Will I jump ship to " Sony Alphe a7R " for 36 MP camera ?

[darrellrhodesmiller]

i bought the a7r and the 55mm f1.8 lens along with the metabones adapter for canon lenses.

i havent had a chance to really take many photos, that should change this weekend. But here are my initial impressions.

Its a VERY different camera than my 5dmk3.. the feel and the approach to taking pictures with it is different. The view finder and screen on the back are very very clear and detailed. the 55mm f1.8 lens is amazingly sharp and clear. it focuses very quickly.. fast enough for very fast sports? probably not.. normal every day stuff? yes definitely.

I've seen many people in the forums complain about slow focus speeds and only being able to shoot on a tripod.. i've not had that problem or seen those issues with the sony 55mm lens.. its works fine even in low light... as long as you pick the proper focusing mode and work with the focusing points.

with the metabones adapter i was pleasantly surprised.. yes it slower than sony lenses.. but autofocus works (i've heard it doesnt work with the 50mm f1.4 or the 24-105f4) but it does work very well. it takes between 1 sec and 2 sec to get proper focus.. but from my usage its tact sharp. (i've only tried with the 16-35mm f2.8L lens)
yes it does work better on a tripod, but handheld shots are doable.

my only real complaint is the battery life.. you get about 300 shots per battery.. with the metabones adapter and canon lenses battery seems to drain a little faster.

as for image quality.. its stunning.. from my informal tests DR is better than the 5dmkIII, images are sharper than the 5dmkIII with the same lens. (i did some basic comparisons with the 16-35mmL lens) RAW files hover around 28-30megs .. which is reasonable.

will i be selling my canon gear any time soon? nope.. but its a great addition.
the 5dmk3 is an amazing all around swiss army knife of a camera. the a7r .. is more specialized.. it makes you go slower.. plan your shots more.. and really think about what youre doing. i've been very impressed.

 

[sdsr]

I'm interested in playing with vintage lenses, many of which don't adapt well to the 5D3. The old Canon lenses are difficult to adapt to without a specialized EdMika adapter. Others go too far back and the mirror hits it when it flips up. The nice thing about the A7r is that with no mirror, you can connect pretty much any lens ever made to it. For those kinds of lenses, I wouldn't be doing sports or any other types of action shots anyway, the A7r seems like a perfect combination. That aspect really has my attention.

That's a good point ... I think there would be many senior photographers (who have used film cameras with lots of good lenses of that time for a long time) that would really be interested in shooting with the a7/a7R (assuming those photographers still have their old favorite lenses).

Yes, it is a good point - manual focus works every bit as well on the A7s as it does on, say, the Olympus OM-Ds. But I would note that the longer the lens, the harder it is to focus manually - as the lens gets longer, the harder it is to keep the image steady and, thus, tell whether you're in focus. Which is why - leaving aside crop factor etc. - I prefer using manual lenses longer than c. 100mm on my Olympus - the IBIS really helps when focusing. Which is another reason why I wish Sony had included IBIS in the A7s - they may have had to be less small, perhaps, but better bigger, with stabilization, than smaller without (as far as I'm concerned, anyway).

 

[sdsr]

with the metabones adapter i was pleasantly surprised.. yes it slower than sony lenses.. but autofocus works (i've heard it doesnt work with the 50mm f1.4 or the 24-105f4) but it does work very well. it takes between 1 sec and 2 sec to get proper focus.. but from my usage its tact sharp. (i've only tried with the 16-35mm f2.8L lens)
yes it does work better on a tripod, but handheld shots are doable.

my only real complaint is the battery life.. you get about 300 shots per battery.. with the metabones adapter and canon lenses battery seems to drain a little faster.

as for image quality.. its stunning.. from my informal tests DR is better than the 5dmkIII, images are sharper than the 5dmkIII with the same lens. (i did some basic comparisons with the 16-35mmL lens) RAW files hover around 28-30megs .. which is reasonable.

will i be selling my canon gear any time soon? nope.. but its a great addition.
the 5dmk3 is an amazing all around swiss army knife of a camera. the a7r .. is more specialized.. it makes you go slower.. plan your shots more.. and really think about what youre doing. i've been very impressed.

I agree with all that. I would add that I get AF with my 24-105L via the adapter, but that it sometimes seems a bit slower on the A7r than on the A7, at least in low light (I'm currently playing with both bodies to see which, if either, I'll keep). Yesterday I used my 70-200 f4 IS on the A7r (haven't tried it on the A7) and noticed an odd quirk - AF was quite fast at almost every focal length in a wide range of apertures, but it pretty much gave up at 200mm. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Aside from that, I found the ergonomic experience a pleasant surprise (I have yet to enlist the help of a tripod on an A7), though I doubt I would want to try a longer, heavier lens on an A7.

