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

woof woof said:
I've read reports that criticise the Batis 85mm bokeh whilst others say that the look is in line with other Zeiss lenses. That look may not be to everyones taste but it'll certainly be something that some will look for and want.
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I think they're talking about the cats eye bokeh. I'm a little undecided, otherwise I really like they way it renders. Looks a nice lens.
 
addicknchips said:
Have a Sony zeiss 55mm 1.8 for my a7. Don't give a monkeys a*se what it is or who made it. Just know it's a damn fine piece of glass. Probably the best lens I've ever used.
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Completely agree, and the Sony/Zeiss 135mm 1.8 is just on another planet.
 
Jumped ship once already thinking of doing it again.

Hopefully this doesn't push this thread beyond limits, but as a new A7RII owner I'm revisiting everything I do.
Firstly, may I point out that my living has never relied on photography, though I have sold my work.
That said I previously posted my reasons for jumping ship from Canon to land on the Sony Alpha planet.
Now I would appreciate this forum's advice on another jump,

I'm looking at going from LR6 (also have CS6) to Capture One Pro (not just the Sony version as I have an entire catalog of my Canon work).

Just to back up a bit, if you will indulge me. In the few days I have been 'learning' to use my new Sony A7RII, I have been very pleased / delighted with what I am getting, but realise I have a lot to learn in this transition, despite the fact that the Sony Software is flaky to say the least and have decided it's not fit for purpose at least the way it works (or rather hangs about) on my Win 7 64 bit machine..

I have no investment in PS plugins / actions / or detailed skills other than I've needed Layers to do stuff I couldn't do elsewhere. As for LR, fairly straightforward works out the box and have a nice catalog of my work and can pop into PS do do stuff it won't do.

What is prompting me to consider this additional jump is that Adobe seems determined to get us to subscribe to their Cloud model and want ongoing payment for them to deliver this functionality into the future (who is to say that Phase One won't embark on the same model?) That said, when Adobe provided their ultimatum that ACR conversion in their non-cloud software is fixed / ended / finito with their recent 9.1.1. release that was like a red rag to my bull.

Don't get me wrong, I use MS OneDrive, / Dropbox and Google to stick stuff in the cloud, but it is this subscription model Adobe is imposing - I therefore don't wish to continue paying them in future and want to make a new bed for myself. If all you want to tell me is 'get real / get with it and can supply an Excel spreadsheet that explains that this new model is cheaper!' please don't reply. This is basically a rant about choice. You are given effectively an 'End Of Life' ultimatum and are supposed to acquiesce.
Not for me thanks.
Anyone have any ideas given that already Capture One is (to me) quite an investment to learn and maybe has some fundamental gotchas which it can't handle compared to where I am?

Thanks
Jamie
 
i think the main draw backs are what its currently lacking vs version 6 is the panarama and hdr merge, but maybe you can do that in lr, and import the .dng into capture one ?
if your not doing new canon stuff, then maybe just get the sony co version, itll still do tiff/jpg of other makes last time i looked :)
 
shoshone said:
Jumped ship once already thinking of doing it again.

Hopefully this doesn't push this thread beyond limits, but as a new A7RII owner I'm revisiting everything I do.
Firstly, may I point out that my living has never relied on photography, though I have sold my work.
That said I previously posted my reasons for jumping ship from Canon to land on the Sony Alpha planet.
Now I would appreciate this forum's advice on another jump,

I'm looking at going from LR6 (also have CS6) to Capture One Pro (not just the Sony version as I have an entire catalog of my Canon work).

Just to back up a bit, if you will indulge me. In the few days I have been 'learning' to use my new Sony A7RII, I have been very pleased / delighted with what I am getting, but realise I have a lot to learn in this transition, despite the fact that the Sony Software is flaky to say the least and have decided it's not fit for purpose at least the way it works (or rather hangs about) on my Win 7 64 bit machine..

I have no investment in PS plugins / actions / or detailed skills other than I've needed Layers to do stuff I couldn't do elsewhere. As for LR, fairly straightforward works out the box and have a nice catalog of my work and can pop into PS do do stuff it won't do.

What is prompting me to consider this additional jump is that Adobe seems determined to get us to subscribe to their Cloud model and want ongoing payment for them to deliver this functionality into the future (who is to say that Phase One won't embark on the same model?) That said, when Adobe provided their ultimatum that ACR conversion in their non-cloud software is fixed / ended / finito with their recent 9.1.1. release that was like a red rag to my bull.

