Thanks for sharing this Mike. I have a Leica R 90/2.8 adapted for my Pentax and have been interested in how classic DSLR lenses would work on the new Sony A7II. I appreciate the time you have put into explaining this, and the images. Thanks
I'm DROOLING!! I bet that's an EXQUISITE pairing, w/ reliably stunning results. Thanks for sharing. I have been lucky to successfully "pawn shop & bargain hunt" up some amazing vintage glass for the exact same purpose, & in my opinion that has been the greatest feature of the Sony "E" System, affording unmatched versatility, functionality & value. I started w/a Voightlander Nokton 58mm f1,4 on the a6000 by way of some unheralded generic (eBay, & CHEAP!) adapters that I eventually gambled on after considerable research/hand-wringing. That was 2+ years ago, & I was blown away. I cannot WAIT for the day that I finally acquire my 1st Leica to pair in the same fashion... My head will probably explode, Lol.
Hahah. Thanks for your nice comment. If you want to get into Leica glass you might consider either the 50mm Summicron-R or the 40mm Summicron-M (made for the CL/CLE), since they are relatively "affordable". Also the 90mm Elmar-M (f/4) is a nice, super-sharp lens with Leica build and character.
Mike, great summary of one the best least mentioned features of the Sony A7ii. I purchased a Pentax k7 and K5 years ago with the primary intentions of using my old 35mm glass with the K7 and K5. They set up very similar just, the image IQ was not near as good when they were attached to the film based body. Anyway I'm definitely impressed, of course Leica lens's are certainly in a whole different league. I have a few Contax G lens's maybe these can be adapted with good results. Might be time for an A7ii. Thanks
texbaz2 Thanks for your comment. There is definitely at least one Contax G adapter out there, but I don't know anything much about them. The G lenses, of course, are well-known as some of the best ever made -- esp the 45/2. Certainly worth a try, IMO. I'm wishing now that I hadn't sold my Contax G lenses. However, the Zeiss 55/1.8 FE is pretty incredible, so I'm still happy when I want AF ;-).
I had a Leica R3 camera with the Summilux sent to me and when it was received, in order to use it I had to completely disassemble the lens due to the focus ring becoming dislodged from the screw ring which positions the focus ring with the lens elements inside (it was shipped with minimal packaging and I'm actually wondering if they even knew if the camera worked prior to shipping. . .) I was still able to sell the camera body for a decent amount, and the lens became approximately $500 cost with a A-mount bracket/adapter swapped on it, and it works fairly well on an A99. I'm not sure how much the performance is different, though it seems to register well, and the only issues I notice are a green orb that shows when doing night photography, and any bright light source, which may not actually change if using a more modern version of the lens. I still prefer to use it over any other lens, but I do consider Super Takumar to be superior in sharpness (tested numerous times,) however overall rendering the Leica is superior/preferred (and it also imparts a "timeless" quality to images that seems to make you connect more with the subject.) I might go back to testing the M42 Takumar, though having the A-mount adapted makes it look less awkward (and they are both SLR lenses, but the Leica is a much bigger and heavier lens.) Takumar is more "Zeiss" characteristic, and Leica has a subtle way of appearing unique, though admittedly I have considered messing with the Rokker lenses which I think are actually more comparable than the Super Takumar; the 58mm F/1.2 Rokker wouldn't be bad and are cheaper than other similar lenses, however the best image quality still comes from using F/2, whereas the Summilux works perfectly at F/1.4. It seems unanimous that the color rendering and contrast has a particularly well-defined aspect with Leica lenses, but if I were to adopt the E-mount system I would probably just use M42 lenses and the newer ones that are coming out that have very low F-stop. I mostly stayed with A-mount because I have other lenses (G series Minolta) that I didn't want to get rid of.
I dont care if its sharp or not, sharpness is overrated. But colors!!! Man, colors are so good. Not sure if you did something to this files or its Leica lens magic.
Nice video. FYI, back in the early days of lens adapting (when people were taking files to their 5D Mk. I mirrors!) there were a bunch of people on forums testing out lenses from the R system, as well as Contax Yashica, Nikon AI and Olympus OM. I seem to remember the 24 Elmarit-R wasn't the most well regarded wide angle in the edges and corners... in fact, I struggle to think of a 24 or 25 that really delivered in that respect. The Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AIS was always well thought of, as was the Olympus 21mm f2.0. So, I don't think you have a bad sample, just that it's not a critically sharp lens outside of the centre.
I remember when I was a kid my dad had an old Soviet film camera and 8-10 years old I could focus on that super easy. I have gotten out of touch with photography and recently tried manual focusing on a camera and I couldn't focus to save my life.... haha
Ended up dumping the A7RII and took advantage of a student discount deal on an M240 Leica. The different is apparent right away with the 35 cron. I'm happy with 24MP, I can't believe I thought "that was small" when I was getting into this latest MP craze.
+Daniel Duarte Yeah, I think you'll always do better shooting shorter RF lenses with a camera (sensor, really) designed for them. I usually shoot my R lenses with my A7II. Have only experimented a little with the M lenses. I'm toying with selling all my M-mount lenses since I have no M-mount bodies any more, and don't adapt them to my Sony very often.
Heavily debating between a Summicron-R 35mm and a Samyang cine DS 35mm for video on the A7III. Same general pricepoint, and it's hard to pass up the possibility of owning Leica glass.
Mike, I probably don't know what I'm talking about but...when I went to this setting on my A7II, focal length was on 8mm. Is that what I should be shooting on normally w/ Sony's FE 4 24-70 & all other auto focus lenses? And the focal length you are setting is the FL of the lens (i.e. if I'm trying a Summilux 1:1.4 75mm, I should set SteadyS Focal len. to 75mm)?
