Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I just sold my Sigma so ready to push buttons. LOL
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The takeaway from all the discussions and from my personal experience is that lenses meant for the M Leica don't all play well with the Sony A7r as you go wide. Even some 50's aren't worth their eye popping prices just to be judged "barely acceptable." Digital changed everything. Unless somebody solves the ray angle problem in a universally applicable manner we are forced with moving to retrofocus lenses (maybe that is the universal solution...).I'm not that motivated to go M lenses to be honest. Just takes too much Capitol to get there unless you own it already
My 35mm Summicron and 24mm Elmarit are worthless on the A7r. Both exhibit side smearing. However my 50mm Summicron (non-Apo) is really excellent and my 90mm Summicron is stellar!:thumbup: I have yet to find replacements with any other brand. I own numerous Zeiss glass in Nikon mount which I am also very happy with but haven't tried them on the A7r as I don't have a mount... but have one on order. I have shot side by side D800e/A7r with Leica vs Zeiss with my Leica glass always coming out on top at 50mm. Longer and its a toss up.The takeaway from all the discussions and from my personal experience is that lenses meant for the M Leica don't all play well with the Sony A7r as you go wide. Even some 50's aren't worth their eye popping prices just to be judged "barely acceptable."
We must be looking at two different Lloyd chambers web sites. The last test he did he equated the A7R with the 55 1.8 to the nikon d800 with the Zeiss 58 1.4 Otus!I've tested two samples of the Sony 55mm lens and BOTH show the same decentering flaw with the left side soft and the right side sharp. So bad, in fact, that I will not own this lens. Lloyd Chambers also complained about his copy of this lens being soft on the LEFT side. That's three lenses with the same issue. I'm done.:thumbdown:
Victor
Agreed wait till you get your Zeiss 135. You will be impressedMy 35mm Summicron and 24mm Elmarit are worthless on the A7r. Both exhibit side smearing. However my 50mm Summicron (non-Apo) is really excellent and my 90mm Summicron is stellar!:thumbup: I have yet to find replacements with any other brand. I own numerous Zeiss glass in Nikon mount which I am also very happy with but haven't tried them on the A7r as I don't have a mount... but have one on order. I have shot side by side D800e/A7r with Leica vs Zeiss with my Leica glass always coming out on top at 50mm. Longer and its a toss up.
Victor
No we're not..... look at the Red Barn series and read what he says about the left side of his lens being soft and his concerns about sample variations. My two samples were severely afflicted with soft focus on the left side..... like I said I'm done.We must be looking at two different Lloyd chambers web sites. The last test he did he equated the A7R with the 55 1.8 to the nikon d800 with the Zeiss 58 1.4 Otus!
I have not shot or tested the Zeiss 50mm 1.4 but own the 50mm F2 Planar and think its easily worth its money. This focal length is important to me because its perfect for shooting 3 or 4 shot pano's. Not too long - not too short.I may just go after a cheap Zeiss 50mm 1.4 even though rough wide open I just don't use 50mm enough to pay a lot of money for one. there.
Guy: I have two Nikon adapters. One for G lenses (an expensive Metabones), and a $10 one from Rainbow Imaging which appears to be surprisingly well made. I will use this one for my Zeiss and Voigtlander lens with F stop rings, and my old Nikkor AI lenses. Before operating on your adapter, try the $10 one....no kidding!Here is the rub every 85mm 1.4 in Zeiss design has that wide open aberration as i think they are all the same formula. The fact that I got the Alpa adapter is making me think the Sony ZA is maybe the way to go. My other though is just stay down the Zeiss line so all my files have that same look. Maybe not the best lens wide open is the Zeiss 50 1.4 but stopped down a touch its very good and cheap to get. Than I will get my lovely Zeiss 25 F2 back in my hands. Also having the Zeiss 135mm lens that I will never part with i am building around that as well. I found a ZA for 1100 dollars which I can pull off and get in my hands before leaving for LA and I don't have to deal with ebay and have a 14 day return window I may just go for it and see how it runs. Also the Alpa adapter was a gift from a member and i want to make use of it as that was what he wanted too. Case closed on the 85mm. Bottom line too many upsides to this call and if it sucks it goes back and Ill try something else.
Oh and I screwed up when i bought the Novaflex i had G lenses well turns out I don't anymore and don't expect to either so what i am going to do is get my Dremel out and the inside of the tube is the tab to control the aperture i am going to grind that off so when i put any Nikon mount Zeiss on I will not need that control anyway since i have aperture rings. What this does is i don't have to line up when i mount the lenses to the adapter the f stop. i can just put it on and the Novaflex is basically a tube only. When i bought it I was still in flux over keeping the Nikon system well that decision has been made i am out of Nikon but still have my lens mounts in case they come out with something better.
Hi Ron,Many thanks for this sample, Tim! This looks quite nice, actually. Most of the samples I've seen were taken at close range, and there was stronger contrast in the OOF areas than in your image. Was there any CA-removal applied to this image (either in-camera or in LR)? How about other corrections?
Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?Lloyd Chambers also complained about his copy of this lens being soft on the LEFT side. That's three lenses with the same issue. I'm done.:thumbdown:
Victor
I know I though about just getting a straight adapter but my Dremel took over me. Its done and works great. LOLGuy: I have two Nikon adapters. One for G lenses (an expensive Metabones), and a $10 one from Rainbow Imaging which appears to be surprisingly well made. I will use this one for my Zeiss and Voigtlander lens with F stop rings, and my old Nikkor AI lenses. Before operating on your adapter, try the $10 one....no kidding!
Dave in NJ
Heartily agree. The 28 is my go-to with my shooting style for every camera I have. I am very interested in this system, and I'm not afraid of adapters, but I need some more primes....I wish they did a 28 prime and this 55. Perfect setup
Just a quick run down on the fast Zeiss 85mms from yesteryear::shocked:
I thought it might be the same lens formula
This is such a great comment and spot on. Bravo!Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?
That's because Jim Carry is his UPS delivery man :ROTFL:Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?
I agree. As Reichmann said on LuLa, "I have a lot of respects for Lloyd and enjoy his site. But as with so many of his reports of late 'Me thinks he doth protest too much'."Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?