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NEX-7 + CV, and Zeiss ZM lenses

Chris C

Member
Jonas, and Carlos. Thank you for your speedy and helpful replies. The Fotodiox adapter certainly opens up possibilities for reinvigorating those sweet OM lenses for use on a Nex. Thank you for the illustration Carlos, it's greatly appreciated.

There goes the 'used' OM price.

............. Chris
 

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
All this is so interesting. What pops into my mind is that we might need a GXR with the M mount module, and then the CV 12 or 15, and then the NEX for the normal and portrait lengths. But the GXR would need the external finder, and none of these that I have seen so far are practical (they add a large amount of bulk; they tend to come out of the hotshoe when taking camera out of whatever you are carrying it in, etc.). I am thinking of the GF-1's finder in particular.

It seems my dream of one camera with a really good EVF that can do justice to CV UWAs and other lengths is not quite here yet. Perhaps a wait is in order?

Michiel, the 18/4 ZM would not be wide enough for what I need, unfortunately.
 

Michiel Schierbeek

Well-known member
Well I have two cameras now The Ricoh and the NEX7.
The VC 15 works like a charm on the GXR and the files are beautiful.
The external viewfinder is sticking out of course but I grab the camera and viewfinder together out of my bag and see no problem.

But sorry this is a Sony forum and I like the NEX-7 very much. I am polygaam! (Usually only with cameras and other tools) :ROTFL:

Michiel
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
All this is so interesting. What pops into my mind is that we might need a GXR with the M mount module, and then the CV 12 or 15, and then the NEX for the normal and portrait lengths. But the GXR would need the external finder, and none of these that I have seen so far are practical (they add a large amount of bulk; they tend to come out of the hotshoe when taking camera out of whatever you are carrying it in, etc.). I am thinking of the GF-1's finder in particular.

It seems my dream of one camera with a really good EVF that can do justice to CV UWAs and other lengths is not quite here yet. Perhaps a wait is in order?

Michiel, the 18/4 ZM would not be wide enough for what I need, unfortunately.
I've been pushing the GXR-M + VF-2 in and out of my camera bag for months now and have yet to have the viewfinder fall off. It's not like the GF1 finder.

Of course, if it did, a little bit of sticky tape would solve that pretty fast. Or a more secure solution: tap a small hole in the hot shoe and make a securing bolt that locked it in place, removal only with a small screwdriver. The VF-2 does add some bulk, but I love the fact that it swivels up for low angle and copystand work. With wide lenses, I often remove it and use the LCD and an optical viewfinder... set focus by the LCD and using the scale for DoF markings, then turn off the LCD and shoot, using the viewfinder to frame.

Once you have the GXR-M + EVF, you don't need the other camera as it also works beautifully with longer focal length lenses. Including the Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 ED-IF I picked up:


It's performance with the CV 12 and 15 is outstanding. :)
 

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
Godfrey and Michiel—I will look into this camera seriously.

What of the new sensor module though?? Although, 12Mp is enough for all my work, I admit, and perhaps there will be lots of the current M-modules for sale!

Cheers and thanks—Godfrey, that is a VERY BIG lens you have there!
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
How does the GXR-M compare to a Sony NEX 5n?
I don't own a NEX 5n to compare directly, but this report by Sam Waldren, a NEX 5n owner/user, is quite objective:

http://ricoh-gr-diary.blogspot.com/2011/12/ricoh-gxr-a12-m-and-sony-nex-5n.html

It was originally posted to DPReview in the Ricoh Forum, but this site is a much nicer reading experience.

Given what Sam has to say, I know that both cameras are quite good on performance, but with different strengths. Which you choose to work with depends upon what's more important to you.

(Of course, the GXR has another capability: it's a chameleon. By changing camera units, you can have one of two small sensor zoom cameras, two APS-C prime lens cameras with AF, or a Leica M-bayonet camera. Each of these configurations has its own unique identity as a camera, yet they all share the same ergonomics and control interface. It makes for a very tidy, small, configurable, modular system, different from the traditional body+lens kits we're all so accustomed to.)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Godfrey and Michiel—I will look into this camera seriously.

What of the new sensor module though?? Although, 12Mp is enough for all my work, I admit, and perhaps there will be lots of the current M-modules for sale!

