New Sony A7R

[Doug Smith]

Well, I finally traded in my Canon gear for a new Sony A7R. The A7R is a full-frame, mirror-less body with a 36 megapixel sensor (same sensor as in the Nikon D800e I believe). I've already seen the rumors of a crappy autofocus are true, but this camera is allegedly close to perfection for landscape photography, which is what I bought it for. My only lens is the Sony (Zeiss) 55mm f/1.8 prime. I'm very pleased with the IQ from this set-up. I'm a pretty poorly skilled photographer, but also a gear-nut. ;-)

I'll be taking this set-up with me (along with a tripod and a couple filters) to the Sierra the second week of September. I'll provide an after-action report and let you know how it (and I) did. :)

[Bill Law]

55mm is a little long for my taste (for landscapes in the Sierra). I'm curious as to why you chose that lens vs something like a 24mm? Yours does sound like a good portrait set up. Maybe there's not a wider lens of similar quality?

[Doug Smith]

Hi Bill, you hit the nail on the head. The A7 (and R and S models) are just too new to the market to be supported by a lot of nice lenses, unless you use adapters like the Metabones, in which case you can use your favorite lenses from any brand. Their NEX line of mirror-less cameras have tons of lenses, but they are all for a crop-sized sensor.

Right now there are basically just two zooms and two primes available for the full-frame bodies. The only one with a stellar rating is the 55 1.8. They also have a 35mm, but it has nowhere near the rave reviews that the 55 does. People say the 55 f/1.8 is very close in IQ to the Zeiss 55 f1.4 OTUS, which costs $4,000. The 35mm and the zooms don't come close to it. So I figured that for my first lens dedicated to the new system, I might as well get the best of the four, even if the focal length isn't ideal.

For a wide lens, I'm hoping Sony will come out with a lens like the Zeiss T* 21 f/2.8 (Sony and Zeiss make the lenses for the new cameras together). They are supposed to have some high quality wide prime in the works. If not, I'll eventually pick up that Zeiss 21 and just get an adapter for it.

[Richard Hogben]

You don't have to wait for Sony. What about the rockinon or samyang and the like manual full frame lenses?

14mm f2.8

It's manual and heavy but a decent wide full frame lens for the price. Good review for astrophotography too http://www.lonelyspeck.com/rokinon-14mm-f2-8-review/

[Doug Smith]

Thanks Richard, I checked out those two 14mm primes from Rockinon and Samyang. I wasn't aware there were any wides available for the full-frame E-mount and sure enough, you're right. They have both had some good reviews from people that really like them on the A7R, but I also see comments about only the center 60% being sharp, with bad softening towards the edges. I think I'll just hold off until more native lenses come out. There are allegedly some wides in the pipeline right now and I'd hate to buy an interim lens only to want to sell it in a few months if they release other ones.

[Justice Baker]

I have the 14mm for Canon, it's great. I use for mostly for night pictures of the sky, works great, has good IQ and fairly cheap.

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