35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

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Mobius
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35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by Mobius »

Hi all.
I'd like to get a decent 35mm prime lens for my A7 and was wondering what the options are without breaking the bank and going to down the expensive Zeiss road? Its for doing street photography and autofocus functionality isn't really an issue so I guess my options are fairly wide. Has anyone got any particular lens they'd recommend? One lens I was looking at was Sony's own 35mm A mount SAM lens. I've got a 50mm SAM lens for my A700 which is actually a really great quality fast lens despite its plastic construction. I use it with my A7 a lot even though there is a bit of soft vignetting, which I can usually deal with. Am I right in thinking the 35mm SAM would have even more vignetting on the A7 thus not really making it worth consideration? I'm looking for a lens below the £200 mark ideally.

Thanks
peterottaway
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by peterottaway »

Both the 35mm SAM and 50mm SAM lenses are DT lenses, that is they are intended for APS sized sensors. So they will vignette unless you would put them into APS mode.

I am not a great supporter of buying older lenses unseen not only because of potential damage over the years to front elements but with the yellowing effects of aging glue in construction and dust / sand that nay have entered the lens. A bit of dust is unlikely to cause major optical problems by itself but a major intrusion may cause problems with focusing and or damage to internal optical surfaces.
Mobius
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by Mobius »

peterottaway wrote:
I am not a great supporter of buying older lenses unseen not only because of potential damage over the years to front elements but with the yellowing effects of aging glue in construction and dust / sand that nay have entered the lens. A bit of dust is unlikely to cause major optical problems by itself but a major intrusion may cause problems with focusing and or damage to internal optical surfaces.
Yeah thats why I was asking if anyone has any experience with a particular make of 35mm prime that they would recommend. I've got two older Sigma Minolta A mount lenses that I've had since the late 80's that I used to use with my old Minolta 9000 and both have fungus and both give a noticeably soft image as a result. Its always a bit of a lottery buying older legacy lenses second hand and since prices have risen noticeably in recent years (on eBay anyway) for second hand lenses its even more of a gamble than it used to be.
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pakodominguez
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by pakodominguez »

Mobius wrote:Hi all.
I'd like to get a decent 35mm prime lens for my A7 and was wondering what the options are without breaking the bank and going to down the expensive Zeiss road? Its for doing street photography and autofocus functionality isn't really an issue so I guess my options are fairly wide. Has anyone got any particular lens they'd recommend?
With 200 pounds you can buy 4 or 5 35 mm f2.8 legacy lenses over eBay, try them and then sell the one(s) that you don't like.

I have Minolta MD 35f28 and it works OK on the A7R. But I'm not using manual focus that much (I did set the C1 button for magnification, plus the peaking function made manual focus quite fast). I just got the Minolta Maxxum 35 f2.0 for less than 600$ and I'm still not sure if I really like it or not. I can get the Sony 35 f1.4 for not that expensive, but it is a big lens, and bigger if you add the LAEA4 adapter...

If you want a new lens and avoid the incertitude of previous owners, Nikon have a quite good and not expensive 35mm f2.0, that still have the aperture ring on it, so a plain adapter is all that you need. is on the 350$ here in NYC, probably prices in the UK might be different.
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classiccameras
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by classiccameras »

I have a whole bunch of Minolta Rokkor MD lenses, including a rare 50mm F/1.2, can any one recommend the best adaptor to fit on the A57
Thanks
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bakubo
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:I have a whole bunch of Minolta Rokkor MD lenses, including a rare 50mm F/1.2, can any one recommend the best adaptor to fit on the A57
Someone can step in here and correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the adapters to mount them on A-mount have a glass element in them to allow for infinity focus and the quality is low. Mounting them on a mirrorless camera would be no problem though. Just get yourself an A7 or if you don't mind the 1.5x crop factor then get an NEX 6, NEX 7, A6000 or a 2x crop factor for Panasonic/Olympus m4/3 bodies.
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pakodominguez
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by pakodominguez »

bakubo wrote:
classiccameras wrote:I have a whole bunch of Minolta Rokkor MD lenses, including a rare 50mm F/1.2, can any one recommend the best adaptor to fit on the A57
Someone can step in here and correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the adapters to mount them on A-mount have a glass element in them to allow for infinity focus and the quality is low. Mounting them on a mirrorless camera would be no problem though. Just get yourself an A7 or if you don't mind the 1.5x crop factor then get an NEX 6, NEX 7, A6000 or a 2x crop factor for Panasonic/Olympus m4/3 bodies.
You are right, Babuko. Probably there are some new generation adapters that works a little better than the original ones.
If you want to use your legacy lenses on digital, get a NEX5 from eBay, I believe they are really cheap now and still quite good.
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bakubo
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by bakubo »

I agree with Pako. A NEX 5 can be had for about $150 in the U.S. I am not up to speed on the NEX 5 so I don't know if it has focus peaking or a magnified view for manual focus. Does it? Of course, the NEX 5 does not have a builtin EVF, but if you want an eyelevel VF (I would) you could get one of those focusing hood contraptions that block out the light and have a magnifier. It has the excellent Sony 16mp sensor. AF is not an issue since you would be using your old MF lenses.

