A7r, A7r2 - and why I'm keeping both ...

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 2

The Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1. 8 ZA was announced by Sony on October 16, 2013.
Mine arrived in June 2015.

Sony A7r2, i.e. ILCE-7RM2, Date First Available, June 10, 2015.
Mine arrived in August 2015, so about 2 months after the FE 55.

The Sony FE 90mm f/2.8-22 Macro G OSS SEL90M28G, Date First Available, March 1, 2015.
Mine arrived in August 2015, same as the A7r2.

The Sony FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS SEL70300G , Date First Available, March 31, 2016.
Mine arrived in July 2016.

Sony A9, i.e. ILCE-9, Date First Available, April 19, 2017.
Mine arrived in May 2017.

The Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5–5.6 GM OSS, Date First Available, April 19, 2017.
Mine arrived in August 2017, 3 months after the A9.

The Sony FE 400mm F2. 8 GM OSS was expected to arrive in the USA in September 2018.
Mine arrived in October 2019. :shocked: :loco: :banghead:

So, the gear arrived in this order at my place:

2015-06: FE 55
2015-08: A7r2
2015-08: FE 90

2016-07: FE 70-300

2017-05: A9
2017-08: FE 100-400

2019-10: FE 400

Next, how did I initially use my new tools? :facesmack: :grin: :clap:

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 3

Here are several images taken with the A7r + FE 55/1.8 ZA combination.

Sony ILCE-7R + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA (SEL55F18Z) @ 55 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-06-08 19:33:51.

Sony ILCE-7R + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA (SEL55F18Z) @ 55 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-06-08 19:41:59.

Sony ILCE-7R + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA (SEL55F18Z) @ 55 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 s, ISO 250, Date Taken 2015-06-08 19:47:47.

Sony ILCE-7R + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA (SEL55F18Z) @ 55 mm, f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 1250, Date Taken 2015-06-08 20:40:05.


Now a couple of images after the A7r2 arrived, same FE 55/1.8 ZA lens.

Sony ILCE-7RM2 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA (SEL55F18Z) @ 55 mm, f/4, 1/100 s, ISO 500, Date Taken 2015-08-21 20:02:36.

Sony ILCE-7RM2 + Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55 mm F1.8 ZA (SEL55F18Z) @ 55 mm, f/4, 1/100 s, ISO 25,600, Date Taken 2015-08-21 20:12:47.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 4

Now with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS combination.

Sunrise over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/2.8, 1/125 s, ISO 125.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 5

More images taken with A7r + FE 55/1.8 ZA.

Discarded Monkey Chair for Trash Pickup. :facesmack:

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 6

Now again with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS.

:salute:

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 7

Images from 2015.09.22 mostly shot with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS .

Hummingbirds seem afraid of Ants, Bees, Yellowjackets, Hornets, and especially Praying Mantises. Avoiding those critters enables Hummingbirds to stay alive. I have a pretty large number of these almost 5 year old images that show the interaction of a Hummingbird and a Praying Mantis. With the exception of 1 or 2 images, the rest of them I never worked on and posted before. So here goes... .

The Problem. :banghead:

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 s, ISO 250, Date Taken 2015-09-22 10:27:45.

Sony ILCE-7R + Leica-R 280mm F4.0 APO @ 280 mm, f/4?, 1/640 s, ISO 125, Date Taken 2015-09-22 12:06:44.

The Solution. :grin:

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 s, ISO 320, Date Taken 2015-09-22 10:26:37.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 8

More images from 2015.09.22 with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 s, ISO 2640-800-1000.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 9

Images from 2015.09.29 with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS.
Rio Bravo Dr. Distant Forest Fire Smoke. Hazy.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-09-27 11:44:01.

Power Line Repair.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/8, 1/400 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-09-27 11:49:39.

As we all know, A7r reveals lots of details when zooming in. :clap: :salute:

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 10

Images from 2015.08.31 with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS.
A Weather From is moving through.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/11, 1/100 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-08-31 18:28:45.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-08-31 18:54:30.

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 s, ISO 100, Date Taken 2015-08-31 19:19:55.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Images shot today! :grin:

Given ...

