Gear Suggestions

Chrisnmn

Veteran
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Name
Chris Leskovsek
Hey guys, i tried not to be a gear head, and get my gas in pretty low levels, so far ive done a good job this year. I think. anyway. For some reason this week i found myself almost camera less, all my m43 bodies are gone, and lenses currently selling. Only have my Ricoh GR which is not going anywhere anytime. And I need you to help me with some suggestions.

Since i jumped over to m43 almost 2 years ago, i said to myself i will stay within this system till someone can put a FF sensor inside an OMD body. I even got some hot comments about how impossible that was. Fast forward we now have the A7 and A7r around the corner. Leica is out of my league (but can always do some math, yet far from ideal). Obviously this means many more manufacturers will be getting those sony sensors and developing new compact FF cameras in the next 2, 3 years. But i need a camera today. I personally never considered Sony because i didn't liked the design of their cameras and basically because they are not a "dedicated camera maker" brand. Doing my math of considering Leica, and Sony getting mild reviews about the A7(r) cameras, NEX came afloat in my search. And heres my main question.

If money is not an object, and leaving absolutely design (and looks) out of the equation. What do you guys think is a great photo making machine.

I should point, i dont do videos, im not interested in "touch" screens or tilting things, i do appreciate and would love to have a VF (EVF or OVF doesnt matter), compact with a nice grip, yet i dont want a DSLR and want to stay away from that. Im also a RAW shooter and not a jpeg shooter, so please leave jpegs aside. Because of this i dont like Fuji as i personally believe their RAW files dont work nice with LR. And ive tried some fujis.

I love my Ricoh GR for handling, grip, image quality, size, AF speed is great and snap focus and manual focus is simply brilliant and love!

I need a fast compact 50mm combo.

In an ideal world, i would love to have a Ricoh GXR FF to shoot with a 35 summilux lens. Then why not get the GXR? well, i think the sensor is a bit "old" and you notice when you shoot at iso1600 which i do a lot. but i hardly ever shoot at 3200. I would just want clean files up to 3200. thats it.

So i was wondering the NEX 7 or 6 with a 35 summilux or voigtlander 35 f1.2 to get the 50mm FOV?.

Am i missing any other option? suggestions? etc?. I post this here as i believe you guys are way more "open" than specific brand sister forums.

thanks in advance,
chris.
 
Here is a comparison of fast 35mm lenses on nex-7:
http://3dkraft.de/index.php?option=...er-samyang&catid=40:camerasandlenses&Itemid=2

Nex-7 will give you the higher MP, but its sensor has struggled with many lenses incl native nex lenses and rf lenses. Nex-6 is more friendly w/ rf lenses.

35 f1.2 will give you 53mm f/2 FF equivalent which can be easily replaceable w/ A7+50mm f/2 lenses as a smaller combo... You can also get 50mm 1.4 lens and gain a stop. If you can find the older ltm CV 50mm 1.5, it sells around $300+ which makes the package price close to nex-7+35mm 1.2. 50mm is a smaller lens then 35mm 1.2. Also, A7 has better high ISO/dynamic range and bigger pixels that might work better for lenses/editing...
 
If money is not an issue, the A7/A7r look great. No native 50 until next year, but like Serhan wrote, plenty of small fast 50's in Leica M or screw mount. You can get a tiny CV Skopar 50/2.5. Or the slightly bigger old CV Nokton 50/1.5. Or the new CV Nokton 50/1.5. Or the big CV Nokton 50/1.1. All of them can be had in the price range of $300-800 used. Or $400-$1000 new. I have the old 50/1.5, and I think it's nearly if not equally good to the Leica 50 Summilux-Asph (which I bought for myself as my last big single guy purchase).

Or check out Zeiss Planar ZM 50/2, which might be the sharpest 50mm I've ever used. I believe new ones are just under $1000. Then there's the super creamy bokeh Zeiss Sonnar ZM 50/1.5, famous for its back focus on Leica digitals.

The nice thing about going the A7 route is that you don't have to think about cropped sensor conversions of focal length and aperture. But more importantly, given that you like 50mm, the availability and variety of fast 50s is much greater than finding fast 35s to serve as a 50mm in a cropped sensor camera. And generally, 50s are also less expensive than 35s.
 
There are cleaner cameras than the GXR at ISO 1600, however it does (as much as I hate to use this word) have a very pleasant rendering of noise. However, if you are considering the GXR to replace a current Micro 4/3 camera you would just be getting an APS-C sensor for the sake of getting an APS-C sensor.

Other alternatives in a similar class to the Sony NEX cameras are the Fuji X-A1 (which doesn't use the X-Trans sensor) or Samsung NX300. I found a link to a comparison between these two yesterday here Fuji X-A1 vs Samsung NX300 : ERPhotoReview. I don't have any first hand experience with the Fuji, but having had a chance to shoot with the NX300 myself for the past two weeks and compare it with an E-M5 and an E-P5, I have to say that while it is very impressive and yes, you could probably print slightly larger from it and it does have a slightly different look to it, quantifying the difference is difficult. The most noticeable thing that I found in the comparison was that if I used the same Lightroom preset I use for the E-M5/E-P5 on the NX300 it made the Samsung files look quite unrealistic which resulted in me creating a milder preset specifically for that camera. Gun to my head I think that the Samsung comes out just in front but it's not going to matter most of the time and for me the Olympus cameras still work better than anything else to let me get the shot in the first place.

Don't know if that was helpful, but the Micro 4/3 and APS-C comparison was still fresh in my head from the last couple of weeks.
 
In your case, I would go with the Sony A7. Fast, apparently great IQ, and a tilt screen that might be handy for street work. You say that you're not interested in that feature. I had the same opinion until I could try the fuji x-m1 for a day. I was truly amazed how much I enjoyed using it.
 
