What We’re Finding Wrong With the Sony A7 and A7r So Far

jogiba · 12-07-2013, 09:25 AM

I use a low cost Fotodiox PK-NEX adapter with aperture control.

Last edited by jogiba; 12-26-2013 at 08:28 AM.

Sliver-Surfer · 12-07-2013, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by richard balonglong

Hello,
The Sony A7 is getting my interest. I have a lot of questions:
How do you control the aperture?
Can you use aperture-ring-less Pentax lenses on it?
How to use a Pentax lens with this body?
What kind of adapter that is suitable for this kind of setup?
When using Pentax lenses on it, are the images produced sharp?

Thanks in advance!

The images produced on it are as sharp as the lenses you choose to use on it. I have had in my opinion excellent results with my favorite lenses A1.4/50mm Tamron 2.8/80-200mm Adaptall, Takumar super multi coated 3.5/35mm. Im doing a recital tomorrow and I am kind of up in the air whether I should use My nikkor 4/70-210mm AF as I have read it is a stunner but I havent used it yet..the curse of having LBA..I bought it on a whim because I heard it was stelller sharp at f4
or should I use a smc takumar 3.5/135mm, or super takumar 4/150mm

hinman · 12-07-2013, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by Sliver-Surfer

Reasons why Im not crazy
-Sony A7 is the least expensive FF on the market
-the brilliant digital viewfinder paired with magnified focus takes away any overlap that the focus peaking may present on fast lenses
-99% of pentax lenses k and m42, new and used are ff and are built for a ff camera
-When ever I feel nostalgic or have a DA lens I can put my a7 in aps-c mode.
-I can put more than just pentax lenses on it
-When I put my Lenses on my ff pentax camera I have to make sure I load film into it.
- iso-50

- ooh it looks soo good

That picture says it all. I am not keen in adapting only K/M42 lenses. Of course, most Pentaxian collection with be K and M42 mounts and that is no exception in my collection. But there are lot more great lens beyond the camp in M42 and K mount. I can't afford Leica lenses and for that matter many of the Voiglander and rangefinder lenses but I can definitely find great MF gems in Canon FD, Minolta Rokkor, Contax G, Olympus OM, Contax/Yashica CY, Konica AR, Kodak Retina DKL with DKL to M42 adapter, Nikon lenses without the AI tab as I never like the presence of the pointy tab. And in crop mode, you get LOT more with c-mount, olympus pen-f. funky Pentax Auto 110 and the assortment with Pentax DA.

Cheers,
Hin

Emacs · 12-08-2013, 02:10 AM

I believe the wrong thing with A7(r) is Sony. These guys spoil everything they touch.

jogiba · 12-08-2013, 07:39 AM

I bet if the 36MP full frame A7r had a PK mount and marked as Pentax instead of Sony there would be many here that would buy it and be satisfied with it's size and operation. Buy a camera that fits your needs and do your research before purchase.

jcdoss · 12-08-2013, 08:37 AM

It seems the Phoblographers saw a lot of shake artifact. That alone makes me feel better about waiting on the Pentax camera.

Sent using only the powers of my mind.

schneider · 12-14-2013, 03:40 AM

Originally posted by jcdoss

It seems the Phoblographers saw a lot of shake artifact. That alone makes me feel better about waiting on the Pentax camera.

Well, blogs need to be filled with text and opinions to debate about in order to get more hits. I get amazingly sharp images using the lovely Pentax lenses on my A7. I do keep the shutter speed on the high-ish side, but the ISO performance permits that. One of the requests for a future A7-like successor (hopefully from Pentax/Ricoh) would be in camera stabilization, another that the screen can tilt vertically as well, rather then just horizontally as it is at the moment.

cahudson42 · 12-26-2013, 07:45 AM - **1 Like**

IMO I just wasted a couple hours browsing through Sony 7, 7R, various NEX stuff to see how useful with my slew of Tak M42s compared to my K-01.

No in camera image stabilization? Unbelieveable. And at $300 or less for K-01 NOS, maybe I should buy a spare before they disappear..

LeRolls · 12-26-2013, 08:31 AM

Originally posted by cahudson42

IMO I just wasted a couple hours browsing through Sony 7, 7R, various NEX stuff to see how useful with my slew of Tak M42s compared to my K-01.

No in camera image stabilization? Unbelieveable. And at $300 or less for K-01 NOS, maybe I should buy a spare before they disappear..