 

[sdsr]

ASK yourself a question before buying A7R mirrorless. If compactness, IQ and balance are not important, than why not just shoot with Canon/Nikon DSLR.

I simply don't give comment and suggestion on something that I haven't touched. The Zeiss FE 55mm f1.8 is a SOLID piece of glass. The IQ is good or slightly better than my 24-70 II from f2.8 to f8.

The Zeiss FE series is design to bring the best of Sony A7 series. Not to mention, AF speed of Canon lenses on A7 series is REALLY slow. Have you ever shoot EOS-M with original firmware?

If you want to play the game, play it right. If you want the best IQ from A7r, stay with native lenses

I probably agree with that, at least up to a point. But I'm tempted to add - those who want the very best IQ from their best Canon lenses, and are willing and able to put up with the slower focusing, should consider an A7/A7r. You may find, for instance, that your 24-70II takes even better photos on your A7/A7r than it does on your 5DIII (perhaps you've seen Roger Cicala's resolution comparisons of certain lenses on the A7r vs their native bodies). (I don't have a 24-70 of any sort, but I'm about to unpack a Sony 55mm 1.8....)

And, of course, some Canon lenses have the advantage of IS. So far, the only native A7 lens with IS is the kit zoom, which is OK but doesn't come close to showing off either of the A7s' potential. Besides, staying with native lenses is all very well, but for now that limits you (if IQ really matters) to 35mm and 55mm, and the next zoom, regardless of how good it proves to be, only takes you to 70mm.

 

[eml58]

I've had the a7r now since end December, around 1500 Images to date.

Good Camera, very good Lens (Zeiss 35f2.8 ), but.

I wouldn't consider for a moment that the a7r could replace the 5DMK III, let alone my 1Dx.

What the a7r does, it does well, Landscape, slow to dead objects, anything that moves rapidly, your in trouble, the AF system isn't anywhere as good as the 61 point AF system on the 1Dx/5DMK III.

The a7r does produce wonderful Images though if you use some patience, I did own the D800 and sold it after 12 months, I unfortunately received twice one of the problematic units with the indecisive AF Issues, and as has been pointed out by Mt Spokane earlier, with a 36MP Sensor you do need to adapt your style to suit the Sensor.

Again I agree with others re the a7r, very good small form, high MP Sensor Camera, fitted with Zeiss Lenses, Street Photography, Landscape & Portrait, wether or not Sony can continue development is something we will have to wait and see, I hope they do because the a7r has I feel been a bit of a wake up camera perhaps for Canon and I do believe the D800 caught Canon napping & resting on their 5DMK II laurels.

Would I consider moving from Canon to Sony because of the a7r ?? Not for a moment, the a7r is a nice to have adjunct to my 1Dx/5DMK III, but it's not a remote possibility as a "replacement".

 

[DigitalSteve]

I am keeping the 5D3 for auto focus, but find the A7r gives me enough more detail for landscape (I make large prints, up to 4'x6') and easier to manual focus to make it a worthwhile purchase. I recently returned from Yosemite where I shot with my canon 17mm TSE attached the A7r, the IQ is superb, with crisp detail throughout the frame at 100%. Same goes for my 21mm Zeiss.

 

[Rob Wiebe]

Not jumping ship but picked up the A7R and the Zeiss 55 and the Zeiss 35. Love it. Also the Metabones adapter and it works well with my L lenses tested so far. It will accompany my 1DX when I travel and be my Landscape focus. So far I love it.

 

[jrista]

I wonder if this is Sony's new plan of action. They've struggled with their electronics division for over a decade now, and it hasn't been profitable. I guess attaching themselves like a leech to Canon's lens lineup is the best way for them to make a sale.

I have to admit, with Canon taking so long on a high MP, high DR body, I'm intrigued by the Sony A7r for landscapes myself. In most of my work, AF and frame rate are critical, but for landscapes, hell, all you really need is a high resolution sensor, live view, and a manual focus lens. Not much in the way of advanced technological requirements for landscape photography.

Camera bodies last for a few years, then you replace them. It sounds like a Canon Big MP/High DR body is still a couple years off at least. By the time it actually hits (assuming Canon actually solves the low ISO DR issue), the A7r will be ripe for replacement anyway...

One could even buy Zeiss lenses for the EF mount, and use them with the A7r EF adapter, and preserve the longevity of those (rather expensive) lenses in the event that Canon DOES eventually come out with a compelling (and affordable) high MP part in the future.

