A7RII plus metabones? and vs 5Dsr? Which for me?

I like doing portraits outside. I use mostly the 85L 1.2II and the Canon 135L
Between the A7RII and the 5Dsr which would be better suited? Neither lens has IS and I understand the Sony has internal stabilization. I keep hearing that the 5Dsr is not very forgiving at lower shutter speeds,which is common shooting outdoor in the shade.
If the Sony then which metabones adapter would work best for Canon lens and preferably AF if possible? Also the EVF sounds like an advantage as well to see how blurry the background is and the lighting

gqllc007 wrote in post #17717267
I like doing portraits outside. I use mostly the 85L 1.2II and the Canon 135L
Between the A7RII and the 5Dsr which would be better suited? Neither lens has IS and I understand the Sony has internal stabilization. I keep hearing that the 5Dsr is not very forgiving at lower shutter speeds,which is common shooting outdoor in the shade.
If the Sony then which metabones adapter would work best for Canon lens and preferably AF if possible? Also the EVF sounds like an advantage as well to see how blurry the background is and the lighting

You really need IS lens with a 5dsr for handheld shooting ....otherwise in anything other than bright light you will be needing to really up the ISO to get fast enough shutter speeds in order to avoid camera shake....Or be prepared to use a tripod more often than not......


I would go with the Sony if no IS

Clipper

I do natural light portraiture as well (85Lii and 135L are 2 of my most frequently used), just recently made the move from 5D3 over to A7Rii. It's been kinda life changing. With the 5D3, I was having a lot of unpredictable misfocus issues. I felt like I had to take 15 shots (frequently reacquiring focus within each set) to make sure it would really nail at least a few of them. Even then it might just decide to miss them all sometimes, at which point, I'd go into live view - total PITA. With the A7Rii, my keeper rate is WAY up. At longer distances for full body or 3/4 shots, AF nails it every time. Closer headshots I just manually focus with peaking in the EVF, and it sounds laborious, but it's really a breeze. Peaking can be unreliable at smaller apertures where there's more depth of field, but I've found it to be very accurate when the focus fall-off if as drastic as it is on the 85L / 135L. The catchlight in the eye turns red, snap, nailed. And the fact that they're both stabilized now doesn't hurt either. Love it.

As far as which adapter to use, The Metabones IV is what I'm using, and is generally agreed to be the best option for EF glass.

Don't even get me started on Eye-AF with native glass. For a portrait shooter that's a dream come true. I don't even need to cull out blurry eye shots on sets taken with the FE 90mm macro, because it just nails the eyeball every time. A bit more clinical in its rendering though, so I mix that with more dreamy 85/135 shots

Wow ok that was the exact info I was looking for. I find the keeper rate on my 5Dmk3 not that great. Do you use flash or strobes? Also what on camera flash can you use on the Sony?

I've handheld with the 200/2 (old non VR) and 135/2 and IBIS

amazing combo.

Would not hesitate using for low light events, where in the past, I would opt for a 70-200ii

gqllc007 wrote in post #17717402
Wow ok that was the exact info I was looking for. I find the keeper rate on my 5Dmk3 not that great. Do you use flash or strobes? Also what on camera flash can you use on the Sony?

Yeah, I'm having to totally retrain myself as far as the number of shots I take. Whereas I used to just shoot like crazy on the 5D3, then sift through the huge stack to find the razor sharp keepers, now I'm trying to shoot a bit more conservatively because the keeper rate is much higher. Part of that is the on sensor PDAF (no microadjustment issues), and part of that is also probably the IBIS because I always shoot handheld.

I do strobe sometimes. Most often with an array of AB's, triggered by the same PocketWizard setup I used on the Canon. Also, the 580EX works if you put it on the A7Rii, but it's not TTL, and it tends to go to sleep and I have to periodically wake it up to shoot with it, which is sorta weird. There may be a workaround for that though, I dunno, I use the 580 so rarely I haven't really looked into it.

The transition over wasn't totally painless. Learning the menu system takes a while, finding the ideal custom button configuration, moving the focus spot is more fiddly - I still miss the Canon joystick, and getting used to the EVF took me a while as well. But all that said, I walked into this fully prepared to return the A7Rii if I didn't like it, and also intended to hold on to my 5D3 for low-light situations (because I'd heard the Sony's focused horribly in low light), but the Rii kicked the 5D3's butt in every scenario, so I bit the bullet and sold it, and I don't regret it at all.

bpaulette wrote in post #17717382
I do natural light portraiture as well (85Lii and 135L are 2 of my most frequently used), just recently made the move from 5D3 over to A7Rii. It's been kinda life changing. With the 5D3, I was having a lot of unpredictable misfocus issues. I felt like I had to take 15 shots (frequently reacquiring focus within each set) to make sure it would really nail at least a few of them. Even then it might just decide to miss them all sometimes, at which point, I'd go into live view - total PITA. With the A7Rii, my keeper rate is WAY up. At longer distances for full body or 3/4 shots, AF nails it every time. Closer headshots I just manually focus with peaking in the EVF, and it sounds laborious, but it's really a breeze. Peaking can be unreliable at smaller apertures where there's more depth of field, but I've found it to be very accurate when the focus fall-off if as drastic as it is on the 85L / 135L. The catchlight in the eye turns red, snap, nailed. And the fact that they're both stabilized now doesn't hurt either. Love it.

