A7/A7R for Street & Documentary w/Manual Focus Glass?

[Godfrey]

The other thing about peaking, in my view, is that it takes over your viewfinder and distracts from what you are seeing. You can use the low setting, but often it's not enough. Use more and the peaking intrudes on the scene and blocks fine detail of your subject, such as expressions and gestures.

I agree that magnification is better, but for fast street work neither works particularly well. I find zone focusing or a good AF system to be much better. If I still had an A7, that's the direction I would take for street shooting.

With wide-ish lenses and stopped down to f/5.6-f/11, sure: zone focus works great. And I agree about the distraction that peaking presents ... I wish there was a way to get a one-button press to turn it on and off; there isn't with the A7/A7r.

But once I'm up to 40-50mm or so, and especially if I'm running wider than f/4 as the focus zone, I prefer to focus as the focus zone becomes too shallow. For 40-50mm at f/2.8-f/4, I can focus to acceptably sharp in an instant manually with the A7 without using either peaking or focus assist magnification.

EXCEPT in very bright circumstances outdoors: the A7's EVF brightness does not ramp up high enough to handle the influence of very bright sun for me unless I am using a wide-brim hat to shade my face and the camera. This is most likely because of the fact that I wear glasses and can't easily block the sun from spilling around the side and across my eye. (I have the same problem with optical finders, it's not an EVF only issue ...) Then I often trigger magnification so that I can get a glimpse of the sharpness in my focal plane more effectively, but of course that's also when I can just stop down to f/11 and focus by zone more easily.

For some reason, the Olympus E-M1 EVF does better in this circumstance. I think its sunlight adaptation range is larger and the controlling software/optics are better.

G

 

[furcafe]

Thanks, that's a legit perspective & sums up why I seriously doubt an A7 or similar would ever become my main system (same reason why I wouldn't use a DSLR modified/optimized for manual focus). But I do want a workable digital body for my Contarex glass that could serve as a substitute/supplement for those times I would use medium format or film SLR (urban landscape, street & environmental portraits, etc.).

When I first purchase the A7r, I wanted to use it on all the lenses that I have for Leica M, Contax G, and Leica R. But after I have the camera for over 5 months, I find myself use the native FE 35/55 increasingly more. I found that for street and documentary, A7/r with MF lens is workable solution but a great compromise in terms operation and focus. This is especially true for me as a rangerfinder user. I am much more comfortable and efficient with a Leica M/M9 than A7r with MF lenses. But with native FE lens, I find the package is very efficient with very accurate and reliable focus. This is not what OP asked, but I just want to share my thoughts and experience here.

 

[Godfrey]

When I first purchase the A7r, I wanted to use it on all the lenses that I have for Leica M, Contax G, and Leica R. But after I have the camera for over 5 months, I find myself use the native FE 35/55 increasingly more. I found that for street and documentary, A7/r with MF lens is workable solution but a great compromise in terms operation and focus. This is especially true for me as a rangerfinder user. I am much more comfortable and efficient with a Leica M/M9 than A7r with MF lenses. But with native FE lens, I find the package is very efficient with very accurate and reliable focus. This is not what OP asked, but I just want to share my thoughts and experience here.

It's funny: I used Leica RF next to Nikon SLRs for many years. With film Leicas and .72x viewfinder magnification, I often felt the same way. But with the M9/M and their lower viewfinder magnification, I find it a lot harder to focus as accurately and quickly as I do with Nikon F or Sony A7. That seemingly small difference in viewfinder magnification and its effect on my comfort zone is never more clearly demonstrated than when I carry both the M9 and the M4-2 ... I can focus the 50/1.5 with the M4-2 instantly, but I'm always fussing with the M9. I find I do much better with the R 50/1.4 on the A7.

Thank heavens there are so many choices to work with.. 🙂

G

 

[furcafe]

Quick update: rental A7 arrived & I've had a day or so to play around w/it indoors using a Metabones Contarex-to-E adapter.

As expected, the EVF is indeed much better than the X-Pro1 or Olympus/Leica VF2 & approaches the comfort of an OVF, though I haven't had a chance to use it in sunshine or extreme darkness. Also as expected, the menus are not very intuitive & the instruction manual is easily the worst I've encountered for a pro-am camera, but I have been able to get the settings & custom buttons to work as needed (would be nice if Sony permitted more customization of the icons/info in the EVF display, like Fuji).

So far, I think I can get this rig to work, at least w/35mm & longer lenses. I think the acid test will be the wides, like the 25/2.8 Distagon for Contarex & (if I get the adapter) the 21/1.8 Ultron.

 

[Godfrey]

Quick update: rental A7 arrived & I've had a day or so to play around w/it indoors using a Metabones Contarex-to-E adapter.

As expected, the EVF is indeed much better than the X-Pro1 or Olympus/Leica VF2 & approaches the comfort of an OVF, though I haven't had a chance to use it in sunshine or extreme darkness. Also as expected, the menus are not very intuitive & the instruction manual is easily the worst I've encountered for a pro-am camera, but I have been able to get the settings & custom buttons to work as needed (would be nice if Sony permitted more customization of the icons/info in the EVF display, like Fuji).

So far, I think I can get this rig to work, at least w/35mm & longer lenses. I think the acid test will be the wides, like the 25/2.8 Distagon for Contarex & (if I get the adapter) the 21/1.8 Ultron.

Like many modern cameras, the full manual is only available as a download from Sony's site (the web address is in the standard instruction manual somewhere). It's not a lot better, but it does have a lot more of the details in it.

I've heard of/seen good results with the Ultron 21/1.8. The Contarex Distagon 25mm will probably be all right as it is an SLR lens mount with a 46mm mount register. Lenses designed for that deep a mount register all seem to do well on the A7.

G

 

[bwcolor]

Has anyone noticed a difference when manual focusing while using the 'High" vs. 'Standard' viewfinder settings?

 

[furcafe]

I was referring to both manuals. At least in PDF form they're searchable.

Like many modern cameras, the full manual is only available as a download from Sony's site (the web address is in the standard instruction manual somewhere). It's not a lot better, but it does have a lot more of the details in it.

I don't think the Distagon will present optical problems (or I hope not), I was thinking more along the lines of manual focus being more difficult w/wides.

I've heard of/seen good results with the Ultron 21/1.8. The Contarex Distagon 25mm will probably be all right as it is an SLR lens mount with a 46mm mount register. Lenses designed for that deep a mount register all seem to do well on the A7.

G