Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2016/07/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]?The Sony a7rii is my main camera now. On major outings I do carry an extra battery or two. Here is the rather long summary of my feelings at the moment: The optics include some first rate and some just so-so. The Zeiss MTF curves are roughly accurate from what I can tell. The Leica M glass will only work well if the lenses are longer than 50mm. (I have not tested the new 50 f/2 ASPH, which appears to be a design specifically with digital in mind.) Kolarivision makes a thin sensor glass for M optics. I'd guess it's not quite as good as the real Leica cover glass. It's the (optical) thickness that is the main issue. The Sony OEM cover glass is thick; the Leica M is thin. The original Leica M lenses were obviously made for no cover glass, and *any* cover glass will reduce their performance. Thinner is better for the old glass, but we all know the price Leica paid for going with the thin glass. The lenses made for the Sony now incorporate the optical characteristics of the cover glass in their overall design. Thus, if you go to a thinner cover glass to use Leica M glass, you'll lose the quality of the Zeiss glass -- at least on the wide end. The astrophotography (extended red sensitivity equal to old Technical Pan film) cover glass I had put on my Sony a7r (older model for testing) wiped out my plans to use the outstanding Zeiss Loxia 21mm with the outfit. Contrary to my understanding at the time of purchase, it's a thin cover glass. So, while it wiped out the Zeiss Loxia 21mm, the Leica M wides that are un-usable on the OEM Sony were excellent at f/8 with the thin astro cover glass, but still not quite up to what they should be wider than f/8. The Leica WATE (a retro-focus, zoom design), which worked well with the OEM Sony (thick glass) worked even better with the thin astro glass.? (I assume the WATE was designed for film, i.e, no cover glass.) Still, I think the WATE limited the quality of my night shots, and I'm seriously thinking of giving Kolarivision's thicker astro glass a try to see if the Loxia f/2.8 performance I see with the OEM glass can be duplicated with the astro glass. (I like the astro glass spectral sensitivity better than the OEM for B&W, which is my main medium.) The bottom line is that if you make a switch to Sony, much of the best M glass will not work well, which is a real shame. The flip side is that if Zeiss continues to put out glass as good as the Loxia 21mm f/2.8 (manual focus), or their new (larger) AF models, the only advantages the M glass have are compactness (and the Loxia 21m is not too bad) and still an edge on quality of construction (but for a large price differential). I vastly prefer the "through the lens" viewing for what I do. On the other hand for the night shot now on my web page -- http://www.paulroark.com/ -- I used the Zeiss 18mm auxiliary 18mm finder because the scene was too dark to see with the Sony system. (The exposures were 30 sec. wide open). The Zeiss electronic links to the camera are a definite plus -- a number of advantages to the totally un-linked M glass used via the Voigtlander VM-E adapter (needed for setting the infinity stop accurately, then marking it, taping it or otherwise making sure it is not accidentally changed). The Sony AF has gotten very good with the a7rii. I don't like manual focusing with the AF lenses, however, as the "focus by wire" doesn't give an immediate response, nor does it have an accurate infinity stop. You do see, however, a focus scale that allows more accurate multi-point, hand held focusing than a MF lens. The infinity, however, is almost always at or just before the "left side" of the infinity symbol. Nothing is perfect, but for my landscape work the Sony is now, I believe, the leader. That said, if I were a good, traditional street shooter and that was my subject matter, I'd stay with the traditional Leica M rangefinder. Hope this is helpful. Paul On Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Tarek Charara <tcharara at mac.com> wrote: > The battery is quite small and lasts for about 350 pictures. I have a grip > that contains 2 batteries. They last about a day or so? > > All the best from Paris! > > Tarek > > ------------------------------------------------- > Tarek Charara > <http://www.tarekcharara.com> > > NO ARCHIVE > > > > > > Le 15 juil. 2016 ? 01:30, Leo Wesson <leowesson at gmail.com> a ?crit : > > > > How is the battery life? > > > > Leo Wesson > > leowesson.com > > > >> On Jul 14, 2016, at 18:22, Tarek Charara <tcharara at mac.com> wrote: > >> > >> Here is a file at iso 12800: > >> > >> < > http://tcharara.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Paris/G0000kOkRXmIpDC0/I0000zdovmXJwcVk/C0000TpwDqQCuSk4 > > > >> > >> All the best from Paris! > >> > >> Tarek > >> > >> ------------------------------------------------- > >> Tarek Charara > >> <http://www.tarekcharara.com> > >> > >> NO ARCHIVE > >> > >> > >> > >> > >>> Le 15 juil. 2016 ? 01:11, Tarek Charara <tcharara at mac.com> a ?crit : > >>> > >>> The files of the A7RII are much better at high ISO. I have never been > above 12800 ISO, but in any case the A7 cameras have a tendency to see > everything ? as bright as daylight ? so they jump to high ISO very fast. > The 12800 looks like 640 on a M8. Maybe even better? :) > >>> > >>> Tarek > >>> > >>>> Le 15 juil. 2016 ? 01:07, Leo Wesson <leowesson at gmail.com> a ?crit > >>>> : > >>>> > >>>> Hi Tarek, > >>>> > >>>> How is the look of the file at higher ISOs? > >>>> > >>>> Leo Wesson > >>>> leowesson.com > >>>> > >>>>> On Jul 14, 2016, at 17:47, Tarek Charara <tcharara at mac.com> wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>> Hello Leo, > >>>>> > >>>>> I have been using the Sony A7II since June 2015 and the Sony A7RII > since September. The images are great with huge files. The Sony/Zeiss > lenses are excellent, I use the 16-35, the 1.4/35 and the 2.8/90. All my > Leica M and R lenses work on both cameras, the A7RII seems to handle them > better than the A7II - specially the wide ones. The menues are a nightmare, > specially when you are used to a Leica UI? > >>>>> > >>>>> I haven?t touched any other digital camera since June 2015? > >>>>> > >>>>> Here are some picture galleries : > >>>>> > >>>>> A7RII > >>>>> <http://tcharara.photoshelter.com/gallery/Chantilly/G0000gFuPYIw8uDg > > > >>>>> > >>>>> and the Barcelona LUG meeting in 2015 (A7II): > >>>>> > >>>>> < > http://tcharara.photoshelter.com/gallery/LUG-meeting-Barcelona-2015/G0000oUM5i99MaPw/C0000OxD1rmztYfg > > > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> All the best from Paris! > >>>>> > >>>>> Tarek > >>>>> > >>>>> ------------------------------------------------- > >>>>> Tarek Charara > >>>>> <http://www.tarekcharara.com> > >>>>> > >>>>> NO ARCHIVE > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>> Le 15 juil. 2016 ? 00:23, Leo Wesson <leowesson at gmail.com> a > >>>>>> ?crit > : > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Hi all, > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Anyone using this camera? Comments? > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Leo Wesson > >>>>>> leowesson.com > >>>>>> > >>>>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>>>> Leica Users Group. > >>>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more > information > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>>> Leica Users Group. > >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >>>> > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> Leica Users Group. > >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >>> > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Leica Users Group. > >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Leica Users Group. > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >