Mark Lewis

For a hybrid stills/video machine, you'd still take A7s over D750?  I'm about to buy one of those this week, likely the A7s because it needs no Zacuto and it's just smaller.  Also dig the hotshoe mounted XLR adapter they have.  Seem like Sony has the hybrid video/stills space more mastered than the others.

Maxotics, yes, I actually ordered a cheapo "dumb" Nikon adapter for my AIS manual focus lenses before I rented the A7S and they worked fine.  The adapter was a bit of a kludge, though -- making the lens longer, of course. 

I'm looking forward to playing around with thrift store lenses.  I have a few Meyer Optic screw mount lenses from my late grandfather's East German Practika that I can't wait to try out.

The thing that is really selling me on the A7S is the ability to get manual focus aids when you want them -- even while recording. 

If you're a sports or action photographer, DSLRs are the way to go.  But if you don't want attention as "the camera guy" with a big phallus of a camera in someone's face, then I really believe mirrorless systems are the future of photography.   Full Frame DSLR primes and lenses keep getting bigger and bigger.   I can also use Leica or Voigtlander lenses to keep things small.

The A7s, once I got used to its quirks, was a joy to use for a weekend.  It made me want to use it, to walk around the city with it.  Unlike a DSLR with a big honking 24-70 2.8 lens.   I actually liked the Zeiss 24-70 F4. 

I would like the bigger grip on the A7II, but I can live with the A7s as is.  Based on Andrew's report, the IBIS doesn't seem to be the killer app, and may even add unneeded complexity and moving parts.

For me -- as a street shooter, sometime film maker, and general hobbyist, the A7s is the  perfect balance of versatility, quality, full frame, and actual LIGHTNESS that makes me want to take it around.  

I hear D700s have become cult items, so it should be easy to sell.  I will keep most of my AIS primes, though and sell the big heavy glass.

Andrew, I take it there was no silent shutter feature on the A7II?

Any opinion on D750 vs A7s for general hybrid shooting -- almost exactly 50% stills/50% video.  I currently own a D700 and like it fine except it's heavy as all heck and doesn't have video.  Rented the A7S for a weekend an fell in love with the small size and actual manual focusing aids for freaks like me who don't trust AF and prefer to manually focus in situations that allow.  I'm fine with 12mp resolution for stills.  Maybe I just answered my own question.  Just hard to leave Nikon after two decades.  But I just don't want to lug that big heavy DSLR form factor around.  And I prefer not to buy a clunky add-on loupe to see what the video is recording when I could just look through a viewfinder of the A7S.

Wow, I was going to hold out for the A7SII but now I think I want the original, if it's just going to be bigger, thicker, and have the moving part complexities of an IBIS that isn't particularly awesome.

The whole point is to get full frame down to a size that resembles the greatest camera of all time, the Nikon FM/FM2.

That does it.  Nikon gear (save for adaptable lenses with aperture ring) on the Craigslist chopping block.

If Fuji could offer good video, the XT1 would be among the most compelling mirrorless hybrid cameras.

Fuji is designing real photographer's cameras.  Unlike Sony, they have put out a series of great lenses in a relatively short period of time. 

I wish they would come up with similar firmware for my X100s.

Go Fuji!

Ordered!  Based on your enthusiasm, and the bang for the buck.

I think Roger Deakins would strongly disagree with you about mirrors. Which is one of the reasons why he chose Alexa over RED for Skyfall. And he has a few other films under his belt. Almost all EVF's , even on the cameras themselves have lag and poor resolution.  If you regulary do interviews you know what I am talking about.  More than ever you are looking at a video monitor, not reality and all the details that are as a result. 

 

Personally, I think the greatest problem with digital cameras is that they are less and less often coming with mirrors.  I work ten time faster with a mirrored camera when shooting photos for instance and I don't even have to turn on a camara if I just want to frame a shot.  I would much prefer to have an digital overlay on a mirrored image, than a pixellated monitor any day.  However, we are still a few years out on that one.

I don't really care about Roger Deakins.  He's got an entire crew to cary around his gear, light, and get him coffee and craft service.  In my case it's just me, walking around, trying to capture the best images I can.  The lightweight of the Sony bodies and the silent shutter option in the A7s is very intruiging.  I'm going to rent one in the next weekend to see if I can live with it as my main camera.

Thanks for an excellent commentary.  I also look forward to your further thoughts on the D750.  I'm a D700 owner with a bucket full of Nikon lenses (mostly old AIS primes after two decades of Nikon ownership) looking for a hybrid stills/video camera.  The D750 would be an easy body swap.  But I'm interested in the A7S also as a stills camera for its light weight and compact size.   By comparision, a full frame DSLR seems clunky and chunky.   I'm not big on adapters, so another worry for me is the limited, expensive Sony native lenses.  What ever happened to the $100 nifty fifty (Canon 50mm 1.8 Mk II plastic fastastic) that came with every film SLR? 

I handled the A7 at my local Best Buy alongside the D750 and really liked the Sony.  And I will rent an A7S this weekend to see if I can fully make the leap.

I believe Sony have shown us the future of full frame digital capture.  The mirror is a vestigal tail of photography, a sixth toe.   They just need to straighten out their ergos and menus.  If they don't screw it up, they could dominate and pull the rug out from CanNikon.