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

It's hard to keep up with what's available and this had passed me by...

phillipreeve.net

REVIEW: Viltrox AF 50mm F/2 Air (FE) - phillipreeve.net

The Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 is another addition to the company's small, lightweight, and affordable 'Air' series. Does its performance match that of its previous siblings?
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

I put one in my basket as I was thinking one could replace my Sony 55mm f1.8 but then I read this review and saw the flare... which IMO is pretty bad. I usually use lenses without a hood but with this one looking IMO bad I think I'd want to use one. This flare looks worse than many old film era lenses I've had. Flare seems to be a weakness with some of the cheap Chinese MF lenses I've had too, again worse than many film era lenses, IMO.
 
woof woof said:
It's hard to keep up with what's available and this had passed me by...

phillipreeve.net

REVIEW: Viltrox AF 50mm F/2 Air (FE) - phillipreeve.net

The Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 is another addition to the company's small, lightweight, and affordable 'Air' series. Does its performance match that of its previous siblings?
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

I put one in my basket as I was thinking one could replace my Sony 55mm f1.8 but then I read this review and saw the flare... which IMO is pretty bad. I usually use lenses without a hood but with this one looking IMO bad I think I'd want to use one. This flare looks worse than many old film era lenses I've had. Flare seems to be a weakness with some of the cheap Chinese MF lenses I've had too, again worse than many film era lenses, IMO.
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Might be popping mine up.
I’ve really liked it for such a small/light lens, can’t say I’ve noticed any issue with flair but I do use the good.
just not sure I should keep it when buying the GM
 
pmac said:
Might be popping mine up.
I’ve really liked it for such a small/light lens, can’t say I’ve noticed any issue with flair but I do use the good.
just not sure I should keep it when buying the GM
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You might find having a light weight and compact lens useful at times.
 
pmac said:
Might be popping mine up.
I’ve really liked it for such a small/light lens, can’t say I’ve noticed any issue with flair but I do use the good.
just not sure I should keep it when buying the GM
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ancient_mariner said:
You might find having a light weight and compact lens useful at times.
Click to expand...

To me the Viltrox and the GM aren't really competing for the same market. I don't think I'll ever have a lens the size of a GM but even if I did I think I'd have a smaller lighter alternative too. Even GM owners not bothered about GM bulk and weight might like a much smaller and lighter lens sometimes.
 
woof woof said:
To me the Viltrox and the GM aren't really competing for the same market. I don't think I'll ever have a lens the size of a GM but even if I did I think I'd have a smaller lighter alternative too. Even GM owners not bothered about GM bulk and weight might like a much smaller and lighter lens sometimes.
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I have the Samyang 45mm have had a few of them and it’s actually a decent lens for the money and very light weight although obviously it’s not. 50mm.

It’s great for stuff I shoot myself and off course I have the 50 f/1.2 GM as well for work. If I don’t have the Samyang I would get the Viltrox the air series get great reviews.
 
f/1.2 said:
I have the Samyang 45mm have had a few of them and it’s actually a decent lens for the money and very light weight although obviously it’s not. 50mm.

It’s great for stuff I shoot myself and off course I have the 50 f/1.2 GM as well for work. If I don’t have the Samyang I would get the Viltrox the air series get great reviews.
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I was always happy with the Sammy 45mm (y)
 
f/1.2 said:
I have the Samyang 45mm have had a few of them and it’s actually a decent lens for the money and very light weight although obviously it’s not. 50mm.

It’s great for stuff I shoot myself and off course I have the 50 f/1.2 GM as well for work. If I don’t have the Samyang I would get the Viltrox the air series get great reviews.
Click to expand...

Flare does seem pretty bad though. Ok it'll only affect a % of shots when you can't change the angle but even so I've had old film era lenses perform better and although at more cost even used the larger Sony 55mm is still significantly smaller than the GM's and there's the Sony 50mm f2.5, more expensive but compact.

Other than the flare it does look decent though. Tempting. And it's 50mm not 55.
 
woof woof said:
Flare does seem pretty bad though. Ok it'll only affect a % of shots when you can't change the angle but even so I've had old film era lenses perform better and although at more cost even used the larger Sony 55mm is still significantly smaller than the GM's and there's the Sony 50mm f2.5, more expensive but compact.

Other than the flare it does look decent though. Tempting. And it's 50mm not 55.
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I was never affected with flare when I had mine, but of course it will depend how you’re shooting. I always used a hood with mine.
 
snerkler said:
I was never affected with flare when I had mine, but of course it will depend how you’re shooting. I always used a hood with mine.
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I almost never use a hood partly because flare is rarely an issue, because sometimes I want it and because they increase bulk.

