Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: jfirneno on December 11, 2013, 12:45:24 pm

Title: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: jfirneno on December 11, 2013, 12:45:24 pm
So I'll be receiving an A7 and 35mm FE lens tomorrow from LensRental but I was curious if anyone has had a chance to try either camera for event shooting?  From what I've read the autofocus slows down considerably in low light but it's not apparent whether it ends up being mediocre or impossible as an event camera.  All information will be appreciated especially since I'm only trying out the A7 and not the A7R.

Regards,
John
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: MatthewCromer on December 11, 2013, 01:14:28 pm
Get the LAEA-4 and a couple fast Alpha mount lenses for best Event shooting.
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: jfirneno on December 11, 2013, 01:34:24 pm
Matthew:

Thanks for the comment.  I will be renting the LAEA4 adapter and intend to use the 135mm f1.8 Sony/Zeiss and other Sony and Minolta lenses extensively this weekend but am hoping that the native AF will be workable.  I skipped the A99 because of the translucent mirror and would like to go forward without its use altogether.

Regards,
John
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: billh on December 11, 2013, 02:28:34 pm
Hi guys,
I have the A7R, and I’m not sure I’d want to use it for event shooting because of the very loud, long duration shutter sound. Also, with the noise comes vibration, so that may also be an issue at slower shutter speeds. It is something you want to check while you have the camera. Lloyd Chambers at Diglloyd posted more info on it last night, and I’ve had a lot of email on this subject where people are testing different lens/adapter combinations.
I have a question about LAEA-4 (I assume that is the A lens to E mount adapter - I don’t have it with me to check to see). I tried it on the A7R with the Sony 70-400 zoom the other day. I have the single focus point, small size, chosen in the A7R menu, but when I used the 70-400 in AF mode, I saw a viewfinder full of focus points, and the lens/camera combination “decided” which of these AF points to choose. It was frustrating. Is there a way to manually select a focus point when using this adapter with A mount lenses? Also, this only works with the lens wide open - correct?
Thanks,
Bill
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: allegretto on December 11, 2013, 08:49:37 pm
Hi guys,
I have the A7R, and I’m not sure I’d want to use it for event shooting because of the very loud, long duration shutter sound. Also, with the noise comes vibration, so that may also be an issue at slower shutter speeds. It is something you want to check while you have the camera. Lloyd Chambers at Diglloyd posted more info on it last night, and I’ve had a lot of email on this subject where people are testing different lens/adapter combinations.
I have a question about LAEA-4 (I assume that is the A lens to E mount adapter - I don’t have it with me to check to see). I tried it on the A7R with the Sony 70-400 zoom the other day. I have the single focus point, small size, chosen in the A7R menu, but when I used the 70-400 in AF mode, I saw a viewfinder full of focus points, and the lens/camera combination “decided” which of these AF points to choose. It was frustrating. Is there a way to manually select a focus point when using this adapter with A mount lenses? Also, this only works with the lens wide open - correct?
Thanks,
Bill


What does the adapter do for or against the form factor? So many Sonys have a problem just like this. The whole NEX thing gets bogged down with clumsy adaptations and the size advantage gets blunted.
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: jfirneno on December 11, 2013, 09:37:25 pm
Hi guys,
I have the A7R, and I’m not sure I’d want to use it for event shooting because of the very loud, long duration shutter sound.

Bill:
Since you have the A7R have you had a chance to test autofocus in lower light situations?
Regards,
John
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: billh on December 12, 2013, 08:25:08 am
What does the adapter do for or against the form factor? So many Sonys have a problem just like this. The whole NEX thing gets bogged down with clumsy adaptations and the size advantage gets blunted.


I’m not sure what you mean by “form factor”,  but if you wonder if the adapters add bulk and are a problem, they are not an issue for me. The only lens I have for the camera in E mount is the 35 f2.8, so I’ve been using Leica M lenses, and the Leica 180 f2.0 and Sony 70-400 (which I bought to use on a Sony FS700 video camera). I also tried the Nikon 200-400 yesterday while it was snowing. I used the Wimberly II head, which I bought to use with this lens and the 600 f4.0, and other than the fact I focused manually instead of using AF like on the D800E, I didn’t even notice the additional length added by the adapter - it was just like using the lens on the Nikons. The M lens adapter is very small - it just is not an issue. I think everyone will be happy when more (good) native E mount lenses are available, but even then, the ability to use lenses this those mentioned above is welcome. The bigger issue worrying people is the shutter vibration (and noise).

A7R Nikon 200-400 at 40-MM, f4.0 ISO800,

http://holl.smugmug.com/Other/A7RDP2M-DP3M/i-jsSMSPg/0/X3/Squirrel-A7R%2C200-400-at-f4.0%2C-0612-X3.jpg

http://holl.smugmug.com/Other/A7RDP2M-DP3M/i-CCwVKTj/0/X3/Bluejay-A7R-200-400%2C-f4.0-0673-X3.jpg
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: LKaven on December 13, 2013, 01:11:50 am
I would expect thermal noise to be the limiting factor with this sensor.  It is likely to show up as a bluish-magenta cast.  On the D800, there are some limitations at ISO6400 and up, even at handheld speeds (e.g., 1/80th).  It can be fixed by using a black frame at identical settings, and performing a black frame subtraction.  But the effects are exacerbated by the use of live view, which suggests to me that a camera like the a7/r, which is basically a full-time live view camera, would present some challenges.
Title: Re: Sony A7/A7R for low light event shooting
Post by: ErikKaffehr on December 13, 2013, 01:56:27 am
Hi,

I have not seen that really on my A99 (which uses the same sensor as the A7), but I will recheck.

Best regards
Erik

I would expect thermal noise to be the limiting factor with this sensor.  It is likely to show up as a bluish-magenta cast.  On the D800, there are some limitations at ISO6400 and up, even at handheld speeds (e.g., 1/80th).  It can be fixed by using a black frame at identical settings, and performing a black frame subtraction.  But the effects are exacerbated by the use of live view, which suggests to me that a camera like the a7/r, which is basically a full-time live view camera, would present some challenges.