The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

Musicman said:
Aha - I attended a Winter School event at Plymouth some time around 1987 and did a module under the tutelage of Adrian Gale, who was quite a character, to say the least. He was very interested in restaurants (both designing and eating in them) as I recall.

I see you're in Hereford - not far from my mum's place in Madley :)
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I think he was the head of the school when i went there, don't quote me on that but I don't remember having any lectures by him. The guy that mentor me was a Dr Willy. Yeah, Dr Willy. Can't forget that name, being a teenager especially!

The Professor in Brighton however, he was the head of the school, but his name escapes me....he did talk about being a friend of Philip K. Dick and going to Sri Lanka a lot and played table tennis with Phillip K. Dick.

I am not sure why out of all the things he taught, that is the thing i remember!
 
woof woof said:
Smaller lenses are always welcome but I have the Sony 24 and 35mm f2.8's and they're small enough for me.

Battle of the big fat 85mm f1.2's...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kYH8SKV37g


I assume Sony will make one sometime soon and if they do it'll be interesting to see how it compares.

These lenses don't interest me at all but I do like to see the reviews and good luck to those who see a use for them and like the look.

Oh, I watched this one earlier but I can't see they got any results that wow'd me.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFy7CdY2X0s
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Hasn't there been a Sony 85mm f1.2 rumoured for a while now?
 
woof woof said:
I think so.

So, 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.2 to look forward to?
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Yep, I’m still interested in the 20-70mm too, but I could be tempted by a 16-35mm f2.8 Mk II if they can get the weight down and it’s not too silly a price.
 
The rumor guy says the 50mm f1.4 will be announced "soon."

Sony will soon announce the new 50mm f/1.4 GM lens! – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

I got interested in the Mr Ding and so have a 50mm f1.1 on its way to me. There's a review link below plus there's a large thread on Fred Miranda.

phillipreeve.net

Review: Mr. Ding Optics 50mm 1.1 Noxlux M - phillipreeve.net

ContentsIntroductionSample ImagesDisclosureSpecificationsHandling / Build QualityVignettinglight falloffoptical vignettingSharpnessOptical DesignFocus shiftinfinity (42mp Sony A7rII)infinity (24mp Leica M10)portrait distance 1.4 m distance (24mp Sony A7III vs 24mp Leica M10)close (0.70 m...
phillipreeve.net phillipreeve.net

The one I've ordered is M mount but there is also a differently styled E mount one. I don't know why I went for the M... but I do have a close focus helicoid adapter so that could have been it. Anyway, the reviews say that it seems to work equally well on a Sony so there's no great penalty for going for the M mount version. Looking at the samples it looks like the Ding has better corners than the E mount Voigtlander 40mm f1.2.
 
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I don't think this has anything to do with the sensor per se as the title suggests but more likely in camera processors and then software presets/algorithms, however it is startling how much better the Leica looks 'unprocessed' compared to the Sony :oops: :$ (fast forward to around 11.00 to start to see the actual comparisons.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RPnE1bHfrg&ab_channel=DaveHerring
 
snerkler said:
I don't think this has anything to do with the sensor per se as the title suggests but more likely in camera processors and then software presets/algorithms, however it is startling how much better the Leica looks 'unprocessed' compared to the Sony :oops: :$ (fast forward to around 11.00 to start to see the actual comparisons.
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Yup. We can't trust anything these days and it is I suppose possible that hidden in camera processing is making a difference and there clearly are differences in those sample pictures even after the Sony exposure difference is dialled in plus there's also the sensor glass thickness.
 
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T_J_G said:
New Sigma 50 looks good, however if it's made like the 85 then it'll look battered in a years time :confused:
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My 85mm DG DN still looks like new :oops: :$ The Sigma 50mm sounds a bit heavy to me, I’ll stick with my Samyang ;)
 
The Canon R8 looks good as a general camera, 30fps raw and only 461g. Guessing it’s not as robust as ‘pro level’ cameras but that’s quite a weight saving.
 
snerkler said:
The Canon R8 looks good as a general camera, 30fps raw and only 461g. Guessing it’s not as robust as ‘pro level’ cameras but that’s quite a weight saving.
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Flip out screen, 4k 60...