+Glenda Nuckols I don't have my camera in front of me, but if you have an compatible/electronic lens on the camera the focal length setting doesn't matter -- it's communicated automatically to the camera. Maybe it defaults to 8mm in that case. I can't remember. But yes, if you put on a non-Sony manual focus lens (like a 75mm Summilux) then you'll want to dial in the focal length so the IBIS works best.
Could the focus issue with the 24mm because you forgot to change stabilization setting on the A7? (from 50 mm stabilization to 24)? ..looking into the shot info in the bottom screen of aperture.
+amanullang Thanks for your comment. I'm not 100% sure what you're talking about. Aperture doesn't know what the IBIS settings are. Even if I did have the IBIS mis-set, it wouldn't matter at these high shutter speeds of 1/800 and 1/1250 of a second, which Aperture /does/ know about. I suspect I goofed and had the aperture set more open than I should have, but of course that doesn't come through in the EXIF due to the pure manual lenses. I took some fall color shots with the 24mm this weekend (mostly at f/11), and they display excellent sharpness pretty much everywhere. It's quite possible my manual focusing technique (specific to the Sony A7II) has improved. I tend now to pay a lot less attention to the focus peaking, and more attention to magnified view when focusing.
Hi Mike! Great review!.....Mike! I would guess you are the man who would know the answer to this question! "Will a Sony full frame camera, give me the same beautiful image quality as you get from the Leica full frame cameras?
John Dyer Honestly I can’t say for sure. My experience is with the M8/M9/Monochrom series of cameras, and those sensors don’t really compare to those of today’s Leicas. I do think those older CCD sensors had a little bit of a “special” quality. I’m not so sure about the CMOS sensors of today. I don’t mean that the CMOS sensors aren’t good, just that they aren’t particularly different from one another. If raw is really raw, logic says that they can only differ according to specs, and the specs are pretty consistently amazing these days. I’m not sure who makes Leica’s current sensors, but it might well be Sony. So, yeah, I think a full-frame Sony will compete with a full-frame Leica in image quality, given the same lenses mounted. Long answer, sorry. I’m sure someone will want to argue with my conclusion and that’s fine, but I think people spend way too much time comparing gear and not enough shooting ;-). Get yourself some R lenses and an A7 of some variety and I think you’ll be happy if you like how the A7 series is designed.
Hallo Mike. Very useful demonstration. I have an R 28-90 vario and doubt whether it can be used on the Sony A7II? How to set the focal length on the camera, 28 or 90? Your help is highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Cho Shun LI I figure the lens should be fine on the A7II, but you will either have to remember to always change the focal length setting in the A7II menu when you change zoom (to take best advantage of IBIS), or just turn off IBIS and shoot normally.
***** I have bought an M adapter, but haven't shot it seriously yet. In my initial informal tests my Zeiss 25mm produces weird results, but the Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar does very nicely, as does the Konica 90mm M-Hexanon. Certainly the lenses and mount are much more compact!
Some say that Sony full frame sensors have issues with wide angles at the corners, even with native lenses. That is why I am waiting for Nikon/Canon full frame mirrorless.
Great video ! I'm about to switch from M to R mount on my A7 (for price and wide angle), and i was wondering how the 50 and 90 where doing, i see they are great. Details, clarity, not too contrasted or saturated (from the before/after you showed on the video), i think it's a good choice, thank for the time you put in this video :)
Hello Mike, excellent video thanks for sharing it. I have the Zeiss 50mm ZM F2 lens attached to my M8, but now that I got an A7, I thought in sharing the lens with both cameras, but I wonder if I should buy a 50mm R Summicron for the Sony instead, I read in a couple of forums than the Zeiss ZM lenses are poor performers with the A7; do you have any experience with them? Thanks! Ricardo
Ricardo Villagran Vicent I do have experience shooting ZM lenses with the A7II, with a Fotodiox (I think) M-mount converter. It works very well with the longer focal lengths, and I intend to do a video. I have a ZM 25mm f/2.8 and a ZM 50mm f/1.5 (Sonnar). The Sonnar is amazing, as you'd expect, and the 25mm works better than you'd expect, seemingly as long as it's stopped down a bit. I have a couple of shots from the 25mm that will make your eyes bleed due to the sharpness and detail. I also have a VC 35/1.4 Nokton single-coated, which seems to work well aside from some color shifting wide-open. As well, I have a Konica M-Hexanon 90/2.8 which works just fine. If you don't mind spending a few bucks to find out for yourself, I say just get an adapter and try your 50mm Planar. You'll probably like it fine.
Hi Mike, I'm trying to get an adapter for Leica R lens to put on Sony A7ii as your vedio. But I have seen some reviews saying that some aperture of lens will have dark angle when using full frame mode. Does it happen to you? or it depends on the brand of the adapter? thanks!!
Hi. I noticed that the lens focal length is recorded as 0mm in the shots. Have you not set the lens focal length manually for the steady shot or does it just not record the focal length for manual lenses ever?
zupperm Good eye. Unfortunately, no, the camera doesn't record the focal length that you set via the menu (it's to help the camera's steady shot to work). They should definitely have done that, though! Maybe in a firmware release?
Fantastic video, greatly appreciate the quality. I just picked up a Leica R4 and now I'm hunting for glass. A local shop has the 90mm for a reasonable price though I feel that it me be a long focal length to work with as a general lens. What would you say, should I keep looking and try to find a 50? The benefit of these lenses is that I'd be able to use them on my canon setup since I already have the brilliant 50mm art from Sigma I was thinking the 90 would be a good change instead of 2 50's.
90mm is a great portrait lens and a useful general-purpose short tele, IMO. I actually like 90mm as a good pairing with a 35mm (though I don't have a 35mm R-mount). I generally carry the 24/50/90 if I'm shooting with my R8. It's a really good combo, IMO. I use the 90mm for the closer shots in this video: ua-cam.com/video/KcKFM6lEAXg/v-deo.html
In the picture where the girl (sculpture) is reading the book. the book has some purple fringing. is that due to the fact that the book is not in focus?
