Why I hesitate to buy E-Mount AF Lenses

The introduction of high quality lenses, like the Batis series from Zeiss, makes buying E-Mount lenses very tempting.  The thought of selling all my Canon AF lenses and buy Sony equivalent (or close to) lenses crossed my mind a few times, but I always resisted.  What's holding me back?  One experience taught me something about selling gear in the used market.  As many of you know, I was a Canon shooter for more than a decade, and more if counting the film days, and I have amassed quite a few Canon lenses.  My Canon camera bodies are gone, but the lenses remained (except the 16-35mm f2.8L II, and the 70-200mm f4L IS, which I sold to buy the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR).  All this time, I never had trouble selling any Canon equipment, because there are such a huge Canon user base and finding a buyer is relatively easy.  While "sampling" other cameras, I bought a Sony A-Mount camera and a few AF lenses, Minolta 50mm f1.7, Sigma 28-300mm and Tamron 90mm f2.8 Macro to try.  At the end of the sampling period, I found that it was hugely difficult to sell Sony gear.  Eventually, they were sold rather cheaply and took a long time, compared to the Canon equivalent.  One example is the Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro lens.  I sold the Sony version at about half the price of the Canon version; there were simply not many Sony Alpha-Mount users out there, especially for a relatively specialized lens like a macro.

The introduction of the A7R II makes the decision even harder for me.  The advanced phase-detect AF capabilities in the A7R II allows Canon auto focus lenses to AF much faster with a smart adapter, to a point where it's actually usable.  Previous Sony E-mount cameras AF very slowly with smart adapters, that's practically useless.

For the time being, I am going to keep the Canon lenses and wait for the A7R II to become more affordable to buy one.  If the AF is actually good enough, the Canon lenses will become my main lenses to be used on Sony whenever AF is required.

Blue Dreams - Meyer-Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9 & Sony A7.

Sony A7R II - The Best Canon Camera Yet?

No, I am not crazy, and you read the title correctly.  The new Sony A7R II, an upgrade from the very successful A7R, just makes me foam in my mouth; all the useful and practical features all in one body.  I don't even mind the 42MP resolution.  I can live with it.  Let's look at the new features.

42MP BSI Sensor - For a lot of people, this is a big deal.  Back Side Illuminated (BSI) technology is used, along with copper wiring on the sensor to achieve clean high ISO and amazing readout speed.  The biggest, and in my opinion, the best feature of this sensor is the 399 phase detect AF points that makes it possible to auto focus third party lenses in almost native AF speed.  I have tried the smart AF adapter for the Canon lenses, and it's just not workable for me, but from what I have seen, the A7R II is light years ahead and totally usable.  This is the reason for the weird title :)  and this is reason enough for me to eventually buy one.

In-Body-Image-Stabilization (IBIS) -- Like it's older brother, the A7 II, the A7R II now has the 5-Axis IBIS.  I have used the excellent IBIS in the Olympus E-M5 and am spoiled by it.

4K Internal Recording -- Not a feature of interest to me, but for the indy film makers, this is fantastic news.  The Panasonic GH-4 has gotten so much attention being the first mirrorless to record 4K video and the A7R II will prove to be irresistible for this group of people, for sure.

Improved Shutter -- The A7R has a pretty negative reputation for having a very loud and high vibration shutter.  Sony promises the A7R II is 50% better in this regard.  This camera also features the Silent Shutter, first introduced with the A7s.  I will find this invaluable in so many shooting situations.  As for the shutter life, this is even better than some of the professional DSLRs out there, which typically have 350K to 400K shutter life.  For most people, this kind of long life is overkill, but it provides a peace of mind.

The above are the features I feel are most important.  Putting so much new and improved stuff in one camera body, is a breath of fresh air, unlike others that uses a small improvement as a reason for a new model.  Well done Sony.  I look forward to buying one in a year (or two).

Untitled - Sony A7 & Kilfitt Makro Kilar 90mm f2.8