Post about the A7R II up now

For discussion of the E and FE mount mirrorless system
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pakodominguez
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by pakodominguez »

David Kilpatrick wrote:Pako - the 28mm f/2 has lots of distortion for a fixed focal length, but it's not as extreme as the correction applied to for example the 24-240mm or the little 16-50mm for APS-C. I find it one of the best lenses I've got and it compares well with what I was out using today - Tamron 35mm f/1.8 and 45mm f/1.8 primes.
Interesting... I'm still not sold on the focal distance, I have the 35mm f2.8 that I like very much and the 28mm doesn't seem wide enough (BTW, it is 28mm before or after the correction applied?) As I told you before, I was looking at the Batis 25mm, but it is quite big. The new Zeiss 21mm (I saw it at Photo Plus Expo here in NYC few weeks ago) is compact and I think fits better in my bag (...) I'm not rushing for a wide prime, I have the 16-35 f4 that I like very much so I can wait for Sony's next (wide) move.

BTW, you mention the Rokinon 24mm TS... the one I tried was quite soft, but I tried it at the store, not outdoors with nice light and at f11 or f16... Yours is OK? You found a way to get the best of it?
David Kilpatrick wrote: One point I guess I do not make in the review is how much I shoot at ISO 800 - even sunny day stuff. It's as good as a NEX-7 at 100!

David
Coming from the film era, I've been very conservative about shooting high ISO... until I got the A7S. Then, I started shooting high ISO on the A7R and I have to admit that I use now ISO 1600 if needed, no fear. I don't have the NEX7 anymore, it was such a camera, as a concept, but yes, a little noisy, had issues with UWA (including Sony 10-18 f4) and, on top of that, Lightroom never really deliver the best of that camera... thanks Sony for free Capture One!

I don't think I'll go for the A7RII, I'm fine now, camera wise, I think I'll skip this generation. There is a project with a friend, for doing video content for a food and travel website. If that really works, I'll probably go for a second A7S, or selling mine and buy 2 A7SII. Or better: invest on a RX100IV and a RX10II (for the interviews).

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David Kilpatrick
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

The 28mm is a 26.2mm before correction. I'm not keen on 28mm in general, preferring to have 24mm available and finding 40mm-ish a better standard lens. However, with the A7R II you can simply crop if a tighter angle is really better. Sony doesn't really make the lens line-up I would want: 16 or 17mm f/4, 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/2, 85mm f/2, 105mm f/2.8 macro, 100-300mm f/4.5-6.3 apo zoom, 24-85mm or 105mm f/4 compact G level zoom (similar in size to the Minolta 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 or 24-105mm).

I've ended up with the 24-240mm simply because it's all they make which fits my requirements but it is likely to be the reason I do not use the A7R II at all for travel, and actually, I'm using this lens less and less - its exceptional for what it is, and better than the 28-70mm for example, but far from perfect and I would have been much happier with a better quality 24-200mm or 24-180mm, or even 24-150mm.

The Samyang 24mm TS is not all that good wide open but neither is the Canon. Since these lenses generally need stopping down to f/11 or f/16 I find it OK. Again, I do not travel with it because of the weight and bulk and have a 20mm Voigtlander on a tilt-shift adaptor which works better for most subjects.
widecurve-allales-1000-24TS.jpg
widecurve-allales-1000-24TS.jpg (411.93 KiB) Viewed 10021 times
This is a studio shot done with the 24TS.
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pakodominguez
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

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David Kilpatrick wrote:Sony doesn't really make the lens line-up I would want: 16 or 17mm f/4, 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/2, 85mm f/2, 105mm f/2.8 macro, 100-300mm f/4.5-6.3 apo zoom, 24-85mm or 105mm f/4 compact G level zoom (similar in size to the Minolta 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 or 24-105mm).
35mm became my "normal" lens, that's why I bought the Sony Zeiss 35f2.8. I'm using Minolta MD 24 f2.8 (I find it better than the Maxxum 24 f2.8 ) Minolta MC 58 f1.4 (yeah, do you remember David Hamilton?) and zooms: 16-35 (great); 24-70(fine) and 70-200(also great). Like you, I would love to see a Sony 24f2.8, compact and as good as the 35f2.8
David Kilpatrick wrote: ...and have a 20mm Voigtlander on a tilt-shift adaptor which works better for most subjects.
The one on Nikon/Canon mount? you pick this one because the image circle covers FF when tilt/shift? or just because good quality? I would love to stick with Minolta MC/MD manual lenses, otherwise I'll go for Nikon lenses, that I used to like a lot.

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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

I wanted a shift lens (tilt is really not that important to me for wide angles, but could be useful in the studio... only I have parted with my 55mm Micro Nikkor for a while) and wider than 24mm. My first trials were with the Canon 20mm f/2.8 FDn, which has about the widest image circle of any such lens but a bit of distortion 'spread' at the extreme. It can manage around 6-7mm shift when stopped down. However, it's bulky and will never offer EXIF data. An offer of a new VSL II 20mm f/3.5 Nikon AI-S came up - this has the full electronic chip etc - and you can't get shift-tilt for Canon FD, the register is too slim, but you can for Nikon. So, I put these two together. I get about 5mm shift which is significant at 20mm and about right for many typical interiors and street level architecture shots. I did try the Canon 17mm, Nikon 18mm and Nikon 20mm AF and none of these have a good coverage. I'd love to try a Zeiss 21mm or 18mm, they will either have even more coverage or sudden cut off knowing Zeiss.

We expect to see a Nikon AI-S compatible adaptor soon and that would make the Voigtlander into a properly EXIF coupled lens for non-shift shots. I am not sure it's the best though, it's good but a Zeiss 18mm in Canon EF mount used on an adaptor would be better. I do not rate the 16-35mm f/4 as all that good, I've used three and did buy one, but doing a direct comparison with the 16-35mm f/2.8 SSM II A-mount shows it is a much softer lens. The A-mount is one of the best 16-35mms ever now, though it was not in the version 1. They have cleaned up the corner resolution and vignetting. The lens profile seems to be the same so the distortion is still rather complex, but it's just a more useful lens corner to corner wide open at 16mm.
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pakodominguez
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

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David Kilpatrick wrote: We expect to see a Nikon AI-S compatible adaptor soon and that would make the Voigtlander into a properly EXIF coupled lens for non-shift shots. I am not sure it's the best though, it's good but a Zeiss 18mm in Canon EF mount used on an adaptor would be better.
well, the Zeiss is a 1200 $ lens, and the Voigtlander a 500 $ lens... I guess the Zeiss is somehow better, not just wider ;-)
David Kilpatrick wrote: I do not rate the 16-35mm f/4 as all that good, I've used three and did buy one, but doing a direct comparison with the 16-35mm f/2.8 SSM II A-mount shows it is a much softer lens. The A-mount is one of the best 16-35mms ever now, though it was not in the version 1. They have cleaned up the corner resolution and vignetting. The lens profile seems to be the same so the distortion is still rather complex, but it's just a more useful lens corner to corner wide open at 16mm.
I never used the Zeiss 16-35. I have the KM 17-35 f2.8-4 (now for sale) that is OK on 24 MP, a little soft on the A7R. The Zeiss 16-35 f4 is giving me nice results, but it is not a lens that I use extensively, just few jobs, or a trip to France a couple of moths ago (I haven't look at those photos on the computer yet, on the camera's screen they looked fine)

In other hand, I was greatly surprised using the Zeiss 24-70 2.8 (original) on the A7R. It is definitely "better" than the 24-70 f4 FE (my copy is not bad, it is just fine for the work I do)
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Bruce Oudekerk
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

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David Kilpatrick wrote:Remember, I'm testing them in Canon EF mount using a Commlite adaptor. Even, they function really well on the A7RII - just the occasional communication glitch (common even with Canon lenses)...

... I have a Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM lens which cost me £95 and works extremely well with the Commlite. It's just as sharp, not much worse for bokeh, a quarter of the size and weight, takes small filters, and it has less longitudinal CA. ...
David

The Canon 40mm STM and Commlite (or FotodioX) seems like an interesting and reasonably priced combo and I have to assume that the camera automatically detects the FL and uses appropriate in-camera stabilization. True? Can you use the 40 STM/Commlite in indoors lighting or is it really an outdoor creature?

Unlike the 40mm and 50mm STM the smallish 24-105 STM has IS. I’ve read that any of the non-Metabones smart adapters can’t properly use IS lenses simultaneously with the in-body stabilization. They either use both image stabilization systems or neither and if they use both it ‘doubles up’ and over stabilizes. Is there any truth to that and if so, how bad…and what to do? Go Metabones IV T ?

And for that matter…have you tried the Minolta 24-105 s/ LA-EA4 on the a7RII? I don’t have one but the size vs. functionality factor are intriguing.

Bruce
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Birma
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Re: Post about the A7R II up now

Unread post by Birma »

Great article and review on the main site!

It is also very interesting to read the experience everyone has had with other lenses. I do really like this "universal mount" concept; the idea that just about the whole panoply of lenses ever produced can be strapped on to the A7 bodies.

I'm currently looking for something in the 24mm range. 28 is ok, but I would like something a bit wider.

Pako, I'm interested to hear about your experience with the MD 24 2.8?
Nex 5, Nex 6 (IR), A7M2, A99 and a bunch of lenses.
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