I could not help myself......

[gnwatts]

I have always been a Canon guy, with a short detour with a Panasonic 1st gen DMC, so I shocked myself (and my spouse) when I drank the megapixel coolaid and bought a Sony A7R, the body that fits (almost) in your pocket. 36 megapixels!
The cool thing is that Metabones makes a great adapter for my Canon glass, so I don't have to invest in some Zeiss lenses. But the Zeiss 55mm 1.8 is calling me..........
I will post a review of sorts when I have had a chance to work with it.

 

[steve]

Congrats. I'm more than a little jeaous, I've had my eye on an A7S. Full frame mirrorless, that's a great camera there.

 

[Nick]

Traitor!

Interested to hear your thoughts on it.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

I just had to order a new camera yesterday and looked into the Sony myself. But I'm not ready to replace my main camera and jump right into the Sony, so I decided to hold off for now. I may get one to try alongside my Canon in the future, but I couldn't afford two new cameras right now...

 

[steve]

what did you get randy?

 

[IntrepidXJ]

what did you get randy?

Another 6D

 

[Bob]

Good thing you guys like the photog end of things......no way I'd justify that much for a camera. But I don't try to make $ with them either, just photos for myself which my $300 Pano does just fine.

We expect some great pics from you guys with new gear

 

[andyjaggy]

I'm a big fan of my Sony mirrorless. Honestly no matter what you get these days it's going to be great. It's ridiculous the quality of cameras these days, that even 10 years ago would have cost tens of thousands of dollars, if they even existed.

 

[John Goering]

Good thing you guys like the photog end of things......no way I'd justify that much for a camera. But I don't try to make $ with them either, just photos for myself which my $300 Pano does just fine.

We expect some great pics from you guys with new gear

Yep, in the same camp. Love looking at the photos on here but don't have that kind of gear and have no plans to add a tripod to my pack. Have to admit when I saw Canon's first aborted mirrorless attempt that could use FD lens' I was pretty hyped though. Still have some expensive glass in some of those.

 

[gnwatts]

Yikes!
Canon steps up!

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/74...-5ds-r-announced-with-50mp-full-frame-sensors

Same (mostly) 5d body and internals. I was after something smaller with the Sony, and a different system.
Maybe I will sell my old 1ds and 5d's to get this baby.
Next year.

 

[andyjaggy]

The Sony still has much cleaner shadows and more dynamic range, if that matters to you.

 

[gnwatts]

The Sony still has much cleaner shadows and more dynamic range, if that matters to you.

Absolutely. One of my major complaints with my 5DII is the difficulty in getting usable detail from shadowed areas, with landscapes and architecture. My hope is to get an additional stop in the shadows with the A7R.
One issue I have read about (A7R) is the shutter vibration between 1/60th and 1/100th/sec., seems like a stupid issue to deal with on such an advanced camera, even on a tripod. Luckily those are not shutter speeds I use too often.

 

[gnwatts]

Got the body a few days ago. Man is it small, and light. Amazing they could fit it all in.
First impressions are it is a finely built, solid camera. The Metabones adaptor for L Canon glass fits snug, and it is also well made.
The auto focus, as expected, on my Canon glass with adapter, is pretty slow. Interesting to see how my Canon 70-200mm will work, with me sitting in my canoe, blasted out of my head, trying to hold a beer. That is the ultimate test.

I am in real trouble now. Just ordered the Zeiss 55mm 1.8. I will get it on Thursday. Divorce hearing on friday.

 

[steve]

Awesome. I've heard about a lot of guys dropping their canon gear in favor of the Sony and they love it.

 

[steve]

How are you liking this camera? I'm soooo close to getting an A7s for video work, but I have a couple concerns, and I'd love your input. I realize using one of these for video is a completely different tool than for stills, but I'd still love to hear your take.

my concerns (all based off what I've read online, no actual experience here):
- fly by wire manual focus on sony lenses. Makes focus rings unusable for video.
- no selfie mode with LCD screen. It sounds stupid, but when I'm shooting documentary stuff with only me or my wife, with nobody else around to film, it's sure nice to be able to set up the shot and make sure my entire face is in frame.
- no touch screen. I can live without that, though I definitely prefer touch screens
- how's your battery life?
- I've heard it has slow AF. I'm used to slow AF with my EOS M and T3i, but the new panasonics and the a6000 are stupid fast
- lens selection and price. I don't have a huge EF lens collection. I'm willing to ditch all my lenses for zeiss lenses if they did what I needed them to. I need a good 50mm prime, which I can find, but I also need a fast wide angle lens (in the 15mm range). I'm torn between buying canon glass and getting an adapter, or just going with sony lenses...

Despite all these little niggles, there are so many things I love about this camera (especially its low-light performance, DOF, and wide view with the full frame sensor). I have no clue why Nikon and Canon haven't made a full-frame mirrorless camera in a small form factor yet. Us video nerds would jump on it so fast. It seems like ver few people shoot canon DSLR for video. C100, C300, and C500 yes, but not the DSLRs anymore. Panasonic has it going on right now. If the Panasonic GH4 or G7 had a bigger brother with a full frame sensor and in-camera IS, It'd be the perfect camera for me.

