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

And a reminder that the Sony 50mm f1.4 will be announced today so I expect that all the usual suspects will have their reviews up 5 seconds later.
 
snerkler said:
I did contact Wex about that a while ago but I gave up in the end as they could not tell me if the lens would be delivered the day before or not, and whether it needed to be sent back on the same day or the day after. They also couldn't tell me if it was delivered the day before and collected the day after whether that would be charged as a single day usage or three day usage, and lastly they wanted a deposit for the full price of the lens ( £10500) or they could take a deposit of £1500 but they'd have to do a credit check.
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gilbouk said:
That's sounds pants. I've always used @StewartR at Lenses For Hire for all my rental needs. They are doing a discount at the moment for February because it's their birthday. 15% off
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mav said:
Wex do the 400 f2.8 for £88 per day
That might be a better option ive heard it takes the tc very well .
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Contacted Wex again today and got to speak to someone much more helpful, £134 for one day's hire of the 400mm f2.8 including shipping, collection and VAT. I am tempted but it does make the experience very expensive overall :oops: :$
 
woof woof said:
A piece here about the failure of the Zeiss ZX1.

petapixel.com

Is the Failure of the Zeiss ZX1 the Death of the Android Camera?

Is this the last we'll see of this type of camera?
petapixel.com petapixel.com
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It was a strange camera without the Android part given it was large, memory was fixed and it was pricey. Being able to use Lightroom on a camera doesn't have any appeal to me either and if processing on the move there's plenty much better portable options. I've not been using it much recently but I did like my little RX1R for a change and saw there was some rumours of a newer version coming although given it wasn't a big seller in its time and there's a lot stiffer competition from FF mirrorless systems now I'm not so sure.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
It was a strange camera without the Android part given it was large, memory was fixed and it was pricey. Being able to use Lightroom on a camera doesn't have any appeal to me either and if processing on the move there's plenty much better portable options. I've not been using it much recently but I did like my little RX1R for a change and saw there was some rumours of a newer version coming although given it wasn't a big seller in its time and there's a lot stiffer competition from FF mirrorless systems now I'm not so sure.
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TBH I thought the Zeiss would have appeal and I thought it'd sell on the badge alone. Not in Sony numbers but maybe in Leica limited edition numbers.
 
woof woof said:
I see Gil is selling his Sony 85mm f1.8.

It's in the classifieds.
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There's an interesting poll on the Sony Alpha FB page asking which 85mm people would buy money no object, at present 60% would buy the Sigma DG DN, 36% the Sony GM, 3% the Sony f1.8 and 1% the Samyang. I'm surprised that many would choose the Sigma over the GM, although it is a great lens.
 
snerkler said:
There's an interesting poll on the Sony Alpha FB page asking which 85mm people would buy money no object, at present 60% would buy the Sigma DG DN, 36% the Sony GM, 3% the Sony f1.8 and 1% the Samyang. I'm surprised that many would choose the Sigma over the GM, although it is a great lens.
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It's not really the cost but the bulk and weight which would rule a lot of them out for me.

I haven't used my Sony 85mm f1.8 much and honestly I preferred my old Sigma 85mm f1.4 HSM as I think it had better bokeh but the Sony is sharper across the frame.
 
woof woof said:
It's not really the cost but the bulk and weight which would rule a lot of them out for me.

I haven't used my Sony 85mm f1.8 much and honestly I preferred my old Sigma 85mm f1.4 HSM as I think it had better bokeh but the Sony is sharper across the frame.
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You should try the DG DN then, beautiful bokeh and not too heavy.
 
snerkler said:
You should try the DG DN then, beautiful bokeh and not too heavy.
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There's no denying that 85mm gives a nice look and I do like some of my 85mm pictures and in fact they are probably some of my favourite pictures but on the whole 85mm has always been a bit long for me. I'm much happier at 35 or 50mm with occasional use of 20, 24 or 28mm.

Some of my favourite pictures have actually been taken with my film era 85's.
 
snerkler said:
There's an interesting poll on the Sony Alpha FB page asking which 85mm people would buy money no object, at present 60% would buy the Sigma DG DN, 36% the Sony GM, 3% the Sony f1.8 and 1% the Samyang. I'm surprised that many would choose the Sigma over the GM, although it is a great lens.
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DN is a better lens than GM IMO.
GM is due an update but not sure why they are ignoring it.
 
woof woof said:
There's no denying that 85mm gives a nice look and I do like some of my 85mm pictures and in fact they are probably some of my favourite pictures but on the whole 85mm has always been a bit long for me. I'm much happier at 35 or 50mm with occasional use of 20, 24 or 28mm.

Some of my favourite pictures have actually been taken with my film era 85's.
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I find the same with the 85mm although I keep thinking when I see discussions here and look back at some test pictures with the 85mm, it's a lens I should make more effort to use.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I find the same with the 85mm although I keep thinking when I see discussions here and look back at some test pictures with the 85mm, it's a lens I should make more effort to use.
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Well, as above, you do get a pleasing perspective with 85mm.
 
