Fun With Sony Cameras

[Suntrip]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Hello!
Long time lurker, first time poster. Thanks for all the lovely pictures and inspiring work!

I`ve learnt a lot from lurking, so I hope to learn even more from getting involved.

I recently bought the Sony A7r with the FA 35mm, I`m coming from a Pentax K-5 system, but I wanted to try fullframe and something smaller for hiking.

love my new camera! And looking forward to being an active member!

Peace
Suntrip

 

[benroy]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Nikon 55/2.8 Micro-Nikkor w/A7

 

[jonoslack]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Hello!
Long time lurker, first time poster. Thanks for all the lovely pictures and inspiring work!

Welcome Suntrip - from one nice system to another!

Nikon 55/2.8 Micro-Nikkor w/A7

Lovely Roy - I especially like the last one.

all the best
Jono

 

[tashley]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

St George's, Grenada, has a lot of abandoned public buildings on the upper slopes - presumably because they keep getting knocked about by hurricanes...

I am finding that around half my shots with the 28-70 kit zoom are great, but quite a few are pretty poor. I haven't yet worked out (I'm on holiday!) why but I suspect the AF misses quite often, and that there are some shutter vibration issues too. More digging needed. This one should have been a nice shot but it doesn't stand up to much larger presentation than web, unfortunately...

100% crop:

 

[jonoslack]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Hi Tim
Lovely ship - pity it's soft.
This is not an issue I'm finding with the 28-70 . . . mind you, Ming Thein think's it's a 'dog'. Matt likes his, I'm startled by how good mine is . . . certainly not had any shots like that, so I suspect that it might be shutter slap rather than AF issues . . . . after all, how do you get the AF wrong at infinity at f8?

My suspicion is that it's not suited to the A7r, but is pretty stellar on the A7?

whaddyareckon?

 

[Knorp]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Hi Tim
Lovely ship - pity it's soft.
This is not an issue I'm finding with the 28-70 . . . mind you, Ming Thein think's it's a 'dog'. Matt likes his, I'm startled by how good mine is . . . certainly not had any shots like that, so I suspect that it might be shutter slap rather than AF issues . . . . after all, how do you get the AF wrong at infinity at f8?

My suspicion is that it's not suited to the A7r, but is pretty stellar on the A7?

whaddyareckon?

Mmm, at 1/320 there shouldn't be any shutter slap issue at all.
I'm with Ming Thein ...

Kind regards.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Amazing that those windows survived where the roof didn't!

I like the look of that 28-70 actually and I'm really not a fan of lenses which change aperture as you zoom or even which are that slow (been a wedding shooter for so long I suppose). It does however have a very pleasing look to it for holiday/street work as we've seen here. If the shutter lag of the A7r ever does defeat me I'll try and do a swapsie for the A7 with the kit lens.

 

[jonoslack]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Mmm, at 1/320 there shouldn't be any shutter slap issue at all.
I'm with Ming Thein ...

Kind regards.

Of Course - there won't be any of that resonance stuff that they're talking about on the other thread when you stick the camera on a big tripod . . . . but good old vibration is a different thing, and I don't see why it shouldn't show up at any shutter speed. I'm guessing that the camera was not on a tripod for this shot Tim?

on the A7 I'm seeing sharper corners at 28mm and f4 (much sharper) than I did with my Contax Zeiss 28-85 on the A7r (I haven't tried this on the A7 yet).

There just seems to be a kind of pattern here.

 

[jonoslack]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

The 28-70 zoom is a 'dog' :ROTFL:

Well, having tried to catch the dogs zooming around with the 80-200 zoom, I gave it a good go with the 28-70 kit zoom - not tracking, but mashing the shutter - focus is pretty fast, and it got it right most of the time.

Here are a few samples.

Face to the Wind

What's that?

Looking Down

quick Turn

Puffed Out​

No More Dogs for a while - I promise - it was just a good experiment to see how the A7 functioned as an 'action' camera.

I'm pleased - it does well for fast Manual Focus, and the AF seems to be pretty fast in decent light.

all the best

 

[Knorp]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

on the A7 I'm seeing sharper corners at 28mm and f4 (much sharper) than I did with my Contax Zeiss 28-85 on the A7r (I haven't tried this on the A7 yet).

There just seems to be a kind of pattern here.

Perhaps I should have a coffee first and then read this again slowly ...

 

[tashley]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Hi Tim
Lovely ship - pity it's soft.
This is not an issue I'm finding with the 28-70 . . . mind you, Ming Thein think's it's a 'dog'. Matt likes his, I'm startled by how good mine is . . . certainly not had any shots like that, so I suspect that it might be shutter slap rather than AF issues . . . . after all, how do you get the AF wrong at infinity at f8?

