What A7* recommended for Macro

[insectour]

Hi

 

Currently using A77 with Tamron 180mm macro lens
Mainly ( 95%) for Macro shooting

Consider to move to one of the A7* + the new 90mm lens
According experience only, what you are will recommended as the best body for Macro from all A7s options?

[bplet]

I don't do a lot of macro, but when I have played with it, I typically crop images in even tighter than what the lens can give me... If you do the same, clearly the A7R or A7Rii will be your best bet.  The ii will not only give you more resolution, but IBIS could also be very helpful.

 

The 90mm is a shockingly sharp piece of glass.  A bit slow to AF sometimes, but incredible detail

[makomadns4]

Just got the 90mm for my A7RII. As many have said, very sharp but slower AF than the other sony FE lenses. Low light it really struggled and i usually just switch to MF.

 

As for a body i would personally recommend the A7RII if you have the $ to spend. Had mine for a few weeks and it hasn't disappointed me yet. Next i would say the A7II and finally the A7S. These 3 all offer the silent shutter. The A7II would be good since it too has IBIS, double the MP of the A7S and is the lowest priced of the three. If you need really good low light performance of course that's the A7S's specialty. However for normal city night/indoor low light, unless i found a great deal on an A7S, i'd probably hold off on expanding my lens collection, bite the bullet and throw $800 more for the A7RII. The good low light, huge MP, internal 4K for me are all worth the extra $ vs the other 2 bodies and i'm rarely shooting in such a light less situation that i feel i'd need the A7S sensor. Finally the A7 and A7R are both great cameras but unless you are getting a great used deal on them, you are only saving a couple hundred over what the A7II can be bought for. Tweaks & new features such as the IBIS, better EVF, bigger grip, grip shutter button, extra custom button and a stronger mount on the mark 2 cameras are, for me, well worth it. With that 90mm lens, you will want most of those new features.

 

Best value: A7II, Best Camera: A7RII

[addicted2light]

As for a body i would personally recommend the A7RII if you have the $ to spend. Had mine for a few weeks and it hasn't disappointed me yet. Next i would say the A7II and finally the A7S. These 3 all offer the silent shutter.

 

Just a small note: the A7 II (unfortunately) does NOT offer a silent shutter, but only EFC. On a practical level, though, in terms of cutting down vibrations they should perform the same.

 

That being said, I use for macro work an A7r (first version) coupled with a 60mm Zeiss Contax Makro-Planar. If you, like I do, shoot from a tripod (or handheld but using flash as your main light source) the results are stunning in terms of detail, shutter slap notwithstanding.

 

On the other hand, should you want to use the camera hand-held in available light (i.e. no flash) than you will surely much better off with one of the A7* with IBIS (although I use sometimes the Contax-A7r combo even hand-held with good results it is not easy or ideal to do so).

[seb]

macro: you shoot on a tripod, MF, lower ISOs, with flashes on higher shutterspeeds?

 

I would go for the A7R. High MP, great DR, all the great basics of the A series included. Good price.

The advantages of the A7RII to the A7R are non existant under this circumstances. Will be left the 42 (7952 x 5304) vs. 36 (7360 x 4912) MP. And that's not worth the price difference.

A7S has too few MP and high ISO is not the solution in macro.

A7 shines over the A7R in speed and AF. Both not needed in macro and looses on the MP side (which is important in macro)

A7II same as A7 and A7RII arguments.

 

If the other 5% of your shots are your childrens or your wife, you may consider the A7RII.

 

Best value: A7R, Best Camera: A7RII

[insectour]

While waiting for more comments here some more information based on my current equipments (A77, Tamron 180mm, Sony Twin flash)

1. Most of my Macro photography is handheld with flash as main light source.
2. Most of the time I do photography in the field with active arthropods in hot hours or at night.
3. I'm using MF (with peaking) and AF (Center) depending on the situation and the dynamic of the scenes and the size of the objects
4. Typical ISO range 250-400 depend the light condition

you can see some of the photos in my website FB page

https://www.facebook.com/insectour.world/photos_stream


Tks for all the comments and your time

Amir
 

[Golem]

It seems you don't need new gear.

 

You haven't mentioned a shortcoming

of your current gear that could be

solved by newer gear.

 

You can increase your MP, plus gain

1/3EV speed/DOF [b'bye semi-mirror]

with new gear, even if you have no

complaints about your current gear.

 

`

[Gilgenberg]

I have the Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro a-mount lens and ILCE-7 + LAEA-2.

 

The LAEA-2 i still have from my NEX-7 times has a little vignetting on FF but very fast and precise AF, and the OSS works great! Good for handheld portrait shooting.

 

I don´t think i need something better than this.

 

If you are happy with your Tamron than buy a LAEA-4 Lensadapter and Sony A7  (cheap and very good) or A7II..(IBIS) if  24MP is good for you (for me it has plenty resolution).

 

I would not go for the A7R because of the shutter sound/vibration problems. 

[insectour]

To be even more clear

The camera and the lens are in the end of the life.
No point to fix them as it too expensive and complicated in Israel.
Already fixed A77 in USA (too long and expensive).

Since Sony equipment is expensive in Israel and limited (bad service)
I'll be in the USA in December and this is good opportunity to buy a new set for macro.

Plus, the current set is too heavy (back problems), so this opportunity to reduce weight.

 

Tks
Amir

[BobMc]

The 77II is a good camera for macro, it adds magnification in the APS-C crop factor.  Lots of megapixels gives you crop space, but unless you are printing quite LARGE, 20mp is plenty.  If you were keeping the lens I would just get a new a77II.  If you are getting a new lens, with your concern for weight, the A6000 would be ideal.  With the flash, the 5-Axis SteadyShot is of limited help.  If you want to improve your images, try using a tripod (yes,a lot of work) and image stack to increase depth of field. 

 

 

 

Image hand held with ring flash