***** Wow, good eye! Yes, if I look closely at the original photo, I see some slight color fringing. I assume the video makes it look worse. Of course that is a very high-contrast area with a wide-open lens, so a little fringing is not totally unexpected (unless you shoot film :-)).
Just to see if I understand your settings correctly; you set your camera to aperture priority, ISO auto, and adjusted exposure comp as needed when using a fully manual legacy lens?
Hey Mike, I'm contemplating getting this camera. I had the A7 which I sold. There was one quirky thing that was just plain irritating for me. Can you help test this - while using manual focus lenses set the focus rectangle to a spot other than the centre spot, shoot a couple of pictures with the focus rectange anywhere but the centre, then turn-off the camera and turn it back on. Does the focus rectangle stay where you last had it or does it reset back to the centre? Thanks! Deb.
See that's really irritating. Even more so when I'm out on the street shooting portraits, what I used to do was that I generally would keep the focus point to the nearest eye - which would typically be towards the top 2/3rd left or right of the frame. Now because there was no way of turning the LCD live view screen off, I used to turn off the camera to save battery power. And then when I pick it back up to the eye level to take another shot - I have to re-compose my shot, which is a three step process with a manual focus lens - custom function for focus area - then move the square, use focus magnification for confirming focus and then take the shot. While if they had fixed this issue - then all I had to do was just focus assist and shoot - so easy. Not sure if they've now allowed for the LCD screen to be turned off from the menu now.
Yeah, focus magnification is great, but certainly not quick. I don't think they made it so you can turn off the screen/viewfinder, either. I guess they want to sell you more batteries!
Hi Wyant, I've never used the lens, though I've lusted over it from time to time. So I can't really give an opinion. I have the 90 'cron and the 180 Elmarit. My guess is the 135 is great, since Leica doesn't really make any "bad" lenses. Probably best to do a flickr search for example images (?).
Great video! Do you believe there are any limitations on which model r lenses would work with the A7? I mean the different amounts of cams, so say a 2 cam summicron would work but a 3 cam would not for example. thanks
Alex Socci The cams should not matter at all. They are not used by the adapters (or at least the ones I know of). The lens is treated as completely manual.
I recently bought the A7II and I had a 50mm minolta rokkor-x lense. The one thing I noticed when using this lens is that the on my screen it says 8mm while using this lense with an adapter. Does that happens when you use the R lenses?
I purchased the metabones Leica R-E mount Speed Booster Ultra (from B and H Photo). When I attach my Leica R lens (Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8 M3 lens; Leica R Elmarit 19mm f2.8 lens) to the metabones adapter and then to my Sony Alpha 7 R II the images have serious/significant vignetting. Is this to be expected? Is there a way to reduce or better yet, remove the vignetting prior to post-production? It is as if you are looking through a tube when you have a rectangle view finder. Any suggestions for correction of this?
Speed boost can only occur on a crop sensor camera like the A6000 (in the Sony line, anyway). Unfortunately there's no free lunch. I assume you can put your A7 into crop mode to get rid of the vignette get in-camera. Let me know how it turns out.
+Mike Thomas When you put it into crop mode you are only using about a half (or 18 pixals) of the sensor. It seems like a waste of the camera's potential.
+George Mohr Yes, hence the "no free lunch". The speed enhancer is meant for crop-sensor cameras. Those of us that shoot full frame are stuck with the built-in potential of the native full-frame lenses. We can't get more out of them with optical tricks (well, unless someone makes a similar speed boost adapter for medium format lenses when mounted to full-frame cameras).
+George Mohr You should have purchased the much cheaper non-speedbooster version. The speedbooster is great on the a6000, but your camera is full-frame and doesn't need the magnification the speedbooster version gives. I have an even cheaper Fotodiox Pro Leica R to NEX and it works great.
itai bachar Hehe, it took me a second to understand what you are asking :-). It's "Nik Silver Efex". You can run it as a plug-in for Aperture (RIP), Lightroom, Photoshop, etc. Really powerful conversion software with interesting controls.
I've given up on focus confirmation and now pretty much stick to magnification, with decent results. We have to face it, I guess, that nothing replaces ground glass and micro/split prisms for manual focus. :-/
+Mike Thomas I also think the cron is a pretty crappy lens on this camera for most shooting conditions. I crop into the 4x5 ratio anyway so the smearing issues don't really apply. The lens is wonderful at close images but anything at infinity looks pretty shitty.
+Mike Thomas I bought a Summicron R 50mm and I'm absolutelly in love with it. Now I'm thinking of buying a set of R lenses, 28 and 35 elmarit and 90 summicron, which one do you like most, 24 or 28 Elmarit?
Marcos Camillo I really haven't used the 28mm much at all. I am not in love with the 28mm focal length for some reason. My theory is it's not as versatile as 35mm and not as interesting as 24mm. That said, if you decide you want a 28mm contact me via a private message here on YT or over on my flickr account :-).
"Pretty small aperture" wow terminology speaker must means aperture is stopped down for depthfield and lens didn't yield sharpness. Even in film term like this confuse listeners small meaning Fe, F4, small in numerical but wide in aperature (opening) I notice this line of language on Percent of UA-cam videos
R-mount lenses are designed for Leica's SLRs and M-mount for the rangefinders. Due to the mirror box in SLRs there are sure to be some optical design differences in the shorter lenses (hence the mention of "retrofocus" in the video, if I remember correctly). As usual, the SLR (R) lenses tend to be larger and heavier than the Rangefinder (M) lenses, due to these and other design differences. Aside from those technical differences, I believe the lenses are generally of similar quality regarding glass and build. The same naming convention is used for both lines of lenses: the names indicate the maximum aperture supported by the lens.
Yes. Due to the camera body's shallower-than-normal design, the adapter's job is to put the lens into the correct relationship with the sensor. So the lens performs exactly as it would when placed onto an R body.
