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A7 camera lens choices

Lamfeihong

New member
the newly introduced FE 35 1.4 at $1600 is a really steep price tag. and you have to wait to buy it. I opted for the e-mount 24mm 1.8 zies lens instead. you can buy the japanese version brand new on ebay for $750. Switching the a7 to crop mode, it essentially becomes a 35mm 1.8. the only downside is the pixel count goes down to about 15mp. For me 15mp is plenty fine as I don't usually print my pictures anyways. Maybe an option to consider
 

jfirneno

Member
Thanks for the link.

I like Steve' delivery (with its over enthusiasm and all) better than these parakeets repeating the full name of the lens several times in a short clip.
I agree that Steve Huff is fun to watch. But I always take his reports with a large grain of salt. He loves a lot of new stuff and then moves on to the next great thing. If anyone bought everything that Steve recommends as "great" bankruptcy would surely follow.

Regards,
John
 

jfirneno

Member
Choices

Well I pre-ordered the 28mm and the 35mm. I have to confess I'm afraid I might still end up buying the 16-35 zoom, but I can't resist primes. I don't even want to think about the macro yet. I'm hoping that I'll come to my senses before I cross that bridge.

Regards,
John
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
the newly introduced FE 35 1.4 at $1600 is a really steep price tag. and you have to wait to buy it. I opted for the e-mount 24mm 1.8 zies lens instead. you can buy the japanese version brand new on ebay for $750. Switching the a7 to crop mode, it essentially becomes a 35mm 1.8. the only downside is the pixel count goes down to about 15mp. For me 15mp is plenty fine as I don't usually print my pictures anyways. Maybe an option to consider
The crop mode in the A7R yields 15mp and 10mp in the A7/A7v2 so that's a huge difference to some.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
the newly introduced FE 35 1.4 at $1600 is a really steep price tag. and you have to wait to buy it. I opted for the e-mount 24mm 1.8 zies lens instead. you can buy the japanese version brand new on ebay for $750. Switching the a7 to crop mode, it essentially becomes a 35mm 1.8. the only downside is the pixel count goes down to about 15mp. For me 15mp is plenty fine as I don't usually print my pictures anyways. Maybe an option to consider
Agree it will let light in as a f1.4 lens, but dof wise it will act like a 36/2.0 lens when cropped to APS-C. Small DOF is usually not used a lot with wide angles, but that can also make a difference to some. And if you really want small/light I would buy a crop body with it. At least the pixel count will be higher vs. the FF in crop mode.

Btw, I used that 24/1.8 on my NEX5 when I borrowed it from a friend for a day, it's a stellar performer, but doubt it can rival the new 35/1.4 when used on a FF body.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Maybe it's me but the 24-240 actually doesn't look too bad based on the samples. Looks like it loses a bit of contrast on the long end but it's still perfectly acceptable for a 10X superzoom that'll be a travel lens.
 

ggibson

Well-known member
Eh, I didn't think the 24-240 looked all that good @240 on the Mt Fuji shot. Maybe it's just because I'm peeping all of the primes at the same time, but the superzoom looked quite soft. The focal range is awesome though so I'll want to see a comparison to the 70-200 and superzooms for other systems before passing judgement.

The 28/2 looked really good to me, even wide open. The size and price are both right on this one. I bet APS-Cers will be scooping this guy up over the 24/1.8 now.

The 35/1.4 was kind of disappointing actually. It seems quite good stopped down, but the cat shot is not as sharp as I would have expected. It also has some coma in the corners on the night shot (@f1.4).

The 90/2.8 macro looks like the sharpest of the bunch, which I would expect of a macro lens. Actually, it has me a bit interested, despite the size.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Eh, I didn't think the 24-240 looked all that good @240 on the Mt Fuji shot. Maybe it's just because I'm peeping all of the primes at the same time, but the superzoom looked quite soft. The focal range is awesome though so I'll want to see a comparison to the 70-200 and superzooms for other systems before passing judgement.

The 28/2 looked really good to me, even wide open. The size and price are both right on this one. I bet APS-Cers will be scooping this guy up over the 24/1.8 now.

The 35/1.4 was kind of disappointing actually. It seems quite good stopped down, but the cat shot is not as sharp as I would have expected. It also has some coma in the corners on the night shot (@f1.4).

The 90/2.8 macro looks like the sharpest of the bunch, which I would expect of a macro lens. Actually, it has me a bit interested, despite the size.
Yeah I wouldn't expect the superzoom to give the same performance as the 70-200 but I think it does decently well for what it is. As for the 35 Distagon I thought it to be rather good when it comes to character wide open although the cat for a subject was rather unimpressive. I don't shoot particularly for the sharpest corners to the edge though so I'm not looking for this to be a landscape lens although I'd expect from f/4 on that it could do that very well.
 

ggibson

Well-known member

jfirneno

Member
Something the Sigma spokesman said in the same interview really caught my attention. He mentioned that after seeing Canon issue an 11-24 zoom with excellent IQ that Sigma is considering issuing an 11mm or 12mm to 24mm zoom in their ART series of lenses. I would love to be able to get a super sharp ultra-wide in e-mount (or at worst A-mount).
 

ggibson

Well-known member
Not just a spokesman for Sigma--he's the CEO! Quite refreshing to hear his insights. I'm really pleased that Sigma's done so well in the last few years since he took over.
 

jfirneno

Member
Not just a spokesman for Sigma--he's the CEO! Quite refreshing to hear his insights. I'm really pleased that Sigma's done so well in the last few years since he took over.
Me too. I'd always heard that Sigma had a pretty hit and miss quality control situation. But the three Sigma lenses I've owned (12-24 zoom, 16mm fish-eye and 180 mm macro) were all fine instruments and behaved optically and mechanically as expected. The fact that they've upped their game is definitely a welcome development.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Re: Sigma is changing their tune

YES! Bring on the lenses, Sigma! Small, affordable primes, please.
I wouldn't call the Sigma primes small. They are relatively affordable but small they usually are not... At least not their premium offerings.
 

ggibson

Well-known member
It was more of a request for small affordable primes, not a description of their current offerings :) I'm hopeful that they're not going to just port their current full-frame DSLR designs to FE. That would NOT meet my definition of "small"!
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
It was more of a request for small affordable primes, not a description of their current offerings :) I'm hopeful that they're not going to just port their current full-frame DSLR designs to FE. That would NOT meet my definition of "small"!
Ahhh gotcha... Yeah I hope someone makes them too for people although the Loxia's seem pretty small.
 

Steve P.

New member
NEX users seem very happy with the Sigma E-mount primes. Small, affordable and, by all accounts, decent quality. Maybe Sigma might choose to replicate that success for FE mount?
 
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