THE STREETS OF DUBLIN [SONY NEX-7 WITH CROP SENSOR AND FULL-FRAME 1.4f LENS]-112148

            Today i took the opportunity to use a Sony NEX-7 [Crop-Sensor] with a Sony-Zeiss Full-Frame 35mm 1.4f lens.

I have recently  read that using a full-frame lens with a crop sensor may not produce better results than using a lens designed from a crop-sensor camera and in fact the images will be less sharp.

When starting out, many photographers choose to go with a crop body and invest in full frame lenses. This is usually recommended as a good approach as you can keep your lenses and swap out your body for something newer down the road, eventually leading to that high quality full frame sensor that you always wanted. However some experts, especially Tony Northrup,  claim that starting out with the full frame lens and crop bodies does not provide you with the sharp images. 

In my case I had a top end full frame camera [Canon 1DSIII] with a set of very expensive glass and I was not at all happy as the combination was way too heavy and totally unsuitable for street photography. About five years ago I decided that I needed a better solution and after using a Sony NEX-5 for about a year I decided to purchase a NEX-7 and switch from DSLR to Mirrorless [at the time that was a big gamble]. In theory it would be possible to use my Canon lenses with the NEX-7 but in reality it was not a workable solution. The NEX-7 featured a crop-sensor so I purchased a set of suitable Sony lenses and they were not expensive.

My reason for getting the NEX-7 and associated lenses was greatly reduced weight coupled with the fact that my equipment did not attract unwelcome attention. 

The NEX-7 performed way beyond my expectations and I was really pleased and then towards the end of last year because the camera was giving problems at random I threw all logic out the window and took an ever bigger gamble by purchasing a Sony A7RMkII full frame mirrorless camera which is larger and heavier than the NEX-7. 

To be honest, there is no comparison between the two cameras, the A7R is very much superior and while it is heavier it is actually easier to use. Also the Canon lenses actually work with the A7R but using the necessary adaptor was a pain and added weight. However the Canon lenses showed what the A7RMkII could do so I decided that maybe I should consider getting some native Sony FE prime lenses and then I discovered that they all were expensive and heavy [ unless I got manual focus lens such as the Loxia ]. Anyway I ended up with a set of primes [and no cash] but I now have serious weight issue especially when I travel.

I was planning to use the NEX-7 as a backup or when I travel but the crop-lenses are not very good so it would make no sense to leave my full-frame lenses behind so a possible solution would to bring along one of the FE primes [35mm 1.4f] but then I came across discussions online claiming that FE lenses underperform when used with a crop-sensor. Of course there is another issue in that the NEX-7 is at the end of its life and needs to be replaced by something like the A6300 but as I already said I have no spare cash.

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Taken on: February 26, 2016

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Sony

A7RMkII

Sony 35mm Lens

Crop-Sensor

Full-Frame Sensor

Streets Of Dublin

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Camera: Sony NEX-7, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, 35mm (=52mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony NEX-7
Lens:	35mm F1.4 ZA
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	35mm (35mm equivalent: 52mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.4 (Macintosh)
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