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Bullish on Sony

jsparks

Member
Where are you folks getting the Zeiss ZA 35/1.4 and 50/1.2 rumors? That would be my prayers answered ... finally.

-Marc
The Zeiss 50/1.2 has been mentioned on sonyalpharumors | Home several times. They seem to have good sources of information and much of what they write about seems become available. I believe the 50/1.2 is expected to be announced about the same time as the A99 (at or just before Photokina in Sept).

I think the 35/1.4 is just wishful thinking at this point.
 
Where are you folks getting the Zeiss ZA 35/1.4 and 50/1.2 rumors? That would be my prayers answered ... finally.



-Marc
Yes, 35/1.4 is just wishful thinking. 50/1.2 is rumored at a med-high level.

Marc - do I see your work up on Flickr? Lot's of exotic travel to Africa and India? If so, kudos, you put me over the edge and into A900 land. Also, I think I prefer your A900 work the most, even over the S2. But you have the benefit of seeing the files at full resolution, something Flickr is not the best for...
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Yes, 35/1.4 is just wishful thinking. 50/1.2 is rumored at a med-high level.

Marc - do I see your work up on Flickr? Lot's of exotic travel to Africa and India? If so, kudos, you put me over the edge and into A900 land. Also, I think I prefer your A900 work the most, even over the S2. But you have the benefit of seeing the files at full resolution, something Flickr is not the best for...
Sadly, no it is not me ... never been to Africa or India. :(

The Sony A900 is a great camera and the Zeiss lenses are terrific, but it is no Leica S2. That pup is in another category altogether. On the other hand, the Sony can do stuff the S2 cannot. Horses for courses.

-Marc
 
Sadly, no it is not me ... never been to Africa or India. :(

The Sony A900 is a great camera and the Zeiss lenses are terrific, but it is no Leica S2. That pup is in another category altogether. On the other hand, the Sony can do stuff the S2 cannot. Horses for courses.

-Marc
Ah, sorry for the confusion. This is the guy/gal I was referring to. They shoot with the A900 and S2. Some brilliant portraits.

mongolia_900 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Speaking of 35/1.4 lenses - the FedEx man just delivered the Samyang to my doorstep. I did a quick comparison with the Canon 35L (my reference lens) and it looks like I got an excellent copy. Other than the color rendering, I can't tell them apart easily. And I like the way the Samyang colors more neutrally and the colors react stronger to edits. I think it is a keeper. Now if they can just throw AF in the barrel...
 
I was curious how many member here are "all-in" on the Sony platform, meaning you shoot NEX and A-Mount APS-C or FF (and with the new RX100, maybe plan on using their compact as well).

I've not been one for brand loyalty over the years, although I have shot Canon exclusively in the DSLR department. Like many here, I have been through the merry-go-round of m4/3 cameras, Fuji X100s, Ricoh, NEX, etc. But I have always been a fan of older Contax 35mm and 645 cameras and felt like Sony with Zeiss was closest to that look.

So I recently decided to ditch the Canon gear and buy a used A900, convert my old C/Y Zeiss lenses (28mm and 50mm) to A-Mount and trade the Canon L glass for Zeiss Alpha (24mm and 135mm) and a Samyang to cover the 35mm spot. Throw in the LEA2 adapter for the NEX-7 and I am enjoying an impressive number of focal lengths with fast PDAF. And with the A99 around the corner, those adapted C/Y lenses will soon gain peaking focus capability on FF!

Add to the mix the original NEX 3 with the Sigma 30mm as a go everywhere compact and I'm feeling like this is a nice place to be. No other manufacturer is offering the full range (I guess you could argue for Leica with the X2, M and S2 but that is insane money) of platforms that Sony is at the moment and it is nice to feel consolidated yet still enjoy the flexibility to shoot so many types of lens/sensor combos.

So is anyone else going whole hog with Sony or planing to do so soon?

I used the Nex5 for video, later got the Nex7 and the alpha adapters. However I dumped both the Nex7 and all my Nikon gear when they announced the D800 and got and A77, currently collecting FF lenses in anticipation of FF bodies.

Nex7, usability issues, just drove me nuts
D800, sorry but there is no innovation from Nikon. Sony's new bodies should have better AF, focus peaking, translucent mirror, in viewfinder HUD, are as fast as the D4 and just far more technically advanced. To get the most from the D800 I would have had to refresh ALL my lenses so switching slowly to the Sony/Zeiss glass. Also using the A77 feels like the Nikon in the hand.

fwiw, I never liked Sony as a company, but their camera bodies are the best at the moment. Their video capability is incredible.
 

4season

Well-known member
Since the release of their NEX- and SLT-series cameras, Sony has become a much more interesting camera company, IMO.

What's kind of remarkable about my NEX-7 and SLT-A35 is how few shots I need to take in order to get the results that I envisioned. Live histogram in the finder? Yes please. There's still room for improvement: Higher-resolution EVFs with better handling of very bright / contrasty conditions, for instance. And the NEX-7 could be quicker to iris-up. Even so, these cameras are really good at providing me with instantaneous feedback in a way that a camera with an optical viewfinder can't touch. Chimping has become history!

And I don't know about everyone else, but looking over the new RX100, I'm thinking that Sony has eaten Canon's lunch in the shirt-pocket compact category. Maybe Nikon's lunch too.

Nikon's D800 looks really tempting, for it's amazing sensor at least. But I want to wait to see what Sony's response will be, because a great sensor + EVF and the ability to seamlessly switch between FF and APS-C lenses would be even more awesome.
 

dhsimmonds

New member
I moved from a Leica R9 with digital back producing 16bit imaging capability to the Sony A900 producing 14 bit imaging some 4/5 years ago and I really love this camera. The colours are just so natural. However it is showing it's age a bit now against more recent introductions.

I also have the A77 which I use with the same bunch of G and ZA lenses that also produces beautifully natural colour images with further advantages over the A900 which include excellent OOC jpegs (the A900 is not so hot at OOC jpegs) and much higher ISO capability. This suits my wildlife photography perfectly as it's excellent EVF with light gain almost allows me to see in the dark, whereas the A900's OVF stops play for me once the light disappears! I now keep the A900 for landscape work.

I tried my son-in-law's Nex 5n and 7 but couldn't get on with them at all but I was totally "lost" after first trying the Fuji X100 and now the XPro 1. For most general photography work it is a great little camera with some very fine lenses and many more in the pipeline.

It can never replace my Sony A77 for wildlife work but it is the first camera I reach for for everything else as it produces lovely colours, very high IQ with excellent metering and very useable OOC jpegs, it is small and light compared to my A900 with a similar bag of lenses!
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Still slogging on with my two A900s and full compliment of ZA optics + a few Sony lenses like the 70-200/2.8 APO and 50/1.4

Both A900s work just as well for what and how I shoot as they did when new. Zero issues after years of use including demanding weddings. Still LOVE the flash design, and now that radio systems with Sony mount are available, there is little I can't pull off with the Sony's.

With the combination of Zeiss AF lenses, Sony's out-of-box color, and exponential improvements in processing software since first getting the A900, I see nothing from the latest batch of AF 35mm DSLR cameras that offers better IQ for my use of a 35mm DSLR ... including the D800 and Canon 5D-III.

Not interested in EVF until it is a LOT better than what is available now.

Absolutely the best camera for the money I have ever used.

-Marc
 

bcm

Member
Not sure if I'd be considered "all in". I sold all my canon gear and bought a NEX 7 so it's my only body. However I only use Zeiss ZM lenses on it.

My hope/plan is to await the eventual FF mirrorless system to arrive and to use the beautiful Zeiss lenses on that body. Whether that turns out to be a Sony or not I'm not too fussed.
 

alphaman

New member
Update: was an all Sony man and now I'm enjoying a Nikon D800 as well as my NEX7!

