The Sony A73/A7R3/A7S3/A9 Thread

GSXRMovistar · 23 Oct 2019 at 10:36

I see Tamron have announced a number of new e-mount lenses, a 70-180mm f2.8 and then three new f2.8 primes, 20mm, 24mm and a 35mm. Will be interesting to see what the primes offer over their existing f2.8 range.

Spleen Sauce · 23 Oct 2019 at 16:33

Anyone picked up the new Sigma 14-24 2.8 ART yet? Considering getting it for Iceland in December.

robj20 · 23 Oct 2019 at 18:14

That Tamron 70-180 f2.8 might be just what I want. Would I miss the extra 20mm. Are they stabilised?

The_Abyss · 23 Oct 2019 at 21:50

I can't see any reason why they'd be stabilised for E mount.

robj20 · 23 Oct 2019 at 23:15

The_Abyss said:
I can't see any reason why they'd be stabilised for E mount.

To allow lower shutter speeds to be used, the same as all stabilised lenses. Looks like they aren't so the Sony 70-200 f4 is still the better option.

The_Abyss · 23 Oct 2019 at 23:20

IBIS is included in the majority of relevant bodies now.

Richdog · 30 Oct 2019 at 06:24

To those of you using Canon lenses on your bodies, which adapter are you using and how is the average performance with the majority of lenses?

PS> Just bought the Samyang 35mm 2.8 FE pancake as a portable travel lens, it's meant to be really nice (especially for just over £200)! https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/samyang-af-35mm-f2-8-fe

Greebo · 1 Nov 2019 at 10:41

Just bought the Sony 200-600 from Amazon Spain for £1475. Bargain.

Although I already own the Sony 100-400 in reviews the 200-600 comes across as sharper esp when comparing to using the 1.4tc on the 100-400. The 1.4tc works much better with the 200-600 as well so will keep that and just sell the 100-400. that will give me a 280-840 zoom and along with my crop setting on my Sony a7riv and I will have an effective f8-f9 420-1260mm lens.

Then I think I might fill the gap and buy a 70-200 f2.8 zoom or the new tamron depending on reviews.

I have recently sold 4 lens so have a much more structured set now.

Richdog · 1 Nov 2019 at 12:56

Greebo said:
Just bought the Sony 200-600 from Amazon Spain for £1475. Bargain.

Although I already own the Sony 100-400 in reviews the 200-600 comes across as sharper esp when comparing to using the 1.4tc on the 100-400. The 1.4tc works much better with the 200-600 as well so will keep that and just sell the 100-400. that will give me a 280-840 zoom and along with my crop setting on my Sony a7riv and I will have an effective f8-f9 420-1260mm lens.

Then I think I might fill the gap and buy a 70-200 f2.8 zoom or the new tamron depending on reviews.

I have recently sold 4 lens so have a much more structured set now.

You are a proper gear head and hoarder, you just see something new and shiny and buy it regardless of whether you need it or not.

Greebo · 1 Nov 2019 at 13:17

Richdog said:
You are a proper gear head and hoarder, you just see something new and shiny and buy it regardless of whether you need it or not.

Pfft... I may have a problem....yes. Which is why i sold 4 lenses recently. But I am a sucker for a bargain and that 200-600 for under £1500 is one.

I think I am down to 5 primes and 2 zooms now. Pretty sure i am going to sell the 85mm GM as well as i always reach for the 135mm in preference and just take a couple of steps back and make it work and I still have the 90mm macro if i really need the 85mm length.

So after the 85mm and 100-400 goes I will have.

Batis 18mm f2.8
Sony GM 24mm f1.4
Sony GM 24-70mm f2.8
Sony G 90mm Macro
Sony GM 135mm f1.8
Sony 200-600
TC 1.4x

Thats a pretty balanced coverage there. Maybe I can do without the 70-200 zoom though as I can always switch to crop mode on the A7riv and the 135mm will be a 200mm lens effectively. The 24-70 will stretch to 105mm as well.

Do I need any of my photo gear since its just a hobby? Nope. But its my main hobby and I can afford it so why not

Richdog · 1 Nov 2019 at 14:13

Greebo said:
Pfft... I may have a problem....yes. Which is why i sold 4 lenses recently. But I am a sucker for a bargain and that 200-600 for under £1500 is one. I think I am down to 5 primes and 2 zooms now. Pretty sure i am going to sell the 85mm GM as well as i always reach for the 135mm in preference and just take a couple of steps back and make it work and I still have the 90mm macro if i really need the 85mm length.

So after the 85mm and 100-400 goes I will have.

