Looking to move to Sony A7...need some thoughts/advice/opinions

[Nick]

First post!

 

I have a Samsung NX500 with 16mm and a 30mm prime lenses, and was wanting an 85mm and the 50-200mm zoom.  I am considering ditching the Samsung system due to many rumors of Samsung killing off their camera department.  I'd like to sell this stuff while I can still get money out of it.

 

Replacement...I was thinking of a Sony A7.  My total budget is 2k, including lenses.  I'm going for bang for the buck here.  I tend to like prime lenses more, and primarily shoot landscapes.  I'd like to get into wedding video a little more.  I know the A7 isn't a powerhouse with video, but I cannot afford the A7S or anything.  The 60fps in 1080p should work for me.  Video is a secondary function for me, primarily landscape stills as well as a few portraits are my uses.

 

Here is what I've got in my Amazon cart.  Feel free to critique & offer suggestions either on the camera or the lenses

 

Camera:

 

Sony A7 body only

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FRDUZXM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_5&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Lenses

Opteka 6.5mm Fisheye

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SYY1ZEO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_4&smid=A1P9QRDRYY6FXL

 

Rokinon 85mm

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HAF1WZA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_3&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Sony 16mm prime

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NRHAH8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Sony 55-210 International version

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I0O7VXC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_1&smid=A1RI7MGRG1T6FV

 

 

Comes to $1975

[Guest all8]

many of those lenses are APS-C and it makes little sense to use them on an A7, perhaps this lens is more suitable

 

http://www.sony.com/electronics/camera-lenses/sel24240

 

http://www.sony.com/electronics/lenses/t/camera-lenses?cameramount=e-mount&sensor-lens=35mm-full-frame

[Gilgenberg]

timde is right !

 

if you go for the A7 you should not go for APS-C lenses, better then to go with A6000 and Sony E50mm F1.8, Sigma E30mm 2.8, Sigma E19mm 2.8 or Sony E20mm 2.8 (pancake)

 

For A7

 

the Kitlens is quite good FE 28-70.... i like it very much on the short end, on the long end the micro contrast could be a little bit better but it is o.k

 

it has OSS and is very versatile, light and very cheap ...you can get a used one for 200

 

i would go for a good 50mm lens

 

best would be  the FE sonnar 55mm

 

but if you are o.k with manual focus you can also go for the the Loxia 50mm ...but they are very expensive! but also very good!

 

cheaper?

.... a very good legacy lens like Minolta MC 50mm 1.4 PG, Minolta MC 58mm 1.4, or Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4, or Canon FD 50mm 1.8, or Minolta MD 50mm 1.4....+ Adapter you pay between 40 and 100

 

there are lots of great very cheap legacy lenses out there and they are amazing!

 

very good but heavy and expensive Minolta MC 58mm F1.2

 

landscape maybe Minolta MD II 28mm F2.8 or Cannon 24mm STM with AF adapter

 

 

the rokinon 85 is great but build quality is not so good,

 

great for portrait  is also Leica Summicron  R90mm F2 or

Mamiya Sekkor C80mm F2.8 medium format lens (but you need 2 adapter Mamiya to EOS, EOS to M-mount)

Minolta MC 85mm 1.7 PF

 

all manual focus

 

if you need AF in the Portrait range the Sony A-mount lens 85mm 2.8 with LA-EA 4 Adapter is great (fast AF) very small very light great IQ

 

the A-mount AF range with LA-EA4 is very interesting!

[fermin]

I'd also consider the Sony 28mm, it's a little bit wider for landscapes. Then there's also Samyang, for example a 14mm prime. Don't worry too much if a lens is manual only - landscapes tend to hold still, and manual focusing works great with A7 cameras.

 

 

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[Snowfun]

I would be very tempted to look at the A6000 plus Samyang MF lenses as a starting point. Gain experience with your editor and basic grading and you can produce super shorts (see "Imagination" in the video section here). Apologies if that's pitched at an inappropriate level (you might already have heaps of such experience!).

Feel free to convince yourself that the full frame A7 is really what you need/want! Sometimes it is useful to know why you don't want a particular camera rather than why you do want a different one.

Tim

 

I see Samyang have officially discontinued the NX1 in Europe.

[Nick]

All, 

 

Thanks for the replies.  Shortly after posting this thread I realized that these lenses weren't the full-frame lenses that I'd be looking for.  Doh!

