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Sony A7 and RF wides: a possible solution.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 8:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
M-rokkor 40/2 aka 40cron I find considerably cleaner:


DSC02268 by unoh7, on Flickr

note left edge and corners


PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
uhoh7 wrote:
A test shot from the canon nFD 24/2:


Interesting, is there an improvement with SLR wide-angles too? Surprised


PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sadly, most of my ultrawide lenses (less than 24mm) don't fit on my a850, such as my Konica 4/21, LOMO OKS1-18-12.8/18, Tokina 3.5/17 and Sigma 3.5/18. However, I do have the Tokina 3.5-4.5/20-35 (original version) and that is very good indeed on FF with no corner issues at all. This was at f8, 20mm setting:



I don't know if the a850's 24mp FF sensor is similar to the A7, but I suspect this Tokina will work great on the A7 too.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nordentro wrote:
uhoh7 wrote:
A test shot from the canon nFD 24/2:


Interesting, is there an improvement with SLR wide-angles too? Surprised


Few if any SLR wides reach their potential on the stock A7 series, and this is why the 1635 has been such a relief for many. My Kiron 28/2 was not great, and the above nFD was also uninspiring. I need to get the Kiron out and try it: I have a bunch of shots with that lens "before", to compare.

test snap CV 35/1.4 f/8:


DSC02338 by unoh7, on Flickr

wide open sample:

DSC02347 by unoh7, on Flickr

@Ian that tokina looks pretty even across the frame, though I would have to see a full to really tell. The A850 a superb camera Smile


PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
one more with nFD 24/2 which shows how the lens has come alive:

Bridge in to Blue by unoh7, on Flickr

I believe you would see similar performance at f/8 with many of the SLR 24/2.8s

If I had any SLR adapters which hit infinity stop, I would really be happy LOL


PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have selected some SLR WA fo their quality . Canon FDn 20 2.8 , Pentax SMC K 28 3.5 , Rokkor MD 28 3.5. None of them suffers from colour shift or corner smearing .
The Rokor 40 mm (summicron) is supposed to work properly with the A7 and my CV 40 1.4 does.

This modification was made to try to let RF WA work with a A7. You say now that it gives also better results with non RF lenses or lenses wich do not suffer from those problems. It would make the Sony a better camera.
I am really interested to see real comparisons Hopefully someone will publish such a test.

Last edited by memetph on Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:29 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Tokina 20-35 is very nice, shoot it at f8-f11 for landscapes and you have no worries. I just mention it as it's one lens that is quite common and pretty cheap but outperforms most legacy UWs; it's not big or heavy either, so should be useful on an A7; I can use mine on a NEX with a A-NEX adapter that has aperture control, so don't see why it wouldn't work well on a FF NEX.

I don't know if I can upload a full res file, but I'll try:



If you pixel peep that image, you'll see it's sharp everywhere and the one visible flaw is the CA on highlights. I didn't do anything to correct this, I suspect ACR would remove most of it. I haven't seen any images from this lens where CA was much of an issue, it's usually pretty well controlled.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
memetph wrote:
I have selected some SLR WA fo their quality . Canon FDn 20 2.8 , Pentax SMC K 28 3.5 , Rokkor MD 28 3.5. None of them suffers from colour shift or corner smearing .
The Rokor 40 mm (summicron) is supposed to work properly with the A7 and my CV 40 1.4 does.

This modification was made to try to let RF WA work with a A7. You say now that it gives also better results with non RF lenses or lenses wich do not suffer from those problems. It would make the Sony a better camera.
I am really interested to see real comparisons Hopefully someone will publish such a test.


I have nFD 20/2.8

I will try to get some shots with it in the next few days. I will be surprised if does not improve visibly.

CV 35/1.4 WO:

Blue Machine by unoh7, on Flickr

Mounted on my old R

DSC05779-2 by unoh7, on Flickr

This was the best compact RF 35 for the stock A7r, a real surprise:

cv 35/1.4 by unoh7, A7r CV 35/1.4 WO

Of course the CV 35/1.2 is much better, but very big and heavy.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's a shame that the a7 series struggles with wide lenses, I sold mine fairly quickly. To be honest though, there aren't many truly great old wides out there anyway (particularly at wider apertures). I know it goes against the spirit of this forum, but I have a Fujifilm X-E2 with its small small native primes that are stunning, and other options like Samyang 12/2 which are great too. Just wish I had time to go out and shoot with it Laughing

P.s. Ian - I have the second version of the Tokina 20-35/3.5-4.5 AF lens for my Canon EOS 6D and the lens performs well across the frame. It never reaches the sharpness seen by primes in the centre (Flek 20/2.8 for example), but is far better at the edges/corners.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Kiron 28/2 @ f/2