FE 70-300 854 g (1.88 lb) MFD - Min focus 0.90 m (35.43″)
FE 100-400 1395 g (3.08 lb) MFD - Min focus 0.98 m (38.58″)
FE 200-600 2115 g (4.66 lb) MFD - Min focus 2.40 m (94.49″)
FE 400/2.8 2895 g (6.37 lb) MFD - Min focus 2.70 m (106.3″)

exploiting the excellent MFD of the Sony FE 100-400 mm lens.

Sony ILCE-9 + FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS + 1.4x TC @ 560 mm, f/11, 1/2000 s, ISO 8,000-10,000, Date Taken 2020-06-10 13:17:58-59.

The images are 6,000x4,000 pixel, so un-cropped. :salute:

 

[Shac]

Karl-Heinz - If it's of interest for close focusing with the 100-400, try it with a Canon 500D 77mm close-ups lens. Seems to work very well. Just not as useful with the 1.4x converter on the FE lens though - depth of field is way too shallow. Sorry for the uninspiring subjects.

All 3 images below with Canon close-up lens, at closest focus distance and at 400mm focal setting. No cropping no sharpening.

1) No 1.4X converter shot at f7.1

2) with 1.4x converter shot at f10

3) with 1.4x converter showinf shallow depth of field shot at f10

 

[k-hawinkler]

Karl-Heinz - If it's of interest for close focusing with the 100-400, try it with a Canon 500D 77mm close-ups lens. Seems to work very well. Just not as useful with the 1.4x converter on the FE lens though - depth of field is way too shallow. Sorry for the uninspiring subjects.

All 3 images below with Canon close-up lens, at closest focus distance and at 400mm focal setting. No cropping no sharpening.

1) No 1.4X converter shot at f7.1

2) with 1.4x converter shot at f10

3) with 1.4x converter showinf shallow depth of field shot at f10

Many thanks Shac for the pointer. I have to look into that. :thumbs: :salute:

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 11

Now some images from 2017.05.31 with A9+Extension Tubes+70-300f4.5-5.6 FE G OSS.

Following are un-cropped 6,000x4,000 pixel images.

Sony ILCE-9 + VELLO 16+10=26 mm EXT-SFED FE/E Extension Tubes + FE 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G OSS @ 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 s, ISO 2,500-5,000.

 

[Shac]

K-H - as you well know using a Achromatic close-up lens has the advantage of no light loss unlike extension tubes. Maybe not as "flat-field, but that doesn't often matter with many 3-D subjects.
Have fun
David

 

[k-hawinkler]

K-H - as you well know using a Achromatic close-up lens has the advantage of no light loss unlike extension tubes. Maybe not as "flat-field, but that doesn't often matter with many 3-D subjects.
Have fun
David

Many thanks David, much appreciated. :clap:

I agree, Karl-Heinz.

 

[Shac]

Karl-Heinz - you're very welcome. However, using the 500D in the field with live subjects, seems to pose problems with autofocus and depth of field. I'm going to try some more tests when the rain stops using manual focus.
Cheers
David

 

[k-hawinkler]

Trip Down Memory Lane 12


More images from 2015.09.22 with A7r + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS.

Hummingbird living dangerously! :facesmack:

Sony ILCE-7R + FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS @ 90 mm, f/2.8, 1/320 s, ISO 100.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Hummingbird Close Up

Sony ILCE-9 + FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS + 1.4X TC @ 560 mm, f/13, 1/125 s, ISO 320, Date Taken 2020-06-11 17:36:1.

One can actually see individual eyelashes, not bad, not bad at all. :grin: :clap:

 

[k-hawinkler]

Focus Area Tracking: Flexible Spot L

So the Hummingbird feeder was swinging quite lively in the Wind. I used the above given focusing method and the Sony A9 had no problem keeping the Fly in sharp focus for about a second or two (25 frames) that I kept pressing down the shutter button, provided the initial focus was spot on. :thumbs: :grin:

Sony ILCE-9 + FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS (SEL100400GM) + Extension Tubes @ 400 mm, f/9, 1/2500 s, ISO 5,000.

 

[gandolfi]

Great stuff, K-H. Loved the hummer/mantis stand off pics:thumbs: