This is a Guest post from Guest post from Austrokiwi (first posted on SonyAlphaForum).
I read with amusement the complains of those who say there are not enough lenses for the sony FF e-mount system. I get the impression the people who complain about the lack of lenses are;
- Just envious Nikon and canon owners who are looking at a means to knock the mirrorless revolution. Perhaps they just want to sound intelligent when saying they will not switch to mirrorless.
- Professionals who tend to blame their tool and simply lack the old analogue skills. ( they are technicians rather than artists)
I,m an amateur so I guess the pros will say the A7r is made for me!!! That’s not to say the camera isn’t without its frustrations. I take macro photos and that shutter has me saying lots of naughty words at times. Lets hope there is an A7RII or the A9 with an EFCS as well as the IBIS.
I use a range of lenses on the A7r, Old minolta legacy lenses an EOS mount Petzval( thank you Lomography) as well as microscope objectives and enlarger lenses. For my macro photography I wanted a tilt shift system. Of course I wanted a wide angle Tilt shift as well . The compromise was to order a Mirex Tilt shift adapter ( A truly simple effective piece of engineering). Following the some discussions with the manufacturer( I had started out thinking the Mirex would be best as a M42 mount) I settled on a Mirex Mamiya 645 -EOS adapter which of course is fitted to the A7r via an EOS – Nex adapter. The result isn’t beautiful but the results are. I then purchased two Mamiya 645 lenses a 35mm wide angle and the 80mm macro. Heres a shot of the 80mm macro in action:
This is the sort of picture it produces:
The 35mm ( Mamiya Sekor C 35mm F 3.5 N) produced this test panorama:
And with the tilt function:
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50 Responses
Not everyone is an artfag.
People want native lenses for the autofocus. Maybe you don’t care about AF but a lot of people do and it’s a legitimate complaint.
Excellent review.
I’m using the Mirex A-Mount TS adapter and it works great on a99. Plus the fully articulating lcd helps a lot with low angle vertical compositions. The Mirex A-Mount adapter bumps the prism hump of Sony a900 when rise shift on horizontal composition is applied. But a99 is clear in every direction.
Mamiya lenses are built well and a pleasure to use with EVF. A nice alternative to Samyangs.
The Mamiya 55mm 2.8 is really nice one stop down.
The Mamiya 80/1.8 is excellent from f2.8. Great with ring light flash because of that huge focus ring..
Mamiya 120 macro is a beautiful tele with great ergo… almost as sharp as the Minolta 100mac.
Mamiya 150/2.8 is an APO lens and extremely sharp. Almost in the same league with Minolta 200/2.8… almost but not quite. Better than 70-200/2.8 at 150mm. Built in shade very convenient.
Bla, bla, bla.
A Rose by any other name trolls as sweet.
Really good review.
The maximum possible (real) resolution for FF. 🙂
Considering the hugh image circle of MF you may reach by stitching images with a true 80MP.
For a while I am making my mind about TS with my A7R/II. When it comes down to quality solutions it is getting expensive.
The only native solution was so far the Walimex (Samyang), but this is rather mediocre.
Now there is the Hartblei HCAM TS WA Zoom for about 3.500 € (this is an adapted Nikon 14-24 via Mirex TS adapter)
FF; Metabones IV with Canon TS-E24 II is about 2.300 €
FF; LA-EA4 with Schneider Super Angulon is about 4.000 €
The MF lens solutions are not much cheaper.
Mirex has two adapters, a pure shift and a TS, cost about 320/400 €.
A good 645 lens is the 35/2,8 – new about 2.200 €
There is also Zörk with a quality adapter, it’s about 450 €
So either way it would be at least 2.300 for the Canon solution. My favorite would be the Schneider. But as of unfortunately not earning money with photography these prices are not reasonable for my use case.
The Mamiya lenses are quite cheap.
The 35/3.5 is new about 2.600 €.
Are Mamiya lenses cheaper when used compared to other lenses?
Actually you can get it for 400 dollars in Jersey.
You’re thinking the AF version. The MF original sells used for under $300. Here’s one for $240.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAMIYA-SEKOR-C-35-MM-1-3-5-N-FOR-MAMIYA-645-from-Japan-/141584476823?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f717aa97
Send me two.
