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

christurbo said:
Has anyone in here moved from Nikon D8xx/D7xx/D6xx FF systems to the A7II? What have been your experiences?

I recently bought the Nikon D750 with Holy Trinity 24/70 2.8 and find it an amazing system but I struggle with the size to take it anywhere (like I did with the A6000).

Thanks.
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Get smaller lenses. A FF is going to have FF sized lenses, they are big and that includes the A7 lenses. If you want a smaller system look at M43.
 
christurbo said:
Has anyone in here moved from Nikon D8xx/D7xx/D6xx FF systems to the A7II? What have been your experiences?

I recently bought the Nikon D750 with Holy Trinity 24/70 2.8 and find it an amazing system but I struggle with the size to take it anywhere (like I did with the A6000).
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I originally got an A7 to go alongside my D800 (not quite the holy trinity, just the 24-70, 70-200 and a bunch of primes) as both a second body and a more day-to-day option
Within a few weeks though I'd put most of my Nikon gear on ebay because for the way I shoot I just straight up preferred the Sony system. I don't miss the 24-70mm at all, miss the 70-200mm a bit until I think about lugging it around, and am only missing the 85mm until the damn Batis comes into stock. I didn't miss Nikon's rubbish 50mm at all. I do miss CLS at times - Nikon has by far the best flash system I've used IMO. I don't often miss the AF speed - I'll take accuracy over speed any day (YMMV).

It really does depend what and how you shoot though, mirrorless and DSLRs have different strengths and weaknesses and one person's best thing ever is another person's pile of useless junk.
 
Crossroads said:
I originally got an A7 to go alongside my D800 (not quite the holy trinity, just the 24-70, 70-200 and a bunch of primes) as both a second body and a more day-to-day option
Within a few weeks though I'd put most of my Nikon gear on ebay because for the way I shoot I just straight up preferred the Sony system. I don't miss the 24-70mm at all, miss the 70-200mm a bit until I think about lugging it around, and am only missing the 85mm until the damn Batis comes into stock. I didn't miss Nikon's rubbish 50mm at all. I do miss CLS at times - Nikon has by far the best flash system I've used IMO. I don't often miss the AF speed - I'll take accuracy over speed any day (YMMV).

It really does depend what and how you shoot though, mirrorless and DSLRs have different strengths and weaknesses and one person's best thing ever is another person's pile of useless junk.
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That was a big step! I sold my A6000 and lenses a while back but just couldn't decide on a system until I recently pulled the trigger on Nikon and its little gem the D750.
 
Does anyone know if the a7sii will be able to focus canon lenses, if so, that will be my next purchase instead of the a7rii, I need the low light af ability more than I need resolution, hell last week I shot a campaign that had 6 different images used on billboards and I shot it with the a7ii and the canon 5d3, so 24mp is more than enough for any application I would ever need
 
christurbo said:
Has anyone in here moved from Nikon D8xx/D7xx/D6xx FF systems to the A7II? What have been your experiences?

I recently bought the Nikon D750 with Holy Trinity 24/70 2.8 and find it an amazing system but I struggle with the size to take it anywhere (like I did with the A6000).

Thanks.
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I had the d810 as my main camera body. Also had loads of fast, but large glass. Absolutely loved what the d810 can do. Probably the best camera I've ever used. The one issue for me was the weight. Couldn't just check the d810 in my work bag or stick it in my wife's handbag when we were going out. So I was just using it for specifically planned photography stuff. I bought a d5500 - which is such an under rated little camera. I then got a Sony a7 and the zeiss 55mm as I was curious about the system. What a combination! I was taking it everywhere, to work, to friends, holidays and just out and about. As a result the d810 stayed on the shelf. I had to sell it as it just wasn't getting used and is too expensive to not be used.
The Sony went on holiday with me and I was blown away by it. Having said that I still had all this glass for nikon that couldn't be replaced by Sony fe glass. I had a decision to make as to how I wanted to continue my photography. Could I run two different systems?
I sold all my nikon and sold the a7 - purchasing a a7rii and a6000 and a7ii. Glass wise I got the 70-200 f4, 35mm f2.8 and 16-35 f4.
I won't knock nikon because I love their gear. I won't say changing systems has made me a better photographer..., but now I shoot all the time and get paid to do so most weekends.
Sometimes I miss the Nikon gear and it's scary how much money it cost to switch. But the change of system has worked for me. Would I have changed if I was a pro sport photographer? No of course not.