Don't get me wrong, I use MS OneDrive, / Dropbox and Google to stick stuff in the cloud, but it is this subscription model Adobe is imposing - I therefore don't wish to continue paying them in future and want to make a new bed for myself. If all you want to tell me is 'get real / get with it and can supply an Excel spreadsheet that explains that this new model is cheaper!' please don't reply. This is basically a rant about choice. You are given effectively an 'End Of Life' ultimatum and are supposed to acquiesce.
Not for me thanks.
Anyone have any ideas given that already Capture One is (to me) quite an investment to learn and maybe has some fundamental gotchas which it can't handle compared to where I am?

Thanks
Jamie
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Could you please give us a mini review on the a7r2?
 
Hi

I am in a similar situation i had Adobe CC and cancelled 2 reasons subscription and i was one of those who after apple Yosemite was launched looked at the Adobe website it said all was good for upgrade and after i installed Yosemite my map module would not work

I downloaded Capture one trial and i agree with you its a substantial time investment finding the way it works and i found little that seemed the same and i stuck with LR 5 when i bought the A7mk2 i needed a different DNG converter it was use the standalone or try LR6 (i have 12 days left on the trial) in my case i am not unhappy with the DNG process.

I am considering
Download the DNG tool
Elements
Perpetual upgrade LR6
Shoot in jpeg (not keen)
CC subscription

The CC subscrption has for me has several problems the 30 day Adobe phone home licence verification as i am switching for a mobile 3 or 4G internet, i have little use for CS6 and like you i do not want subscription software

The perpetual issue is you do not get updates other than new camera or lens profiles while this is not huge the HDR, Pano and face recognition will need more work though i could leave the 3 features alone it does cost if you want upto date Autopano or Photomatix

It will be fun seeing what other members come up with
 
You can get a 30 day free trial of capture one pro on the Phase One website btw, give it a try :)

FWIW I prefer it to LR for RAW conversion. Editing/developing they both do the job
 
shoshone said:
I'm looking at going from LR6 (also have CS6) to Capture One Pro (not just the Sony version as I have an entire catalog of my Canon work).
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Well first off, for anything that you had to use Photoshop for instead of Lightroom, Capture One won't do the job either. So, if you need PS when using LR, you'll still need it when using C1.

I tried C1 a while ago when I found out about the Sony version. Their image processing engine just seems superior to Adobe's.Colours, sharpness, noise - all just look better. Skin tones especially are easier to get right. Just using it, I get the feeling it's capable of a lot more than LR.

The problem is, it's just so different from Lightroom which I now have years of experience and familiarity with. The interface is far more flexible, but in return feels far more cluttered and disorganised. I'm sure there's a bunch of handy keyboard shortcuts that would help, but even if I knew them, they're not muscle memory like the Lightroom ones. The layer system seems powerful, but having to have an entire layer per clone/heal is incredibly clumsy and bloated. The flexibility of colour channel manipulation seems far more powerful than in LR, but the degree of adjustment possible seems far far lower. Have a local adjustment selected in LR and hit delete - it deletes the adjustment. Have a local adjustment selected in C1 and hit delete - it deletes your photo. Split toning only works in B&W. Dozens of other quirks and annoyances.

As you said - it would be an enormous time investment to learn it properly, and maybe then most of the annoyances would go away - or maybe they wouldn't. Maybe I'll give dxo optics a try sometime.
 
@tfindley Hi, could you confirm wether manually choosing a single point using CAF works with Canon lenses? The videos Ive seen show it only working in full auto where the camera selects all the points. Thanks
 
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jonneymendoza said:
Could you please give us a mini review on the a7r2?
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I'm still learning about the camera features and can't offer a review mini or otherwise. What I will say is that I was shocked when shooting in a church yesterday with the FE 55 1.8, a pew end which was very very dark wood completely out of the sun's ray snapped into focus instantly each time. I didn't take the picture though as I didn't expect to be asked. So all I can do is share some raws (but there are a host of other peeps who have done this) none of these images were pushing the envelope nor addressing issues you want addressed such as low light or video et al.

I have uploaded 3 images to dropbox all out of the camera. One is with the FE 28mm f2 and two with the 55mm f1.8.

Note: when you zoom into the cockerel on top of the tower, it really does look like that it's not artifacts - it's all mottled copper and had been painted a long time ago.