If you use a gimbal for video, you won't need IBIS so I am guessing this might be very good for entry level video.
 
woof woof said:
Oh, and the new Sigma 50mm f1.4 has been announced and reviews are up.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acDqmRME9JU


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj3RN8GUnm4


I think it does look like one of those designed for a DSLR but with an adapter built in for mirrorless lenses from a few years ago.
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It's not very sharp compared to the Zeiss...when he did the test chart thing.

AF is impressive but eeek, i am not tempted by that. The Zeiss Planar is only £300 more now new.
 
Raymond Lin said:
It's not very sharp compared to the Zeiss...when he did the test chart thing.

AF is impressive but eeek, i am not tempted by that. The Zeiss Planar is only £300 more now new.
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That's surprising given how good the 85mm is :oops: :$
 
Raymond Lin said:
It's not very sharp compared to the Zeiss...when he did the test chart thing.

AF is impressive but eeek, i am not tempted by that. The Zeiss Planar is only £300 more now new.
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Meh. Ultimate sharpness doesn't sway me all that much but the size is enough to put me off.

Price and performance wise it's possibly a decent buy and £300 is a lot to some people. Did someone say the Sony 55mm f1.8 is more expensive? I'd still take the 55mm just on size alone despite it being 55 and not 50mm.
 
woof woof said:
Meh. Ultimate sharpness doesn't sway me all that much but the size is enough to put me off.

Price and performance wise it's possibly a decent buy and £300 is a lot to some people. Did someone say the Sony 55mm f1.8 is more expensive? I'd still take the 55mm just on size alone despite it being 55 and not 50mm.
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£300 might be a lot to some people, but look at it this way.

You are in the market for an £850 lens...the Zeiss is £1150 new. which means it'll be the same if not cheaper than the Sigma used....and there will be no Sigma 50/1.4 used for a while....

Money argument out the window,

www.wexphotovideo.com

USED Sony FE 50mm f1.4 ZA Planar T* Lens | Wex Photo Video

www.wexphotovideo.com

Here is one £200 less than the Sigma...£200 is a lot to some people.

Depends what your priorities are, and the Sigma might be fine but it's a brand new lens and it's soft vs a really old design. That to me is disappointing. For me, the size doesn't put me off. It's a 1.4 lens, it'll be large in some ways, that is not the priority for me. IQ is.

(I put that in bold and larger text in case you think I am trying to convince you in any way.)
 
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Raymond Lin said:
£300 might be a lot to some people, but look at it this way.

You are in the market for an £850 lens...the Zeiss is £1150 new. which means it'll be the same if not cheaper than the Sigma used....and there will be no Sigma 50/1.4 used for a while....

Money argument out the window,
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I don't think so Raymond but if that's the way you want to look at it that's fine for you.

Raymond Lin said:
Here is one £200 less than the Sigma...£200 is a lot to some people.

Depends what your priorities are, and the Sigma might be fine but it's a brand new lens and it's soft vs a really old design. That to me is disappointing. For me, the size doesn't put me off. It's a 1.4 lens, it'll be large in some ways, that is not the priority for me. IQ is.

(I put that in bold and larger text in case you think I am trying to convince you in any way.)
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I suppose a lot depends on what you want from your pictures and pixel peeping is a part of the enjoyment even for me and if that's the case I suppose the more sharpness the better might be needed even if it does cost you a couple or three hundred more, as long as you can afford it. I can of course as I spent years as a workaholic and now have money to spend on any thing I want but I am conscious that not everyone does and I just thought the cost difference might matter to some.
 
Anyway.

My M mount Mr Ding 50mm f1.1 arrived today and I'm quite impressed. I've mounted it using a cheap close focus adapter.

