mass

[fotografz]

Doug, If you survey the past there are a number of excellent lenses that are surprisingly small and light weight, but have a beautiful draw to them.

I recall an old Leica R 70-210 zoom that Leica spec'ed and Minolta built for them that was shockingly good, specifically the color rendering. Not that you'd use one, but it is just an example. I have a mint Canon 70-210/4 I'm going to adapt to my Sony A7R myself.

I'm not sure I'd give up that Leica 60mm Macro to save 160g. If I recall correctly very few lenses could match certain versions of that 60mm.

I can tell you that the A mount Sony/Zeiss lenses adapted using the LE-AE adapter doesn't save much … it is the lenses that make up the majority of the bulk anyway. I much prefer using them on my A99 which handles better than any of the A7 cameras.

BTW, when I mentioned that I do not like the rendering of the Sony A7/A7R I meant the sensor rendering with ANY lens on it. The discussion regarding DR is one reason, and another I speculatively attribute to Sony's compressed RAW out-put, or whatever they are doing to the file out-of-camera.

- Marc

 

[Vivek]

More cameras are listed in this page:

http://home.comcast.net/~NikonD70/Charts/DXOPDR.htm

Thanks, Ario!

I was curious about the monoblock Leica T vs the NEX-5N.

 

[iiiNelson]

FWIW I'd second that you rent the camera for yourself and come to your very own conclusions. We can only ever offer our biased and subjective advice based one what we do.

I've moved to the Sony FE system from Leica M9's due to the fact that I couldn't get with the rendering and color of the M240. Mind you this was within the first few months they were released and I haven't touched one with the firmware updates since then.

The point is that whether or not the FE cameras are/can be a proper DMR replacement for you is all subjective. You just have to try it out under your normal conditions. I found that for me the IQ ceiling I got was a lot higher than the M9 but it took some slightly different processing techniques. As previously stated the menus take some getting used to but once the camera is set up and you have the quick functions how you'd like then you really only ever need to dive in them to format an SD card on a normal basis.

I don't know what RAW processor you use but Capture One Pro or Capture One for Sony helps me get the desired results faster but it's as user unfriendly as a RAW processor can be initially. If size isn't a issue there are a few native FE lenses worth considering if the Zeiss look is agreeable with you. If not then your Leica R lenses will function as designed. I think the A7II is the best all around camera in the system right now but who knows what's around the corner - it is Sony.

Most importantly I think we are all looking forward to you sharing your experience and some of your wildlife shots here.

 

[Vivek]

Most importantly I think we are all looking forward to you sharing your experience and some of your wildlife shots here.

+1

It will be awesome to see Doug's delightful bird shots here.

 

[doug]

The one caution I'd give is that I find the camera body to be too small for good handling with larger and/or heavier SLR lenses. The adapters are about an inch thick (for SLR lenses), so you're putting those nice heavy lenses out on a lever.

Thanks, that's important to keep in mind. Most likely I'll have a 55 macro lens and a wildlife lens on a shoulder stock so it may not become an issue for me. But handy to keep in mind.

 

[doug]

Doug, If you survey the past there are a number of excellent lenses that are surprisingly small and light weight, but have a beautiful draw to them.

Agreed! One imaging quality I'm specifically looking for is an absence of longitudinal chromatic and spherochromatic aberration. These appear as green and magenta fringes on higher-contrast objects in the foreground & background. Lateral chromatic aberration is mostly software-fixable but the longitudinal and spherochromatic require tedious hand masking and selective desaturation to make it look OK. The 280mm f/4 APO is outstanding in this respect. I've identified a couple of older lenses that look like they have little or no fringing, don't weigh or cost too much, and can be adapted to the a7 bodies. The IBIS of the a7II means I can use lighter support instead of the Series 5 Gitzo. The 280 APO won't need a new home but it will see a lot fewer of the longer hikes.

I'm not sure I'd give up that Leica 60mm Macro to save 160g. If I recall correctly very few lenses could match certain versions of that 60mm.

I'll sell one of the two I have and the other will be a truck/yard/short hike lens. Last summer's backpacking trip at 11,000' elevation with a 60 lb backpack convinced me 'tis better to carry a good camera than to leave a great camera behind.