System thoughts

[artington]

I hesitate slightly in posting this link since this is, after all, a Sony alpha forum. However, as a user of both Sony and Canon systems, it is useful in helping me consider which way I shall move in future and may be of interest to ther users of this forum.

http://photo.net/equipment/canon/5D-MkI ... ns-review/

Let me say at the outset that, as a long time Minolta user, my photography has been grounded in what is now the Sony system. However, i have found it weak in lens offerings and bought a Canon 5D II for use with their excellent TSE 24/3.5 II tilt-shift lens. One thing led to another and I added the, also excellent, 135/2 and several fantastic Leica-R lenses. The Canon has a good ground glass screen option for MF (better than the Sony offering), Live View for critical focusing (none on the a900) and the lens system is considerably better in my view, particularly with the additional availability of ZE Zeiss glass.

However, I do not like the ergonomics of the 5D II and vastly prefer the handling capabilities, but not the high ISO qualities, of the A900. Furthermore, the weaknesses of the 5D Ii (poor dynamic range and clunky ergonomics) do not seem to have been addressed by the Mk III as noted in the aforementioned review.

I have been delighted with the NEX-7 and I really like the evf - for manual focusing it is a breeze. I am very likely, therefore to purchase the a99 because the (hopefully even better) EVF will obviate the need for a ground glass focusing screen. If, that is, I can successfully convert my Leica-R lenses. I do hope that Sony is addressing the lens issue.

[bakubo]

I haven't seen the name Philip Greenspun for such a long time. I suppose he has been around, but it has been years since I spent much time checking out photo.net. Back in the '90s I did though and often saw stuff he posted. Reading through that article I realized how similar he and Ken Rockwell write -- unless they are the same person. I only read the first few paragraphs though since I found it pretty boring (not interested in the camera).

I should check out photo.net again. My recollection is that the forums were so much better than at dpreview.

[UrsaMajor]

I should check out photo.net again. My recollection is that the forums were so much better than at dpreview.

That would not be hard to achieve.

I should probably take a fresh look at photo.net also. I followed it from the mid-nineties up to about 7-8 years ago, but stopped going there when they went through a series of reorganizations of the web site. I didn't really object to anything they did, but I just lost interest for some reason.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[Greg Beetham]

I was wondering, does the IQ make up for the lack of functionality using those Leica-R lenses?
I guess the main criteria in using them at all would be if one could find the appropriate adaptor, I see that the flange distance for the Leica-R was 47mm and the flange distance for the Nikon F mount is 46.5mm so that leaves .5mm to make an adaptor, a very thin one, I saw on Wiki that someone modified a camera instead with the necessary mount, no mention about functionality though.
The Canon EF mount flange distance is 44mm and the Minolta AF mount flange distance is 44.5mm so I’m thinking if someone can make an adaptor for the EF mount they should be able to make one of sorts for the A-mount also. Of course with the NEX having a flange distance of 18mm with the E-mount there is no trouble getting an adaptor to fill the large gap for any brand lens with a SLR 35mm film mount.
I see that there are some Leica-R lenses on sale here, http://www.cheaperoz.com/z/result.jsp?g ... a+r+lenses surprisingly not very expensive either, a 90mm Elmarit R or a 35mm Elmarit R at $350 each for example.
Thing is though with Zeiss now making a range of auto metering MF lenses for the F mount and the EF mount as well the world is your oyster if you are into set piece high quality landscape, commercial, glamour photography, one doesn’t have to think that Sony is the only avenue to get Zeiss lenses with some functionality these days (as long as one has a very healthy wallet). http://www.zeiss.com/cine%20%20http://w ... 53232?Open
But as far as Sony goes I’m not sure avenues of photography like perspective control with specialist TS lenses or a more in depth accessory list for macro photography are even on their radar, also the f4 lens list is largely still vacant with Sony so one does wonder about the future of the A-mount sometimes, then Sony surprises with actually making a 500/4G and I mean ‘making’ as in ‘in stock’ at B&H and not the expected order on special order and pay up front first and wait a long time for delivery situation, Sony sure does keep one guessing.
Greg

[artington]

Interesting summation, Greg. For me the great thing about some of the better Leica-R lenses is the crispness of image and snap wide open. Often, the only enhancement gained by stopping down is increased DOF. They also, like Minolta lenses, seem to have great colour rendition. And they are not expensive either by comparison with Canikony equivalents although they are of course MF only. I also like the feel of solid metal lenses and prefer setting aperture on the lens although that has its downside because it is not visible in the vf of non-Leica cameras. As for MF, i prefer it to AF because I can focus where I wish to, rather than where the camera thinks I should. In this context, as I have mentioned before, the onset of the EVF (and LiveView) withthe ability to fine focus at 10x magnification, has been transformative and, for me, renders AF redundant (I am not a regular shooter of moving objects).

