The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

A7 and A7r owners. Are we having fun yet.

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I hope all of you read my front page article by now and if not you better get on it. LOL

Just kidding but the article really leads to this new question here are we having fun. Im having a blast with this dang thing as it is not only fun to shoot its deadly accurate in a lot of ways. Now i realize we are with a generation 1 product and some firmware and changes need to be made no question. But I have not really hit that wall that happens sometimes as I seem to get around any real issues with shooting.

Anyway i thought this is be a amusing thread and if not thats okay too.
 

f64

New member
I completely agree. I am having a lot of fun with my A7, though I might be happier with a A7R who knows.
But I am prejudiced: I always hated large, heavy DSRL, and my first serious digital was a NEX 5 (film does not count, but it was a Canon FT/b which is slightly larger than my A7).
A7 is a definite improvement over the NEX but not really a cultural shock as it must be for others.
 

petetsai

Member
Just back from Fashion Week having used the A7r with 24-70 f4 FE, 70-200G with LAEA4, and 55mm f1.8 FE lenses combined with a few shots using a 50mm f1.2 nikkor and 90mm f2.8 Contax G. I had fun for the most part with the A7r, a few challenges here and there that with time will be worked out.
 

nostatic

New member
I am having more fun shooting the A7 than I have with any camera in quite some time. That said, I do sometimes lust for the A7r, especially since I picked up a used RX1r that produces slightly better files than the A7.

What I really want is an A7r with a leaf shutter. Game over at that point...
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
Guy, my short answer to "are we having fun yet?" Is yes.

We had so much fun in Jackson Hole with Sandys new 7r that I decided to get one as well.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Well, as I've said before, my intent for this camera was to get some use out of my prized Leica R and Nikkor lenses. I chose the A7 as I suspected that it would be an easier match to these old lenses than the A7r. I've now tested almost all of my lenses and am very pleased with the optics-to-sensor match.

So, for me it is a Leicaflex SL digital surrogate.

Overall, I think it's a clunky design without a lot of refinement, but the viewfinder and sensor are very good. It has just enough customization that I can use it the way I wanted and the controls work well for my purposes now.

Frankly, with the Leica R and Nikkor lenses hanging on the front of it, it becomes one of the best shooting camera I've got. The files I get out of it are excellent—finely detailed, very editable, good base color, etc. The viewfinder, focusing aids, and metering system are spot on. I've seen none of the things I hear people complaining about on 'The Noisy Place.' It is a pleasure to focus, set exposure, frame, and shoot with ... So far, I haven't been able to think of much to improve it beyond what it's got already for the scope of how I want to use it. Most of the "wanted" firmware updates have to do with features that I neither need nor care about.

Is this fun? I guess it is. The Sony A7 was an impulse purchase that's cost me a couple of grand, yet the photos it's enabling me to make are worth whatever it takes. I love using my R lenses with it, they're just fantastic. It's all good. :)

G

"Equipment is transitory. Photographs endure."
 

dchew

Well-known member
I too am having a blast! I think this is the perfect companion for a tech camera, and it is just so much fun experimenting with virtually any lens.

Dave
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
What I need now is an adapter for my MF lenses....then I'd own nothing that could not be fitted to the a7r!

Right now I can use Leica M, Voigtlander M mount, Yashica 42 screw mount, Corfield 39 screw mount, my A mount lenses and of course the EF.

But my Phase lenses.....too bad!
 

jfirneno

Member
I hope all of you read my front page article by now and if not you better get on it. LOL

Just kidding but the article really leads to this new question here are we having fun. Im having a blast with this dang thing as it is not only fun to shoot its deadly accurate in a lot of ways. Now i realize we are with a generation 1 product and some firmware and changes need to be made no question. But I have not really hit that wall that happens sometimes as I seem to get around any real issues with shooting.

Anyway i thought this is be a amusing thread and if not thats okay too.
Guy:
Very interesting article. Yeah I'm having fun. Looking over the other replies on this thread I'm interested to see several different angles on what the A7s provide. Size, technical advantages (magnification, peaking, LCD angling), ability to adapt your favorite other system lenses. Sony has definitely gotten its foot in the door this time. You don't even have to give up your other system. It seduces you by a reasonable entry cost and now they've even produced at least one stellar lens (FE 55). Sony being Sony, they will certainly commit at least one forehead slapping atrocity every three months that will raise howls among the faithful and infidels alike but I'm ready to see where they go with this FE experiment. The LAEA adapters work well and give me access to some very decent and reasonably priced lenses. That should keep me happy until they can fill out the lens lineup.

