The above image shows an image taken with the Fujifilm X-T1 with the Minolta M-Rokkor 90 f4 mounted on it. Why? Well I just wanted to show that the RF lenses can be used on other systems apart from the Sony Alpha cameras.
It seems that everybody is raving about using using RF lenses on the new-ish Sony Alpha A7 series cameras. At first, I was ecstatic about these cameras until I tried my wide angle lenses on the A7 and A7R and the disappointment set in. The amount of extra work that has to go in to removing the colour cast problem these lenses (wide angle) cause is just too much for me. I just gave up on them and don't use anything wider that a 50mm lens on them now (except for the FE lenses that is). Of course if you're planning on monochrome images, it's a different story, the colour cast problem doesn't matter.
But who said I have to use RF lenses with the A series cameras? I've now dusted off my normal SLR lenses (OM, Minolta, Tokina and Canon among others) and trying them out on the A7R. If any camera is going to show any deficiencies in these lenses it's going to be the A7R.I've already tried the Olympus OM 50 f1.8 lens on the A7R and all I can say is, stopped doen to f5.6 - f11 the lens is very sharp and very easy to focus using the peaking function on the Sony cameras. I just can't use it at f1.8 because the right side is pure mush. Shame really because it's a very nice lens indeed. Now I'm going to try out my other lenses to see if at least one can be used at f1.8. I can recommend this lens on full frame IF you have one that's not de-centered.
I still feel that Sony offers the best peaking function on the market today and some lenses are easier to manually focus than others. SLR lenses, to me, are easier to focus than RF lenses. They seem to have more contrast when looking through the EVF and the focus ring doesn't have such a long throw as the RF lenses.
To sum up my thoughts on this for the present, Leica lenses are nice, no doubt about it but they also command a nice price which is a sacrifice I'm not willing to make at present. Voigtländer make some really nice lenses too, just not quite up to Leica standards (made by Cosina today) but they are quite reasonably priced. For me though, the older SLR lenses are the way to go for the Sony cameras right now and I've found a couple of real gems, namely the Minolta Rokkor 45 f2 and the Nikon 50 f1.8. Two RF lenses that stand out on the Sony Alpha series are the Zeiss Planar 50 f2 and the Zeiss Tessar 85 f4. A little dearer than the Voigtländer lenses but way cheaper than Leica.
Oh, and BTW, the problem of using wide-angle lenses on the A7s is not a problem. Colour cast is history. Period.
