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Your favorite MF lenses for the Sony a7/r/s
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 3:36 pm    Post subject: Your favorite MF lenses for the Sony a7/r/s Reply with quote
Owners of the Sony α7/r/s

Please share your experiences with your MF lenses

- Favorites and/or best suited...
- Those not so good with to much vignetting or with bad corners..... etc

And any other obvervations.

Please give a precise description of the reviewed lens
(version, coating, maker, serial# and/or anything else that best describes a lens)


PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here you can find a whole test series, manual lenses on a Sony A7R:

http://www.digitaler-augenblick.de/ein-posting-fuer-die-echten-altglas-freaks/

and here one more:

http://www.digitaler-augenblick.de/altglastest-olympus-f-zuiko-auto-s-50mm-1-8-an-sony-a7r/


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Tair-11 and Fujinon 2.5/135.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Olympus 50 1.8 made in japan edition and samyang 85mm 1.4


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 2:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
woodrim wrote:
Tair-11 and Fujinon 2.5/135.


Laughing Laughing


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 5:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
My favorite kit for the a7 (I love to travel light):

- Cosina/Voigtländer UW Heliar 12/5.6: super wide, very good IQ at F/11. True, there is vignetting and a bit of purple corners, but it is easy to correct (even in-camera with the Sony Lens Correction application). Where else can you find a superwide with an horizontal angle of view of 112° and almost no distorsion, that is so small and light?

- Pentax FA 35/2: very good lens, small, light with great IQ. I bought the Pentax 35mm new quite a long time ago, when its price was still affordable. I have never found it to be such a good lens on APS-C sized Pentax DSLRs. On the A7, it shines and produces superb pictures, very sharp with beautiful colors.

- CV Heliar Classic 50/2: beautiful Heliar bokeh with bright colors --the extreme corners are not that sharp until F/11 but who cares, it's certainly not a landscape lens. It is necessary to use an adaptation ring with built-in helicoid because the minimum focus on the Heliar Classic is only 1m. I probably will be buying the Sony/Zeiss FE 55/1.8 at some point in the future --sorry, I know it's an autofocus lens, but I don't have the financial means for the even better Zeiss Otus...

- CY Carl Zeiss Sonnar 100/3.5: compact short telephoto able to deliver stunning pictures. No need to introduce this lens here, as Orio has already posted beautiful pictures taken with it.

The whole kit fits inside a small waist pouch. When I need more reach, I add the Pentax F* 300/4.5, which is a very compact 300mm telephoto with superb IQ. And I am the happiest camper on earth!

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 5:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
very wise choices Sebastien!!


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 5:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
kds315* wrote:
very wise choices Sebastien!!

Thank you, Klaus!

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Canon FD 85mm f/1.2 ... and be there Smile


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Leica R 60/2.8 2cam - sharp
Leica R 35-70/3.5 3cam - Also sharp, but has a long MFD
Topcor-S 50/2 LTM - great lens, tiny and sharp
Topcor R 135/3.5 - love it, it makes all my other 135mm lenses cry, it just kicks their butt.
Canon FD SSC 35/2.8 Tilt/Shift - Stellar lens, has great synergy on my NEX-7 and A7r, but have to commit to bringing it, it's not small.
Canon FD SSC 50/3.5 macro - works great
Nikkor 55/2.8 AIS macro - pictures just pop.
Contax G45/2 - can you say sharp?
Rokkor MC 28/2.5 - my favourite 28mm lens, tons of character wide open, and very 3D as you stop down.
Konica Hexanon AR AE 21/4 - a good solid UWA
Konica Hexanon AR EE 55/3.5 macro - another good macro
X-Fujinon 28/1.9 - only had it out once and really like what I seen, wide open and stopped down
X-Fujinon 55/3.5 macro, only a test shot, but I see no reason it won't be as good as my other macros.


I surprisingly haven't used my Rokkor MC 50/3.5 macro on my A7r yet.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Abbazz wrote:


- Pentax FA 35/2: very good lens, small, light with great IQ. I bought the Pentax 35mm new quite a long time ago, when its price was still affordable. I have never found it to be such a good lens on APS-C sized Pentax DSLRs. On the A7, it shines and produces superb pictures, very sharp with beautiful colors.


Abbazz


Interesting statement . It seems that some lenses with an average reputation on APS-C sensors works great with an A7.
I am very happy with an Pentax M 35 2.8. Very sharp, nice coulours , no flare. According to the reports this lens deserves no real consideration.

