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Author Topic: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii  (Read 4935 times)

Hywel

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Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« on: April 04, 2016, 11:29:12 am »

Hi All,

  I'm after a macro lens for my A7Rii but I'd rather get something longer than the Sony 90 mm FE.

Has anyone tried using the Canon 180mm Macro, Sigma 150 or 180 mm Macros or Tamron 180 mm Macros adapted on an A7Rii? I've got the Metabones adapter.

I'm looking to use it hand-held for detail shots of people, rather than super-duper macro insects etc.. so autofocus and working OIS are kinda necessary- if I only get manual focus I might as well get by with my venerable Tamron 90 mm Adaptall for now or maybe get the Sony and hope someone releases a decent focal length before the FE mount goes the way of the dodo ;)

Anyone got any experience with those lenses and the metabones on the A7Rii?

Cheers, Hywel
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Hywel

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2016, 04:29:49 am »

... I guess not. I've just stumped up for a second hand Canon 180 mm Macro on eBay (on the theory that it'll definitely be useful for video closeups on my RED even if it sucks for stills on the Sony).

I'll post my experiences once I've done some shoots with it if anyone is interested.

Cheers, Hywel
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John Koerner

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2016, 07:48:15 pm »

Why would you put the lowest-quality 180mm macro lens at the end of the current highest-quality sensor?

You should go for the Sigma 180 (f/2.8 not 3.5), as is is superior to the Canon 180 in every possible respect.

Excels as a long telephoto too.
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Hywel

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2016, 04:32:05 am »

HI,

  Two, no three reasons I guess:

1) I really want it to PDAF autofocus for people stuff. My suspicion is that a pukka Canon lens is more likely to be in Metabones firmware's capability than third party lenses. I'll take slow AF over not at all.

2) EBay had some second hand in reasonable nick, but didn't of the Sigma 2.8.

and 3) I don't really know how useful it'll be, and I don't really know forgiving it will be for people pics. My previous experience of macros is that they tend to be too harsh and contrasty for photographing beautiful girls, which is why the Tamron 90 mm f/2.8 Adaptall is still my go-to macro.

I've tried a couple of others in the past and just didn't like the rendition. All of these macros are likely to be too sharp, so I might end up diffusing or mucking around with them or just flogging them again because I hate them (which happened to my 100mm Canon macro. I hated the look SOOOO much). All the reviews of the 180mm Canon mention it is super-sharp, so if the Sigma is sharper, that's not in its favour for my purposes!

Hence, a second-hand copy of a lens which stands a fighting chance of getting useable autofocus on the A7Rii seemed worth a punt as an impulse buy at the end of the tax year ;) If there'd been a Sigma on eBay I might have risked it but there wasn't so I didn't.

Cheers, Hywel

Oh and 4) it'll take the Canon extenders too in case I want to get even further away and flatten the perspective more on very tight close-ups.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2016, 04:52:06 am by Hywel »
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John Koerner

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2016, 05:55:07 pm »

HI,

  Two, no three reasons I guess:

1) I really want it to PDAF autofocus for people stuff. My suspicion is that a pukka Canon lens is more likely to be in Metabones firmware's capability than third party lenses. I'll take slow AF over not at all.

2) EBay had some second hand in reasonable nick, but didn't of the Sigma 2.8.

and 3) I don't really know how useful it'll be, and I don't really know forgiving it will be for people pics. My previous experience of macros is that they tend to be too harsh and contrasty for photographing beautiful girls, which is why the Tamron 90 mm f/2.8 Adaptall is still my go-to macro.

I've tried a couple of others in the past and just didn't like the rendition. All of these macros are likely to be too sharp, so I might end up diffusing or mucking around with them or just flogging them again because I hate them (which happened to my 100mm Canon macro. I hated the look SOOOO much). All the reviews of the 180mm Canon mention it is super-sharp, so if the Sigma is sharper, that's not in its favour for my purposes!

Hence, a second-hand copy of a lens which stands a fighting chance of getting useable autofocus on the A7Rii seemed worth a punt as an impulse buy at the end of the tax year ;) If there'd been a Sigma on eBay I might have risked it but there wasn't so I didn't.

Cheers, Hywel

Oh and 4) it'll take the Canon extenders too in case I want to get even further away and flatten the perspective more on very tight close-ups.

1. I have owned 3 copies of the Canon 180, 2 copies of the Sigma 180, and Sigma's AF blows Canon's out of the water;

2. Can't help you here, and don't know how much of an emergency it is for you to have one "right now," but I would rather wait 3 months and get the better of the two than "immediately" buy an inferior product;

3. The Sigma is better at pretty much everything than the Canon, including sharpness, so if this is a deal-breaker, then buy the Canon if you want soft images.

