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DPReview on a7/r with legacy lenses
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:34 pm    Post subject: DPReview on a7/r with legacy lenses Reply with quote
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6018399843/using-third-party-lenses-on-the-sony-a7-a7r

Interesting, I agree with his findings. The camera certainly has some frustrations...but the auto ISO issue could easily be fixed with a firmware update. My biggest gripe is the high ISO performance though.

That said, it's an interchangeable full frame camera in a tiny body Very Happy


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
To be honest, most of his complaints are born out of inexperience with manual focus lenses in general and focusing them in particular. For instance, he complains that shutter in aperture priority defaults to too low speed, which is fair enough, but begs the question what did he expect with a non-chipped MF lens.

There are some good interface improvement suggestions (like review magnification area defaulting to the magnification area at the time the picture was taken), but many of his gripes are applicable to just about any mirrorless camera on the market. I think the underwhelming results that he got just highlights his inexperience with MF lenses, it takes some practice to (re)learn manual focus, which apertures to use in this or that shooting situation and so on.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I disagree with one of his comments in particular. At the end he says that some old lenses (citing the Pentax 35mm 1:2, specifically) perform well on digital despite the demands being greater than those of film. That's a paraphrase and the rewording isn't perfect. I think that, alone, shows a general lack of understanding on the author's part about how film was designed and engineered, not to mention how lenses are designed and function.

I don't know why anyone would be surprised that old lenses perform well on a digital medium.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
fermy wrote:
To be honest, most of his complaints are born out of inexperience with manual focus lenses in general and focusing them in particular. For instance, he complains that shutter in aperture priority defaults to too low speed, which is fair enough, but begs the question what did he expect with a non-chipped MF lens.

There are some good interface improvement suggestions (like review magnification area defaulting to the magnification area at the time the picture was taken), but many of his gripes are applicable to just about any mirrorless camera on the market. I think the underwhelming results that he got just highlights his inexperience with MF lenses, it takes some practice to (re)learn manual focus, which apertures to use in this or that shooting situation and so on.


The issue is that Nikon and Canon allow you to set a minimum shutter speed for auto ISO in aperture priority mode. I have come to use this a hell of a lot and going back to a system as basic as Sony's is frustrating to be honest. The custom buttons for zooming in when framing are also in a weird position.

It's a great camera but it definitely isn't the polished camera Sony should have made it...even turning the camera on can take several seconds.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:

The issue is that Nikon and Canon allow you to set a minimum shutter speed for auto ISO in aperture priority mode. I have come to use this a hell of a lot and going back to a system as basic as Sony's is frustrating to be honest.


Understood, and it's a useful feature with an electronically controlled lens. With a manual lens though, when the shutter speed could be an issue, using shutter priority instead makes much more sense, particularly if you switch between lenses.

Quote:


The custom buttons for zooming in when framing are also in a weird position.

It's a great camera but it definitely isn't the polished camera Sony should have made it...even turning the camera on can take several seconds.


Yeah, Sony UI design wasn't the best since the original NEX.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:
The custom buttons for zooming in when framing are also in a weird position.


the original setting.. yes, but you can change the button. I was setting it to the big button in middle of the wheel and now it's perfect for me. Much worse is that you can't change the buttons for the reviewing/play mode.. this is something which was so much better whith the NEX.

Last edited by Tedat on Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:52 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I had the exactly same frustrations with low shutter speed in auto ISO, awkward life view magnifying and poor peaking when i got Nex-3 few years ago. It's a shame that Sony haven't addressed those yet.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
fermy wrote:
To be honest, most of his complaints are born out of inexperience with manual focus lenses in general and focusing them in particular.

That were my thoughts, too.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
fermy wrote:
Understood, and it's a useful feature with an electronically controlled lens. With a manual lens though, when the shutter speed could be an issue, using shutter priority instead makes much more sense, particularly if you switch between lenses.


The ability to pick a sensible shutter speed based on lens focal length is sensible. However, I'm talking about specifying a minumum shutter speed, which you are not restricted to unless the light is bad and you have hit the maximum selected ISO setting. For example, at a gig the lighting may change dramatically in the space of a second. If there's a chance to shoot at a higher shutter speed than that specified as a minumum, then that is great to avoid movement blur. You can't do this in shutter priority mode.

Tedat wrote:
ManualFocus-G wrote:
The custom buttons for zooming in when framing are also in a weird position.


the original setting.. yes, but you can change the button. I was setting it to the big button in middle of the wheel and now it's perfect for me. Much worse is that you can't change the buttons for the reviewing/play mode.. this is something which was so much better whith the NEX.


Ah, didn't realise you could set the middle button. I'll give that a go to see if it fits my hands better, thanks Smile


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
i have the rx1 and i couldnt agree more with graham. its not an issue of manually setting shutter speed, thats no problem. its the very basic issue of relying on the camera to change iso only after the SS you (not the camera) want cannot be achieved. most other cams let you do this, that premium priced sony products dont is inexcusable.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I agree, I could do 1/60 with a 50mm, but what if I put on a 135mm? Forget about it Confused


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:

The issue is that Nikon and Canon allow you to set a minimum shutter speed for auto ISO in aperture priority mode.


You might work around this with shutter speed priority set to the minimum required speed and auto ISO.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Bille wrote:
ManualFocus-G wrote:

The issue is that Nikon and Canon allow you to set a minimum shutter speed for auto ISO in aperture priority mode.


You might work around this with shutter speed priority set to the minimum required speed and auto ISO.


As above, it's a workaround but you're stuck with one shutter speed then which can be a pain.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:
As above, it's a workaround but you're stuck with one shutter speed then which can be a pain.

I agree that it would of course be better to have the option to the set the minimum shutter speed or to have a "sport" mode or something like that.
But I don't see how, without it, working is a pain?
If it is bright enough you can use Av.
If it is dark, you can use M.
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