My Mirs don't work on the A7 ( Dear Mir , it is not a provocation). The 37mm is blurred in the corner and the 20 mm is worse.
My Helios are poor in the corners which reduces their usability.
A big disappointment was my Cosinon 55 1.4 ( same lens as Chinon, Revuenon...Tomioka?) . I like this lens very much but it is affected by flare and ghosting on the A7 . It was not the case with a smaller sensor.

If all my lenses were destroyed or stolen, I would buy once again this list:
Rokkor MC 50 1.4
Minokta MD 135 3.5 ( 260g only) Once CA corrected in LR a very good lens and so compact .
SMC Takumar 105 2.8, 55 1.8, 50 4 macro
Pentax M 35 2.8 and 50 1.4
Jupiter 37 A MC

Probably I am going to buy a Zeiss EF 16 /35 f4 . So I would think again before buying WA and UWA.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
My favourite so far are:

Canon FL 55/1.2
Tokina 17/3.5
Canon FD 35/2 (latest version)
Jupter 85/2.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
memetph wrote:
Abbazz wrote:

- Pentax FA 35/2: very good lens, small, light with great IQ. I bought the Pentax 35mm new quite a long time ago, when its price was still affordable. I have never found it to be such a good lens on APS-C sized Pentax DSLRs. On the A7, it shines and produces superb pictures, very sharp with beautiful colors.


Interesting statement . It seems that some lenses with an average reputation on APS-C sensors works great with an A7.

The Pentax FA 35/2 has generally a good reputation. I have never been a great fan of this lens on APS-C but I suspect this is because there was a problem with the autofocus when used with my Pentax DSLRs (backfocus).

On the Sony a7 (it's worse on the a7r), many wides and superwides tend to exhibit blurry corners and colors casts, especially lenses designed for rangefinder cameras, because their rear element is too close to the sensor plane, causing the light rays to hit the sensor at an excessive angle in the corners. The Pentax FA 35, being a lens designed for 24x36 DSLRs (longer registration distance) doesn't suffer from this issue and has enough coverage to deliver good IQ over the whole sensor area. Because it is a recent lens, it also benefits from an aspheric element for better correction of aberrations as well as modern coatings (Pentax "ghostless coating") that allow for good microcontrast and nice colors.

On the other hand, it is also true that the 24 MPix sensor of the Sony a7 has much losely packed pixels (pixel pitch of 5,96 um) than a 24MPix APS-C sensor (2,56 um), thus requiring less resolving power from the lenses. Therefore, you can get a much better image with a no-so-sharp lens mounted on an a7 than from the same lens mounted on a Pentax K3! But you won't get away with a lens with a mediocre coverage on the bigger sensor...

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My favourites at the moment on the A7 are:
M: Leitz Elmar-C 90 4, prone to flare, small, light works well in good light
Hexanon 85 1.8 old version, prone to flare in good light, works well when it is darker
Hexanon 35 2.8 newer version, good all over
Pen-F Zuiko: 38 1.8, very bad corners, not constructed for small format, very fun to use.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gurin wrote:
My favourites at the moment on the A7 are:
M: Leitz Elmar-C 90 4, prone to flare, small, light works well in good light
Hexanon 85 1.8 old version, prone to flare in good light, works well when it is darker
Hexanon 35 2.8 newer version, good all over
Pen-F Zuiko: 38 1.8, very bad corners, not constructed for small format, very fun to use.


Why fav then if they have so many downsides??

Should that not be a "recommended" listing??


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I don’t think they have too many downsides, but they have downsides. I like the rendering of these lenses and I like to handle them. And so I recommend them.

What surprised me was that I bought the A7 mainly for my C/Y Zeisses but after a trial period found myself liking the pictures from my Hexanons better. On my 4/3 and m4/3 cameras the Zeisses beat the Hexanons every day in all lightning conditions, not so on the A7.

This teaches me to never get rid of any old lenses. With a different camera it is a new game. Of course I never expect awful lenses to shine but you never know until you try.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Tried and well used so far

Jupiters 9, 11 and 12 (last one suffers on corners but is great for compactness)
Minolta MD Rokkor 50 1.7
Leica R Elamrit 90/2.8


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gurin wrote:
I don’t think they have too many downsides, but they have downsides. I like the rendering of these lenses and I like to handle them. And so I recommend them.

