The Everyday Lens… Is it the FE Zeiss/Sony 24-70mm on the A7r?

At the top end of the full frame camera market, two distinguish themselves.  Both employ the same Sony  35.9 x 24.0mm sensor.  I’ve been fortunate to shoot each, the D800e & most recently the Sony A7r.  Is there an everyday lens for the Sony A7r?  (Is there really a non prime lens that is worth shooting at all? I wonder sometimes…)

There are many zooms, (15-35mm range, 24-70mm +/-) that perform well on the D800e.  Ratings from 28-33 on DXOmark).  It’s been my experience that any lens around 30 and higher is extremely good.  Over 40 is crazy good and is generally limited to primes.

When we get to the 18-24 megapixel market, it gets overwhelming.  Canon 5D mk III, Sony A7, Nikon D600, Sony A99 are some of the leaders in that arena.  There are many others.  The type of photography you do usually defines which camera is best.  There are plenty of the same lenses that perform well for these cameras, (high 20’s on DXOmark.)  Primes again are remarkable, some in the high 30’s.

Lens decisions are based largely on budget and needs.  Most people don’t utilize the kind of information the larger sensors produce.

There are a few snapshot aficionados who strive for exceptional reproductions that not only capture a moment, a mood, they invoke memories and fill us with exuberance. Beauty is paramount and we want every detail as insanely good as possible!

Zeiss Sony 24-70mm, Sony A7r, F11 @70mm

Zeiss 100 Makro Plannar, ZF.2 Novoflex adapter, Sony A7r, F11

Canon 5D mk III, sigma 85mm 1.4, F11

Sony A7r, FE Sony 70-200mm, F11 @70mm

Is the new Zeiss-Sony FE 24-70mm acceptable for an everyday lens on A7r….   sadly no.  I don’t know if it even cuts it on the A7.

This little lens is lightweight and feels wonderful mounted on the 14.23oz camera.  AF is as good as it’s gonna get on the mirrorless camera(people have said that Sony lenses designed for other models, with the Lae4 adapter, compare). Dead center this lens performs well, nice image quality.  Quickly though, moving towards the edges it gets worse.  The 100mm keeps crispness throughout, as does the Sigma 85mm 1.4 (on the Canon), which you’d expect.  A bit surprisingly, the Sony 70-200m in the last shot keeps outstanding corners.

The Sony 28-70mm, which I’ve never shot, gets even lower ratings than the Zeiss/Sony cousin.    Only one of the FE lenses, the Zeiss 55mm Sonnar T* is a superstar.  The 35mm FE & 70-200mm FE are suitable for the large sensor.   A7r owners have purchased the best sensor made, short of a medium or large format camera.  I don’t know if a lightweight zoom lens with a rating of close to 30 is even possible?  To take advantage of all those megapixels it’s going to take a heavier lens.  Canon’s 24-70 2.8 USM II  weighs double the Zeiss/Sony.  The Nikon 24-70 even more.   I’m saving considerable weight on the camera.  I hope the rumored 16-35 FE weighs about 2 lbs…

FE 55, f20 @ iso50 Pretty much the best picture I could take short of a Leica or Zeiss Otus lens.

Death of a D800e

This death, is really about evolution in two areas, equipment and my own.  The D800e was a no brainer for it’s capabilities.  Nothing short of a medium format camera came even close.  I even test drove an Aptus 80 for a week and really struggled with it.  Even at 10-15k less than the Phase version, it was too high. Plus I knew I had to learn more to get all I could out of a Med Format.  It was going to have to wait!   So I Settled for all those lovely megapixels, 36.3….  in the D800e which came with a reasonable price tag.   Still a bit wet behind the ears, the 5D mkIII went into the closet and I took the Nikon out of the box, excited…  Took me two days to take a picture!  Everything is reversed from the Canon!  Ahhh!  After a few thousand shots to get used to the functions on the Nikon, I started producing some really great shots.    Focusing at distance which is the Canon’s strength, is the 800e’s Achilles heel.  A certain point 10-20 miles away, you could live view zoom in on the 5D, crisply focus, then back out so to not burn up battery and click.   The frickin Nikon will zoom, but at distance it’s so grainy, critical focus was impossible.  I added a 2x eyepiece magnifier which did help tremendously.     I did learn to shoot well with this camera in spite of it not really built for what I do generally, large format landscape work.

  Along came Mr. Wonderful!   He’s still an infant, Sony has only a few lenses as of this printing.  It plays well with others for several third party adapters are out there for Leica, Minolta, Hasselblad, Nikon and Canon.  Check your brand for the intelligence of these adapters.  Metabones Canon adapter will recognize all the features of the lens, while Nikon adapter is “dumb” to this point.

• Both cameras were rated highest by DxoMark, 96 for the Nikon and 95 for A7r.
• A7r, $2298 body only, D800e, $3297 body.
• Nikon body,   2.2 lbs…..
• A7r Body, 14.36 oz.   Whaaat!

After three days of testing, the learning curve isn’t nearly as hard as the Nikon.   I haven’t had it out in a big scene yet, but it’s performed great around our little property!

I’m still waiting for Canon to put out the 40 to 50 mp camera, but I’m not sure I’ll go back to the lead ball….