More of images taken with the 85mm f/1.4 ZA. This lens performs very well for its purpose but the focusing noise can be bothersome, especially at indoor locations. I do not have any problems with the weight difference or the larger form factor relative to the Batis 85mm f/1.8 since it is a faster lens after all. Just the AF noise level. Maybe I should just put up with it since its performance as a portrait lens is wonderful.
More of Jensi from yesterday's session. I am including a crop from the last image to show the details. Frankly, I toned down the sharpness and rendered the images softer. It would not be too flattering otherwise . That's why women would prefer a softer lens.
LightShow wrote:
There are filter threads, though I don't know about vignetting.
I would like to be able to use my 100 x 150 Lee graduated filters, but won't be able to put an adapter on the CV 15 given its fixed hood. The other (more expensive!) ultra-wide candidate is a Distagon 18 - does anyone have experience of the more recent 3.5 version of this on an A7, say in a ZE or ZF mount? I've heard that the F/3.5 is an improvement over the earlier C/Y F/4 version that people like Helena use. Any comments appreciated. John
darbo wrote:
Next Three: a7R + EF 11-24mm f/4L USM + Fotodiox ND Throttle
Wow, awesome, David! No discoloration that I could notice unlike some ND filters I know. I love that lens, too and look at the wonderful greens! I will take my 11-24mm out on a more serious photography trip 8 days from today.
AGeoJO wrote: Wow, awesome, David! No discoloration that I could notice unlike some ND filters I know. I love that lens, too and look at the wonderful greens! I will take my 11-24mm out on a more serious photography trip 8 days from today.
Thanks much Joshua! The lens came yesterday morning so, naturally, I had to take it for a try out. Unlike my first copy, which seemed to be decentered (returned it), this one is amazing: stunningly sharp across the frame. Really appreciate the encouragement and recommendation: I could not be happier with it!
The ND Throttle is nice. I like being able to dial in my desired shutter speed by simplly varying the ND. No uneven shading and just a touch of magenta cast to clean up. HSL adj layer zeroing magenta seems to fix it. I only wish the Throttle had a tripod collar: the 11-24mm is a heavy lens and normally use a Hejnar L-bracket on my metabones adapter to carry the load.
21 Days with the Sony A7r M, A7s and Sony FE 24-240. Final images - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Final thoughts on cruising with the Sony FE 24-240 lens. I like the lens a lot. I am getting very comfortable with it.
It is a great lens for group travel. In a sense, it lets you get away from the group.
In a 2 lens SLR camera bag, I carried two bodies, the A7r Mod and the A7s. I carried an external universal charger for AC and 12V. DC, three extra batteries, a lens pen, air bulb and sensor cleaning kit. When I went out shooting I carried a single camera/lens, lens pen and a spare battery. That's it! My wife thought I was carrying too much. She carried an RX100 II and a spare battery.
This works for me. The A7r Mod's huge image combined with the 240mm zoom range offers a lot of choices in cropping and composition of the final image. The A7s with its superior low light capability effectively adds several "f/stops" to the slow f/3.5-f/6.3 zoom lens. The minimum focus distance of aprox 0.5 meter/20" on the A7r creates a "Macro like" capability when cropping. Did I miss the dozens of lenses in my collection, or my huge camera bag? Sad to say, no, I was pretty contented to just go out for several hours with this lens on either body depending on available light. It was fun and challenging to have limited options.
This lens is better than I expected. It is well balanced and comfortable to hand hold. It makes me think my Minolta MD 35-70mm Macro will not get out much in the future. There is no need to apologize for any image coming from this lens. It can stare right into the sun better than most lenses. It has great corners for a zoom lens across the whole range. I am not a chart gazer. I judge the lens by whether I can get the image I want out of post processing.The lens has its own style of drawing like every other lens. The post processing lens corrections were not unlike the same corrections you would find using the identical focal lengths in prime lenses. My perspective errors were more likely to come from rushed shooting and my own impatience than lens failure. All these issues were easy to fix in Lightroom.
I found the manual focus with magnification improved a lot of images. I don't remember what this focus mode is called but you leave auto-focus on and grab the focus ring which instantly magnifies the image and gives you manual control. Great feature with this lens.
Went to the Philadelphia zoo with kids today. Took my Tamron SP 500mm mirror lens with me. Weather was nice and I was able to get a few really nice pictures. Had to keep shutter speed at 1/500 to get steady pictures so ISOs got pretty high for the indoor shots. All in all, very impressed with this piece of obsolete optics.
. That's why women would prefer a softer lens.
Wow, awesome, David! No discoloration that I could notice unlike some ND filters I know. I love that lens, too and look at the wonderful greens! I will take my 11-24mm out on a more serious photography trip 8 days from today.
