Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/02/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]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. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Regards, Sonny http://sonc.com/look/ Natchitoches, Louisiana 1714 Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase USA