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

Hugh Brownstone gear of the year...

http://www.43rumors.com/the-g85-is-the-best-camera-of-the-year-for-hugh-broiwnstone/#disqus_thread

If you zap along to 17:55 you'll see that a Sony lens wins his lens of the year award.

If you can't wait I'll tell you which one but those who want to watch the vid to find out look away... now...

The Sony GM 85mm f1.4 wins! :D

And a little off the A7 topic...

His camera of the year is the Panny GX80 and I have one. It's a nice camera hobbled by a below par EVF and the withholding of some really nice features that the previous model GX7 had, the tilting EVF and the AF/MF toggle switch. I really wish they'd kept those and fitted a better EVF.

It's funny how so many cameras are so nearly just right and then the maker spoils it all with a crap grip or by putting the on/off switch in a silly place or withholding a feature the previous model had or doing something else that seems ridiculous. Such is life.

Also, I disagree with his little rant about camera menus. Personally I've never understood the constant and repeated whinging about menus. It's something that I just can't seem to get all that excited about. When I first get a camera I go through the menu mostly turning stuff off and once I've done that honestly all I usually go into the menu for is to format the card and set the clock, that's pretty much it. I remember my Canon DSLR's didn't have a menu as such, they just had a long list and even that was fine with me and I just don't get all this angst about menus. But that's just me :D
 
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The point with menus is we've seen dramatic improvements in mobile ui over the last few years which has translated to precisely nothing in modern cameras.
 
frod said:
The point with menus is we've seen dramatic improvements in mobile ui over the last few years which has translated to precisely nothing in modern cameras.
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I disagree about the dramatic improvements.

To me most UI's are pretty unintuitive or even counter. The little icons often mean nothing and their meaning can often only be determined by trial and error and then remembering what each seemingly mystifying and probably meaningless little symbol actually means / does.

Some time ago I was fortunate enough to have a look at some really interesting work being done on UI's which were genuinely a step forward and especially for those who aren't seven years old and willing to press everything until the right thing happens but sadly this seems to be a much neglected field with few people working in it and no standardisation across brands or product types. It's surprising how helpful a really good and meaningful system can be and how much it can speed up the whole process but on the whole I'd say that what we have today is when looked at objectively and especially when viewed through the eyes of the even remotely non tech savvy pretty woeful.
 
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And a PS to my last post.

I've been neglecting my A7 recently in favour of MFT (I bought a new MFT camera) but I have to say that looking at A7 files again after using MFT just brings home how nice the A7 files are and what a good camera it is :D
 
Alan bet you'd have seen a big difference in quality if you had used the MFT for that shot?
 
Yes, IMO a MFT shot at ISO 5,000 would be useable especially after downsizing but yes, there'd be a clear difference in image quality but actually it's the old lens at f1.2 that gives that shot it's look. The mix of shallow dof and way the old lens pictures look could only be reproduced using that lens and the shot would look different again if I'd used f2 as at f2 much of the character of the lens at f1.2 is gone.
 
I know its not all about looking at 100% but yesterday I looked back at files from my d300s and they are pin sharp compared to MFT
 
What lenses did you use?

I've been using an Oly 17mm f1.8 and it's a nice lens but sharpness at 100% isn't it's party trick. The Voigtlander 25mm f0.95 I had was sharp across the frame and probably the best MFT lens I've had. I don't think any of the MFT lenses I have now can compete with that Voigtlander once stopped down just a bit but to be fair I haven't chosen any of my MFT kit with sharpness at 100% in mind.
 
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Nikon 16-85 / Olympus 9-18. I guess its the current poor light and the higher ISO I'm up against
 
I have the Oly 9-18mm, IMO optically it isn't a great lens :D

Some MFT lenses are very good and some whilst being less good still have a party trick in that they're pretty good wide open. I'd use any of my MFT lenses wide open and indeed I do typically use the variable aperture ones wide open because doing so helps fight the low light ISO battle and I know I'll get good enough results wide open, assuming the ISO doesn't go too high.

When I think back to my Canon DSLR and further back to my Nikon SLR days I can't say that the lenses I used gave good results wide open. Many lenses in those days had to be stopped down way beyond apertures at which some MFT lenses are quite respectable. Maybe that's still true of some DSLR lenses and it must be true as some aren't new designs optimised for wider aperture use.
 
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So where do you obtain your lens rating...dxo? or do you continue to purchase one after another until your happy?
 
twist said:
What happened Riz? I thought you were madly in love?
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My circumstances changed meaning I wasn't going to go down the route of full-time photography as my primary income, so I spent a good month of two thinking about moving to Fuji.
In the end I couldn't justify sticking with the high end Sony system for various reasons but it's a very good system if you want the ultimate IQ & glass.
 
Fuguru said:
My circumstances changed meaning I wasn't going to go down the route of full-time photography as my primary income, so I spent a good month of two thinking about moving to Fuji.
In the end I couldn't justify sticking with the high end Sony system for various reasons but it's a very good system if you want the ultimate IQ & glass.
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Sound reasoning. The FE system is decent but hideously expensive as you found out.
 
twist said:
Sound reasoning. The FE system is decent but hideously expensive as you found out.
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Yes, extremely expensive indeed, luckily I didn't lose much changing over and that combined with the recent Fuji cash backs it was the right time to move.
 
twist said:
Yeah, bet the price increases helped your cause.
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Yes that helped to soften the blow also.
I've still got to shift my 24-70mm f2.8 & 85mm f1.4 G Master's but all the rest is gone. :D
The G Master lenses were epic when you pixel peep.
 
I still remember my Nikon D40 days, what a sensor... 6.1mp if memory serves me right.
 
twist said:
Sound reasoning. The FE system is decent but hideously expensive as you found out.
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But it doesn't have to be hideously expensive. I've spent bugger all on it for a long time.

The trick is to think about your requirements and keep the GAS in check. I'm sure every system can be hideously expensive if you're the kind who need to own every possible lens for the single digit times a year you might use it.
 
I get some time to myself on Thursday so I've got my car ready and I've got my camera ready :D What could go wrong?

Wide open or f2 with my A7 and the Minolta 50mm f1.2 again...









Outside...

 
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