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Big difference between A7 and A6000 in IQ ?


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Hi everyone,

 

There's a great offer from one person at work on his A7 (700€ used, with only a minor scratch on the screen). It makes me lust after FF again. However, I'm just wondering whether I would see a big enough improvement in IQ to be able to say : "Wow ! That, I couldn't have done it with my A6000 !". I'm currently shooting with a Zeiss 24 and an A6000.

 

I've seen this post from a blog on the web : http://www.verybiglobo.com/sony-alpha-a7-ilce-7-and-sony-alpha-a7r-ilce-7r-vs-rest-of-the-world-part-6-sony-alfa-a7-vs-sony-nex-7/

 

Do you have the impression that it is that close to a 24MP sensor ? 

 

If I were to buy the A7, I'd use it with a 90f2.8 and a 28f2.0. Would these primes really make a difference on FF sensor ?

 

Thanks to all for your replies !

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...... I expect the difference would be hard to find.

Same here. I currently use all the cameras in

Austerror's post. I do think he's a bit hard on

the Nex-7, but there IS a very noticeable IQ

difference between my Nex-7 and my a6000.

 

OTOH the difference between my a6000 and

a7mII is much less distinct. If I didn't have all

these old FF lenses on hand, that difference

would be too little to justify the size and the

expense of acquiring FF.

 

OTOOH, a mark-II FF Sony is the only way to

add IBIS to all my old lenses. THAT absolutely

justifies it [for me]. It's not about sensor size. I

was happy using a focal reducer to put my old

FF lenses on my APSC bodies. But to add IBIS

while also eliminating the focal reducer is, for

me, a two-fer, and so unquestionably worth it.

 

IOW if Sony had added IBIS to the APSC line,

I doubt I woulda be using a mark-II FF body.

 

OTOOOH I'm no IQ geek. Small differences, to

me, are small differences. To others, the same

small differences loom large. Go figger.

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The Nex-7 is a brilliant camera.  But, I am a little harsh on the high ISO performance.  A near perfect camera...considering when it was designed.

 

I use my A99 for most tasks these days. I have a bunch of Minolta A-mount lenses from my old 5D.  Anyway, the metering of the A99 is by far superior to the Nex-7.  This I find has a huge impact on photo results.  So it might be worth investigating if there is a significant metering performance difference between the A6000 and the A7.

 

 

Same here. I currently use all the cameras in
Austerror's post. I do think he's a bit hard on
the Nex-7, but there IS a very noticeable IQ
difference between my Nex-7 and my a6000.
 

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Just some insight. I have the A99 and the A77II. I have tested both cameras at 200mm or the 200mm equivalent on the A77II with the Sony 70 to 200 2.8 SSM II lens. Without exception the A99 shots are all sharper. I have done this with the 24 to 70 also with the same results. So I would have to say FF lens are not optimum on APS sized sensors as far as sharpness or clarity goes. Of course the light falloff in the corners works in favor of the smaller sensor but this can easily be corrected in camera or post.

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Getting back on the OP original subject... A6000 vs A7.

My view is somewhat skewed as I have the A6000 and A7ii.

From most reviews the IQ should be similar between the A7 and A7ii, not counting the IBIS naturally.

 

For good light and with little need for a shallow depth of field I grab the A6000. Bonus: Low weight, less afraid to break it.

For low light, geeking around, shallow depth of field, I grab my A7ii. Works amaaaazingly with the 28f2 in low-light social gatherings, etc.

Actually I started using my A7ii way more since I got the 28f2. :)

 

My point of view: If you´d like an A7 for those situations where IBIS doesen´t matter much anyway, by all means go for it.

If not, stick to the A6000 and see what new cameras come out. Those €700 could be put towards a new new toy with all the features.

Or just the current cameras, discounted when the A7iii etc. are announced. :)

 

/Allan

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I just noticed that you are using the 24mm Zeiss.  That is an excellent lens.  Like, super duper excellent.

 

So in terms of image quality and such, it will be difficult to beat.

 

Image quality aside, full frame has other benefits.  28mm on full frame is rather wide. Going wide on FF is much easier. Of course, FF is larger and heavier.

 

 

Hi everyone,

 

There's a great offer from one person at work on his A7 (700€ used, with only a minor scratch on the screen). It makes me lust after FF again. However, I'm just wondering whether I would see a big enough improvement in IQ to be able to say : "Wow ! That, I couldn't have done it with my A6000 !". I'm currently shooting with a Zeiss 24 and an A6000.

