p.13 #1 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
GMPhotography wrote:
Im sorry for my rant too folks, it just is getting old when I hear we can't duo this or that when with a little effort most is possible. Believe me I would not be shooting this system with my neck on the line, i have some very high profile clients and i can't take risks. If a system is not up to the task a lot of Sony shooters would be looking elsewhere.
There are some exceptional Sony shooters running video kit these days, many are former staffers from pretty high profile photography organizations. I think these would be great guys for Sony to sponsor. Unfortunately, most these guys are pretty much unknowns to the web-savvy Sony user base (read: not much of a social media presence).
Here's a great FUJI add with a fantastic photographer that most in the blogosphere have never heard of:
p.13 #2 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
GMPhotography wrote:
Im sorry for my rant too folks, it just is getting old when I hear we can't duo this or that when with a little effort most is possible.
BTW My comments were based on doing an actual test at f/11 under standard UK household lighting. What I found was with setting effect "on" (i.e. lens stopped down to shooting aperture) the EVF performance was significantly degraded (especially in terms of refresh rate, the increased noise was less of an issue).
With setting effect "off" the camera opened the lens up and the EVF was fine. So this isn't a problem for me, as when shooting with flash I turn setting effect "off" and all the lenses I own oblige by opening the iris so I can compose shots.
I still don't have confirmation, but if as suggested this doesn't work with certain lenses, and they remain permanently at the shooting aperture, then this is a problem when working with strobes.
Focussing is a separate issue, but there is no technical reason why you shouldn't be able to compose your shots wide open! Stopping right down in low light and then cranking up the ISO and reducing the refresh rate to get a usable image in the EVF is ridiculous.
p.13 #3 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
ecarlino wrote:
not trying to be too sarcastic, but doesn't "Sony Artisan" = "propaganda marketing" ?
Why isn't this guy an Artisan, better still, a proper Sony sponsored artist? Brandon shoots the stuffing out of his Sony gear, and he talks to what works and what doesn't! We don't need anymore weekend workshop leaders......
p.13 #4 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Matt Grum wrote:
I still don't have confirmation, but if as suggested this doesn't work with certain lenses, and they remain permanently at the shooting aperture, then this is a problem when working with strobes.
I don't know of any FE lens that remains permanently locked at the shooting aperture during focus acquisition.
Whoever wrote that probably didn't test the lens in low light as for some lenses, this behavior differs depending on the lighting condition...and not all lenses behave the same way.
Some lenses open up more than others, but under low light, they all open the iris to a certain degree during focus acquisition. For the 85 GM, I calculated about from 1 to 2 stops from the shooting aperture depending on the light condition. So, the darker the environment, the more the iris opens. It's not ideal and it would preferable if it always open up to f/2 (like the 55/1.8), focus would be much quicker at smaller apertures under low light. However, there must be a good explanation for certain lenses to behave like this.
p.13 #5 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Another thought:
When using adapted lenses (or SLRs), the iris remains always open during focus acquisition and only closes to the shooting aperture at the time of exposure. That should be the ideal behavior when having the setting effect set to "Off".
The only explanation I can think of is that Sony is trying to minimize 'focus shift' in some lenses.
But who knows, perhaps a new camera will come along and change how AF and aperture behave.
p.13 #6 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Not going to buy the new lens as I am broke and my 55 1.8 works (again).
Just looked more closely.
I have always had the A7s set to "Live view display" setting effect ON but this thread got me interested so I just changed it to OFF. Going to keep it there.
Focus in low light is faster at the apertures I use (people shots at concerts/gigs f2 to f5.6). I was happy with it but this is just better for my uses.
If I start in the dark, it now focuses wide open. If I shine a torch into it, it first focuses wide open but if I keep the torch there, it then focuses stopped down somewhat.
If I keep the light on it all the time but keep shooting (DMF, single shot 5.6) it mostly stays around the taking aperture and actually seems to go to a slower aperture briefly.
If I stop shooting but leave it on (and torch on), it opens back up and closes down continually and the same if I wave the torch around.
In other words it seems to be all over the place but no matter, it works for my purposes, so I am fine with it.
I should say maybe my 55 isn't working 100% still as it stopped working altogether for a while after I spilt some cleaning fluid on the contacts and after remounting it seem to have left the camera on so may have shorted something briefly.
My FE 28-70 kit lens seems to behave about the same.
Canon lenses adapted always focus wide open -40 2.8 STM and 18-55 IS ii kit lens (covers FF 24-55).
