p.56 #1 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
'Maybe now the sensor in the a99 (and the camera itself) will get some proper recognition as one of the best sensor’s to date. The images that come from the a99 are IMPRESSIVE ! Even compared to my RX1R theres hardly and difference.'
Comment from SAR, which which I agree. Put it here to confirm that a few of us have been using the 'a7 sensor' for over a year with great satisfaction. There are no poor options between these two cameras.
p.56 #2 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
cputeq wrote:
I haven't broken down and bought Sony's battery charger yet, though - I'm going to go cheap 3rd party on principle alone, because frankly I think that's pretty bastardly to do at this level of camera. Hopefully Wasabi comes out with a good charger / battery combo, if they don't have it already.
I was upset they did this with the NEX 6. However, I am happy to be able to charge the battery in camera though, as when I want to travel light I can skip packing the battery charger and use any micro USB cable. Additionally, I bought an aftermarket dual battery charger, which is ideal with how easy it is to drain a couple. So at this point I don't care one bit if sony skips including a charger with the A7/r.
p.56 #3 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Does Sony make a dual pack charger?
I must admit, after being a bit grumpy about the lack of charger when I ordered the RX1, I've come around. It *is* handy to be able to charge via USB without having an adapter.
I bought a single pack charger, one of the newer ones with indicator lights and tend to always buy OEM tech (packs and chargers) because the big cos can be held liable where HappySun Charger Co will simply disappear should bad things happen. I'm something of a li-ion safety nerd, having been exposed to actual dangerous cheap li-ion technology (chargers and cells/packs) in another area of my life.
p.56 #5 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
shelt wrote:
Hey Sebboh et al, the a7 (not sure about a7r) is being shown in Palo Alto today and tomorrow:
Come experience the Sony A7 for the first time in the Bay Area. Glenn Wienfeld from Sony will be in store at Keeble and Shuchat from 10AM-3PM on Friday, November 8th and Saturday, November 9th. He will be here showing Sony A7 and the RX10 and answering any questions about these new cameras, so come down and see what all the industry buzz is all about.
Unfortuantely I can't make it, but thought some other SFers might be interested...
Thanks again for letting us know about this. I made it down to Palo Alto and spent quite a bit of time shooting the A7 with the Minolta CLE's 28, 40, and 90mm and a couple of shots with another guy's Pentax 31mm f1.8 limited.
Because it's a pre-production version, the Sony rep (a very nice, patient, knowledgeable guy) asked me not to post the samples from my SD card that he didn't realize I had in the camera. I promised I wouldn't.
But here are my impressions. First off, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. I'm quite sure now that I'll keep my preorder in place as these cameras are a joy to use with alt lenses. The EVF is very good and it was extremely easy to focus using magnification.
I really liked the ergonomics of the camera -- the grip, the screen, the EVF, the eyecup, the buttons. I do wish the shutter button were a bit further forward but it wasn't the deal breaker I had feared.
The camera looked extremely sexy with the alt lenses, especially the Minolta CLE 28mm f2.8. I think people would stop you on the street and ask about that combo.
Looking at the images (out of camera jpg's) -- it's difficult to tell much because of Sony's heavy-handed noise reduction, but all the lenses looked fine without corner color casts. Nothing sharp in the image corners to judge smearing. The Minolta 90mm f4 and especially the Pentax 31mm f1.8 look especially promising.
UPDATE: with the release of Lightroom 5.3RC today, I'm able to compare RAW vs JPG on one the pictures from today. The jpg is horrendous -- very red skin tones (probably due to a green shirt the subject was wearing), very strong NR smearing even at ISO 250, underexposed. The RAW processed in LR looks fine -- exactly the quality I'm used to seeing from other modern FF DSLRs like the D600.
Below are images taken with my iPhone of the camera with various lenses:
p.56 #7 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
excellent!
Interesting to see different size lenses on the body. That 90/4 weighs maybe 450 grams and is around 95mm long (depending on vsn) and it seems well proportioned. The Pentax is around 70mm long, weighs 350 grams. Looks great on.
It seems safe to say that small-medium DSLR lenses will also be fine, three of mine are 50-60mm long and weigh less than the two mentioned above, with adapter similar thickness to Pentax K. That's an all business top plate a la RX1, just adds the EVF 'pentaprism'. thanks.
p.56 #8 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
telyt wrote:
Thanks for the report. How is the EVF without magnification?
The EVF looks great, so it will be fine for AF lenses without magnification. But I don't think I could get things in critical focus without magnification.
