My current Sony kit - How's your current kit look like?

[AlwaysOnAuto]

My current Sony kit has been status quo. 2020 had been my least productive photography year no thanks to COVID. It messed up many travel destinations and plans. And during 1 of my only 3 photography outings, a bad experience left a negative impression. Not inspired nor motivated. I think I'll be culling a lot of my lenses and redundant gear this 2021.

Really sorry to hear this Will.
I've enjoyed your photo's a lot.

 

[tino84]

Welcome to the A9 club @Amin Sabet ! After I picked up the A9, it reduced my GAS for camera bodies! I consider the A9 mk. I one of the best used buys for mirrorless cameras right now, especially for the price.

Also, it Was my first option, but than I found a good offer on an A7iii.
The viewfinder without blackout

But if I can Say it, I find a little of a waste usino a camera with such a fast AF only with MF lenses ( even if I perfectly understand why you want to use them )

 

[JonathanF2]

But if I can Say it, I find a little of a waste usino a camera with such a fast AF only with MF lenses ( even if I perfectly understand why you want to use them )

Not necessarily. The A9's other advantage is being able to shoot artificial lighting without rolling shutter and light flicker. Neither Canon or Nikon has yet to match this technological aspect. In fact I have my A9 mostly set at it's slowest C-AF setting, but it's always shooting in silent mode. This means you can shoot MF lenses with little to no penalty in any and all lighting conditions.

Overall the A9 is just a workhorse body. Even the Lens Rental teardown of the camera shows tougher internals and shutter mechanism compared to other Sony bodies. Though Sony messes that all up with a flimsy and easy to break hot shoe mount!

 

[Amin Sabet]

Welcome to the A9 club @Amin Sabet

Thanks, Jonathan, I've been in the A9 club for a few years now! I know what you mean. I haven't felt a need to upgrade it!

 

[somnambulist_squirrel]

I’m paring down again. A7Rii mostly gets paired with the Tamron 24mm f2.8 and Sony 85mm f1.8 for AF stuff.

When I’m feeling that vintage/slow vibe, it gets to play with a Minolta Rokkor 45mm f2 or 50mm f1.4. For telephoto landscape work it likes to grab onto a Tamron CT135 135mm f2.8, or a Tokina SD 400mm f5.6. Every so often it might get a hankering for something different and ask for the Zenitar 16mm f2.8 fisheye. I usually succeed at convincing it to use another lens, but sometimes it insists. The Zen is quite sharp, after all.

My new-to-me NEX-3N is now the street rig. It gets to play with the Samyang 35mm f2.8 pancake if I’m feeling lazy, or a 7artisans 25mm f1.8 or my Industar-61 52mm f2.8 if I’m channeling my inner hipster and drank too much coffee. That kit is tiny.

I have a few Nikkors kicking around - 28mm f2.8 and a 50mm f1.8 Series E that a friend lent to me. I’ll bring those out when I want to snag that straight ray sunstar shot, or I might use the 28 for astro.

Godox flash with Gary Fong light sphere. Manfrotto Compact and Pixi tripods.

 

[Tipton]

I sold my a6500 and all my sony apsc lenses last month, because I prefer Fuji for apsc. Plus I sold my Sony FE 28/2 because I never use it. So my current Sony lineup is:

Sony A7Rii Body +

Sony Zeiss 24-70 f4
Sony FE 24-240
Sony FE 70-300mm G
Sony Zeiss 55/1.8
Sony FE 16-35mm f4 G
Rokinon 35mm f2.8

All of these lenses get used fairly regularly, so I feel good about that lineup.
At the end of the year, I may upgrade to an A7Riii or A7Riv.

 

[tino84]

Not necessarily. The A9's other advantage is being able to shoot artificial lighting without rolling shutter and light flicker. Neither Canon or Nikon has yet to match this technological aspect. In fact I have my A9 mostly set at it's slowest C-AF setting, but it's always shooting in silent mode. This means you can shoot MF lenses with little to no penalty in any and all lighting conditions.

Overall the A9 is just a workhorse body. Even the Lens Rental teardown of the camera shows tougher internals and shutter mechanism compared to other Sony bodies. Though Sony messes that all up with a flimsy and easy to break hot shoe mount!

Well, I think that, if the a9 is a definitive-camera for all said above, also the A7iii is a definitive-keeper, a real bargain

I also forgot to mention my tamron 28-75 2.8, I use it only for weddings, but it’s a great lens, considering its cost (last year I paid 430€ for it )

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Every time I start to think about up grading/changing my A7ii to something else, like an A7Rii or iii, I think about the 'grief' it would impose on my computer with the larger files. I'm more than happy with the A7iii and the A7ii as back up.


That A1 is killer though....

 

[SpecFoto]

Welcome to the A9 club @Amin Sabet ! After I picked up the A9, it reduced my GAS for camera bodies! I consider the A9 mk. I one of the best used buys for mirrorless cameras right now, especially for the price.

Glad you said "reduced" and not "eliminated" GAS, as now I can believe you. Watching you since back in the old Nikon Cafe days before mirrorless, what... 10 years ago, you change cameras/lens like most guys change underwear.... at least once a week.

I upgraded my A7III to a A7RIII a few months back and luv it. But I always seem to be checking out the B&S board for an under $2,000 A9 as that would make my Sony kit complete. Maybe once the new A1 hits the street the used prices will drop even more.

 

[somnambulist_squirrel]

Tamron just put their trilogy of primes on sale - 20mm f2.8 for $249, 24mm f2.8 and 35mm f2.8 for $199 each. Weather sealed, sharp (I’m liking my copy of the 24 so far), and now even cheaper than the Samyangs by a fair bit. Anyone’s kit about to get larger?

