I won't part with my a6000. It's the ideal lens for stealthy street photography as it's so small and it's AF is first rate. It's also my go to lens for fast action/telephoto, where the superb AF and crop factor mean tighter shots.
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New A7II Users Reports
- Thread starter Guy Mancuso
- Start date
Hey G, it seems you are softening a bit on springing for the new camera.
Godfrey
Well-known member
No. I did not say I wouldn't get one, only that I'd wait out the early adopter time and wait for sometime next year if I did.Hey G, it seems you are softening a bit on springing for the new camera.
What's more important to me right now is figuring out what I really want to be working with, what photography I intend to pursue. I have far too much equipment for my comfort, and I will be cutting down the excess in the coming months.
In the meantime, I'm happy to sit on the sidelines and listen to the delight of others in the early adopter club—participating only as an enthusiastic witness for the present.
G
barjohn
New member
I am finding the A7II to be an overall excellent camera. I had tried the A7 and the A7r but I was disappointed in their AF performance. Both two slow and not always accurate (at least in my amateure hands). The A7II has fast AF, surprisingly fast given that Sony only claimed a 30% improvement. I find it beating my A6000. It is also very fast in low light. For example I just took a shot of a door knob in another room (it is getting dark here), the zoom was set to 70mm at f5.6 and the camera selected 1/50 at ISO 12,800 and it focused and shot as fast as I pressed the shutter button. I meant to stop at the 1/2 press to give it time to focus but inadvertently missed it and the image was in perfect focus. The loder A7 & A7r would have hunted for focus and maybe never found it.
Another thing is the IQ is definitely better than the A7. I'm not sure why either, unless the reduced camera shake handled by the IBIS causes the images to be just slightly sharper with a crisper quality.
Another thing is the IQ is definitely better than the A7. I'm not sure why either, unless the reduced camera shake handled by the IBIS causes the images to be just slightly sharper with a crisper quality.
Lightroom 5.7.1 with A7m2 support now available:
Mac - Adobe - Lightroom : For Macintosh : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1
Windows - Adobe - Lightroom : For Windows : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1
Now can't wait for LR 6 to be released (should be soon, I hope). Hoping for graphic card & CPU multi threading support, as LR is slower on the Retina iMac. Also hoping for context aware correction brushes.
Mac - Adobe - Lightroom : For Macintosh : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1
Windows - Adobe - Lightroom : For Windows : Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1
Now can't wait for LR 6 to be released (should be soon, I hope). Hoping for graphic card & CPU multi threading support, as LR is slower on the Retina iMac. Also hoping for context aware correction brushes.
barjohn
New member
I am finding the new version of LR works better than converting to DNG and processing in LR. Yesterday, I did a high ISO (12,500) conversion and tried to process it to look as good as the JPG and could not come close. Today, using LR directly I did a raw conversion and PP on a 12,500 ISO file and the JPG was not even close to looking as good. My JPGs are set to no NR. I also have tried with low NR which is sometimes a good compromise. However, the RAW files cleaned up pretty well and I was able to hold onto as much or more detail.
Just to be sure ... this is about the viewfinder, not the display on the back of the camera, correct?
yes
I beg to differ, Jono. A friend a I were out shooting on a rainy day, both with A7Rs. It was rainy abnd very damp, but certainly no downpour, else we would have found shelter. Both our cameras developped malfunctions, and we quit. Later, things righted themselves once they had dried out.
jonoslack
Active member
Hi There
you've taken me out of context. I was talking about the E-M1. I'm very aware that the A7 R/S aren't properly sealed. whether the A7ii is or not is less clear
jonoslack
Active member
Having said that the A7II seems to me the real first FE mount series cam which is getting interesting for me - and great thanks to all of you providing this information here! Will try and test as soon as it becomes available in Austria. Would make a great body for all my M glass
Tom has it here Peter; it's nice to use for longer M lenses (Noctilux is fun 75 'cron is lovely). For 35mm and less then it's not the best solution if you want to have sharp corners. On the other hand it does open up a whole world of excellent slr lenses (OM, Contax etc).
