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Fun with A7S
- Thread starter G43
- Start date
ashwinrao1
Active member
Bay area sunset: 90 Elmar-C f/4 and A7S
hiepphotog
Member
Very nice series of cosplay pictures Ashwin
Another round of A7s and ZM15
Sandia Peak Tramcar
Up top
Phoenix Rising
Another round of A7s and ZM15
Sandia Peak Tramcar
Up top
Phoenix Rising
ashwinrao1
Active member
Stunning work! The last is incredible!
hiepphotog
Member
Thank you Ashwin!
I updated my Adobe DNG converter. Seems I had downloaded a too old version. I apologize having made so much noise about this.
I see no difference between ACR and Lightroom, which should also be the case. Same RAW developer engine.
I am looking at the first couple of prints now. The colors are better and more to my taste
I am pretty crazy about this shot Ashwin. Beside an almost 'painterish' look where the scene just oozes moody finesse, it also demonstrates the awesome DR the 7S poses.Bay area sunset: 90 Elmar-C f/4 and A7S
Perfect shot and perfect rendering for this scene. :thumbup:
ptomsu
Workshop Member
Hi Ashwin,Bay area sunset: 90 Elmar-C f/4 and A7S
this is pretty amazing! I like what I see and I am getting really interested in the A7s.
Might it be possible for you to write up some mini review? What would most of us interest I guess is:
1) AF performance - single, continuous - compared to A7
2) what about using FE glass
3) how does it work with Leica M glass - wide, normal, tele
4) Your findings WRT IQ at different ISO, how high is it ok to go
5) What about video
Would be very much appreciated, many thanks in advance
Peter
Peter, if you take a look at stevehuffphoto.com you'll find an excellent article by Ashwin on the A7s with M lenses. Well worth a read.
ptomsu
Workshop Member
I have felt this moment coming. I'll have to let the 7S leave the door again.
It is really a great camera in many ways, but somewhat it turned out to be less universal for me than I first thought. So better to let it go while it's still very new.
Should anyone here be interested leave a PM.
It is really a great camera in many ways, but somewhat it turned out to be less universal for me than I first thought. So better to let it go while it's still very new.
Should anyone here be interested leave a PM.
I swapped my A7r for a A7s after having read Ashwin`s article on Steve`s blog. It`s the best non Leica FF digital solution for m-mounts yet.
ashwinrao1
Active member
Thanks so much for your kind words, Gerner, Peter, Retow, and Steve. The article which I wrote is here
I have immensely enjoyed the A7s. As Retow mentioned, it's the best non Leica FF digital solution for M mounts to date, though there are compromises (for some). In general, I find that the camera
1. Does well with Leica M lenses. Only the 28 cron asph has performed "poorly" on the camera, and even it is usable for non-critical work where sharpness at the edges may not be as important. Everything else that I have thrown at it works well or is easily fixed in post processing using the lens vignetting correction tool in LR5.
2. Colors are solid; different palette than Leica's M9 and M240 (I prefer the look from the M9, personally, but it's a matter of taste). I find that it's quite easy to get the look that you want from A7s files with a bit of post processing
3. Dynamic range: To me, solid, better than my M bodies, but maybe not quite as good as the A7R or A7 in recovering shadows and highlights...
4. Silent shutter. Absolutely awesome feature. I use it for nearly all of my shooting, as it eliminates any shutter shake effect (the size and design of the bodies does not allow the present A7 bodies to be very well dampened to vibraation), and the silence makes photographed subjects not know when you are shooting, which can be helpful on the street. The silent shutter does not work well in low light scenes where fluorescent lights are at play, due to interference/banding effects due to the frequency of light interacting with the frequency of th eelectronic shutter.
5. ISO: yup, it's great. I have had no issues shooting through ISO 12,800 (though some detail and DR is lost at that ISO), and I have gotten usable shots through ISO 40,000+. I consider the A7s to be an "ISO-less" camera, in that I don't consider ISO to be a limiting factor any more for my style of shooting.
6. Using the Voigtlander VM-E mount adapter with close focus opens up now possibilities with close focus and macro work with the M...this is MARVELOUS, for those of you who like to do macro. I am re-discovering macro in this manner.
6. AF: Much better in low light, but not really revelatory. I have the 55 FE lens, which I enjoy, but don't use much ,as I can manually focus faster in low light (or really in all light). The 35 FE is supposedly a lot better, but I don't own it at this time.
All in all, I have found the A7s to be a revelatory camera. The combination of camera design (flip up LCD, EVF, M mount capacity, silent shutter, ISO performance, close focus with VM-E adapter) allows me to be creative and to shoot discretely in ways that were not possible before. Is it perfect? By no means...here are some things that could get better.
1. EVF: Solid, but there's room for improvement, particularly when using focus magnification and focus peaking in concert. Now that Zeiss is producing Manual Focus E mount lenses, I am hoping that Sony encorporates more design elements into future E mount bodies to maximize the utility of manual focus lenses
2. Megapixels. For me, the 18 megapixel range (m9, M monochrom) is a sweet spot, balancing quality of pixels and size of files. I would hope that future A8s or whatever they are called will increase MP counts without affecting ISO performance or M Mount lens utilization
3. M mount lenses. As mentioned, they work great on this body...really! but put the 28 cron on the body, and you'll see there's room for improvement. Hopefully Sony will recognize that these bodies could really stand to use smaller lenses, in which optical elements lie closer to the sensor, and design sensors that accomodate smaller lens design (i.e. rangefinder/retrofocus lenses)
4.Camera haptics. Sony cameras don't quite have the joy of handling as do other manufacturers (i.e. Fuji, Leica), and simple tweaks to camera button layout, grip, viewfinder placement, and menu structure could go a long way to making the cameras joyful to use for more people. I have many friends who love the quality of Sony files, but don't really like how the cameras operate. Sony may need to hire some Fuji thinkers to make things right, IMO
Okay, hopefully that "mini" review of my present thoughts helps some who are considering taking the plunge. My guess is that Sony doesn't have any major body announcements coming for photokina, but who knows. Even if they do, I have zero desire to upgrade or change, because the A7s is an outstanding photographic tool as is.