That's why I have three! So much bang for your buck!

jogiba · 12-26-2013, 08:37 AM

Originally posted by cahudson42

IMO I just wasted a couple hours browsing through Sony 7, 7R, various NEX stuff to see how useful with my slew of Tak M42s compared to my K-01.

No in camera image stabilization? Unbelieveable. And at $300 or less for K-01 NOS, maybe I should buy a spare before they disappear..

Is that a joke or what ? You are comparing the K-01 to the full frame 36MP A7r .

richard balonglong · 12-26-2013, 09:59 AM

Today, I finally tested a Sony A7 in our local camera store... Damn! It's beautiful and small for a full frame camera! I can't wait to receive my paycheck and get one immediately!
When I tested the A7, the shutter's noise is just right. It's quieter than my K1000's mirror slap, not that loud as what others are reporting. I don't know, are they expecting a shutter's noise like the ones found in K-01 or Leica M? I don't see a problem from the A7's shutter's noise even for a street photography...
The FPS is fast, the EVF is really wonderful even at lowlight. That's the first time I'm impressed with an EVF. Before, I was really against with EVF, but with the A7's EVF, it great and useful.
For stabilization, it's wonderful to have it in-body, but I can still take clear shots without it. Just like using my K1000, I can shoot clearly as low as 1/4sec - handheld. So, the absence of in-body stabilizer is just fine for me.
For responsiveness, the A7 is way responsive than my K-01. I compared them both for responsiveness because both are mirror-less.
I'm so excited to get one and use it with all my Pentax FF glasses... =)

Note: My hands are small.

jcdoss · 12-26-2013, 11:48 AM

Originally posted by richard balonglong

Today, I finally tested a Sony A7 in our local camera store... the EVF is really wonderful even at lowlight. That's the first time I'm impressed with an EVF. Before, I was really against with EVF, but with the A7's EVF, it great and useful.

Thanks for your impressions... I'm wondering though, is the A7/R EVF any different from the one in the NEX-6?

richard balonglong · 12-26-2013, 12:11 PM

Originally posted by jcdoss

Thanks for your impressions... I'm wondering though, is the A7/R EVF any different from the one in the NEX-6?

I tried using my friend's NEX before, the EVF from A7 is way better and is very clear...

philbaum · 12-26-2013, 01:23 PM

I think the phoblographer's review is total rubbish. Starting with the first photograph - the backlit 7 camera is one of the ugliest pictures i've seen, and to headline their review shows a lack of expertise. There is nothing wrong with backlighting but this result is not well done at all.

Secondly, the complaints about photo-peaking sounds like nothing more than the usual adjustment period in learning how to do focus peaking effectively. And then there are the other comments that were made above - end result- no redeeming value to this review - end of rant

I like my small Nex 6 at the moment, but it would be very tempting to grab one of these at the end of their run, with the right discount.

osv · 12-27-2013, 12:30 AM

Originally posted by jogiba

Is that a joke or what ? You are comparing the K-01 to the full frame 36MP A7r .

and somebody even gave him a "like" for that comment, lol... definitely not the target market for this camera.

every day I learn something new about the a7r... remember how we paid big bucks for genuine pentax k-mount to m42 adapters? totally unnecessary with the a7/a7r, and in fact, no k-mount to m42 adapter appears to work right with the cheap k-mount adapters i'm using on the a7r, because the diameter of the m42 adapter is too small... the lens isn't centered directly over the sensor, it slops around sideways.

so you may need to get an e-mount to m42 adapter... my initial impression is that one of the better cheap ones comes from a Chinese company called dslrkit.

wrt the lousy review that started this thread... the visibility(width, intensity, etc.) of the focus peaking area varies, you can customize it by changing the color, and also changing the jpg compression level in the camera setup menu... not intuitive at all; less compression means less peaking visibility, but remember that you also have the magnify function, which is better in some ways... for what i do, this system completely blows away any optical viewfinder, it's a huge improvement for manual focus lenses.

remember how we used to have to sweat backfocus adjustment on the lens? not a problem anymore, because most of these cheap adapters go past infinity, and with focus peaking/magnify, you never have to worry if the lens is setup correctly, the focus is easily adjustable on both sides of infinity... assuming that the lens focus ring will rotate past infinity, that is.

12-26-2013, 07:45 AM - 1 Like	#23
cahudson42 Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 147	Sony vs. K-01 for Tak M42s IMO I just wasted a couple hours browsing through Sony 7, 7R, various NEX stuff to see how useful with my slew of Tak M42s compared to my K-01. No in camera image stabilization? Unbelieveable. And at $300 or less for K-01 NOS, maybe I should buy a spare before they disappear..

