Sonys' new A7(r) FX mirrorless

[Phil Rudin 436]

Interesting that the Sony housing has mounting points for fiber optic cords. It does not appear that Sony has a small enough strobe that would fit the housing. It think a more likely price point would be 20,000. HKD.

 

I think an argument could be made for wanting to use both of the cameras underwater and it is nice to see that both the A7 and A7r will fit the same housing.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Phil Rudin

[tdphoto 4]

Hi,

 

The Sony housing looks similar to the Olympus housings, very clear signs of the technical cooperation between Sony and Olympus.

The smallest strobe from sony for the Alpha cameras is the HVL-F20M, but i think also this is to big for the housing. Hopefully Sony brings also a small strobe for this housings.

 

Tino

[rtrski 20]

waiting with bated breath. would love to use the nikonos 15mm with something like this.

 

as a current nex 7 user, my only concern is lens selection, which has been poor with Sony Mirrorless.

 

Still waiting for proper macro options...... doesnt look like a dedicated marco lens will be one of the first options for the FF system. We are still waiting for the 50mm zeiss macro for aps c. would love something longer. would love that i"m wrong

With all the metabones adaptors, the short flange distance of the E-mount permits a whole lot of lenses, although you might be forced to use many of them in crop mode. BUT that doesn't mean any u/w housing port system would allow them, any more than the E-to-A-mount adaptor Sony provides would fit in a housing.

 

As I understand it right now the only 'full frame' E-mount lens is the new kit one for the A7, although there are some reports at sonyalpharumors that a few other E-mount lenses only vignette a small amount when shot in full-frame mode. There's apparently a pretty robust release schedule planned for 2013/2014, but I wouldn't be surprised if housing manufacturers hold off a little bit in the meantime.

 

(I should clarify for the peanut gallery, there's nothing wrong with the E-mount diameter and flange distance for FF, just that all lens designs to date in that mount were for previously crop NEX cameras, so optically they didn't cover the whole image circle.)

[jmauricio 24]

is that housing ad legit? seems very very fishy given flash issues. not even a port for electronic strobe connection?

[Phil Rudin 436]

Looks more like a Sea&Sea port design to me. The camera has an underwater mode and I suspect they had a plan for the fiber optic ports. Perhaps a LCD trigger like the one from Naudicam. At least Sony gave a little thought to U/W photographers perhaps that will carry over to lens development.

[Mark K 5]

Sony already has a housing ready to ship...here is the image leaked

[Ryan 48]

 

 

Sony already has a housing ready to ship...here is the image leaked

 

Ready to ship? I haven't seen any place to purchase online.

[Alex_Mustard 0]

For me the interest in mirrorless is smaller cameras/systems. The problem with full frame mirror less is that you will still need just as big a dome port to get the best performance out of the wide angle lenses.

I use a Zen 230 (9"+ dome) on my full frame camera - not because I want a big port - but because I need such a port for the best lens performance/image quality. A small mirror less housing is going to be a big cumbersome with a big dome for the full frame sensor.

 

I use a M43 mirror less camera in addition to my full frame SLR precisely because it is small and has a small, but high quality sensor. Quality is good enough for my current needs: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/photo.do?photo=2987&category=49&group=3

 

Not convinced in the benefit of full frame mirror less for UW.

 

Alex

[Mark K 5]

just the weight benefit..and that is all

[Mark K 5]

A7r must have better details...as comparing D800e vs D800. I was about the to order A7 but the quota was already full

[pmooney 6]

just the weight benefit..and that is all

 

Its important to remember that the modern base measurement of imaging has been reduced to comparisons of resolution( acknowledging that not all pixels are equal ) , system size / weight and image sharpness.

 

As underwater imagemakers we tend to peep at the pixels / resolution / sharpness after the event , which is once all the bother and airport drama's of excess weight charges / expense's associated with size and weight are forgotten.

 

Alex correctly points out the compromise ends up being about the needs of dome size to resolve the sharp corners we all desire vs the desire to manage system budgets and baggage costs.

Edited October 30, 2013 by pmooney

[PeteAtkinson 44]

Perhaps Nauticam will make a housing and adapter for this to work with a Nikonos 15mm lens - which would be a handy size even if the corners are no better.

[Edward Lai 36]

A7r may be a pain to use underwater with the CDAF only. Even the so-called FDAF or hybrid-AF on sensor don't prove to be as reliable as any mid-end DSLR at all. I am not so excited yet until someone has dived with the camera(s) with a decent lens.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Edward Lai

[jmauricio 24]

Any reason why CDAF on a7r would be worse than the NEX series?

 

I am not so excited yet until someone has dived with the camera(s) with a decent lens.

 

happy to be a guinea pig here should a housing materialize!?

[Aliens 3]

Maybe these guys have it wrong but they are showing 1/160 for the A7r and 1/250 for the A7, I could not find it at Sony's site.

 

http://photographylife.com/sony-a7-vs-a7r

This Guy Showing the Same

http://briansmith.com/sony-a7r-field-test/

Correct I got it wrong earlier. A7 is 1/250

[Mark K 5]

I wrote to Nauticam and they have not replied yet...I believe they are very much in doubt about the system....

Anyway, I bought A7 presuming its AF being faster and phase detection AF more useful if I use EF/F mount lenses.

Very pleasurable to use and images are very creamy...but still want an A7r for more pixel

[Phil Rudin 436]

Phoebe Lu from Nauticam and Alex Tattersall Nauticam UK have today both posted photos of the Sony/Nauticam NA-A7 housing featured at Hong Kong DRT on their Facebook page. Alex photo shows the housing with the Nikonos 15mm lens mounted and in Phoebe's photos you can see the the housing is designed to use the larger DSLR ports not the Mirrorless housing ports.

[jmauricio 24]

links?

[Phil Rudin 436]

These are their pages,

 

https://www.facebook.com/Alsky72?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

 

https://www.facebook.com/phoebe.lu.33

Edited December 13, 2013 by Phil Rudin

[Mark K 5]

I guess David must be too busy to answer my question I am going to see the expo and buy one now

[Alex_Mustard 0]

Perhaps Nauticam will make a housing and adapter for this to work with a Nikonos 15mm lens - which would be a handy size even if the corners are no better.

 

But the problem is that it is still not very wide - good for shooting big creatures, less good for scenery. Although I guess you could use the Sea & Sea 12mm - although I only own the 15mm Nikonos myself.

 

Alex

[Mark K 5]

On day trip I ...preferred using A7 but underwaer..will ad D610 be better? At least I can use wider lenses like 14-24 or even 14 prime. Besides, the full set of macro...60/105/150 are all available. Just my thought. This also depends very much on the price of the housing. I am still thinking a DSLR has advantage..

One particular feature of A7 is its splash proof ability....in case of flooding

[Alex_Tattersall 90]

Strobes triggered with a mini-flash trigger.

[tdphoto 4]

Hi Alex,

 

Thanks for the pictures from the housing, have you some more? You write "Strobes triggered with a mini-flash trigger" is this trigger also from Nauticam? Work the trigger with the Sony-TTL or only manually? Thanks for your answer.

 

Greetings from Switzerland,

 

Tino

[Alex_Tattersall 90]

I suspect it will be manual only but will find out for you.