 

[gnwatts]

How are you liking this camera? I'm soooo close to getting an A7s for video work, but I have a couple concerns, and I'd love your input. I realize using one of these for video is a completely different tool than for stills, but I'd still love to hear your take.

my concerns (all based off what I've read online, no actual experience here):
- fly by wire manual focus on sony lenses. Makes focus rings unusable for video.
- no selfie mode with LCD screen. It sounds stupid, but when I'm shooting documentary stuff with only me or my wife, with nobody else around to film, it's sure nice to be able to set up the shot and make sure my entire face is in frame.
- no touch screen. I can live without that, though I definitely prefer touch screens
- how's your battery life?
- I've heard it has slow AF. I'm used to slow AF with my EOS M and T3i, but the new panasonics and the a6000 are stupid fast
- lens selection and price. I don't have a huge EF lens collection. I'm willing to ditch all my lenses for zeiss lenses if they did what I needed them to. I need a good 50mm prime, which I can find, but I also need a fast wide angle lens (in the 15mm range). I'm torn between buying canon glass and getting an adapter, or just going with sony lenses...

Despite all these little niggles, there are so many things I love about this camera (especially its low-light performance, DOF, and wide view with the full frame sensor). I have no clue why Nikon and Canon haven't made a full-frame mirrorless camera in a small form factor yet. Us video nerds would jump on it so fast. It seems like ver few people shoot canon DSLR for video. C100, C300, and C500 yes, but not the DSLRs anymore. Panasonic has it going on right now. If the Panasonic GH4 or G7 had a bigger brother with a full frame sensor and in-camera IS, It'd be the perfect camera for me.

I have used the camera off tripod and on, with all of my Canon L lenses, and the Zeiss 55mm. I have not shot any video on it, so unfortunately I cannot help there. Simply stated the camera is capable of incredible images, if you avoid it's limitations.

I actually love the manual focus, with it's Focus Peaking setting, that highlights areas as they come into focus. The AF is hit or miss. I tested it with the Zeiss and it focuses fairly quickly, I don't think it is as fast as my 5DII though. With my Canon 70-200mm with the Metabones IV adapter AF sucks, very slow. No way I can use it in my canoe (no Image Stabilization, even on the Zeiss!), moving around, hand held etc. Using the 70-200mm on a tripod I am noticing the dreaded vibration from my shutter below speeds of 1/125 and above 1/60. It is hard to see, you have to really zoom in but it is there. No vibrations at all with the Canon 17mm, 24mm and the Zeiss 55mm. I have heard that the addition of the battery pack will limit or eliminate the vibration. That is next on my list for sure, because the batteries are small, and do not last long. Sorry I am not being more scientific here, but I bought 5 extra batteries, as they are necessary if i am on a 4 day river trip.
As I am always on a tripod when I shoot architecture this camera is perfect. Huge sensor, brilliant colors and details, and I always use the screen magnification to check focusing. I also took it to Dominguez canyon backpacking, shot a lot of hand held (using AF on the 55mm) shots with a higher shutter speed and never had a vibration issue, very sharp as long as i was above 1/125 second. On my next canoe trip I will have the 5DII also for hand held shots from the water.

As far as lenses, and the adapters, both my 17mm and the 24mm TS-E are very sharp with the Metabones adapter, as long as i don't shift it too much. These lenses are MF. The 55mm is the sharpest lens I have ever owned. I have heard the 35mm is equally as sharp, and more affordable.
Sorry I can't help you about the video aspects, although I read a few reviews from a movie making point of view and the reviews were mixed.

 

[steve]

Thanks Greg, I really appreciate it. I played with an A7s today at lunch, and I much prefer the feel of the A7II. I don't know if there's any truth to it, but the guy there said we should see an a7s II (and probably an A7r II) in October. Basically an internally stabilized A7s and A7r. That'd be pretty cool.

 

[gnwatts]

If they can solve the issues with the A7r it could be a revolutionary camera body.
Congrats on the 6D Steve. You have inspired me to fool around with the video on my 5DII.

 

[steve]

The 6d isn't super sharp, but the low light sensitivity is nice. I'd still rather have an A7s and a GH4, but both are out of my budget. Down the road I imagine I'll have a low light camera like the a7s, and a 4k camera like the gh4 or a G7.

 

[gnwatts]

Yeah, $2500 is a lot of money for an A7s. The low light images I have seen with this camera are amazing. I believe it has 4K video capabilities too.
Sony has been saying for a long time that the A7RII is coming, enough people have complained about issues that should not be found in a camera of that price range. There is even a way to solve the shutter vibration issue with a firmware update, but Sony refuses to even acknowledge there is an issue! Bastards.