The smallest, yet the most versatile lens for A7S/R2

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puzzlevideo

Member
Hello,
As said on the title I'm questioning myself about the perfect small lens that would fit a A7r2.
I was so bored to walk around with big DSLR such as 5D, that I'm happy to finally use a Sony a7r2
But I can't find the right lens. I'm looking toward a Leica prime such as the 24 or the 28. But I was hoping to find a more versatile lens, such as a zoom.

I don't really care about the quality of the lens, it could be a piece of plastic or a high end lens I don't mind. Im fully equipped with lenses, so either my new lens will only be used as personal material, or it will join my army of professional equipment.


Do you guys have any lens you really like to take with you everywhere that is compacted and light weight?
 
Sony FE 28 f2.0 is what I use. Silly how lightweight and inexpensive it is but also very sharp, and it always helps to have a real FE lens with fast AF since I use it as my main casual stills lens and as my go-to gimbal lens. If you don't need the stop the kit 28-70 lens isn't bad either. You won't find a more lightweight option for the a7sii since those lenses weigh less than some lens adapters and an A7R2 with one of those lenses still basically weighs less than a 5D body with no lens or a Canon L lens with no body.
 
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But I was hoping to find a more versatile lens, such as a zoom.
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If I were going on vacation, sight-seeing or the zoo and wanted a "take anywhere" lens it would be the Sony 18-200mm power zoom. It's a little heavy but super sharp, huge focal range, e-mount, auto focus and 3 zoom speeds. It's APS-C only and if you don't mind the super video-ish look it has, it's great. They're about $600 used.

Forgot to mention it has a built-in stabilizer that really works well for those who need that.
 
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Viscount Omega said:
If I were going on vacation, sight-seeing or the zoo and wanted a "take anywhere" lens it would be the Sony 18-200mm power zoom. It's a little heavy but super sharp, huge focal range, e-mount, auto focus and 3 zoom speeds. It's APS-C only and if you don't mind the super video-ish look it has, it's great. They're about $600 used.
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I think the Sony FE 24-240 would be better suited since it is full-frame. I would totally have that lens if I didn't need most of my glass to be canon mount full-frame for my speedbooster and other cameras, so I use the Tamron 28-300 VC in EF mount instead. I can't justify having too many or too expensive Sony FE lenses since their main value is in being lightweight and having good AF, but their MF focus-by-wire is tough for a lot of work.

Frankly if you already have a lot of other lenses, I doubt youll find much that really fits a special niche for the A7RII besides the 28 f2 FE, for everything else the lenses you have are probably better if you have a good set of pro lenses. Only other interesting options I can think of are the Sony Zeiss 35mm f2.8 which is the closest thing to a native pancake for the A7RII, or the Voigtlander 40 2.8 with adapter which is probably the smallest full frame lens you can get for the A7RII, however I can't vouch for either of those as I haven't used them.
 
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Yeah, but on vacation or the zoo I like the power zoom. Personal preference. I would probably get the Sony FE 24-240 if I cared more about having a filmic look. (Although really, neither do).
 
I just had a look at the 24-240 and the 18-200, oh boy those are exactly the kind of lens i try to avoid, due to there size, they might me versatile AND lightweight, but for this size i would prefer to have a prime zeiss.
Have you ever fell you DSLR hanging around at your hips moving everytime you take a step?

I cant stand it anymore, i'm looking for a lens prettye small.

In order of importance:
-small/compact
-discret
-...
-...
-...
-versatile
-sharp.


Actually i was hoping to find a more forgoten lens, you know , one from a unknown manufacturer or a very old one like a random voigtlanderfor instance like the ones on the videos below
https://youtu.be/oBOWZsHMIuU

https://youtu.be/NzsbHB0oHGo
 
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If you want small, that's the FE 35mm f/2.8. And yes, you can shoot a full short or documentary just on a 35mm (plus, in this case you can go to APS-C mode as well).

I've used the Leica Summicron-C 40mm f/2 and the Industar-61 55mm f/2.8, and they are nice in the center but, for my taste, too soft from mid-frame to corner.
 
Thank you Sam.
I just spent the day with the 35/2 leica M. I loved it. It's small and fast. Manual focus isn't really a problem imo.I can still achieve nice focus, but it takes longer. Thanks to peaking and extended focus. (Set up in high peak and C1 for extended focus)

However I love how small this set up is.1450738008721-659809329.jpg
 
I don't see the logic in your choice. Spending almost $3000 for a single 35mm lens to walk around with...to accomplish...what? I'd be bored in 5 minutes. A bag of primes I completely understand.
 
I can vouch for the 35 2.8

Tack sharp wide open and aps-c mode plus clear image zoom can make it go to 70mm while retaining prime sharpness.
This is the lens that flies on my handheld gimbal the most.
 
anyone mentioned The voigtlander 15 ...is very small.....not very versatile though
40mm pancake is small and more versatile and cheap

Not a lot of ff zooms that are small ..any suggestions? I am interested too ?

Get the sony rx 100 lol no need to think about lenses and you could smuggle it up your...you know. it;s that small haha
 
Rather than a single Leica get a bunch of voightlander primes. They're lovely lenses, pretty much all of them and as small as Leicas.

cheers
Paul
 
Samuel H said:
If you want small, that's the FE 35mm f/2.8. And yes, you can shoot a full short or documentary just on a 35mm (plus, in this case you can go to APS-C mode as well).
Click to expand...

I love this lense but, unfortunately, I barely use it for my run & gun sessions because it doesn't have image stabilization and all my footage ends up with micro jittering which I'm not keen fixing in post... I also see jittering when I use it on my gimbal (maybe I need to fine tune it). When I use it on a tripod or for photo shooting, I'm very pleased with a result.

PS I use it with my a7s; Maybe a7s II have some kind of internal image stabilization, so you won't have this issue.
 
The FE 35 2.8 works nicely with the stabilization available on the A7Sii or A7Rii. You wouldn't need to worry about microjitters. I would agree with others here though the FE 35 or FE 28 are the best native full frame options. The FE 28 is a bargain in my opinion and a bit more flexible with the extra range.
 
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