My suspicion is that it's not suited to the A7r, but is pretty stellar on the A7?

whaddyareckon?

I keep on getting really impressive results from the lens, so I know that it can be very good, but so often it is as soft as those ships. I think it is an OSS thing: I have now assigned OSS on/off to Fn button 3 and am getting better results with it off, even at 1x focal length. I suspect that as with many IS systems, it is really only for very slow speeds (1/2 of focal length or slower) and that at ‘normal’ shutter speeds it is more a hindrance than a help.

 

[Knorp]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

I keep on getting really impressive results from the lens, so I know that it can be very good, but so often it is as soft as those ships. I think it is an OSS thing: I have now assigned OSS on/off to Fn button 3 and am getting better results with it off, even at 1x focal length. I suspect that as with many IS systems, it is really only for very slow speeds (1/2 of focal length or slower) and that at ‘normal’ shutter speeds it is more a hindrance than a help.

Tim, that would be really too bad if this OSS were the culprit.
As you and Jono showed this 28-70 is a fine performer and surprisingly good for a kit lens.

Glad for once the A7r is not to blame ...

Kind regards.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Tim, that would be really too bad if this OSS were the culprit.
As you and Jono showed this 28-70 is a fine performer and surprisingly good for a kit lens.

Glad for once the A7r is not to blame ...

Kind regards.

IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS IBIS :banghead:

 

[tashley]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

The more I dig, the more weird it gets: it also has an asymmetry that changes side as you zoom, and it actually does radically miss AF sometimes. So far, I'd say 'don't use it for far landscape, do use it with OSS off unless shutter speeds are low, do use MF if you have time' and I'd add to that 'let's hope the 24-70 is a lot better' because, though I agree with Jono that the lens is capable of some really surprisingly good results, my copy on my A7R is pretty inconsistent - so I am tending more towards the Ming Thein view. Having said that, Sony aren't selling this lens as a kit with the A7R so I have only myself to blame! And, cruddy though some of the shots are, I have only lost one shot that I cared about, because I do tend to bracket quite a bit if a shot matters and I didn't with that one because I was hanging off a gravestone over a cliff!

 

[k-hawinkler]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

The A7/R seems to continue to be very educational for me. Thanks Sony!
And I didn't even have to attend classes!

 

[tashley]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

I agree K-H! There's nothing like design compromise mixed with what one might call 'manufacturing considerations' to sharpen the wit!

 

[Taylor Sherman]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Hmm, I've had issues with what looked like missed-AF on the 55-210 on the Nex. I'll have to see about turning OSS off sometimes. But, I think it was just missing AF.

 

[mjm6]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

The more I dig, the more weird it gets: it also has an asymmetry that changes side as you zoom, and it actually does radically miss AF sometimes.

If you have decentering on an element that happens to rotate as you zoom the lens, you may get the problem you describe.

Does the front element rotate with focus? Cheaper lenses sometimes do that. That may also be a source of this issue, but it sounds like it is related to the zoom and not focus.

I'm planning on holding out for the 24-70 so I hope it is a better, more consistent lens.


---Michael

 

[jonoslack]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

I keep on getting really impressive results from the lens, so I know that it can be very good, but so often it is as soft as those ships. I think it is an OSS thing: I have now assigned OSS on/off to Fn button 3 and am getting better results with it off, even at 1x focal length. I suspect that as with many IS systems, it is really only for very slow speeds (1/2 of focal length or slower) and that at ‘normal’ shutter speeds it is more a hindrance than a help.

HI Tim
but why am I simply not seeing this problem on the A7 - I've hardly had an OOF photo, and I've never bothered to turn the OSS off - it just works, reliably and consistently. I've not seen any complaints from Matt with his kit lens on the A7 either.
Seems to me that it's still likely to be to do with the first curtain (lets face it THAT's the difference between the cameras).

 

[bensonga]

Re: Fun with the A7/7R

Heavily overcast day here (snow in the forecast), but I had to get out and take at least a few shots with the A7 and a Leica lens, now that I have the Novoflex adapter.

I definitely need more practice to get the hang of using "focus peaking" to get accurate manual focus. Of the six images I took, 2 were in pretty good focus, 2 were so-so and 2 were terrible.

Here's the best of the bunch, with minimal processing (don't have my regular computer with me). I'm hoping for better light and more interesting subjects this weekend.

Gary

A7 with the Leica 35-70 Elmarit-R, shot at f5.6 and ISO 200.

100% Crop