 

Questions:

 

Is the Rokinon 85mm E mount a full frame lens or not?  

 

I'm ok with a manual prime wide angle lens, but often times it's very difficult to shoot the landscapes that I do.  I have only seconds to take a glove off and grab a shot before my hand freezes, haha

 

 

 

 

^ Just one example

 

 

So Its looking like a 2k budget simply isn't enough to get the A7 with a couple of good lenses :/

[Gilgenberg]

nice shot!

 

the Rokinon 85mm covers Full Frame

 

 

 

and

 

manual focus is often faster than AF

 

if you found the right focuspoint there is no need to refocus...just "KLICK"

 

no...... bss bss bsss "KLICK"

 

most manual lenses have infinity stop, so there is no need to focus anyway if you make shot´s like the mountain shot..... if they are good adjusted

 

with manual legacy lenses + rokinon 85mm it is easy to be under 2K

 

look for minolta MC/MD they are outstanding in IQ....... IMO

 

most legacy glass has also the advantage that you do not need to edit the distortion afterwards if you shoot with RAW, because they mostly have no distortion at all

 

and some of them are so beautiful made.......gems....a real aperture ring so you see direct the impact to the image ! and nice reliable direct focus...no focus by wire

 

i payed for my wonderful MD 28mm .....13€.......!

[Guest all8]

 

So Its looking like a 2k budget simply isn't enough to get the A7 with a couple of good lenses :/

 

No, but for 3k you could get an A7 and a Batis 85, which might be interesting as they are designed for that kind of photography, and perhaps stretch to a 15mm Vöigtlander (v3) which is apparently very good too.

[Nick]

nice shot!

 

the Rokinon 85mm covers Full Frame

 

 

 

and

 

manual focus is often faster than AF

 

if you found the right focuspoint there is no need to refocus...just "KLICK"

 

no...... bss bss bsss "KLICK"

 

most manual lenses have infinity stop, so there is no need to focus anyway if you make shot´s like the mountain shot..... if they are good adjusted

 

with manual legacy lenses + rokinon 85mm it is easy to be under 2K

 

look for minolta MC/MD they are outstanding in IQ....... IMO

 

most legacy glass has also the advantage that you do not need to edit the distortion afterwards if you shoot with RAW, because they mostly have no distortion at all

 

and some of them are so beautiful made.......gems....a real aperture ring so you see direct the impact to the image ! and nice reliable direct focus...no focus by wire

 

i payed for my wonderful MD 28mm .....13€.......!

 

 

Thanks for the info...I'm a manual focus noob but willing to learn it

 

http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-Ultra-Angle-E-Mount-RK12M-E/dp/B00JD4TAWI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447473970&sr=8-2&keywords=e+mount+12mm

 

Does that work with full frame E mount?  I only ask because it reads:  "Optimized for excellent optical quality and true ultra-wide 110 degree edge to edge coverage with APS-C sensor digital cameras"  

 

If that lens along with the rokinon lens cover full frame and it wont be cropped or anything like non full-frame E mount lenses then I might just get this yet.  I found good used A7's on Amazon between 1k and 1100 with the 28-70 kit lens.  If I can grab a good used camera at that price and pick up these primes as well I could come under budget.  I'd be lacking a quality zoom lens, but I'm not too concerned about that.

 

Thoughts?  

[Nick]

Based on my research it looks like that 12mm is not for full frame.  Sigh.  Not a lot of good options for wide angle lenses for this lens family...  

[Guest all8]

What is the field of view of the 12mm APSC against the field of view for the 15mm Voigtländer (v3) FF?

 

110° vs 110° AFAICS ... there you go.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1132488-REG/voigtlander_ba213m_heliar_15mm_for_4_5.html

[felixkh]

For the A7, get the FE28/2 and the FE55/1.8, both of which are full frame lenses. I bought a 2nd hand A7R and am using adapted Pentax lenses to play with.

[FDP]

I'm going to come off like a bit of a d*ck here, but ditch the Opteka, Rokinon and those Sony lenses. The Sony 16-35 is supposed to be great and I would highly recommend used Contax lenses with an adapter (50 1.4 is cheap and fantastic and the 85 1.4 is outstanding for portaits). The other option is used Contax G glass with an adapter (45 is supposed to be great, 90 as well). All of this covers FF, all of these lenses are fantastic. 

