cunim
Well-known member
I am challenged by this camera. I really want to like it because the IQ180 has made me a pixel addict. 24 MP is just not enough any more and I can't carry the MF equipment or a D800 around in my briefcase. I need the pixel density and compact size that the A7r provides.
However, I am unlikely to keep the A7r for very long. The sensor is lovely and the camera handles fine, but I can't tolerate the corner artifacts. The problem is not primarily intensity vignetting, but the highly localized degradation in corner MTF. That E-mount hole just seems too small for FF with normal lenses. Chopping of corner rays is not correctable in post.
I don't need wide and my experience with specific lenses is limited. The Elmar 135 seems fine wide open but too long for a daily. The Summicron R 50 and the native 35 FE clean up enough by f5.6 or so, but that is a pretty serious limitation - or so it would seem. I say "seem" because many others are having much better success or are not as bothered by this particular problem. Point is, there is a real issue that some buyers may find critical.
I returned the 35 FE and am hoping the 55 will be better. Sadly, one preliminary review tells me to be prepared for vignetting so my hopes are not high. If I can find just one normal that does not show the mushy corners at f2, I will be happy with this camera.
Perhaps I am unrealistic in wanting reasonably clean corners in a compact FF, but the mount engineering challenge does not seem all that great. Make a bigger hole. I hope a solution (the lens I am looking for) is imminent, or a less finicky FF compact will appear over the next year. For the moment, the A7r is the only game in town and it stays.
However, I am unlikely to keep the A7r for very long. The sensor is lovely and the camera handles fine, but I can't tolerate the corner artifacts. The problem is not primarily intensity vignetting, but the highly localized degradation in corner MTF. That E-mount hole just seems too small for FF with normal lenses. Chopping of corner rays is not correctable in post.
I don't need wide and my experience with specific lenses is limited. The Elmar 135 seems fine wide open but too long for a daily. The Summicron R 50 and the native 35 FE clean up enough by f5.6 or so, but that is a pretty serious limitation - or so it would seem. I say "seem" because many others are having much better success or are not as bothered by this particular problem. Point is, there is a real issue that some buyers may find critical.
I returned the 35 FE and am hoping the 55 will be better. Sadly, one preliminary review tells me to be prepared for vignetting so my hopes are not high. If I can find just one normal that does not show the mushy corners at f2, I will be happy with this camera.
Perhaps I am unrealistic in wanting reasonably clean corners in a compact FF, but the mount engineering challenge does not seem all that great. Make a bigger hole. I hope a solution (the lens I am looking for) is imminent, or a less finicky FF compact will appear over the next year. For the moment, the A7r is the only game in town and it stays.