Macro would you say?
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It's always best to shoot macro with natural light if you can as you tend to not get the highlights from the flash. There are times when you need one though and then you start having to look at diffusing them which is a whole new world.

Some of my favourite macro shots were taken on the Sony with natural light.


Hoverfly by Mike Pursey, on Flickr


Bee by Mike Pursey, on Flickr
 
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