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Archive 2019 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?

  
 
Artakha
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


Hi all,

I found someone on the local Craigslist selling a Sony Zeiss A-mount 135 f/1.8 for $500. They are claiming it is in great condition, optically flawless etc. Seems awfully cheap compared to what they are selling for on eBay, especially if they're including the LA-EA4 adapter it is pictured with.

I shoot with an A7iii. I'm a college student doing freelance work for my college newspaper and for my own enjoyment. For sports assignments, I've been making do with a Canon 70-200 f/4 with a metabones mk5, or cropping my Sony 85 1.8. The 135 with 1.8 would help a lot with dark situations but I'm mostly wondering about AF with the LA-EA4. The metabones does a surprisingly fine job on the Canon, but since the LA-EA4 is made/supported by Sony I would assume it would be better than what the metabones can do?

I do a fair amount of portrait work and I've heard that this 135 is just optically spectacular so maybe it's worth getting at that price anyway?

Can anyone with experience adapting A mount chime in?



Dec 17, 2019 at 04:58 PM
ysultan
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


No, the autofocus with LAEA4 adapter is crap. It's not even good for portraits.
The lens is optically fantastic.. Really amazing rendering.. If you get it for $500, it will be good for portraits only when you're not dealing with fast moving subjects. I would say it's a collectible lens at this stage.



Dec 17, 2019 at 05:06 PM
pasblues
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


I don't agree at all with ysultan. I had that lens and adapter combination for a couple of years with the A7R3 and "it's not even good for portraits" is a totally false statement clearly made by someone who hasn't owned or doesn't know how to use that combination.

BBF will help you and working on your contrast-point focus technique.

"I would say it's a collectible lens at this stage" - there actually is a Sony lineup (dslr) that uses A-mount lenses so this is just a misinformed statement.

I compared the ZA with the GM in some shots on a different thread. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Is it as fast as the GM? No, of course not. The GM has two AF motors in it - which commands the price tag of over 4X what your Craigslist offering is.

One point to keep in mind is that using the adapter will claw back about a 1/3 stop from the ZA's f1.8, making it more like a f2.

I would say that somebody selling the ZA WITH THE ADAPTER for $500 is either desperate for money, is selling something with a problem (like it's not working 100% or it's, mhm, "borrowed") or isn't selling it with the adapter or the adapter isn't included (adapter is worth about $175-$200 by itself) and the lens is worth at least $700 by itself. So, the used market price on those two items should be more around $900.

Craigslist is a cray-cray place. Proceed with caution as I'm sure you will. Meet and transact inside the lobby of your bank during business hours where there is security and security cameras - so you feel safe. That is absolutely the ONLY way I have ever conducted a Craigslist transaction - and that is AFTER I inform the other party that my husband is an ex-cop who doesn't tolerate shenanigans (licensed to carry). Some people maybe would think that is "oh, that's overdoing it" - yeah. I overdo security at all times. I'm not meeting some dude in a parking lot somewhere to exchange $$$.

Below I have a comparison I shot at a concert between the ZA and the GM Sonys. The rest are with the ZA. Emphasize: I use BBF and old-school AF techniques. This isn't hard to do - it's a skill acquisition.





























Edited on Dec 17, 2019 at 06:39 PM · View previous versions



Dec 17, 2019 at 06:03 PM
Artakha
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


pasblues wrote:
I don't agree at all with ysultan. I had that lens and adapter combination for a couple of years with the A7R3 and "it's not even good for portraits" is a totally false statement clearly made by someone who hasn't owned or doesn't know how to use that combination.

BBF will help you and working on your contrast-point focus technique.

"I would say it's a collectible lens at this stage" - there actually is a Sony lineup (dslr) that uses A-mount lenses so this is just a misinformed statement.

I compared the ZA with the GM in some shots on a
...Show more

Yes, $500 is a good price, not certain if the adapter is included yet. I have emailed the seller to see if the adapter is included and why it is being sold. It does feel a bit suspicious but asking and trying it out can't hurt.

F/2 is still a huge gain over f/4; good to know though. Sounds like AF wise I will not be gaining anything over my Canon--which is disappointing but not completely discouraging.

Thank you for your advice.



Dec 17, 2019 at 06:14 PM
AGeoJO
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


That Sony A-mount lens relies on the AF system of the LA-EA4, which dates back to probably close to 10 years. It also noisy since it uses the screw drive mechanism in addition to loosing a lot great features of the modern AF system, one of them is the Eye-AF. The AF itself is decent, not fast but quite accurate from my recollection. I used it only for portraits and it did okay there.