At first focus peaking was set to "high" and it was totally useless -- everything was surrounded by yellow fringes. So I changed it to "low" and it was useless the other way, nothing was peaking. I didn't have a chance to try "medium".
p.56 #10 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
michaelwatkins wrote:
I'm something of a li-ion safety nerd, having been exposed to actual dangerous cheap li-ion technology (chargers and cells/packs) in another area of my life.
I hope you are not one of the unfortunate Tesla owners!
I've not seen a Sony dual battery charger, they only have the two single models posted on their store site.
p.56 #13 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
telyt wrote:
I'm interested in the A7r. I'll have to see what the viewfinder and color gradation are like first.
I would guess that the colour is good, as Sony typically has good solid colour, if not as beautiful as Fuji or Kodak. I am curious about manual focus with lenses like my 180/2 or your 280/4 however. I am not a big fan of focus peaking, and wonder how else to do it accurately.
p.56 #14 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
carstenw wrote:
I would guess that the colour is good, as Sony typically has good solid colour, if not as beautiful as Fuji or Kodak. I am curious about manual focus with lenses like my 180/2 or your 280/4 however. I am not a big fan of focus peaking, and wonder how else to do it accurately.
Carsten,
Best to focus using magnify, but it is slower and more difficult to hand hold while doing so. The camera has a very nice EVF.
p.56 #15 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
carstenw wrote:
I would guess that the colour is good, as Sony typically has good solid colour, if not as beautiful as Fuji or Kodak. I am curious about manual focus with lenses like my 180/2 or your 280/4 however. I am not a big fan of focus peaking, and wonder how else to do it accurately.
in general i find focusing with no peaking and no magnification with sony evfs to be slightly more accurate and just as fast as focusing with a film slr. i turn up maximal sharpness in the jpeg settings, which apply to the evf image (but does nothing to my raws), and look for the little twinkle of moire to tell the image is in focus. it takes time to get used to looking for different signs of focus in the viewfinder, but it works great for chasing kids around. i also find peaking set to low to work well for birds with a telephoto (i find it mostly useless for wide and normal lenses) unless they are in dense foliage.
p.56 #17 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
ebrandon wrote:
Thanks again for letting us know about this. I made it down to Palo Alto and spent quite a bit of time shooting the A7 with the Minolta CLE's 28, 40, and 90mm and a couple of shots with another guy's Pentax 31mm f1.8 limited.
Because it's a pre-production version, the Sony rep (a very nice, patient, knowledgeable guy) asked me not to post the samples from my SD card that he didn't realize I had in the camera. I promised I wouldn't.
But here are my impressions. First off, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. I'm quite sure now that I'll keep my preorder in place as these cameras are a joy to use with alt lenses. The EVF is very good and it was extremely easy to focus using magnification.
I really liked the ergonomics of the camera -- the grip, the screen, the EVF, the eyecup, the buttons. I do wish the shutter button were a bit further forward but it wasn't the deal breaker I had feared.
The camera looked extremely sexy with the alt lenses, especially the Minolta CLE 28mm f2.8. I think people would stop you on the street and ask about that combo.
Looking at the images (out of camera jpg's) -- it's difficult to tell much because of Sony's heavy-handed noise reduction, but all the lenses looked fine without corner color casts. Nothing sharp in the image corners to judge smearing. The Minolta 90mm f4 and especially the Pentax 31mm f1.8 look especially promising.
UPDATE: with the release of Lightroom 5.3RC today, I'm able to compare RAW vs JPG on one the pictures from today. The jpg is horrendous -- very red skin tones (probably due to a green shirt the subject was wearing), very strong NR smearing even at ISO 250, underexposed. The RAW processed in LR looks fine -- exactly the quality I'm used to seeing from other modern FF DSLRs like the D600.
Below are images taken with my iPhone of the camera with various lenses:...Show more →
The Minolta 28 2.8 is a sweet little lens and look spectacular in the A7 !
I am aware you can not post pictures....but can you elaborate how the lens perform in infinity photos ?
This is a very similar design to the Zeiss Biogon 28 2.8 ... i am betting there a lot of fanatics hoping the lens works OK !
p.56 #18 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
safcraft wrote:
The Minolta 28 2.8 is a sweet little lens and look spectacular in the A7 !
I am aware you can not post pictures....but can you elaborate how the lens perform in infinity photos ?
This is a very similar design to the Zeiss Biogon 28 2.8 ... i am betting there a lot of fanatics hoping the lens works OK !
