03/29/14

Sony Alpha A7R - Carl Zeiss Tessar 85 f4 ZM T*

This the second of a few images I would like to post about the Sony A7r and Zeiss Tessar 85 f4 combination. Plenty of detail in this image and do believe I get sharper images from the A7R than from the A7. However, like others have mentioned on the Internet, the shutter is loud and I think it does bother me right now. Maybe it's because I have some problems with longer focal length lenses in getting sharp images. It may be that I have to get used to the camera first which means I'll be shooting a lot with it.

These images were taken when I was practicing hitting the target with manual focus lenses. I think I'm getting better but I do have a long way to go. That doesn't bother me one little bit because I just love being out there with my cameras. It really doesn't matter what I'm photographing, the main thing is the actual act of photographing.

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Focal Length: unknown
Aperture: f/1.0
Exposure Time: 1/100 sec
ISO: 200

Dil 03/29/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Sony • Alpha • A7R • Zeiss • Tessar • 85 f4

03/28/14

Lenses

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Sony Alpha A7R - Carl Zeiss Tessar 85 f4 ZM T*

I've come to the conclusion these Zeiss lenses work excellently on the Sony Alpha cameras. I now have two of these wonderful lenses and I can't fault either of them. Both the Planar 50 f2 and the Tessar 85 f4 are very well built, focus rings are nice and smooth and don't have a long throw like a lot of the Voigtländer lenses. Both of these lenses produce stunning image quality on the A7R so assume that the quality will be the same on the A7.

These are two lenses I can certainly recommend for the A7R (and A7) and will be a part of my prime kit for those cameras. I will not be purchasing any other FE lenses (I have the kit 28-70) because these primes produce what I'm after from these cameras. I don't shoot sport and I take my time when manually focusing, although I have noticed it's much harder on these full frame sensors. I will be practicing a lot more to get proficient because I just love the look of the files. The two lenses mentioned above do not cost a fortune and are readily available with many retailers. Now I just need good 35mm and 135mm lenses and I'll be all set. I've just seen some excellent images from the Voigtländer 15 f4.5 so that will be my ultra-wide for this system. That will probably be used on the A7 because of the colour shift problems on the A7R, or it will be used on both when going for some monochrome images.

If you're wondering what you are looking at in the above image, it's water flowing over the top of a lock near where I live. You're looking down at the water from the top of the lock.

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ILCE-7R
Focal Length: unknown
Aperture: f/1.0
Exposure Time: 1/320 sec
ISO: 200

Dil 03/28/14 19:00 comments (0)

Viewed 820

• Sony • Alpha • A7R • Zeiss • Tessar • 85 f4

03/27/14

Lenses

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Sony Alpha A7R - Carl Zeiss Planar 50 f2 ZM T*

What a great combination these two make. The Zeiss Planar 50 f2 ZM T* is a very sharp lens and the A7R doesn't have a AA filter remember so it's going to bring out a little more sharpness from the lens. Just to show what this combination is capable of I just reduced these images to 1200px wide and did NOT apply any sharpening to the files. The B&W was converted using a gradient map this time (I didn't use my favourite converter from Nik, SFXII) because I find it does a better job of these files that SFXII. Files from the Fujifilm X cameras are a different thing but that is a photoblog post for another time.

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Dil 03/27/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Sony • Alpha • A7R • Zeiss • Planar • 50 f2

03/21/14

Lenses

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Sony Nex-5N - Minolta Rokkor 90 f4

I have 2 of these 90mm maual focus lenses, this one the Minolta Rokkor 90 f4 and the Leica Elmarit 90 f2.8. The Minolta is smaller and lighter (should be because maximum aperture is f4). On these APS-C (and m4/3) sensors it's very difficult to determine which has the better image quality. I like both but the real test would be to use both on a full frame camera.

