Sony A7RII with vintage lenses - what to expect ?

[f6cvalkyrie]

Hi, I wanted to ask you specialists for advice on this :

I have a nice collection of some 60 vintage lenses from different manufacturers : Nikkor, Carl Zeiss Jena, Kilfitt, c-mount, etc ...
I use them on my E-M1 and am reasonably happy with the results. Of course, the small µ4/3 captures only the center of the image circle ...
Now I'm looking if I can upgrade to FF, and the A7RII, as a mirrorless camera with IBIS and adapters readily available seems to be a good choice.

But, will those lenses be good enough for the 42 MPix sensor ?
Anybody tried that yet ?

TIA for all info !

Rafael

 

[Jim DE]

Rafael, I cannot speak for other legacy glass other than ContaxG2 glass. My results with CG glass under 45mm was similar to that of the NEX7(which were unacceptable in the corners). Even my 45mmCG did well with clarity but IMO is lost a bit from what I was used to on the NEX series camera in the area of contrast and color(though easily corrected in post processing).

To be honest I own the 16-35 FE and the 55mm FE OEM glass and like and use these in preference to the CXG 45mm and under legacy glass. My only CG glass still in the kit is the 90mm and as soon as I can afford the 90mm FE macro it too will be put back in my Contax G2 camera kit along with the 21, 28, 35, 45mm lenses. I find the OEM FE glass working much better overall than this fine line of Zeiss legacy glass.

 

[iiiNelson]

Hi, I wanted to ask you specialists for advice on this :

I have a nice collection of some 60 vintage lenses from different manufacturers : Nikkor, Carl Zeiss Jena, Kilfitt, c-mount, etc ...
I use them on my E-M1 and am reasonably happy with the results. Of course, the small µ4/3 captures only the center of the image circle ...
Now I'm looking if I can upgrade to FF, and the A7RII, as a mirrorless camera with IBIS and adapters readily available seems to be a good choice.

But, will those lenses be good enough for the 42 MPix sensor ?
Anybody tried that yet ?

TIA for all info !

Rafael

I used old Contax Yashica Zeiss lenses on the A7R and A7 for awhile. They work well but they were SLR designs. They won't out resolve the sensor more than likely but they should give you the same character as they would on a 35mm camera.

 

[Vivek]

I agree with Tre. Regardless of the badge, the old SLR variety is bound to be a bit better than tbe RF ones. None would be as good as the FE munt lenses.

C-mount is ruled out. None would cover the FF.

Generally, I would recommend stepping up from m43 to FF.

Go for it, Rafael!

 

[ICHBINSpunktDE]

Depends on your lenses. The A7RII won't polish poop, you should be aware of that... it's more likely to exploit any weak spot of any lens.

As you've already got 60 lenses, why not get some adapters and rent an A7RII for a weekend of testing? You'd get a very good idea of what to expect and some retailers will refund you at least parts of the rental fee if you're buying the camera after that.

Let us know, if you find an undiscovered gem

 

[Michiel Schierbeek]

Hi Rafael,

I can't say anything about the A7rII but I still enjoy a lot of the old lenses I have on the A7r and I expect them to be fun on the A7rII as well.
Contax, Leica, Zeiss jena's, Canon FD, Jupiter's, OM, Minolta and Nikon will still be very useful.
And IBIS for your long lenses like your Em1. It will be a joy to find out how your lenses perform on the Sony.
Anyway you will enjoy full frame which does make a difference. As Vivek said, no C mount though.

See you in the Sony department

 

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Lenses made for SLRs are OK, with rangefinder lenses your mileage may vary.

Best regards
Erik

Hi, I wanted to ask you specialists for advice on this :

I have a nice collection of some 60 vintage lenses from different manufacturers : Nikkor, Carl Zeiss Jena, Kilfitt, c-mount, etc ...
I use them on my E-M1 and am reasonably happy with the results. Of course, the small µ4/3 captures only the center of the image circle ...
Now I'm looking if I can upgrade to FF, and the A7RII, as a mirrorless camera with IBIS and adapters readily available seems to be a good choice.

But, will those lenses be good enough for the 42 MPix sensor ?
Anybody tried that yet ?

TIA for all info !

Rafael

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Hi,

Lenses made for SLRs are OK, with rangefinder lenses your mileage may vary.

Best regards
Erik

Thank you for this info, good news because almost all my lenses are SLR ...
Now, I need to find a place to rent an A7RII ...

C U,
Rafael

 

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I forgot to say. A good lens would work fine with a 42 MP sensor stopped down to f/5.6 - f/8. Corners are often weak. A lens that was not so great with film will not be great on a high res sensor.

The problem with many rangefinder lenses are that light from the lens hits the sensor at large beam angles. This causes astigmatism in the cover glass but can also lead to vignetting and crosstalk (contamination of colours). SLR lenses are built so there is room for the mirror between the sensor/film and the lens, and this reduces the beam angle. So SLR lenses -> no problem with sensor.

Best regards
Erik

Thank you for this info, good news because almost all my lenses are SLR ...
Now, I need to find a place to rent an A7RII ...

C U,
Rafael

 

[hakkalo]

Hi Rafael,

I can't say anything about the A7rII but I still enjoy a lot of the old lenses I have on the A7r and I expect them to be fun on the A7rII as well.
Contax, Leica, Zeiss jena's, Canon FD, Jupiter's, OM, Minolta and Nikon will still be very useful.
And IBIS for your long lenses like your Em1. It will be a joy to find out how your lenses perform on the Sony.
Anyway you will enjoy full frame which does make a difference. As Vivek said, no C mount though.

See you in the Sony department

C mount lens can be modified to use on FF :grin:
This image was shot with modified C mount movie lens . A Swiss made Kern-Pillard Yvar 75mm F2.8