Schneider was merged with Cocacola
Sure we are talking about “Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH; Geschäftsbereich Foto”?
There is no such thing as “mirrorless revolution”. What can mirrorless camera do that a DSLR cannot do?
WHERE IS A MIRRORLESS WITH BUILT-IN TILT/SHIFT?
i want a fucking adapter that has tilt-shift incorporated, EPIC
The question should be put the other way around: what can a DSLR do that a mirrorless cannot. Well, today there are some advantages: marginally better AF and battery-life, better selection of pro-grade tools. The autofocus on DSLRs isn’t getting much better any more, the battery-life on mirrorless improves by each model and there is much better selection of tools coming all the time.
The advantages and POTENTIAL in mirrorless however is outweighing the disadvantages easily in not so distant feature: EVF, no back-focus -issues, more sophisticated and advanced features (the sensor data can be analyzed for AF etc), lower manufacturing price, just to name a few…
Nah. The dude was talking about “mirrorless revolution”.
I have NEX-5N and it often displays back-focus issue in lowlight too. (latest firmware)
>lower manufacturing price
manufacturers enjoy that, but not users: retail prices for e.g. A3000 and 1100D are the same. But lenses for mirrorless are much more expensive!
Get a clue.
“Marginally better AF” in modern DSLRs beats the shit out of any “fastest AF in the world a6000-like claims”. Seriously, go and try out. Mirrorless is nowhere there yet. And AF in DSLRs is improving significantly, go and compare how much better Nikon D750 AF is compared to older D800, for example.
“Marginally better batter life” corresponds to four times or so longer battery life.
OVF vs EVF is a matter of preference, but EVFs of today still have terrible lag in low light.
Once mirrorless fixes all it’s AF and battery life issues, most pro shooters will be asking for mirrorless tech inside a 1DX/5D3 type body rather than something small.
That’s the real future for pro photography to me, a mirrorless 1DX.
This is not serious, is it? a) be small, b) use a viewfinder while video recording or to playback pictures/videos (good in sunlight), c) adapt any DSLR lens without optical disadvantages, d) complete silent shooting, …
a) A7 is larger than a classic film SLR
b) DSLR can have that too, via LCD loupe or add-on EVF.
but A3000/A3500 doesn’t allow you playback via EVF.
d) most mirrorless cameras still have noisy focal plane shutter.
A7 is not larger than a classic film SLR. Next to my Minolta AF 9000 and Canon A-1, A7 is definitely smaller.
ehh…. cameras don’t have built-in tilt & shift, lenses do.
http://harrysproshop.com/Hasselblad_Flex/hasselblad_flex.html
Oh boy… probably best not to comment if you don’t know what you’re talking about…
http://www.mirex-adapter.com
Nice results! I’ve been playing with similar stuff, using Nikon lenses and a Kipon tilt/shift adapter with my A6000. I was considering using Mamiya 645 lenses for longer focal lengths. At first, I wanted to find a MF lens that would be a really wide angle for APS-C sensors as well, but couldn’t find anything remotely close as what full-frame Nikon could offer me.
I ended up using a Sigma EX DG 12-24, which works pretty decently from 15-20mm if stopped down. I also want to get a fast 24mm.
Dedicate to photographers interested in shift, I love my A7r with Zuiko OM 35mm shift: not expensive, vertical and horizontal large enough shift, useful not only for panoramics but also to cut out from the FF ground, sky or other things for better fast composition. No screw, just one finger shift. There is also the 24mm Zuiko OM version, more expensive, but beatiful, I’m assuming. Up to me Tilt is to focus oblique plans, not to de-focus.
Let the oblique be oblique, my friend.
Let the eagle fly, my dear
I am wondering if anyone here has some real life experience with the samyang 24mm TS lens. Since it’s not the most expensive one, I suppose it’s not that good…. on the other hand, Samyang produces some very good but inexpensive lenses too…
Not good. You might as well buy a yongnuo 50mm
Borrowed it from a friend for a weekend and the knobs were nearly impossible to use and didn’t hold the position at all. Could’ve been a lemon but you instantly see and feel the difference in build quality vs. Canon. The images were just OK, but I’m not a TS shooter, so could’ve been lack of experience.
