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A7R - time to buy some glass!

jagsiva

Active member
I currently have the A7R and 35FE. It is a nice all-rounder with good performance, with the shortcomings that have been described very well by Tim on his blog - thanks for all that work Tim.

My main objective for this camera was a high-quality camera for travel. I felt I could finally use fast manual focus lenses with a great and practical solution for manual focussing via the EVF, peaking and magnification. So far, I can focus my Coastal Optics lens much better on this camera via the EVF than I can using the OVF on my D800E. So I am confident that I can manually focus fast lenses with a good degree of confidence. On the D800E, I only feel this way when using LV on the rear LCD. On the M9, I never felt confident but then again, I never got used to the RF focussing. Additionally, the EVF image, like the LV image is what is on the sensor, eliminating focus shift issues on most fast lenses.

Faster lenses also tend to be heavier, but range finder lenses are still a lot more compact when considering SLR lenses and the associated adapters.

So now to the point, and appreciate your thoughts. This is not my primary system, some compromises are acceptable:

1. CV 21 1.8 ASPH - fast, large, good build, appears not to have colour cast issues. Alternatives would be Zeiss 21mm or Leica 21/3.4 - both smaller, but with colour issues and certainly slower. WATE is an option, but much slower.

2. CV 35 1.2 II ASPH - I had the Lux 35FLE on my M9 and loved it. But this CV has some glowing reviews and is a lot cheaper.

3. CV 50 1.5 ASPH - this one is tougher, looks like a good match for the above 2 and good performance. The LUX 50 ASPH was one of my favourite lenses on the M9. Again, a lot more expensive.

4. CV 75 F1.8 or Summicron 90 APO. Again, I loved the Cron on my M9, but could never get focus right. The CV costs far less, but cannot get any info on performance. The CV is a little shorter than I'd like as well.

Would appreciate comments from anyone that have tried these on the A7R or other bodies. There are some reviews on Stevehuff, ReidReviews and Diglloyd I have read as well.

BTW, the CV lenses all appear to be retro-focus designs, and perhaps one of the reasons there are favourable experiences reported. I just have no personal experience with these.

Thanks for any help!
 

gerald.d

Well-known member
Wasn't familiar with the CV lenses (in fact, had no idea what CV stood for so had to Google it!).

Anyone know how the 12/5.6 performs on the A7r?

Kind regards,

Gerald.
 

gerald.d

Well-known member
Gerald, that one is a no go. When C1 supports A7R files, perhaps LCC will save the day, assuming there is not too much smearing in the corners. I had this lens on the M9, and it had severe casts there as well.

Some A7R samples here:

Sony A7r with Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 Test Sample Images |ThaiPhotos
Hmm. Doesn't look toooo bad compared to what I've seen with extreme shifts on some glass on the IQ180 - certainly would expect it to clear up with an LCC.

Lightroom does LCC correction (or something similar) too now though, yes? Would be interesting to see how it copes.

Many thanks for the prompt reply and the samples - much appreciated.

Kind regards,


Gerald.
 

Ron Pfister

Member
From my testing, I can't recommend the ZM 21 you mentioned as an alternative. Will require quite some work in post to look acceptable.

Here a list of compact SLR primes that I'm using on the A7R and I'm very happy with:

- Zeiss C/Y 2.8/28
- Leica-R 2/35 E55
- Leica-R 2/50 E55
- Zeiss C/Y 2.8/85

You could substitute the Leica lenses with the corresponding Zeiss C/Y offerings, and you'd have a very nice, light-weight and reasonably inexpensive kit.

Edit: I should add that with tis kit, you wouldn't have any purple or mushy corners - guaranteed. Also worth noting is the difference in minimum object distance between SLR and RF lenses. Depending on your style of shooting, that's a serious consideration.
 

jagsiva

Active member
- Zeiss C/Y 2.8/28
- Leica-R 2/35 E55
- Leica-R 2/50 E55
- Zeiss C/Y 2.8/85
Agree with you on the ZM21 based on samples I have seen. On the CY and Leica R lenses, are we not back to using larger adapters as well? The adapter I have for my Nikon glass adds over an inch, and the lenses of course are larger too.

I will look again at the specific lenses you have listed hear, thanks again.
 

