Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/02/19

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Subject: [Leica] OT - Sony Alpha 7R
From: sonc.hegr at gmail.com (Sonny Carter)
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 13:40:28 -0600
References: <CAH1UNJ3rpUAt8xxnMJdNGC9L_ncq8-ogF2Z1s_xSyqh9yHtR6Q@mail.gmail.com> <1442780B-17BA-4304-953A-58140190E65F@icloud.com> <CAFfkXxtG=Bn6-6KZKazX04TjwgLAeLOW77JZCWEoXSEB97DpJg@mail.gmail.com> <CAJ3Pgh6T-GGohk5c8+wO+TZkFo6SM+h0UpJswVyN3booNh3FVA@mail.gmail.com> <CAFfkXxs=W_0Ps1tUiKRjjdj0yFQXkJwuPOMQu1QiDbZr7X6+hA@mail.gmail.com>

I was looking at my postings with the 35mm Summilux and I'm not seeing any
"smearing"  I'll go back to my catalogs and see if I can find any, and
maybe shoot some with a couple other lenses, but I did not notice that.
Do you have any examples Paul?  Do you Steve?


On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 11:31 AM, Sonny Carter <sonc.hegr at gmail.com> 
wrote:

> Paul, do you mean the 75 2.5 Summarit?  Because I just started playing
> with mine on the A7r, and have been floored by the performance.  So much
> more than I was able to get out of it with the M8 or M9.
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 10:30 AM, Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>
>> The Sony a7r is not a perfect camera by any means, but it's good enough
>> that it will be what I take to Italy in a month, leaving the M9 home (or
>> it'll be a backup camera).
>>
>> The Zeiss 35mm ZE optic for the Sony can easily out-shoot the M9 with the
>> Zeiss 2.8 Biogon, which was my main lens.  The Biogon at it's best on the
>> Sony is a hair sharper in the center than the FE, but the FE at 2.8 at the
>> edge is essentially equal to the Biogon on the M9 at f8.  This is quite an
>> achievement.  It may signal that design of wide angle optics for the
>> specific characteristics of the sensor's micro-lenses is needed.  We'll
>> see
>> of Zeiss can pull off the same magic when it releases the wider optics.
>>
>> ALL M optics I've tested below 50mm do not work well on the Sony.  The
>> edges smear.  This is the major disappointment with the camera.  The 75mm
>> Leica 2.8 is amazing on the Sony.  So, my 2-lens outfit is the 35mm FE and
>> the Leica 75.
>>
>> The Sony auto-iso is not as adjustable as I'd like, but I leave the camera
>> on Manual with auto ISO.  There the only issue is that the ISO does not
>> show until I tap the shutter button.  But, for control we need to see all
>> three exposure variables -- f-stop, shutter speed, and iso -- in the
>> viewfinder on a continuous basis.
>>
>> Vibration has been a big issue for some, but for hand holding, it does not
>> appear to be very significant.  Hands absorb the vibration very well.
>>
>> The Sony is no Leica in terms of smoothness or speed of focusing.  Sony
>> has
>> also clearly not matched the M9 in the micro-lens edge performance for RF
>> optics.  Also, the higher the MP count is, the worse the problems of ray
>> angle appear to be.  It may be the end of relatively symmetrical RF wide
>> angles.  Too bad.  On the other hand the optics Zeiss has made so far for
>> the Sony are amazing.  They appear to have found a price/quality point for
>> aspherics that allows them to make appropriately priced lenses that can
>> handle high MP sensors.
>>
>> I actual shooting, what I notice the most between the Sony and M9 are the
>> electronic level in the viewfinder and the superior quality of the Sony
>> metering.  The Leica's focusing speed and accuracy are missed, however.
>>
>> The Sony leveling is allowing superior pan stitching of hand held shots.
>>
>> The Sony meter is sampling 1200 zones.  It's essentially automated spot
>> metering -- no need for checking the shot and it's histogram after the
>> fact.  You can have a live histogram in the viewfinder, but even where it
>> seemed to be leaving too much room to the right, it turned out there were
>> bright spots that would have "burned out" if the shot were given more
>> exposure.  The Sony leaves some tiny spectral highlights that are "burned"
