Now that the A7/A7r have been out for a few months...

[taemo]

Coming from a FF pro dslr body, I'm loving the A7. It's a really good digital companion to my film rangefinders. But I think if I had walked a different path and come into the A7 from primarily film rangefinders, maybe it would be harder to love.

perhaps that's why. I've been DSLR free for over a year now when my only digital cameras were the X100s, X-Pro1 and the GR
my transition from the 5DII to the Fuji cameras was an eye opener for me, to realize that I don't need big expensive DSLRs to take pictures

Well, I joined you guys... I have a A7r and 35mm Sonnar FE coming my way.

congrats! time to buy some adapters now

Agreed, and adding zeros. This thing is just too fun in a GASsy way. I'm salivating over all sorts of lenses I never cared about when I only had Leicas/DSLRs. By the way, not in the survey, but did many of you get the A7/A7r only to skip native lenses completely and play with adapters?

I have zero interest on the native lenses.
I'm so used with shooting manual focus and my style doesn't require AF either.
My lens line-up for the A7
OM 21mm 3.5
CV 35mm 1.4
CV 50mm 1.4
T-E-M 90mm 2.8
FD 135mm 2
AIS 135mm 2.8
AIS 200mm 4

 

[YYV_146]

Agreed, and adding zeros. This thing is just too fun in a GASsy way. I'm salivating over all sorts of lenses I never cared about when I only had Leicas/DSLRs. By the way, not in the survey, but did many of you get the A7/A7r only to skip native lenses completely and play with adapters?

I still don't care for E mount lenses. Why restrain yourself when there is a world of incredible glass out there?

My A7 kit has four mounts - Mostly Leica Summiluxs, a Sony 135mm STF (A-mount), a 24mm TS-E (Canon EF) and a Nikon 200mm f4 AF-D (Nikon SLR). The freedom of simply choosing the cheapest or best-performing lens from a system is great. The Canon 24 shift is cheaper than the Nikon, and the 200 macro AF-D is simply the best long macro mankind has ever made 😀

 

[whited3]

F inally
A cquired
R equired
T oy

Is that relevant?

 

[whited3]

perhaps that's why. I've been DSLR free for over a year now when my only digital cameras were the X100s, X-Pro1 and the GR
my transition from the 5DII to the Fuji cameras was an eye opener for me, to realize that I don't need big expensive DSLRs to take pictures

Yeah, my A7 is your Fuji/Ricoh

 

[Godfrey]

Agreed, and adding zeros. This thing is just too fun in a GASsy way. I'm salivating over all sorts of lenses I never cared about when I only had Leicas/DSLRs. By the way, not in the survey, but did many of you get the A7/A7r only to skip native lenses completely and play with adapters?

I bought an A7 body and Novoflex NEX/LER, NEX/NIK, NEX/LEM adapters. That's all I need ... I have ten Leica R lenses from 19 to 180mm focal length that are what I use most, and five Nikkor SLR lenses (18, 50/1.2, 55 Macro, 85/1.8, 105 Macro) that are reasonable specialty use.

The NEX/LEM adapter was something of a waste as most of my M-mount lenses don't perform particularly well on the A7 sensor, but the M-Rokkors (40 and 90) and Hektor-M 135mm do work well; so does my Skink pinhole.

No need at all for the Sony FE lenses ... this kit is more than just good enough.

G

 

[jsrockit]

congrats! time to buy some adapters now

Thanks. I might not... I prefer native AF lenses most of the time. It's weird, but I only like mechanical rangefinders for manual focus. However, some cheap adapters for the lenses I have laying around might be ok to dabble in.

 

[kxl]

Thanks. I might not... I prefer native AF lenses most of the time. It's weird, but I only like mechanical rangefinders for manual focus. However, some cheap adapters for the lenses I have laying around might be ok to dabble in.

Welcome to the club. I'm with you re: using native lenses, especially after a couple of weeks with the Zeiss 55mm/1.8 FE... I'd love to see in the near future a Zeiss 28/1.8 and 85/1.8 that mirror this performance.

However, I do have M, F and FD adapters... just because I can.

 

[enero]

I just bought an A7 a few days ago. And so far I'm loving it!

Ive been on the fence about this camera since it was announced. I had switched from Sony to Fujifilm (And DSLR's for that matter) shortly after the first firmware update for the Xpro1 and never looked back. Hype does nothing for me, I'm not a pixel counter, or care about AF speeds. I just want it to work (for me). Especially the EVF. I have pretty bad farsightedness, and my problem seem to be right at the mark where I need to focus (RF or Prism). A good EVF was very important to me. So I waited to hear what everyone thought. Then they announced the Fujifilm X-T1. All the gushing surrounding the X-T1's EVF caught my attention, and I all but stopped thinking about the A7. I was ready to buy the X-T1 sight unseen, but then the whole light leak BS started and Fuji stopped shipping. I was S@#t out of luck. At least thats what I thought.... one day on a whim I stopped into Adorama, and decided to play with both the X-T1 and A7 side by side with a Nikon lens I had attached to my XE1. And boy was I happy I did that. I spent about 20 minutes comparing both EVFs and came to the conclusion that the X-T1's hype regarding it's "magical" EVF was a giant heaping pile of BS (at least from what I could conclude with just 20 mins of play time). I found both EVF's very similar. But in regards to refresh and contrast, the A7's EVF beat out the Fuji's. I played with both camera's setting for a long time. I couldn't get the Fuji's to be better than the Sony's. Refresh was noticeably slower than the A7, and both EVF's were similar enough in size that it really didnt matter. The Fuji's EVF had a yellow tint to it that I couldnt figure out how to get rid of, even turning off AWB didnt help. Adorama is very brightly lit and even with the brightness turned all the way up, it was still muddy and flat. The experience was quite refreshing and made me feel good that I didnt just listen to all the reviews and buy something I hadn't touched.