What surprised me was that I bought the A7 mainly for my C/Y Zeisses but after a trial period found myself liking the pictures from my Hexanons better. On my 4/3 and m4/3 cameras the Zeisses beat the Hexanons every day in all lightning conditions, not so on the A7.

This teaches me to never get rid of any old lenses. With a different camera it is a new game. Of course I never expect awful lenses to shine but you never know until you try.


I've found the metering is better on Hexanons as opposed to C/Y Zeiss on the A7.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
That is interesting. I have not thought about it. On the A7 I find myself constantly fiddling with the exposure compensation and different lenses require different compensation in different light. But now that I think on it, it is true that the Hexanons are quite consistent and that is a quality that I easily can call good.

And I must state that I in no way consider the Zeisses bad. I just don’t prefer them on the A7. And I sometimes use them, especially the 50 Planar T 1.4.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gurin wrote:
On the A7 I find myself constantly fiddling with the exposure compensation and different lenses require different compensation in different light.


What metering mode do you use? I don't have a Sony A7, but with the Sony A99, the multi segment is the metering mode that produces the most consistent exposures.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It depends on the occasion, lightning condition and what I wish to achieve. Mostly centre weighted (or what Sony calls it) and spot. All works fairly well. The metering on my Olympus bodies is more reliable but I am not complaining and the RAW-files from the A7 are easy to pp in Capture One. I find that the A7 protect the highlights far too much, especially in moderate to dim light.

I am not complaining. I really like the A7. I do not have any native lenses so I cannot say anything of autofocus, metering and so on with the lenses intended for the body.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gurin wrote:
It depends on the occasion, lightning condition and what I wish to achieve. Mostly centre weighted (or what Sony calls it) and spot. All works fairly well.

My experience with the A99 is just the opposite. The average and spot metering are the most unpredictable and difficult to use correctly. Gary Friedman, a guru for Sony cameras, discusses the difference between these metering modes in his books. Maybe this interest you:

http://books.google.com.br/books?id=YbSYDCY74EUC&pg=PA164&dq=gary+friedman+multi+segment+metering&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=rBUrVOytFc6RNuGDgBA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=gary%20friedman%20multi%20segment%20metering&f=false


Gurin wrote:
I find that the A7 protect the highlights far too much, especially in moderate to dim light.

The same with the Sony A99. I discovered that an exposure compensation equal to +0.7EV produces the best results.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
my A7s likes these:

modern rendering set:
VC heliar 15/4.5
Zeiss 25/2.8 ZM // Canon FD 24/1.4 L
G Planar 45/2
Zeiss C Sonnar 50/1.5 // Speedmaster 50/0.95 // Canon LTMm 50/1.4
VZ heliar 75/1.8 (more classic look)

"retro look"

Flek 20/2.8
W.Nikkor 35/1.8 // Ultron 35/1.7 LTM
Pen F 40/1.4 or 38/1.8
Canon LTM 50/1.5 // Pancolar 50/1.8
Rokkor 58/1.2
Zuiko Pen F 70/2
Nikkor-H 85/1.8


PostPosted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
radissimo77 - You should make a thread about the Speedmaster, I am curious to see some results Wink

Well, I also like small lenses. Nikkor and Canon m39 lenses are nice. Wink


PostPosted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 4:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gerald wrote:
Gurin wrote:
It depends on the occasion, lightning condition and what I wish to achieve. Mostly centre weighted (or what Sony calls it) and spot. All works fairly well.

My experience with the A99 is just the opposite. The average and spot metering are the most unpredictable and difficult to use correctly. Gary Friedman, a guru for Sony cameras, discusses the difference between these metering modes in his books. Maybe this interest you:

http://books.google.com.br/books?id=YbSYDCY74EUC&pg=PA164&dq=gary+friedman+multi+segment+metering&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=rBUrVOytFc6RNuGDgBA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=gary%20friedman%20multi%20segment%20metering&f=false


Gurin wrote:
I find that the A7 protect the highlights far too much, especially in moderate to dim light.

The same with the Sony A99. I discovered that an exposure compensation equal to +0.7EV produces the best results.


Having the right exposure helps also to ameliorate the visibilty in the EVF .
I found myself using often the exposure compensation between + 0.3 and 0.7 .
I prefer nevertheless to "work" from a slightly underexposed picture .

There are obviously some problems with internal reflections depending the lense( back element, iris).
The same with adaptaters for mirrorless , some guys add a baffle to help.
Konica Hexanon adaptater is one of the shortest one for SLR lenses. It might help.
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