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Best wide angle lenses for A7iii?
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 5:20 am    Post subject: Best wide angle lenses for A7iii? Reply with quote
I'm looking for a good wide angle below 20mm and need to know which lenses work best on a Sony A7III camera?


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
My vote is for either the Tokina or the Tamron 17mm f/3.5. They are both outstanding lenses and should work very well on your Sony.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 7:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
CV 15III Love mine. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightshow-photography/tags/cv15iii/
Laowa 15/2 https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1500324
Nikkor AI 18/4 https://www.flickr.com/photos/lightshow-photography/tags/nikkor184ai/
Batis 18 https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1471160/

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1362081/0


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Forget about the old lenses.
If fix the:
1 Batis 18mm
2 Laowa 15
3 Tokina Firin 20mm
4 Voigtländer 12/15mm


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Usually the original expensive lenses work best on the A7 series. Wink

However, I like to use my Voigtlaender VM 12/5.6 and 15/4.5 on my A7R II. I don't know whether the A7 III works likewise good with RF lenses. The older A7 struggled with color shift and corner smearing.

If you are looking for legacy extreme wide angles you have to make up your mind whether you prefer the typical fish eye stile or rectilinear lenses.
I've also some fish-eye SLR lenses but I didn't test them on my A7R II yet as I prefer the rectilinear design.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
You could always try the Zenitar 16mm f2.8 fisheye, reasonably priced and well regarded. You shouldn’t have any problems in M42 mount.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 10:54 am    Post subject: Re: Best wide angle lenses for A7iii? Reply with quote
Eriksen wrote:
I'm looking for a good wide angle below 20mm and need to know which lenses work best on a Sony A7III camera?


Since you ask for "the best lens below 20mm" (and not "the best vintage lens below 20mm"), i would recommend modern lenses as well, e. g. the Zeiss Batis 2.8/18mm or similar lenses from other manufacturers. Even the most respected vintage lenses such as the Zeiss C/Y Distagon 4/18mm, the Minolta MC/MD 4/17mm or the Canon (n)FD 4/17mm suffer from CAs and - at 4 and f5.6 - from distinctive smearing in the outer part of the image.

Stephan


PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just a question for tech experts:
-Given CA easily corrected in treatment
- A7iii is only 24 mP
Does it really matter to have the very best or would some good enough cheaper vintage solutions be just as good?
Or is the smearing too bad?

Merry Xmas


PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Antoine wrote:
Just a question for tech experts:
-Given CA easily corrected in treatment
- A7iii is only 24 mP
Does it really matter to have the very best or would some good enough cheaper vintage solutions be just as good?
Or is the smearing too bad?

Merry Xmas


Depends on the aperture you want to use. A Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21mm will have tack sharp corners even at f2.8, and no CAs. A Minolta MD 4/17mm has similar performance at f11, and only after removing CAs via software.

Stephan


PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Antoine wrote:
Just a question for tech experts:
-Given CA easily corrected in treatment
- A7iii is only 24 mP
Does it really matter to have the very best or would some good enough cheaper vintage solutions be just as good?
Or is the smearing too bad?

Merry Xmas


I don't have any direct experience, since I don't own one of the a7 series of cameras. But, going back to my recommendation of the Tokina 17mm or Tamron 17mm, I have seen quite a few images posted on this forum, which is about manual focus lenses, after all, by folks with these cameras and these lenses, and the images are often simply amazing, showing no tendency toward smearing in the corners. They're so good that, frankly, they make me jealous. I guess ultimately it will depend on your budget, however. I don't know how expensive the new lenses are that were listed above, but the Tokina and Tamron can usually be found at about $200 per. So if budget is a factor, these are viable choices.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
There is Opteka 15mm f/4 in EF mount on eBay for $130 only...


PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If we are talking vintage MF, then in my personal experience the best is the Tamron Adaptall-2 17/3.5. I like this one much better than the Vivitar/Tokina 17/3.5, which I sold.

If you don't mind autofocus or zooms, then the best by far would be, in my opinion, the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. For a budget option, I'd strongly recommend considering the Tamron AF 20-40mm f/2.7-3.5.