12-26-2013, 09:59 AM	#26
richard balonglong Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Baguio City, Philippines Photos: Gallery Posts: 350	Today, I finally tested a Sony A7 in our local camera store... Damn! It's beautiful and small for a full frame camera! I can't wait to receive my paycheck and get one immediately! When I tested the A7, the shutter's noise is just right. It's quieter than my K1000's mirror slap, not that loud as what others are reporting. I don't know, are they expecting a shutter's noise like the ones found in K-01 or Leica M? I don't see a problem from the A7's shutter's noise even for a street photography... The FPS is fast, the EVF is really wonderful even at lowlight. That's the first time I'm impressed with an EVF. Before, I was really against with EVF, but with the A7's EVF, it great and useful. For stabilization, it's wonderful to have it in-body, but I can still take clear shots without it. Just like using my K1000, I can shoot clearly as low as 1/4sec - handheld. So, the absence of in-body stabilizer is just fine for me. For responsiveness, the A7 is way responsive than my K-01. I compared them both for responsiveness because both are mirror-less. I'm so excited to get one and use it with all my Pentax FF glasses... =) Note: My hands are small. Last edited by richard balonglong; 12-26-2013 at 10:21 AM.

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12-07-2013, 09:25 AM	#16
jogiba Banned Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Millstone,NJ Posts: 6,491	I use a low cost Fotodiox PK-NEX adapter with aperture control. Last edited by jogiba; 12-26-2013 at 08:28 AM.

12-07-2013, 11:03 AM	#17
Sliver-Surfer Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,558	Originally posted by richard balonglong Hello, The Sony A7 is getting my interest. I have a lot of questions: How do you control the aperture? Can you use aperture-ring-less Pentax lenses on it? How to use a Pentax lens with this body? What kind of adapter that is suitable for this kind of setup? When using Pentax lenses on it, are the images produced sharp? Thanks in advance! The images produced on it are as sharp as the lenses you choose to use on it. I have had in my opinion excellent results with my favorite lenses A1.4/50mm Tamron 2.8/80-200mm Adaptall, Takumar super multi coated 3.5/35mm. Im doing a recital tomorrow and I am kind of up in the air whether I should use My nikkor 4/70-210mm AF as I have read it is a stunner but I havent used it yet..the curse of having LBA..I bought it on a whim because I heard it was stelller sharp at f4 or should I use a smc takumar 3.5/135mm, or super takumar 4/150mm

12-07-2013, 11:25 AM	#18
hinman Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fremont, CA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,473	Originally posted by Sliver-Surfer Reasons why Im not crazy -Sony A7 is the least expensive FF on the market -the brilliant digital viewfinder paired with magnified focus takes away any overlap that the focus peaking may present on fast lenses -99% of pentax lenses k and m42, new and used are ff and are built for a ff camera -When ever I feel nostalgic or have a DA lens I can put my a7 in aps-c mode. -I can put more than just pentax lenses on it -When I put my Lenses on my ff pentax camera I have to make sure I load film into it. - iso-50 - ooh it looks soo good That picture says it all. I am not keen in adapting only K/M42 lenses. Of course, most Pentaxian collection with be K and M42 mounts and that is no exception in my collection. But there are lot more great lens beyond the camp in M42 and K mount. I can't afford Leica lenses and for that matter many of the Voiglander and rangefinder lenses but I can definitely find great MF gems in Canon FD, Minolta Rokkor, Contax G, Olympus OM, Contax/Yashica CY, Konica AR, Kodak Retina DKL with DKL to M42 adapter, Nikon lenses without the AI tab as I never like the presence of the pointy tab. And in crop mode, you get LOT more with c-mount, olympus pen-f. funky Pentax Auto 110 and the assortment with Pentax DA. Cheers, Hin

12-08-2013, 02:10 AM	#19
Emacs Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Moscow Posts: 1,223	I believe the wrong thing with A7(r) is Sony. These guys spoil everything they touch.

12-08-2013, 07:39 AM	#20
jogiba Banned Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Millstone,NJ Posts: 6,491	I bet if the 36MP full frame A7r had a PK mount and marked as Pentax instead of Sony there would be many here that would buy it and be satisfied with it's size and operation. Buy a camera that fits your needs and do your research before purchase.