I'm conscious that I have too much gear and really should slim it down but I haven't quite lost the urge to buy cheap stuff just to see what it's like :D I don't think I'll be buying any more Chinese manual lenses, I think I've done enough of that but I might try another TTA 40mm f2 just to see if I had a faulty one and I wouldn't mind trying this 50mm just to see if it could replace the Sony 55mm f1.8. That lens is easily good enough for me but I still can't get over it being 55 and not 50mm.
 
This might not interest many other people :D

The Voigtlander 40mm f2.

First images of the Voigtlander SEPTON 40mm F2 FE lens | sonyalpharumors

You can now preorder the new pancake lens at BHphoto, Fotoerhardt. DC.watch posted these images of the production ready Voigtlander Septon FE lens:
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

There's a nice review of this in another place and they compare it to the TTA 40mm f2 and a few other things including the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2. The Voigtlander 40mm f2 looks better in the corners than the TTA but the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 seems to beat the new f2. One obvious comparison to make to me is to the long time existing Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Classic in Sony mount. I've had this lens quite a while and it is possibly the lens I've taken the most pictures with in my interchangeable lens camera days. Apart from corners which are never better than poor and funky bokeh at it's widest apertures with complex scenes it is IMO a pretty good lens and light years ahead of the Leica mount version when mounted on a Sony. This new 40mm f2 seems to be better than the 35mm f1.4 in the corners but this is when looking at a crop of picture taken on an A7rII which I think is 42mp and the 35mm f1.4 does go to f1.4.

A while ago I'd probably have bought this and their 28mm in Sony mount but I'm not using MF lenses much now and I have too much stuff already so I'll almost certainly just read and watch the reviews and lust after but not buy. It's a lovely looking little lens though :D Smaller than the 35mm f1.4.
 
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snerkler said:
I was never affected with flare when I had mine, but of course it will depend how you’re shooting. I always used a hood with mine.
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Have never noticed it being particularly prone to flare either. All lenses will flare.
 
woof woof said:
This might not interest many other people :D

The Voigtlander 40mm f2.

First images of the Voigtlander SEPTON 40mm F2 FE lens | sonyalpharumors

You can now preorder the new pancake lens at BHphoto, Fotoerhardt. DC.watch posted these images of the production ready Voigtlander Septon FE lens:
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

There's a nice review of this in another place and they compare it to the TTA 40mm f2 and a few other things including the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2. The Voigtlander 40mm f2 looks better in the corners than the TTA but the Voigtlander 40mm f1.2 seems to beat the new f2. One obvious comparison to make to me is to the long time existing Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Classic in Sony mount. I've had this lens quite a while and it is possibly the lens I've taken the most pictures with in my interchangeable lens camera days. Apart from corners which are never better than poor and funky bokeh at it's widest apertures with complex scenes it is IMO a pretty good lens and light years ahead of the Leica mount version when mounted on a Sony. This new 40mm f2 seems to be better than the 35mm f1.4 in the corners but this is when looking at a crop of picture taken on an A7rII which I think is 42mp and the 35mm f1.4 does go to f1.4.

A while ago I'd probably have bought this and their 28mm in Sony mount but I'm not using MF lenses much now and I have too much stuff already so I'll almost certainly just read and watch the reviews and lust after but not buy. It's a lovely looking little lens though :D Smaller than the 35mm f1.4.
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I haven't used the Sony much this year, but the CV40/1.2 has been my most used lens so far!
 
do sony bodys tend to keep value better than canon/nikon? ive noticed grey the r6iii is now only £1900 vs the near £2200 for the a7v.
bother were about the same at launch and the canon has only been out one month longer
even wex seem to have the 6d body only at 2550 now or the 2799 with a lens.
 
pmac said:
do sony bodys tend to keep value better than canon/nikon? ive noticed grey the r6iii is now only £1900 vs the near £2200 for the a7v.
bother were about the same at launch and the canon has only been out one month longer
even wex seem to have the 6d body only at 2550 now or the 2799 with a lens.
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Not really, historically speaking.... though these days I'm wondering what's going on. I used to buy used and that was usually just slightly cheaper than grey. These days grey is cheaper even than used stock.
 
The sun came out today so I played with my A7III and TTA 50mm f2.

It's soft at f2, the further away from the central area you go the more smeared and messy it gets and the further away you focus the more vignetting you get.

1-DSC00957.jpg

I read a review saying this lens performs better than film era 50's. IMO it performs better than something like an early Takumar in some areas like wide open in the central area but not in other areas and it's not as good in any respect as newer mass market stuff like a Zuiko, FD or Rokkor. IMO it's not even close.

The Boss at some unmarked aperture between f4 and f5.6.