While the price $500 seems reasonable, I would be one the lookout for a Canon mount Sigma 135mm f/1.8 lens that, combined with the Sigma MC-11, can take advantage of modern/current AF features. I sold mine for less than $800 about a year ago but I am not sure about the current price of that lens now.



Dec 17, 2019 at 06:21 PM
pasblues
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


Sometimes there are good deals on older technology equipment. Photographers can often successfully take advantage of the $$ savings to still create great images.

I have several older model pieces of gear that I purchased at excellent prices and I really enjoy making great photos with this gear - I'm sure many here will agree.

A college student with limited funds wanted to up his/her game by getting some older technology gear for a great price is an example of the kind of photographer who is in the market for gear such as this. I'm sure if money were no object, the student would buy an A9 and a GM setup.




Dec 17, 2019 at 06:44 PM
ysultan
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


You can disagree with my statements, but you can't say that I haven't used the lens because I owned it and the autofocus with LAEA4 was worse than my Canon t3i. I preferred to use the Zeiss 135mm f2 Apo, which is completely manual, over the ZA.
There is no question about this optically quality of the lens, and I would buy it over the GM if it were a native E mount lens (for rendering only). But it's almost 2020, and the LAEA4+135mm ZA autofocus performance belongs to probably 2 decades ago. Yes, it can take pictures and I can share some very accurately focused samples taken with this lens, but it would be completely misleading to suggest that every shot taken with lens will be like that. The focus points cover ~ 10% of the frame, which means you have either to focus and recompose or rely on manual focus when the subject falls outside the 10% area covered by the LAEA4 focus points.
The autofocus of ZA is not slower than the GM. It's much much slower.

And by the way, the question is about using this lens for sports and whether the LAEA4 is better than Metabones with Canon lenses if you have missed that.

Good day sir.





pasblues wrote:
I don't agree at all with ysultan. I had that lens and adapter combination for a couple of years with the A7R3 and "it's not even good for portraits" is a totally false statement clearly made by someone who hasn't owned or doesn't know how to use that combination.

BBF will help you and working on your contrast-point focus technique.

"I would say it's a collectible lens at this stage" - there actually is a Sony lineup (dslr) that uses A-mount lenses so this is just a misinformed statement.

I compared the ZA with the GM in some shots on a
...Show more



Dec 17, 2019 at 07:17 PM
Ltgk20
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


The 135f1.8za is a classic lens and for many years was one of the finest at that focal length. However, AF was always a bit of a weakness. The a99ii will drive it fast, but the AF unit in the LA-EA4 is from the a55 (about 10 years old), and isn't the fastest. It'd be good enough for portraits, but I don't think it'd work for sports where any quick movement is going on.


Dec 17, 2019 at 08:22 PM
osv2
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


Artakha wrote:
The 135 with 1.8 would help a lot with dark situations but I'm mostly wondering about AF with the LA-EA4. The metabones does a surprisingly fine job on the Canon, but since the LA-EA4 is made/supported by Sony I would assume it would be better than what the metabones can do?


it depends on what body the metabones is mounted on... my old a7r is cdaf-only, it's generally a fail with the metabones, but the a7r does work with the laea4, because the laea4 has it's own pdaf autofocus system.

since you asked about action, i did shoot with the a7r/laea4/tamron 150-600, but that lens has it's own af motor, which is much better than the drive slug in the 135/1.8... when i put that lens on an laea3/a9, it was night and day better than the laea4.

how well it would work for you depends on what type of action you are shooting, but in general, i would not spend $500 to shoot action with it.










Dec 17, 2019 at 09:27 PM
trogdon
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


I own the combo, and no I wouldn’t use it for sports. It’s an amazing lens, but the LA-EA4 is not good enough for f1.8 focusing. The lens is one of the more accurate focusing screw driven lenses in the Sony Alpha stable, but it still is not actually good or that accurate.

The AF module is based on the Sony a65, which was a mid range $650 camera upon release. Doesn’t even use the improved a77 module, which came out at the same time. Either way, Sony was not known for having good autofocus during this time.

It’s possible to get good shots with the combo, but it’s a hassle. I mostly use the lens with an LA-EA3, as I find the LA-EA4 inaccurate at longer distances even when I performed micro focus adjustments.



Dec 17, 2019 at 11:29 PM
mawz
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


One thing to note is that LA-EA4 performance is VERY dependent on whether or not you stick to the centre point.

Like Minolta before it, the Sony A mount PDAF is quite a good performer on centre point, but mediocre to horrid on every other point. The LA-EA4 is pretty good (but not excellent) on the centre point, limited only by the weak AF motor in the adapter.