12-08-2013, 08:37 AM	#21
jcdoss Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,801	It seems the Phoblographers saw a lot of shake artifact. That alone makes me feel better about waiting on the Pentax camera. Sent using only the powers of my mind.

12-14-2013, 03:40 AM	#22
schneider Inactive Account Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 200	Originally posted by jcdoss It seems the Phoblographers saw a lot of shake artifact. That alone makes me feel better about waiting on the Pentax camera. Well, blogs need to be filled with text and opinions to debate about in order to get more hits. I get amazingly sharp images using the lovely Pentax lenses on my A7. I do keep the shutter speed on the high-ish side, but the ISO performance permits that. One of the requests for a future A7-like successor (hopefully from Pentax/Ricoh) would be in camera stabilization, another that the screen can tilt vertically as well, rather then just horizontally as it is at the moment.

12-26-2013, 08:31 AM	#24
LeRolls Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: PSL, FL Posts: 4,504	Originally posted by cahudson42 IMO I just wasted a couple hours browsing through Sony 7, 7R, various NEX stuff to see how useful with my slew of Tak M42s compared to my K-01. No in camera image stabilization? Unbelieveable. And at $300 or less for K-01 NOS, maybe I should buy a spare before they disappear.. That's why I have three! So much bang for your buck!

12-26-2013, 08:37 AM	#25
jogiba Banned Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Millstone,NJ Posts: 6,491	Originally posted by cahudson42 IMO I just wasted a couple hours browsing through Sony 7, 7R, various NEX stuff to see how useful with my slew of Tak M42s compared to my K-01. No in camera image stabilization? Unbelieveable. And at $300 or less for K-01 NOS, maybe I should buy a spare before they disappear.. Is that a joke or what ? You are comparing the K-01 to the full frame 36MP A7r .

12-26-2013, 11:48 AM	#27
jcdoss Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,801	Originally posted by richard balonglong Today, I finally tested a Sony A7 in our local camera store... the EVF is really wonderful even at lowlight. That's the first time I'm impressed with an EVF. Before, I was really against with EVF, but with the A7's EVF, it great and useful. Thanks for your impressions... I'm wondering though, is the A7/R EVF any different from the one in the NEX-6?

12-26-2013, 12:11 PM	#28
richard balonglong Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Baguio City, Philippines Photos: Gallery Posts: 350	Originally posted by jcdoss Thanks for your impressions... I'm wondering though, is the A7/R EVF any different from the one in the NEX-6? I tried using my friend's NEX before, the EVF from A7 is way better and is very clear...

12-26-2013, 01:23 PM	#29
philbaum Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659	I think the phoblographer's review is total rubbish. Starting with the first photograph - the backlit 7 camera is one of the ugliest pictures i've seen, and to headline their review shows a lack of expertise. There is nothing wrong with backlighting but this result is not well done at all. Secondly, the complaints about photo-peaking sounds like nothing more than the usual adjustment period in learning how to do focus peaking effectively. And then there are the other comments that were made above - end result- no redeeming value to this review - end of rant I like my small Nex 6 at the moment, but it would be very tempting to grab one of these at the end of their run, with the right discount.

12-27-2013, 12:30 AM	#30
osv Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: So Cal Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,080	Originally posted by jogiba Is that a joke or what ? You are comparing the K-01 to the full frame 36MP A7r . and somebody even gave him a "like" for that comment, lol... definitely not the target market for this camera. every day I learn something new about the a7r... remember how we paid big bucks for genuine pentax k-mount to m42 adapters? totally unnecessary with the a7/a7r, and in fact, no k-mount to m42 adapter appears to work right with the cheap k-mount adapters i'm using on the a7r, because the diameter of the m42 adapter is too small... the lens isn't centered directly over the sensor, it slops around sideways. so you may need to get an e-mount to m42 adapter... my initial impression is that one of the better cheap ones comes from a Chinese company called dslrkit. wrt the lousy review that started this thread... the visibility(width, intensity, etc.) of the focus peaking area varies, you can customize it by changing the color, and also changing the jpg compression level in the camera setup menu... not intuitive at all; less compression means less peaking visibility, but remember that you also have the magnify function, which is better in some ways... for what i do, this system completely blows away any optical viewfinder, it's a huge improvement for manual focus lenses. remember how we used to have to sweat backfocus adjustment on the lens? not a problem anymore, because most of these cheap adapters go past infinity, and with focus peaking/magnify, you never have to worry if the lens is setup correctly, the focus is easily adjustable on both sides of infinity... assuming that the lens focus ring will rotate past infinity, that is.