1-DSC00965.jpg
 
nandbytes said:
Not really, historically speaking.... though these days I'm wondering what's going on. I used to buy used and that was usually just slightly cheaper than grey. These days grey is cheaper even than used stock.
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Yeah I’ve been shocked at some of the prices stuff has been selling for recently on eBay.. buyers obviously haven’t checked grey prices.
Fb prices often tend to be abit lower than grey but most are not low enough to not just buy grey.

Not so sure why the a7v has stuck in price while the canon has dropped a fair amount.
 
pmac said:
Yeah I’ve been shocked at some of the prices stuff has been selling for recently on eBay.. buyers obviously haven’t checked grey prices.
Fb prices often tend to be abit lower than grey but most are not low enough to not just buy grey.

Not so sure why the a7v has stuck in price while the canon has dropped a fair amount.
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I guess canon is a little older?
I know it's not much, but given there are both very recent even a month may be making a difference
 
I shouldn't post this because I think it's partially intended to be deliberately inflammatory but anyway:


This handily sums up why I rarely pay attention to professional reviewers any more. I don't agree with the assertion that they couldn't be more objective and moreso I expect them to be, if their job is to review cameras then they should be aware of elements which are personal preference and which aren't. What I've found for a long time is that user reviews and comments while mixed can provide much more useful information which is what I mostly use for buying decisions. I can't remember what put me on the idea of the Sony A9 but while reviews were solid for the camera, comments here were a lot more positive which I admittedly doubted but after buying the camera I'll admit I was wrong and the camera was that good. The software interface has never come into consideration on any Sony camera I've used and I can't recall seeing it being discussed here at all with the A7 V, just more relevant comments about the electronic shutter performance and how it compares to the Z6 III.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I shouldn't post this because I think it's partially intended to be deliberately inflammatory but anyway:


This handily sums up why I rarely pay attention to professional reviewers any more. I don't agree with the assertion that they couldn't be more objective and moreso I expect them to be, if their job is to review cameras then they should be aware of elements which are personal preference and which aren't. What I've found for a long time is that user reviews and comments while mixed can provide much more useful information which is what I mostly use for buying decisions. I can't remember what put me on the idea of the Sony A9 but while reviews were solid for the camera, comments here were a lot more positive which I admittedly doubted but after buying the camera I'll admit I was wrong and the camera was that good. The software interface has never come into consideration on any Sony camera I've used and I can't recall seeing it being discussed here at all with the A7 V, just more relevant comments about the electronic shutter performance and how it compares to the Z6 III.
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My take on has always been that there's bias, not only due to personal preference but who has given them gear to use, and therefore anything subjective should be taken with a pinch of salt. When it comes to cameras all I tend to look at is the autofocus when looking at reviews, everything else I can pretty much get from the specs. Ergonomics, menus structure etc is so personal it's pointless looking at reviews on these areas imo.

For example, the Z8 has been lauded, I found it one of the most uncomfortable cameras I've ever held. Also, people laud the menus in Canon, last year at a studio suit I had to help someone out with their R6 and my god were the menus awful and impossible to find anything. It took 20 minutes and google to work out how to turn off live preview, even then it was trial and error as it wasn't clear.

Lens reviews I do tend to get more out of as you can see how it renders, how sharp it is, and how good the AF is.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I shouldn't post this because I think it's partially intended to be deliberately inflammatory but anyway:


This handily sums up why I rarely pay attention to professional reviewers any more. I don't agree with the assertion that they couldn't be more objective and moreso I expect them to be, if their job is to review cameras then they should be aware of elements which are personal preference and which aren't. What I've found for a long time is that user reviews and comments while mixed can provide much more useful information which is what I mostly use for buying decisions. I can't remember what put me on the idea of the Sony A9 but while reviews were solid for the camera, comments here were a lot more positive which I admittedly doubted but after buying the camera I'll admit I was wrong and the camera was that good. The software interface has never come into consideration on any Sony camera I've used and I can't recall seeing it being discussed here at all with the A7 V, just more relevant comments about the electronic shutter performance and how it compares to the Z6 III.
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Dpreview team have long been anti-Sony.
Nothing new here.
They are now they are justifying it. A bit like a liar justifying his lie, "i did it to help the society, honest, I'm not a liar"
What a joke!
 
f/1.2 said:
We have an IT32 and its sort of okay for a bit of fill but not very powerful, cool little toy though and as you said if you have another camera system you can use it on both by buying another x5 trigger.
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I used the iT32 as a trigger this evening. (y)

The modelling light is really handy for this sort of stuff. Not just for focussing but finding your way round in the dark! :)

_DSC0096.jpg

Also used it on camera for the step-back shot!

