[Leica] KolariVision Astro-photography cover glass, Sony a7r, Leica glass

[Paul Roark]

I used this converted Sony a7r with M glass at this year's Golden Trout
Workshops.  My initial observations remain that it is a very interesting
alternative platform for the Leica M glass.  I took up the WATE and the
Zeiss 50mm ZM.

This is a color shot that those who were up there really seem to appreciate:

http://www.paulroark.com/Campfire-MilkyWay-GoldenTroutCamp.jpg

It is two WATE 18mm frames at f/4 stitched in PS-CC on "automatic."
 Between the 18mm at f/4 and the distortions of the merging, there is a
reduction of quality at the corners.  However, this has to be in the
context of a 30 second exposure at 3200 iso (4 sec. for the center of the
campfire).  The north star is not in this one, but would be above and to
the left.  That is why there is less of an arc there.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

On Sat, Jun 11, 2016 at 3:49 PM, Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com> wrote:

> I had the older Sony converted and have posted the first comparison shot
> on page 2 of my PDF on this project.  See
> http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/KolariVision-Astro-BW.pdf
>
> "Tech Pan's" extended red sensitivity comes to digital, including color.
>
> The Astro filter is thinner than the OEM filter.  Leica M wides work quite
> well at f/8, but still have a bit of un-sharpness wider.
>
> The WATE plus the astro filter may be quite a landscape combo.
>
> The astro cover glass is very incompatible with the Zeiss Loxia 21mm made
> for the Sony.  The advantages of optics designed for the specific cover
> glass characteristics are obvious, and not much glass is, in my view,
> likely to be made any other way going forward.
>
> The thinness of the astro cover glass was a surprise.  It shot down my
> hope of using the Loxia and it's very good f/2.8.  However, with the WATE
> (and other Leica glass at f/8) the old Sony may be very interesting.
>
> (I'll probably post this on the Yahoo Digital B&W print forum also.)
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>