Sony The 35mm FF experiment for Vintage lenses

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Just for fun, a couple of snapshots taken with the a7C paired with Samyang's 45mm and 75mm:

View attachment 296721

View attachment 296722

Both make a very nice pairing with the little a7C. I don't have the Samyang 85/1.4 for Sony, but I had it for the EOS R. And that lens wouldn't pair nearly as well with the little C, being a huge hunk of glass. The 75 on the other hand handles like a dream with the C.

I think both lenses render very nicely. I had the Sony FE 50/1.8 briefly, and I like the Samyang AF 45 a lot better. It's sharper and has less problems with CA. I kinda forgot the little fortyfive for a while since I accidentally bought a mint used Zeiss 55, but on the C the Samyang is a real winner. The pair handles nicely, the autofocus works really well and the IQ leaves little to desire.

Thank you for sharing that. The Sony a7C has gone down in price significantly even compared to last summer, I have it on my watch list on CEX of it shows up in stock because it goes for 1K £. The only downside I ever felt with it (when I had it) is the significant rolling shutter in electronic mode, which makes it difficult to use silently for street shooting from the hip (I have a very strange way of doing street photography).

At the moment I am waiting to see if the Sony a7R II will show up in stock at CEX because it goes for about 800 £ while I am trying to save up money for it. The a7R II has better AF and IQ because of its newer sensor design (instead of recycling the same sensor on a7 II from all the way back to Sony a900).

I have time to wait, and patience (most of the time ), since Sony a7 IV came out the entire Sony stack is going down in price on the used market. Though some of the BSI and Stack sensors based cameras still seem to be holding on to their price a bit more (A9 and A7R III).

 

[Brownie]

At the moment I am waiting to see if the Sony a7R II will show up in stock at CEX because it goes for about 800 £ while I am trying to save up money for it. The a7R II has better AF and IQ because of its newer sensor design (instead of recycling the same sensor on a7 II from all the way back to Sony a900).

Interesting info. I was under the impression Sony had always released the 'R' variant first to appeal to the bigger dollar customers, then followed with the regular version. They must not have started that sequence until the R III.

 

[The Electric Squirrel]

Thank you for sharing that. The Sony a7C has gone down in price significantly even compared to last summer, I have it on my watch list on CEX of it shows up in stock because it goes for 1K £. The only downside I ever felt with it (when I had it) is the significant rolling shutter in electronic mode, which makes it difficult to use silently for street shooting from the hip (I have a very strange way of doing street photography).

At the moment I am waiting to see if the Sony a7R II will show up in stock at CEX because it goes for about 800 £ while I am trying to save up money for it. The a7R II has better AF and IQ because of its newer sensor design (instead of recycling the same sensor on a7 II from all the way back to Sony a900).

I have time to wait, and patience (most of the time ), since Sony a7 IV came out the entire Sony stack is going down in price on the used market. Though some of the BSI and Stack sensors based cameras still seem to be holding on to their price a bit more (A9 and A7R III).

Well, the Sammy lenses are just as nice on the larger a7 bodies. And are old enough to start popping up on the second hand market, at least I've seen the 45 pop up used a few times. Both the 45 and the 75 have easily enough resolution for the 42mpix sensor.

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Interesting info. I was under the impression Sony had always released the 'R' variant first to appeal to the bigger dollar customers, then followed with the regular version. They must not have started that sequence until the R III.

The Sony a7 and a7 II use the same sensor technology from the a900, some reviewers complained when they came out that the sensor is not keeping up with the competition in terms of IQ. The Mark II used the same processor as well with only software improvement for AF claiming 30% faster.
The a7R II had an updated PDAF on the sensor with a lot more points and a better engine which speed up the AF. The Mark III had the same sensor but a way better processor and engine that fixed the slow response and file handling of 42 MP. After the a9 was released is when Sony started sharing their performances and trickle down to the a7 Mark III and a7R IV. Even the Sony a7 IV has tech from the way more expensive Sony a1.
Which is a much better strategy then giving cameras older tech at lower price point and make huge gaps in quality between the ranks.
With the advent of movie/filming requirements and homogenisation of stills and video, it’s forcing companies to offer better processing and more versatile features and capabilities in all their cameras compared to the first generations.

 

[L0n3Gr3yW0lf]

Well, the Sammy lenses are just as nice on the larger a7 bodies. And are old enough to start popping up on the second hand market, at least I've seen the 45 pop up used a few times. Both the 45 and the 75 have easily enough resolution for the 42mpix sensor.

I would love to have a compact trio prime set. Which will be my 2nd priority but first, in terms of lenses, I want to cover 24/28mm to 300/400mm zoom with 2 lenses to cover most of my needs until then. I have been thinking as the best bang for buck (and the fact that they are in stock) is the old Sony SAL 28-75mm f 2.8 SAM and Sony SAL 70-300mm f 4-5.6 G SSM Mark I paired with the Sony LA-EA3 for less then the cost of only Sony FE 70-300mm f 4-5.6 G OSS.
I know that the AF performance is not going to be the same but it’s a starter with decent quality lenses and good compatibility. I don’t know if Sigma A-Mount lenses adapted would perform as well as these 2 combos but if they are I would be willing to look into them as well.

The Samyang AF 75mm f 1.8 goes for 200 £ (that’s cheaper then Pany 42.5mm f 1.7 used), the 45mm f 1.8 goes for 170 £ (same price as Pany 20mm f 1.7 used), the 24mm f 2.8 goes for 180 £ and he 18mm f 2.8 goes for 220 £.

 

[Lawrence A.]

Now you're splitting hairs. Unless you have some specific need to shoot in low light, forget it. I've seen what you shoot, the vast majority of it is outdoors. Just get the one you can afford and stop wringing your hands over it.

I returned a a7ii that was broken and replacing it I looked at both a7rii and and the a7ii, the model I had. The price was within $50 and I was tempted to go with the higher pixel sensor of the Rii, but it was used and the a7ii was open box with a 1 year manufacturer warranty and a 90 seller warranty. So I went for what I had before, the 24mp a7II.. It's a nice camera, and I love shooting old manual lenses on it. I have a lot of the kicky around. I researched with the 42mp sensor might out-resolve the old glass, but that is not necessarily the case and it will resolve more of the information any lens throws at it. But I still went for the 24mp model for the safety net of a year warranty. (And I quite like the a7II on its own terms)_. The only native lens I have is the very nice Sony Vario-Tessar ZA 24-70 f4, and I have no plans on adding to it, counting on legacy lenses instead. So I say. We'll see.