Leitax make excellent adapters for Canon, Sony and Nikon which either sit on top of the Leica mount (Canon) or replace it (Nikon and Sony). They are very rigid because they are screwed in place with replacement screws. Novoflex also do a Leica-R to EOS adapter which is conventional and not screwed on but has no equivalent for Nikon or Sony. I did read that there is some chap in Ireland who offers a reversible solution for Sony and am investigating this.

Like many I find Sony's half-hearted approach to camera systems perplexing. It is as though it sees itself still as a consumer electronics company rather than taking the extra step into lens production to offer a professional imaging solution. The link up with Zeiss was a great step but it has been disappointingly infertile. Personally, I am finding the welter of new bodies is becoming a bit irritating because, although they can be brilliant (the NEX-7 and A77 stand out) the system is only as good as its weakest link, regardless of the technology. And the weak link is, of course, lenses - admittedly more an issue for E-mount than A-mount. I suspect there may be a paucity of in-house optical designers but manufacturing can always be farmed out to others. Indeed Leica did this successfuly with a couple of their zooms (manufactured by Kyocera to Leica designs) and less successfully with one or two others (designed and manufactured by Minolta!). Real pity because, as a newcomer to Canon I have been really disappointed by its clunky user interface and much prefer the Sony / Minolta approach which is far more "photographer friendly".

[Birma]

While with the Nex (with adapters) can use just about any glass I guess that you are losing the full-frame field of view, and in some ways what Sony may be better pursuing is a full-frame Nex with adapters to control aperture on Canon and Nikon lenses . Then all of those exotic TS etc. lenses would be within our grasp.

With the A37 release Sony have for the first time (ever?) a coherent line-up of cameras in the APS-C category: A37, A57, A65 and A77. (All SLT I know.) Once they add the A99 (or whatever) then that will be a good line up for a system set of bodies I think. Perhaps a similar sense of order will be brought to their strategy for lenses now? I agree with Greg that I'd like to see some more offering in the f/4 range.

[Greg Beetham]

I sort of still struggle with the NEX concept myself, I’m not a huge fan of something that is deficient on so many levels when compared to a responsive DSLR feature set and interface, it’s not much use if there is any kind of action involved, bif for example.
I also used to think that a FF NEX would be a solution looking for a problem as there would be no native FF (E-mount?) lenses for it. But I guess it could use the APS-C NEX lenses in crop mode and it could of course have great use across the full frame brand spectrum with some fancy adaptors. What Sony could do too make sure it was a success would be to do some homework on compatibility requirements for the K, F and EF mounts and do the maximum ‘allowable’ to smooth the turgid waters of compatibility.
Also NEX has never convinced me for use in the studio (probably would be good with natural light or led panel macro though) although I might have the wrong impression about that, maybe if it had an add on power supply and tethering along with a seamless interface and control set with studio equipment floods and strobes along with ‘from the camera’ fractional control and test with system flash I might change my mind, I don’t quite see Sony with the necessary commitment for any of that….but stranger things have happened, Sony managed to come up with the NEX in the first place and that seems to be a winner, so anything is possible for sure.
Greg

[artington]

I have used the NEX7 in a studio with Pocket Wizard and both studio flash and strobes and its been fine.

[Greg Beetham]

Ok the NEX7 is fine in the studio no dark EVF or LCD problems, cool, my mental ruminating was more from a possible NEX9 standpoint, a FF NEX would potentially find a permanent home in a studio if it had the necessary longevity/duration, so I assumed maybe incorrectly, that it would need a larger power system so one didn’t have to keep swapping batteries periodically, and tethering so one could download directly onto a hard disk, I’m not sure if the NEX7 can do tethering, I thought it couldn’t? But I don’t think that would be an insurmountable problem when or if Sony decides to bring out a FF NEX, I just think it’s something a studio camera should have in its repertoire.
I was also thinking as the NEX is probably not great as an event/action camera (good for portability up to a point for scenic work, but that comes into question when considering the extra weight and inconvenience of an adaptor or two) the potential market for a FF NEX in the studio with its expected ability to use such a massive range of lenses could be very large if Sony did a good job on it.
Greg