2016 - 2026... 10 Years with Sony alpha
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- 11 min de lecture
Hi dear followers ! It has been 10 years now that I made the switch from the Canon EOS DSLR system to Sony and now I feel it finally legit to give you my honest opinion about the alpha system !
Back in 2016 I was into the Canon EOS DSLR system since decades but the rise of mirrorless was interesting me for it's size and weight gain, even if a lot of reviewers were complaining that the EVF was still bad vs the optical viewfinder and that AF wasn't actually that good at that time !
My other concern was the cost of the lenses, as the Sony G and GM glass was already expensive and I had invested so much cash into Canon L-series lenses that I was worried wasting a lot of money selling them for replacement !
I had spent most of the time taking aviation pictures until 2017 so I decided to go for two native Sony zooms for my new Sony APSC cameras and adapt the others via the Sigma MC-11 adapter !
This made the switch much more comfortable !
The combos with Sony cameras and Canon lenses worked pretty well but I was worried because I've seen some MC-11 adapters breaking apart and the lenses falling to the ground... Which would be terrible !
I also had bought full frame cameras pretty quick and wanted more native glass...
The options in the G and GM line was limited in 2016 but some nice pieces of glass were already available !
I started with f/4 lenses, like the 24-105mm f/4 G OSS and FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS which were afforable and very good, at least the 24-105mm because comig from a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L II IS USM I was already a bit picky and the Sony F4 was "so so" !
I started to get used to the lag of the EVF and they became always better after any new version of the cameras, specially the A7 series... The A6000 series were really bad in that regard !!!
My first full frame was the A7 MkII and then very quick I got myself a first A7R MkII (then two of them) !
When I went to an airport full of planespotters, they were all staring at me and laughing when seeing my A6500 with MC-11 and a Canon EF 100-400 L because they were all hardcore Canon and Nikon DSLR addicts and believed that that Sony system was more like a toy than a real camera... Until they could see my pictures on the specialized websites !
Don't get me wrong... I always had amazing results with my EOS equipement but with Sony it was even better and way easier to capture the shots I wanted !
But in 2017 a lot of friends asked me If I would accept taking portraits of them so I started looking for that kind of equipement as I still only had the A7 MkII and some zooms... That's when I began buying prime lenses !
Even if I had the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II at that time, I wanted to buy a native portrait lens, because I always found the Canon 85mm f/1.2 a bit soft and very slow at focusing ! Great lens tough but aging a little bit !
So I got the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 and organized some photo shoots !
But sometimes I hadn't enough space and needed a shorter lens, so I gave Sigma a first chance with an Art series prime... It was the 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art which was actually the Canon EF version with an E-mount conversion, but I felt in love with Sigma instantly !
The sharpness, the contrasts, the bokeh and general rendering with this Sigma 50mm Art was absolutely a game changer for me !!! Later I replaced it with the new DG DN version which was lighter, more compact and had the linear HLA motors and was the best 50mm I ever had until I finally replaced it with the 50mm f/1.2 DG DN Art !
My addiction to Sigma Art glass had started and I've built a serious line up of these lenses.
The lens selection is one of the major strenghts of the alpha system... You can choose to go native with G or GM lenses or with Sigma, Tamron, Samyang or now even with Viltrox if you don't absolutely need to shoot faster that 15 fps... But this is another topic we will talk about !
We will talk about the lanses later but let's list the pros and cons with the Sony alpha system, at least in my opinion !
Pros...
The first advantage is that Sony provides the best camera for any need and one very expensive one doing everything very well !
This can also be a negative because you need often many different camera bodies if you shoot different styles of pictures or a lot of video... The alpha line is a bit confusing at times !
The other big "pro" is that with a Sony alpha camera you know that you will never miss the shot and that is maybe the one making me stay in the system, along with the lens selection !
The AF is out of this world, specially with the latest cameras using AI autofocus... Simply incredible how good these cameras are.
Here is the list of the best of best in the AF departement at the time I've made this review:
A6700
A7V
A7RV
A7C2
A7CR
A1M2
A9M3
All the other are still very good but the ones with AI are simply the best !
