p.8 #3 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
Herb1911 wrote:
Received the A7r today.
Found the following present M lenses useless due to color shading and smearing towards the edges:
Leica 18 Super Elmar, Leica 24 Elmar, Leica 28 Elmarit.
The 50 Summilux is nice except for some magenta hue/colorshift over the entire image wide open like it was on the Nex 7.
The 75 Summarit and 90 Apo Summicron are doing fine.
Tried the Zeiss ZF.2 15 and 28 mm and they too look also fine without any color shading or smearing.
My conclusion is that the A7r basically behaves the same as the Nex 7. Actually the effected image area is larger so in that way I think it is doing even worse.
So again unfortunately no match for a Leica M with my rangefinder wide angles.
The small body still needs the larger ZF.2 lenses to show what it is capable of.
The camera is nice but it feels a little bit cheap even compared to the RX1.
But it's file quality for such a compact body is unique and fantastic to work with.
p.8 #4 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
Herb1911 wrote:
Received the A7r today.
Found the following present M lenses useless due to color shading and smearing towards the edges:
Leica 18 Super Elmar, Leica 24 Elmar, Leica 28 Elmarit.
p.8 #9 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
I posted this earlier on another thread but ut may help here too. The comments refer to various adapters used on my Nex7 but they will no doubt apply to the a7(R) too.
I have two adapters for Leica-M to E-mount, a Metabones and a Voigtlander, and I use a Novoflex adapter for Leica-R to E-Mount. The following comments are, of course, specific to my adapters, and there may be variations in other copies.
I tested a Minolta M-Rokkor 40/2 for an infinity shot throughout its aperture range on my NEX-7, tripod mounted with both adapters. First observation is that the Metabones adapter gave perfect focus at the infinity stop on the lens whereas the Voigtlander adapter allowed focus beyond infinity. Secondly the Voigtlander adapter is apparently de-centred - the focus on the right edge of the frame at wider apertures is always softer than on the left. Generally, the lens behaved extremely well and showed excellent centre sharpness wide open on both adapters with good edges but soft corners with the Metabones and slightly less good edges and corners with the Voigtlander adapter. This comparative behaviour continued as the aperture stopped down so that at f5.6, when side sharpness became excellent with the Metabones it was merely reasonably good with the Voigtlander. The optimal aperture for sharpness is f8-11. The best corner sharpness was achieved at f8 with the Metabones producing a very good showing while the Voigtlander corners could only be described as good although both became very good at F11. The Metabones is clearly better than the Voigtlander performing better at all apertures up to F11 and also suffering no de-centring problems. The only benefit of the Voigtlander is that infinity focus is always guaranteed since it can go a little beyond. There is no such flexibility in my copy of the Metabones. This presents no problem with the Rokkor-M but might do with other M-mount lenses. This is, however, not really an issue for me as I rarely do infinity shots on the Nex.
For comparison, the Leica R 50mm F2 Summicron performed impeccably at all apertures with the Novoflex adapter on the NEX and seemed to be at optimal performance by F4, where it matched the Rokkor at F8. Like the Voigtlander, the Novoflex allowed focus beyond infinity.
Herb1911 wrote:
I use Novoflex adapters and one Voigtlander that is also well made.
Will check infinity hard stop for all lenses. In progress. Sofar I am sure of the 90mm Apo Summicron that hits the hard stop at infinity on the A7r.
p.8 #10 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
turnstyle wrote:
I'm super-interested in 50 Summilux ASPH and A7r -- can you possibly post any examples? I'm especially interested in seeing how the sides hold up for near and distant subjects.
Also, can you describe (or show) this magenta hue? Over the entire image? I haven't heard that previously.
What adapter are you using? Are you hitting infinity focus at the hard stop?
I would be purchasing the A7r and Lux 50 together, I've been hoping it would be a killer combo.
Please realise there do not exist any killer combo's on this planet :-)
It is just technology. And mentioned lens/camera are not designed for each other. The 50 Lux is a special lens with lots
of "character" due to a nice blend of good color, high micro contrast, high resolving power in the centre and field curvature and some more "magic".
If you make an aperture series of a neutral even white surface you will see that the image not only changes in color towards the edges, but also from f/1.4 to stopped down. You will see a shifting hue on the Nex 7 and also now on the A7r. However it is easy to correct.
The 50 Lux is not specifically good at a far distance. Because it is not a lens with a flat field. If this is your object I would choose for the Zeiss ZF.2 50 Macro Planar (that is also excellent at infinity but a touch soft in the corners) or the Zeiss 55 Otus, or the Leica 50 Apo Summicron. All will fit nicely on the A7r with adapter.
How these lenses actually perform on the A7r I do not know yet. The 50 Lux is however under further investigation now.
Please realise there do not exist any killer combo's on this planet :-)
It is just technology. And mentioned lens/camera are not designed for each other. The 50 Lux is a special lens with lots
of "character" due to a nice blend of good color, high micro contrast, high resolving power in the centre and field curvature and some more "magic".
If you make an aperture series of a neutral even white surface you will see that the image not only changes in color towards the edges, but also from f/1.4 to stopped down. You will see a shifting hue on the Nex 7 and also now on the A7r. However it is easy to correct.
The 50 Lux is not specifically good at a far distance. Because it is not a lens with a flat field. If this is your object I would choose for the Zeiss ZF.2 50 Macro Planar (that is also excellent at infinity but a touch soft in the corners) or the Zeiss 55 Otus, or the Leica 50 Apo Summicron. All will fit nicely on the A7r with adapter.
How these lenses actually perform on the A7r I do not know yet. The 50 Lux is however under further investigation now....Show more →
Thanks, I eagerly await your results.