You have your DSLR and lenses for general purpose stuff, but I understand the attraction of using your old MF lenses too. The feel of those old lenses is just so much nicer, in general, with their very smooth focusing rings, click-stop aperture rings, and nice metal construction. Also, they are smaller than most AF lenses. It would be nice for you to be able to use them again.

If I wanted to use the old Minolta MF lenses without spending a lot of money I would get the NEX 5 + hood. I think I recall that you shoot jpegs and don't do PP. You could set the NEX 5 to B&W jpeg mode, adjust contrast and sharpening to taste, and use it for just shooting B&W. Set ISO 400 like Tri-X and most of the time you would be fine with no IS. Didn't have IS a few years ago. :) ISO 400 would mean that in most situations your shutter speed would be high enough or use a tripod for static stuff. Set to aperture priority mode, adjust the aperture to taste, and let the camera choose the shutter speed. Use exposure compensation for adjustments. You even have a histogram which is better than using the old meters. Sounds like fun and wouldn't cost much at all.
classiccameras
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by classiccameras »

Thanks every one for the adaptor advice, yeah, I mainly shoot Jpeg but still tweak them in PP and I occasionally shoot RAW when I have the time to PP.
I really didn't want to get another body, but that might change later.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

The 35mm f1.8 DT does seem to cover full frame, despite the DT tag. Though I've not shot any film on it to see how the edges hold up, but it's not showing the usual APS-C zoom black area image on a FF body which the 17-50 and 18-135mm clearly show. Not that I'd suggest it for FF users, but it might work and it's cheap.
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bakubo
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:Thanks every one for the adaptor advice, yeah, I mainly shoot Jpeg but still tweak them in PP and I occasionally shoot RAW when I have the time to PP.
I really didn't want to get another body, but that might change later.
I don't know how much a NEX 5 (or even cheaper NEX 3) costs where you are, but $150 seems pretty cheap for what you get and would be cool for all those Minolta lenses you have. I suppose they are just sitting unused, right? I recall soon after those first NEX cameras came out some people were using things such as this to add a viewfinder:

http://www.amazon.com/viewfinder-magnif ... B007ELI0TQ

I don't know if this is the same brand, but it is cheap and would probably be okay to look at the rear LCD.

If I shoot in jpeg mode then I used best jpeg quality and set contrast and sharpness to the minimum. I also reduce the saturation a notch. The resulting file looks bad since it is flat, soft, and with muted colors. The point is to have a jpeg that is in the best shape for PP. Not as good as raw, of course, but better than using default settings. You can add contrast, sharpness, etc. in PP.
classiccameras
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by classiccameras »

Thanks Bak, thats more or less what I do with the settings.

Having used Jpegs most of the time with my A-37/57 cameras and never on default, [mostly on portrait] I have been quite pleased with the IQ at ISO 100 and 200 especially after some PP. However, being very honest, my Canon 550D Jpegs are superior in nearly every way especially at higher ISO. The only advantage I can see for my kind of work with the Sony is the dynamic range which is class leading and the DRO facility which does work quite well.

I really cannot understand why Sony have not addressed the Jpeg issues on later cameras, they continually get critisised for this in most reviews but choose to ignore it, strange. I don't like the NEX cameras, I prefer the DSLR style bodies.
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by Mark K »

Mobius wrote:Hi all.
I'd like to get a decent 35mm prime lens for my A7 and was wondering what the options are without breaking the bank and going to down the expensive Zeiss road? Its for doing street photography and autofocus functionality isn't really an issue so I guess my options are fairly wide. Has anyone got any particular lens they'd recommend? One lens I was looking at was Sony's own 35mm A mount SAM lens. I've got a 50mm SAM lens for my A700 which is actually a really great quality fast lens despite its plastic construction. I use it with my A7 a lot even though there is a bit of soft vignetting, which I can usually deal with. Am I right in thinking the 35mm SAM would have even more vignetting on the A7 thus not really making it worth consideration? I'm looking for a lens below the £200 mark ideally.

Thanks
I have the DT version of 35 f1.8 SAM, great lens for the money and works fine on my A77.
However, it should not be used on an A7...which is full frame
The 35f2.8 FE is great on A7, compact and incredibly sharp
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Sinan
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by Sinan »

I'm not a big fan of manual lenses but considering you don't mind it, may I suggest Carl Zeiss Jena 35mm 2.4 lens which is M42 mount.

You can find it in your budget limits as its a pretty old lens but its still very sharp especially in the center (if you don't mind alittle vignetting in the corners in wide open). Of course you'll also need a M42 adaptor to use it in your mount but is a very nice lens.

Actually I also like (and own) A mount Sony 35 1.8 lens but its a DT lens (ie for APS-C sensors) so I can't suggest it for a FF camera.
Sony A55 Tamron 18-200 | Minolta 50 1.4 | Tamron 17-50 | Sony 35 1.8 | Tamron 90 | Sony 55-300 | Tamron 60 | Sony 16-50 | Sony 16-105 | Samyang 85 1.4 | Sigma 10-20 | Sigma 50 2.8 | Sony RX100 II 1.8 | Photo Against Photo
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the_hefay
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Re: 35mm Prime lens options for the A7.

Unread post by the_hefay »

I wish I had read this thread before purchasing an MD lens on ebay. I didn't realize the adapters for a-mount were low quality. Fortunately I did not spend too much on the lens.
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