 

[SpecFoto]

Every time I start to think about up grading/changing my A7ii to something else, like an A7Rii or iii, I think about the 'grief' it would impose on my computer with the larger files. I'm more than happy with the A7iii and the A7ii as back up.


That A1 is killer though....

With my A7III I always shot in uncompressed raw, wanting to get the highest MP file I could, and the file size was 49MP+/-. My 2019 iMac or even my 2012 15" MacBook Pro laptop (upgraded internal 2TB SSD) has no problem in Lightroom with this size. Recently traded my A7III for the A7RIII with 42MP, and the file size in uncompressed raw would be 86 MP+ ! With all the added initial MP I find the compressed raw file has great detail and guess what, the file size a bit smaller at 43MP. If I was shooting a high detail landscape or with lots of graduated sky colors I will most likely shoot uncompressed raw, but for portraits and events the compressed raw has been fine. So no performance hit, best of both worlds.

 

[Biro]

I've been running an A7 III for a while now... with the original A7 Classic as the back-up. I'd love to replace the now-ancient A7 with an A7 IV when it comes out. But an A9 II is at the top of my wish list.

In terms of zooms, I have the Sony 12-24 f/4... the Tamron f/2.8 trilogy and the Tamron 70-300 f/4.5-6.3.

I have plenty of primes... including the Sony 28mm f/2.0, 35mm f/2.8, 55mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8. I have a few Samyangs to fill in the gaps... including the 14mm f/2.8, 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4 and 45mm f/1.8. I bought the wider ones before I tripped over a great deal on the 12-24 zoom.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Tamron just put their trilogy of primes on sale - 20mm f2.8 for $249, 24mm f2.8 and 35mm f2.8 for $199 each. Weather sealed, sharp (I’m liking my copy of the 24 so far), and now even cheaper than the Samyangs by a fair bit. Anyone’s kit about to get larger?

What's that 24 look like?
I really like 24's for shooting cars.

I kind of keep an eye on the local C-list as there are always people looking to have the latest greatest camera here in the OC, so A9's show up fairly regularly. Problem is most have a lot of shutter actuation's.

 

[Biro]

I'm on a similar path here, trying to rediscover the inspiration to do photography. Here's my current kit, Sony A9 with Voigtlander 21/1.4 and 50/2.

View attachment 113678

Amin... have you sold off your mu43 gear? I'm about to do so. I have mixed feelings but something has to give.

 

[JonathanF2]

Glad you said "reduced" and not "eliminated" GAS, as now I can believe you. Watching you since back in the old Nikon Cafe days before mirrorless, what... 10 years ago, you change cameras/lens like most guys change underwear.... at least once a week.

I upgraded my A7III to a A7RIII a few months back and luv it. But I always seem to be checking out the B&S board for an under $2,000 A9 as that would make my Sony kit complete. Maybe once the new A1 hits the street the used prices will drop even more.

Haha, over 10 years ago I was single, with no mortgage and no kids! Plus, I've embraced the sport that all 40-something year old men pursue especially during this pandemic...and that's outdoor cycling! My camera GAS was just diverted into other interests!

 

[somnambulist_squirrel]

What's that 24 look like?
I really like 24's for shooting cars.

I kind of keep an eye on the local C-list as there are always people looking to have the latest greatest camera here in the OC, so A9's show up fairly regularly. Problem is most have a lot of shutter actuation's.

Sharp. I’m digging it so far. Here’s a couple with it:

ILCE-7RM2    E 24mm F2.8 F051    24mm    f/8.0    1/800s    ISO 1250

ILCE-7RM2    E 24mm F2.8 F051    24mm    f/2.8    20s    ISO 1600

 

[Biro]

Tamron just put their trilogy of primes on sale - 20mm f2.8 for $249, 24mm f2.8 and 35mm f2.8 for $199 each. Weather sealed, sharp (I’m liking my copy of the 24 so far), and now even cheaper than the Samyangs by a fair bit. Anyone’s kit about to get larger?

Thanks for this. I'm tempted to check out the 20mm. I have the other two focal lengths in Samyangs. Professional reviews of these Tamron primes are a bit uneven. But I'm guessing they're fine in real-world use.

 

[Amin Sabet]

Amin... have you sold off your mu43 gear? I'm about to do so. I have mixed feelings but something has to give.

I have a minimal kit in each camp, now. With Sony, A9, Voigtlander 21/1.4, Voigtlander 50/2, Sony 50 macro

With MFT, I have GM5, GX85, P14, P20, P30 macro, P42.5/1.7

I'd sell off a few of the MFT lenses, but they aren't worth much, so I keep them.

 

[Richard Crowe]

Welcome to the A9 club @Amin Sabet ! After I picked up the A9, it reduced my GAS for camera bodies! I consider the A9 mk. I one of the best used buys for mirrorless cameras right now, especially for the price.

The new free firmware upgrade for a used A9 should improve the capabilities and value of that camera...

 

[somnambulist_squirrel]

Thanks for this. I'm tempted to check out the 20mm. I have the other two focal lengths in Samyangs. Professional reviews of these Tamron primes are a bit uneven. But I'm guessing they're fine in real-world use.

I’d say that the distortion issue is real, but corrects just fine. The AF isn’t lightning fast, but also doesn’t have to be in a wide angle lens. If you need very fast AF tracking, might be worth spending more. But I don’t think you’ll be at all disappointed in the overall image quality. If I had $900 to spend, I’d get the Sony 20 1.8. But for 1/4 the cost, the Tamron is really quite good. And light!