Picture and a 100% crop from the central-sh area, and this is handheld MF at f1.1. This tells me it's sharp enough at f1.1 anywhere you'd want to put a main subject but I suppose I could have placed here eye a little further towards the edge of the frame. I'll try and do that next time.

And they've lost a bit of sharpness by being posted here. Hey-Ho.

jpk3eTE.jpg


1IR5z3Y.jpg


Towards MFD even with the helicoid moved performance is so ok but I don't think I'll be using this lens at f1.1 and MFD too often.

Kr9DROV.jpg


At near infinity it's better than I thought it would be. f1.1 and then f2 at 100% processed the same. Processing the f1.1 for best effect could improve it a bit but I just wanted to see the differences when they were processed the same.

eZn7Aps.jpg


4QZQZfV.jpg


The main issues seem to be vignetting, some CA and lack of contrast and sharpness at f1.1 but all in all I think it's pretty good especially for the money although I think the markings are just painted on rather than engraved and paint filled. I think we're going out on Friday and if we do I'll take this with me.
 
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woof woof said:
I don't think so Raymond but if that's the way you want to look at it that's fine for you.



I suppose a lot depends on what you want from your pictures and pixel peeping is a part of the enjoyment even for me and if that's the case I suppose the more sharpness the better might be needed even if it does cost you a couple or three hundred more, as long as you can afford it. I can of course as I spent years as a workaholic and now have money to spend on any thing I want but I am conscious that not everyone does and I just thought the cost difference might matter to some.
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Well, if Price is of utmost importance then you get the cheapest one...and if £300 is a lot of money then surely £200 is still a lot of money. You either put price as the priority or you don't.

Yes, it does depend on what you are looking for in your photos and Besides the softer IQ from the new Sigma, I see really nothing from its IQ that is better than a really old Planar.

It's less colour neutral, it's warmer. You might like that.
It's one of these modern lenses that doesn't really have character, it has a ton of CA, if you want to call this character...that's fine.
Bokeh is fine, it's pretty much the same.

It has great AF, and it's lighter. Neither of these shows up in a photo. So what is it you are looking for? In the Photo or a physical attribute of the lens?

So....what i am looking for in a photo is a sharp picture, little to no CA, great colours.

Objectively speaking the Zeiss has it beat in all 3 fronts...and it's £200 used than the Sigma. So it can be beaten in price, IQ....except size, weight and AF speed.

If you want a less sharp lens, more expensive (or similar when used), worse CA, get the new Sigma. As you can see, I am not convinced the new Sigma is such a bargain. CA is a PITA....This isn't character IMO, it's very distracting. You don't need to pixel peep to notice it, it stands out, like a highlighter.
 
I do see your point Raymond but I don't think comparing new to used works for everyone and one day the Sigma too will be available on the used market.

You'll know from my posts that I can flip between caring about these things and not caring so much. One thing I've said many times is that I wish there were lenses like the old Sigma 50mm f1.4 I had in my Canon days in Sony mount now but having said that the across the frame performance of the Sony 55mm struck me the first time I used it so I am conflicted but in isolation I'm sure many people will be more than happy with this new Sigma and I do think it will sell as it's getting pretty positive reviews.

Personally, if in the market for a lens like this I think I'd wait for the Sony f1.4 and see how that's reviewed and then go for that or the f1.2 which seems to get pretty much universal praise apart from a couple of things, like breathing. In reality the size of these will probably always put me off but I can see how others wont care.
 
If it's both new then I would still get the Zeiss for the extra £300...it's has better IQ on all fronts.

Physically and AF the Sigma is better. In the photo though....the Zeiss is better.

I prefer to spend the money for better photos in my Sony.

(In the Fuji however, I still like my 35/1.4)
 
woof woof said:
And right on queue... Rumors of the Sony 50mm f1.4 emerge...

First leaked Sony 50mm f/1.4 GM lens info – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com www.sonyalpharumors.com

He says it'll be announced on 21st, so not long to wait.