Batis 18mm f2.8
Sony GM 24mm f1.4
Sony GM 24-70mm f2.8
Sony G 90mm Macro
Sony GM 135mm f1.8
Sony 200-600
TC 1.4x

Thats a pretty balanced coverage there. Maybe I can do without the 70-200 zoom though as I can always switch to crop mode on the A7riv and the 135mm will be a 200mm lens effectively. The 24-70 will stretch to 105mm as well.

Do I need any of my photo gear since its just a hobby? Nope. But its my main hobby and I can afford it so why not

Well yes of course you need photo gear for a photographical hobby, otherwise you can't do said hobby. Anyway as you say it's your money so if you like collecting lenses then why not!

Greebo · 1 Nov 2019 at 16:33

Richdog said:
Well yes of course you need photo gear for a photographical hobby, otherwise you can't do said hobby. Anyway as you say it's your money so if you like collecting lenses then why not!

Oh I freely admit i have GAS

What I meant by do i need my gear was that of course i need gear but i dont "need" so many GM lenses since I dont make a living from it.

doodah · 27 Nov 2019 at 09:29

Heads up - Top Cashback are doing 15% with Currys and you should be able to couple this with Sony's cash back offer. If the 15% tracks that should be e.g. £263 off the A7iii with a further £150 from Sony - bringing the total price down to ~£1342.

Liam0126 · 27 Nov 2019 at 23:11

Tamron 28-75 F2.8 has dropped to £599 from £750 on the rainforest. Very tempted to pick it up for my A7III but Sigma have just put their 24-70 F2.8 Art up for preorder so not sure at the moment which to get!

doodah · 28 Nov 2019 at 08:49

Liam0126 said:
Tamron 28-75 F2.8 has dropped to £599 from £750 on the rainforest. Very tempted to pick it up for my A7III but Sigma have just put their 24-70 F2.8 Art up for preorder so not sure at the moment which to get!

They are claiming best in class optical performance but the Sigma will be almost double the price at launch.

sHo0sH · 28 Nov 2019 at 09:29

Liam0126 said:
Tamron 28-75 F2.8 has dropped to £599 from £750 on the rainforest. Very tempted to pick it up for my A7III but Sigma have just put their 24-70 F2.8 Art up for preorder so not sure at the moment which to get!

The Tamron is a must-have IMO for the Sony. The hyperbole around the lens is justified - it's the nifty fifty of the sony lens lineup. The image quality to price ratio is not surpassed.

Will the sigma be better? Probably. Worth twice as much? Probably not.

Greebo · 28 Nov 2019 at 09:58

sHo0sH said:
The Tamron is a must-have IMO for the Sony. The hyperbole around the lens is justified - it's the nifty fifty of the sony lens lineup. The image quality to price ratio is not surpassed.

Will the sigma be better? Probably. Worth twice as much? Probably not.

This. The Tamron is the bang for buck choice even when it was £750. The Sigma will no doubt be superb and a stunner but as said, at almost twice the price, it needs to be.

IMO you wont go far wrong on a budget with the trinity of the three Tamron lenses

Liam0126 · 28 Nov 2019 at 10:50

Think I'm going to go ahead and get the Tamron, no reviews yet on the sigma but as mentioned for double the price its hard to justify over the Tamron. The range doesn't really bother me too much as I have 16-35GM and 70-200 f4 as well so it should complete my lens lineup nicely

brakeinup · 6 Dec 2019 at 08:55

Richdog said:
To those of you using Canon lenses on your bodies, which adapter are you using and how is the average performance with the majority of lenses?

My wife has just moved her primary over to a Sony A73 from a Canon 5D MK3. On the Canon she used a Sigma Art 35mm in her studio with the odd macro shot on an Canon EF 100mm USM Macro.

When the Sony was purchased she also bought the E mount 35mm Sigma Art which works fine, but still wanted to use the macro, so went through several adapters including the MC-11 but ended up using an Altson as this one seemed to perform the best and wasn't expensive.

The crazy thing here is that on all adapters we tested the 100mm macro wouldn't perform well at all in AF. But the Canon mount 35mm with the adapter on the Sony would actually focus better than the E mount 35mm. Not only that but the focus points in camera when using the adapted lens are a quarter of the size of those when using the E mount lens using the exact same settings. The E mount lens would sometime struggle on some low light focal areas, but the adapted just outperforms it. This is all studio work so very limited scope. Its not been tested elsewhere such as outside.

I'm not sure if this is a lens firmware issue (Canon mount lens hasn't been updated since purchase) or something else, but she is keeping the adapted lens. The Altson adapter is well made and works very well, just seems to be picky with the 100mm. But to be fair so did the others. The Altson outperformed the MC-11 on the lens we have but no further testing done on anythng else. For us it was a solid purchase and she paid £52.99 for it.

Buddy · 14 Dec 2019 at 22:45

Is a Sony A7iii with the Tamron 28-75 a good shout for someone who wants to branch into portraits and general every day family pics?