Thanks, also do you think it is possible to use the leitax Leica R-EF adapter and mount the lens on the Sony A7 series with the metabones? Since ef mount is a very common mount these days so having the lens on EF mount might make things slightly easier i'd suppose?
mmmm, putting a big r lens plus grip, turns neat compact camera into big lump, just like the dslrs, not good. plus loss of cool features of e system. bwter choices, allowing near 100% functionality, at reasonable(but higher) cost. interesting video, thanks
If you don't want to shoot legacy lenses there are definitely smaller rigs. What I like about the A7 is it can be tiny with the Zeiss 35/2.8 and no grip, or can rise to the occasion of multiple batteries and large lenses, all in one "platform". Nobody's forcing anyone to mount beautiful, high-quality, brass lenses from yesteryear, but it's nice to have the choice :-)
I think the adapter is a bit more complex because there is no manual focus ring on Contax G lenses. I just have the 45mm lens left, and haven't invested in the adapter at this point. The G lenses are pretty great, though.
The Contax G lenses are great on Sony a7ii, but the lenses were design with the curvature of film in mind, so the edges are extremely soft from F2 to F4.
I believe they are the same basic formulas and use the same glass as raw materials. However, the wider-angle lenses for SLR use have to use a retro-focal design to work around the flipping mirror mechanism. I'm not sure what affect this might have on the results, but I personally don't worry about it.
Good point. I guess I had in mind the more wide-angle lenses that on SLRs are usually (always?) retrofocus, to avoid mirror interference issues. Too bad I had a 50mm on when speaking about it! I also shoot a 24mm Elmarit-R, which I assume to have a retrofocal design. Eventually I'll mount my M lenses (I have the adapter) and will try my Zeiss 25mm M-mount lens (which I assume is non-retrofocal) and see how it compares in the corners. Actually, I'll just do it now :-). Thanks.
Mike Thomas Oh I see you had 24mm as well, which is a Retro design. All leica-R under 50mm will be retrofocal design. How did your 25mm performed? I highly recommend Distagon 28mm f2 for A7 series.
I think the M-mount Zeiss 25mm suffers a bit on the A7II. My test photos (not good ones) turned out a bit ... odd. Corners are pretty bad. Color might be a bit weird. I'll need to shoot some more to know for sure.
Mike Thomas Thats what I thought. Biogons will have hard time on those sensors, because of the angle at which they direct the light towards the sensor. Distagons angle is less steep and should do much better. The only Biogon that should work great is 38mm from Hassy, and only due to the larger image circle.
Yeah, which was kind of the point I made not-too-clearly in this video: Tthe sharp angle on a sensor not designed for it. Good point about the Distagon design. Hadn't actually thought of that. Honestly, I'll probably just keep shooting my R lenses even though they're pretty bulky. Hard to complain too much about the versatility of this system.
To use manual third party lenses on Sony 7R you will have to enable "release shutter without lens". Just a reminder for those who don't know.
I guess but if you're at this level you should know that by now just like you should know your history of photography that most don't
a trick: watch movies at Flixzone. I've been using them for watching a lot of movies lately.
@Zahir August Yup, I have been using flixzone for years myself =)
@Zahir August yea, I've been watching on Flixzone for since november myself =)
I have almost the entire set of R-Lenses, initially bought for the R5. Now I am using them with the Sony. Wonderful combination.
what are you favorite lenses ? I am looking to get into these
Thanks for sharing this Mike. I have a Leica R 90/2.8 adapted for my Pentax and have been interested in how classic DSLR lenses would work on the new Sony A7II. I appreciate the time you have put into explaining this, and the images. Thanks
I'm DROOLING!! I bet that's an EXQUISITE pairing, w/ reliably stunning results. Thanks for sharing. I have been lucky to successfully "pawn shop & bargain hunt" up some amazing vintage glass for the exact same purpose, & in my opinion that has been the greatest feature of the Sony "E" System, affording unmatched versatility, functionality & value. I started w/a Voightlander Nokton 58mm f1,4 on the a6000 by way of some unheralded generic (eBay, & CHEAP!) adapters that I eventually gambled on after considerable research/hand-wringing. That was 2+ years ago, & I was blown away. I cannot WAIT for the day that I finally acquire my 1st Leica to pair in the same fashion... My head will probably explode, Lol.
Hahah. Thanks for your nice comment. If you want to get into Leica glass you might consider either the 50mm Summicron-R or the 40mm Summicron-M (made for the CL/CLE), since they are relatively "affordable". Also the 90mm Elmar-M (f/4) is a nice, super-sharp lens with Leica build and character.
With focus peaking this is pretty easy and results look awesome!
I use the Tech Art Pro adapter which gets you AF ;)
Mike, great summary of one the best least mentioned features of the Sony A7ii. I purchased a Pentax k7 and K5 years ago with the primary intentions of using my old 35mm glass with the K7 and K5. They set up very similar just, the image IQ was not near as good when they were attached to the film based body. Anyway I'm definitely impressed, of course Leica lens's are certainly in a whole different league. I have a few Contax G lens's maybe these can be adapted with good results. Might be time for an A7ii. Thanks
texbaz2 Thanks for your comment. There is definitely at least one Contax G adapter out there, but I don't know anything much about them. The G lenses, of course, are well-known as some of the best ever made -- esp the 45/2. Certainly worth a try, IMO. I'm wishing now that I hadn't sold my Contax G lenses. However, the Zeiss 55/1.8 FE is pretty incredible, so I'm still happy when I want AF ;-).
Great images! Thanks for sharing :)
Well done , good advice, and great photo with killer lens
Thanks for the positive feedback. I appreciate it!