_DSC0121.jpg
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I shouldn't post this because I think it's partially intended to be deliberately inflammatory but anyway:
Click to expand...

My main thought when reading that on DPR is that it's disappointing when people can't be objective and independent when doing their job. I very rarely look at DPR and that article is another reason not to.
 
woof woof said:
Samyang 20-50mm f2 coming...

Samyang 20-50mm f/2.0 FE is coming in 2028 only and 28-135mm FE is coming this year! | sonyalpharumors

Phototrend had a chat with Kim Dubin, head of product planning at Samyang. He shared the following details about the mockup lenses Samyang displayed at the CP+ show: 20-50mm f/2 FE AF lens: It is reportedly still at an early stage of development, and its launch would not be expected before 2028...
www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

But not yet.
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Looks massive but probably a nice complimentary fit for Sony 50-150mm f2 than the 28-70mm f2.
 
nandbytes said:
Looks massive but probably a nice complimentary fit for Sony 50-150mm f2 than the 28-70mm f2.
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I don't know if I can get used to using a zoom but other than that and the size and possibly the cost too :D a 20-50mm f2 would cover just about nearly almost everything for me just about nearly almost all the time :D
 
Any advice please on setting up the focus tracking, with back button focus. On the Sony A7IV & A7RV
So I read you can hold a button and when you release it, it will stop tracking.
What custom buttons do I use for this. I have been doing some boking photography and want to see which will track the boxer the best
Thank you for any advice.
 
Hi all. New to this thread.

I recently got a Sony A6700 along with a Tamron 17-70mm f2.8. Which is all good. But boys being boys I wanted more.

I bought myself a Sony 50mm f1.4 GM and it finally arrived today. About an hour ago I had a little look and noticed the lens clunked/rattled inside. My heart sank! After a little research I found that this is normal (something about the focus gubbings). Did anyone else experience the same fear? I wish I would have known about this prior, would have saved me spitting my dummy out for about an hour!!
 
NOJ75 said:
Hi all. New to this thread.

I recently got a Sony A6700 along with a Tamron 17-70mm f2.8. Which is all good. But boys being boys I wanted more.

I bought myself a Sony 50mm f1.4 GM and it finally arrived today. About an hour ago I had a little look and noticed the lens clunked/rattled inside. My heart sank! After a little research I found that this is normal (something about the focus gubbings). Did anyone else experience the same fear? I wish I would have known about this prior, would have saved me spitting my dummy out for about an hour!!
Click to expand...
I've had that with lenses with OS/IS and many years ago when I first got one I thought something inside was broken, but online reasearch showed it was normal. I can't say I've noticed it with my GM primes, but I've not specifically listened for it and I don't have the 50mm f1.4 GM
 
NOJ75 said:
Hi all. New to this thread.

I recently got a Sony A6700 along with a Tamron 17-70mm f2.8. Which is all good. But boys being boys I wanted more.

I bought myself a Sony 50mm f1.4 GM and it finally arrived today. About an hour ago I had a little look and noticed the lens clunked/rattled inside. My heart sank! After a little research I found that this is normal (something about the focus gubbings). Did anyone else experience the same fear? I wish I would have known about this prior, would have saved me spitting my dummy out for about an hour!!
Click to expand...

I think that should stop when it's attached to a body and actually in use.
 
LeeRatters said:
I think that should stop when it's attached to a body and actually in use.
Click to expand...
I have the 50 1.4 and yes it’s quiet when mounted and camera switched on. Wait till the OP gets a lens with a auto/manual focus clutch that’s confusing - so I’m told;):)
 
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captainjack said:
Any advice please on setting up the focus tracking, with back button focus. On the Sony A7IV & A7RV
So I read you can hold a button and when you release it, it will stop tracking.
What custom buttons do I use for this. I have been doing some boking photography and want to see which will track the boxer the best
Thank you for any advice.
Click to expand...
It might be best to ask this in the Sony thread, if the mods could move it there that would be great.

To answer your question, set you camera to AF-C, set A/F with shutter to off, this was the AF-ON button will be your focus button and the shutter button is to take the picture, i.e. the shutter button won't autofocus. This way press and hold AF-ON to focus continuously and then you can press the shutter when you choose to take the shot. Also, you can use this technique to focus and recompose, e.g. press the AF-ON to focus, release the AF-ON button and then it won't continue to refocus as you move the camera to the composition that you want.

Using BBF there is not need to ever change the camera from AF-C.

In terms of the tracking mode it depends on what you're shooting. I tend to use single point AF tracking, sometimes in conjunction with Eye-AF. Shooting birds in flight I will sometimes choose zone AF tracking.
 
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