For goodness’ sake – that 80mm built for MEDIUM FORMAT actually looks smaller than the new Sony 90mm and even 35 1.4, by the looks. What is the point of developing a compact FF system and designing lenses the size of a small telescope to stick on it, I ask you? Sony lens designers need to call Leica for some lessons in how to design great, fast lenses which are small enough for a compact FF 35mm system, don’t they?
I hoped I’d never need to go back to a FF DSLR once the A7 series came out, but seriously, the weight/size difference considering the developing lens range and the A7ii body isn’t big enough for me to outweigh (no pun intended) the downsides which the Sony FF cameras still have. Nothing here to tempt me away from my brilliant E-M1, at all.
Start comparing apples to apples. Comparing no-IS, no-AF lenses to to ones with AF (and IS in some cases) just does not make any sense. Where do you think the AF and IS come from? Fairy dust? They have to put a plethora of motors around the lens itself, so of course they are gonna be bigger. If you want tiny, get yourself a Loxia.
Wait till you try large format lenses. Most of them, in equivalent speeds/angles of view, are tiny, in comparison to the lenses they approximate.
I use similar Mirex adaptor but using pentax 645 lenses on A7. exceptional good result, especially with the Pentax 645 FA 120mm Macro, achieve 1:1 easily. Also I can add shift tilt to all my pentax 645 lenses.
I want it in camera. With works together with AF.
I nearly ordered a mirex adapter for an a99 but then the a7r was released allowing easy adaptation of canon t-s lenses.
Austokiwi, why did you select the EF mount over the more universal m42?
Anton likey the metro tilt shift photo
The train picture was made in Vienna !
What a lovely usage of mirrorless tech. Great, aspirational post.
Good work! That is really interesting, I have looked at TS adapters in the past but appear to have missed this possibility. Where did you purchase the adapter? I found what I think is their site but only in German which won’t work for me.
Nice work, inspired and inspiring. I think you could of held off on criticizing those who criticize Sony for not having enough lenses. If you’re a pro you often need to work fast and get it right no time for being patient or dawdling. In that arena Canonikon get it right and you can worry about everything else. I have like 10 million lenses I adapt to my A7s..(just call me Mr Adapter), but when I have a job 99% of the time it’s the Sony 35mm 2.8 or the 55 or I rent the zooms. I do wish Sony Zeiss offered a 24mm (fast would be good!) and and 85mm, and a 50 macro…that is all I ask.
After seeing your work I’m tempted to go get that adapter and some pentax lenses but I think I have enough…kudos to you
Old Minolta MD lenses for the win.
“Perhaps they just want to sound intelligent” “I,m an amateur” so perhaps you are not the one who should judge people, perhaps it is you who is trying to sound intelligent but in reality have no idea what it means to be a photographer. Admin should not have posted this as a guest post without giving you the option to edit it into a little more intelligent post. eoshd is very good at writing this kind of personal opinion crap without understand wtf he is talking about, one of the reasons to come here was the lack of stupid uninformed opinions… in the posts. Sadly the comment section is full of them.
Mamiya lenses are nice, I have pretty much all of them except for the 300mm, including a big collection of Nikon AIS and Canon EF, so yes I like the idea of lens adapters, but it doesn’t mean compared to my 5DIII andD800 there isn’t a massive hole in the lens department you can’t fill with an adapted lens.
Boring. You can do the same with Canon + a mirex adapter (www.mirex-adaptor.com). I do it sometimes, and miniatures are just the dumbest thing you can do with tilt and shift. Mamiya lenses are very decent and have a very “relaxed” rendering, the details are there but they don’t scream at your face.
That domain doesn’t resolve for me BTW, I found the german page (.de of the same) but was hoping for english language one. Isn’t he using the exact adapter you are talking about then adapting that to sony? I think regardless of ones feelings on miniatures they do make a dramatic visual statement that you are using a TS which seems somewhat appropriate for this kind of article, which is about how to get lenses that do not exist natively onto a sony.
Just so that the self-proclaimed amateur tester knows, the 35 is probably the worst Mamiya lens. I have no doubts you are an amateur, which is neither good nor bad; but you are a bad one, which matters. Also the 80 macro is mediocre, and the 80/1.9. Try the simple 80/2.8 or the 120/4 macro.
Let’s see your review Yawn, and what you self proclaim.
What copy stand is that?