[Winder]

You Tube

You Tube

[Winder]

Sony's new A7R II brings more than just a resolution bump

http://www.ivoscholz.com/stories/2015/9/24/the-master-chief

[JohnBee]

Sony's new A7R II brings more than just a resolution bump

The Master Chief ? Ivo Scholz

Kinda wished they would have used a native E mount lens to test action shots with though...

[philbaum]

Kinda wished they would have used a native E mount lens to test action shots with though...

Yep - agreed. Its like testing a Nikon body with a Canon lens, and then saying that the Canon combo is faster

[itshimitis]

I tested the Batis 25 f/2 at the Sony store in Berlin last night. Love love love it...

They don't know timelines of delivery. I would happily have bought it there and then. They are renting both the 25f/2 and the 85 f/1.8 Batis lenses though for 31 euros a day.

[philbaum]

Got my Sony 55 f1.8 a few days ago and had a chance to use it tonight. Great lens and pics have the special look to them. If i was limited to one lens on this camera, this would be it. Fairly small, lightweight, yet fast focusing and large aperture. On a crop camera, this FL would likely be too tight, but on a FF camera - dang near perfect.

[JohnBee]

Got my Sony 55 f1.8 a few days ago and had a chance to use it tonight. Great lens and pics have the special look to them. If i was limited to one lens on this camera, this would be it. Fairly small, lightweight, yet fast focusing and large aperture. On a crop camera, this FL would likely be too tight, but on a FF camera - dang near perfect.

Great to hear!
I guess I should grab one then.

PS. have you tried any Pentax glass on it yet?

[Winder]

Great to hear!
I guess I should grab one then.

PS. have you tried any Pentax glass on it yet?

The 55mm F/1.8 FE is a special lens. It is one of the reasons I have stuck with the Sony A7II. If Sony can continue to build lenses with this size, speed, & IQ they will have an amazing system.

The 31mm LTD is the only Pentax lens I use regularly on my A7II. It is a great lens and I love the way it renders on a FF body. With the adapter its about the same size as the FE 55mm. I tried the 77mm LTD and stopped down a little with good light its a great lens. Wide open only the very center 25% was really sharp on the FF and the CA is more of an issue. Both lenses are designed for AF so the manual focus ring is really loose and its not dampened at all. If I stay with Sony I will buy either the Loxia 35 or the 35mm F/1.4. I'm hoping that Sony brings a 35mm F/1.8 to market that is similar to the 55mm.

I got to play with the A 50mm F/1.2 and its a great lens on the A7II.

[philbaum]

Great to hear!
I guess I should grab one then.

PS. have you tried any Pentax glass on it yet?

The A135 f2.8 and M 135 f3.5. They both worked fine on it. I need to find that listing of DA lenses that will work on FF without vignetting. On my Nex6, i tried most of the Pentax lenses i had on it and they all worked fine. I'm trying to figure out a small kit that would travel well. About a month ago a photographic friend and I went over on the ferry to Seattle, walked around the Seattle Art Museum, then walked down to the waterfront for dinner. By that time we were tired and skipped other vistas we had planned to see like the SAM park and Big Wheel, etc. But that walk-around excursion motivates me to determine a small walk-around kit. At this point, i'm at:

Sony 28-70 F3.5-F5.6. A light-weight easy to carry do all lens. Holds F4.5 up to 50mm, F4 up to 40mm
Sony 55 f1.8 for that evening stuff i like to do, daytime portraits.
Pentax M 135 f3.5 For a kit, i like the weight versus the f2.8 version.
Sigma 19mm F2.8 Requires crop mode but about 1/2 the length of the 28-70 and really light weight for crowded areas

if you consider the above 4 lenses, figuring 1 would be on the camera, they would all fit into a pretty small bag. .I might well bump the M135 off the list in favor of a M 100 f4 macro lens. Reason - still small but provides macro function and close focusing with excellent bokeh.

I have the Sony 70-200 F4 but carrying it around all day doesn't appeal to me. Would work great out of the car, in an event situation like my work at a playhouse, a zoo perhaps, etc. Depends on the purpose of the outing.

[osv]

Kinda wished they would have used a native E mount lens to test action shots with though...

"An MLS rivalry match between the Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers proved to be a solid test of the A7R II's abilities. The match also gave me a chance to try out Sony's FE 70-200mm f/4 lens"

pretty weak quality there, i suspect that the shots are heavily cropped.

the rodeo stuff looks better.

---------- Post added 09-27-15 at 02:14 PM ----------

I tested the Batis 25 f/2 at the Sony store in Berlin last night. Love love love it...

saw a review of that lens somewhere, the corners were stunning, it's a real winner if you can afford it.

i suspect that there aren't too many lenses of that focal length that can match it.

edit: this may have been it: http://www.getdpi.com/forum/sony/55864-sony-a7rii-batis-25mm-batis-85mm-sony...tem-tests.html

[itshimitis]

"An MLS rivalry match between the Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers proved to be a solid test of the A7R II's abilities. The match also gave me a chance to try out Sony's FE 70-200mm f/4 lens"

pretty weak quality there, i suspect that the shots are heavily cropped.

the rodeo stuff looks better.