He says...
  • 11 blades aperture
  • weather sealed
  • no in lens stabilization
  • Price in Europe: 1850 Euro (that’s 450 Euro less than you pay for the 50mm f/1.2 GM).
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Crikey, that's expensive.
Mike.P said:
New Sony 50mm 1.4 is looking to be around £1800.


So roughly double the price of the Sigma .... better be good (I'm sure it will but too expensive for me)
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Yep, not cheap. For an amateur like myself there's nothing to tempt me away from my Samyang 50mm f.14 FE II. It's lighter, cheaper, has lovely rendering (to my eyes) and I've no complaints with sharpness or AF (y)
 
Well, after a lot of deliberation I'm going back to Olympus.

My back's not good and lugging my kit around is not doing me any favours.

Mighty peed off as the A7R2 is the best body I've had for landscapes and portraits.

So, coming up in the classifieds soon is:

A7R2 body with just over 10,000 on the shutter and 7 batteries
Sigma 70mm F2.8 ART Macro lens
Sony 28-70 kit zoom
Sony 50mm f1.8
Samyang 18mm f2.8 AF lens
Godox TT685 Flash
Godox V1 Flash
Godox XPRO wireless transmitter (unboxed)
SmallRig Cage (For A73 but fits fine) (Unboxed)
Meike (I think) battery grip (Unboxed)

All boxed bar those stated and great condition.


Bugger.
 
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GreenNinja67 said:
Well, after a lot of deliberation I'm going back to Olympus.

My back's not good and lugging my kit around is not doing me any favours.

Mighty peed off as the A7R2 is the best body I've had for landscapes and portraits.

So, coming up in the classifieds soon is:

A7R2 body with just over 10,000 on the shutter and 7 batteries
Sigma 70mm F2.8 ART Macro lens
Sony 28-70 kit zoom
Sony 50mm f1.8
Samyang 18mm f2.8 AF lens
Godox TT685 Flash
Godox V1 Flash
Godox XPRO wireless transmitter (unboxed)
SmallRig Cage (For A73 but fits fine) (Unboxed)
Meike (I think) battery grip (Unboxed)

All boxed bar those stated and great condition.


Bugger.
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That’s a shame, but I can understand the weight issue. I keep looking back at Olympus but for my usage I wouldn’t be saving a great deal in weight. I do like the look of the 8-25mm f4 though, I wish others would do a similar equivalent focal length. I’ve been asking for a 18-50mm for as long as I can remember, and a 16-50mm equivalent is even better.

Have you got some Olympus kit in mind?
 
snerkler said:
That’s a shame, but I can understand the weight issue. I keep looking back at Olympus but for my usage I wouldn’t be saving a great deal in weight. I do like the look of the 8-25mm f4 though, I wish others would do a similar equivalent focal length. I’ve been asking for a 18-50mm for as long as I can remember, and a 16-50mm equivalent is even better.

Have you got some Olympus kit in mind?
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Hey Toby,

Yes, I thought I'd go for the EM1 MK2 body as I don't think I'd need the additional features of the Mk3. If money was no object (which it isn't) I'd go for the OM1. It looks like it can do anything.

I'd like the 12-100 F4 PRO initially as that will do for most of my photography in one lens.

Then, as you say, a really wide angle zoom like the one you mentioned.

I've been looking back at the images obtained from my EM5 Mk2 and except for the slightly noisier shots (which Topaz DeNoise will take care of) I'm happy with the quality.
 
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GreenNinja67 said:
Hey Toby,

Yes, I thought I'd go for the EM1 MK2 body as I don't think I'd need the additional features of the Mk3. If money was no object (which it isn't) I'd go for the OM1. It looks like it can do anything.

I'd like the 12-100 F4 PRO initially as that will do for most of my photography in one lens.

Then, as you say, a really wide angle zoom like the one you mentioned.

I've been looking back at the images obtained from my EM5 Mk2 and except for the slightly noisier shots (which Topaz DeNoise will take care of) I'm happy with the quality.
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Sounds like a great starting place. I was always happy with the images from my m4/3, a few of my favourite shots I've taken were with Olympus.
 
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