Considering switching from Fuji

[graniteinlo]

I want to switch to a full frame camera and Fuji doesn't offer one. I am looking at the Sony A7 and need a 24-120 (or similar) F4 lens to use when I travel. The Sony lenses are a bit pricey for me and I want your opinions on Tokina, Sigma, and Tamron in this focal range. If you have any experience with these lenses please comment with your recommendations.

 

Thanks!

[Username]

......... Sony lenses are a bit pricey for me .......

     

Fuji lenses wold be equally pricey if they were 

in Sony's position. Apparently, you should not

switch to FF on your current budget, nor at the

current level of FF competition.   

   

When the Canon and Nikon FF come into the

market we will hopefully see more competitive 

prices in the FF arena. Current Sony pricing is 

reflective of their monopoly in the market :-(   

     

Please do not think I advise from a position of 

greater "fiscal comfort" or a fatter budget than 

yours. I adapted all my ancient film-era lenses, 

and thaz why I use FF bodies, cuz acoarst the 

film-era lenses being [mostly] full frame. But if 

you intend to use contemporary technology, it 

may be about a year too early to get into FF.    

   

Adapted lenses cover most of my needs, so I 

have only ONE nice FF native Sony lens, cuz

I waited a long time for an opportunistic buy ... 

an Open Box Special 24-70/4.0 and I have no  

intentions of adding to that. Assuming that you 

have no collection of ancient lenses to adapt I 

would just repeat that a lot may change in the   

FF market in about a year. And if I'm wrong it 

still gives you an extra year to save up toward

those pricey FF lenses. 

   

Your thread title says "Considering" ... and it's   

very likely it will benefit you to "consider" for a

while longer ... about a year longer :-)

[thefsb]

Why do you want to switch to a full frame camera?

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

Most people won't see any difference between images shot with a full frame camera versus a APS-C camera. If you have to use budget lenses on the full frame camera, the images may even look worse.

[Simon Watkins]

I’ve just switched from Fuji (X-T2) to A7RIII. What were you using on the Fuji system? I had most of the good lenses in that system and am trying to build replacements in the Sony. It’s a little trickier, I’m finding, in that Fuji don’t really make a bad XF lens. Whereas there are fewer native choices on the Sony in some regards once you eliminate the less favoured lenses. And the favoured ones are expensive/large by comparison. My own fault, but I’m finding a few gotchas as well. The Sony 70-200 f4 is a physical size equivalent to the 50-140. It was an obvious choice for me but I now realise it can’t take a 1.4x Teleconverter. I shoot landscape in the main so the 50-140 was on the limit for size for me and the Fuji 1.4x rounded things off to give me flexibility and a perfect bag. With the Sony, if I want the same reach, my choices are 70-200 2.8 which allows me to use a 1.4 but that lens is as big as the Fuji 100-400. Or I need to get a 70-300 Sony, which has some compromise in aperture/image quality. I think I need to accept that if I want the great Sony lenses, I need to sacrifice weight/size compared with the Fuji setup. ‘‘Twas ever thus with Full Frame.

 

I wouldn’t compromise on lens quality as you’d be losing the point of upgrading to Full Frame. The Fuji and Sony systems are both great but they operate with different compromises I think.

[jonas]

I've just switched from Fuji X-T2 to Sony A7III.

This has been one of my biggest mistakes ever, and clearly not a very thoughtful decision.

The Sony A7III is amazing in every aspect, the thing is that the Fuji ecosystem with their XF lenses, kaizen upgrades is so close to the performance of the A7III that the upgrade is really not worth it. In some areas it also out outperform the Sony ecosystem.

I'm curious to why you need a FF camera, and in what case where the Fuji can't compete with a FF system. It's smaller, cheaper and it has great weathersealing.

The 18-135mm Fuji is their version of a 24-105 (202mm) lens so the Fuji system already has the lens that you're asking for.

I've tried the A7 before and I considered a swith from the X-T1, but the performance of the A7 was not worth it.

 

I sold all my Fuji gear to buy the Sony A7III and the 24-105mm sony lens.

[thefsb]

On 9/14/2018 at 6:47 AM, jonas said:

This has been one of my biggest mistakes ever, and clearly not a very thoughtful decision.

...

I sold all my Fuji gear to buy the Sony A7III and the 24-105mm sony lens.

That's a rather sad story. Do you recall what you though you would gain from the switch?

[jonas]

11 hours ago, thefsb said:

That's a rather sad story. Do you recall what you though you would gain from the switch?

