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12/19/13 Sony Alpha A7 - Leica Elmarit 90 f2.8Now this is one heck of a lens. I think that statement says it all. As can be expected from a Leica lens build quality is second to none and is quite heavy in the hand. It does make the A7 system a little front heavy when holding, but it's not impossible to handle. One of the best things about this lens is the built-in hood which you just pull forward to use. That together with a max aperture of f2.8 makes this lens a dream to use, especially on a full frame sensor. I'm certain this will be one of my most used lenses in the near future.
I've been reading some comments on the Internet forums lately from users who swear they will never buy a manual focus lens. Well, for me, it is slower and is nothing for anything that is on the move but it's all about the fun and slowing down to get exactly what you want int he frame. It's all about the fun of it. I will admit that I have many AF lenses and I do prefer them at certain times, but for my general walks etc I'll always take a manual focus lens or two with me. 1014
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/19/13 Sony Alpha A7 - Minolta Rokkor 90 f4I haven't seen many posts or news about this lens on the Internet for some time. Maybe people have just forgotten about it with newer models on the market. This model has been discontinued for some time but you can still pick them up on eBay once in awhile. I got mine for a good price and I thought that it had something wrong with it, so good was the price. However, it has proven to be a good performer on the Nex and M43 series cameras. If it will perform well on the Alpha models remains to be seen.
One of the best things about this lens is it's size. It is very small as can be seen, and light. I wouldn't class it as a low light lens because a max aperture of f4, but if you've good light then it shouldn't be a problem and with high ISO images getting better and better it should be possible to us this in low light. I'll be trying this on the A7 in poor light, just to see if shutter shock or blurred images will be a problem. In my opinion, this is where IBIS comes into it's own and I wish the Alpha cameras had it. Now that Sony are co-operating with Olympus it won't take long to incorporate the Olympus IBIS into the Sony cameras. It's only a matter of time. 1015
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/18/13 Nikon V1 - 1 Nikkor 32 f1.2Although I had some trouble with locking focus in low light, it managed to lock a few times. Above are two images where successful focus lock was achieved. The first was converted with Nik SFX II (as usual) and the second I left as is. Only a little processing in LR 5.2 was required. Sharpness is there and WB was very good, even in ever changing light. More images from the 1 Nikon coming up shortly. 1168
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/18/13 Sony Alpha A7 - Voigtländer Heliar 75 f2.5This is one of my alltime favourite manual focusing lens on the nex system. Extremely sharp at all apertures with very good micro contrast, it has never failed to get me the image I wanted. As you can see it is very small, not too light with very good build quality and fits on the new Alpha A7 very well. It does't give the impression that it's too big or too heavy for the system and it a dream to use. I will be using this lens a lot ont he A7 if my testing proves to be positive. I have no reason to doubt that the lens will not perform on the A7/A7R because it was perfect on the Nex-7. 1092
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/18/13 Sony Alpha A7 - Voigtländer Nokton 50 f1.5This isn't a lens you find too aften or often talked about but it has performed extremely well on my APS-C and M43 cameras. It is a rather heavy lens but doesn't give the impression it's too front heavy for the Alpha cameras. It has a long throw however when focusing from MFD to infinity. It doesn't bother me but it's something potential buyers should be aware of. My version is in the Nikon mount so if you would want this mounted on a Nex or Alpha camera you require a Nikon(s) to E mount adapter. Mine is a cheap one off ebay and works flawlessly. 1057
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/17/13 Nikon V1 - 1 Nikkor 32 f1.2Some time ago I mentioned that I was taking the Nikon V1 system down to Spain with me. I wanted to see how the 32 f1.2 would be like for portraits because theoretically the focal length would be perfect. I had two V1 cameras with me, one with the 32 f1.2 glued to it and the other with a couple of other primes, the 10 f2.8 and the 18 f1.8. Because the lenses are really small and light (except for the 32 f1.2 which is considerably heavier) I also took a couple of zooms with me. This kit is so small and light there is no reason whatsoever to leave any lenses behind. I really didn't realize I had that much equipment with me and everything fitted in a small rucksack compartment. Just wonderful. All in all, I was very impressed with the system as a whole and the 32 f1.2 is really nice; pretty much perfect for portraits. Yes, it isn't cheap but it's really worth the money. Just campare this lens with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens and you'll see what I mean. That Canon is a beast and relatively slow to focus. Where I wasn't so impressed was with the low light focusing of the camera. It might be my fault here as I forgot to turn off the electronic shutter because that brings some disadvantages with it, especially in low light. However, generally speaking it wasn't worse than any other mirrorless camera using this configuration and I managed to get what was asked for. 1298
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/17/13 Sony Alpha A7 - Voigtländer Nokton 35 f1.2 IIThis is the Voigtländer Nokton 35 f1.2 II which performs very well on the Nex bodies as well as on the M43 Olympus cameras. I always had problem using manual focus lenses on the Panasonic cameras when I started out with these lenses and I never used a Panasonic body for this afterwards. I won't in the future either because I'm so used to the Olympus and Nex bodies now.