Ron Pfister

Member
On the CY and Leica R lenses, are we not back to using larger adapters as well? The adapter I have for my Nikon glass adds over an inch, and the lenses of course are larger too.
True, but you only need one adapter for all these lenses (if you go for C/Y throughout), meaning that your kit stays very compact overall. And I have to say that ergonomically, I have grown to like that extra inch of distance between camera body and aperture/focusing ring a lot. For me, it's actually considerably better this way than on an SLR body, but I have fairly large hands.
 

jagsiva

Active member
Hmm. Doesn't look toooo bad compared to what I've seen with extreme shifts on some glass on the IQ180 - certainly would expect it to clear up with an LCC.

Gerald.
Gerald, after all that money we have thrown at tech cams and Rodie lenses, I'm sure dropping 700bucks on a CV12 would be worth the test. I am going to wait for C1 support first though. I don't want to go an learn another RAW converter, and from what I have seen, the LR process is a little more involved with various adjustments. I like the reference shot on a white card with C1 as it also fixes other things like dust.

Looking forward to how go things on your end. BTW, although bulky, I think your 24TSE also makes a great combo on the A7R.

Cheers,
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
The assumption I see everyone making with the A7 and A7r is that one should adapt Leica M mount lenses to them. Personally, I think this is less than optimal ... Until Sony/Zeiss has the dedicated lens line available to do the job best, I would adapt SLR lenses whenever practical as I have found, from my experience adapting lenses to digital bodies, they are generally a better performing adaptation.

The CV 21/1.8 and CV 35/1.2 are unique and may work well. If they didn't, well, the Zeiss FE lens available from Sony is probably excellent, and for a 21mm there are a lot of SLR choices although not as fast as f/1.8.

For fast 50mm and 90mm lens, however, I'd look for a Leica R Summicron or Summilux 50mm and a Summicron 90mm. These lenses are terrific quality, have the "Leica rendering signature" and sell for very reasonable prices.

That's what I'd do if I bought an A7/A7r while waiting for the Sony/Zeiss offerings to appear.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
The assumption I see everyone making with the A7 and A7r is that one should adapt Leica M mount lenses to them. Personally, I think this is less than optimal ... Until Sony/Zeiss has the dedicated lens line available to do the job best, I would adapt SLR lenses whenever practical as I have found, from my experience adapting lenses to digital bodies, they are generally a better performing adaptation.
Your opinion. My experience contradicts that.

M-Rokkors 28,40 and 90 make fabulous combo with the A7R but of course it will be way beneath the price point of this thread standards. :shocked:
 

gerald.d

Well-known member
Gerald, after all that money we have thrown at tech cams and Rodie lenses, I'm sure dropping 700bucks on a CV12 would be worth the test. I am going to wait for C1 support first though. I don't want to go an learn another RAW converter, and from what I have seen, the LR process is a little more involved with various adjustments. I like the reference shot on a white card with C1 as it also fixes other things like dust.

Looking forward to how go things on your end. BTW, although bulky, I think your 24TSE also makes a great combo on the A7R.

Cheers,
Agreed on all counts!

The 24TSE behaves extremely well on the a7r. I've not done any "proper" testing, but am happy with the snaps that have come out of the combo so far.

I can also recommend old Mamiya lenses via a Mirex T/S adapter (to Canon) for some fun and games :)

Kind regards,

Gerald.
 
I got the A7r last week and still have my stable of M lenses and a M240 to compare to. Sadly I only did one quick comparison before breaking my ankle on Monday leaving me unable to do anymore testing.

In my one quick test with the lens detection turned OFF on the M240 I found the wides to be fairly disappointing on the A7r. The CV12 was pretty bad, I'll try to post an example but the 21 SEM and 18 weren't great either (both from color shift, vignetting and edge resolution loss).

However, one bright spot has been the longer lenses. My 50 Noct has been glued to this camera for the last few days and its been incredible to use. Focusing is considerably easier and the results are gorgeous. I am tempted to pick up a 90 APO now...
 

jagsiva

Active member
I got the A7r last week and still have my stable of M lenses and a M240 to compare to. Sadly I only did one quick comparison before breaking my ankle on Monday leaving me unable to do anymore testing.
Aravind, when you start breaking bones, it is good indication of too much gear :) Hope you are better soon.

Diglloyd posted some samles on the SEM 21/24 and they have issues up into f11. This was my main reason at looking at the CV lenses. The Leica APO is a beautiful lens.
 
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