If you want tiny- stick the 35mm f2.8 on a Sony. However I did get asked on one shoot if I was using a compact.
 
I do wish that the 35mm f2.8 was f1.8 though, and of course the same size and weight :D
 
Oh yes, the same price too :D

Mine seems to have replaced the 55mm f1.8 however one drawback is people shots as I'm not too comfortable with having to shoot people from a closer distance and they seem to think that every imperfection will be captured in close up for everyone to see. Explaining that it's a wide angle lens and they wont be in close up seems to help but even so 35mm is a bit short for me and mine when shooting people.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Already is such a lens. It's called the sigma art 35mm my dear
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And there's Sony's own big flash and rather good 35mm f1.4 jobbie.

To be honest I do much prefer a more compact camera and lens package and I'd rather have a 35mm f1.8 which was merely good enough if that meant it could be compact rather than a top of the line lens which is bigger.
 
woof woof said:
And there's Sony's own big flash and rather good 35mm f1.4 jobbie.

To be honest I do much prefer a more compact camera and lens package and I'd rather have a 35mm f1.8 which was merely good enough if that meant it could be compact rather than a top of the line lens which is bigger.
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For its size and weight and the 35mm 2.8 is incredible for full frame lens.
Does ok on the a6000 too.
 
Yes, on the A7 it's excellent but I don't know or care how much of this is optical excellence or a product of the lens and in camera corrections, it doesn't matter.

If the lens could be the same size and weight and f1.8 it may not be as good but might be good enough for me but I can't see anyone making such a lens as the trend seems to be towards very good lenses rather than ones which are less good but maybe good enough for me.
 
woof woof said:
And there's Sony's own big flash and rather good 35mm f1.4 jobbie.

To be honest I do much prefer a more compact camera and lens package and I'd rather have a 35mm f1.8 which was merely good enough if that meant it could be compact rather than a top of the line lens which is bigger.
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Well it's not possible can't defeat physics
 
jonneymendoza said:
Well it's not possible can't defeat physics
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Well, I think we could have a quite compact 35mm f1.8... certainly more compact than the good 35mm lenses that are available at the moment but it just wouldn't be as good and I really can't see Sony or anyone else making a mediocre lens for the A7x system anytime soon.
 
Yup but I don't see it happening for some time. Sony seem to be aiming high and I suppose they don't have the resourses or the intention to do very high and and humble but worthy at the same time.
 
woof woof said:
Yup but I don't see it happening for some time. Sony seem to be aiming high and I suppose they don't have the resourses or the intention to do very high and and humble but worthy at the same time.
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If they spent less on churning out bodies every 6 months across all formats I'm sure they could. The Nikon g lenses have very high quality, e.g. the 85 is the best 85 on dxo, that's a 300 quid lens. Batis situation is a little strange.
 
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woof woof said:
Yup but I don't see it happening for some time. Sony seem to be aiming high and I suppose they don't have the resourses or the intention to do very high and and humble but worthy at the same time.
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Sony are probably the biggest consumer electronics company in the world if they were bothered about making good quality cheaper lenses you can sure as hell bet they would find people to do it, as you say they aren't interested in anything but high end at present but eventually they'll need to cater for others.
 
That'd be nice.

At the mo even if Sigma or Tamron bring out a lens for the system they'll probably be aiming high.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Sony are probably the biggest consumer electronics company in the world if they were bothered about making good quality cheaper lenses you can sure as hell bet they would find people to do it, as you say they aren't interested in anything but high end at present but eventually they'll need to cater for others.
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The thing is... The a7 is entry level, its affordable so it needs good affordable lenses. Its not just the big budget a7rii folks that want lenses.
 
There's high end and then there's insanity pricing

Sigma's high end 50 art is reasonably priced, canon's high end 50 1.2 is reasonably priced, zeiss' 55 1.8 is insanity priced, as is their batis range. It seems that the bodies are fairly reasonable but unless you use manual focus lenses you spend a fortune on glass, and optically they're not exciting either, an 85 1.8 for £1000, 5x the price of a canon 85 1.8? Sure it's sharper in the corners, but who cares
 
Why is the 55mm f1.8 insanity priced? IMO it's reasonably priced for one of the best 50mm-ish lenses you can get and actually it's not just one of the best 50mm lenses you can get it's one of the best lenses you can get and it's ranked at No.3 in the list of best lenses ever tested by DXO. On Wex it's £651, the Sigma Art is £669 and at ranked at 30 at DXO. That's 27 places below the Sony. That doesn't tell me that the Sony lens is insanely priced unless you mean it's insanely priced for a f1.8 as they're often bargain basement lenses? It's hardly fair to compare the Sony 55mm f1.8 which is one of the best AF lenses you can buy to a bargain basement £80 special.

