Anyone using an Alpha 7 with manual lenses?

[mid_gen]

I've noticed the price of the Alpha 7 I coming down to tempting levels.

I've been shooting film for years, Leica M6 TTL, Voigtlander R4a and a selection of Leica/Voigtlander glass (50 Summilux, voigtlander 12mm and voigt 35 1.4).

Thinking of offloading the 12mm (fun, but not used much) which should almost cover a new A7.

How does the A7 handle with manual lenses? Focus peaking work well?

 

[D.P.]

Focus peaking works well but image quality varies massively between lenses. Really, a lens not design for the platform is just not worth using, especially anything towards the wider end.
Results like this are all too common:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/comparisons/2015-10-16-a7r2-5dsr/index.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/comparisons/2015-09-30-sony-leica-canon/index.htm



Lensrentals.com did a good analysis some time back and the best performing Leica primes lenses were also shown to perform poorly on the A7R.

Thom Hogan has also written several essays on the issues.

The phenomenon is nothing unusual. Many of the best performing wide lenses on film proved to be quite poor when used on digital sensors due to different ability of sensors to collect eccentric light rays towards the frame edge. This is more pronounced with mirrorless camera because the extremely short flange distance requires fairly extreme micro-lens arrays. Light rays hitting the frame edge at a very shallow angle cause all sorts of issues with reflectance at different wavelengths/colors. The micro-lens array that tries to resolve this can have adverse effects on lenses mounted with an adapter which increases flange distance.

At the end of the day if you want to use Sony A7 then factor in buying the dedicated lenses, or at the least be prepared to realize the lenses you loved on film simply don't live up to expectations on a digital mirrorless camera. As a rule of thumb wider angle lenses and faster aperture lenses tend to suffer the most.

 

[mid_gen]

I'm not much of a pixel peeper so not bothered by a little softness in the corners. Main thing is having the option of a digital back for my existing kit, the M6 will still be my main camera.

I'd probably pick up the 28-70 kit if I found a good price though...

Handling was my main question, curious how people get on with the MF setup, focus peaking stuff on the A7.

 

[englishpremier]

I use a Contax 50mm 1.7 on my A7 on occasion. It gives some nice results, nothing you can't get with modern lenses, but of course it's a fraction of the price, and has a nice rendering style.

There is a whole thread on Fred Miranda forums with A7 pictures many with old manual lenses. Some of the images are spectacular.

The problems D.P describes are related to ultrawide-wide lenses, in particularly the Leica range. Some work better than others.

Focus peaking isn't really that useful. Better to use focus assist.