Having said that - some wide M lenses are fine for street and people pictures where you're not bothered about the corners, but personally I like to be able to stick a motif right in the corner of the frame - and even with 35mm M mount lenses this becomes an issue.
jonoslack
Active member
HI Steve
you may be right - on the other hand the press release linked above - and the fact that the battery and card door do look better sealed - suggests that they have at least tried to make it better . . .
V
Vivek
Guest
Sony will get some competition if Nikon enters the fray as rumored recently. This alone will force them to make better camera bodies with better shutters.
jonoslack
Active member
Silas and I did some tests with some other M lenses with some slightly surprising results:
Zeiss 28 f2.8 - is basically fine - no colour cast and sharp corners from f2.8 (as long as you take into account the curvature of field).
Voigtlander 15 f4 - surprisingly good - corners not great at f4, but it's perfectly usable by f8
Leica 35 f2 - again, the curvature of field (which is pretty big at 4 metres) can make results seem worse than they are - still, at f2 the corners aren't fantastic (nervous rather than smeary), but by f4 they're pretty good. The vast area of the image is stunningly sharp from f2 - lovely lens (I'm rather jealous - it isn't mine!).
I still think that if you want to shoot wide angle M lenses you may as well have done with it and get all the joys of the rangefinder - but this is suggesting that it would be quite feasible to use these lenses. As I said above - I like sticking subjects in corners, but that's not everyone's cup of tea. Perhaps Sony have done something to address the problem? Dunno.
Zeiss 28 f2.8 - is basically fine - no colour cast and sharp corners from f2.8 (as long as you take into account the curvature of field).
Voigtlander 15 f4 - surprisingly good - corners not great at f4, but it's perfectly usable by f8
Leica 35 f2 - again, the curvature of field (which is pretty big at 4 metres) can make results seem worse than they are - still, at f2 the corners aren't fantastic (nervous rather than smeary), but by f4 they're pretty good. The vast area of the image is stunningly sharp from f2 - lovely lens (I'm rather jealous - it isn't mine!).
I still think that if you want to shoot wide angle M lenses you may as well have done with it and get all the joys of the rangefinder - but this is suggesting that it would be quite feasible to use these lenses. As I said above - I like sticking subjects in corners, but that's not everyone's cup of tea. Perhaps Sony have done something to address the problem? Dunno.
jonoslack
Active member
Hi There Tom
I've not seen any signs of it causing a problem (we did try switching it on and off to look at corners in the M lens tests we did, and it didn't seem to matter).
No idea about tripods (what's a tripod?)
mbroomfield
New member
Good update Jono, thanks.
I'd be interested in how the 18mm Zeiss works if anyone has one. It's not so good on the A7r.
If the 15mm VC is reasonably good, then although wider than many would like/need, the 12mm should be better if it follows how they perform on the A7 and A7r. Also there's a new 15mm that's rumored to work better with short flange distances (announced at Photokina) due in Feb I think. I have a deposit down on one. I may have the A7II by then as well
Since there is some talk about lenses...
I also did some quick snaps on the A7 with 24-70 vs 16-35 Zeiss, all at f4.0
My 24-70 seems (clearly) better than 16-35 in the corners at 35mm,
at 28mm not much difference between the 2,
at 24mm the 16-35 beats the 24-70 in the corners, but just slightly (all at f4.0)-the 24-70 still seems acceptable. I had expected a bigger difference compared to the 16-35.
For me the 24-70 is ettential lens in the lineup.
I also did some quick snaps on the A7 with 24-70 vs 16-35 Zeiss, all at f4.0
My 24-70 seems (clearly) better than 16-35 in the corners at 35mm,
at 28mm not much difference between the 2,
at 24mm the 16-35 beats the 24-70 in the corners, but just slightly (all at f4.0)-the 24-70 still seems acceptable. I had expected a bigger difference compared to the 16-35.
For me the 24-70 is ettential lens in the lineup.