Comments on: A few questions answered: Sony A7 in hands, on review, part I.

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 13:07:08 +0000

Generic Nikon G to Nex I found here on ebay, really liking it, have this one since I started shooting with the FS100, works great on full frame and allows for aperture control with G lenses. The Ai-s is a great lens, I am sure you will get great results. I am really liking this combo, now keep in mind when you look at that photo I posted, there is a vari ND fader on the lens and a metal hood attached to the filter, it gets very long but I found this to be the most practical set up for video, keeps unwanted light out and allows for easy nd filter adjustment simply by turning the lens shade. I much prefer this over a matte box. Once you take the filter/shade off, the size isn't a factor anymore, balances quite nicely.

By: Dec

Dec — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 10:23:56 +0000

Woah the picture of the 50mm 1.4D with the A7, may I ask what adapter you are using?

Am planning to get the a7 to use with a nikon 50mm 1.4 Ai-s lens, do you think it will be a good combo? (looks a little long on the picture)

I hope you’ll be posting up test shots with the nikkor 50mm soon!

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 14:14:46 +0000

The Nikkor 18-35mm G works without issues, any retro-focus lens will work. I don't have the 24mm or 20mm, replaced them with the zoom and it even performs well on the d800E, I was tired of carrying the 14 24mm around, mainly because it isn't something I need on a regular basis. The 18 35mm only weighs 385grams, the copy I have is extremely well made with nice resistance in the zoom and focus ring, it balances great on the A7.

By: ron

ron — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:03:44 +0000

same size as the Fuji eh. that does sound tempting! Have you tried wide angle Nikkor glass? like a 20mm or 24mm?

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 01:56:34 +0000

Hi Ron, thank you! Yes, that was the plan, however, the A7 arrived first and now I am having second thoughts, I might just keep this one, don’t laugh but I really like the kit lens for video :). I am not looking for the best resolution to take pictures with but for a small ff body to shoot video along the D800E, shallow depth of field is the priority here. Of course it is great to have a kick ass sensor for images, it can double as a no nonsense back up camera. Seeing it online doesn’t really do the small size justice, the A7 really is tiny, same size as the X-E2, just with a hump I am sorry I can’t help you with wide angle M lenses, got rid of them many years ago. You probably know more about it then I do. But I can tell you this: shooting raw, the images look fantastic, the AA filter doesn’t appear to be very strong, af is very fast and using Nikkor lenses from super wide to medium tele produced impressive results so far, no problems using a generic $20 Nikon G to nex adapter, focusing is a breeze because of the fantastic EVF. I am jumping the gun here, but I should mention that focus peaking really isn’t much help for accurate focusing with stills, I am certain it never meant to be, works fine in video mode because of the lower resolution, however, for stills just isn’t precise enough. The EVF is so good that I find it easier to just zoom in and focus.

By: ron greer

ron greer — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 01:30:09 +0000

Nice intro to the A7 Mike, looking forward to further reports. I thought you were going for the A7r; change your mind?

I canceled my A7 order as I worry Sony may have rushed this camera to makret; I’ve read they already have another FF camera coming soon.

I’m especially curious how the A7 handles wide angle M lenses. My 21mm Voigtlander had terrible purple fringing on the Nex 7, yet works fine on my Fuji XE-1.

If only the Fuji had decent video, or maybe I’ll just stick with my D800; it’s not that big and seems to do it all.

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 19:49:22 +0000

Hi Gerald, thank you! I haven’t done any proper pixel peeping yet, as far as I can tell, it looks identical to my eye. The highest I have shot was ISO 800 and it looks VERY impressive. I saw aliasing right away on an air conditioner grid but luckily I am not into shooting air conditioners for a living I think it will be very easy to grade and match footage from the D800 and we get to shoot 60p

By: gerald t

gerald t — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 19:42:44 +0000

As always, an well written review. I shoot with a D800 myself and would you be able to comment on your thoughts on how A7 video compares to the D800 video quality? Thank you!