I had a Leica R3 camera with the Summilux sent to me and when it was received, in order to use it I had to completely disassemble the lens due to the focus ring becoming dislodged from the screw ring which positions the focus ring with the lens elements inside (it was shipped with minimal packaging and I'm actually wondering if they even knew if the camera worked prior to shipping. . .) I was still able to sell the camera body for a decent amount, and the lens became approximately $500 cost with a A-mount bracket/adapter swapped on it, and it works fairly well on an A99. I'm not sure how much the performance is different, though it seems to register well, and the only issues I notice are a green orb that shows when doing night photography, and any bright light source, which may not actually change if using a more modern version of the lens.
I still prefer to use it over any other lens, but I do consider Super Takumar to be superior in sharpness (tested numerous times,) however overall rendering the Leica is superior/preferred (and it also imparts a "timeless" quality to images that seems to make you connect more with the subject.) I might go back to testing the M42 Takumar, though having the A-mount adapted makes it look less awkward (and they are both SLR lenses, but the Leica is a much bigger and heavier lens.)
Takumar is more "Zeiss" characteristic, and Leica has a subtle way of appearing unique, though admittedly I have considered messing with the Rokker lenses which I think are actually more comparable than the Super Takumar; the 58mm F/1.2 Rokker wouldn't be bad and are cheaper than other similar lenses, however the best image quality still comes from using F/2, whereas the Summilux works perfectly at F/1.4.
It seems unanimous that the color rendering and contrast has a particularly well-defined aspect with Leica lenses, but if I were to adopt the E-mount system I would probably just use M42 lenses and the newer ones that are coming out that have very low F-stop. I mostly stayed with A-mount because I have other lenses (G series Minolta) that I didn't want to get rid of.
I dont care if its sharp or not, sharpness is overrated. But colors!!! Man, colors are so good. Not sure if you did something to this files or its Leica lens magic.
Roman Arkhipov I don’t think I went crazy processing them, so whatever I got is easy to reproduce.
Nice video. FYI, back in the early days of lens adapting (when people were taking files to their 5D Mk. I mirrors!) there were a bunch of people on forums testing out lenses from the R system, as well as Contax Yashica, Nikon AI and Olympus OM. I seem to remember the 24 Elmarit-R wasn't the most well regarded wide angle in the edges and corners... in fact, I struggle to think of a 24 or 25 that really delivered in that respect. The Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AIS was always well thought of, as was the Olympus 21mm f2.0. So, I don't think you have a bad sample, just that it's not a critically sharp lens outside of the centre.
I remember when I was a kid my dad had an old Soviet film camera and 8-10 years old I could focus on that super easy. I have gotten out of touch with photography and recently tried manual focusing on a camera and I couldn't focus to save my life.... haha
Ended up dumping the A7RII and took advantage of a student discount deal on an M240 Leica. The different is apparent right away with the 35 cron. I'm happy with 24MP, I can't believe I thought "that was small" when I was getting into this latest MP craze.
+Daniel Duarte Yeah, I think you'll always do better shooting shorter RF lenses with a camera (sensor, really) designed for them. I usually shoot my R lenses with my A7II. Have only experimented a little with the M lenses. I'm toying with selling all my M-mount lenses since I have no M-mount bodies any more, and don't adapt them to my Sony very often.
Probably doesn't exist. Its $6000 full price and lacks the performance of the A6000 at $400 bucks.
Heavily debating between a Summicron-R 35mm and a Samyang cine DS 35mm for video on the A7III. Same general pricepoint, and it's hard to pass up the possibility of owning Leica glass.
If you haven't already .... get the Cron!
Very interesting video and discussion Mike.
it's a dream team Sony with LEICA 👍
Hi Mike:
Great video thanks you. Hay, can you show me how to set the A7II for back button autofocus. I am having a hard time doing that. Thank you.
Very nice!
Nice photos!
Great point about the angle of light hitting the lens - retro focus lenses work well.
Mike, I probably don't know what I'm talking about but...when I went to this setting on my A7II, focal length was on 8mm. Is that what I should be shooting on normally w/ Sony's FE 4 24-70 & all other auto focus lenses? And the focal length you are setting is the FL of the lens (i.e. if I'm trying a Summilux 1:1.4 75mm, I should set SteadyS Focal len. to 75mm)?
+Glenda Nuckols I don't have my camera in front of me, but if you have an compatible/electronic lens on the camera the focal length setting doesn't matter -- it's communicated automatically to the camera. Maybe it defaults to 8mm in that case. I can't remember.
But yes, if you put on a non-Sony manual focus lens (like a 75mm Summilux) then you'll want to dial in the focal length so the IBIS works best.
+Mike Thomas Thank you so much for the very informative video. I look forward to more of your videos.
Could the focus issue with the 24mm because you forgot to change stabilization setting on the A7? (from 50 mm stabilization to 24)? ..looking into the shot info in the bottom screen of aperture.
+amanullang Thanks for your comment. I'm not 100% sure what you're talking about. Aperture doesn't know what the IBIS settings are. Even if I did have the IBIS mis-set, it wouldn't matter at these high shutter speeds of 1/800 and 1/1250 of a second, which Aperture /does/ know about. I suspect I goofed and had the aperture set more open than I should have, but of course that doesn't come through in the EXIF due to the pure manual lenses.
I took some fall color shots with the 24mm this weekend (mostly at f/11), and they display excellent sharpness pretty much everywhere. It's quite possible my manual focusing technique (specific to the Sony A7II) has improved. I tend now to pay a lot less attention to the focus peaking, and more attention to magnified view when focusing.
Hi Mike! Great review!.....Mike! I would guess you are the man who would know the answer to this question! "Will a Sony full frame camera, give me the same beautiful image quality as you get from the Leica full frame cameras?
John Dyer Honestly I can’t say for sure. My experience is with the M8/M9/Monochrom series of cameras, and those sensors don’t really compare to those of today’s Leicas. I do think those older CCD sensors had a little bit of a “special” quality. I’m not so sure about the CMOS sensors of today.
