p.3 #1 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
All of these current platforms are excellent for manual focus. Particularly with the Z mount adaptability and the native E mount lenses designed for it by 3rd party lens makers. Truth is Canon and M43 and Fuji are great too. Is there a best? Give and take I think it's a wash in a lot of ways.
p.3 #2 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
arduluth wrote:
Interesting. I felt the exact opposite - on the A7R2 I find it easier to get the focus I want without zooming in, because it seems sharper. So much so that I had just assumed there was a panel upgrade. This is true for me in all light situations - most of my shooting is pretty low light (e.g. f/2, ISO 6400-25k, 1/60) and the A7R2 felt like a big improvement for MF there, allowing me to focus manually without zooming in, which definitely helped me get the shot when I may have missed it. After learning that the EVF isn't any bigger or higher resolution on the A7R2, I chalked it up to the higher res sensor being able to discern more detail; it also does better in low light. 🤷♀️
I'm curious - do you have your sharpness cranked up in your JPEG settings? This is a trick I learned from @sebboh@ and I recommend it to anyone who shoots MF lenses and RAW.
Then again, my original A7 has seen a lot of action and has taken a lot of abuse - and stood up to it well. The EVF glass is pretty scratched up at this point, which by itself makes a big difference in MF experience. ...Show more →
This sounds very interesting. I'm curious how one makes these adjustments to make the EVF sharper. This is a major downside for me, much preferring the EVF of the a7R4.
I find using magnified EVF of a7R2 to be very fuzzy, and often relegate AF lenses to these bodies, rather than MF. I haven't got any problem with the output images, just the time lost trying to get precise focus at either stage of magnified EVF image.
That said, back to the title of the thread -- I do think the a7R2 still offers the best IQ to dollars spent of all cameras. 42MP of beautiful rendering, and all the basic controls we are used to. All in a very inexpensive used package (what are we at currently, $1200, or less?). Amazing photo value! (Update: I see an outstanding a7R2 copy sold here on Nov 19 for $875!! Wow, what a great camera for such an inexpensive price! )
p.3 #3 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
arduluth wrote:
I'm curious - do you have your sharpness cranked up in your JPEG settings? This is a trick I learned from @sebboh@ and I recommend it to anyone who shoots MF lenses and RAW.
Can you elaborate on this? Does adjusting your JPEG settings influence the sharpness of what you see through the EVF?
Dec 08, 2021 at 05:35 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.3 #4 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
arduluth wrote:
I never felt like IBIS was a killer feature for me. Upgrading from the original A7 to the R2, it was more useful than I'd expected when using AF lenses or sticking to a single prime for an outing. For my real "work" shooting music I'm switching between 2-3 primes quite a bit, 5-15 lens changes during an hour long set. That was the main situation I wanted IBIS for, but practically it doesn't provide much benefit. I can swap a lens in a few seconds by feel without thinking, while working my way through a crowded bar. That's not an option for changing the MF focal length for IBIS. So I end up setting the IBIS FL to the widest I'm shooting and just leaving it there.
I've hoped someone would come out with a work around on it - a dumb electronic adapters that would allow you to set a focal length via USB in the adapter, one you'd just keep on the lens. Or ideally, an adapter with a physical switch for the focal lengths I shoot a lot, but that's too tailored to me to ever happen.
I've grown to appreciate the joystick on my Fujis, but I'm pretty fast with moving the box on my Sony using the dials, one for each axis. I'm not a fan of using the touch screen to use the focal point, that just annoys me on every camera I've tried it with.
I haven't seen an A7C in person yet, but in some ways it's the camera I've asked for on this forum for years. But in reality, I don't find it compelling. It's not really an upgrade for me in anyway and a downgrade in other ways. I hope I get the chance to play with one!
I don't think width would be a problem - on FF, I generally shot 28/45/90 or 35/75. At some point, speed starts to be an issue though. I don't know how well the large sensor scales up in terms of high ISO performance especially in the live view, but I have a hard time imagining an f/4 lens being something that cut it.