I hope this link works for you...
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ngkozg0r4x7xx3q/AAD9uwkez6ocHcBjuJVOg0vGa?dl=0
 
20017775540_055e6661ed_k.jpg

Comparing the Canon 500D with Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens, Canon 50mm 1.8 lens and the A7ii with ZA 55mm lens.

First impressions:

It's heavy, in fact it feels heavier than the Canon, and the metal body makes it feel quality. It's fast, sharp and the IQ is a huge step up over my last setup (as people have said, it was only a Sigma). The EVF is totally different, seeing what the photo will look like before you press the shutter is great.

The menu is going to take some getting used to, but I'm enjoying it already (I need to spend some time reading the manual). I took it out shopping on Saturday to Leeds, and I felt like a tourist with a P&S rather than trying too hard with a DSLR, I felt I could blend in. It's still early days, but overall I'm 100% happy with my move to Sony.

I'm keeping the Canon gear and giving it to my wife, she was using it anyway to take family photos, and there's no way I want her using the Sony ;)

19584830323_444f3ee64c_k.jpg


20180678336_2df1689b3b_k.jpg
 
Crossroads said:
Well first off, for anything that you had to use Photoshop for instead of Lightroom, Capture One won't do the job either. So, if you need PS when using LR, you'll still need it when using C1.

I tried C1 a while ago when I found out about the Sony version. Their image processing engine just seems superior to Adobe's.Colours, sharpness, noise - all just look better. Skin tones especially are easier to get right. Just using it, I get the feeling it's capable of a lot more than LR.

The problem is, it's just so different from Lightroom which I now have years of experience and familiarity with. The interface is far more flexible, but in return feels far more cluttered and disorganised. I'm sure there's a bunch of handy keyboard shortcuts that would help, but even if I knew them, they're not muscle memory like the Lightroom ones. The layer system seems powerful, but having to have an entire layer per clone/heal is incredibly clumsy and bloated. The flexibility of colour channel manipulation seems far more powerful than in LR, but the degree of adjustment possible seems far far lower. Have a local adjustment selected in LR and hit delete - it deletes the adjustment. Have a local adjustment selected in C1 and hit delete - it deletes your photo. Split toning only works in B&W. Dozens of other quirks and annoyances.

As you said - it would be an enormous time investment to learn it properly, and maybe then most of the annoyances would go away - or maybe they wouldn't. Maybe I'll give dxo optics a try sometime.
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Decided on balance to invest no more of my time on C1 particularly as I couldn't find the prevent duplicates option and now have triple the catalog files I started with. I also read some PhaseOne support responses about this issue and was not pleased with the 'defence' / attitude regarding duplicates being created. If PO are on a mission to pick up Aperture users and alienated Adobe users they aren't going about it in the right way IMO.

So I have CS6 and LR6 both with the 9.1.1 camera update and will consider these to be frozen in time from now on and keep working with them despite reports that C1 raw converter is superior to ACR
 
The rumour site reports that the A7sII may be on the way but may have a different body...

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-...-become-mroe-like-a-canon-cx10/#disqus_thread

I suppose this may please the video people but I can't see still shooters being over the moon with the change. I wonder what percentage of current A7s users are video shooters rather than still?

I wonder if sales would go up or down if this is the new body style?
 
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woof woof said:
The rumour site reports that the A7sII may be on the way but may have a different body...

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-...-become-mroe-like-a-canon-cx10/#disqus_thread

I suppose this may please the video people but I can't see still shooters being over the moon with the change. I wonder what percentage of current A7s users are video shooters rather than still?

I wonder if sales would go up or down if this is the new body style?
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Yuck, but a lot of sales are for video and video users dont need a compact setup so much, Id personally prefer it if they kept the A7ii form factor and offered a video grip thing like they did for Panasonics as an option or just kept the video side separate. I call BS on this one.
 
Crossroads said:
Just a reminder to everyone buying new kit at the moment that Sony's cashback is active for another month. I just picked up a new 28mm for an effective £240 which is well below even grey market prices.
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Where? Cheapest UK price I can find is £294 and cash back is only £40.
 
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twist said:
Yuck, but a lot of sales are for video and video users dont need a compact setup so much, Id personally prefer it if they kept the A7ii form factor and offered a video grip thing like they did for Panasonics as an option or just kept the video side separate. I call BS on this one.
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I'm sceptical but you never know... if there's been significant demand from the video crowd it could happen... but personally I hope that if that's the case they offer two bodies, one in the A7 form we're used to and the other a video friendly one for those who want it.