I use all of the above with a full-frame Nikon DSLR. Not sure how they would perform on a Sony, though.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Having had and sold my Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 (and regretting it!) I have to say (echoing what stevemark said) you really should give it some consideration. Though it is outside your parameters (barely) and is expensive it is the closest I have ever come to a perfect lens. Stunning sharpness, corner to corner, at every aperture. Exceedingly well corrected optically. My only (extremely minor!) niggling complaint is with the ergonomics. The blue dot is hard to see in low light and the knurls are too low a relief for my taste and the focus and aperture knurls are the same. I prefer a lens that has some variaton between the tow for instant tactile verification of which you'v grabbed.


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
From modern wide angle lenses I have a Tokina Firin 20mm. I use it for more than a year and I can say this is a very good versatile lens for landscape (although my copy is a bit soft on the right side) but in recent years, increasingly take Canon nFD 24/2.8 (for which I find it easier to find the story) and now I'd rather have in my bag two lens is 17-18mm and 24-25mm. I decided to replace the Canon 24 to Loxia 25/2.4 but 17-18mm alternatives to the Batis 18mm no but it is heavy , autofocus and a huge diameter filters. If Zeiss had made a 17-18mm Loxia I would have welcomed it. )


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Maybe not wide enough, but I am voting for this: https://phillipreeve.net/blog/voigtlander-21mm-f35-review/

Small, not terribly expensive, no corner problems, and it has the support for the 5-axis stabilization (Loxia has no distance information so it is only 3-axis).


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you really want to go wide, there is nothing like the Heliar Hyper-Wide 10mm F/5.6. Pixel peepers will tell you the corners are not as sharp as a tack. Tell the pixel peepers to f..., err... no, tell them that there is no comparison because there is no other 10mm rectilinear lens that covers 24x36! And that this lens allows you to take pictures like no other lens: https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-voigtlander-10mm-5-6-e-hyper-wide-heliar/

Check the upper right corner sharpness by clicking in the picture. It looks quite good to me:


Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Abbazz wrote:
If you really want to go wide, there is nothing like the Heliar Hyper-Wide 10mm F/5.6. Pixel peepers will tell you the corners are not as sharp as a tack. Tell the pixel peepers to f..., err... no, tell them that there is no comparison because there is no other 10mm rectilinear lens that covers 24x36! And that this lens allows you to take pictures like no other lens.


Really nice!

I only have the old and very first version of the CV Heliar Ultra-Wide 12mm/F5.6 in LTM but I still consider it as more than good enough and can't dedect any color shift. Smearing at very outer corners is hardly visible as well.

Example test picture from my A7R II at F8:



However, maybe I'll reconsider the 10mm version again. Wink


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:
Really nice!

I only have the old and very first version of the CV Heliar Ultra-Wide 12mm/F5.6 in LTM but I still consider it as more than good enough and can't dedect any color shift. Smearing at very outer corners is hardly visible as well.

Example test picture from my A7R II at F8:



However, maybe I'll reconsider the 10mm version again. Wink

Thank you for the kind words.

I also have the 12mm in LTM version. It is a good lens for film but is definitely less sharp than the newer 10mm on 24x36 digital sensors. The 10mm lens in Sony FE mount also has the advantage of providing EXIF info and allowing auto-corrections of aberrations in applications that allow it. The 12mm, besides lacking in the sharpness division, also requires manual correction of vignetting and chromatic aberrations. But it's convenient because of its small size and because it accepts ordinary filters with its dedicated adapter (which is not so easy to find now).

The use of filters is not really an issue for me with the 10mm lens, as I don't find filters so useful on such wide lenses. A polarizer will cause uneven skies and other filters can usually be emulated easily in software. And for die-hard filter users, there are some adapters available that allow the use of square filters.

The 10mm is not such a big lens , even in Sony FE mount. I usually prefer to buy Voigtländer lenses in Leica-M mount because I can use them on various cameras with adapters, or use adapters with helicoid in order to overcome the longish minimum focus of RF lenses. But I bought the 10mm in Sony FE because I had no intention to use it on other cameras and also because the minimum focus was not a problem with that lens.


Not taken at the min. focus!

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Abbazz wrote:
I also have the 12mm in LTM version. It is a good lens for film but is definitely less sharp than the newer 10mm on 24x36 digital sensors. The 10mm lens in Sony FE mount also has the advantage of providing EXIF info and allowing auto-corrections of aberrations in applications that allow it. The 12mm, besides lacking in the sharpness division, also requires manual correction of vignetting and chromatic aberrations. But it's convenient because of its small size and because it accepts ordinary filters with its dedicated adapter (which is not so easy to find now).

