Sony Lounge Thread MKIII (All Sony cameras welcome)

the bokeh is definitely more pleasing to the eye,

i assume partially due to 1.8 vs 1.4


i've been considering changing my line up as well.. but i'm thinking of giving up the 85 gm for the 55 1.8 and 90mac... i think if i buy used its might almost be an even wash ,,, ok probably a little will have to come out of pocket on my end .. but still


and then later on maybe adding the sigma 105 1.4 or 135 1.8

so yes i know i said the sony was gone and i was going all #teamfuji but .. i had a change of mind .. my Fuji camera as been sold and 3 out of 5 lenses has been sold as well as the tt350F .


i may add an x100f .. for its portability and nice straight out of camera jpegs.. maybe


anyway so i'm now down to the a7r3 for stills and Panasonic gh5 mostly for video

i'm doing my best to hold off on buying any lenses for the Panasonic as i'm hoping the a7s 3 gets released soon .. if it has upgraded AF from its previous contrast detect only and 4k60 .. then i'm going in all sony ...Again

short question guys

if i have a manual lens thats not in the list of focal lengths for steadyshot. For example the helios 44-2 which is 58mm. Is it better to go 55mm or 60mm??

55mm is 3mm shorter on the other hand 60mm is 2mm but longer and i am not sure if the longer FL setting will mean more aggressive IBIS movements although it is closer to the actual FL of 58 versus the 55mm setting which will mean less compensation BUT it is 3mm difference.

i heard +/- 2mm should mean very little overall - not sure what your experiences dictate though - so trying to get inputs from the experts here hehe

Thanks

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18650434
Very pro work Alfredo. Great colors and a flash dash of patriotism which I like.

Thank you!

navydoc wrote in post #18650375
It even makes my Yuban ground coffee taste better. I'm curious what grinder you use?

Thanks very much for the compliment on my images. I like to think I take very nice snapshots.

I use a Brevelle. It's pricey, but it allows excellent control over the grind.

Before the Brevelle I used a Baratza, but after 2 of them failed within an 18 month period, I purchased the more reliable Brevelle. The controls on the Breville are superior to the Baratza.

Snapshots? Yeah. Right.

Timphoto wrote in post #18650463
I use a Brevelle. It's pricey, but it allows excellent control over the grind.

Before the Brevelle I used a Baratza, but after 2 of them failed within an 18 month period, I purchased the more reliable Brevelle. The controls on the Breville are superior to the Baratza.

Snapshots? Yeah. Right.

Really surprised by your Baratza issue, what model did you have? I've had a Baratza Vario ceramic flat burr grinder for 4 years now and it has been a phenomenally good grinder. The only issue I had was with the grind motor gear wich was origionally plastic and I replaced it with the Baratza retrofit steel gear, other than that it's been flawless. It's the perfect small footprint grinder for espresso shots with on demand grinding and excellent coarse and super fine grind capabilities.

So the sony weekly challenge..

Somebody want to jump in and choose a new theme?

Last i chose was "negative " .
Maybe that was too much for everybodies busy schedule this week as no one participated.

Miranda1 wrote in post #18650473
Really surprised by your Baratza issue, what model did you have? I've had a Baratza Vario ceramic flat burr grinder for 4 years now and it has been a phenomenally good grinder. The only issue I had was with the grind motor gear wich was origionally plastic and I replaced it with the Baratza retrofit steel gear, other than that it's been flawless. It's the perfect small footprint grinder for espresso shots with on demand grinding and excellent coarse and super fine grind capabilities.

Ours was also a Vario and I have a friend who swears by his too. Perhaps I got two copies from a bad manufacturing run, but after the 2nd failure I was done. I expect better of grinders that cost $400. My $200 Breville has been going great for 3 years now, and in spite of all the hype about flat burr grinders being more consistent, I've had no issues with the consistency of the conical grinds from the Brevelle.

Miranda1 wrote in post #18650444
Interesting comparison. between the two images I prefer the GM I find the bokeh on the 1.8 really distracting, with the swirlt cats-eyes look. Would be nice to see a 1.8 direct comparison between these two.

In many cases if you start analyzing a lot of sony bokeh many have onion bokeh from sony lenses. Foliage background bokeh is a true test and Sony's cmos sensor with high contrast and bleeding sharpness. Sony tend to have a character that can have hit/miss beautiful bokeh to nervous. If you analyze virtually most Fuji primes the bokeh is typically pleasing. Canon and Nikon is also hit and miss but I am finding Sony sensor and signature "sony" look can have a higher chance of nervous bokeh. Out of all the manufacturer brands I've mentioned the worst bokeh I've seen is from a Sony GM 70-200 system in foliage background which is often the most challenging at times.

