The best 50mm for A7RII

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pakodominguez
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The best 50mm for A7RII

Unread post by pakodominguez »

REF: http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2016/03/2 ... for-a7rii/

Since the comments on the website are closed, I'm bringing the discussion to the Forum.

I had the same quest for the right 50mm lens. In my case, I'm not necessarily a 50mm big user. For my taste, it is not wide enough for everyday use, nor long enough for portraits, and I prefer to do for closeup at a longer focal distance... But everybody needs a 50mm, right?

I bought a legacy Minolta Maxxum 50mm 1.7 in 2005, when nobody knew what will happens with the A-mount in the digital era, The Maxxum 7D didn't made a dent and, well, you know the story. I paid $ 35 for it (I got other bargains at the same time, many Minolta users were jumping the boat). Later, I got the Minolta Macro 50mm f2.8, the Minolta version of the lens DK picked up as "best" for the A7RII.

Since I'm not a gear collector (well, the wife doesn't believe me on that, but she always complain when I sell equipment I don;t use) and since the 50mm is not my favorite focal distance, I decided to sell one of them. I did few tests (no charts or brick walls, just photographing around) and decided to keep the Macro because 1.- it is a Macro 2.- I love Macro stuff, even is I also have the Minolta macro 100 mm f/2.8 3.- wide open is sharper than the Minolta 50 f/1.7 at f/2.8.

I sold the f/1.7 for $120 at the time all those newbies were talking "Beercan" and "handshake" and blah blah blah.

I also kept the Macro because I want to digitize my slides with it, instead of scanning them ("duplicate" Slides is faster than scanning them). On this regard, we had a discussion with Ray Lemieux (SyberSite on the Minolta Yahoo Group forum, and DPreview and Dyxum) about an issue with this lens that can stop me to use it for digital Slide duplication: The Digital Sensor Reflection Effect (here the article: http://thesybersite.com/minolta/sensor- ... /index.htm)

I did my own test with the A700 and had the same results. Later on, I did few slide duplication with the A900, the Minolta 50mm Macro and a Nikon adapter (http://www.adorama.com/NKES1.html) that works pretty well. I haven't really start duplicating my slides, I will need to do a serious test with the A7R (I don't have the A7RII) and adapters (the Sony one with the translucent mirror, and a plain one) and check if the sensor on the A7R behave better, reflection-wise, or if I'll have to avoid it. It is quite important for slide duplication because the light need to be telecentric and dark slides can show this undesirable effect.

Otherwise, the Minolta/Sony macro 50mm f2.8 is a great lens for macro or portraits or landscapes, just a little heavy (for a 50 mm).
Pako
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Dr. Harout
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Re: The best 50mm for A7RII

Unread post by Dr. Harout »

I just purchased the 50mm FE lens along with the a7rII. BTW, bought them from Adorama :D
They're still on their way.
I opted namely for that 50mm because:
a- it's cheap
b- I had to buy a lens with it (Batis 25 or 18mm where not in stock)
c- even the Voigtlander 15mm III wasn't in stock (I always listen to David :roll: )
d- they say it performs quite decently on the 42mp

So, waiting...
A99 + a7rII + Sony, Zeiss, Minolta, Rokinon and M42 lenses

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Birma
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Re: The best 50mm for A7RII

Unread post by Birma »

Hi Doc - congrats on the new camera and lens! Looking forward to seeing the pictures when it makes it way to you. :)
Nex 5, Nex 6 (IR), A7M2, A99 and a bunch of lenses.
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