As for the reviews of the Canon 180 being "super-sharp," that might have been in comparison to "other Canons" ... but the lens is rated at the bottom of the barrel compared to the competition. I did a complete review of the most common macro lens (albeit for nature photography).

While the intended purpose of my article may be completely different from your intended purpose, you can still use the information to your benefit.

For example, while the Sigma may be very sharp, it also has an f/2.8 aperture (unlike any other long macro) and the Sigma rates the highest in bokeh as well, so this combination should make it very favorable for portraiture. (The Sigma 180 also comes with outstanding image stabilization, unlike the Canon 180, which is another plus for hand-held portraiture.)

Regarding your issue with sharpness, if you don't want the photograph to be sharp as it can be, simply move the clarity slider in the negative direction (problem solved).

Jack
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E.J. Peiker

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2016, 09:43:01 pm »

My current macro set-up for the a7R2 is to use my Nikon mount Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS lens with the Novoflex Adapter - no issues - works well.
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Phil Indeblanc

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2016, 08:41:28 pm »

I have the 180 macro. I ended up using it for a few projects and doesn't get much use. Nor does my 100mm. All that type of work I use LF, or Leica lenses, 
The 180 is a sharp lens, and focuses very accurately with no giggling around. The 100 has more "duh, which way did he go?" in its focus movement. But also a great all around lens.
Calling the 180 low grade or bottom of the barrel is only in a race, if that is the case. It is tack sharp, and on par with my Leica R lens.

I just don't use them much at all. I have them both available for anyone interested.
I recently purchased a Sigma 150-600, and it sharp and nice. I doubt it will get much use. I just hope I sell it off sooner than waiting as long as I did with these other 2.
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NancyP

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2016, 08:16:54 pm »

So Hywel, what's your verdict on the Canon 180 for your purposes (close-ups, not true macro)? I get the impression that you are looking for a beauty lens, not a clinically tack-sharp lens. If you are dealing with relatively staged situations, why not try your favorite beauty lens on extension rings on top of the metabones adapter, AF might work (and might not). I was reminded of how sharpness is not everything in film/video by seeing a film, Faust, by director A. Sokurov - the cinematographer chose some very odd lenses with substantial aberrations in order to give unreality or "personal perspective" to some scenes. Frankly he could have scrounged some of these lenses from X-ray machines (very very fast lenses under f/1.0, with very limited depth of field and very large aberrations).

Speaking of beauty lenses or at least of bokeh lenses, I am curious to see the Laowa apodization lens once it reaches market.
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AlterEgo

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2016, 10:08:20 pm »

1) I really want it to PDAF autofocus for people stuff. My suspicion is that a pukka Canon lens is more likely to be in Metabones firmware's capability than third party lenses. I'll take slow AF over not at all.

Sigma has A mount version -> a simple dumb LA-EA3 adapter works for PFAF directly from the A7R2... but - not sure if OIS works (apparently unlike Tamrons, Sigma puts OIS in for A-mount lenses) or you will be limited to IBIS (and switch OIS off on lens) and EF mount shall be easier to sell later then A mount
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Hywel

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Re: Adapted long macro lenses on A7Rii
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2016, 09:46:09 am »

So Hywel, what's your verdict on the Canon 180 for your purposes (close-ups, not true macro)?

It does the job.

I'm using it mostly for video closeups rather than stills so far, and it is plenty sharp enough. The additional reach over a 90mm macro is a considerable benefit. I'm slightly missing f/2.8 maximum aperture from a purely light-gathering point of view. Upping the ISO a stop or so is usually fine to to compensate, though.

The autofocus hunts dreadfully, but has full time manual over-ride. So I get the shot more or less in focus, then AF to fine tune, which seems to work well. Eye focus doesn't seem to work but PDAF does. 

I very much like that it's razor-sharp (by my standards at least) for the parts of the shot which are in focus and isolates detail very well as the depth of field is shallow at my normal working aperture and distance.

So overall I'm very happy with it, especially as I got it at a great price second-hand. I wanted it in EF mount so I could use it on the RED as well as the A7RII.

Speaking of beauty lenses, though, the Sony 85 mm f/1.4 GM lens arrived recently.

It's an absolute stunner.

If you shoot people on Sony A7R II, I'd make it a mandatory purchase beauty lens.

I'm sure the Batis 85 is fine, but the Bokeh is lovely on the Sony and it shipped to me before the Batis I'd had on back order since before Xmas.

I even prefer the A7RII plus 85 Sony lens combo to Hasselblad H3D31-II plus 80 mm Hassleblad lens combo, which is saying something as I've shot something like two thirds of ALL my photos in the last five years on the Hassy combo.

Cheers, Hywel
« Last Edit: May 04, 2016, 09:50:38 am by Hywel »
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