EDIT- could this have anything to do with metering rather than/as well as focus?
p.13 #7 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
I tried with the A6000 and Zony 24/1.8 in poor light. With the settings effects On, the aperture stayed closed down during focusing. With settings effects Off, the aperture closed down after focusing, and then opened again after the picture was taken, or when I just lifted my finger from the shutter release.
p.13 #8 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
chrisgibbs wrote:
There are some exceptional Sony shooters running video kit these days, many are former staffers from pretty high profile photography organizations. I think these would be great guys for Sony to sponsor. Unfortunately, most these guys are pretty much unknowns to the web-savvy Sony user base (read: not much of a social media presence).
Here's a great FUJI add with a fantastic photographer that most in the blogosphere have never heard of:
I love the style of David Harvey and great to have him at the forefront of Fuji. Sony really needs some strong targeted marketing with a variety of photographers presenting RAW images that are well taken prior to releases. We only seem to have mere few images to review which often are mediocre at best and it is frustrating.
Maybe the marketing department have learned by presenting too much data before the release of a body/lens can diminish sales?
p.13 #9 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Les Numériques, the French site have run Imatest on the new Sony and on the Samyang: and declared Samyang better at all apertures and positions in the field!
This is astonishing! I really doubt that it's true, but it'd be nice to know more.
We have had the lens rental test showing how good the Sony is. And the Sony is a larger and more complex lens which, other things being equal, should make it better. And Roger has given us reason to think the the complexity is not paid for in worse than average variation
Les Numériques are not terrible, on the other hand.
Here are some possibilities
(1) Les Numériques made a mistake
(2) It's true, but of course Les Numeriques test at close distances - in which case for portrait use the Samyang will be sharper
(3) It's true close up like in (2), but it's paid for in bokeh
(4) It's sample variation - LN got one of the best Samyang, and one of the worst Sony (that's my hunch - we are at such a high threshold of quality these days that sample variation trumps design variation. You might have better chance of a better lens with the Sony, but that doesn't mean your Sony will be better than a particular Samyang.
Of course it might just be true, but that's not what the balance of evidence suggests...
p.13 #12 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Just noticed something very odd about lesnumeriques chart: it has the Sony showing themidfield better than the centre at f1.4 and f2! If that's true then either the lens performs amazingly differently at imatest distances or else it's way out of whack...
p.13 #14 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Another thing to note from the test by "Les Numeriques" is the stopped down performance of the humble Sony 50/1.8 FE. At f/5.6, f/8 and f/11 it beats all the three competitors in the test, namely Leica 50/1.4 Asph. as well as the Samyang and Zony 50/1.4 lenses. So for landscapes at stopped down apertures the Sony 50/1.8 FE may well be worth it. Wide open the Sony 50/1.8 doesn't seem that nice though, but that's a "feature" of classical doble Gauss designs.
The test by Les Numeriques seems to somehow summarize tangential and saggital resolution.
p.13 #15 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
DavidBM wrote:
Just noticed something very odd about lesnumeriques chart: it has the Sony showing themidfield better than the centre at f1.4 and f2! If that's true then either the lens performs amazingly differently at imatest distances or else it's way out of whack...
The test seems to summarize tangential and saggital resolution. Could that be an explanation, combined with shooting at non-infinity distances?
p.13 #16 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
charles.K wrote:
I love the style of David Harvey and great to have him at the forefront of Fuji. Sony really needs some strong targeted marketing with a variety of photographers presenting RAW images that are well taken prior to releases. We only seem to have mere few images to review which often are mediocre at best and it is frustrating.
Maybe the marketing department have learned by presenting too much data before the release of a body/lens can diminish sales?
BTW I love the work of Brandon Li !
Charles, here's a Sony promo video that's inspirational too:
p.13 #17 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
bjornthun wrote:
The test seems to summarize tangential and saggital resolution. Could that be an explanation, combined with shooting at non-infinity distances?
Imatest and other forms of computerized chart analysis don't give separate tangential and sagittal numbers. They use 'near vertical' and 'near horizontal' readings and may report the difference. But those aren't tangential and sagittal. For example on the middle-side of the field 'near vertical' is nearly tangential and 'near horizontal' nearly sagittal. On the mid-top or bottom of the field the opposite is true. In between, neither is sagittal or tangential.
I don't know what DxO does for that, since their test chart is dots rather than slanted lines.
p.13 #18 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
ecarlino wrote:
Why even bother publishing the chart when it is so obviously wrong!
Well I too am doubtful; but not publishing outliers unless you know why they are wrong is a recipe for corrupting data and making it impossible to get things right.
p.13 #19 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb!
Here is another link to Jason Lanier's shoot in Honduras. There is more detail and information and shots mostly at f/1.4. I am still really liking this lens, except for the size/weight