That wasn't possible until recently when Sony brought out the A7 & A7r. I will not be looking at the A7r because the price is out of my comfort zone but the A7 has me attracted. It's small, light and offers full frame possibilities to all of my Leica, Minolta and Voigtländer lenses. The fact that autofocus is not really fast doesn't interest me in the least because I woulld use it mainly for my legacy manual focus lenses. Because it has an E mount it is compatible with all the E mount and A mount (via the LEA4 adapter) lenses. Actually it's compatible to most lenses ever produced, just like the Nex series of cameras. It's really an exciting camera (the A7r more so) that I am really contemplating on aquiring.

Sony have now dropped the Nex name and all future cameras will have the Alpha designation. This doesn't mean that the Nex line has been discontinued, it's just that in the future they'll have a different name.

I'll have to think more carefully about this in the coming days. Any other thoughts out there?

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Dil 03/21/14 19:00 comments (0)

Viewed 1228

• Sony • Nex-5N • Minolta • Rokkor • 90 f4

03/20/14

Lenses

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Sony Nex-5N - Voigtländer Nokton 40 f1.4

When I first got into manual focusing lenses on digital cameras a few years ago, this is one of the first lenses I bought new and why I afterwards bought so many of the Voigtländer lenses. As I was a Canon system enthusiast I use to turn my nose up at these lenses and only used autofocus lenses, not understanding what all the fuss was all about. Now, being a little more experienced and having learnt my lesson I can understand what it's all about and autofocus is no longer such a big deal.

I suppose everyone changes with time and the more you photograph the more inquisitive you become about what is possible and how other lenses would see the world using different lenses on different cameras. It's just a part of growing as a photographer and as you come to realise that different lenses have different signatures, it matters a great deal on what cameras you use the lenses on. I think that's why I have so many different camera models from many manufacturers. These Voigtländer lenses are a real alternative to Leica lenses, especially when you start to compare prices. I'm not saying they're better than the Leica lenses, it's just that I'm not a professional at this game, and I'm not going to pay thousands for lens that will give me maybe 5-10% better image quality.

Another manufacturer I haven't tried yet is Zeiss and I've only heard good things about their lenses. Maybe in the coming months I can find the funds to purchase o lens or two. One I'm really trying to hold off on is the ZM 50 f2 Planar. I've heard it pairs nicely with the new Sony A7 or A7r cameras.

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Dil 03/20/14 19:00 comments (0)

Viewed 1141

• Sony • Nex-5N • Voigtländer • 40 f1.4 • Nokton

03/18/14

Lenses

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Panasonic G5 - Panasonic X Vario 35-100 f2.8 Power OIS

You have to give it to Panasonic, this lens is very good indeed and paired with the 12-35 f2.8 and maybe the 25 f1.4 for low light work you've got the basis for a very good system. Personally I prefer to use the Olympus cameras because they've got more heft to them. That's the impression I get when holding the two systems. The build quality is much better on the Olympus models...or is it just me that gets that impression.

With this small and quite light 35-100 f2.8 you get the equivalent of a 70-200 f2.8 on a full frame camera and the size difference is amazing. For my purposes the smaller system wins every time and my back is also thankful for it. Younger photographers may not understand this point at present, but the older you get the more you'll understand.

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Dil 03/18/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Panasonic • G5 • 35-100 f2.8

03/17/14

Lenses

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Sony Nex-7 - LEA2 Adapter - Sony DT 55-200 f4-5.6 SAM

I've only used this combination once because I wanted to see how the focusing works with the LEA2 adapter. In short it works very well indeed. Focusing is fast because you get PDAF with the adapter attached. A negative point would be the size of rig increases and the lens is not exactly small but quite workable. The lens gives sharp contrasty image with pop to them. I should use this more as you get an equivalent focal range of 82-300mm which should cover most situations. You need good light as the lens is only an f4 at the shortest focal length but like I said, if good light is available you should be fine. The other alternative is to use a tripod but I'm no fan of tripods (although I do own quite a number of them). I only tend to use tripods in senarios I know what to expect when I'm going for ultimate sharpness. I must admit, using a tripod will get you sharper images, no doubt about it.

