michelb

Read the manual on LA-EA adapters: It mentions clearly that the use of A-Mount teleconverters will not work. Some have had some unpredictable success with other brand A-Mount teleconverters (Kenco Tamron for a few) but there is no assurance they will work either.

Show your adapter ( top and bottom) What flash model were you using ?

Apparently the new Macs have issues with USB2 connections. To help, you need to connect USB2 accessories through a USB2 Hub. Iha numerous issues until i tried that and it worked Why don't you just insert the memory card in the computer SD slot ?

The 2 Sigma's mentioned are for APS-C format, so on A7r you will either get the Auto cropping to APS-C with much lower resolution or you will have huge vignetting

1) No need to put the body in WL mode since you are using manual triggers (unless Alien Bees makes a TTL trigger for Sony that i don't know about). It could actually be a cause for failure since there was no exchange of info between trigger and body and in WL mode, the body will expect an answer from a flash with the proper connectors and if it does not get the answer it is looking for (or no answer as would be the case with manual triggers), there could be no triggering of the flash at all 2) The Sony MIS shoe ( it's official name) is different in that it has contacts at the front of the shoe on your camera body. Sometimes these connectors prevent the flash foot (or trigger foot) from making a connection with the the central contact on the body. Sometimes you need to push as much as you can within reasonable force to ensure the central contact gets proper alignment which is not always easy to establish. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as standard shoe anymore ( Nikon shoe is shorter than Canon and Sony with these front connectors are a pain to use with some standard triggers) and this is often cause of erratic behavior of flash when adapting or using manual flashes from different manufacturers

When french magazine Chasseur d'Images tested this lens a while ago ( just after its introduction) , they noticed this weird behaviour and were supposed to follow-up on it but i never saw an update.

No you need MD to NEX adapter. It should be less expensive since it won't have the aperture closing mechanism on the adapter

On ALL Sony mirrorless cameras there is no more red AF assist lamp that operates like on previous generations DSLR's or film SLR's. These actually emitted a pattern of lines that the AF sensors in the cameras recognized but the newer AF systems with AF measured by the image sensor can not use these patterns The newer Sony HVL-F45RM however uses the video LED light and this can be programmed to be used as AF assist ( probably also the newer HVL-F60RM) but is is so obtrusive (lighting for about 2 seconds at full power) , i put it in the OFF position after 2 shots. i almost forgot it existed.

The Skyport has a standard hot shoe connection. It should work directly on your camera's hot shoe. If it does not, you may have to either push the skyport a little further ahead due to the resistance caused by the numerous connectors in the camera shoe and if this does not work, you may need to shave off a little portion of the plastic on the front portion of the Skyport

Is your flash setting set to WL ? If so, the camera/flash combo is only sending WL commands but is not contributing to the flash exposure

If in bright sunlight, at ISO 50 at F2.8 using the sunny 16 rule would meter at 1/1600sec at F2.8 if my evaluation is correct. if so, you were underexposing by about 2 stops. Sunny 16 rule in bright sunlight: shutter speed at F16 should be 1/ISO 1/50 sec at F16 1/100 sec at F11 1/200 sec at F8 1/400 sec at F5.6 1/800 sec at F4 1/1600 sec at F2.8 Is your exposure correction set to -2 ? (likely if my above calculation is right) and easy to change by accident without noticing on the camera. If not, then your meter was maybe fooled by the bright sky and water on the left causing the underexposure. Meters often get fooled in such bright conditions. Check your EXIF for such correction.We can not see the EXIF on the pic you posted. What you see in the finder is a processed jpg so the pictures there are corrected in camera without your intervention. DRO Auto is probably what is giving you this result in the finder, correcting for the underexposure. DRO should only work on jpg but jpg is what you are seeing in the finder.

Do you have Red-eye setting on ?

Time to learn to use your hand to shade the shade ! Here picture with Minolta MD 20mm F 2.8 with the sun out of the picture on the top side and here using my left hand to cover some of the light coming from the sun (not easy with a 20mm lens without placing my hand in the picture). There is still some flare but a lot less stray light.

The adapter mentioned is for use on a mirrorless camera like Sony A7

All Minolta AF lenses will work wether they are branded Maxxum AF or simply AF. Yes the 70-210 F4 beercan will work