I wasn't allowed to take the camera outside the store. So couldn't take any infinity photos. Sorry.
p.56 #19 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I also got to briefly handle a demo model in Palo Alto today. Some background to give my point of view some context - I've owned Nex bodies in the past and enjoyed them overall. I only manual focus and have a nice collection of SLR lenses. I sold everything Nex and bought a Canon 6D and like the image quality, but not the chunky form factor. The OVF with an EG-S focussing screen is not quite as good as my film SLR's, but I can focus quicker and more accurately than an EVF. The magnified view on an EVF was better still but I shoot moving subjects so it doesn't work for me.
I tried the A7 as the extra resolution of the A7R doesn't interest me. I only very quickly tried the kit lens but it didn't seem that impressive as expected. I had a few OM Zuiko lenses on hand and tried my 50 1.4 and 24 2.8. My main interest was to check out the EVF and the viewfinder experience is the only thing that has been holding me back from pre-ordering. Firstly the good stuff:
- the body and amazingly solid and handles very well, but is also surprisingly light. Sony have taken their fit and finish to another level and it's overall just a remarkable piece of industrial design.
- the menus are much better than the old Nex system which was a joke. Although I didn't get to dive too much, the interface seemed on par with Canikon pro bodies in terms of usability.
- image quality was very good (with one caveat below) and I had no problems with any of my legacy SLR lenses as expected.
The not so great stuff from my point of view:
- the EVF is functionally similar to those in the Nex cameras. Yes, full frame helps with lag etc. and the colors and shadow detail were slightly better. However, my ability to resolve detail for manual focussing was similar. The improved optics may have helped slightly to show aliasing / shimmer on in focus areas but it wasn't night and day compared to a Nex EVF. I don't like peaking so I turned it off immediately and didn't play with it at all.
- the jpg noise reduction was very aggressive and smeary when I reviewed my images at higher ISO's. I didn't have time to dive into menus and sort out settings I would like, but they are probably there.
So I left the store with still undecided if it's for me. I think I'll wait for the next generation of EVF as more viewfinder resolution is all I desire at this point. Otherwise it's a very good camera, and even with those doubts I'm still tempted simply due to the form factor and ability to mount almost any lens ever made.
p.56 #20 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Tarocco wrote:
I also got to briefly handle a demo model in Palo Alto today. Some background to give my point of view some context - I've owned Nex bodies in the past and enjoyed them overall. I only manual focus and have a nice collection of SLR lenses. I sold everything Nex and bought a Canon 6D and like the image quality, but not the chunky form factor. The OVF with an EG-S focussing screen is not quite as good as my film SLR's, but I can focus quicker and more accurately than an EVF. The magnified view on an EVF was better still but I shoot moving subjects so it doesn't work for me.
I tried the A7 as the extra resolution of the A7R doesn't interest me. I only very quickly tried the kit lens but it didn't seem that impressive as expected. I had a few OM Zuiko lenses on hand and tried my 50 1.4 and 24 2.8. My main interest was to check out the EVF and the viewfinder experience is the only thing that has been holding me back from pre-ordering. Firstly the good stuff:
- the body and amazingly solid and handles very well, but is also surprisingly light. Sony have taken their fit and finish to another level and it's overall just a remarkable piece of industrial design.
- the menus are much better than the old Nex system which was a joke. Although I didn't get to dive too much, the interface seemed on par with Canikon pro bodies in terms of usability.
- image quality was very good (with one caveat below) and I had no problems with any of my legacy SLR lenses as expected.
The not so great stuff from my point of view:
- the EVF is functionally similar to those in the Nex cameras. Yes, full frame helps with lag etc. and the colors and shadow detail were slightly better. However, my ability to resolve detail for manual focussing was similar. The improved optics may have helped slightly to show aliasing / shimmer on in focus areas but it wasn't night and day compared to a Nex EVF. I don't like peaking so I turned it off immediately and didn't play with it at all.
- the jpg noise reduction was very aggressive and smeary when I reviewed my images at higher ISO's. I didn't have time to dive into menus and sort out settings I would like, but they are probably there.
So I left the store with still undecided if it's for me. I think I'll wait for the next generation of EVF as more viewfinder resolution is all I desire at this point. Otherwise it's a very good camera, and even with those doubts I'm still tempted simply due to the form factor and ability to mount almost any lens ever made.
I wonder if Sebboh's trick of turning up the sharpening on jpgs will make all the difference in focusing with the EVF. Also, I wonder if optimizing the diopter adjustment (which I forgot to do in the store) would help a lot too.
