Sony a-mount zeiss primes on fs700 & A7sII

I

ianthom

Active member
Hi all,I run a sony fs700 with the 7q and an a sony a7s (possiblly an A7sII soon) and have been been looking around for a basic set of primes (been using a few sony e-mounts) and had been looking at the loxia range (particularly with the new wide angle coming) or some rokinon's. I have come across a great deal on a set of sony zeiss a-mount lenses (24 2.0, 50 1.4, 85 1.4) and was wondering if anyone had used these lenses with either the ea-4 or ea-3 adaptors on these cameras. Interested in auto focus ability, how the crop feels, any issues with the adaptor, and of course all round quality :) any thoughts or forum links (my google dvx kung fu is not so strong)Thanks in advance!
 
I didn't read you mentioned the loxia so i had replied about the planar lenses i have and now deleted that part.....I have no idea about the loxia

Af for video, pretty sure it can't be any good . Leave my last comment maybe of some use to you

samyang lenses are excellent 35/14/135 and alright 85/24 and very reasonably priced
 
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ianthom said:
Hi all,I run a sony fs700 with the 7q and an a sony a7s (possiblly an A7sII soon) and have been been looking around for a basic set of primes (been using a few sony e-mounts) and had been looking at the loxia range (particularly with the new wide angle coming) or some rokinon's. I have come across a great deal on a set of sony zeiss a-mount lenses (24 2.0, 50 1.4, 85 1.4) and was wondering if anyone had used these lenses with either the ea-4 or ea-3 adaptors on these cameras. Interested in auto focus ability, how the crop feels, any issues with the adaptor, and of course all round quality :) any thoughts or forum links (my google dvx kung fu is not so strong)Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I use both e-mount and a-mount lenses on the A7s, A7sII and A7rII cameras. I have both the LA EA3 and LA EA4 adapters.
I will try to summarize:
1) The LA EA3 adapter will provide AF for stills only with newer a-mount lenses (not screw drive AF older ones) and only on the A7r II camera.
2) The LA EA4 adapter will provide good AF (using it's own mechanism not the camera one) for stills with all a mount lenses and on all e-mount cameras.
3) The LA EA4 adapter has good AF even for video on e mount cameras, however it is a no go, because:
a) you loose control on the aperture and on shutter speed and these change continuously driven by the camera and
b) maximum aperture value is f 3.2 and you cannot open further, even if you have an f 1.4 lens....
However, you can do manual focus flawlessly with both adapters for video.

Strangely enough, the new lineup of Sony E-mount lenses is good for AF in video, but suck in manual focus because of the fly by wire focus.
I still tend to pick A-mount lenses because it is a more complete lens line up, and because they give good enough AF for stills and good manual focus feel for video.
Good luck ;)
 
kostas said:
I use both e-mount and a-mount lenses on the A7s, A7sII and A7rII cameras. I have both the LA EA3 and LA EA4 adapters.
I will try to summarize:
1) The LA EA3 adapter will provide AF for stills only with newer a-mount lenses (not screw drive AF older ones) and only on the A7r II camera.
2) The LA EA4 adapter will provide good AF (using it's own mechanism not the camera one) for stills with all a mount lenses and on all e-mount cameras.
3) The LA EA4 adapter has good AF even for video on e mount cameras, however it is a no go, because:
a) you loose control on the aperture and on shutter speed and these change continuously driven by the camera and
b) maximum aperture value is f 3.2 and you cannot open further, even if you have an f 1.4 lens....
However, you can do manual focus flawlessly with both adapters for video.

Strangely enough, the new lineup of Sony E-mount lenses is good for AF in video, but suck in manual focus because of the fly by wire focus.
I still tend to pick A-mount lenses because it is a more complete lens line up, and because they give good enough AF for stills and good manual focus feel for video.
Good luck ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, great run down-another factor when weighing up the a7sII against the a7rii then....
i have heard the a7sII will focus with the ea-3, it just pretty slow.....
 
I believe with the LA-EA4 the maximum aperture is limited to f/3.5 (not f/3.2) when autofocus enabled and shooting video. If the maximum aperture of the lens is higher than f/3.5 (for example, f/4 or f/5.6) then the maximum lens aperture is used instead.

Also, the inability to set the shutter speed in when video autofocus is enabled with the LA-EA4 only seems to be a limitation on the A7 series cameras. You can still set the shutter speed on the FS700 when using the adapter.
 
kostas said:
1) The LA EA3 adapter will provide AF for stills only with newer a-mount lenses (not screw drive AF older ones) and only on the A7r II camera.
Good luck ;)
Click to expand...

can you confirm two things for me? Firstly that the A7SII will not auto focus with the ea-3 at all (even just stills) and secondly that the A7RII won't auto focus in video mode at all?
thanks mate
 
There is a brief test of video autofocus on the A7RII in this video. First with E-Mount lenses, then with an A-Mount lens:
https://youtu.be/IjJxnIQcJDA?t=897

It sounds like in video mode with the LA-EA3 only contrast detection autofocus is used, and with A-mount lenses designed for phase detection this ends up being too slow for most applications.

Considering that the A7SII only has contrast detection autofocus support to begin with, I wouldn't be surprised if things are similar there. I would expect it to work with the LA-EA3, but for the autofocus performance to be very slow. At least that was the case with earlier cameras in the A7 line.
 
I'm using A-mount Minolta primes mostly and prefer them over the newer lenses. They're less contrasty, a bit softer wide-open and look more old-school and film-like to me. (which is right up my alley)

True story: I bought the Sony Zeiss 55mm 1.8 and was using it as my mid-range lens for a couple months. It was sharp as hell but contrasty and very video-ish looking. One night I pulled my cheap $50 Minolta 50mm 1.7 out of a storage box and took a look through the viewfinder. Whoa. I'd forgotten the colors, the overall look of that lens. I didn't even need to record anything. I put the Sony Zeiss on sale within 15 minutes and it sold the next day. No regrets whatsoever.

I've since upgraded to the 50mm f1.4 (it's worth the difference)

I got all of these off ebay from Japan. All excellent or mint condition. I prefer the original style over "restyled" versions. The colors all match perfectly. The "G" versions? I don't like the colors. (sorry G fans ):beer: I don't have the 85mm because the 100mm is close enough so far. Maybe I'll buy it anyway.

All of these can be had for a fraction of Sony/Zeiss.

20mm f2.8--sharp but (naturally) lots of distortion and rarely used except for landscapes
24mm f2.8--not as sharp as it should be but good stopped down
28mm f2--perfectly sharp at f2, the go-to wide angle for me.
35mm f1.4--expensive, rare, golden, heavy, 3D effect on subjects with bokeh
50mm f1.4--the 3D crusher for me, golden
100mm f2--expensive, bokeh heaven, great close-ups for 2.35:1 aspect ratio, this can do long focus-pulls on AF
70-210mm f4 beercan--soft at f4 but sharp at 5.6 plus killer colors and bokeh
50mm f2.8 macro--super sharp but strange bokeh
 
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