Anyone Using Sony Cameras?

uofmtiger

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So, this year, I decided to "replace" my 5D Mark III with a Sony A7R Mark III. I have an article about some of the reasons why I bought Sony over here.

I am starting out with a metabones adapter for my Canon Lenses. However, I do notice that some features in the menu are missing. That may push me to sell my Canon lenses and buy Sonys down the road, but I am going to see if I can get by with the features that are still available at least for a while.

Any tips and tricks for a new Sony user? Any lenses to avoid or to add?
 
You should join in on this forum for answers about Sony lenses:

https://www.talkemount.com/

Lots of good people over there.
Congrats on the new camera too, that's one hell of a nice camera you got yourself.
Thank you for the link! Just looking at some of the recent posts, it looks ideal for learning about Sony.

I really like the camera, but there is a large learning curve. Though, the more I dig up about each feature, the more I like camera body.
 
Congratulations on the new camera. I started with the Sony A7II (24mp) when it first came out almost 3 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed being able to adapt old lenses with a cheap dumb adapter. Then the Techart Pro came out and added auto focus capabilities to many of the manual lenses. But I was lusting for the A7RII with 42 mp. I wanted better eye focus and better tracking also and when the A7RIII came out I couldn't resist any more. Bought it in December and gifted my daughter the A7II and 28-70 kit lens. Haven't had much time between holidays and sickness and working on my wood working shop to spend much time with it. But I have been very impressed with the improvements over the A7II. I don't know what lenses you have now but I have read and watched yt videos of canon lenses on the A7RII with metabones and mc-11 adapters and them seem to work well with eye focus. A lot of info out there if you look. I spend time on dpreview, fredmiranda, and sony alfa rumors forums. I highly recommend Gary Friedman's book on the Sony A7RIII, I had his on the A7II and will be ordering the printed version later this week for the A7RIII.
 
Congratulations on the new camera. I started with the Sony A7II (24mp) when it first came out almost 3 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed being able to adapt old lenses with a cheap dumb adapter. Then the Techart Pro came out and added auto focus capabilities to many of the manual lenses. But I was lusting for the A7RII with 42 mp. I wanted better eye focus and better tracking also and when the A7RIII came out I couldn't resist any more. Bought it in December and gifted my daughter the A7II and 28-70 kit lens. Haven't had much time between holidays and sickness and working on my wood working shop to spend much time with it. But I have been very impressed with the improvements over the A7II. I don't know what lenses you have now but I have read and watched yt videos of canon lenses on the A7RII with metabones and mc-11 adapters and them seem to work well with eye focus. A lot of info out there if you look. I spend time on dpreview, fredmiranda, and sony alfa rumors forums. I highly recommend Gary Friedman's book on the Sony A7RIII, I had his on the A7II and will be ordering the printed version later this week for the A7RIII.
Thanks for the info, I will grab a copy of the book on Amazon.

Overall, with my limited use so far, I have been happy with my Canon lenses on the Merabones adapter. I do see the “not compatible with this lens” box pop up on occasion, so I think Sony lenses would perform better if I ever need those settings that I a missing. I will mess around with the current setup for a while to see if I am actually missing anything I would use.
 
I have an A7 on which I use Leica, Nikon and very old Pentax lenses. It's a great, and versatile bit of kit.
 
I know several people that REALLY like the 9. Every now and then I think about switching but cannot justify the cost. Maybe when the 10 comes out.

Anyway, one thing I learned is the the Metabones adapter causes problems. It seems the Sigma adapter is better... no issues.

Then again, Sony lenses will work better on the Sony body better than any lens with an adapter.
 
I know several people that REALLY like the 9. Every now and then I think about switching but cannot justify the cost. Maybe when the 10 comes out.

Anyway, one thing I learned is the the Metabones adapter causes problems. It seems the Sigma adapter is better... no issues.

Then again, Sony lenses will work better on the Sony body better than any lens with an adapter.
I went with Metabones mainly because Sigma doesn't tout their adapter as being Canon compatible, which worries me as far as future updates compared to Metabones. Tony Northrup had a comparison against the Mark IV and the Sigma was softer in the corners. Also, I didn't see a whole lot about the new Mark V, with the exception of Ken Rockwell's review, so even though I liked the price of the Sigma, I had more of a comfort level with Metabones.

I should mention that some of the pop ups may have just been user error as I flipping through menus and changing settings. I need a book to explain some of the settings, to be honest. I looked into Gary Friedman's book (mentioned above) and it is only available via a direct download in pdf format right now. I did a search on Amazon and no one has an A7RIII book at this point, so I guess I will be looking through a lot of YouTube videos or buying the pdf version.

Personally, I was looking for more of a camera that did well with both video and photography and I liked the way the A7 handles both versus other options I looked at out there. Personally, I don't take a lot of photos this time of year (not a fan of cold weather), but I will put it through its paces in the next few months. As you said, Sony lenses will probably work better, but I don't know that I want to kick Canon to the curb just yet if they are 95 percent of the way there with an adapter.