>> (as appropriate), but even there one can almost always recover some
>> detail.
>>  At that point you run into the issue that the Sony is compressing the
>> very
>> top highlights.  Just below total burn-out the CMOS highlights (as with my
>> Canons) do not seem to be as good as the M9's CCD near-spectral
>> highlights.
>>
>> It's not the ultimate camera, but the Sony a7r is another clear step
>> forward for landscaper work I do.  It's a keeper, but I expect in 3 years
>> it'll be obsolete.  There is still a lot of room for improvement, and it's
>> no street/people shooter.
>>
>> Paul
>> www.PaulRoark.com
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 5:43 AM, Sonny Carter <sonc.hegr at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > The A7r is not earth-shattering.   It does a nice job shooting my Leica
>> M
>> > lenses, Leica R lenses, Nikon F lenses, and of course the native 35
>> Zeiss
>> > makes real purty pitchurs.
>> >
>> > The camera is sturdy, fairly easy to handle even with my big paws.  I
>> like
>> > the folding screen and live view.  It comes to hand real nice.  I've
>> been
>> > shooting it since the new year, and almost everything you've seen
>> posted is
>> > from that camera.
>> >
>> > I read Sean's stuff, back when he was a regular guy, not an expert you
>> had
>> > to pay to read, and sometimes I agreed with him and sometimes not.  In
>> the
>> > case of corner sharpness, as it applies to my work, well, it rarely
>> does.
>> > Almost everything I do is cropped in some fashion, and even if it isn't,
>> > I'm not wanting you searching out the corners to see how sharp they are.
>> >
>> >  At any rate I was pretty happy with shots from my Summilux and the 35
>> > T*.    I even put my Leica 21 that Mark hates on it and played with it.
>>  It
>> > was OK.
>> >
>> > In the foregoing graph, I said I was pretty happy with the Zeiss T*.
>> > Actually, I think this camera and this lens were born for each other.
>> >
>> > When I get the swing of them, I think it will feel like I felt with my
>> M7
>> > and 35mm Summicron.   That, my pals, was awesome.
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Sonny
>> > http://sonc.com/look/
>> > Natchitoches, Louisiana
>> > 1714
>> > Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase
>> >
>> > USA
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 5:47 AM, Gerry Walden <gwpics at icloud.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > I agree with Nathan that it doesn't look that earth-shattering. Having
>> > > read their not-so-favorable conclusions, I was then a little
>> surprised to
>> > > read how positive they were in the 'Final Word' section.
>> > >
>> > > Gerry
>> > >
>> > > Gerry Walden
>> > > +44 (0)23 8046 3076 or
>> > > +44 (0)797 287 7932
>> > > www.gwpics.com
>> > >
>> > > On 19 Feb 2014, at 07:33, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-alpha-a7r/18
>> > > >
>> > > > Cheers
>> > > > Jayanand
>> > > >
>> > > > _______________________________________________
>> > > > Leica Users Group.
>> > > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more
>> information
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
>> > > Leica Users Group.
>> > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ?
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Leica Users Group.
>> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
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>>
>
>
>
> --
>  Regards,
>
> Sonny
> http://sonc.com/look/
> Natchitoches, Louisiana
> 1714
> Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase
>
> USA
>



-- 
Regards,

Sonny
http://sonc.com/look/
Natchitoches, Louisiana
1714
Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase

USA


In reply to: Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] OT - Sony Alpha 7R)
Message from gwpics at icloud.com (Gerry Walden) ([Leica] OT - Sony Alpha 7R)
Message from sonc.hegr at gmail.com (Sonny Carter) ([Leica] OT - Sony Alpha 7R)
Message from roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark) ([Leica] OT - Sony Alpha 7R)
Message from sonc.hegr at gmail.com (Sonny Carter) ([Leica] OT - Sony Alpha 7R)