Premium pancakes: Any future for the E-mount APS?

sbu said:

PieterB said:

sbu said:

Only on the Sony forums do people buy into camera bodies instead of systems. That makes it an amusing read

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If you think Sony isn't a system, you are blind, deaf and dumb. Stop trolling and get a life.

--
No life without a camera.

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Why then this endless mouning about missing asp-c lenses?

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When I worked with Canon FF and APS-C cameras I used mostly Canon L lenses. When I switched to Sony for its higher resolution and better IQ and AF, I continued using my Canon L lenses on adapters which quickly became tedious. I moved to Sony FE lenses for my critical FLs replacing 3 of my Canons FF lenses with 2 Sony FE lenses since the Sonys performed better and were sharper. The only APS-C specific Sony lenses I use are the 18-104/4 G OSS which replaced my Canon 24-105/4 L IS for the Sony's equal or better sharpness and better IQ, AF and less CA than the Canon, and the 20/2.8 which replaces my Canon EF-S 24/2.8 STM since the Sony performs better for my very specific purposes.

Having said that I have no idea why others insist on more APS-C specific lenses since they really aren't likely to save much in size or weight and, though they could be less expensive than FE lenses they most likely will have lower performance and IQ than the FE lenses.

Sony has aps-c lenses but nothing new for the past few years. However all FE lenses will work perfectly well on the a6*** cameras. However, I prefer aps-c lenses of which I have 6 because they are smaller.

hawk15 said:

Not alone! The X 18mm F2 seems perfect for museums/exhibits/galleries. Last time I was at a museum, I used the kit SEL18-55 mostly on 18mm F3.5. That pushed ISO up to 1600+ a majority of the time and, at the end of the day, IQ wasn't that much better than my phone (Nexus 6P on auto HDR). Auto WB was also better on the 6P, giving some better keepers than the Sony.

I held off on the E 20mm f/2.8 because it's expensive for only f2.8.

The XF18-135 is also a range missing on the Sony. The closest is the SELP18-105 G and it's bulkier.

Fuji seems to have good coverage. My next body might be a Fuji.

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The Fuji 18 f2 costs twice as much as the Sony 20 f2. 8. The 18-135 weighs more than the Sony 18-105, is variable aperture and costs $300 more.

Yes, mirrorless prices are out of whack. But these are somewhat specialized so I would only rent and not buy. So it's good to have the options for renting.

PieterB said:

Sony has aps-c lenses but nothing new for the past few years. However all FE lenses will work perfectly well on the a6*** cameras. However, I prefer aps-c lenses of which I have 6 because they are smaller.

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I prefer APS-C lenses also since they are smaller, lighter and more cost effective with very decent IQ. The only FE lens I own is the 70-300G, since it is the only lens that beats the sh*t out of any SEL zoom lens Sony makes.

Besides that, my 16-50 kit lens and Sigma 30 EX DN does everything else I need, except very low light shooting, which I hardly ever do. I wish the Sigma 19 was as good as the Sigma 30 or 60mm! I found out that at 19mm, the kit lens pretty much matches the Sigma 19 from f5.6-11, and is much more versatile. If I want or need wide angle shots, I shoot the kit lens at 19-22mm or Sigma 30 using MS ICE to do panoramas which works very well

I suppose if you can't have the exact lenses you want, you simply need to know how to work around that problem. Where this is a will, there is a way, that is how I deal with it.

--
Life is short, make the best of it while you can!
http://grob.smugmug.com/

I don't know if this counts as a "pancake", but it seems like it has a fairly low profile. It has a length of 33mm, compared to the Sony 35/1.8 OSS which is 45mm. So it's 1cm shorter in length.

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/samyang-announces-new-35mm-f2-8-autofocus-fe-lens/

An 85gr. FF lens would qualify IMO as pancake, even if it's not collapsible. Also the price seems much lower than the usual Sony/Zeiss "premiums"

"The AF 35mm F2.8 FE weighs just 85g and measures 3.3cm in length, without the hood and rear cap. Thanks to Samyang’s exceptional optical technology, its compact size is packed with features for outstanding image quality. Featuring seven elements in six groups, two aspherical lenses and one high refractive lens plus Ultra Multi Coating to minimise aberration and unnecessary light dispersion, the lens delivers high resolution from the centre to the corners of the image."

migus said:

An 85gr. FF lens would qualify IMO as pancake, even if it's not collapsible. Also the price seems much lower than the usual Sony/Zeiss "premiums"

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A pancake lens is specifically designed to yield a very short lens for the focal length, but for all practical purposes if the lens does not extend past the grip I'd consider it "pancake-ish".