Sony SLR a-lenses

[Brendan Pyatt]

What lenses can one use?

Will they offer autofocus?
Do they flip the image?
None of the sony a lenses i have been looking have an aperature (iris) ring on them so how would one control exposure?

I was thinking about the 1680Z 16-80 would be a great long zoom lens on the z7...Or the SAL-135F18Z..

[Brendan Pyatt]

Can anyone offer any info on these questions?

The iris ring issue? Does the z7 have a iris dial like the older song cams? I know the lens that it comes with has a iris ring...

I have an ex1 but the lens isnt long enough i may ditch it and get a z7 but need to know about autofocus and iris first...

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Brendan Pyatt

Can anyone offer any info on these questions?

On a different thread, Mr Bloom pointed out that the Alpha lenses (for the Sony/Minolta stills camera) had a 7x magnification, thus making a standard 50mm lens equivalent to a long telephoto. In other words, NOT like the effect of a Letus or M2 (and not requiring a flip). Thus, with a few exceptions, not many will be wanting to use them with the Z7. More will probably look for the Wide Angle zoom, offering a better quality than a separate wide angle adaptor but at greater cost.

I don't know if any Alpha lenses are 28-80 style zooms, which may handle your mid-long range requirements, but watch out for maximum apertures as fast glass tends to be expensive.

Don't forget that Fujinon do an ENG x18 lens for the JVC HD100 (not the stock lens) may now fit the Z7.

OTOH, I hear Century are updating their range for the EX-1 so I wouldn't abandon hope of a longer lens reach just yet.

[Greg Hartzell]

the iris ring would be attached to the lens on this cam, which is removable. It's not like on a xl-2.

I would agree that 35mm lenses aren't very usable on this cam, except for specialized work.

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Brendan Pyatt

i may ditch it and get a z7 but need to know about autofocus and iris first...

Just got a look at a video report on the Z7 - a few things to note:

- The iris is the same sort of thing as the EX-1
- The focus works the same way too (pull/push end stop)
- The zoom ring feels mechanical, not servo-only (smash zooms possible)
- THERE IS A 1.5 EXTENDER on the stock lens! Didn't notice this before...

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Brendan Pyatt

i may ditch it and get a z7 but need to know about autofocus and iris first...

Just got a look at a video report on the Z7 - a few things to note:

- The iris is the same sort of thing as the EX-1 though I can't see markings
- The focus works the same way too (pull/push end stop)
- The zoom ring feels mechanical, not servo-only (smash zooms possible)
- THERE IS A 1.5 EXTENDER on the stock lens! Didn't notice this before...

Okay, so the extender is a digital extender rather than the traditional optical type, but at SD it may be fine and just the thing for that little bit of reach when you need it in a hurry.

[Laurence Kingston]

Originally Posted by Matt Daviss

- THERE IS A 1.5 EXTENDER on the stock lens! Didn't notice this before...

Okay, so the extender is a digital extender rather than the traditional optical type, but at SD it may be fine and just the thing for that little bit of reach when you need it in a hurry.

The better way to do digital zooms is to use a stabilization plugin like Mercali. Stabilize with Mercali then zoom to get rid of the edges. In fact, now what I'm doing is allowing extra space whenever what I'm shooting is shaky for the zoom I will get when I stabilize.

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Laurence Kingston

The better way to do digital zooms is to use a stabilization plugin like Mercali.

But if you're lead into a big hall for a press conference the size of a football pitch and you haven't got time for a long edit/process, with a few seconds to unhook from the tripod to grab a few voxpops or 'exit stage right' shots, it's great. And zoom-through. I love my Century 1.6x but have been bitten by the vignetting cropping in until I worked by zoom numbers.

[John M. McCloskey]

If I am looking for a lens with at least a 20X zoom or better without any vignetting would I need to look at a camera other than the Z7. The stock 13X would not work well in my type work. Any suggestions on lenses with a good zoom?? or camera suggestions

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by John M. McCloskey

The stock 13X would not work well in my type work. Any suggestions on lenses with a good zoom?? or camera suggestions

You'll need to be sitting down for this. Unless of course you're used to the broadcast world:

A GREAT lens is the Fujinon x18 ENG lens for the JVC HD100, and I'd also have to say that their wideangle for the HD100 is also an absolute corker. Stunning results. Great glass, and it shows.

But both lenses cost rather more than the whole Z7 package! If you buy a DSR-450 body, you budget about half to twice that amount for your glass. And so it goes: a $6k Z7 will take a $10k Fujinon ENG lens, and that lens will deliver stunning images, but you'll wonder what $16k will buy you.

The lens will outclass the stock F-350 glass and even probably the stock EX-1's glass.

I really loved the HD100, but the stock lens was a bit rubbish. I got some SD footage shot with the expensive wide angle and it looked like a DSR with broadcast glass because that was exactly what it had.

The Z7's CMOS chip, imaging circuits and CF unit are great. The lens is probably a compromise. I might just invest in good broadcast glass before I jump to a big shoulder mounted camera.

It's sort of the antithesis of the Letus/RedRock route, but either way, good glass shows. Check out Fujinon's lenses for the HD100 (except, of course, for the stock one).

[John M. McCloskey]

Thanks Matt, Been in the Broadcast world for a while now from Beta SP to DSR 390's now to Z1u for the past 3 years. We have seriuosly been looking at the XDHDCam 335 for a while now simply due to its low light capabilities and getting back to lenses with extenders for the long shots and also the cpabilities to have a tangeable archived library which you cant get with P2 so P2 is out of the question(Shoot Blue ray and put it on the shelf,presto). The Z1 has crushed the DSR footage of several years ago but the DSR killed the Z1U in low light and zoom distances. The same issue of $ spent on the XDHD cam Verses the $ on the 18X lens with extender is hard to swallow (35K) but it just doesnt seem there is a single camera that fits in between the Z1 and DSR 390. A camera with good low light capabilities and with a built in extender and also a tangeable archiving capability in HD it looks like the XDHD Cam is buy far the way to go. Thanks again Matt for clearing that up.

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by John M. McCloskey

just doesnt seem there is a single camera that fits in between the Z1 and DSR 390.

I can imagine a JVC HDx00 that has half-inch CMOS sensors and a solid state recording medium.

Sony may be chasing the HVX200 with the EX-1, but JVC may be caught by surprise holding the better hand over the Z7. An HD300 range without that awful JVC tape mechanism but with a great HD to SD converter might be a magic bullet.

[Mark Williams]

Brendan,

I read somewhere that Sony has an adapter to allow use of its Alpha digital camera lenses on the z-7. If this is so and there is a fixed iris dial similar to the EX-1 then the 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 could the had for under $500 and the 70-200 f 2.8 for $1,900. You can do the math with the 7x conversion and search the camera sites for lens performance. I think the 70-200 would be so heavy it would need some additional support. However, the 18-200 wieghs in at only 14.3 oz. Hope this helps. I also read that "all functions of the Alpha lenses may not be usable." Don't know what that means.

[Brendan Pyatt]

I heard a couple of things:

that you can shuffle through the aperature settings by pressing the iris button..

and that the adapter ring for the alpha lenses has an iris ring on it.

I am not sure i beleive either of these...

mark it is the 70-200 i am interested in. i wonder what the max weight is you can put on the z7 without extra support? the stock lens looks heavy.

[Mark Williams]

Not sure. Maybe some of the guys that use the Canon XLs can chime in. I know they use long telephoto lens and might have a good idea when additional support is needed.