p.44 #1 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
cputeq wrote:
Well yeah, but I'd have to crop to around ~80mm FOV
For me, my shooting goes from about 17mm to max of about 50mm (preferring 40mm max), then jumps usually to 85mm-200mm.
Between 50 and 85 or so (maybe 80) is just....nothing.
Were it a 40mm FE 1.8, I'd probably already have my preorder in As such, I'm going to wait on the system and see what shakes out.
I get where you're coming from, for me a 45mm (or better yet 40mm) would get much more use than a 55mm. I feel the need to get at least one compact lens that's faster than f/2, otherwise you're missing out on the subject isolation possibilities that a full frame sensor provides. But until they flesh out the FE roadmap I would just use my fast Canon lenses as a stopgap.
p.44 #2 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Does anyone know the approx. lowest EV range for autofocusing with Sony lenses on A7? Curious if it will be same, better, or worse in really low light than my D600, and how the AF speed compares.
I think D600 is supposed to be good to -2 EV, at least for the center AF point. I don't notice any issues with the side points in dark conditions.
p.44 #8 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Any concerns I had about AF on the A7r were hopefully put to rest as this week there have been reports from different sources that suggest AF responsiveness is on par with the D800 even though the A7r is CDAF only.
Having had some issues with PDAF on the D800, a zippy-enough CDAF implementation will be fine for my purposes. If it cannot face follow my dog running at me full tilt in the dusk I won't shed tears.
p.44 #10 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Good watching the thought processes here, though I do feel with all the lens options out there most should have little trouble 'making desires meet needs'.
There are perhaps more weighty thought processes going on at Nikon and Canon right about now, as reported in the SAR site:
"Nikon recently said they have a five year plan to address this. And my view is, that five year plan should have come out five years ago. They’re not going to be around in five years.”
“In my view, Canon are more vulnerable than anyone going forward. It isn’t just that the higher the climb, the bigger the drop at the other side – frankly their DSLR line has become boring from top to bottom. The Sony A7 is a nail in the coffin of Canon’s full frame line-up but it’s consumer apathy which will finally close the lid.”
This follows related prognostications over at Luminous Landscape:
"Nikon's imminent announcement of the retro DF camera is a telling sign-post. When companies start appealing to past glories you know that there's a fork in the road coming."
[I recall writing on this last point myself last week. It is tantamount to waving a white flag from a WW2 tank as an enemy Abrams roars up the roadway. 'It's too hard, but look what we will do - make replicas of when we were great, please buy them.']
It is premature to be too negative due to huge market momentum, but they are now on notice - the next year should be very busy for the two giants of the industry. There will be a critical threshold in consumer sentiment they do not want to reach..when people start with: are you still using one of those?
There is a point at which fondness for a company - that comfortable familiar feeling - needs to make way for what is in your best interests as a photographer.
p.44 #11 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Gregger wrote:
Is anyone considering the A7 for the better AF at all? Or is everyone A7r or nothing?
There was a poll [1] where majority opted for A7R, yet still a few chose A7. I plan to get A7 kit for following reasons:
a. 24mp is plenty and 36mp would be pushing my current workflow
b. any AF improvement is more important than ultimate IQ(chasing kids as well).
c. If kit zoom is similar in IQ to 5n kit zoom $300 for it seems reasonable price for convenience.
Zeiss FE primes are really tempting but will try to buy them used, in meanwhile would use MF SLR glass.
Hopefully new Zeiss native manual lens [2] will make A7 a proper "Ikon2" system.
p.44 #12 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I preordered the A7 and A7r for now. I got the kit with the A7 and also ordered the 35 and 55mm primes.
I'll cancel one of the bodies. Sadly the build quality difference is a small issue in my decision. Is it a 700 dollar decision? Probably not worth that kind of money difference. Plus I'd like the better AF of the 7.
p.44 #13 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Gregger wrote:
Is anyone considering the A7 for the better AF at all? Or is everyone A7r or nothing?
I'll be keeping my 5D3 so I have fast AF covered if needed, so for me it's A7r or bust, I would take more megapixels if they were available - if you can have 24 megapixel APS-C, then 54 megapixels on full frame is viable.
If people find the A7 fits their needs better then that's cool, choice is a good thing. But I'm thinking of years into the future when high resolution sensors are ubiquitous, if I can future proof my investment as much as possible I will.
p.44 #14 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I don't really always like IQ on 24 MP APS-C. It makes some optics that are perfectly good looking at lower resolution look bad. For example, some lenses that are great on D600 do not please me at all on D7100.
Hence I am perfectly happy with A7 resolution. It should be just right for my needs and my glass budget.
p.44 #15 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Some interesting info on the AF posted on another forum
"AF: From what I got told and could gather, the phase-detect AF on the A7 only makes a difference when shooting bursts and refocusing between frames. Other than that, it's mostly the CD carrying the load, and there's no difference the two.
Incidentally, the PD needs at least 4EV to work. Bit of a bummer, that. So, yeah, CD carries the load.
It's fast, but does have that "mushy" feel all CD AF systems do, not the clinical robotic snap of an SLR. But the object tracking works well - lock it onto something, and you watch the bounding boxes move with it across the VF."
p.44 #16 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
mco_970 wrote:
I don't really always like IQ on 24 MP APS-C. It makes some optics that are perfectly good looking at lower resolution look bad. For example, some lenses that are great on D600 do not please me at all on D7100.
Hence I am perfectly happy with A7 resolution. It should be just right for my needs and my glass budget.
what's bizarre to me is that some of my lenses look much better with the 24mp nex-7 than they do with the 16mp nex-5n. it's not clear to me what's going there.
p.44 #17 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
sebboh wrote:
what's bizarre to me is that some of my lenses look much better with the 24mp nex-7 than they do with the 16mp nex-5n. it's not clear to me what's going there.
That is very interesting. I am curious how the 24-70 will do between the two formats. I expect it to hold up much better on the A7, but maybe not?
Do you see any particular pattern of what holds up better on the 7 versus the 5N?
p.44 #18 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
BenM wrote:
Some interesting info on the AF posted on another forum
"AF: From what I got told and could gather, the phase-detect AF on the A7 only makes a difference when shooting bursts and refocusing between frames. Other than that, it's mostly the CD carrying the load, and there's no difference the two.
Incidentally, the PD needs at least 4EV to work. Bit of a bummer, that. So, yeah, CD carries the load.
"
If correct, that's a bummer. It would not be able to replace D600 in my kit, then.
I wanna shoot AF when it's too dark for MF! 
The gain up on the LCD, at least on my elderly 5N, makes it tough to focus peek.