Cheers and thanks—Godfrey, that is a VERY BIG lens you have there!
The new "A16 Camera Mount" is still a rumor. While I have no doubt that something like this will come about, and not too far into the future, because of the successful sales of the A12 Camera Mount and the likely intent by Sony to retire the A12 sensor production line, I don't think it's coming immediately. The GXR A12 Camera Mount was only introduced last October, I suspect they'll go through at least two more production runs before a successor is ready.

The A12 Camera Mount's lack of AA filter means it achieves remarkable acutance with its 12 Mpixels. I'm sure that my work rarely needs more than that. It also means that, without any AA filter in the light path to blur the image, it respects the particular drawing qualities of a lens well: the lenses I've used on it image very very similarly to how they image on the M4-2.

The Micro-Nikkor 200mm looks larger in these photos than it is in reality because the GXR is so diminutive and the lens hood is extended. It's 7.5 inches long by 2.75 inches in diameter, and not particularly heavy (a little over a pound). It is somewhat long, however, because it is an internal focusing macro lens capable of achieving 1:2 magnification with no accessories ... stick the TC-300 teleconverter on the back (another 5" in length) and it becomes a 400mm macro lens capable of 1:1 magnification.
 

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
Godfrey, that Waldren link is compelling, for me. I have been convinced!!!

Two final questions before ordering:

1. what flash options are available for the Ricoh (and which must be able to trigger remote flash units), and

2. considering a three-lens kit, and starting with either the 12 or the 15 CV, what are your recommendations? I am thinking a ~40—50 EFOV normal, and one short tele (80–100mm EFOV); this covers most of what I need.

And a final Q. before ordering: how does the Ricoh EVF compare to the Panny one for the GF-1? Up until reading the Waldren link, I was inclining to the 5N, but now to the A12 (the lack of an AA filter is really a plus with decent lenses, IMHO).

Cheers and thanks: I had not even considered the GRX until I read your posts.
 

kuau

Workshop Member
so no one here has yet tested the ziess 18mm zm on the nex-7 yet?
for me this is wide enough.
I noticed over at digilloyd, he has been testing a lot of lenses, but nothing wider then 25mm so far
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...
1. what flash options are available for the Ricoh (and which must be able to trigger remote flash units), and

2. considering a three-lens kit, and starting with either the 12 or the 15 CV, what are your recommendations? I am thinking a ~40—50 EFOV normal, and one short tele (80–100mm EFOV); this covers most of what I need.

And a final Q. before ordering: how does the Ricoh EVF compare to the Panny one for the GF-1? ...
1- Ricoh makes a dedicated flash but I don't own or use much in way of dedicated flash units. I usually use simple manual or on-board auto flash units triggered by either optical or RF remotes.

a- If you want to use the EVF while shooting with a flash, using optical remotes is easiest: the popup flash on the camera can be set into manual mode and you can adjust power output down to 1/64 power. Add a little IR shield and fit optical slaves to your flash heads and you're off and away.

b- If you don't need to use the EVF, you can fit an RF transmitter to the hot shoe and receivers to your flash heads. You're off and away.

c- If you want to use both EVF and an RF trigger, it's a little more fussy to set up. I got this trick from someone using a GF1 with RF flash triggers: take any hot-shoe extender cable (you know, one that slides in the hot shoe and allows you to put the flash on the other end) and cut off the end that fits in the camera hot shoe. Glue or bolt the shoe to a bracket that you can bolt onto the camera using the tripod socket. Determine the wires going to center and side terminal ... those are the flash trigger trigger wires, not the control protocol terminals ... and mark them out. Trim back the other wires. Bare the ends and tape them to the center terminal and to the hot shoe shoe itself with thin tape. Be careful not to connect one wire to two terminals. Now carefully slide the EVF in over the taped connections. Voila! you have a remote RF trigger hot shoe camera.

(This works because the EVF does not use any of the flash terminal connections, it connects to the camera through its own rear mounted plug and just uses the accessory shoe to physically secure it to the camera. It might take a little fussy work to make the connections fit, but once you've got it set up it'll work great. And yes, I wish they'd put another flash*sync terminal on the body ...)

