^ With my alt lenses I usually find it best to stick a Canon adapter on it and go with a Canon mount TC. The Canon TC's are excellent, but the protruding element can be a problem for some lenses. Thirds party TC's are sometimes a better physical match, and can be pretty good optically.
Well I finally pulled the trigger and got myself a VS100-300 in the 84xxxxx range which is in great shape. I didn't use it as much in Japan as I was hoping but I think that's mainly due to me also getting the Sony 24-70 2.8 GM which I was pretty excited about. Anyhow here's one from the VS100-300 at around 135mm and f/8. Due to the lighting I had to blend a few different exposures together.
Is there anything I should check on my adapter to make sure that I have a good adapter?
Well I finally pulled the trigger and got myself a VS100-300 in the 84xxxxx range which is in great shape. I didn't use it as much in Japan as I was hoping but I think that's mainly due to me also getting the Sony 24-70 2.8 GM which I was pretty excited about. Anyhow here's one from the VS100-300 at around 135mm and f/8. Due to the lighting I had to blend a few different exposures together.
Is there anything I should check on my adapter to make sure that I have a good adapter?
For years I've been using a cheapish Kiwi adapter for all my CY lenses. They have chrome parts with black interior. I've seen no problems. But as these lenses are becoming increasingly pricey (not only 100-300) I probably should have gotten to buy a novoflex (or similar) by now. Eventually I will.
johnahill, there's a chinese third party collar that I think works great. I got mine with the purchase but seen the same on ebay. It's mounted on the barrel and hinders 100 - ca 125 (?) to be used. But at those focal lengths handheld is quite ok. So I find it a reasonable compromise.
Regardless I would avoid lifting the whole setup only by holding the camera. It makes no sense for a number of reasons.
Few days ago finally received my copy of VS 100-300 with SN 750xxxx in excellent overall condition. First surprise - relatively small and not so heavy. I have a K&F Concept adapter + cheap tripod collar from eBay + hood - Mamiya rubber hood for 360/6 (77mm, step-up ring). Yesterday I was shooting some test shots (handhold) on A7r II with stabilisation on and properly set focal lenght and the results werenŽt as good as I expected... sharpness.. I wasnŽt able to take a sharp image with 1/200-1/500s ?? What the hell,..so I tried 1/1000s with IBIS OFF and with focal lenght about 250-300mm results were better. Around some edges (leaves on tree) there was some light "halo" around it like shaking image. Not sure where can be a problem. Tomorrow IŽll try some shots from tripod short/longer distances and IŽll paint inner side of the adapter with black matte paint. In few days IŽam going on holidays and taking VS 100-300 with me but for now I have very mixed feelings about it talking about the sharpness above. I read in some thread that with this lens faster shutter speeds are needed but 1/1000? I can have a bad copy but I think the problem is in my hands rather than with the lens. Unfortunatelly I donŽt have much time before leaving on holidays searching for some special material for innner parts of the adapter so only black matte paint. Any advice with the lens or your experiences? Thanks, Mark.
Now, A7r is not the A7II that I have so it demands slightly higher circumstances than 24MP. But 24 is demanding too. I dont use tripods much but always (almost) lean on something. I have not owned the lens for long but have perhaps 20-30 shots in the record so far, most of them testing the lens, not creating art.
When it comes to sharpness pixelsharpness can occur at 1/250 pure handheld. And with leaning the cam on something (in my case the collar) I have several examples of 1/125. Given the light however, most shots I believe are on faster shutter as I wanted to stop down a bit testing the lens (1/500, 1/750 and other).
I usually take 3-4 shots on every sceen (leaning or holding, doesnt matter) and sometimes 2 will be perfect, sometimes 1 but rarely all four.
In my experience the barrel-adjustments for perfect focus is very small, less than 1mm in both directions. I use enlargement (one step) and peeking. Here's a link to a 1/125 for comparison, this is what I consider very good at 1/125. https://www.flickr.com/photos/arkiv/26165514132/sizes/o/
I find A7ii IBIS to be largely ineffective by 300mm. For optical testing, you want to bolt the lens down firmly to minimize the variables. Alternatively, test with strobe lighting which eliminates all vibration-induced blur.
aCIDfire wrote:
Few days ago finally received my copy of VS 100-300 with SN 750xxxx in excellent overall condition. First surprise - relatively small and not so heavy. I have a K&F Concept adapter + cheap tripod collar from eBay + hood - Mamiya rubber hood for 360/6 (77mm, step-up ring). Yesterday I was shooting some test shots (handhold) on A7r II with stabilisation on and properly set focal lenght and the results werenŽt as good as I expected... sharpness.. I wasnŽt able to take a sharp image with 1/200-1/500s ?? What the hell,..so I tried 1/1000s with IBIS OFF and with focal lenght about 250-300mm results were better. Around some edges (leaves on tree) there was some light "halo" around it like shaking image. Not sure where can be a problem. Tomorrow IŽll try some shots from tripod short/longer distances and IŽll paint inner side of the adapter with black matte paint. In few days IŽam going on holidays and taking VS 100-300 with me but for now I have very mixed feelings about it talking about the sharpness above. I read in some thread that with this lens faster shutter speeds are needed but 1/1000? I can have a bad copy but I think the problem is in my hands rather than with the lens. Unfortunatelly I donŽt have much time before leaving on holidays searching for some special material for innner parts of the adapter so only black matte paint. Any advice with the lens or your experiences? Thanks, Mark....Show more →
I cannot imagine IBIS being effective from a body that is only 2/3 the weight of the lens. I'm still using A7r's but have no problem with my 100-300 at any shutter speed. I use the Novoflex adapter with its matching tripod collar firmly mounted on tripod. My only complaint is the tight clearance of the tripod collar between camera and lens makes rotation tight - but it keeps the weight of the lens off the body. Its pricy but gets the job done.
There is lots to say about the Mutar II. I'm not done with my opinion yet but there's no doubt the Mutar i capable of providing more detail. It is hard to nail focus, tiny tweaks of the barrel on a shaky enlarged image in the display, less than a mm, changes sharp from bad. IBIS is less helpful on 600mm than it is on 300mm (which is still hard) and add to that that you loose two aperture stops. Like here, 1/320 went to 1/80 with the Mutar.
Regardless, half-moon passed by and the mutar shot and the other is just a minute apart. Camera on tripod, ISO400.
Even though the Mutar image is 1/80 sec I deem it as sharp as my copies of the combination will get. The Mutar crop is below normal Contax standard, but no doubt provides more detail.
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