p.93 #1 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Lee Saxon wrote:
Start your own camera company and treat customers right. Seriously, check back within me in ten years. If Jim Jannard can do it, it isn't impossible (much harder if you're not a multi-millionaire like him, but not impossible).
start a website dedicated to documenting how terrible the company is and all the ways they screw over their own customers. start a campaign publicizing all the anti-consumer moves made by the company and organizing a large group of like minded people to loudly complain about every dickish thing the company does.
or just spend $5 on an ebay charger and wait to see what the next cost saving measure is...
p.93 #5 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Jabberwockt wrote:
Did anyone order both? I was somewhat sure I wanted the A7r, but now I'm flipping between the two.
Me. I think I'm gonna do a comparison of all the Voigtlander 35's (I own 2 and lensrentals rents the other 2) on both before I decide which camera (and lenses!) to keep. I also have the 21/4 and 25/4, but I'm not expecting those to be usable on either camera.
teraflame wrote:
Does the placement of the shutter release bother anyone else?
Me! They could've gotten a few precious millimeters more grip in there by placing it higher.
p.93 #6 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Will need to use one for a while to see, for me. I think what they are trying to do is get the finger to drape across the top plate side and use the surround of the release as a stabilising rest.
No doubt grips and cases are being prepared right now.
p.93 #7 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
teraflame wrote:
Does the placement of the shutter release bother anyone else?
honestly i think it bothered me for 3 seconds, then i forgot.
I keep forgetting that the front dial is there, and when using alt lenses it seems to be pretty worthless.
p.93 #8 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Makten wrote:
There's no need for a manual. Just configure your buttons to what you want them to do and shoot away. I don't think I ever opened the manual for my D700 either.
I guess I will find out when I finally get to the Sony store within operating hours, but I was hoping to understand the EVF/live view settings before getting there, so that I could just walk in, set the camera to MF, and start playing with various settings, but honestly, I think the manual is less useful than just playing with the camera.
Has anyone figured out yet if it is better to set the camera to Intelligent Auto or Superior Auto?
I get a classic VCR+TV-programming-feeling from this manual. Now I remember why I try not to buy Sony products (other than my good ole PS3). The manual starts with 4 pages of icons, and then maybe 8 pages of features, listed out in menu order (which isn't the best order), all described by someone who knows the English word for each Japanese word, but not much else about the language. Just a steaming pile of shat.
p.93 #9 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I've had my A7R for a few days now and thought it about time I said hello and summarised my thoughts so far. My previous digital camera was a 5DmkII (now sold). I have been wanting a lighter weight full frame camera for a long time so pre-ordered the A7R as soon as it was announced. Currently I am the following lenses on the A7R:
1. Canon 24mm TS-E mkII with Metabones mkIII adapter. I'll never sell this lens as long as I have a body to use it on. It out resolves the 5D and now the A7R, has the T/S that I need for landscapes and really no optical faults. On the 5D I could only really use it on the tripod as the weight of this and the 5D was too much to hold at arms length for live-view focussing. Really surprising to me has been the discovery that I can use this handheld on the A7R with the EVF. Yes its big and quite heavy but surprisingly stable and very easy to focus with the EVF zoom. With the metabones the aperture control works well and the adapter foot fits my arcs swiss style clamp with a small clearance for the body and full tilt/shift available.
2. FE 35mm f/2.8. This arrived yesterday after dark, so I've only had chance to grab a few test shots in the garden this morning. First thoughts: its light and will make a nice carry around. Surprised about how bad the corner purple fringing wide open (stress test of branches against sky) is with raw conversion in Lr (easily corrected). Its sharp in the centre but blown away by the TS-E at the edges (not surprising). Has nice smooth bokeh. I was expecting more from this after all the praising it has got - its OK, light, but I wouldn't rate it as first class yet. To be honest I think the price may be a bit on the high side for the performance I am seeing.
3. C/Y 35-70 f/3.4 on Novoflex adapter. This works well, as expected - it was always a good performer on the 5D. Compared it wide open at 35 against the FE; I think the FE in the centre is slightly better, but the C/Y is better at the edges, with less purple fringing on small branches.
4. CV 50mm f/1.5 Nokton, latest version. This lens is new to new and I got this because I wanted to have something a little softer for portraits etc. Its really 2 lenses in one - wide open it has the look that you can find all over the web, but stopped down to 5.6 it becomes more contrasty and 'normal'. I like the ergonomics and it focuses easily by peaking. There's no issues that I have found with this lens and the A7R.