DSC02457 by unoh7, on Flickr

nFD 20/2.8 @f/2.8

DSC02453 by unoh7, on Flickr


PostPosted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 4:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
This was overcast, so not optimal, but they came good enough to show:

DSC02414 by unoh7, on Flickr


Twins by unoh7, on Flickr


La Parrilla by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC02409 by unoh7, on Flickr

These all A7.mod + nFD 20/2.8 at various apertures. I'm finding more punch in this lens.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
SEM 21:

DSC02568 by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC02566 by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC02551 by unoh7, on Flickr


PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here is the ZM18 on A7.mod with some PP but no correction for colorshift:


Untitled by unoh7,


DSC02730 by unoh7, f/8


DSC02696 by unoh7, f/8ish


DSC02676 by unoh7, f/4


DSC02782 by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC02744 by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC02656-2 by unoh7, f/8

Here is a set with the ZM18 Smile

I still have trouble with infinity focus, so no single shot should be relied on as best case.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
infinity focus is tricky with no stop. I often just grab the center in the mag box, but later I find fuzz on the edges.

But here for whatever reason I hit the distant details very well:

DSC02805 by unoh7, on Flickr

The ZM18 has edges on the A7 at infinity!!!! (yes foreground corners are fuzzy, but they would come in fine if I bought the focus closer)


PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
nico at FM just shot the M-rokkor 28 on his....can't remember if it's A7 or R, but you should be able to tell in these zipped RAWS:
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B-0omMe5P91KczBjTkI0YkFwTXc&export=download

the M-rokkor 40/2 is seriously good on the A7.mod

DSC02879 by unoh7, on Flickr

Not sure it's any better than that on the M9!


PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 9:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice place you live Uhoh! What is the altitude of the town?


PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Your pictures are very nice. The light and the purity of the air make them even more "crispy" and contrasty.
I hope there will be once a comparison test available between A7 and A7 mod . Especially concerning corner smearing with RF WA.


PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
+1 Surprised


PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nordentro wrote:
Nice place you live Uhoh! What is the altitude of the town?


Town is about 5800ft Smile

Here CV 35/1.4 @5.6ish

DSC03026 by elleliv, on Flickr


DSC03042 by elleliv, 5.6ish


DSC03074 by elleliv, WO
One issue worthy of note: M9 is way better to MF in action shots than A7.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Besides focus issues (RF is much easier in action shots and landscapes) the A7 is also prone the shutter shake much more than M9 Sad So for awhile I was wondering about the CV 35/1.4 (pre-asph 35 lux knock off)

Well I got this one right, around f/8 could even be 5.6:

DSC02987 by unoh7, on Flickr

This is actually superior in the corners to my 40/2 shots.

If you look at the flickr mag, center frame just over the haze in the distant valley is another ridge line. That's 80 miles away. Smile

Last edited by uhoh7 on Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:50 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
looks good.


PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
elmarit v3 28mm with A7.mod:


A7M_M28V3_f8 by unoh7, f/8


a7M_M28E_f28 (1 of 1)-2 by unoh7, f/2.8


DSC03177 by unoh7, f/5.6


DSC03188 by unoh7, f/8 +

What do you guys think?


PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
f 8 looks good in the corners without smearing.
f5.6 too if I watch the left and right down corners.
I supposed that it was not the case before the modification.
Thanks for posting.

Do you have a Skopar 25mm f4 ?


PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
memetph wrote:

Do you have a Skopar 25mm f4 ?


Sorry I do not. I would expect it to improve. It might be good enough by f/8 or f/11 on the edges, based on what I see with tests on other skopars, the 21 and 35.

But these lenses are the most difficult to make work on digital.


PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
uhoh7 wrote:
Besides focus issues (RF is much easier in action shots and landscapes) the A7 is also prone the shutter shake much more than M9 Sad So for awhile I was wondering about the CV 35/1.4 (pre-asph 35 lux knock off

This is actually superior in the corners to my 40/2 shots.

If you look at the flickr mag, center frame just over the haze in the distant valley is another ridge line. That's 80 miles away. Smile


Nice pictures for sure - but let's not sell the CV 35/1.4 short - it is actually different to the 35/1.4 Summilux - it has 8 elements rather than that lens's 7. I suppose the 35 Nokton follows the pattern of the first 35mm Summicron, which was an 8 element design. Interesting that you find the corners better than the 40's (7 elements like the original Summilux) - I have a 40 and keep wondering if the 35 actually does better on the Leica.
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