Sony A7r Tests with a bunch of manual lenses (and some E mount lenses)

[kmbahar]

Hi all! First time posting here. After getting info from this site on a bunch of E mount related things, thought I'd share some samples I took of my A7r with a bunch of manual lenses. I'm mostly a filmmaker and use the Sony FS-100 with a VG20 and NEX-7 when I need some B cameras, but when the A7r came out I knew I had to grab it. I did a bunch of tests with the lenses I had plus a bunch of lenses I recently ordered from eBay. I also did a few with my autofocus E mount lenses which are APS-C cropped.

Hope you like the sample pics below and there's a whole write up on my blog with more samples (as well as a video sample in the first link) about the tests:

http://www.khairilmbahar.com/post/70283419692/sony-a7r-with-manual-focus-lenses-thoughts-tests
http://www.khairilmbahar.com/post/72442577121/more-sony-a7r-manual-lens-tests-canon-fd-35mm-f2

ILCE-7R    ----    0mm    f/1.0    1/50s    ISO 1000

Canon FD 50mm f1.4, 1/50th, ISO 1000

ILCE-7R    ----    0mm    f/1.0    1/125s    ISO 500

Minolta AF 24-50mm f4 at 24mm, 1/125th, ISO 500

ILCE-7R    ----    0mm    f/1.0    1/50s    ISO 8000

Minolta AF 24-50mm f4 at 50mm, 1/50th, ISO 8000

ILCE-7R    ----    0mm    f/1.0    1/50s    ISO 1250

Samyang 14mm T3.1 (Cine lens) at 1/50th, ISO 1000

ILCE-7R    ----       f/1.0    1/100s    ISO 1250

Canon FD 35mm f2, 1/100th, ISO 1250

ILCE-7R    ----    0mm    f/1.0    1/125s    ISO 2500

Tamron Adaptall 2 24mm f2.5, 1/125th, ISO 2500

ILCE-7R    ----    0mm    f/1.0    1/125s    ISO 800

Canon FD 135mm f2.8, 1/125th, ISO 800

ILCE-7R    E 35mm F1.8 OSS    35mm    f/1.8    1/50s    ISO 2000

Sony E mount 35mm f1.8 (APS-C Crop), 1/50th, ISO 2000

ILCE-7R    E 16mm F2.8    16mm    f/2.8    1/125s    ISO 250

Sony E mount 16mm f2.8 (APS-C Crop), 1/125th, ISO 250

 

[NickCyprus]

A nice series of photos - welcome

 

[serhan]

Welcome and thanks for the nice photos

 

[WoodWorks]

Yes, welcome, Khairil! And thanks for the informative and well-shot first post. That Canon FD 135 may be on my soon-to-buy list. Or maybe the Minolta 24-50. Or maybe...

 

[Bimjo]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[izTheViz]

Indeed....nice ! Already have the fd 50,135 and will get th 35 tomorrow.
I am more and more tempted to buy the A7 when in Bangkok.

 

[John D.]

A great first post to the forum - Welcome and thank you!

As well - is that Samyang 14mm T3.1 (Cine lens) the native e-Mount version.? If so, are you getting full frame on your A7 from it? Interestingly, I was looking at that yesterday on-line, as I need an ultra-wide for architectural interiors. It doesn't have to be superb optically, as most of the shots for the clients are simply posted on the web in lower resolutions.

Anyway - welcome aboard - and terrific image comparisons in your post!

- John

 

[kmbahar]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! Will be posting a few more tests soon, though I'm guessing I should be posting them on the legacy lens thread? Anyway, got my 100mm f2.8 Canon FD in the mail today which I haven't tested yet, hopefully will take that out for a spin tomorrow.

Thanks again!

 

[kmbahar]

A great first post to the forum - Welcome and thank you!

As well - is that Samyang 14mm T3.1 (Cine lens) the native e-Mount version.? If so, are you getting full frame on your A7 from it? Interestingly, I was looking at that yesterday on-line, as I need an ultra-wide for architectural interiors. It doesn't have to be superb optically, as most of the shots for the clients are simply posted on the web in lower resolutions.

Anyway - welcome aboard - and terrific image comparisons in your post!