I had many cons vs pro for this switch. It was something that I was contemplating doing for years. I even tried out the original A7, and then the A7II. Both with the kit lens. But I always returned them.

But it was the A7III that tipped me over with its specs. Fullframe, IBIS, amazing low light, no 'worms' artifacts which haunted a lot of my Fuji files, incredible autofocus and battery performance that outperformes any mirrorless camera. The new battery performance reminds me of when I had DSLRs. And the new Fuji lenses are almost as huge and pricey as their Sony counterparts so I figured that if me next step is to invest in those lenses, why not just jump ship?

My next step is to save up for the 55mm 1.8 (I need something light) and the LAOWA 15mm F2. I think those two lenses paired with the 24-105 will satify my needs.

It's not that it is all a regret, but also a realization that it will take a lot of money and time to get those fantastic glasses.

I wonder if OP ever made the switch? Only now I realize that OP asked this question several month ago. ?

I got a lot of thoughts about the switch and the differences between the cameras.
If anyone is interested I might make a post about it.
Just DM me a question if you have any.

Thanks.

[fwolff]

On 9/17/2018 at 3:02 AM, jonas said:

I had many cons vs pro for this switch. It was something that I was contemplating doing for years. I even tried out the original A7, and then the A7II. Both with the kit lens. But I always returned them.

But it was the A7III that tipped me over with its specs. Fullframe, IBIS, amazing low light, no 'worms' artifacts which haunted a lot of my Fuji files, incredible autofocus and battery performance that outperformes any mirrorless camera. The new battery performance reminds me of when I had DSLRs. And the new Fuji lenses are almost as huge and pricey as their Sony counterparts so I figured that if me next step is to invest in those lenses, why not just jump ship?

My next step is to save up for the 55mm 1.8 (I need something light) and the LAOWA 15mm F2. I think those two lenses paired with the 24-105 will satify my needs.

It's not that it is all a regret, but also a realization that it will take a lot of money and time to get those fantastic glasses.

I wonder if OP ever made the switch? Only now I realize that OP asked this question several month ago. ?

I got a lot of thoughts about the switch and the differences between the cameras.
If anyone is interested I might make a post about it.
Just DM me a question if you have any.

Thanks.

I'm also considering the a7iii over xt2. As a wedding/family photographer I get into many situations where low light and high iso can create a lot of noise/grain. Sometimes if the image is shot at 6400 and is just little underexposed there's too much noise that I find it unacceptable. I know someone that shoots a lot of concerts/performers type of stuff and a bit of noise adds grit to the image and its not that noticeable when processed as B&W. But I can't get away with that tactic with weddings as the bride and groom want to see decent images. What is you take on the lowlight/high iso performance and the ability to recover slightly under exposed files? Do you have any images to post that would demonstrate this? Thanks, FW

[thefsb]

Why not rent some Sony gear and find out for yourself?

[jonas]

3 hours ago, fwolff said:

I'm also considering (...) Thanks, FW

Hi FW

6400 was the maximum I would shoot and accept with my X-T2. The Sony is a better camera when it comes to low light, but your question is maybe how much? From my understanding you currently own the X-T2?

Unfortunately I haven't got the best lenses yet on Sony to do a direct noise comparison (real world), but when I receive my Sony FE 55 F1.8 I can give you a response. I currently have the 24-105 and the light is so low in my part of the world now that every "candid" shot inside is around 6400-12800, which is too noisy.

The best thing about Fuji are their manual control dials (iso, shutter, aperture) which is fantastic when you change different kind of lightning fast.

 

What kind of lenses do you currently have? Maybe investing in a better more light hungry lens is a better option?

[fwolff]

As suggested, I will rent the A7iii with a decent lens.

I currently use XT2 and the quality zooms (16-55 f2.8, 10-24 f4 & 50-140 f2.8.) for family, business and weddings.

 I know that getting fast glass in primes, (1.8-1.2) will make a difference. But with the same fast glass for FF A7iii, and IBIS, the Sony looks like it has the advantage. What is the opinion of of a7iii users for image quality 6400 and above? I won't intentionally shoot at that level but with low light wedding receptions and churches you don't get the choice and need a system that will handle the extremes. Even a 1 - 2 stop difference will save an image from blur and noise.