I'd very much like to try a Leica for my work. It's something I've thought about a lot. I love a good RF OVF, though I wonder a lot how well I'd be able to focus on a moving subject. I've generally felt like Leica brings with it some advantages but also plenty of disadvantages in terms of performance, but I've never had the chance to try. I keep waiting to make a friend who has an M240 I could borrow for a show, but so far no dice. 😂
I recently did a little shooting with a Mamiya Universal Press with Fuji FP3000b and found it hard to work with in the low, muddy light I was working with. So much harder to focus on someone's eye with the RF patch than it would have been in an EVF. I imagine a Leica M camera has a better VF/RF patch than the old MUP though....Show more →
Just some comments on the larger sensor in the Fuji GFX cameras. You can get to about a 40mm equivalent easily with a number of inexpensive 55mm lens but wider than about a 40mm equivalent is going to cost quite a bit. Also keep in mind that an f/2.8 lens is about the equivalent in terms of depth of field of an f/2 lens on FF and you do get about half a stop better high ISO performance than all but the best FF sensors (the 100 MP GFX sensor gets a full stop better high ISO performance than even the best FF sensors), so an F/2.8 lens can be used in even pretty poor light and even an f/4 lens is a lot more useable on the big sensor than it is on FF. All that said, the Fuji GFXR probably isn't the solution for what you are looking for even though I do think it is a very interesting system for adapting lenses.
p.3 #5 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
Steve Spencer wrote:
Just some comments on the larger sensor in the Fuji GFX cameras. You can get to about a 40mm equivalent easily with a number of inexpensive 55mm lens but wider than about a 40mm equivalent is going to cost quite a bit. Also keep in mind that an f/2.8 lens is about the equivalent in terms of depth of field of an f/2 lens on FF and you do get about half a stop better high ISO performance than all but the best FF sensors (the 100 MP GFX sensor gets a full stop better high ISO performance than even the best FF sensors), so an F/2.8 lens can be used in even pretty poor light and even an f/4 lens is a lot more useable on the big sensor than it is on FF. All that said, the Fuji GFXR probably isn't the solution for what you are looking for even though I do think it is a very interesting system for adapting lenses....Show more →
Expensive? What about the Pentax 35/3.5 645 lens? From what I understand, they work rather well with the GFX system, and certainly don't cost the metaphorical 'arm and leg.'
Dec 09, 2021 at 01:32 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
p.3 #6 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
Taperwing wrote:
Expensive? What about the Pentax 35/3.5 645 lens? From what I understand, they work rather well with the GFX system, and certainly don't cost the metaphorical 'arm and leg.'
I specifically didn't recommend that lens for the nightclub music type of shooting that the OP is doing because I think the aperture is too slow. On the GFX-R the sensor is more tuned for low ISO shooting with the micro lenses used and not for high ISO shooting so it doesn't take full advantage of what the larger sensor can do at high ISO that combined with the f/3.5 aperture to me makes that lens quite a bit less than optimal for shooting in dark night club. I would draw the line with an f/2.8 lens, but even that one would hope to have a wider aperture for this type of shooting.
p.3 #7 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
Minatureman13 wrote:
Can you elaborate on this? Does adjusting your JPEG settings influence the sharpness of what you see through the EVF?
