Advice Needed

Akrais

Member
Messages
20
Reaction score
3
I'm growing back into my love of photography. I'm older, so the pixel count isn't what is most important to me: image quality is. I used to shoot, and still plan to shoot, primarily, brown fields, landscapes, and botanicals--Though I really want to begin taking more urbanscapes and portraits.

I used to shoot with Olympus, but I only have one lens- 14-54 f/2.8. I am interested in moving into a system. I want a high quality, rugged camera with equally good glass available. I've always shot in RAW and don't tend to photo sporting events, etc. Except for the yearly motorcycle race here in town.

I've looked at the Canon 5D MkII, the Nikon D700 and D7000, and the A850 and A900...I've also enjoyed thinking about saving up serious money to buy a Leica M9 (more of a pipe dream, really).

Looking at on-line pics, the images that come from Zeiss lenses look amazing and produce the same reaction for me as does Olympus glass. I know that mega pixels don't matter to me the way they used to, but the Zeiss lenses aviailable for Sony Alphas are so attractive. ( I would consider the E5, but since Olympus has started building their camera bodies in China, I have become a bit concerned about their quality.)

Is Zeiss glass truly good enough for me to invest in the Sony system? Also, for my intended subjects, is the A900 $500 better than the A850? Or would you suggest a manual focus Zeiss on a Canikon?
 
The Zeiss glass is nice. The 16-80 is the best lens of its type IMO; the 24-70 is excellent; the 135 terrific. The 24 & 24-70 are SSM, the others screw drive. From an image quality point of view, they compete with Canon 'L' glass. If you're a pixel peeper, you can measure differences in mtf at one end of the zoom range wide open, or a smidgeon of vignetting or distortion, but by & large, these lenses are on par with each other. Canon will differ in build quality in some cases and/or autofocus capabilities. (The 24-70 is one of the fastest AFing lenses I've ever tried !)

I guess I'd say you should think about what lenses you'd ideally like for your needs, then see who offers those lenses. I wouldn't buy Sony for Zeiss if you want a 50 and I wouldn't use any arbitrary focal length because it happens to be a Zeiss. There are plenty of options available. Especially if you're unconcerned enough about image quality to not care about megapixels. Canons 135/2 on a 5D-II or Sony's 135/1.8 on an A900 are both brilliant.

I would ignore the Zeiss name; think of them as the excellent optics they are, consider SSM, build, focal lengths, max apertures, buy the system that offers what you want.
  • Dennis
--
Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com
 
A850/900 are full frame cameras. They are basic, no frills cameras in many ways without video or LV and are just designed to do what a still camera is supposed to do--give very high quality shots. The only weakness in this is high iso is not real great. At their price they are a great buy.
--
Dave
 
Great link - I've viewed photos by lens at pbase and photo.net but you have to wade through a lot of snaps. Impressive stuff for every lens - makes me realize I still have a long way to go to perfect my shooting technique and sharpening technique.
  • Dennis
--
Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com
 

Keyboard shortcuts

Back
Top