I don’t mean that the CMOS sensors aren’t good, just that they aren’t particularly different from one another. If raw is really raw, logic says that they can only differ according to specs, and the specs are pretty consistently amazing these days. I’m not sure who makes Leica’s current sensors, but it might well be Sony. So, yeah, I think a full-frame Sony will compete with a full-frame Leica in image quality, given the same lenses mounted.
Long answer, sorry. I’m sure someone will want to argue with my conclusion and that’s fine, but I think people spend way too much time comparing gear and not enough shooting ;-). Get yourself some R lenses and an A7 of some variety and I think you’ll be happy if you like how the A7 series is designed.
Thank you for your reply Mike, it was very informative!
The 24mm lens is designed by minolta !
Hallo Mike. Very useful demonstration. I have an R 28-90 vario and doubt whether it can be used on the Sony A7II? How to set the focal length on the camera, 28 or 90? Your help is highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Cho Shun LI I figure the lens should be fine on the A7II, but you will either have to remember to always change the focal length setting in the A7II menu when you change zoom (to take best advantage of IBIS), or just turn off IBIS and shoot normally.
Just got the techart pro Leica m mount Af adapter to use with some OM and m mount lenses. Working pretty nicely!
Oh, I'll bet that's great. I haven't actually seen/held one. Does it add much bulk?
If you don't think Leica made any bad lenses try a 50mm f2 Sumar. Amazing mushy and flarey which makes it great for portraits.
Thank you mike .
Sincerely
Shawn
Great video. I own 4 M mount Leica's and would love to have a few R lenses in the future.
***** I have bought an M adapter, but haven't shot it seriously yet. In my initial informal tests my Zeiss 25mm produces weird results, but the Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar does very nicely, as does the Konica 90mm M-Hexanon. Certainly the lenses and mount are much more compact!
Some say that Sony full frame sensors have issues with wide angles at the corners, even with native lenses. That is why I am waiting for Nikon/Canon full frame mirrorless.
+Jay John it's not just an issue that would necessarily plague just Sony Cameras. It's an issue of Flange distance.
photozone about the 16-35 zeiss fe: even the corners are sharp. so.....bullshit. and even if they were bad. i wouldnt mind.
Hello Mike, is there any way to find Aperture download file somewhere you are aware ? thanks
nice video. will consider using those amazing Leica lenses. :)
Great video ! I'm about to switch from M to R mount on my A7 (for price and wide angle), and i was wondering how the 50 and 90 where doing, i see they are great. Details, clarity, not too contrasted or saturated (from the before/after you showed on the video), i think it's a good choice, thank for the time you put in this video :)
+onboardaddicts Glad you found the video useful! Thanks for the comment...
Hello Mike, excellent video thanks for sharing it. I have the Zeiss 50mm ZM F2 lens attached to my M8, but now that I got an A7, I thought in sharing the lens with both cameras, but I wonder if I should buy a 50mm R Summicron for the Sony instead, I read in a couple of forums than the Zeiss ZM lenses are poor performers with the A7; do you have any experience with them? Thanks! Ricardo
Ricardo Villagran Vicent I do have experience shooting ZM lenses with the A7II, with a Fotodiox (I think) M-mount converter. It works very well with the longer focal lengths, and I intend to do a video.
I have a ZM 25mm f/2.8 and a ZM 50mm f/1.5 (Sonnar). The Sonnar is amazing, as you'd expect, and the 25mm works better than you'd expect, seemingly as long as it's stopped down a bit. I have a couple of shots from the 25mm that will make your eyes bleed due to the sharpness and detail.
I also have a VC 35/1.4 Nokton single-coated, which seems to work well aside from some color shifting wide-open. As well, I have a Konica M-Hexanon 90/2.8 which works just fine.
If you don't mind spending a few bucks to find out for yourself, I say just get an adapter and try your 50mm Planar. You'll probably like it fine.
Hi Mike, I'm trying to get an adapter for Leica R lens to put on Sony A7ii as your vedio. But I have seen some reviews saying that some aperture of lens will have dark angle when using full frame mode. Does it happen to you? or it depends on the brand of the adapter? thanks!!
I haven't seen any such issue, fortunately, shooting lenses from 24-180mm in all sorts of conditions.
Hi. I noticed that the lens focal length is recorded as 0mm in the shots. Have you not set the lens focal length manually for the steady shot or does it just not record the focal length for manual lenses ever?
zupperm Good eye. Unfortunately, no, the camera doesn't record the focal length that you set via the menu (it's to help the camera's steady shot to work). They should definitely have done that, though! Maybe in a firmware release?
Fantastic video, greatly appreciate the quality. I just picked up a Leica R4 and now I'm hunting for glass. A local shop has the 90mm for a reasonable price though I feel that it me be a long focal length to work with as a general lens. What would you say, should I keep looking and try to find a 50?
The benefit of these lenses is that I'd be able to use them on my canon setup since I already have the brilliant 50mm art from Sigma I was thinking the 90 would be a good change instead of 2 50's.
90mm is a great portrait lens and a useful general-purpose short tele, IMO. I actually like 90mm as a good pairing with a 35mm (though I don't have a 35mm R-mount). I generally carry the 24/50/90 if I'm shooting with my R8. It's a really good combo, IMO.
I use the 90mm for the closer shots in this video: ua-cam.com/video/KcKFM6lEAXg/v-deo.html
Brian Gonzales I guess I didn't quite answer your question. IMO, since you have a 50, go for the 90. It's a focal length worth experiencing.
Mike Thomas thank you, both replies helped. That was a good video. I like the video and images the 90 puts out. Found one for $575.
In the picture where the girl (sculpture) is reading the book. the book has some purple fringing. is that due to the fact that the book is not in focus?
***** Wow, good eye! Yes, if I look closely at the original photo, I see some slight color fringing. I assume the video makes it look worse. Of course that is a very high-contrast area with a wide-open lens, so a little fringing is not totally unexpected (unless you shoot film :-)).
Will a regular A7 work as well?