 

I've seen this post from a blog on the web : http://www.verybiglobo.com/sony-alpha-a7-ilce-7-and-sony-alpha-a7r-ilce-7r-vs-rest-of-the-world-part-6-sony-alfa-a7-vs-sony-nex-7/

 

Do you have the impression that it is that close to a 24MP sensor ? 

 

If I were to buy the A7, I'd use it with a 90f2.8 and a 28f2.0. Would these primes really make a difference on FF sensor ?

 

Thanks to all for your replies !

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a6000 has a low light ISO of 1347

A7 has a low light ISO of 2248

taken from http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-A7-II-versus-Sony-A6000-versus-Sony-A7___996_942_916

This means that below ISO 1347, the a6000 camera doesn't need to apply any noise reduction to the raw image to get a clean final image.

Also, it means that A7 can use an ISO of 2248 and still get a clean image while a6000 is applying noise (and detail) reduction at 2248.

 

You can take a look here to see the differences in low light photos:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr18=lowlight&attr13_0=sony_a6000&attr13_1=sony_a7&attr15_0=jpeg&attr15_1=jpeg&attr16_0=3200&attr16_1=3200&normalization=full&widget=99&x=-0.5215880610617454&y=-0.7617629216821468

To my eye, a6000 has to use ISO 800 to get the same clean image as A7 does at ISO 3200 which means a 4 times longer exposure on a6000 to get the same clean image.

But still, ISO 3200 looks pretty good on a6000 too.

 

If the light in which you routinely shoot yields ISOs of 3200 on your a6000, an A7 will get you better details in your pictures.

 

Also, please note that the Zeiss APS-C 24mm f/1.8 is equivalent to a Full Frame 36mm f/2.7 (1.8 * 1.5 crop factor = 2.7).

If you have a Full Frame f/2.0 lens, that will get you approximately 2x faster exposures than the APS-C f/1.8 for the same picture (including the amount of background blur).

Full Frame f/2.0 is equivalent to a f/1.33 APS-C lens (1.33 * 1.5 crop factor = 2.0).

View this video from Tony Northrop on why this happens

 

So you will get better pictures from an A7 when compared to a6000 (at ISOs above 1600).

This is true for any Full Frame camera versus any APS-C camera. The worst Full Frame camera has a better low light ISO than the best APS-C camera.

 

But, between A7 and a6000, you will lose the built-in flash, which comes in handy sometimes.

 

I personally use the same a6000 + Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 combo (for a total of 600 grams that I can carry always with me) and I get pictures that look good enough.

 

You could try out that A7 camera and see if for you it's worth the change.

I would appreciate if you report back your findings. Thank you.

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A7 handles much nicer then the smaller A6000 - at least for me :-)

 

28mm is quite wider then 35mm FoV, but I bet you already know :-) The 90mm Macro works well on APS-C also if you need more reach.

 

I often use a set of 35/2.8 und 90/2.8 on A7s - works perfect for me. But it's WAY bulkier as A6000+24+50, mainly cause of the macro.

But I also use manual lenses, so APS-C is not really an option.

 

But after all - it's all about the lenses. So get the lenses you like to use and then have a look after a fitting body.

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Hi everyone ! Thanks a lot for all your answers. They've been pretty useful, and I've finally decided to back up from the idea of buying an A7.

 

I'll follow Bindegal's advice, and keep this money to build a good set of lenses before going FF, in a year or so I guess. Therefore, I'll have better lenses on my A6000, and when I move to FF, I'll be able to invest in a body that I like (IBIS loos a lot more compelling than FF) and I'll already have all the lenses I'll want for it :)

 

Regarding the FE90 on the A6000 : I can confirm it's a hell of a match. I've never used a sharper lens on my A6000. As for the Zeiss 24, well, yes, it's a superb lens, and I love it so much that I always fear I might miss it were I to move to FF.

 

Anyway, thank you very much for having helped me make a decision !

 

PS : Thanks for your answer, Mihai M. However, I think you make a confusion about the aperture equivalence between APS-C and FF : only the DOF changes, but the brightness is the same. Therefore, if you want to equalise DOF, APS-C will generally have a brighter picture, and require lower ISO (or shutter speed) to equalise exposure. This can actually be an advantage.

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............. Thanks for your answer, Mihai M. However, I think you

make a confusion about the aperture equivalence between APS-C

and FF : only the DOF changes, but the brightness is the same.

Therefore, if you want to equalise DOF, APS-C will generally have

a brighter picture, and require lower ISO (or shutter speed) to

equalise exposure. This can actually be an advantage.

I bleeb you meant a HIGHER shutter speed ? Which certainly

ranks as an advantage, IQ-wise and noise-wise ... and it also

make sense exposure-wise if DOF is to remain constant-wise.

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