 

[yorgasor]

I wonder if this is Sony's new plan of action. They've struggled with their electronics division for over a decade now, and it hasn't been profitable. I guess attaching themselves like a leech to Canon's lens lineup is the best way for them to make a sale.

I have to admit, with Canon taking so long on a high MP, high DR body, I'm intrigued by the Sony A7r for landscapes myself. In most of my work, AF and frame rate are critical, but for landscapes, hell, all you really need is a high resolution sensor, live view, and a manual focus lens. Not much in the way of advanced technological requirements for landscape photography.

Camera bodies last for a few years, then you replace them. It sounds like a Canon Big MP/High DR body is still a couple years off at least. By the time it actually hits (assuming Canon actually solves the low ISO DR issue), the A7r will be ripe for replacement anyway...

One could even buy Zeiss lenses for the EF mount, and use them with the A7r EF adapter, and preserve the longevity of those (rather expensive) lenses in the event that Canon DOES eventually come out with a compelling (and affordable) high MP part in the future.

Yes, I'm not so strong a believer in the A7r ecosystem that I'd buy A7r-specific lenses. I'd much rather have a lens I can use on both a Canon & A7r body, and I haven't heard of an adapter going that direction. And in 2 or 3 years when Canon has a better body that makes the A7r unnecessary, I wouldn't want to be stuck with a bunch of lenses that I can't use anymore.

 

[drjlo]

Not jumping ship but picked up the A7R and the Zeiss 55 and the Zeiss 35. Love it. Also the Metabones adapter and it works well with my L lenses tested so far. It will accompany my 1DX when I travel and be my Landscape focus. So far I love it.

Congrats. If I buy the A7r, I would probably get either the Zeiss 35 or 55, not both. Could you post some photos from 35 and 55 of similar object/people, perhaps wide open and stopped down a bit? Thanks.

 

[hionhifi]

I owned a Sony A7 for awhile but sold it and now have a 5DmkIII on the way. I found the Sony a joy to use but for several reasons I chose the Canon instead. For the shooter who does video as much as he does photographs, the 5DmkIII is still the best game in town.

Here are a few reasons I dumped the Sony...
[list type=decimal]
[*]Lacks third party support, ie apps, software, and hardware devices like intravelometers, shutter release controls, etc.
[*]Poor lens selection
[*]Lacks some pro level features, ie dual SD cards [/list]

The Sony as nice as it is, lacks some features I like. Maybe time will remedy some of the issues I had. [/list]

 

[jrista]

• I owned a Sony A7 for awhile but sold it and now have a 5DmkIII on the way. I found the Sony a joy to use but for several reasons I chose the Canon instead. For the shooter who does video as much as he does photographs, the 5DmkIII is still the best game in town.
  
  Here are a few reasons I dumped the Sony...
  [list type=decimal]
  [*]Lacks third party support, ie apps, software, and hardware devices like intravelometers, shutter release controls, etc.
  [*]Poor lens selection
  [*]Lacks some pro level features, ie dual SD cards

The Sony as nice as it is, lacks some features I like. Maybe time will remedy some of the issues I had. [/list]

How is Sony's software support overall? You mention a lack of...but what things do support it (if anything outside of ACR/LR)?

 

[Rienzphotoz]

• I owned a Sony A7 for awhile but sold it and now have a 5DmkIII on the way. I found the Sony a joy to use but for several reasons I chose the Canon instead. For the shooter who does video as much as he does photographs, the 5DmkIII is still the best game in town.
  
  Here are a few reasons I dumped the Sony...
  [list type=decimal]
  [*]Lacks third party support, ie apps, software, and hardware devices like intravelometers, shutter release controls, etc.
  [*]Poor lens selection
  [*]Lacks some pro level features, ie dual SD cards

The Sony as nice as it is, lacks some features I like. Maybe time will remedy some of the issues I had. [/list]

I have the 5D MK III and the Sony a7 ... when it comes to professional/serious use the 5D MK III and Canon's eco system are far superior ... but you do not need an intervelometer device for the a7 ... you can use the highly customisable in-camera intervelometer ... when you are happy with the settings you need you can use any a7 compatibale remote to activate the shutter or just press the shutter button. BTW, below is the simple and fully automated timelapse vid I had uploaded to the youtube (made with Sony a7+28-70 kit lens).
I have another really cool timelapse vid of fog moving in and moving out from my office window (it as pretty cool to see how fog moves in and out) but didn't upload it to youtube yet.
Timelapse with Sony a7 & Kit Lens
Short Timelapse with Sony a7+28 70 f:4 lens Straight out of the Camera