I mostly use method c as I most usually use flash when shooting tabletop work on a tripod where I prefer the LCD or at parties where precise framing isn't such a big deal. I have both Cactus V2 and Cactus V5 RF remotes and they both work very well.

2- What lenses and focal lengths you want is always a very personal choice. My three lens kit, what I use more than anything else, consists of a 21, 40 and 90 mm. IN 35mm equivalents, that's about a 30, a 60 and a 135 mm FoV. I only rarely want wider ... I have the A12 28mm camera unit (18mm optically) for a bit wider FoV.

If you're a 'wide' person, starting with either the CV 12 or 16, the next lens I'd want is the Zeiss 25/2.8 ZM for a roughly 38-40mm equivalent or your favorite 35mm for a normal, and then a 50mm for a roughly 75mm FoV. But I like the 21-40 pairing on APS-C a lot.

The Ricoh VF-2 is much nicer than the original Panasonic EVF for the GF1 and somewhere just shy of the quality of the Panasonic G1 and Olympus VF-2 EVFs. I think it's more a matter of magnification than actual imaging performance ... it looks smaller than those two (which actually helps me due to my glasses). It's not up to the NEX 5n optional EVF; I'm hoping Ricoh updates it.

Have to tell you, I'm delighted with the GXR kit. Best compact digital camera I've owned in all respects. It's not a pro-grade DSLR in various ways, but for what I do it's responsive enough and the image quality it produces is right up there.
 

Nettar

New member
kau, an assessment of ZM lenses on the NEX-7 is accessible from the first post here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1042&thread=39561849

The first two urls there will take you to an assessment of the ZM 4/18mm lens:

http://thepicturedesk.blogspot.com/2011/10/sony-nex7-with-zeiss-m-mount-18mm-zm.html

http://thepicturedesk.blogspot.com/2011/10/sony-nex7-with-zeiss-m-mount-18mm-zm.html

It's not particularly easy to determine corner sharpness from those images, but you do get a good impression of the extent of colour shift. To me, colour shift on the NEX-7 looks worse than I got on my NEX-5, and much worse than on the NEX-5N, where there there is essentially no problem with colour shift, and no problem at all (that I can discern) with corner sharpness. Nettar
 

douglasf13

New member
You can add Bjorn Utpott's comparisons to the list of concerning evidence agains the NEX-7 with rangefinder lenses. Here is a link to his test with the ZM 35/2, which is among the best of the 35mm rangefinder lenses for my NEX-5N in the corners. The corners of the 7 don't catch up to the 5N until f5.6-ish. This is of particular concern to me, because, if this ZM is having such problems on the NEX-7, it doesn't bode well for the wider ZM and CV lenses, which even have some issues on the 5N.

http://www.bmupix.com/journal/2012/1/7/nex-7-part-2-corner-performance-with-zeiss-biogon-t-35mm-f20.html
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...
b- If you don't need to use the EVF, you can fit an RF transmitter to the hot shoe and receivers to your flash heads. You're off and away.
...
I mostly use method c as I most usually use flash when shooting tabletop work on a tripod where I prefer the LCD or at parties where precise framing isn't such a big deal. I have both Cactus V2 and Cactus V5 RF remotes and they both work very well.
...
Oops. I meant method b. ;-)
 
N

nex100

Guest
hi guys,

Assuming I use a nex-7 with a cv 12mm heliar (haven't got a nex-7 in my region, still waiting for shipment unfortunately) the corners will be bad right? But if the resolving power of the 24 MP sensor is as good as what dpreview says, we can then crop extensively the corners that vignette, shifts color or smears and still get a reasonably wide angle pic right?

The whole idea is at least we get still a reasonably wide angle picture after cropping and also almost distortion free or easy to correct distortion. But what will be angle of view after cropping? Wonder if anyone with a 12mm heliar and nex-7 can help with the test.
 

jonoslack

Active member
... or perhaps the Leica WATE 16-18-21/4?

View attachment 53633
NEX-5N + WATE Tri-Elmar-M ASPH 16-18-21/4

Regards, K-H.
yes, absolutely - it seems to be fine on the NEX7 - it's actually a zoom as well (although that's not a huge range).

Sorry - Godfrey - I see you asked that question before.

it's a favourite of mine, on the NEX7 too.

all the best
 
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