So, now we've seen some reviews... Who's keen to get the new 50mm f1.4?
 
If I am going to change, I'll get the 1.2 GM, side stepping for small size differences is difficult to justify.

Might actually get it later in the year...
 
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I've been working on this one, I think I'm on about version 6 by now so I'll have to stop. Taken with my £80 TTArtisan 50mm f2.

AUUCeHc.jpg
 
addicknchips said:
Not seen any reviews yet. With the gm f1.2 lens being stellar, is this just to update and replace the zeiss f1.4?
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I’d have thought so, but who knows with Sony :LOL:
 
woof woof said:
A piece here about the failure of the Zeiss ZX1.

petapixel.com

Is the Failure of the Zeiss ZX1 the Death of the Android Camera?

Is this the last we'll see of this type of camera?
petapixel.com petapixel.com
Click to expand...

It was a camera that didn't deserve to succeed, and was quite stupidly conceived. Bulky, enormously overpriced, deeply unattractive and with Android to get in the way as well. I just can't imagine what they were thinking.

Talking of new cameras, the A7IV quite appeals in many ways, thanks to the articulated screen, better AF and boost in resolution. Probably won't buy one - mre likely either an A7rIIIa or A7rIV, although I don't really need that much reslution.
 
ancient_mariner said:
It was a camera that didn't deserve to succeed, and was quite stupidly conceived. Bulky, enormously overpriced, deeply unattractive and with Android to get in the way as well. I just can't imagine what they were thinking.

Talking of new cameras, the A7IV quite appeals in many ways, thanks to the articulated screen, better AF and boost in resolution. Probably won't buy one - mre likely either an A7rIIIa or A7rIV, although I don't really need that much reslution.
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I think at top level they were thinking "We're Zeiss. People will buy our groundbreaking product" but further down the line a few line managers were probably thinking "This'll never work and we're in deep do-do."

I've had 3 articulated screen cameras, Panasonic G1, G7 and my current G100. I used to turn the screen to the body with the older cameras but in recent years I've used the back screen a little more and I think I prefer the tilting but the obvious drawback with tilting is you can't take a selfie with it.
 
woof woof said:
I've had 3 articulated screen cameras,
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One of the things I couldn't believe about the D610 I had was that the screen was fixed. C'mon Nikon, that's just backward. I would much rather have full articulation than the up or down tilt because I sometimes use the camera on its side where I can't otherwise see the screen.
 
snerkler said:
Very nice. Looks a great place, not sure if it’s a bit too far to travel for me.
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300 mile round trip for me, made a couple of days of it and visited Brighton for the first time too. Handily there is a very cheap Premier Inn (£41 when I booked!) about 4 minutes from the venue.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I am going to guess...it'll use the same outer shell similar to the 24/35 GM.

That is the main draw.
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I am going to treat myself to a cookie.

Side note, what is the logic putting A next to F/16. Why not put A next to F/1.4 or the widest aperture? Is it a physical limitation? Surely not.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I am going to treat myself to a cookie.

Side note, what is the logic putting A next to F/16. Why not put A next to F/1.4 or the widest aperture? Is it a physical limitation? Surely not.
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I’d imagine most people will shoot in the f1.4 - f5.6 range so by having ‘A’ out of the way you’re less likely to select it by accident, that’s my thoughts on it anyway (y)
 
snerkler said:
I’d imagine most people will shoot in the f1.4 - f5.6 range so by having ‘A’ out of the way you’re less likely to select it by accident, that’s my thoughts on it anyway (y)
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This is why next to the widest aperture is more logical.

Coming from Canon when I was used to using the back wheel to change aperture, so doing it body. Having set the lens to A to do that, with all the older lenses, with no Aperture Lock on the lens.....accidentally bumping it turns A to F/16 !!! Yes, it happened at a shoot once...luckily I caught it but still had to live with 2 shots from a moment that i'd wish it'd be F/1.4.

Which is most annoying. I want more light, not less...so if most people shoot between F/1.4 to F/5.6 then it makes sense to have the A next to the widest aperture. Even with the aperture lock now.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
This is why next to the widest aperture is more logical.

Coming from Canon when I was used to using the back wheel to change aperture, so doing it body. Having set the lens to A to do that, with all the older lenses, with no Aperture Lock on the lens.....accidentally bumping it turns A to F/16 !!! Yes, it happened at a shoot once...luckily I caught it but still had to live with 2 shots from a moment that i'd wish it'd be F/1.4.

Which is most annoying. I want more light, not less...so if most people shoot between F/1.4 to F/5.6 then it makes sense to have the A next to the widest aperture. Even with the aperture lock now.
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That's exactly why all lenses with an aperture ring should have a lock imo, that's one of the faux pas with the 85mm GM.
 
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