The use of filters is not really an issue for me with the 10mm lens, as I don't find filters so useful on such wide lenses. A polarizer will cause uneven skies and other filters can usually be emulated easily in software. And for die-hard filter users, there are some adapters available that allow the use of square filters.

The 10mm is not such a big lens , even in Sony FE mount. I usually prefer to buy Voigtländer lenses in Leica-M mount because I can use them on various cameras with adapters, or use adapters with helicoid in order to overcome the longish minimum focus of RF lenses. But I bought the 10mm in Sony FE because I had no intention to use it on other cameras and also because the minimum focus was not a problem with that lens.


Thanks for the additional informations. If at all, the Leica-M version is the only one for me to go for as I'll intend to use these lenses also on my Ricoh GXR-M. Furthermore I've got the Techart PRO adapter to enable the use in AF mode (which isn't important for a 10mm lens anyway) with all of my RF lenses and adapted other ones as well. I would have been interested in the Voigtlaender 65 and 110 mm APO Lanthars but for stated reasons this is a no-go for me as they are only available in E-mount.


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Will the LM version of Voiglander with adapter give same IQ as the Sony E version?


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Eriksen wrote:
Will the LM version of Voiglander with adapter give same IQ as the Sony E version?


Yes, it's the same lens with different mount if we are talking about the present new collection. The older M-mount or LTM/M39 versions may be slightly different.
E.g. the 15mm/F4.5 exists in 4 different versions (version 1 in LTM, versions 2 and 3 in m-mount); additionally the version 3 is available in E-mount as well.
The same applies for the 12mm/F5.6 lens. The new 10mm lens exists only in 2 versions (LM and E-mount)

I've got the 15mm in version 1 and consider it as good enough on my A7R II.
A typical landscape example slightly optimized in Lightroom (lens profile applied); click on picture for best quality viewing:



PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:
Thanks for the additional informations. If at all, the Leica-M version is the only one for me to go for as I'll intend to use these lenses also on my Ricoh GXR-M. Furthermore I've got the Techart PRO adapter to enable the use in AF mode (which isn't important for a 10mm lens anyway) with all of my RF lenses and adapted other ones as well. I would have been interested in the Voigtlaender 65 and 110 mm APO Lanthars but for stated reasons this is a no-go for me as they are only available in E-mount.

You're welcome.

I 100% agree regarding the added versatility of the Leica mount. The 10mm is the only C/V lens I will ever buy in Sony FE mount for the reasons stated above:
- automatic correction of aberrations is something nice to have with an ultrawide lens.
- there is no use for a close-up adapter or for the Techart autofocusing adapter with a lens this wide: you set the focus to 0.5m and everything will be sharp from 0.25m to infinity.
- I will not be using the lens on my other cameras, which have a smaller sensor, because there are native lenses with a shorter focal length available that are smaller or faster.

Cheers,

Abbazz

Last edited by Abbazz on Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:54 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:
Eriksen wrote:
Will the LM version of Voiglander with adapter give same IQ as the Sony E version?

Yes, it's the same lens with different mount if we are talking about the present new collection. The older M-mount or LTM/M39 versions may be slightly different.
E.g. the 15mm/F4.5 exists in 4 different versions (version 1 in LTM, versions 2 and 3 in m-mount); additionally the version 3 is available in E-mount as well.
The same applies for the 12mm/F5.6 lens. The new 10mm lens exists only in 2 versions (LM and E-mount)

Regarding lenses in Sony FE mount, Cosina's Japanese website states (sorry for the Google Translate broken English):

Cosina wrote:

Optimized optical design

In addition to securing full-size image circle, it adopts optical design optimized for Sony E mount sensor. High resolution is maintained up to the periphery of the screen, and phenomena such as color hue are suppressed.


According to user reviews on various forums, it seems that the optical formula has indeed been tweaked on the Sony mount version in order to accommodate the sensor stack on Sony cameras. Optical quality should therefore be better with the Sony mount version when using sony cameras. But the difference between both versions of the 10mm lens is slight anyway, whereas it is more evident on other lenses like the 40mm f/1.2 Nokton.

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very nice Sebastien!! Like 1 Like 1 Like 1


PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kds315* wrote:
Very nice Sebastien!! Like 1 Like 1 Like 1

Thank you, Klaus. Much appreciated.

Cheers!

Abbazz
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