Sony Alpha A7 (ILCE-7) and Sony Alpha A7r (ILCE-7r) Part 8 – A7 – ultra wide lenses

You may also like...

18 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Nice review! I’m curious about the Voigtländer 20/3,5 SLII Color Skopar that is supposed to work well with Sony A7/A7r.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I jumped here because I had same idea about comparison in resolution, and I tested the A7 kit at 70mm f4.5 with Lumix G2 at 35mm f 4.5… both kit lens, both iso 100. both 150. I shoot a flower with water drops on it, shoot in RAW, and I cropped to see differences… resolution was almost identical…. The water drop and the colors of the petal were almost identical…. Obviously A7 is greater camera, but concerns remains…. All NR off etc etc etc… I mean, NO DIFFERENCE! Same or very near color grain shifts in 100% crop, and I cant get more detail than my old mft LUMIX… tha I took in spite of the NEX-5 cous it was cheapest….

  3. Thanks for review, it was excellent and very informative.
    thank you 🙂

  4. jas47 says:

    After testing the canon FDn 20-35mm at 21mm you stated: “Before I make more tests I can’t really recommend it yet, but if it keep delivering this IQ across its focal range.. it might become my ultimate zoom landscape solution.”. Did you perform more tests at other focal range? Thank you

  5. Terrific Viktor. I don’t often shoot landscape but I am looking at adding a wide angle to my new A7. The Voigtlander 21/1.8 looks appealing, but I use filters on all of my lenses because I am paranoid when spending that much money. I realize I might lose a bit, but ah well. However, you wrote, “So say to filters bye, bye, unless you are ready to take a grinder and cut off the unnecessary complication.” Does that mean I can use filters, but I am going to have modify them to get them to work? I might just go with the Voigtlander 35/1.2 II. I just figured the 21 would give me a new challenge and provide more distance from my Zeiss 55/1.8.

    • Thanks Sean. You should be able to use protective or any other thread mount filters (I think 58mm, don’t have lens with me now). As I never use those, I am not sure how thick they can be, but I assume that you will need UWA (slim frame) version. Not sure about filter stacking though. What I meant in my micro review is that you can’t use system filters (Lee, HiTech etc.) because of the built-in hood. To make that possible, you will need to shave the hood.
      I hope it is more clear now.
      Regards,
      Viktor

  6. Perfect! I tend to just use a straight UV filter and for anything wider than 35, I get the thin versions. Thanks Viktor.

  7. RaoulJ says:

    Hi and thanks for this review !

    I agree about the 20-35L : I use it with the A7R and it is really a pleasure to use.
    By the way, the Canon FD 20mm f/2.8 is not bad either (and is smaller).
    I also like the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L (I own the first one).

    About the results with the Canon 17 f/4 TS: Don’t you think the problem you see could come from the adapter ? Did you try a “stupid” adapter with it – they have usually a wider hole, since they have no electronic inside ?

    Have a good day
    Raoul

    • Hi Raoul,
      Unfortunatelly, TS-E 17/4 slightly dissapointing corner performance on A7r is not caused by adapter. I tried two “dumb” ones in addition to Metabones SA III, one of them being quite solid quality Kipon. There were no difference in the image output 🙁

      Regards,
      Viktor

  8. RaoulJ says:

    Thanks Viktor.
    That’s really bad news: I planned to buy this one, to mount both on the Canon and the A7R…
    The 24mm is a little too narrow-angled for my taste.

    Have a good day
    Raoul

  9. Anthony says:

    Hi Viktor,
    Another interesting review. Thanks for that. I have a related question for you. I’ve reached the stage where I’m very happy with my old MF prime lenses which I can fit in a day pack with a focal range from 21mm to 200mm plus 16mm fisheye. This kit is light and compact enough even for travelling on long trips. But my problem comes, with an imaginary trip I dream about, where I’m going to see some great landscapes, city and safari (one can dream). To fulfill the needs for this trip I will need add an UWA rectilinear lens and a 300mm f/2.8, but my pack is already heavy enough.

    The addition of a 14mm Samyang is already a lot, but no way can I take a 300/2.8. So here’s my solution, which I was hoping you could give me feedback on:

    It’s to simply buy an A6000 with SEL1018! Because in addition to covering 15mm on a crop sensor, my 200/2.8 becomes a 300/2.8. Of course, I need to be content with just 24mp (only 24mp), but that’s plenty. The nice thing about this idea is I get a backup camera that takes the same batteries and adaptors.

    What do you think of this idea?

    The only weakness I think is my current Minolta MD 200/2.8. Whilst it only weighs 700g and is a short 13cm, it’s only a good lens, but not a great one. I’m not sure if it will stand up to a 1.5x scrutiny of its images. Is there a better 200/2.8 you’d recommend?

    • Anthony says:

      p.s. I’ve just been reading that the SEL1018 is a bit weak at 10mm. Have you tried the new version III of the Voigtlander 15mm Heliar on an A7r? Judging by some reviews, it seems the smearing and magenta cast is pretty much gone. Perhaps a comparison of the Heliar III versus the Samyang 14mm and FE 16-35, might be worth doing?

    • Hi Anthony,
      this is tough question in many aspects, because only you can decide what to take on a dream trip. From my experience, teaching on workshops on semi-difficult trips such as Iceland west coast, Julian Alps, Dolomites etc. I noticed that people with many lenses usually end with fewest images and those with ultra-zoom have content wise nicest images. For the landscape, I rarely shot bellow f/11 (who care about bit of diffraction, when there are so many sharpening possibilities in pp?) and at that aperture, most zooms, even budget one, are coming close to the larger, heavier, faster and more expensive ones.

      Therefore I would suggest you to look at FE 24-240 as your main lens, and than if you want ultra wide, you can use SEL 1018 in the crop mode of your A7x.

      If you want larger images (resolution wise), you can shot and stitch panorama, but for most uses, 10-16 Mpx, should be enough. Add one fast lens such as SEL 35/1.8 or if budget allow 24/1.8 and you’re all set.

      FE 24-240 in crop mode has a FOV comparable to 360mm and that’s quite enough. If you can afford A7R ii, you’ll end up with great high ISO performer, approx. 18mpx crop mode and 4K video camera.

      Hiking light, ready to take shot at any moment is from my experience a best way to bring home some exciting images. (+ ND filters)
      If you are looking for a good 200/2.8, Canon EF, Nikkor AF-D and Minolta 200/2.8 are all excellent lenses. If you want cream of the cream of MF lenses, check Mamiya 200/2.8 APO or Leica 180/2.8 APO. Want more exotic one – Angenieux 200/2.8 in Nikon mount (not APO though). For the wildlife however, you might want to use AF lens.
      Cheers,
      Viktor

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close