 

Another good option for landscape is the Voigtlander 15mm: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1132488&gclid=CNrQsdL5lckCFdc2gQodBNcMQg&is=REG&m=Y&Q=&A=details, this would need an adapter (although I think there is an E mount version on the horizon - maybe). 

 

The A7 is a wonderful camera, but shoot FF to get the most out of the sensor. It isn't great for video, so don't build your system around APS-C lenses!

 

Sony really only makes two lenses that I hear people rave about, the aforementioned zoom, and the 90mm Macro. Otherwise wait for improvements to the system lenses and buy Zeiss. With Alpha mirrorless you can put almost any lens on your camera - which is a great opportunity. Look beyond the Sony glass!

[Nick]

I'm going to come off like a bit of a d*ck here, but ditch the Opteka, Rokinon and those Sony lenses. The Sony 16-35 is supposed to be great and I would highly recommend used Contax lenses with an adapter (50 1.4 is cheap and fantastic and the 85 1.4 is outstanding for portaits). The other option is used Contax G glass with an adapter (45 is supposed to be great, 90 as well). All of this covers FF, all of these lenses are fantastic. 

 

Another good option for landscape is the Voigtlander 15mm: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1132488&gclid=CNrQsdL5lckCFdc2gQodBNcMQg&is=REG&m=Y&Q=&A=details, this would need an adapter (although I think there is an E mount version on the horizon - maybe). 

 

The A7 is a wonderful camera, but shoot FF to get the most out of the sensor. It isn't great for video, so don't build your system around APS-C lenses!

 

Sony really only makes two lenses that I hear people rave about, the aforementioned zoom, and the 90mm Macro. Otherwise wait for improvements to the system lenses and buy Zeiss. With Alpha mirrorless you can put almost any lens on your camera - which is a great opportunity. Look beyond the Sony glass!

 

Yeah, the glass in the OP was discussed in the previous posts.  

[Steve C]

Buy M/F SLR lenses and a used A7 body. Konica Hexanon AR lenses are good. But Olympus,Pentax SMC and Minolta along with the other, larger marques are excellent performers. Disregard the aged at your peril!

The 16-35 is apparently not up to much at the longer end I read.

[Nick]

Thanks all for the thoughts.  I'm currently considering two different options

 

1)  Used A7 + 28-70 lens (1050)

+  Rokinon 85mm http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HAF1WZA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_3&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

+ Rokinon 14mm http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HAF167Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_4&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

This body + 3 lenses comes to about $1650

 

 

2)  Used A7R for $1100, used 28-70 for $220, plus the two rokinon lenses listed above.  

 

This combo comes to roughly $1915

 

 

Thoughts on either of these two setups? 

[FDP]

Nick - not sure what you mean "the glass was discussed". Just speaking from almost two decades of experience, I would never buy those lenses. The 28-70 is notably terrible, and the Rokinon lenses are really much better suited to video (and even then, something that you would want to move on from after learning more). Best piece of advice I can give is buy for the glass, not for the camera. If you select your lenses carefully they will outlast the body many times over.

[Nick]

Nick - not sure what you mean "the glass was discussed". Just speaking from almost two decades of experience, I would never buy those lenses. The 28-70 is notably terrible, and the Rokinon lenses are really much better suited to video (and even then, something that you would want to move on from after learning more). Best piece of advice I can give is buy for the glass, not for the camera. If you select your lenses carefully they will outlast the body many times over.

 

Perhaps I'm reading the wrong reviews, but from what I can gather those 2 rokinon lenses are quite good, especially considering the price.  Especially for landscapes, I see nothing anywhere near the bang for the buck of that rokinon.  Am I missing something here?

[Guest all8]

Do you have any particular photographic goals? Other than to sell your Samsung thing and buy an A7x. I just wonder if you might get better value with an A6000 and some good APS-C lenses. The full frame stuff is not really a good value proposition ...

 

 

But how about this;

 

A second hand A7, an 85mm Rokinon and a new 25mm Batis. Then, sometime in the future when you might have another few K you could upgrade to an A7R2 and still benefit from the same lenses.

 

To me there is little point in spending 10:1 on camera over lenses ... and then hiking up the side of a mountain to take photos.