Crossroads said:
Just a reminder to everyone buying new kit at the moment that Sony's cashback is active for another month. I just picked up a new 28mm for an effective £240 which is well below even grey market prices.
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ukaskew said:
Where? Cheapest UK price I can find is £294 and cash back is only £40.
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That is a very good price.
 
Had a little accident with my beloved A7R today and it needs a bit of repair. Is there an independent Sony repair place in the UK that you have used and would recommend? All my Google searches turn up the same nationwide place with a zillion different domain names.
Thanks!

Joe
 
ukaskew said:
Thought this was interesting, would be nice to see a D750 in the mixer as well...

http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2015/08/sony-a7rii-compared-with-sony-a7r-and-canon-5dsr/
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Golly that A7rII looks very good.

I don't agree with "Choose the Sony for when you're too drunk to expose correctly!" (probably from a Canon fanboy) because as shown by the guys example there are occasions when it would be nice to protect the highlights and boost the shadows a lot and end up with a good quality picture.
 
ukaskew said:
Where? Cheapest UK price I can find is £294 and cash back is only £40.
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Amazon. Currenty at £292 Yesterday they had a £10 discount on orders over £50. Minus the additional cashback brings it down to £242. The rest is rounding. Either way, a great price that's well in "impulse purchase" range.
 
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ukaskew said:
Thought this was interesting, would be nice to see a D750 in the mixer as well...

http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2015/08/sony-a7rii-compared-with-sony-a7r-and-canon-5dsr/
Click to expand...

Looked at that link and read the comments and I'm now puzzled. The commentators and it seems the report authors seem to agree that the A7R2 Raw files have had pixels binned - the article is about push/pulling still images?
I thought pixel binning was only done in 4K video using the entire FF sensor.
Why I am getting 42MB raw still images if indeed pixels are being 'binned' ?
Thanks
 
shoshone said:
Looked at that link and read the comments and I'm now puzzled. The commentators and it seems the report authors seem to agree that the A7R2 Raw files have had pixels binned - the article is about push/pulling still images?
I thought pixel binning was only done in 4K video using the entire FF sensor.
Why I am getting 42MB raw still images if indeed pixels are being 'binned' ?
Thanks
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Hmm I conflated two different posts there sorry..
The post I found peeps complaining about lossy raws of stills is here..

http://www.sonyalphaforum.com/topic/1256-a7rii-first-impressions-thread-incl-raw-downloads/page-3
 
To be fair, Steve Huff drools over everything he reviews (by his own admission he only reviews stuff he likes) so I take his "WOW best camera ever" with a good pinch of salt since it seems a lot of it is aimed at getting orders through his site, which is fair enough since that is how he makes a living!

I'm still stuck deciding between keeping my E-M1 and adding a Leica Q or selling up and shifting to the A7RII. I love the Sony A7x on tech specs but I've never been able to get on with the ergonomics and haven't quite bonded with them but the A7RII does seem to tick an awful lot of boxes.
 
woof woof said:
Golly that A7rII looks very good.

I don't agree with "Choose the Sony for when you're too drunk to expose correctly!" (probably from a Canon fanboy) because as shown by the guys example there are occasions when it would be nice to protect the highlights and boost the shadows a lot and end up with a good quality picture.
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Lol, It does seem that way doesnt it! Noticed how certain Canon users always say their cameras have more than enough DR, they dont need anymore, oh its only 2 stops difference, I can expose properly etc etc etc :rolleyes:
 
ricky1981 said:
I'm still stuck deciding between keeping my E-M1 and adding a Leica Q or selling up and shifting to the A7RII. I love the Sony A7x on tech specs but I've never been able to get on with the ergonomics and haven't quite bonded with them but the A7RII does seem to tick an awful lot of boxes.
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The Leica Q does look nice and I don't know where else you can get a camera with AF and old school dials and MF with lens markings? Is the Q the only one? However, I'm not so sure that I could live with a 28mm fixed lens camera. If it was 35 or 50mm then maybe but 28 is maybe a bit too wide for me and I'd much rather have the option of swapping the lens so despite the lack of lens markings and aperture and shutter dials I'd much rather have an A7.