- John

The 14mm T3.1 was an A mount lens (when I bought my Samyang cine lenses I chose A mount for some reason, not sure why) with a cheap China-made adapter. I'm quite sure the E mount version is full frame ready as from what I understand they just took the same lenses, extended the barrel and made it an E mount, but strangely I haven't managed to find much info on the E mount Samyang's.

Optically, the only tricky thing in full frame is focusing when you're wide open, but at f5.6 onwards you're pretty much safe and in lower resolutions it'll be fine. Hopefully that helps!

 

[kmbahar]

Yes, welcome, Khairil! And thanks for the informative and well-shot first post. That Canon FD 135 may be on my soon-to-buy list. Or maybe the Minolta 24-50. Or maybe...

Hi Woodworks! Thanks for the welcome! Just wanted to mention re the Minolta 24-50 - bit tricky to manual focus on the AF version since it doesn't have a dedicated focus ring, in case that affects your choice of future purchases

Also wanted to ask - noticed on your info you have an FD 24mm f2.8. How's that lens on the A7? I'm holding out for a 24mm f2 but am curious about the 2.8.

 

[John D.]

The 14mm T3.1 was an A mount lens (when I bought my Samyang cine lenses I chose A mount for some reason, not sure why) with a cheap China-made adapter. I'm quite sure the E mount version is full frame ready as from what I understand they just took the same lenses, extended the barrel and made it an E mount, but strangely I haven't managed to find much info on the E mount Samyang's.

Optically, the only tricky thing in full frame is focusing when you're wide open, but at f5.6 onwards you're pretty much safe and in lower resolutions it'll be fine. Hopefully that helps!

Outstanding information - thank you!!! That is exactly the info I needed..!

Many thanks!

As well - I hope the postman didn't leave that new Canon lens in your driveway in the rain, as they did previously??!!!

John

 

[WoodWorks]

Also wanted to ask - noticed on your info you have an FD 24mm f2.8. How's that lens on the A7? I'm holding out for a 24mm f2 but am curious about the 2.8.

Mine is a touch soft and low contrast wide open, but sharpens up nicely across the frame by f/3.5. My plan is to use it mainly for wide landscapes, mostly around f/8, so the initial softness doesn't really mean anything to me. I can highly recommend the lens if your desires are similar to mine.

I recently posted a few samples in the adapted lens sample archive pages, including a couple wide open.

 

[kmbahar]

Outstanding information - thank you!!! That is exactly the info I needed..!

Many thanks!

As well - I hope the postman didn't leave that new Canon lens in your driveway in the rain, as they did previously??!!!

John

Thankfully not! This time they came to my house in the two hours I didn't happen to be in, left a note and I had to go pick it up. It's a 100mm f2.8. So far, not the best one of the lot in terms of condition - the focus ring is REALLY stiff. Haven't tried it out enough yet but at first glance I think the optics are ok. Fingers crossed!

 

[kmbahar]

Mine is a touch soft and low contrast wide open, but sharpens up nicely across the frame by f/3.5. My plan is to use it mainly for wide landscapes, mostly around f/8, so the initial softness doesn't really mean anything to me. I can highly recommend the lens if your desires are similar to mine.

I recently posted a few samples in the adapted lens sample archive pages, including a couple wide open.

The shots look great! But yeah, as you can probably tell from my samples I often do a lot of lowlight wide open or a stop or two down for sharpness. It's so annoying how rare the f2 is. If I find the f2.8 at a decent price, might just pick it up to complete my Canon FD set. eBay is too addictive. Eek.

 

[izTheViz]

One question btw, are you shooting in crop mode with your FDs or FF ? Don't see much vigneting.

 

[WoodWorks]

One question btw, are you shooting in crop mode with your FDs or FF ? Don't see much vigneting.

Is that question directed at me? If so, I'm shooting FF will all of my FD lenses.

 

[izTheViz]

To anyone shooting FD on A7. Thank you. I can't wait buying mine in 10 days...just got another FD this morning (35/2)

 

[kmbahar]

One question btw, are you shooting in crop mode with your FDs or FF ? Don't see much vigneting.

Nope, shooting in full frame (though the shot with the 135mm was accidentally in crop mode). So far the only lens I've found with some vignetting and soft edges is the tamron 24mm f2.5.