I basically want "one all-around 50mm" that I would pretty much use all the time. That's "mostly" people, but also distant targets at times, and for day or night.
I'm a sucker for the Lux's combination of sharpness and smooth oof at 1.4 -- and I'm hoping the A7r (with a suitable adapter) will prove "nearly equal" to using the same lens on a Leica body.
p.8 #12 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
Peire wrote:
Real life pictures look pretty good. michael49 wrote:
Agreed, more real pictures, less test charts please.
Definitely great photography, but don't overlook that none of the real life pictures were taken with any of the lenses that looked especially bad on the test charts.
p.8 #13 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
Lee Saxon wrote:
Definitely great photography, but don't overlook that none of the real life pictures were taken with any of the lenses that looked especially bad on the test charts.
Who says brick walls and test charts aren't real life?
p.8 #14 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
philber wrote:
A magenta hue with 'Lux50 on NEX7 Not that I am aware of. So, if my A7R is the same, it will be just fine...
Philber,
Good you didn't notice:-)
On the Nex 7 a fast lens like the Lux 50 shows a shift in color balance on a neutral target from magenta at wide open to green at stopped down. Quite possibly related to the color cast towards the edges.
It shows however in a different way. Wide open all colours have some extra magenta added. If you will see it or not depends of course on your subject and critical white balance.
During my first tests of the A7r I saw the same behaviour. Actually the A7r behaves exactly as the Nex 7 with rangefinder lenses.
Same company, same design goals (selling new Zeiss lenses), same basic technology...makes sense.
We have all been dreaming that this time everything would be fixed for our beloved Leica rangefinder lenses.
The guys and girls who got their A7's first are already dreaming of the A9 that WILL fix our issues:-)
And Steve Huff left us in the blind for the first weeks. As with the Nex 7. He is a happy man.
p.8 #16 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
My findings so far :
A7 and
Sony E-Mount 16mm:
Same usability as on a crop-sensor Nex.
Leica 24mm f3,8 Asph
Really nice performance for a WA-Lens
Very minor colour cast and smearing @ 3,8
More or less gone @ 5,6
Contax G 28mm
A bit of colour cast but smearing wide open
Much better @ 5,6 but still not that nice...
Contax G 35mm
No colour cast and minor smearing wide open
perfect at 5,6
Contax G 45mm
No colour cast and a tiny bit of smearing
perfect at 5,6
Contax G 90mm
No colour cast and no smearing wide open + @ 5,6
Will test some more with other lenses and a A7R in the next days.
p.8 #17 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
fotoingo2 wrote:
My findings so far :
A7 and
Sony E-Mount 16mm:
Same usability as on a crop-sensor Nex.
Leica 24mm f3,8 Asph
Really nice performance for a WA-Lens
Very minor colour cast and smearing @ 3,8
More or less gone @ 5,6
Contax G 28mm
A bit of colour cast but smearing wide open
Much better @ 5,6 but still not that nice...
Contax G 35mm
No colour cast and minor smearing wide open
perfect at 5,6
Contax G 45mm
No colour cast and a tiny bit of smearing
perfect at 5,6
Contax G 90mm
No colour cast and no smearing wide open + @ 5,6
Will test some more with other lenses and a A7R in the next days.
p.8 #19 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
I've been following this thread with some dismay.
I had hoped that the Alpha 7 or 7r might be a suitable FF replacement for my current APS format Ricoh GXR A12 (Leica M mount) camera. Unlike the NEX (and apparently the Alpha 7) the Ricoh does not suffer from chromatic aberrations, loss of peripheral sharpness or the visible distortion in Phillip Reeve's initial test shots at the beginning of this thread.
Ricoh attribute this to a series of "micro lenses" over the sensor, optimized for Leica RF lenses. I suppose a generic mount like the Sony E adapted to Leica M couldn't be expected to provide such specific performance goals. As they say "Jack of all trades, master of none".
Ok, then why switch?
I simply want a FF sensor so that my 50mm f/2 lenses will function as 50mm f/2 lenses (instead of 75mm f/2.8 as they do on an APS crop sensor). Ironically, the Sony Alpha 7 only performs well with very long lenses, negating that advantage.
"Magenta Hue"
This is most certainly due to spherical chromaticism or axial chromatic aberration, and it is a function of the lenses, not the camera.
I have several lenses which exhibit spherical chromaticism, manifest as a magenta hue to objects which are sightly closer than the plane of focus and a green hue to objects slightly behind the plane of focus. I set up a simple test rig to demonstrate this effect. The worst examples I have are my most modern lenses. This one, for example.
p.8 #20 · Sony A7 - first impressions and some tests
zmix wrote:
I've been following this thread with some dismay.
I had hoped that the Alpha 7 or 7r might be a suitable FF replacement for my current APS format Ricoh GXR A12 (Leica M mount) camera. Unlike the NEX (and apparently the Alpha 7) the Ricoh does not suffer from chromatic aberrations, loss of peripheral sharpness or the visible distortion in Phillip Reeve's initial test shots at the beginning of this thread.
Thats becaus it is a aps-c sensor. My lenses have much better corners on a Nex-6 as well.
zmix wrote:
"Magenta Hue"
This is most certainly due to spherical chromaticism or axial chromatic aberration.
I think you got many things wrong. Colorshift or Magenta Hue as you call it is not related to CA, my Zeiss Biogn 28 for example shows really litte CA but some Colorshift. The Minolta MD 2.8/28 has a lot more CA but no Colorshift.
Or are you such a lens guru, you've managed to get your hands on some experimental property?
Not that I am aware of. So, if my A7R is the same, it will be just fine...