Jump to content

A good portrait lens? Shutter vibration?

SonyA7R

By SonyA7R,
in Sony Alpha Full Frame Lenses

 Share

Recommended Posts

SonyA7R Rookie

SonyA7R

Posted
Posted

So, I took my Sony A7 back for the Sony A7R. I liked the look of the images better. I loved all the megapixels and how I could crop without loss of quality. However, I've had it since it first came out and still can't take photo jobs, because I can't really do portraits. 

 

I have the Sony 55mm 1.8 Zeiss FE. This is a great lens. I love it and would use it on portraits. However, if you look at a 55mm portrait next to a 135 portrait, you'll see what I mean. The background becomes compressed and it just looks much better to me. 

 

I feel like Sony is leaving me with no options except to go with the Canon 135 or something with a metabones adapter. Or going with a Sony A mount 135 because their adapter seems to have better auto focus. 

 

However, even if I do that, I'm left with the problem of shutter vibration, which I've read about with the Sony A7R. How can I midget that? 

 

I do shoot at fast shut speeds, I hear it happens at lower shutter speeds than I usually shoot at. What are other options? Or should I stick to something under 90mm for a portrait lens until the Sony A7Rii comes out with this issue fixed hopefully?

Link to post
Share on other sites
SonyA7R Rookie

SonyA7R

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yes, I am waiting for the 90mm lens to see how it does. It's not a Zeiss and I am new to Sony. It is a G series. The G means it's better than the regular Sony lenses correct? I would rather get an FE lens than get an adapter and get something else. But if the 90mm isn't really all that sharp, it's gonna suck knowing I went from having a tact sharp 100mm L series prime to something not as close. When I zoom in, I see how big of a difference the lenses truly make.

 

The Zeiss Lens on my Sony RX-100 is one of the best lenses I've ever used. I put an ND filter on it and the video looks amazing. It has a 1 inch sensor and you can't tell the difference in that and the A7R for most shots. The 55mm Zeiss 1.8 I have on the A7R is the same way. I just can't get enough compression in the background. I don't imagine using APS-C mode, making it an 88mm would make it have more compression. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest all8

Guest all8

Posted
Posted

The "G" lenses are very high performers, and work perfectly with the A7 series. I look forward to some reviews of this 90mm, partly because it has macro capability that might be very interesting.

Link to post
Share on other sites
addicted2light Experienced

addicted2light

Posted
Posted

I second the 90/4 M-Rokkor, it is scary sharp from full aperture on the A7r and it has a slightly shallower depth of field that you would normally associate with an f/4 lens.

 

If yours are "posed" portraits (i.e. not street scenes) I'd forego autofocus altogether. Especially with such amount of megapixels every tiny mishap in focusing shows pretty fast (for example the camera af decides to focus on an eyelash instead of the eye proper).

 

And at that point there are loads of mf 135mm you can use, all more than plenty sharp for portrait use. The differences will be mostly in the way they render the scene and, obviously, in their maximum aperture. And by the way, if you've got the room you could also consider a 180 f/2.8 or f/4 given that you like the compression effect.

 

BTW, on my tripod (I use a pretty beefy Arca B1 head made for large format cameras) I've seen shutter induced vibration only when mounting the camera to the lens (so using a lens tripod foot) and at 300mm and up. Mounting the camera onto the tripod generated no troubles at all even at 300mm.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Steve C Enthusiast

Steve C

Posted
Posted

Does it have to be 135mm? A couple of nice (but heavy) are the Canon FD 85mm 1.2 or the Leitz Summicron 90mm. Another 135mm I've used is the Konica f3.2, it's got pretty good performance all through and cheap. The FD 135mm f2 is nice too but also weighty.

I own all these but don't have a great deal of examples taken with them to demonstrate their attributes.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Vivek Collaborator

Vivek

Posted
Posted

Hello from Germany!

 

Ever thought about the Minolta MD 2.0 / 85mm? A dream lens with adapter for FF alphas.

 

You can bid on my auction on Ebay it now. Link:

 

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Fotografie-Objektive-Hersteller-Minolta-Objektiv-MD-2-0-85-mm-OVP-/261834404433?

 

Unfortunately i don´t no where you live. I could ship outside Europe too.

 

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

If it is a "dream lens" why sell it? :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Actually, you are just following what Andrea does (e.g.

 

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/shoot-for-cheap-70e-minolta-55mm-mc-macro-rokkor-qf-3-5-on-the-a7ii/

 

 

It is my mistake to be posting any images in this dump. :(

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Mark Galer Enthusiast

Mark Galer

Posted
Posted

You can see some portraits captured with the 90mm Macro in my Flickr gallery - https://www.flickr.com/photos/markgaler/sets/72157651411628149/with/16452470284/

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites
Jan Anne Contributor

Jan Anne

Posted
Posted

However, even if I do that, I'm left with the problem of shutter vibration, which I've read about with the Sony A7R. How can I midget that? 

 

I do shoot at fast shut speeds, I hear it happens at lower shutter speeds than I usually shoot at. What are other options? Or should I stick to something under 90mm for a portrait lens until the Sony A7Rii comes out with this issue fixed hopefully?

The shutter vibration issue of the a7R has nothing to do with the focal length of the lens but with the mechanical movement of the shutter inside the camera, at shutter speeds below 1/125 these vibrations will induce the same amount of unsharpness to the image regardless of which lens is used (and OSS is not gonna help either).

 

Vibrations caused by photographer (aka muscle shake) does have a link with the focal length simply because longer lenses enlarge the image thus unsharpness is easier to see, the rule of thumb here is to use a minimal shutter speed of 1/focal length (so 1/135 for a 135mm lens), use OSS to defy the rules of nature, a tripod or monopod.

 

So in a nutshell, if you use a 135mm lens and use a shutter speed of 1/135 or faster you will:

A- Mitigate the a7R shutter vibration issue

B- Mitigate the vibrations caused by you holding the camera

Link to post
Share on other sites
Jan Anne Contributor

Jan Anne

Posted
Posted

The 55mm Zeiss 1.8 I have on the A7R is the same way. I just can't get enough compression in the background. I don't imagine using APS-C mode, making it an 88mm would make it have more compression. 

Compression is at its max at minimal focus, so when using a lens in APS-C mode you actually have less compression because you have to step away from your subject to get the same framing.

 

Btw, on a Sony the crop factor is 1.5 instead of 1.6 so the field of view (FOV) of a 55m lens will be 82.5mm ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...