One thing I would like to see fixed in firmware is when using Auto ISO the EVF only shows 'AUTO' and you have to half press the shutter to see what it has selected - so when you are adjusting aperture or shutter speed you have no idea what ISO its selected. I am sticking to manual ISO for now since then you get the exposure indicator whilst making adjustments which I find more intuitive.
I like the ability to charge the battery in camera - note that the supplied USB supply is only 500mA. If you use a higher powered phone charger the battery charges significantly faster. It means less things to cart around when travelling.
I'm really pleased with the camera though, it suites my needs more than a DSLR and I like the flexibility in lens choice. I didn't find any issues moving from an optical finder to EVF - I don't like using the rear screen unless on a tripod, so I find the EVF means I can really use manual focus lenses much more easily than on the 5D.
p.93 #10 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
I should add a couple of things - first, thanks for all the really useful info folks have posted on this site, its been a big help.
And I forgot to mention that I've been blown away by the difference in shadow performance on the A7R compared to the 5DmkII. You can really pull useful stuff out of the shadows now without the nasty coloured blotches on the 5D. The dynamic range is noticeably better.
p.93 #11 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
ISO1600 wrote:
honestly i think it bothered me for 3 seconds, then i forgot.
I keep forgetting that the front dial is there, and when using alt lenses it seems to be pretty worthless.
I think front dial can be set for ISO, which might be your best choice.
And just to put it into perspective, here's roughly the same area unprocessed from the TS-E 24mm mkII (at its widest f/3.5, handheld, not focus point so not its best!):
p.93 #13 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Any chance the particular copy of the FE 35mm is somehow defective? It's not that I can't believe that the lens isn't perfect, but this seems to be in marked contrast to most of what I've heard about this lens, so that's why I ask. Any other FE 35mm owners want to do the same test so we can get an n<1?
p.93 #14 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Yes I'd like to know as well. Its hard to find many examples like this on the web - a lot of speculation that it'll be good from people like Steve Huff (although real FE 35mm images from him seem to be very few and far between). If I use my copy to take the same sort of images as Steve, then I don't see these defects...
p.93 #15 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
By the way, I'm seeing much better results in .jpg, so I believe the camera is performing lens corrections which may explain why its not being reported by some of the more enthusiastic bloggers. I usually only shoot raw and Lr doesn't yet have a profile for this lens. But I think the underlying optics aren't quite as good as expected.
p.93 #18 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
Tariq Gibran wrote:
That's way over the top and I'm surprised it's that severe. Defringe is not a perfect fix obviously as it really drains the color out of the image.
I should make it clear that I don't get this on all shots, just with the high contrast fine detail like this example. Opening the same raw file in Sony's Image Data Converter shows much less fringing at its default settings (although not quite as good as Lr after the adjustment), so I'm sure Sony is doing some corrections by default. I've just been trying a few more branches shots - some are pretty much clear, the above is about as bad as it gets. Slightly less contrasty scene seems to be much better. Time will tell if its going to appear much - the above is probably as worse a test as I'm going to subject the lens to, and with the Lr adjustment it is easy to pull it back on the occasions when it appears. I guess its what we expect from short wide angles having seen all the M mount tests - they often need help in processing.
p.93 #19 · Official: Sony A7 and A7R Fullframe Mirrorless
JonathanP wrote:
I should make it clear that I don't get this on all shots, just with the high contrast fine detail like this example. Opening the same raw file in Sony's Image Data Converter shows much less fringing at its default settings (although not quite as good as Lr after the adjustment), so I'm sure Sony is doing some corrections by default. I've just been trying a few more branches shots - some are pretty much clear, the above is about as bad as it gets. Slightly less contrasty scene seems to be much better. Time will tell if its going to appear much - the above is probably as worse a test as I'm going to subject the lens to, and with the Lr adjustment it is easy to pull it back on the occasions when it appears. I guess its what we expect from short wide angles having seen all the M mount tests - they often need help in processing....Show more →
Yeah, that shot is a torture test type of shot.
Edit. IF it only clears up a little by F5.6, you might try another copy of that lens to see if it performs better. This seems maybe worse than it should be given the conservative speed of the lens.
