Wider than 25mm on Sony A7xx?

[Herbc]

I have a project for an upcoming show that I have been using my Nikon 20mm f1.8 lens for, but it is not really user friendly for manual focus, which of course is necessary for the Sony.

The Leica R 21mm is tempting, but I have no idea of the various versions and their qualities.
The 21mm M mount might fit the bill if it actually works on the A7xx- I had a bad experience with the
28mm M mount, and had to go to the R.  M is smaller and more compact, especially when mounted on the adapter, which is quite a bit smaller than the R adapter.

Anybody have experience with this focal length on the Sony?

[Johnny_Johnson]

The ZM 21/2.8 doesn't work well - smearing on the edges and in the corners plus color casts. I've read that the Olympus OM 21/3.5 works nicely but my just purchased copy is on the way from California so I haven't actually tried one yet.

Later,
Johnny

[mcbroomf]

Most wide angle M's don't work well on the A7 and A7r, better on the A7s.  UWA are even worse.

My UWA lenses are the 21mm Contax (the Zeiss ZF/EF versions should be close/equivalent), and the Canon 17mm TSE. 
Some people really like the 19mm Leica R.  I tried one a long time ago (as an alternative to my 21mm Contax) and didn't find it as good.  It's a lot more expensive.

[Paul Roark]

The Leica WATE 16-18-21 Tri-Elmar is outstanding, but also very expensive.
See http://us.leica-camera.com/Service-Support/Support/Downloads?category=93719&subcategory=&type=&language=93871 for technical information on Leica glass.

The other Leica M wide angles have too obtuse ray angles to perform well.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

[Telecaster]

The only rangefinder lens wider than ~40mm I've had decent results with on Sony A series cameras is a 1930s Zeiss 35/4.5 Orthometar. Well…Leica's Wide Angle Tri-Elmar too, but I don't own that one. The Orthometar has an unusual optical design for its time: quite retrofocal.

Among SLR lenses I've had good results with the Zeiss 21/2.8 (Contax mount version) & Leica 19/2.8 v.2 (belongs to the same person who owns the WATE), and decent results with the Zeiss 18/4 (also Contax). My Pentax A-series 20/2.8 is pretty good too when stopped down. I'd opt for the current version of the Zeiss 21mm if I had to buy an ultra-wide now.

-Dave-

[Jim Kasson]

My Pentax A-series 20/2.8 is pretty good too when stopped down. I'd opt for the current version of the Zeiss 21mm if I had to buy an ultra-wide now.

A wise choice. The Nikon F version is excellent on the a7x.

http://blog.kasson.com/?p=4009

Jim

[Wolfman]

The ZM 21/2.8 doesn't work well - smearing on the edges and in the corners plus color casts. I've read that the Olympus OM 21/3.5 works nicely but my just purchased copy is on the way from California so I haven't actually tried one yet.

Later,
Johnny

I have an Olympus 21mm f3.5 and it's very nice on my Canon 5D Mkll but the corners are not good on my Sony a7r.

[soboyle]

The FE 16-35 is an excellent lens. Recommended.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I am not a Sony A7 user, yet…

What I have seen, it seems the new Sony 16-35/4 ZA is pretty sweet. Of the lenses around 21 mm the Zeiss 21/2.8 is probably the best. The Samyang 14/2.8 has a lot of awkward distortion but is otherwise a good lens.

Some caution is in place with rangefinder lenses, many of those have large beam angles that don't play well with Sony sensors and the around 2 mm thick cover glass on the Sony sensors. Leica R lenses should work fine.

Any lens designed for SLRs would work fine on the Sony.

Best regards
Erik

I have a project for an upcoming show that I have been using my Nikon 20mm f1.8 lens for, but it is not really user friendly for manual focus, which of course is necessary for the Sony.

The Leica R 21mm is tempting, but I have no idea of the various versions and their qualities.
The 21mm M mount might fit the bill if it actually works on the A7xx- I had a bad experience with the
28mm M mount, and had to go to the R.  M is smaller and more compact, especially when mounted on the adapter, which is quite a bit smaller than the R adapter.

Anybody have experience with this focal length on the Sony?