It's a very nice lens and quite heavy but namageble on these new Alpha bodies, quite comfortable to hold. Again, testing has to be done but I do have high hopes for this lens, I just hope I won't get any colour shifts on the A7. I had a slight ptoblem on the Nex-7 but not on the Nex-5N. Thinking about it I might test this lens after I write this blog post since I have them in my hands, and it might interest some of you out there.
1067
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown • Sony • Alpha • A7 • Voigtländer • Nokton • 35 f1.2 II
12/17/13 Sony Alpha A7 - Voigtländer Skopar 50 f2.5Whenever I'm thinking about purchasing a lens for a camera system, I always try to visualize how the lens looks on the camera. Will it be front heavy, or difficult to use? For this reason I'll be posting some images of certain lenses mounted on the new Sony Alpha A7 camera thinking that it will give some idea of how the system looks. I know I was searching for these images when I was looking at a certain lens so I hope somebody out there gets some use from these images. All of these lenses have given me good images on systems like the Sony Nex and M34 cameras but these lenses will be tested to the limit on the new Alpha cameras because of the full frame sensor it incorporates. I won't have the time to test all these lenses at present but I hope to report back with images and just an initial impression of the package. My initial thoughts is that many of my lenses will not be useable on the Alpha A7/A7R. The sensor will just outresolve the lens. Don't forget, most of these lenses are rangefinder lenses which are known to cause colour shifts at shorter focal lengths. I also believe that modern lens design is much better and from what I have seen, the new FE 35 f2,8 lens is stellar and will be hard to beat, but then again it costs a lot more than most of the lenses I use. If you have any wishes, just send me a mail and I'll see what I can do. 1063
unknown Focal Length: unknown Aperture: unknown Exposure Time: unknown ISO: unknown 12/16/13 Fujinon XF 55-200 f3.5-4.8 R LM OISLast image from this combination for the presnt. I hope you've had a little insight into this system and the image quality that can be expected with the 55-200 f3.5-4.8. As a last not regarding the lens, note that it's faster than other lenses for the range. F3.5-4.8 is quite fast (yes I know it's not f2.8 throughout the range) and at the price I find it hard to beat. 966
X-E1 Focal Length: 110.3 mm Aperture: f/4.2 Exposure Time: 1/400 sec ISO: 400 • Fujifilm • X-E1 • 55-200 f3.5-4.8
12/15/13 Fujinon XF 55-200 f3.5-4.8 R LM OISWhat more can I say about the above image apart from fantastic sharpness and wouderful bokeh. You can even distinctly see the web some spider attempted to spin on the flower. 992
X-E1 Focal Length: 200 mm Aperture: f/5.6 Exposure Time: 1/125 sec ISO: 500 • Fujifilm • X-E1 • 55-200 f3.5-5.6
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