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My Sony Lens kit after 5 months

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Opposite thoughts. No way I will be buying back into a M style cam . Too much money for no real gain. It will not do jobs and right now I'm not retiring anytime soon. I just shot and one more day left a convention here in Phoenix mostly stills and some video. Both cams in use and they are doing a great job except on video I wish I had the new S the lighting in these break out rooms is almost pitch black I could really use the high ISO on it. One thing I have noticed lighting levels to save money and energy has dropped the output. The show floor is ISO 1600 at around 5.6 with maybe 1/60 of a second. Other than that doing a great job and I'm starting to like these Sonys. Honestly I'm over everything else and I see no new anything worth any tech upgrade from anyone in 35 than Sony.
 

Chuck Jones

Subscriber Member
Opposite thoughts. No way I will be buying back into a M style cam . Too much money for no real gain. It will not do jobs and right now I'm not retiring anytime soon. I just shot and one more day left a convention here in Phoenix mostly stills and some video. Both cams in use and they are doing a great job except on video I wish I had the new S the lighting in these break out rooms is almost pitch black I could really use the high ISO on it. One thing I have noticed lighting levels to save money and energy has dropped the output. The show floor is ISO 1600 at around 5.6 with maybe 1/60 of a second. Other than that doing a great job and I'm starting to like these Sonys. Honestly I'm over everything else and I see no new anything worth any tech upgrade from anyone in 35 than Sony.
VERY strange we converge again Guy, but I am 100% on board with you on this. I am selling off everything else, and going 100% Sony as soon as possible. After getting the chance to shoot the A7S, all of my former impossible haunts in low light clubs late at night now become not only possible, but a virtual certainty. How can I say no to that?

I'm down for the count, hat in the ring. Bring 'em on Sony!
 
Jono, Ashwin, and Mark, you're only about 1/2 step ahead of me. I originally bought A7 to use with M lenses, supplementing M9 when I needed higher ISOs. I even thought I could sell my Luxes and get by with Crons, because of Sony's higher ISOs. But I soon I found myself singing in the A7/M chorus of disappointment. Since then I've been on an unsatisfying quest for the 'right' lenses (now, IMO, Leica R &/or C/Y Zeiss).

But it dawned on me – only yesterday! – that for all the time wasted on this, I could just buy a used M240, use it at 1600 when necessary, and be done with Sony lens quests/tests.

For now on A7, I'm using mostly 40 Summicron; also 28 M mount Hexanon, 35 CV 1.2, and 50 pre-asph Lux. All of these cover the corners, and I don't see/use either very wide or very telly. I own the 35FE, but it's too 'clinical' for my taste, which was shaped by older M lenses.

It's an odd way to 'simplify,' but I may finally switch to M240 and start using 28 Cron and 35 FLE again in available light.
 

Luvwine

New member
Right now I have the following:

WATE
Leica R 28/2.8
Zeiss FE 35/2.8
CV 35/1.2
Zeiss FE24-70
Zeiss FE 55 1.8
Leica M 90/2 Apo

I have the 70-200/4 on order and am trying to resist picking up a M 75 Lux.

Debating about keeping the R 28/2.8

I reluctantly sold my M 50 Lux as I was not using it enough to keep it.
 

philip_pj

New member
The low light is very interesting indeed. My regular bottom settings are ISO 6400, 1/60s and f1.8 - LV 2. The colour and tones are pretty decent at ISO 6400. It opened a lot of new photography avenues, that even the a99 can't do.

The a7s tops out (Sony says) at ISO 409,600; the a7r top is ISO 25,600 - so four stops more. If this translates into our ISO 6400 noise levels being equal at ISO 51,200 that is a huge incentive for certain types of shooting where flash is forbidden (my situation) or undesirable (bars, clubs, family get togethers etc.) - even two stops would be big. Nothing looks better than soft lighting shot au naturel, Hollywood has been onto this for decades. ;-)

Sony will wear everyone down given a year or two of this. Maybe a 12MP RX1s will appear - for ultimate stealth?
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Opposite thoughts. No way I will be buying back into a M style cam . Too much money for no real gain. It will not do jobs and right now I'm not retiring anytime soon. I just shot and one more day left a convention here in Phoenix mostly stills and some video. Both cams in use and they are doing a great job except on video I wish I had the new S the lighting in these break out rooms is almost pitch black I could really use the high ISO on it. One thing I have noticed lighting levels to save money and energy has dropped the output. The show floor is ISO 1600 at around 5.6 with maybe 1/60 of a second. Other than that doing a great job and I'm starting to like these Sonys. Honestly I'm over everything else and I see no new anything worth any tech upgrade from anyone in 35 than Sony.
Guy, IMO you are a practical thinking pro, and while you like gear a lot, camera choices tend to be applied directly to need rather than cameras as "entertainment".

I'm still in that more practical mode of thinking also. When I finish my last wedding at year's end, it's the bigger 35mm stuff that'll go bye-bye as I will have less practical considerations to account for.

The A7R will stick around as long as I have a need for it … which I do not see diminishing anytime soon. No getting around it, the size/performance equation is the undeniable draw for me. Little bag, nice high-performance system in a nut-shell.

Plus, this is just the beginning. If the current Sony's don't enthrall, wait a while. Next Gen are coming sooner than later. It's the Sony way. I also see nothing coming from the other companies that'll stem this tide.

While I'm a die-in-the-wool Leica M rangefinder shooter, and for my purposes (even paying ones), a M is a consideration … I just can't hack those prices without some sort of practical return in IQ. I actually am profoundly dissapointed that the M240 IQ didn't please me … but that's the way it worked out. Fortunately, the M Monochrom came along to scratch that rangefinder itch:thumbs:

IMHO.

- Marc
 

retow

Member
I burned significantly more money going in and out of systems over the last four years than my M9 depreciated during the same period. I took delivery of the M240 two weeks ago and the A7r and M9 will go on sale soon. My take from the never ending search for "the perfect solution": The M system is costly, but in the end less expensive than anything else, at least for me.
 

Glina

New member
Hello All,

This is my first post on this forum, but I’ve been reading your valuable advice and looking at stunning photos for at least half a year. Thanks.

My current lens sets for the A7 are following:

Lightweight travel kit:
OM 24/2.8
FE 35/2.8
FE 55/1.8
Contax G 90/2.8

Bang for buck Zeiss kit:
C/Y 28/2.8
C/Y 50/1.4
C/Y 85/1.4
C/Y 135/2.8

Minolta A-mount lenses for my A850:
20/2.8, 28/2.0, 35/2.0, 50/1.4, 100/2.0, 200/2.8 APO + zooms 17-35G, 28-135/4-4.5, 28-75/2.8, 70-300G

And the odd Minolta W.Rokkor-SI 24/2.8 and Nikkor Ai 135/2.0 which are not a part of any kit, but will surely find their use.
 

Professional

Active member
So, as long it is still going on, i want more recommendations or help or suggestions or guide or whatever you call it about another lens to buy for Sony A7r, i just ordered FE 55mm 1.8 and Metabones adapter to use my Canon lens, but beside those two options, what else i should think about? The problem i shoot a lot landscapes as i said and nightshots and travel and some of street/people when travel, 55mm is great but it will not be that Whole-all usage lens anyway.
 
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