I have immensely enjoyed the A7s. As Retow mentioned, it's the best non Leica FF digital solution for M mounts to date, though there are compromises (for some). In general, I find that the camera
1. Does well with Leica M lenses. Only the 28 cron asph has performed "poorly" on the camera, and even it is usable for non-critical work where sharpness at the edges may not be as important. Everything else that I have thrown at it works well or is easily fixed in post processing using the lens vignetting correction tool in LR5.
2. Colors are solid; different palette than Leica's M9 and M240 (I prefer the look from the M9, personally, but it's a matter of taste). I find that it's quite easy to get the look that you want from A7s files with a bit of post processing
3. Dynamic range: To me, solid, better than my M bodies, but maybe not quite as good as the A7R or A7 in recovering shadows and highlights...
4. Silent shutter. Absolutely awesome feature. I use it for nearly all of my shooting, as it eliminates any shutter shake effect (the size and design of the bodies does not allow the present A7 bodies to be very well dampened to vibraation), and the silence makes photographed subjects not know when you are shooting, which can be helpful on the street. The silent shutter does not work well in low light scenes where fluorescent lights are at play, due to interference/banding effects due to the frequency of light interacting with the frequency of th eelectronic shutter.
5. ISO: yup, it's great. I have had no issues shooting through ISO 12,800 (though some detail and DR is lost at that ISO), and I have gotten usable shots through ISO 40,000+. I consider the A7s to be an "ISO-less" camera, in that I don't consider ISO to be a limiting factor any more for my style of shooting.
6. Using the Voigtlander VM-E mount adapter with close focus opens up now possibilities with close focus and macro work with the M...this is MARVELOUS, for those of you who like to do macro. I am re-discovering macro in this manner.
6. AF: Much better in low light, but not really revelatory. I have the 55 FE lens, which I enjoy, but don't use much ,as I can manually focus faster in low light (or really in all light). The 35 FE is supposedly a lot better, but I don't own it at this time.
All in all, I have found the A7s to be a revelatory camera. The combination of camera design (flip up LCD, EVF, M mount capacity, silent shutter, ISO performance, close focus with VM-E adapter) allows me to be creative and to shoot discretely in ways that were not possible before. Is it perfect? By no means...here are some things that could get better.
1. EVF: Solid, but there's room for improvement, particularly when using focus magnification and focus peaking in concert. Now that Zeiss is producing Manual Focus E mount lenses, I am hoping that Sony encorporates more design elements into future E mount bodies to maximize the utility of manual focus lenses
2. Megapixels. For me, the 18 megapixel range (m9, M monochrom) is a sweet spot, balancing quality of pixels and size of files. I would hope that future A8s or whatever they are called will increase MP counts without affecting ISO performance or M Mount lens utilization
3. M mount lenses. As mentioned, they work great on this body...really! but put the 28 cron on the body, and you'll see there's room for improvement. Hopefully Sony will recognize that these bodies could really stand to use smaller lenses, in which optical elements lie closer to the sensor, and design sensors that accomodate smaller lens design (i.e. rangefinder/retrofocus lenses)
4.Camera haptics. Sony cameras don't quite have the joy of handling as do other manufacturers (i.e. Fuji, Leica), and simple tweaks to camera button layout, grip, viewfinder placement, and menu structure could go a long way to making the cameras joyful to use for more people. I have many friends who love the quality of Sony files, but don't really like how the cameras operate. Sony may need to hire some Fuji thinkers to make things right, IMO
Okay, hopefully that "mini" review of my present thoughts helps some who are considering taking the plunge. My guess is that Sony doesn't have any major body announcements coming for photokina, but who knows. Even if they do, I have zero desire to upgrade or change, because the A7s is an outstanding photographic tool as is.
Ashwin.. love the post too on The Sony A7s Experience: Ongoing thoughts on a Fascinating Camera By Ashwin Rao | STEVE HUFF PHOTOS where I saw the images here on this site in a larger version. Cool.
The cityscape shot is stunning.
The cityscape shot is stunning.
I am in the twilight zone letting the A7s go or keep it because there are things that this camera does particular well: Fine art B&W. Despite its 12 MP resolving power, it produces extremely clean files and on some motives resolution does not count at the end of the day.
This image where shot at ISO 1600 which would show beginning noise on many high pixel count sensors. This quality alone is unique, but if it's worth 3000 Euro with a couple of lenses is...hmm?
Keep in mind this image only hold pixel information of 280 KB.
This image where shot at ISO 1600 which would show beginning noise on many high pixel count sensors. This quality alone is unique, but if it's worth 3000 Euro with a couple of lenses is...hmm?
Keep in mind this image only hold pixel information of 280 KB.
I think only you can make the decision if it is worth to you or not.
For me it was a no-brainer, it replaced the Leica M240. In my personal opinion the A7s is a superior camera at different levels to M240. Now it compliments the Leica M-E that I also purchased after selling the M240. I also have a full range of Leica M lenses which work beautifully with the A7s producing images that are Medium format quality at low ISOs and superb even in high ISOs. Tbh, I would not have purchased it, if I did not have the Leica lenses. Anyway you can wait till next week and see what lenses are being announced at Photokina and then make a decision.
Josh