The Sony A mount stuff is for sale on the Dyxum forum, should anyone be interested. (A900, A700, 16-35 CZ, 85 CZ, 135CZ, 24-105 Sony etc).

This is purely a work decision as the Nikon stuff, particularly the lens choice meets my professional needs better. If I was only shooting for my pleasure, I'd have been happy enough sticking with Sony.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
If I am a DSLR user I would still be using a Nikon as well. Wise decision!:thumbup:
The D800 is simply amazing!
 

douglasf13

New member
I'm actually going the opposite direction. After using an A100, A700, A900, NEX-5, NEX-5N, and NEX-7, I took the plunge on a Fuji X100 a month or so ago, and I'm loving it. For lack of a better word, it's just fun to shoot. If I were to go back to DSLR, I think I'd still probably choose an A900, and I still use the NEX-5 for occasional short tele usage.
 

douglasf13

New member
So you sold all your Sony bodies but the NEX5, Doug?
Hi, Jim. I've still got the NEX-7, also. It's a great camera, but I'm just not using it all that much these days, and I hate having up to date, digital gear sitting around without use, so I may sell it soon. The NEX-5 is still good enough for the odd occasion of using the Sony 50/1.8 for a family portrait or something. For my personal/art usage, the X100 just works for me, despite the fact that there are things about it that I would change, if given the chance.

I guess I'm to the point with my cameras, processing and print size (usually 13x19 or smaller) that just about all of the mirrorless cameras out there are good enough for my uses (especially handheld,) so it's about handling, feeling, size, experience, etc. to me, at this point. In fact, I have a hard time distinguishing between the A900 and my lowly NEX-5 in the various prints on my walls.


There's certainly a little voice in my head saying, "Hey, you can't sell the NEX-7, what happens if you want to make a really big print in the future?," but I'm trying to ignore it. Darn GAS! :) When I do hear this voice, I force myself to refer to this test from a friend on another forum: http://www.astroweb.no/a900/a700-vs-a900.html
 

Jim DE

New member
Yeah my ole trusty NEX 5 is still seeing service even though I have the NEX7. The NEX7 just about lives with the 45mm f2 CG on it but honestly my ole NEX5 has less purple fringing with legacy glass than the NEX7 using Aperture3. The 7 just has more fine detail resolution and crop ability if needed even though I am having to use the Halo adjustment to clear the purple fringing on nearly every PP image.

If I was smart I would just go ahead and sell the 7 but I am not a buy and sell kinda guy as my wife can attest to by our spare room closet filled with old cameras I have bought.
 

douglasf13

New member
Yeah, I should have mentioned that very combination, the NEX-7 and G 45, is what is making it difficult to sell, even though I haven't been using it much. I'll probably hold off selling it for now, because I'm in the middle of re-figuring out what kind of stuff I want to be shooting these days.
 

alphaman

New member
It's always a difficult choice deciding on what system to use and for what purpose. I like aspects of all the current systems. For example I wouldn't mind a A900 styled and shaped body with Nikon sensor etc inside but with the Sony viewfinder (optical) and anti-shake in body (but better than Sony). The menus would be more Sony like and less Nikonish and the lenses would be Nikon with the odd Canon optic such as the 17mm TSE. The Flash would be styled like the Sony F58 but the TTL work like a Nikon, etc, etc, etc! This isn't meant to be serious, but ...
 

GrahamB

New member
When I do hear this voice, I force myself to refer to this test from a friend on another forum: Sony A900 vs A700 print size
Hey Douglas,

I appreciate what you're saying. If you don't print large, there's little reason to go with a high MP sensor. My only problem is the example you picked.

I recall thinking when Nordstjernen originally posted that "test" at DPR what a poor choice that image is for testing "resolution". There's no foreground detail.

Without foreground detail, the print would have to be enormous to show sharp background detail. My experience with my own a700, a77, and a850 show there's good reason to shoot with the higer MP cameras for A2 prints, at least if you have an image with good detail.

Graham
 
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