I must get out and try some cheap prime lenses I have like the 85 f2.8 SAM which is a remarkable lens for the price (around €200 at the time of this post).

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Dil 03/17/14 19:00 comments (0)

Viewed 1023

• Sony • Nex-7 • LEA2 • 55-200 f4-5.6

03/16/14

Lenses

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Sony Nex-5N - Nikon E-Series 100 f2.8

Since Iwas talking about the Nikon E-Series 100 f2.8 lens yesterday, it seemed apropriate to post a few images from this lens to show what it's capable of. Olny a couple of shots but I think it shows what you can expect from this lens. Sharp, contrasty and fits well on the Nex system cameras. Very easy to focus using the peaking function on the Nex. Of course you can also use this on your m4/3 cameras which would give you a 200mm equivalent focal length. IBIS is recommended though as it would be quite difficult to handhold in anything but good light.

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Dil 03/16/14 19:00 comments (0)

Viewed 1182

• Sony • Nex-5N • Nikon • 100 f2.8

03/15/14

Lenses

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Sony Nex-5N - Nikon E-Series 50 f1.8

I suppose the images chosen for the composite above doesn't really show what this lens can do, but they're images that I like so that's why I selected them. It's a very sharp lens and is very useful on the Nex series of cameras offering a focal length equivalent to a 75mm lens. This is the focal length that I start to feel comfortable with and there's no end above that. Like I've mentioned before, the wider the focal length the more uncomfortable I get. I wish I did feel comfortable with these wider focal length lenses because you tend to get a lot more into the image; more documentary type images are possible, but I just don't see it when out on the streets. I have a lot of photography books and I love to look at these wide street photography images, but alas, when I get out and look through the viewfinder I still tend to see telescopically. I just can't seem to frame these wide angle images, they tend to be flat and boring.

The Nikon e-seies of lenses tend to be some of the sharpest out there and I would recommend these lenses to everyone who asks me which lens they should buy next. I also have the 100 f2.8 and that is very sharp too and is a focal length that I like using. I've tried the wider 28 f2.8 Nikon e-series lens but I lucked out on the quality plus my eye didn't really take to it. See my 28mm lens tests for further information on those lenses.

Any suggestions out there?

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Dil 03/15/14 19:00 comments (0)

Viewed 1145

• Sony • Nikon • Nex-5N • 50 f1.8

03/13/14

Lenses

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Olympus E-PL1 - Pentax 135 f3.5

I find it really fun to use these old legacy manual focus lenses on the m4/3 cameras. It makes me want to go out and photograph. It really doesn't matter what you photograph, just go out and do it. The more you photograph the better you will get at training your eye to see things you normally don't. If you don't know what this lens looks like here is a link to it on Pentaxforum: SMC 135 f3.5.

It's small and although a little on the heavy side because of the all metal construction, handling it is not a problem. Image quality is very good as you can see in the above image. You can get these on ebay for little money and I'm sure it will give you a lot of pleasure in the months if not years ahead.

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Dil 03/13/14 19:00 comments (0)

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• Olympus • Pentax • E-PL1 • 135 f3.5

PhotoBlog of Random Images

Sony Alpha A7R - Carl Zeiss Tessar 85 f4 ZM T*

Sony Alpha A7R - Carl Zeiss Tessar 85 f4 ZM T*

Sony Alpha A7R - Carl Zeiss Planar 50 f2 ZM T*

Sony Nex-5N - Minolta Rokkor 90 f4

Sony Nex-5N - Voigtländer Nokton 40 f1.4

Panasonic G5 - Panasonic X Vario 35-100 f2.8 Power OIS

Sony Nex-7 - LEA2 Adapter - Sony DT 55-200 f4-5.6 SAM

Sony Nex-5N - Nikon E-Series 100 f2.8

Sony Nex-5N - Nikon E-Series 50 f1.8

Olympus E-PL1 - Pentax 135 f3.5

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