Sony Lounge Thread MKIII (All Sony cameras welcome)

digital_AM wrote in post #18597344
Agree. For such an expensive lens, I’m surprised that it behaves this way.

yeah, for that kind of money, it surprised me too...and for all the rave reviews from Sony artisans about how awesome it was...surely one of them shot at sunset or sunrise and had that issue...and maybe they did, but are asked to not point out any negative aspects...its the kind of thing that makes me ok with renting lenses before buying.

TRhoads wrote in post #18597348
yeah, for that kind of money, it surprised me too...and for all the rave reviews from Sony artisans about how awesome it was...surely one of them shot at sunset or sunrise and had that issue...and maybe they did, but are asked to not point out any negative aspects...its the kind of thing that makes me ok with renting lenses before buying.

I think the issue is the GM lens focuses stopped down unlike the FE 55 and others that focus wide open. I think other GM lenses behave this way and as a result don’t work very reliably in dim light.

Garden of Eden. Arches NP.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/22Uj​D1U

digital_AM wrote in post #18597338
Travis, you were right about the low light AF performance of the FE 16-35 GM. It performed poorly at sunrise this morning. I had to manually focus. I didn’t want to risk changing lenses on the beach so I kept using. Granted it was very dark out there. The lens also had a weird issue where it would hunt and rack focus back and forth when there was more available light. Restarting the camera solved the issue but it was disconcerting. It’s rock solid during good light though.

I had the same issue when I borrowed the 16-35 from Travis to shoot an outdoor space. F11 in early afternoon sun and it kept hunting. Live view was set to off.

mystik610 wrote in post #18597370
I had the same issue when I borrowed the 16-35 from Travis to shoot an outdoor space. F11 in early afternoon sun and it kept hunting. Live view was set to off.

and that lens was brand new...I was the first to rent it...they bought it the week I requested it! So, its not like it had been beat up in the rental pool...

digital_AM wrote in post #18597366
I think the issue is the GM lens focuses stopped down unlike the FE 55 and others that focus wide open. I think other GM lenses behave this way and as a result don’t work very reliably in dim light.

This was corrected via firmware if you set live-view off. 85GM opens the aperture and focuses fine...its just slow lol.

Not that I was interested in the 16-35GM.
I'd rather put the monies on the rumored 200-600.

But I'll plod along with the 100-400.

I was thinking about the 100-400mm focal range. Is it not perfect for 99% or wildlife photography?
Sure there are times when a prime in 500 or 600 would be nice but no company has defied physics yet
except Canon with the 400DOii and I believe more images are to be had with the mobility of the 100-400.

But when we need 800mm Sony provides-

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/22Up​ARd

Goofing off with the Nifty-fifty and Poof's Crow's Feet
I've shed most of the EOS kit except the 400DOii, the MP-65 (the Laowa 25mm macro is in-coming), and the
Nifty-fity 1.8.
I've grown to detest many 'adapted' lenses...the size/length with the Metabones.
I accept the 400DOii because there is no Sony equivalent.
The MP-65 because until recently there wasn't an alternative....now there is (Laowa 25mm Macro).
The Nifty, only because I just found it and it's worth little to sell it

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/G1dh​3K

digital_AM wrote in post #18597338
Travis, you were right about the low light AF performance of the FE 16-35 GM. It performed poorly at sunrise this morning. I had to manually focus. I didn’t want to risk changing lenses on the beach so I kept using. Granted it was very dark out there. The lens also had a weird issue where it would hunt and rack focus back and forth when there was more available light. Restarting the camera solved the issue but it was disconcerting. It’s rock solid during good light though.

I was looking at this lens again last night so this news is disappointing. Can you confirm if setting effect was set to OFF? There’s mixed reviews online if this actually cures the issue on some lenses. Also if you get a chance to repeat the test could you try af-s as some sites say it’s only an af-c issue (stopped down focus)

mystik610 wrote in post #18597395
This was corrected via firmware if you set live-view off. 85GM opens the aperture and focuses fine...its just slow lol.

with the last debut gig i did a week ago, i used the 85GM with an RII body and my FE35 on the RIII, i never had one single issue or experience slow focusing on the 85GM.

Another thing to report is that I used the tiny tiny Godox TT350 as a direct flash(zoom at 80mm) to go with the RII+85GM combo for the whole occasion without changing batteries. Used this combo to take the candid shots.

here's a couple of sample:

Image hosted by forum (906872) © vinmunoz THIS IS A LOW QUALITY PREVIEW. Please log in to see the good quality stuff.

xpfloyd wrote in post #18597444
I was looking at this lens again last night so this news is disappointing. Can you confirm if setting effect was set to OFF? There’s mixed reviews online if this actually cures the issue on some lenses. Also if you get a chance to repeat the test could you try af-s as some sites say it’s only an af-c issue (stopped down focus)

Eddie, I will check.

xpfloyd wrote in post #18597444
I was looking at this lens again last night so this news is disappointing. Can you confirm if setting effect was set to OFF? There’s mixed reviews online if this actually cures the issue on some lenses. Also if you get a chance to repeat the test could you try af-s as some sites say it’s only an af-c issue (stopped down focus)

I think a lot of people miss the fact that you need to turn live-view off. Every FE lens I own opens the aperture to focus when live-view is set to off....you can see the aperture blades opening up to focus if you watch the front of the lens. It's possible that for whatever reason, the 16-35 does not open the aperture to focus. But I think its something other than that.....even if you're stuck with CDAF because you're focusing stopped down, you shouldn't have issues focusing in good light.

Outside of the focusing issues, I really liked the look of the images from that lens (both mine and Travis'). The rendering doesn't seem as flat as the other GM lenses. I think for an occasional UWA guy, a zoom is the best bet for me....it's a toss up between the 12-24 an 16-35 for me and I keep racking my brain on whether I want f2.8 or 12mm-14mm more

Here's the shot I had issues with:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/24iF​YS4

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18597397
Not that I was interested in the 16-35GM.
I'd rather put the monies on the rumored 200-600.

But I'll plod along with the 100-400.

I was thinking about the 100-400mm focal range. Is it not perfect for 99% or wildlife photography?
Sure there are times when a prime in 500 or 600 would be nice but no company has defied physics yet
except Canon with the 400DOii and I believe more images are to be had with the mobility of the 100-400.

But when we need 800mm Sony provides-

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/22Up​ARd Great Blue by MedicineMan4040, on Flickr

MM I'm not enough of a birder to appreciate the actual birds, but I have to say your bird photos are really impressive....if only because I've played enough with super-telephotos to understand that it takes a lot of technique to focus on something that small with a really long focal length....regardless of how good the cam is. Simply panning to follow a BIF at a super-telephoto focal length takes some skill, and you're obviously not just getting lucky because you're really consistent.

vinmunoz wrote in post #18597481
with the last debut gig i did a week ago, i used the 85GM with an RII body and my FE35 on the RIII, i never had one single issue or experience slow focusing on the 85GM.

Another thing to report is that I used the tiny tiny Godox TT350 as a direct flash(zoom at 80mm) to go with the RII+85GM combo for the whole occasion without changing batteries. Used this combo to take the candid shots.

here's a couple of sample:

Hosted photo: posted by vinmunoz in
./showthread.php?p=185​97481&i=i86172969
forum: Sony Digital Cameras

Hosted photo: posted by vinmunoz in
./showthread.php?p=185​97481&i=i156010208
forum: Sony Digital Cameras

I find that the lens elements move too slow to keep up with action is what I meant. It focuses really reliably, but it takes a long time to move between long focal distances. Short focus movements are fine, but going from infinity to something near MFD takes a while.