M lens compatibility

[naren]

Hey guys,

I am weighing my options between a Nikon Df and a Sony Alpha7II... I. am leaning now toward the Df, because I have a lot more Nikkor lenses than M.

However the EVF may be really helpful to me, and with the vertical grip I may prefer the feel of the Sony. I played around with the cameras at Samy's and the guy there said he thought I could use my Nikkors on the Sony... I thought probably not or at least I would lose infinity focus or something. What do you guys think?

The Sony promo magazine touts manual focus on these cameras, can anyone weigh in on how they like it? I have a few Voigtlander M lenses and the Zeiss Loxio 50mm f/2 looks pretty sweet to me. I wonder about backward compatibility also using the Loxio on my M cameras...

 

[Jan Pedersen]

Nikon lenses works well on the A7II or at least the MF prime lenses does, I don't have the adaptor for AF lenses so I can't speak for those.

As an afterthought, Nikon lenses require a quite long adapter to work on the Sony, not exactly a pretty set-up.

The advantage the Sony has is the short flange to sensor distance, this makes it possible to adapt lenses from almost all other cameras, you can't however go the other way and use a Loxia lens on a Leica, the flange to sensor or film is although not long, it is longer than on the Sony.

 

[rscheffler]

The Zeiss ZM50/2 Planar is the optical basis of the 50/2 Loxia, which was very slightly tweaked for use on the Sony. The ZM will work on the Sony with the appropriate M adapter, and of course will be fine on your M cameras. I believe it's also slightly less expensive than the Loxia, though the need for an adapter may nullify the price difference.

As for Nikkors on the Sony... you can adapt them without problem. Where there will be problems is with the newer lenses without aperture rings. You'll need an adapter that has a tab to move the internal aperture lever, but from my understanding it just allows you to set it generally, and not precisely to specific aperture values, meaning repeatability of hitting specific aperture values will be poor. If methodical working style and hitting critical focus is important to you, an EVF based viewfinder camera may better suit your needs.

 

[uhoh7]

I think the DF is going to shoot the Nikkor lenses better than the stock Sony.

M is not an option there however.

The Sony has a thick sensor cover. It effects lenses in varying ways. Not always predictable. The most obvious victims are the Rangefinder wides like 28 cron, SEM 21. But SLR lenses are also effected, some alot.

This is such an issue that the market has created a solution called the Kolari mod. They strip of the thick sony sensor cover and replace it with a thin one for about 4-500USD on any A7 model. For the price of an A7II you can have a A7 Kolari which is a much better camera for film lenses, though it would not have the 3 way IBIS. Sensors are the same otherwise. The plain A7 is smaller also.

For your application the new SL is the best in the world right now, I think, and the Nikon adapter is available. However that's mucho dinero and maybe unobtanium.

The DF does not have the same sensor cover as the Sony (though it may be a sony sensor).

The A7 cameras have a huge value range right now, because they loose value like crazy. A plain A7 can be had for 700USD or less. A7II 1300ish. The Nikon DF however is holding value very well. Far better.

Good price on A7II right here:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/pho...t/48369/title/fs-sony-a7-ii-body-241250/cat/3

 

[naren]

Goddamn. I just made a long reply and it was lost... until tomorrow I guess. Thanks for the great info though guys.

 

[naren]

I don't know *** is going on. I'll be typing and then all of the sudden I'm not even logged into the site anymore.

Let me go bit by bit I guess. Holding value isn't that big a concern I guess. It's just if I go for the Df I know I'm going to want to finally get some expensive pro lenses... 58mm f/1.4, 24-70mm, 300mm...

I forget if I mentioned this, but I think with the learning curve the Df will be faster for me. I use the F3 a lot and I feel the Df is very much akin. I know it would be a joy to use for me... a big step up from the D200. I also have my eye on the Sony A7RII and I wish I had a bit more dough to go with... I would probably spend the extra 400 or 500 bucks on that.