Long Reach lenses and adapters on Sony A7R M2

[gclevy]

I recently purchased the Sony 70-400 mm G2 lens for my A7R M2 camera body.  I use the LAEA3 A to E adapter so that I can use A mount lenses.  The Sony 70-400 mm lens performs extremely well across all focal lengths, with a bit of softening wide open at 70 mm and a very small loss of detail wide open at other focal lengths. f8-f14 is great at all focal lengths.  I mounted an inexpensive Kenko AF 1.4x teleconverter and performed two tests.  In both tests the center of the frame was soft, but the corners were sharp (I used center weighted AF in the second test!). I SAW VERY LITTLE OR NO PRACTICAL FALL OFF IN PERFORMANCE AT THE CORNERS WITH THE 70-400MM G2 LENS  WITH  OR WITHOUT THE TC. Of course the soft center with the TC was a bit disappointing but it was still a pretty good performer at intermediate f stops, f9-f14.   Autofocus worked even with the TC.  These tests are the Brick Wall method and thus somewhat subjective; all shots RAW, tripod mounted and ir remote shutter.

 

i will receive the Sony 2X converter this week and do similar tests and add to this writeup. I also plan to shoot a resolution target for a more formal result, at least at 70 and 400 mm ends of the lens range and finally I will compare these results against my heavier Sigma 150-500 mm lens with and without Sigma EX OS 2X TC.  

[Michael_j]

Do you get autofocus?

[Aonko]

Autofocus worked even with the TC.

 

Seems that he did.

[gclevy]

Yes, I did get autofocus with the Kenko 1.4TC; sometimes poor but often a-ok.   When the Sony 1.4X TC arrived (not 2x as I indicated in the original post) I tried in on the Sony 70-400 lens and as reported by others, it does not work in the sense that the camera indicates no lens is attached.  You can shoot manual but the Kenko is preferable for this lens.

 

I also tested the three configurations using a resolution target. Both the SONY 1.4x and the Kenko 1.4x TC's when shot raw with no adjustments, soften resolution somewhat and also lower contrast and add some chromatic dispersion. Both TC's are useable however, even though no lens feedback is visible on the camera with the Sony 1.4x TC.  Of course, no AF is available with the SONY TC.  I think I remember focus peaking being active however during manual focus.

[gclevy]

Some new results.  Bought the Tamron regular ($164) 70-300 mm lens to complement my SONY G2 70-400 when I have to walk a long way--the Tamron is very light weight. The Tamron performed much better than I expected in terms of detail and lines of resolution. but it is of course softer than the expensive and 4X weight Sony G2 lens, and shows increased color fringing. The TAMRON lens performs very well at 420 mm using my KENKO 1.4TC and autofocus is excellent on that combination, at least for simple shots.  Overall the TAMRON gives up 2 units of resolution on a resolution target. The Sony G2 70-400 resolves 24-26 lines on a 18 inch printed target whereas the TAMRON Kenko combo does about 22-23 lines.  ALL shots Sony A7RM2, Sony LAE3 adapter, 100 ISO, tripod and remote shutter, IBIS turned off, tested at f8 and f11. Macro mode on TAMRON works well although photos do not compare with those from my Sony 90 mm FE Macro lens.

[sketch2099]

Thanks for posting your test results gclevy. Please continue to do so.

 

I'm looking for long lens solutions, as my sigma 150-600 canon mount with adapter is abysmal for autofocus.

[mtman]

sketch, which adapter are you using with the Sigma? I tried it with the Fotodiox on my NEX-7 before I received my A7RII and it didn't communicate with the camera at all.

[sketch2099]

Commlite

[sketch2099]

just tried the fotodiox

 

definitely way better results than the commlite, but damn this fotodiox adapter makes the camera buggy

[Aonko]

I have tried both and I prefer the Commlite, it just works better with the lenses I have. There are some in my collection that don't work on the fotodiox, like some old Sigma lenses and the 50mm 1.8. Both need some flocking added as there is quite a bit of light flare, when near a light source.