Have to disagree with you about the Canon 85mm f1.8 as IMO that is a bargain basement lens and not a lens I even considered when I had Canon DSLR's. I went for the Sigma f1.4 which was possibly the best AF lens I'd ever used until I bought the FE 55mm. I can see your point about the Batis 85mm but again they're aiming very high and I think they'll sell them as fast as they can make them and if that's the case maybe the price is reasonable? Personally, I don't think I'd need a better 85mm than the Sigma f1.4 but that's just me.

Also have to disagree about the lenses not being optically exciting although what makes a lens exciting is a personal thing... certainly the primes at least seem to be getting very good reviews.

I don't have a problem with Sony aiming high and I understand it as it's a new system and lets be honest they'd be laughed at all over the internet if they brought out a 50mm f1.8 for £80. I can understand them aiming high but I do hope that at some point there will be some lenses which offer reasonable image quality rather than aiming to be amongst the best lenses ever tested by DXO for those of us who don't need the best AF lenses on sale and will trade a few rankings in the league table for a more compact and lighter lens.

It's not even about the money, not for me anyway, I'd consider buying a 35mm f1.8 of the bulk and weight of the f2.8 even if it wasn't as good and cost more. But that's just me :D For me sometimes specification is more important than finite optical performance.
 
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Why would Sony be laughed at "all over the internet" for releasing an £80 50mm f1.8? That seems to be exactly what people are asking for..... you have some really strange ideas regarding this system and frankly come across as some sort of Sony apologist half the time.

The reality is that for most people the lack of affordable and quality lenses is a huge huge issue that Sony have, £1000 Zeiss or manual focus lenses are not what the vast majority of users are wanting and it seems that users just bang on about how good the 55mm is.... it's £500 more than the outstanding Nikon 50mm f1.8G and one bloody lens doesn't make a system.
 
I'd say the 55 is worth every penny. Love the way it renders and bokeh has a certain something about it.
I haven't used the Batis - but at £800 -£900 yes it's pricey. But it does have oss. I imagine if Nikon released a vr version of the 85 the price would increase somewhat.
As for the 85 canon - yes that's fine if you like purple fringing.
SOMETIMES you get what you pay for.
And sometimes it's wise to invest in quality glass and not do all your beans on the bodies.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Why would Sony be laughed at "all over the internet" for releasing an £80 50mm f1.8? That seems to be exactly what people are asking for..... you have some really strange ideas regarding this system and frankly come across as some sort of Sony apologist half the time.

The reality is that for most people the lack of affordable and quality lenses is a huge huge issue that Sony have, £1000 Zeiss or manual focus lenses are not what the vast majority of users are wanting and it seems that users just bang on about how good the 55mm is.... it's £500 more than the outstanding Nikon 50mm f1.8G and one bloody lens doesn't make a system.
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Oh dear. Sorry to read this from you. Maybe I've read this post or your past ones wrong but this does seem a little out of character. Still, your choice to post as you wish and as you have I'll try to answer with courtesy.

I'm no Sony apologist. I'm not a fan boy of any system as should be evident by the different kit I've owned and the views and criticisms I've posted in different threads. As I've said before I have a love hate relationship with kit and I can be very critical (I have a technical background) but I try to look at the whole picture rather than obsess too much on one or two things unless they're really significant game changers for me.

The fan boy apologist thing does irritate me as that's not me at all. I don't expect you to know my buying or posting history but I don't see any evidence of fanboyism or apology in either. I try to be balanced and look at the bigger picture rather than be angry, reactionary or a serial nit picker and if that comes across as fanboyism or me being an apologist all I can say is that your comprehension of me and my posts is off.

In your defence, I do post in response to what I see as overly negative or indeed overly positive posts and I've done this in pretty much every thread I've participated in from kit threads to those on wars in Iraq and the like. I can see how this could be seen as fanboyism or apology but only if you miss when I'm more critical. Maybe I've been more positive in this thread than in others due to the system being good for me and maybe the best I've had so far, because things that other people find to criticise don't affect me (24-70mm a bit dubious? I don't really care... I'm mostly a prime guy) and in response to the negativity we've had what seems like every few pages but to me I'm adding a bit more balance rather than being an apologetic fanboy. If I can look like a fanboy in isolated posts I don't believe I could be seen as one if my posts are read over a longer period.

I'd rather be me and post as I do, honestly and trying to be balanced, than be a serial whinger and I do think that on this site and in this thread we sometimes see repeated negativity with little balance but as I've now found the ignore button I'm happy to ignore a posters when I tire of what I see as constant whinging with little balance and I'd be happy to ignore a total fan boy apologist too. I'll be honest and say that although I'm a people guy I'm not going to waste my time if IMO they're a serial fool, my life is too short and IMO the extreme on both sides aren't worth my time if they don't/wont change.

I tend to be a glass half full guy and repeated negativity does irk me sometimes because I wonder why people who seem to have little if any positivity or balance bother and why they just don't move on to something more suitable for them.

Anyway, I felt the need to answer the more personal side of your post and as I've done that I'll move on to my own view of the kit...

I don't think my ideas are strange at all and in fact they're remained pretty consistent and as much as for myself as for you I'll set them out again just to see if they seem strange...

What I want from the system...

-A quality system in a relatively compact package.
-Quality lenses and as per above, relatively compact.
-A range of top end lenses but also a range of f1.8 lenses which are compact and reasonably priced in the context of the system (and to me something between £500 to 600 is reasonable priced. I see this system as a Jag not a Ford.) even if the f1.8 options come at the expense of a bit of top end quality. It'd be nice to have the choice between top end quality and just good but more compact if the excellent stuff is too big or way too expensive.

The 28mm is near enough even if it's f2 and not f1.8, I wouldn't quibble over f0.2, and the 55mm is there too so that leaves the following for me... 35mm, 85mm and 135mm and maybe a 24mm at some point and possibly a more compact macro than the rather large 90mm.

With the 28 which I don't own but may buy at some point and the 35mm f2.8 and 55mm all available, all good and all reasonably priced I don't see the system as a one lens system at all. I'm happy with the pricing of all of these and can't really quibble about the bulk either. I have been whinging about the 35mm not being f1.8 and I do wish that I could have a compact 35mm f1.8 even if it's not quite as optically good (I did say that sometimes spec is more important to me than finite performance and I think that this is a very reasonable view to have) but I can just about live with the f2.8 even if I sometimes complain about it not being f1.8.

Nupe. Nothing to strange there IMO and nothing fanboy apologist either.
 
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domart said:
There's high end and then there's insanity pricing

Sigma's high end 50 art is reasonably priced, canon's high end 50 1.2 is reasonably priced, zeiss' 55 1.8 is insanity priced, as is their batis range. It seems that the bodies are fairly reasonable but unless you use manual focus lenses you spend a fortune on glass, and optically they're not exciting either, an 85 1.8 for £1000, 5x the price of a canon 85 1.8? Sure it's sharper in the corners, but who cares
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Then get a Canon 1.8 then! Look I use my sigma art 35mm no problem. Focuses as fast as native glass. Come on bruv
 
jonneymendoza said:
Jesus
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Well, questions were raised about me and my views so I answered.

If anyone else feels the need I'll answer with the same courtesy. I'm all for asking civil questions and answering civilly rather than resorting to personal attacks and insults or just writing someone off as a twit not worth my time.
 
Bruv I stopped reading after the first 2 sentancestand got bored to only find out I have not even read a quarter of your post..

Did it really need an essay type response? Hehe
 
jonneymendoza said:
Bruv I stopped reading after the first 2 sentancestand got bored to only find out I have not even read a quarter of your post..

Did it really need an essay type response? Hehe
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Well if you get bored after 2 sentences I can understand you skipping the rest as my post was clearly aimed at one person and one post they made.

I do tend to be a people guy and rightly or not I felt the need to respond to criticisms aimed at me by someone I think of as a reasonable guy. If the same post had been from one or two others I wouldn't have given a flying and wouldn't have wasted my time replying.

OK? Can we move on now?
 
Alan, If you want smaller and lighter primes, why don't you consider buying a D750 and some of the smaller but excellent performing primes. I have the 35mm f2 and 50mm 1.8g and to be honest they are tiny on the body along with the AF it makes life so much easier.

With the excellent grip, I feel this set up is so much better that the XT1 I had previously and the A7 I trialled before purchasing.
 
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