Another "Pro" is that you can keep your full frame camera small and leightweight if you want or add a L-Bracket, a cage or a battery grip if you use bigger lenses, which makes the experience more comfortable !
You're not stuck with a DSLR like body, like a Canon R1, R3 or Nikon Z9 !
No other camera brand gives you the opportunity to have a 61mp full frame camera with lens attached for less than 1Kg, but Sony does !
I see some photographers going for a Leica Q2 or Q3 and some others staying with APSC for saving a bit of weight... I personally have found the optimal solution in that category !
The A7CR is like a miracle ! Having a 61mp full frame sensor with that dynamic range, IBIS, a compact size and the ability to change lenses if needed, is a banger... By the way it's a lot cheaper than a Q3 and also lighter and smaller !
I've decide to give my A7CR some useful accessories which also makes it look pretty good in my opinion !
But for my style of shooting, the absolute best camera is the A7RV... Period ! I actually love it so much that I have two of them and they are my workhorses as my older A7R3(A) were in the past and I still own them !
The A7R3(A) was my go to camera for years but nothing can beat the A7RV when it comes to image quality and reliability for grabbing the shot anytime you need it !
Then comes the ability to crop... I often take one shot and then edit many different final pictures out of one single file, because I never loose image quality even when cropping hard !
The new menu system in the last Sony alpha cameras is also much better than Gen2, 3 or 4 which was a bit complicated and not so logical ! Don't get me wrong, the new menus are still overloaded with all the features available in the cameras but it's much simplified !
Let's be honest... If you're not a megapixel addict and an image quality maniac like I am, you will feel perfectly happy with an A7 V which in my opinion is the best all rounder on the market today or an A7C2 which is the compact solution for amazing photography !
What can I say other than this system is the one I always wanted !? So what's wrong with the alpha system then ?
Let's talk about what's wrong with the cameras first and then we'll talk about the lenses...
Here the Nikon Z or Fujifilm X shooters will understand what I'm talking about and what really sucks with Sony !
The firmware updates, or should I say... The lack of updates !!!
I also have a Nikon Z8 and any early Z9 owner can testify that these cameras with the latest firmware are like new models... The Z9 with the latest firmware is pretty like as good as if it was a Z9 MkII but Sony never does any upgrade or at least not like they should considering the price of their camera bodies and this pisses me off a little bit considering the amount of cash I've invested into the system !
If someone from Sony reads this review... Please Sony... You already have all the tech, so just make it available for your loyal customers !
Fortunately I have never purchased the Sony A1 because I would have been really upset seeing cheaper cameras coming out with much better specs shortly after the A1 !!!
Remember I told you that my favorite camera is the A7RV !? It wasn't a lie but sometimes I need more speed and the A7RV is simply slow ! Not even mentioning the rolling shutter which is so bad that it makes me shoot in mechanical shutter only !!!
That's why I purchased the Nikon Z8 in the first place with their best standard zoom but at the end I still don't feel at ease with that camera even if it's actually amazing... So I went for the A1 MkII and now also with some GM lenses because the other branded ones can't keep up with the 30fps (limitation by Sony), and we will start talking about lenses now !
I already said that I'm a huge Sigma Art fan (actually Sigma in general).
Some Tamron lenses are pretty good too and I've also discovered some real gems by Viltrox !
Here you can find the equipement I own today but let's talk about Sony lenses in general, as I've tested and owned a lot of others !
When you step into the alpha system a lot of lens options opens up to you...
You can go straight for Sony G or GM lenses but often they are really expensive and some other brands have offerings as good for often half the price or even less !
As I already said, if you don't need to shoot at more than 15fps with an A1/A9 or even not more than 10 fps with any other A7 camera, you can choose third party glass which nowadays is a very good option !
You can find pretty much the best glass for any style of photography in the Sigma or Tamron offerings and same story if you shoot APSC with some additional Viltrox bangers I've discovered recently !
There are plenty of review on YouTube about these lenses but here are my personal thoughts about some of them and the list of the lenses I consider as being no brainers.