As far as which adapter to use, The Metabones IV is what I'm using, and is generally agreed to be the best option for EF glass.

Don't even get me started on Eye-AF with native glass. For a portrait shooter that's a dream come true. I don't even need to cull out blurry eye shots on sets taken with the FE 90mm macro, because it just nails the eyeball every time. A bit more clinical in its rendering though, so I mix that with more dreamy 85/135 shots

I share the same sentiments. AF keeper rate is significantly higher with the a7 bodies. With continuous eye focus, keeper rate is basically 100% if the system has a lock on the eye.

One other thing to consider with outdoor portraits is that the dynamic range really makes it easier to keep from blowing out the sky when using natural light. Simply expose for the highlights and lift the shadows in post.

Hi guys,

I'm currently using Canon 6D with Tamron 24-70, Sigma 35/1.4 ART and Canon 70-200ii. Will these 3 lenses work very well with the a7rii and adapter too?

I am very keen to know the outcome for the Sigma ART, as it's a real PITA to get high keeper rates with inconsistent AF on my 6D. Does the camera have eye focus with Sigma's ART lenses?

Also, between native Sony lenses (e.g. the famous 55/1.8) and EF lenses (e.g. Sigma ART or the 70-200ii) - are Sony lenses as good as Canon/Sigma in rendering and image quality?

Lastly, how is the focus speed on the a7rii with the 85/1.2ii? I understand that it's pretty slow on the Canon bodies only.

Thanks!

the.forumer wrote in post #17840721
Hi guys,

I'm currently using Canon 6D with Tamron 24-70, Sigma 35/1.4 ART and Canon 70-200ii. Will these 3 lenses work very well with the a7rii and adapter too?

I am very keen to know the outcome for the Sigma ART, as it's a real PITA to get high keeper rates with inconsistent AF on my 6D. Does the camera have eye focus with Sigma's ART lenses?

Also, between native Sony lenses (e.g. the famous 55/1.8) and EF lenses (e.g. Sigma ART or the 70-200ii) - are Sony lenses as good as Canon/Sigma in rendering and image quality?

Lastly, how is the focus speed on the a7rii with the 85/1.2ii? I understand that it's pretty slow on the Canon bodies only.

Thanks!

All three lenses should work with the metabones IV. AF will be comparable to your 6D for single shot shooting, but won't track very well with adapted lenses. AF accuracy and consistency on the a7rII is better with adapted lenses than what you'd experience on a native canon body. With a mirrorless body that AF sensor is baked into the sensor itself, so you have none of the calibration issues between the AF sensor and image sensor that DSLR's have. These miscalibirations are the cause of all the AF issues that Sigma/Tamron lenses have.

Native lenses will outperform the 6D's AF. Optically the Sony primes are superb. The Zeiss primes have a very nice "3D rendering"....sharp fall of of the out of focus areas, loads of micro contrast, and great colors. The Canon lenses are great in their own right, but look comparably flat. There's some subjectivity of course, but I prefer the "punchier" rendering of the Zeiss primes.

85L focuses slowly no matter what body you use it on. That lens is moving a lot of glass with a so-so AF motor.

mystik610 wrote in post #17722539
I share the same sentiments. AF keeper rate is significantly higher with the a7 bodies. With continuous eye focus, keeper rate is basically 100% if the system has a lock on the eye.

One other thing to consider with outdoor portraits is that the dynamic range really makes it easier to keep from blowing out the sky when using natural light. Simply expose for the highlights and lift the shadows in post.

does eye focus work with the metabones? if so how do u set it up?

jonneymendoza wrote in post #17843678
does eye focus work with the metabones?

No

I have both cameras and of them I prefer the a7R II, but love them both. Since the whole reason I have the 5DS R is for the sheer resolution and detail possible with 50.6 MP (landscapes, cityscapes, architecture, etc.), it was always my plan to use the camera with a tripod.

David ^^ if you had to choose one for Portraits which would you use? I ask this as I had the 5DsR and went back to the 5Dmk3 for portraits as I found it to be more forgiving than the 5DsR. I also like the eye focusing and the internal stabilization of the A7RII but have never used one

gqllc007 wrote in post #17844316
David ^^ if you had to choose one for Portraits which would you use? I ask this as I had the 5DsR and went back to the 5Dmk3 for portraits as I found it to be more forgiving than the 5DsR. I also like the eye focusing and the internal stabilization of the A7RII but have never used one

I'll chime in.....

I've never used a 5DSR but did own a 5D3 and 5D2 for a while.

The lack of a mirror means no more mis-focused shots with shallow DOF due to calibration issues. So no more culling through shots to simply see which ones got the focus right. Keeper rate is very high.

I don't think David does much portraiture, but you might want to send a PM to wallstreetoneil. He's a wedding photog with the a7rII and 5DSR.

Plus Eye-focus is a game-changer for portraiture:

jonneymendoza wrote in post #17843678
does eye focus work with the metabones? if so how do u set it up?

It does not work with the metabones adapter. It does work with the falcon lite adapter, but the build quality kinda makes me nervous...particularly since the lens lock switch is so flimsy. I have a metabones III and am waiting to see what metabones does if/when they release a mark V.