I understand that the Q is a Leica/Panasonic so if Panny brought out their own version at a much lower cost maybe I'd be a little more tempted but I wonder if a Panasonic version would ever be allowed and even if it was doubtless it would have a FBW no marking no feel lens.
 
woof woof said:
The Leica Q does look nice and I don't know where else you can get a camera with AF and old school dials and MF with lens markings? Is the Q the only one? However, I'm not so sure that I could live with a 28mm fixed lens camera. If it was 35 or 50mm then maybe but 28 is maybe a bit too wide for me and I'd much rather have the option of swapping the lens so despite the lack of lens markings and aperture and shutter dials I'd much rather have an A7.

I understand that the Q is a Leica/Panasonic so if Panny brought out their own version at a much lower cost maybe I'd be a little more tempted but I wonder if a Panasonic version would ever be allowed and even if it was doubtless it would have a FBW no marking no feel lens.
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As I understand it, Panasonic contributed quite a lot to the IOS and AF but unlike the previous D-Lux/LX models, it's predominantly a Leica with some Panasonic input rather than the other way around so I would be surprised to see a Panasonic equivalent.

The 28mm is fine for me as I would prefer to have a bit more width rather than a bit less. I am sure they will release a 50mm version if this one is well received and if you had deep enough pockets then it would make a damn fine combination. I'll "make do" with a Q and the E-M1 if I do decide to go that route over the A7RII.
 
ricky1981 said:
As I understand it, Panasonic contributed quite a lot to the IOS and AF but unlike the previous D-Lux/LX models, it's predominantly a Leica with some Panasonic input rather than the other way around so I would be surprised to see a Panasonic equivalent.

The 28mm is fine for me as I would prefer to have a bit more width rather than a bit less. I am sure they will release a 50mm version if this one is well received and if you had deep enough pockets then it would make a damn fine combination. I'll "make do" with a Q and the E-M1 if I do decide to go that route over the A7RII.
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We'll probably never know exactly how much is Panasonic but maybe the Panasonic battery is a clue. I would be surprised if it's (genuinely) made in Germany and much less so if it's shipped over from somewhere more eastern.

I read somewhere that Leica are considering 35 and 50mm versions when/if they can make the lenses compact enough so we may have to collect them all al la Merrill. And no, I don't expect to see a Panasonic version as I expect that if it is either a Panasonic with a Leica lens or indeed just a rebadged Panny Leica will have wrote into the agreement that there wont be a Panny version, but time will tell and stranger things have happened etc...
 
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manualfocus-g said:
How about a nice Fuji with 14/2.8, 16/1.4 or 23/1.4 which all have dof markings etc. ;)
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Well the Fuji isn't 35mm and AFAIK they're FBW? Not sure if the Q is FBW but from the lens markings I just assumed it wasn't.

I do have a 14mm for my MFT and I also have 3 manual focus 28's and 2 24's but I hardly use them. Back when I had film RF's and compact cameras I had 35 and 40mm lenses and on balance I think I'd be more interested in 35, 40 or 50 than 28 but I can see the appeal of the Q and I'm sure it'll sell very well. Personally although I see the appeal of the old time lens and I wish we could have AF lenses like that I'd still rather have my much cheaper A7+35 or 55mm.
 
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Bit off topic but as we've mentioned the Leica Q...

I just read on DPR that the EVF is a field sequential jobbie. That's potentially bad news for me if I was interested as I can't really get on with the one on my GX7. Some people report a rainbow effect and although that's not how I'd describe it I'm pretty sure I see something... which I'd describe as a sort of general fuzziness. For me the EVF on my GX7 is camera ruining and I just don't like the camera and I much prefer my old G1.

If the Q's EVF is anything like the EVF on the GX7 I can imagine a lot of disappointed people but maybe they'll keep quiet as after all, it's a Leica.
 
woof woof said:
Bit off topic but as we've mentioned the Leica Q...

I just read on DPR that the EVF is a field sequential jobbie. That's potentially bad news for me if I was interested as I can't really get on with the one on my GX7. Some people report a rainbow effect and although that's not how I'd describe it I'm pretty sure I see something... which I'd describe as a sort of general fuzziness. For me the EVF on my GX7 is camera ruining and I just don't like the camera and I much prefer my old G1.

If the Q's EVF is anything like the EVF on the GX7 I can imagine a lot of disappointed people but maybe they'll keep quiet as after all, it's a Leica.
Click to expand...

Isnt that RGB tearing, when you move the view quickly, the older EVFs used to do it because they never refreshed quick enough afaik.
 
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