One thing I did was pull my APS-C Sigma 18-200mm off my old 20D. I set the Sony for APS-C shooting and it worked like a charm. I couldn't use it on the MarkIII without having black circles around the photo. I have better lenses nowadays, but I used to shoot quite a bit with that old Sigma when I was on trips and didn't want to carry a bunch of gear.
 
The menus of the Sony cameras are incredibly difficult to use. I don't know why camera manufacturers do this. My Panasonic point and shoot is in many ways not a point and shoot because of troublesome menus. Canon seems to have their act together (at least in their more expensive cameras) are very "user friendly."

I think some of the executives at Canon and Nikon will commit seppuku after they see how many Sony cameras will be in use at the Olympics in South Korea. They have nothing in the pipeline to compete with what Sony is producing. The next high end Sony camera will be a game changer in the professional world. Because of that, I think that you would do well by selling off your Canon mount lenses and buying Sony lenses rather than dealing with adapters.
 
I have an A7R and do product photography and still-lifes mostly. Use a few Contax Zeiss lenses that are just phenomenal. (21mm, 100 3.5 and the 35-70 zoom which is amazing) I use the Novoflex adapter.
 
The menus of the Sony cameras are incredibly difficult to use. I don't know why camera manufacturers do this. My Panasonic point and shoot is in many ways not a point and shoot because of troublesome menus. Canon seems to have their act together (at least in their more expensive cameras) are very "user friendly."

I think some of the executives at Canon and Nikon will commit seppuku after they see how many Sony cameras will be in use at the Olympics in South Korea. They have nothing in the pipeline to compete with what Sony is producing. The next high end Sony camera will be a game changer in the professional world. Because of that, I think that you would do well by selling off your Canon mount lenses and buying Sony lenses rather than dealing with adapters.
I agree, but the $$$ to switch everything makes it worthwhile to use the adapter for now. To be honest, the ability to use autofocus with my Canon lenses with an adapter was one of the reasons it was so easy to switch to Sony. The upside to having all Canon lenses means the adapter is essentially part of the camera and never gets removed. Once I buy one Sony lens, I will then be removing the adapter and putting it back on and then it will be more of a pain to use. Therefore, the Canon glass is just currently buying me time to save up for a complete change over.

I have an A7R and do product photography and still-lifes mostly. Use a few Contax Zeiss lenses that are just phenomenal. (21mm, 100 3.5 and the 35-70 zoom which is amazing) I use the Novoflex adapter.
Thanks for the info!
 
Sony also has an adapter to use the A-mount lenses. Per dpreview.com (regarding the A7R--I would think the later versions should function the same):

If you have A-mount lenses laying around, those too will work, as long as you pick up either of Sony's full-frame-ready adapters (the LA-EA3 or LA-EA4).

The advantage here is that you can get some nice Minolta Maxxum glass at an affordable price. I bought a Sony A33 a few years ago since it worked with my existing Maxxum lenses. I would advise, though, if going with an A-mount lens, stick only to Minolta or Sony. Third-party brand lenses do not work correctly, if at all, with the A-mount. (I learned that with the Sigma 17-35mm zoom I purchased this summer. Very nice optics but it doesn't communicate with the camera body properly.)

Here are two useful lists of A-mount lenses. Keep in mind that some of Sony's lenses are also Carl Zeiss designs. If looking at the Sony list, a "Z" in the Sony part number indicates Zeiss. There is also a column, "format," which gives the focal length relative to 35mm or APS-C sensor size.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_A-mount_lenses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minolta_A-mount_lenses
 
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Yes, I also have a 100mm Minolta / Maxxum Macro that is incredible which works as MF lens with the LA-EA3. Great lens, you can find one in EX condition for $200 or less. I also use my 70mm A mount Sigma EX DG like this. That is another crazy sharp lens and I can also use that on an older a-580 or the A7R.
 
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OP...I recently bought a used Sony A7RII. I made it half 'Leica like' and use Zeiss M lenses on it. They work fine except the corners are soft.

I prefer the Leica, but my Leicas have been in the shop for 6 months with no return in sight...just terrible.

Here are a couple of shots done with the Sony and the soft cornered Zeiss Wide angles.

https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com...trated-fashion-photog-with-no-girls-to-shoot/

The full res files are much sharper than shown. The Sony has a helluva sensor!
 
The full res files are much sharper than shown. The Sony has a helluva sensor!
Indeed they do--the Pixel XL phone takes great pictures since it uses a Sony sensor, but larger than what other phone models offer. (In other words, it's not the typical small sensor the other phones use.) It's the first phone I've ever owned, or seen digital files from, that have sufficient quality for printing.
 
I think I will get a work out reading Gary's book. Just got it in the mail today, 4 lbs 4 oz, this thing is a brick. 706 pages. Yikes!
 
Two different Sonys. I used Canons for years but don't miss them, except for their superior battery life. I always got close to 1000 shots with my last two Canon EOS bodies and am lucky to get 400 with either of my Sonys. Still, that's a minor bitch as extra batteries are small and not expensive.
 
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