So with all the discounts and freebies that Adorama offered, I bought the A7 for just a hair more than what I would have paid for the X-T1 and I'm feeling pretty great about it!

I'm a bit annoyed about having 2 systems instead of just one now. But as long as the A7 keeps me happy.... I still love my XE1 and will keep it. Though it probably wont get much use anymore, unless my Lady gets over the camera size thing and uses it more often. OR maybe when spring comes it will go out for some minor surgery to give it the ability to shoot IR 🙂

 

[Godfrey]

Thanks. I might not... I prefer native AF lenses most of the time. It's weird, but I only like mechanical rangefinders for manual focus. However, some cheap adapters for the lenses I have laying around might be ok to dabble in.

I bought the camera specifically to use my R lenses, no interest in AF lenses. It's my predilection: been wanting a "Nikon FE2 in digital" camera since the digital universe happened. The A7 gives me that. 🙂

G

Sony A7 + Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4​

 

[whited3]

...decided to play with both the X-T1 and A7 side by side with a Nikon lens I had attached to my XE1. And boy was I happy I did that.

Man I would have loved to hear this before I bought the A7. Not that it would have changed the outcome. I had been assuming the X-T1 vf was way better.

 

[aeturnum]

Had my A7 since december, mostly used with M and X-Pan lenses (anyone who owns an X-Pan, the lenses are stellar on the A7). Bought it to pare down the lens mounts I own (previously owned and loved a fuji x-series camera).

It's a great tool, and the photos I get from it are fantastic, but I agree with others that there is no "magic" in the camera. It's a tool and a damned good one at that, but I doubt it will ever replace a rangefinder (or even my X-Pro) in my heart.

 

[jsrockit]

I bought the camera specifically to use my R lenses, no interest in AF lenses. It's my predilection: been wanting a "Nikon FE2 in digital" camera since the digital universe happened. The A7 gives me that. 🙂

I would imagine many R lens owners feel the same way Godfrey. It just makes sense to me.

 

[bwcolor]

Wow.. much better than I expected

Wow.. much better than I expected

I'm coming from using a NEX-7, NEX-6, X100s, 1DMKIII and a bunch of rangefinders. I was expecting to be wearing earplugs, tearing my hair out in low light and going out for a bite to eat while waiting for the A7 to turn on. The shutter was rather tame. Now, it wasn't a leaf shutter, but just another full frame focal plane shutter, but without the mirror. The camera started in two seconds before the update and low light focusing was better than all the cameras above excepting the Canon. Daylight focusing is downright fast. My only grip(e) is that the camera, even with the vertical grip isn't that comfortable. The grips are just too narrow... not enough girth. The 1DMKIII is much more comfortable, but of course it is heavy. Anyway, seems like a great camera. Can't wait to try a lot of legacy glass on the camera. So far, I've only been using the native 55mm.

 

[kxl]

I'm coming from using a NEX-7, NEX-6, X100s, 1DMKIII and a bunch of rangefinders. I was expecting to be wearing earplugs, tearing my hair out in low light and going out for a bite to eat while waiting for the A7 to turn on. The shutter was rather tame. Now, it wasn't a leaf shutter, but just another full frame focal plane shutter, but without the mirror. The camera started in two seconds before the update and low light focusing was better than all the cameras above excepting the Canon. Daylight focusing is downright fast. My only grip(e) is that the camera, even with the vertical grip isn't that comfortable. The grips are just too narrow... not enough girth. The 1DMKIII is much more comfortable, but of course it is heavy. Anyway, seems like a great camera. Can't wait to try a lot of legacy glass on the camera. So far, I've only been using the native 55mm.

Congrats!!! I have the same combo. I had the same gripe about the ergonomics, but the Sony grip does improve things a bit for me..

 

[uhoh7]

Funny, I find the A7 very comfortable in the hand, much more than the M9, but the shutter (even non-R) puts birds to flight at 20 yards, and has no "feel" at all.

Of course it's not a game ender for me. But you have to wonder......really? You could make a nicer feeling quieter shutter? Maybe even some threads for a soft release thingy?

But it's a very nice camera and a big step forward in our choices.

And to be fair, I was out today with the M9 trying to focus my canon 100/2 with that tiny patch......at f/2 LOL...overcast...drizzle....


slow down!

 

[bwcolor]

I think that hand size has a lot to do with grip comfort. I had the vertical grip on prior to turning on the camera. This might have also tamed the shutter sound.