Thank you
I do not have the steady s focal lens, could you let me know where to find it, I have sony a7s and a6300
Just to see if I understand your settings correctly; you set your camera to aperture priority, ISO auto, and adjusted exposure comp as needed when using a fully manual legacy lens?
Juan Alvarez Yes, that’s how I shoot most of the time.
@@mike.thomas Thanks.
If you could do a head to head comparison with Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 and Leica 50mm Summicron. it would be great.
***** Can you please send me the Sony Zeiss 55/1.8? Then I'd be happy to compare them! :-D
I would have to ship mine from India :)
:-)
It is on my shortlist to get one. At that point perhaps I can do a comparison.
***** The comparison is up: ua-cam.com/video/l73YctMjixE/v-deo.html
Hey Mike, I'm contemplating getting this camera. I had the A7 which I sold. There was one quirky thing that was just plain irritating for me. Can you help test this - while using manual focus lenses set the focus rectangle to a spot other than the centre spot, shoot a couple of pictures with the focus rectange anywhere but the centre, then turn-off the camera and turn it back on. Does the focus rectangle stay where you last had it or does it reset back to the centre? Thanks! Deb.
Debabrata Ray I just tried it and it reset to center. Bummer.
See that's really irritating. Even more so when I'm out on the street shooting portraits, what I used to do was that I generally would keep the focus point to the nearest eye - which would typically be towards the top 2/3rd left or right of the frame. Now because there was no way of turning the LCD live view screen off, I used to turn off the camera to save battery power. And then when I pick it back up to the eye level to take another shot - I have to re-compose my shot, which is a three step process with a manual focus lens - custom function for focus area - then move the square, use focus magnification for confirming focus and then take the shot. While if they had fixed this issue - then all I had to do was just focus assist and shoot - so easy. Not sure if they've now allowed for the LCD screen to be turned off from the menu now.
Yeah, focus magnification is great, but certainly not quick. I don't think they made it so you can turn off the screen/viewfinder, either. I guess they want to sell you more batteries!
Hey Mike what's your thoughts and opinion on the leica elmarit-r, 135mm f2.8 (made in Germany version)?
Hi Wyant,
I've never used the lens, though I've lusted over it from time to time. So I can't really give an opinion. I have the 90 'cron and the 180 Elmarit. My guess is the 135 is great, since Leica doesn't really make any "bad" lenses. Probably best to do a flickr search for example images (?).
thanks for the video, very interesting
Great video! Do you believe there are any limitations on which model r lenses would work with the A7? I mean the different amounts of cams, so say a 2 cam summicron would work but a 3 cam would not for example. thanks
Alex Socci The cams should not matter at all. They are not used by the adapters (or at least the ones I know of). The lens is treated as completely manual.
Mike Thomas thanks, I figured as much but wasn’t sure if the cams could effect the contact to the adapter. Cheers!
Alex Socci I don’t think so. At least they haven’t in my case. I think you’ll be OK if you try it. Good luck!
Thanks for the video!
I recently bought the A7II and I had a 50mm minolta rokkor-x lense. The one thing I noticed when using this lens is that the on my screen it says 8mm while using this lense with an adapter. Does that happens when you use the R lenses?
You need to manually set the camera to the focal length you’ve actually mounted. Then the image stabilization can work best.
the 50 cron, is that a version 1 or 2 ?
excelente video ¡¡¡¡¡
I purchased the metabones Leica R-E mount Speed Booster Ultra (from B and H Photo).
When I attach my Leica R lens (Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8 M3 lens; Leica R Elmarit 19mm f2.8 lens) to the metabones adapter and then to my Sony Alpha 7 R II the images have serious/significant vignetting. Is this to be expected? Is there a way to reduce or better yet, remove the vignetting prior to post-production? It is as if you are looking through a tube when you have a rectangle view finder. Any suggestions for correction of this?
Speed boost can only occur on a crop sensor camera like the A6000 (in the Sony line, anyway). Unfortunately there's no free lunch. I assume you can put your A7 into crop mode to get rid of the vignette get in-camera. Let me know how it turns out.
+Mike Thomas When you put it into crop mode you are only using about a half (or 18 pixals) of the sensor. It seems like a waste of the camera's potential.
+George Mohr Yes, hence the "no free lunch". The speed enhancer is meant for crop-sensor cameras. Those of us that shoot full frame are stuck with the built-in potential of the native full-frame lenses. We can't get more out of them with optical tricks (well, unless someone makes a similar speed boost adapter for medium format lenses when mounted to full-frame cameras).
+George Mohr You should have purchased the much cheaper non-speedbooster version. The speedbooster is great on the a6000, but your camera is full-frame and doesn't need the magnification the speedbooster version gives. I have an even cheaper Fotodiox Pro Leica R to NEX and it works great.
Hi dear sir . Did you think contax lens work on SONY a99mark1 ?
I just did a Google search, and it looks as though adapters do exist. Here's a match from Amazon: tinyurl.com/mlndxlr
thanks for this informative videro!
x over effects?? whats the b&w filter name?
thanks :-)
itai bachar Hehe, it took me a second to understand what you are asking :-). It's "Nik Silver Efex". You can run it as a plug-in for Aperture (RIP), Lightroom, Photoshop, etc. Really powerful conversion software with interesting controls.
cool thanks!
I'm having one hell of a time focusing my 35 cron on an A7RII... I just keep missing focus!
I've given up on focus confirmation and now pretty much stick to magnification, with decent results. We have to face it, I guess, that nothing replaces ground glass and micro/split prisms for manual focus. :-/
+Mike Thomas I also think the cron is a pretty crappy lens on this camera for most shooting conditions. I crop into the 4x5 ratio anyway so the smearing issues don't really apply. The lens is wonderful at close images but anything at infinity looks pretty shitty.
Wish I had a 35 cron to test with. Are you running an M or an R?