Thanks

FW

[AZWolf]

I own both Fuji and Sony systems. Not too long ago I invested more into the Sony and divested myself of a bunch of Fuji gear. At one point I had 3 Fuji bodies and 9 Fujinon lenses. Based on having used both Fuji and Sony on a daily basis, I wouldn't switch to Sony unless you really dislike using the Fuji system or have another compelling reason. As a full time professional my reasons for switching my emphasis to Sony were based on reliability and service. I wrote an article about it in PetaPixel.

For the most peoples' purposes it would be a lateral move and can be expensive. I love the Fuji system and kept part of it but for most of my work I use the Sony system. The important differences for me are as follows:

Battery life: Huge difference in favor of Sony. I've gone multiple days on one battery in my A7R III bodies versus an averag of 2-3 batteries per day on my X-Pro2 bodies
Autofocus: I find the Sony more reliable and I love their eye-autofocus. Also I've programmed 2 buttons on the Sony so it's very easy to switch between AF methods without going through menus. BUT I understand that the X-T3 now also has good Eye-AF
Ergonomics: This is personal but the Sony feels better in my average sized hands and I can shoot longer before my hands get tired. On the flip side of this I prefer the mechnical controls on the Fuji, especially having aperture rings.
Pro Service: Fuji doesn't have one for their X-system which was problematic for me and Sony's is superb
Custom setup: Sony has 2 positions on the mode dial for custom configurations that allow you to set a myriad of parameters. This is very convenient. On the Fuji it's a workaround at best and you're very limited on what you can put into their "custom" settings
Other: Fuji's EVF is slightly better and I like their distance scale with DOF. Sony doesn't have that. The Sony menus are initially a bit of a pain but the camera is highly configurable. I think more so in practical ways, than Fuji.
Lenses: Both systems have extensive and superb optics. I do thorough testing on every lens I buy. Overall Fujinon lenses are better but one has to look at that in context. In most real world situations they are essentially equal. I like the choice of zooms better for the Sony but Fuji has amazing primes and they are less expensive and more compact. Bear in mind if you want shallow DOF you have to get a faster lens in APS-C to equal one in FF. For example you would need Fuji's 56mm f1.2 to have about the same DOF wide open as a Sony or Zeiss Batis 85mm 1.8 on full frame...assuming this is of any consquence to you.

The bottom line is all this stuff is personal preference and you need to chose a camera and lenses based on how you shoot and what you like to shoot. If you ask 2 photographers, you'll get 3 opinions so get what is right for you.

I agree with others that you might want to try out Sony first by renting.

Happy shooting,

Joel

 

[AZWolf]

Correction: I said above that the A7R III has 2 cutsom poitions on the mode dial. Really it's 3. The A7 II has 2.

[fwolff]

Sold my xt2, lenses, grip and flashes and got an a7iii and tamron 28-75. Still doing basic photos now but initially satisfied with results. My biggest concern now is to setup custom buttons for wedding and action photos ( focusing , metering, ) . It's on most of the defaults but slowly changing things over and trying to understand the methods for switching over to different setting.

Does anyone know a good website for a7iii users for wedding/ action setups? I've seen a few from Mark Galer.

 

Thanks

 

FW

[asdfghjklred]

I recently made the switch from Fuji. I was using xt20 body with 35 f1m4, xf 55-200mm and samyang 12,, f2 lenses  Now, i am using a7iii body and 55 f1.8 lens and i can see the difference of using a full frame camera  

[Patrick F]

I am also a Fuji user having the XT-20 with the 18-55MM f2.8-4 and the 35mm f2 , I have just purchased the original A7 simply because it was a great price here in Spain at 730euros and I wanted you use my late uncle's 50 year old Leica-r 50mm f2 Summicron with it. I had looked at getting the fuji XT1 /2 as I wanted a separate camera for the Leica but the A7 wasn't much more so for me it was a no brainer. I will continue to use my Fuji system but look forward to seeing the results from my new combination and  I may add a macro lens to the A7 but all in good time.

[fwolff]

On 1/26/2019 at 7:32 PM, fwolff said:

Sold my xt2, lenses, grip and flashes and got an a7iii and tamron 28-75. Still doing basic photos now but initially satisfied with results. My biggest concern now is to setup custom buttons for wedding and action photos ( focusing , metering, ) . It's on most of the defaults but slowly changing things over and trying to understand the methods for switching over to different setting.

Does anyone know a good website for a7iii users for wedding/ action setups? I've seen a few from Mark Galer.

 

Thanks

 

FW

so far I'm happy with the tamron lens. Still checking out focus speed and accuracy in different lighting conditions. At this point I don't have a Sony lens so I don't know how it compares.