Dec 18, 2019 at 10:12 AM
Mystik
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


That Sony 135 f1.8 is top notch in terms of rendering though. I miss that lens and would pull the trigger at $500 for sure.


Dec 18, 2019 at 11:33 AM
pasblues
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


ysultan wrote:
You can disagree with my statements, but you can't say that I haven't used the lens because I owned it and the autofocus with LAEA4 was worse than my Canon t3i. I preferred to use the Zeiss 135mm f2 Apo, which is completely manual, over the ZA.
There is no question about this optically quality of the lens, and I would buy it over the GM if it were a native E mount lens (for rendering only). But it's almost 2020, and the LAEA4+135mm ZA autofocus performance belongs to probably 2 decades ago. Yes, it can take pictures and I
...Show more

I understand that you found the lens difficult to use. It does take some skill to use the LA-EA4 adapter and the 135ZA.

FWIW, the lens was introduced in 2006 and the LA-EA4 was introduced in 2013 - neither of which is "a couple of decades ago".

This is a college student tryn to stretch dollars on a good deal so I'm surprised people are suggesting he get something more expensive. I'm sure he would if he could. I'm sure he'd get an A9 and a 70-200GM.

I guess I've been where he's at - but the world as it is today must be quite different. I didn't have a bunch of money to spend even when I started out professionally. I had to pick and choose how to stretch money. One of my early acquisitions was the Canon 35-350 lens - a push/pull beast that allowed me to have a lot of focal lengths in one lens instead of buying up several lenses. People gave me crap about it - which was embarrassing because was doing the best I could with what I could afford. I'm just tryn to encourage the guy. And I guess I learned an early lesson in photography which was to learn to work with what I had - therefore I got really good at technique even with situations where I had to work a little harder.



Dec 18, 2019 at 11:35 AM
pasblues
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


Ltgk20 wrote:
The 135f1.8za is a classic lens and for many years was one of the finest at that focal length. However, AF was always a bit of a weakness. The a99ii will drive it fast, but the AF unit in the LA-EA4 is from the a55 (about 10 years old), and isn't the fastest. It'd be good enough for portraits, but I don't think it'd work for sports where any quick movement is going on.


The LA-EA4 was introduced 6 years ago - 2013




Dec 18, 2019 at 11:40 AM
beardedspoooon
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


I found the combo fine for portraits, live music, and for just walking around. If you temper your expectations you'll probably be pleased.







Dec 18, 2019 at 11:40 AM
AGeoJO
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


pasblues wrote:
The LA-EA4 was introduced 6 years ago - 2013


Yes, but it uses an older AF module. I believe it is based on the A55, which was introduced in 2010. True, it is not 10 years but it is definitely getting there since we are close to 2020. Not that it matters....



Dec 18, 2019 at 11:55 AM
pasblues
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


I'm not in favor of telling the OP that what he is tryn to buy for a really good price is "old" - I felt the sting of people's comments putting down my equipment choices as I moved through my early professional years. It just wasn't useful. It just made me feel inadequate and ridiculed like the kid who doesn't wear the latest fashions.





Dec 18, 2019 at 12:05 PM
AGeoJO
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


pasblues wrote:
I'm not in favor of telling the OP that what he is tryn to buy for a really good price is "old" - I felt the sting of people's comments putting down my equipment choices as I moved through my early professional years. It just wasn't useful. It just made me feel inadequate and ridiculed like the kid who doesn't wear the latest fashions.



I understand and I agree with you but the OP made a point of his/her intention of using the lens, namely for sport. And let's be frank that the lens with the LA-EA4 is not designed for that intended purpose. Can that lens be used for that purpose? Sure, but the result may not be to his/her liking. That lens in combo with the LA-EA4 would be perfectly fine for portraits, for example. Although the Eye-AF won't be available but hey, people have taken or still take great portraits without that feature.



Dec 18, 2019 at 12:17 PM
trogdon
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


It’s not that the LA-EA4 takes skill, it’s that it simply does not work that well enough that often, in not very demanding scenarios. The poster already owns two lenses better suited for sports, the 85mm f1.8 and the Canon 70-200 f4. In no way will the 135 1.8 and LA-EA4 be able to perform better than either of these lenses in pure AF terms.

If you are trying to save money, then I simply do not recommend spending $500 on this combo if your primary interest is fast or accurate AF. Save the money and put it toward the Sigma 135mm f1.8, which will perform vastly better in every way for AF.



Dec 18, 2019 at 12:18 PM
beardedspoooon
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Sony A-Mount 135 1.8 with LA-EA4 -- usable for sports?


If only Sony would come out with an updated LA-EA4...


Dec 18, 2019 at 12:20 PM
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