+Mike Thomas an M. I'm likely going to dump this and buy a second hand M240.
are you using a cheap chinese adapter? all adapters are not made the same
Hi Mike, Could you list the lenses models you use on this Sony A7II? Thanks
spangari
Sony 35/2.8, Sony 55/1.8
Leica R: 24 Elmarit, 28 Elmarit, 50 Summicron, 90 Summicron
M-mount: Zeiss 25/2.8, VC 35/1.4, Zeiss 50/1.5, Konica Hexanon 90/2.8
A-mount: Minolta 100mm Macro, Minolta 70-210 Beercan, Minolta 100-300APO, Sigma 85/1.4, Sigma 400mm f/5.6
+Mike Thomas I bought a Summicron R 50mm and I'm absolutelly in love with it. Now I'm thinking of buying a set of R lenses, 28 and 35 elmarit and 90 summicron, which one do you like most, 24 or 28 Elmarit?
Marcos Camillo I really haven't used the 28mm much at all. I am not in love with the 28mm focal length for some reason. My theory is it's not as versatile as 35mm and not as interesting as 24mm.
That said, if you decide you want a 28mm contact me via a private message here on YT or over on my flickr account :-).
"Pretty small aperture" wow terminology speaker must means aperture is stopped down for depthfield and lens didn't yield sharpness. Even in film term like this confuse listeners small meaning Fe, F4, small in numerical but wide in aperature (opening) I notice this line of language on Percent of UA-cam videos
Sorry for my newbe question, M/R mount diferences?
R-mount lenses are designed for Leica's SLRs and M-mount for the rangefinders. Due to the mirror box in SLRs there are sure to be some optical design differences in the shorter lenses (hence the mention of "retrofocus" in the video, if I remember correctly). As usual, the SLR (R) lenses tend to be larger and heavier than the Rangefinder (M) lenses, due to these and other design differences.
Aside from those technical differences, I believe the lenses are generally of similar quality regarding glass and build. The same naming convention is used for both lines of lenses: the names indicate the maximum aperture supported by the lens.
Appreciated,...I only have some minoltas and canon ones and just begin to dig in this other ones. Gracias.
Hi, may i know if the lenses will focus to infinity with this adapter? :) Thanks!
Yes. Due to the camera body's shallower-than-normal design, the adapter's job is to put the lens into the correct relationship with the sensor. So the lens performs exactly as it would when placed onto an R body.
cool! thanks! :D
Thanks, also do you think it is possible to use the leitax Leica R-EF adapter and mount the lens on the Sony A7 series with the metabones? Since ef mount is a very common mount these days so having the lens on EF mount might make things slightly easier i'd suppose?
In theory that should work as well, so long as infinity focus is maintained with the Leitax on its own.
thank you so much! :)
mmmm, putting a big r lens plus grip, turns neat compact camera into big lump, just like the dslrs, not good. plus loss of cool features of e system. bwter choices, allowing near 100% functionality, at reasonable(but higher) cost. interesting video, thanks
If you don't want to shoot legacy lenses there are definitely smaller rigs. What I like about the A7 is it can be tiny with the Zeiss 35/2.8 and no grip, or can rise to the occasion of multiple batteries and large lenses, all in one "platform". Nobody's forcing anyone to mount beautiful, high-quality, brass lenses from yesteryear, but it's nice to have the choice :-)
What about Contax G lenses?
I think the adapter is a bit more complex because there is no manual focus ring on Contax G lenses. I just have the 45mm lens left, and haven't invested in the adapter at this point. The G lenses are pretty great, though.
The Contax G lenses are great on Sony a7ii, but the lenses were design with the curvature of film in mind, so the edges are extremely soft from F2 to F4.
Very interesting. I'd never heard that.
Hey Mike do you think these lenses are as good as Leica M lenses ?
I believe they are the same basic formulas and use the same glass as raw materials. However, the wider-angle lenses for SLR use have to use a retro-focal design to work around the flipping mirror mechanism. I'm not sure what affect this might have on the results, but I personally don't worry about it.
Hi
I am thinking of getting the a7sii camera and I have a Leica R mount 50mm f2 - do you think it will work nicely on the camera?
Can't imagine why it wouldn't. Have fun!
I hope you know that Leica lens you mounted on your camera is not retrofocal lens.
Good point. I guess I had in mind the more wide-angle lenses that on SLRs are usually (always?) retrofocus, to avoid mirror interference issues. Too bad I had a 50mm on when speaking about it! I also shoot a 24mm Elmarit-R, which I assume to have a retrofocal design. Eventually I'll mount my M lenses (I have the adapter) and will try my Zeiss 25mm M-mount lens (which I assume is non-retrofocal) and see how it compares in the corners. Actually, I'll just do it now :-). Thanks.
Mike Thomas Oh I see you had 24mm as well, which is a Retro design. All leica-R under 50mm will be retrofocal design. How did your 25mm performed? I highly recommend Distagon 28mm f2 for A7 series.
I think the M-mount Zeiss 25mm suffers a bit on the A7II. My test photos (not good ones) turned out a bit ... odd. Corners are pretty bad. Color might be a bit weird. I'll need to shoot some more to know for sure.
Mike Thomas Thats what I thought. Biogons will have hard time on those sensors, because of the angle at which they direct the light towards the sensor. Distagons angle is less steep and should do much better. The only Biogon that should work great is 38mm from Hassy, and only due to the larger image circle.
Yeah, which was kind of the point I made not-too-clearly in this video: Tthe sharp angle on a sensor not designed for it. Good point about the Distagon design. Hadn't actually thought of that.
Honestly, I'll probably just keep shooting my R lenses even though they're pretty bulky. Hard to complain too much about the versatility of this system.
I Lieca that lens
LEGIN 6 But you can only Elmarit from afar.
None of your shots are really sharp; I suspect because they are all out of critical focus.
Manual don't cover all needs so ...I think these is throw money for nothing