leica 24mm f3.8 M lens on Sony A7?

[Herbc]

I apologize to Jim Kasson, but I can't find his blog post that refers to use of this lens on the Sony A7II.  I think it (the M version) works ok on the camera, would love to hear that it is so.

[Herbc]

Ok, I found it. It was back in July, I was looking in Jan of this year.

The answer?  "I think we have a winner here"  meaning the 24 f3.8 M elmar is good for the A7.

many thanks to Jim

[Paul Roark]

It does not work well on the Sony a7r.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

[Paul Roark]

Here is a test image from the Sony a7r with the Leica-M Elmar f/3.8 at f/8:
http://www.paulroark.com/24Elmar-M-f8-Sony-a7r.jpg

The only great wide angles I've used on the Sony (aside from the standard Zony 35mm) are the Canon 24mm TS II and the Leica WATE.  I'm afraid the Sony sensor is just not able to do well with obtuse ray angles.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

[pegelli]

Ok, I found it. It was back in July, I was looking in Jan of this year.

The answer?  "I think we have a winner here"  meaning the 24 f3.8 M elmar is good for the A7.

many thanks to Jim

I think Jim tested it on an a7S see: July 11, 2014

[Herbc]

yep, that's the one I saw.  It may very well be that the 36mp sensor of the A7R, with no AA filters does not quite work out for the lens.  My idea was to have a really small lens that fit my need for wide angle on the A7II.  It may be that is all it works on, but I do like the manual focus lenses on  the camera, and the
size of the MF lenses are a plus.

[pegelli]

The a7 and a7II are the 24 mp variants
The a7S is the 12 MP variant

So if it works OK on the a7S and not well on the a7R the question for the a7 and a7II is still not answered.

[Manoli]

The a7 and a7II are the 24 mp variants
The a7S is the 12 MP variant

So if it works OK on the a7S and not well on the a7R the question for the a7 and a7II is still not answered.

I've just run a very quick test on the A7 II with the Elmar at f/5.6. The short answer is that no, it doesn't work. The extreme corners will need an LCC to correct and, at a first glance, there also smearing. IMO, if you crop the format and use it as a square frame it'll work. Any further out and it starts to deteriorate.

[mcbroomf]

The coverglass mod by Kolarivision is looking like a winner.  Not sure it bring the performance up to M240 levels but there's a new mod with even thinner glass that's available now.  There should be results out soon.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1340474

[Herbc]

the lens looks like a winner at this point.  I think a few more days of testing will tell the tale, but Jim K's work seems to verify that if you focus properly, the performance is there.

[Jim Kasson]

Here is a test image from the Sony a7r with the Leica-M Elmar f/3.8 at f/8:
http://www.paulroark.com/24Elmar-M-f8-Sony-a7r.jpg

The only great wide angles I've used on the Sony (aside from the standard Zony 35mm) are the Canon 24mm TS II and the Leica WATE.  I'm afraid the Sony sensor is just not able to do well with obtuse ray angles.

Paul, here's my test of the 24 Elmar-M on the a7R. I found acceptable corner performance at f/11. I did not encounter the purple sides and corners that I saw on your site.

Other great wides that work well on the a7x cameras are the Zeiss 15mm f/2.8 ZF.2, and the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 ZF.2. They actually provide a significant improvement over the WATE at similar focal lengths. Of course, they are both quite large and heavy, and they're not zooms. However, you could buy both of them for about the price of the WATE.

I have also has good luck with the 28mm f/1.4 Nikkor-D and the 28 mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R v1, and terrible luck with the 28mm Elmarit-M.

http://blog.kasson.com/?p=8521

Jim

[Paulo Bizarro]

If I may suggest another couple of  MF SLR 24mm lenses:

1. Nikkor AIS 24 2.8

2. Leica Elmarit R 24 2.8

These are excellent performers, and should work well with the A7 series.

[hiepphotog]

My Elmar 24 results on my A7s.mod. Extreme sharpness to the corner at WO

Left -WO, Right -5.6



Full-res

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cji4os5tzzkill3/Leica%20Elmar%2024.rar?dl=0