---------- Post added 09-27-15 at 02:14 PM ----------



saw a review of that lens somewhere, the corners were stunning, it's a real winner if you can afford it.

i suspect that there aren't too many lenses of that focal length that can match it.

edit: this may have been it: Sony A7RII/ Batis 25mm , Batis 85mm and Sony 35mm 1.4 System Tests

That is Astounding quality. I was hoping they would let me shoot out in the Sony Centre so I could get a better feel of it. I want this lens, but not sure about preordering without knowing the timescales on it. I still have the FE 24 - 70 which I will sell since I have the LAEA4 and Tamron 24 - 70 which is sharper. So that will cover probably about 40% of the price...

I already love the Loxia 35. The staff in the store (and they have the Loxia in store too) said that it was just a pity that the Loxia is manual focus. I tend to keep mine at f/8 and infinity, and majority of the time that's just fine. The loxia is sharp and not too affected by diffraction up to f/16, so it's easy to get a shot that is sharp across the frame, and the A7RII and Loxia 35 combo is one that will fit in a bigger pocket of my raincoat. Perfect for an amble about...

[JohnBee]

The 55mm F/1.8 FE is a special lens. It is one of the reasons I have stuck with the Sony A7II. If Sony can continue to build lenses with this size, speed, & IQ they will have an amazing system.

The 31mm LTD is the only Pentax lens I use regularly on my A7II. It is a great lens and I love the way it renders on a FF body. With the adapter its about the same size as the FE 55mm. I tried the 77mm LTD and stopped down a little with good light its a great lens. Wide open only the very center 25% was really sharp on the FF and the CA is more of an issue. Both lenses are designed for AF so the manual focus ring is really loose and its not dampened at all. If I stay with Sony I will buy either the Loxia 35 or the 35mm F/1.4. I'm hoping that Sony brings a 35mm F/1.8 to market that is similar to the 55mm.

I got to play with the A 50mm F/1.2 and its a great lens on the A7II.

I started off with a 24-240mm on the A7R II, which works fine for the most part, though isn't very impressive in terms of light gathering capabilities and mediocre sharpness. And so, I've been contemplating a Metabones IV with a Canon 24-70 2.8 II as an alternative. Not sure what else I could use to get into the portrait range and short tele. however. Which usually gets me into the 200mm such as a 55-200 type lens. And so I'm open to suggestions also.

As for primes, the sky appears to be the limit with mirrorless. ie, Owning many vintage lenses which I've grown so fond of, makes this camera a real gem to work with.

[pinholecam]

The A135 f2.8 and M 135 f3.5. They both worked fine on it. I need to find that listing of DA lenses that will work on FF without vignetting. On my Nex6, i tried most of the Pentax lenses i had on it and they all worked fine. I'm trying to figure out a small kit that would travel well. About a month ago a photographic friend and I went over on the ferry to Seattle, walked around the Seattle Art Museum, then walked down to the waterfront for dinner. By that time we were tired and skipped other vistas we had planned to see like the SAM park and Big Wheel, etc. But that walk-around excursion motivates me to determine a small walk-around kit. At this point, i'm at:

.

CV15viii; FE28; FE55 ? - smallish, no issues, don't really need fast aperture and AF on the 15mm.

[philbaum]

CV15viii; FE28; FE55 ? - smallish, no issues, don't really need fast aperture and AF on the 15mm.

Thanks for the recommendations - i can see the FE 28, but the CV15 is too ultra rectilinear for me.

I never liked any of my pictures i took with lens smaller than the DA21 on my aps cameras, and the FE 28 is comparable to that lens. Some people like ultra wide lens and use them well - it just isn't me and now i accept that :-)

Took a picture with my DA 300 using FF A7RII of the blood red moon eclipse, and it did OK. The main downfall is that with my manual fotodiox adapter, one can adjust the aperture, but you cannot tell which number aperture you are at. Other than that, i was able to use focus peaking on the moon which was pretty cool. Older legacy lenses with an intact mechanical aperture ring are useful for the A7 series

[osv]

That is Astounding quality. I was hoping they would let me shoot out in the Sony Centre so I could get a better feel of it. I want this lens, but not sure about preordering without knowing the timescales on it. I still have the FE 24 - 70 which I will sell since I have the LAEA4 and Tamron 24 - 70 which is sharper. So that will cover probably about 40% of the price...

thx for the feedback on the tamron 24-70... you pulled some good pics out of the wide end of that fe24-70, i was rather surprised.

24mm is such a difficult focal length on ff, even with stopped down decent corners it's just not as natural looking as 28mm on ff is... i bet the loxia 25mm will go a long ways towards fixing that, especially at wider apertures.

i just shot a bunch of 35mm prime pics at death valley, that loxia 35mm would have been a welcome addition to my kit bag :-) it looks like another killer piece of glass.

---------- Post added 09-28-15 at 11:32 AM ----------

The main downfall is that with my manual fotodiox adapter, one can adjust the aperture, but you cannot tell which number aperture you are at.

i have the same problem with some of the nikon glass... in theory you can put a piece of tape on the adapter aperture ring, calculate the exposure using the equivalent shutter speed, then match the shutter exposure with aperture, and mark the tape.