SIGMA:
14-24mm f/2.8 DG Art
24-70mm f/2.8 DG Art II
20mm f/1.4 DG Art
35mm f/1.2 DG Art and MkII
50mm f/1.4 DG Art
50mm f/1.2 DG Art
85mm f/1.4 DG Art
135mm f/1.4 DG Art
TAMRON:
16-30mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2
25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD
35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD
50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD
Any other f/2.8 constant aperture G2 zoom
Obviously some others are good too but I'm only talking about the ones I've owned, still own or have tested !
What about Sony G and GM glass then ?
Let's be honest... They still are the very best and some of them aren't only the best for Sony E-mount but the very best overall !
My absolute favorite are:
FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II
FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II
FE 28-70mm f/2 GM
FE 50-150mm f/2 GM
FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II OSS
FE 200-600mm f/5-6.3 G OSS
FE 16mm f/1.8 G
FE 20mm f/1.8 G
FE 24mm f/1.4 GM
FE 35mm f/1.4 GM
FE 50mm f/1.2 GM
FE 85mm f/1.4 GM II
FE 135mm f/1.8 GM
FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS
I'm personally not a huge fan of Samyang lenses even if some of them are pretty good but let's talk about Viltrox for a moment !
Last year I still had two APSC cameras mostly for video and as a lightweight kit before buying the A7C2 and A7CR... This made me discover these two lenses:
Viltrox AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro
Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.2 Pro
Believe or not but these are simply the best APSC lenses I've ever had on one of my cameras and a friend of mine with his Fujifilm X-T5 and 40mp has even more joy using them !
These two lenses should be in any Sony APSC shooter's kit if he has a camera equiped with IBIS (A6600 or A6700).
Talking about underrated lenses, here are two others (still for APSC)...
The Tamron 17-70mm was really good but the one nobody ever talks about and is really impressive for it's size, is the very versatile Sony E 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS.
You would be suprised by how good it is and it's probably the most underrated compact Sony lens for APSC !
At the end I finally bought some GM lenses but this wasn't because I didn't like my Sigma or Tamron glass... It was for two other reasons !
The first reason is because now I own the A1 MkII which can shoot at 30fps without blackout and wanted the best performance out of my kit !
The second reason is that I wanted absolutely perfect glass for my A7CR and the size of some of my Sigma primes is simply too big, making my fingers feel not so comfortable holding the grip ! The shape of some Sigma lenses made my fingers touch the angles of the barrel and it actually started hurting with the time !
I should have bought the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG Art but for street photography when the subject moves fast and specially ar night, I will use the A1 MkII so the 85mm f/1.4 GM2 was my choice and the 35mm f/1.4 GM was simply the best 35mm for Sony and we only live once !
In the GM lenses category, three others are my absolute favorites now:
FE 28-70mm f/2 GM
FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II
FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS
The 300mm f/2.8 with 1.4 and 2x teleconverters gives me interesting focal ranges for very little weight...
300mm f/2.8, 420mm f/4 and 600mm f/5.6 without any loss of image quality !!!
OK, we're pretty much done with the topic of Sony alpha and now I want only talk about something really irritating about Sony G and GM lenses !
Why are Sony still selling with premium "Made in Japan" prices as they don't build in Japan anymore ?
Maybe I'm too picky but in my book, "Made in Japan" is a symbol of build quality and quality control !
I have no doubt that in other countries they build with the Sony standards but the quality control in Japan is second to none !
I didn't feel scammed because the lenses work amazingly but I'm still worried about what will happen with these lenses in 10 or 15 years !!!
Sony ? Do you here me ? LOL !
I didn't talk about video because I don't shoot so much video for now... Maybe in the future !
But with Sony the cinematographers will be happy too !
So... We're done and I will only say that today all the camera brands are producing amazing equipement but the one I prefer is still Sony alpha and I guess it will be for many years to come !
I hope you enjoyed this 10 years review and feel free asking me questions on FB or IG if you want !
See you soon for more camera stuff !
R.
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