I think the gm 85mm also has a "lemon" bokeh balls in some cases.

The way I look at using a system is that we just deal with what the manufacturer offers. I would think the bokeh with an upcoming E mount sigma will have better bokeh balls than many Sony native glass.

This is why I'm relaxing on buying any native glass at the moment for portrait application.

I'm not disrespecting anything here. I've never seen nervous bokeh with my 85Lmk2 f/1.2 but it's not the sharpness lens but I still get incredible results with my 5dmk4. Even the ball park f/1.8 dof I get with my Fuji X-t2 for portrait headshots using a 56mm f/1.2 (approx 84mm on a 1.5 crop factor) bokeh always looks creamy and beautiful regardless of contrast in the backgrounds.

At the end of the day it's probably easy to say having GM 85mm is more ideal for low light wedding/event work with no fear of regret. Lighter weight 85 batis or cheaper sony 85 f/1.8 is still great due to the high iso capabilities of the sony sensor.

Miranda1 wrote in post #18650444
Interesting comparison. between the two images I prefer the GM I find the bokeh on the 1.8 really distracting, with the swirlt cats-eyes look. Would be nice to see a 1.8 direct comparison between these two.

i did not make an F1.8 on the GM because I know even by stopping down just 1 click (f1.6), the GM is already very sharp.

here's the GM at F1.6 in real world
https://500px.com …rom=user&user_i​d=12014171

the giant 105. this might replace my 85GM. i don't care about the size.

rantercsr wrote in post #18650447
the bokeh is definitely more pleasing to the eye,

i assume partially due to 1.8 vs 1.4


i've been considering changing my line up as well.. but i'm thinking of giving up the 85 gm for the 55 1.8 and 90mac... i think if i buy used its might almost be an even wash ,,, ok probably a little will have to come out of pocket on my end .. but still


and then later on maybe adding the sigma 105 1.4 or 135 1.8

so yes i know i said the sony was gone and i was going all #teamfuji but .. i had a change of mind .. my Fuji camera as been sold and 3 out of 5 lenses has been sold as well as the tt350F .


i may add an x100f .. for its portability and nice straight out of camera jpegs.. maybe


anyway so i'm now down to the a7r3 for stills and Panasonic gh5 mostly for video

i'm doing my best to hold off on buying any lenses for the Panasonic as i'm hoping the a7s 3 gets released soon .. if it has upgraded AF from its previous contrast detect only and 4k60 .. then i'm going in all sony ...Again

OH my!!!!!! You're mad in trying different flavours in the camera world

To be honest the only thing "me" sticking with Fuji is the 16mm and 56mm. Otherwise I'm still a Canon guy and finding great uses for my Sony. I'll be ramping up in Sony native glass purchase eventually.....

I would say "DO NOT" get the X100F because portability is cool but as your a portrait lover you'll rather have a smaller X-t20 interchangeable so you can go 23mm f/2 and have a small 50mm f/2.(you've been there done that) ............... Here's the thing you have your sony so you'd probably think it's worth having high iso and full frame goodness instead with a relatively small package.

:P

vinmunoz wrote in post #18650496
the giant 105. this might replace my 85GM. i don't care about the size.

For portrait work I'd dump the GM 85mm in a heart beat for static portrait work.

That's as long as sigma AF is rock solid on a consistent basis.

Doesn't look like your an events photographer so this is where Sigma with slower AF (assumption) is fine for static portrait work. Plus 105mm would produce some more compression and obviously you can always stop down from f/1.4 to 1.8 or smaller.

2 different takes (one is a slightly longer exposure than the other).

AlanU wrote in post #18650504
For portrait work I'd dump the GM 85mm in a heart beat for static portrait work.

That's as long as sigma AF is rock solid on a consistent basis.

Doesn't look like your an events photographer so this is where Sigma with slower AF (assumption) is fine for static portrait work. Plus 105mm would produce some more compression and obviously you can always stop down from f/1.4 to 1.8 or smaller.

yah for the upcoming reviews when the sony native comes, i will only look at how quick and solid the AF is. that's going to be my basis to decide together with sharpness at F1.4.

Timphoto wrote in post #18650463
I use a Brevelle. It's pricey, but it allows excellent control over the grind.

Before the Brevelle I used a Baratza, but after 2 of them failed within an 18 month period, I purchased the more reliable Brevelle. The controls on the Breville are superior to the Baratza.

Snapshots? Yeah. Right.

Thanks. I've been trying to decide between the Beville you link to and the Oxo On conical burr grinder with intigrated scale.

I can get a 20% discount on the Oxo if I buy before tomorrow.

I don't drink espresso so the higher end grinders I don't need.