My first choice would be the A7 or A7r, plus Novoflex m-adapter and the f 1.5 ZM Sonnar 50mm. The lens is very compact, lightweight and draws beautifully and I expect it to be a dream combo with either of the new Sony A7 bodies.
 
I have been tempted by the NEX-6 and Zeiss 32mm after the price drops. I have held off mostly due to the other native lenses available (I know you are talking more adapted), but also because I wasn't enamored with the NEX-7 EVF outdoors. I had some trouble with using the viewfinder in strong sunlight or anytime there was some type of sidelight. I have had similar issues when using the X100 EVF (OVF is just fine), but not on the OM-D, so I am hopeful that the A7's center-placed EVF and larger eyecup/hood will be a good thing for me (I have the A7 and 35 on preorder).
 
Thank you guys for All the suggestions about possible combinations. Looks like an A7 with the cv50 f1,5 can do for a poor mans leica M + 50 lux. But for some reason Im still not sure about the A cameras as they are getting lukewarm reviews, not in the IQ department but in the handling/usability department and would like to wait a bit more. That's why the idea of a NEX body sounded more to me.

Yes as some would say I'm planning on investing in better lenses than lenses for an specific body and that's why Sony came up to the table, as I've read a lot that next bodies do very well with manual focus/ rf lenses.

I've been also read in that nex 7 is not that good with wide manual/rf lenses and get severe magenta tints but apparently the 5n and 6 do way better.

Like I said I'm not a brand fan so I'm open to any possible camera/lens combination that would give me a fast and nice 50mm equivalent.

Right now I'm thinking about the NEX 6 + Voigtlander 35 f1.4 combo. Any experiences with that?




Sent from my Nexus 4 using SeriousCompacts mobile app
 
You can check the samples at Leicaplace:
Leica

I have one but didn't use much lately w/ af options... The focus tab makes it very easy to focus for people/street shots. 35 1.2 is a better overall lens, but 35 1.4 gives you the small pocketable combo.

I've been also read in that nex 7 is not that good with wide manual/rf lenses and get severe magenta tints but apparently the 5n and 6 do way better.

Like I said I'm not a brand fan so I'm open to any possible camera/lens combination that would give me a fast and nice 50mm equivalent.

Right now I'm thinking about the NEX 6 + Voigtlander 35 f1.4 combo. Any experiences with that?
 
Hey guys,

I thought of posting my thoughts so far on my search of getting a new camera and lens.

So far im coming to the conclusion that in the mirrorless world you want to either go with Luxury-out-of-reach-for-most-people Leica or go with Micro Four Thirds. APSC is just a mess. If you go with sony, theres no native lenses. But apparently you buy sony to go with legacy lenses, which is also perfect, but you have to be careful to what lenses use as they all behave differently in every body. Fuji is quirky, and "half cooked" yet, plus not so much native lenses, and legacy lenses are just starting to work with the new implemented peaking onto their cameras but seems the most "solid" apsc system in mirrorless. Ricoh-Pentax, have the GR which is brilliant, and thats about it, of course they have the GXR, but again looks like you buy that camera to go with legacy lenses and it seem to work fine, but the sensor is old and quite limited. Then Olympus-Panasonic with m43 is a complete and "perfect" as any Leica or DSLR system. You can do anything, and anything right, you have a lot of native lenses you can use any legacy lens without getting tints, shifts, bla bla bla, it does have few caveats here and there. The only downside for some is the cropped sensor. Im impressed.

Im thinking of taking this time, to do a long project with my Ricoh GR instead maybe. Till one of this companies gets a descent APSC/FF compact cameras to work right.

Im still tempted with the NEX6. will see...
 
M43 is not perfect w/ rf glass either. I had smearing on corners when I tried CV 35mm 2.5 on 12MP sensor. See Tim Ashley's comment about Leica on E-M1:
My Leica M 50 Lux with adaptor has very soft edges despite the large size of its imaging circle compared to the sensor size of the E-M1.
The Olympus E-M1: Micro Four Thirds comes of age?

The older lenses will struggle w more MP increase, even the perfect Leica rf glasses. Biogons struggled with nex-6/7 and it is similar w/ A7/A7R. Contax g 35mm planar, 45mm planar, 90mm sonnar work w/ nex-6/7 and work w/ A7/A7R but most probably they need to be stopped down for the corners... Native lenses are the best for each system, so pick the system that works for you.

Nex-6 is a good camera, cheaper then comparable gx7... Also nex-6 might be better if you want to use some wide rf glass.
 
Hey guys, so i finally pulled the trigger on a "almost new" Sony NEX 6. hope its exciting! now the next step is to get a good adapter to fit the voigtlander lenses im intending to use it wiht. Ive heard about Novoflex at a ridiculous price but i also read about voigtlander adapter. anyone has an experience? i thought 'adapters' would go for 20/60 bucks and not 200/300 bucks. is there any electronics involved or something?

thanks all of you for the advice. Im planning to get either the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 or f1.2 II
 
Enjoy your new camera.

There is no electronics in the adapters except a new one released by a Canadian firm (https://www.phigmenttech.ca/lmnex/). The ones I bought were cheap Chinese adapters and one of them even matched the infinity w/ ltm lenses. I have one expensive helicoid m adapter that manages to focus nearer. However the one side might shift more then the other side (I haven't checked mine):
Sony A7r some full resolution test shots

For me problem is the adapter tabs btw the lens and the adapter. I like the smaller ones so I can handle the camera better.

I don't have experience w/ Novoflex or Voigtlander adapters... See FM discussion about adapters:
Which M lens adapters for the Sony E mount?
 
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