Regards,
John
 

turtle

New member
Oh, yes. Its a belter (well, they both are actually). I've started writing up comments on the A7 and A7R on my blog (The Photo Fundamentalist) and will continue to do so.

Sure, they have their glitches, but they are not only fun, they are supremely pro-worthy tools. Fun tools capable of the finest IQ in the FF format... Brilliant, brilliant tools for light traveling documentary/travel/field work and much more.
 

gurin

New member
I have had the A7 for a couple of weeks. I bought a body only and a Konica adapter. It was the only adapter they had in store that I could use with my modest lens collection, so I have only used my Hexanons. It has been immensely fun to use the lenses as intended by the makers. I am amazed at the quality these old lenses give on the A7. The 35 2.8, 50 1.7, 85 1.8 and 135 3.5 are a lot better than I have been led to believe by my use on m4/3.

I am waiting for OM and C/Y adapters. I am really looking forward to use my Contax collection.
 

philip_pj

New member
It's a wonderful camera, the kind that makes me want to shoot more just for the pleasure of the experience. Like some here, I had an a99 which Sony has improved on in most key respects. For those wondering, try to shoot a set of images in a shop a7r to quell any remaining qualms about it. I'm here in Tibet right now, altitude makes it hard to sleep deeply so I find myself dreaming about an FE 25mm and 85mm to go with the IQ of the FE 55. LOL. Once set up - thanks to so many here - it seems to be very close to a perfect travel / doco camera..
 

dchew

Well-known member
...Sure, they have their glitches, but they are not only fun, they are supremely pro-worthy tools. Fun tools capable of the finest IQ in the FF format... Brilliant, brilliant tools for light traveling documentary/travel/field work and much more.
That's really it. Wanna have fun? Wanna be serious? Wanna produce for a client a la Guy? This thing can do it in a pinch.

It takes on the character of the lens you install. For the first time in a while I feel like I am shooting with a lens, not with a camera.

Dave
 

fotografz

Well-known member
It's a wonderful camera, the kind that makes me want to shoot more just for the pleasure of the experience. Like some here, I had an a99 which Sony has improved on in most key respects. For those wondering, try to shoot a set of images in a shop a7r to quell any remaining qualms about it. I'm here in Tibet right now, altitude makes it hard to sleep deeply so I find myself dreaming about an FE 25mm and 85mm to go with the IQ of the FE 55. LOL. Once set up - thanks to so many here - it seems to be very close to a perfect travel / doco camera..
Only gear knuckle heads dream of lenses. I dream of being 25 again, and a Sports Illustrated model is madly infatuated with me. :ROTFL:

Having fun? Hmmm.

Yeah, sure … what's not to have fun with? It's a "dinky-do camera" that begs to tag along with you like a puppy.

I don't get all "shot in the rump" with anything until I produce something I REALLY like with it … nothing to do with the gear per se, just a superstitious criteria. Hasn't really happened yet. Close, but no cigar.

To be fair, I've been stuck in the house due to the ferocious winter weather and doing freelance ad work … and only really used the A7R for one job in Miami. If I shoot one more image in my house I'll kill myself. ;)

Frankly, I don't have my processing down yet either. I have a problem getting the "snap, crackle and pop" I like with cameras that have oodles of DR like this one. However, the color rendering and skin tones are excellent pretty much right out of the camera … just like my A900 and A99.

Planning a trip to the Gulf coast beginning of March, just for goofing around and shooting. That'll help.

Favorite lens on the A7R so far? … the FE55 is great, but I like the Noctilux better. Favorite A mount lens so far is the ZA24/2. Extremely fast focusing using the LAEA4 adapter. Still pretty small package.

Most stuff I've done so far has been with the FE35/2.8. Good as it is, the jury is still out on that lens. Can't fault the acuity, but not in love with the character. All though, it's so dang small with the convenience of AF, it stays on the camera most of the time.

Not liking what I've read about the FE24-70/4 so far. That is a key lens for this kit to work as a primary tool for me. Remains to be seen.

This little Sony gear needs a smaller articulated TTL flash IMO. Still need fill flash in certain lighting conditions, despite its excellent ISO performance.

- Marc
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Yeah, Marc, I heard it this way:

Journalist: Did you ever in your wildest dreams think you'd make it to the final four?
Coach: Son, my wildest dreams aren't about basketball.

But since we're discussing cameras and photography - I've read a lot about what wide angle RF lenses do and don't work with the A7(r), and it doesn't look good for my favorite lens this side of tech cameras, the 28 Cron, but what *is* a jewel in this focal length? I don't mind stopping down if it will get good detail and color to the corners.

Thanks,

Matt
 
Top