Yes. When you modify the JPEG settings, it modifies what you see in the rendered image in the EVF. Try it some time - turn your sharpness to as low as it goes, look through the EVF and do some focusing on a something moire inducing like fabric. Then turn it all the way up and repeat. You'll be able to see a bit of moire shimmer that works in a similar way to focus peaking, but it's a lot less error prone. The sharper image also helps with MF in general.
p.3 #8 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
Steve Spencer wrote:
Just some comments on the larger sensor in the Fuji GFX cameras. You can get to about a 40mm equivalent easily with a number of inexpensive 55mm lens but wider than about a 40mm equivalent is going to cost quite a bit. Also keep in mind that an f/2.8 lens is about the equivalent in terms of depth of field of an f/2 lens on FF and you do get about half a stop better high ISO performance than all but the best FF sensors (the 100 MP GFX sensor gets a full stop better high ISO performance than even the best FF sensors), so an F/2.8 lens can be used in even pretty poor light and even an f/4 lens is a lot more useable on the big sensor than it is on FF. All that said, the Fuji GFXR probably isn't the solution for what you are looking for even though I do think it is a very interesting system for adapting lenses....Show more →
My ideal setup is primes in the area of ~28, ~50/, ~90. I haven't followed what FF lenses work well on the GFX very closely. Makes sense that wider lenses would be harder to find, more expensive, and often slower. The GFX is especially appealing to me because it addresses the one thing I don't love about my Fuji bodies - they're not full frame. I've never used a GFX, I worry that it's slower in operation than my A7, enough so that it'll drive me nuts. I don't know if that's actually true, but I've gotten very used to the fast operation of my Fuji X cameras, having come from the A7 and R2. The newer low price has definitely put it on my radar in a way it was never before.
The lack of FF isn't an issue for designed for APS-C - the 7artisans 35/0.95 gives me enough of the look of a 50/1.4 on FF enough so that it's irrelevant to me whether it's a FF or APS-C sensor. But I miss it with the dozens of FF film lenses I used to use on the A7.
The tricky thing with MF is in the numbers you quoted - the 50R performs half a stop better at high ISO than all but the best FF sensors, but most of the lenses available are a stop or two slower. f/2.8 is on the slow end of what I'd like but definitely workable.
That Mitakon 65/1.4 though... I could get along with that as my main normal prime on GFX from what I've seen.
p.3 #9 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
The operational speed of the GFX50R and gfx50S is slower than the original A7 in my opinion. The files are superb however. The thing that is alittle jarring with the first-gen gfx bodies is the shutter lag, its the longest i have ever experienced personally. Idont see the 50s or 50r as great concert photography tools to be honest.
Arduluth, if you are ever in the Twin Cities to shoot a concert and want to try out an M240 with some nice lenses, PM me.
p.3 #10 · Best (affordable) platform for manual lenses in 2021?
arduluth wrote:
My ideal setup is primes in the area of ~28, ~50/, ~90. I haven't followed what FF lenses work well on the GFX very closely. Makes sense that wider lenses would be harder to find, more expensive, and often slower. The GFX is especially appealing to me because it addresses the one thing I don't love about my Fuji bodies - they're not full frame. I've never used a GFX, I worry that it's slower in operation than my A7, enough so that it'll drive me nuts. I don't know if that's actually true, but I've gotten very used to the fast operation of my Fuji X cameras, having come from the A7 and R2. The newer low price has definitely put it on my radar in a way it was never before.
The lack of FF isn't an issue for designed for APS-C - the 7artisans 35/0.95 gives me enough of the look of a 50/1.4 on FF enough so that it's irrelevant to me whether it's a FF or APS-C sensor. But I miss it with the dozens of FF film lenses I used to use on the A7.
The tricky thing with MF is in the numbers you quoted - the 50R performs half a stop better at high ISO than all but the best FF sensors, but most of the lenses available are a stop or two slower. f/2.8 is on the slow end of what I'd like but definitely workable.
That Mitakon 65/1.4 though... I could get along with that as my main normal prime on GFX from what I've seen. ...Show more →
The GFX cameras all have a 35mm mode (approx 30mp for GFX 50S/R). You lose the ISO advantage of course, but you could use faster wide-angle lenses to compensate for that. And for longer focal lengths you could still use the full sensor.
(Update: I see an outstanding a7R2 copy sold here on Nov 19 for $875!! Wow, what a great camera for such an inexpensive price!