amehta Loc: Boston

I feel like we've enabled jscudder to hijack this topic. Hopefully the OP will be okay with that. :-D

jscudder Loc: Sycamore Illinois

I like to shoot a 65mm Mamiya lens for landscapes on my Mamiya 7 medium format for landscapes. The 43mm often has a strange effect with things like telephone poles. What lens would be closest on the Sony to my 65mm medium format lens?

amehta Loc: Boston

The Mamiya 7 has an actual image size of about 55x70, and 35mm/full frame is about 24x36mm. The aspect ratio is different, the M7 is 5:4 while FF is 3:2, so the "crop factor" is not a simple calculation. It's approximately 0.5x, so a lens in the 30-35mm range would be comparable to your 65mm Mamiya lens, and the 43mm would be about a 20mm full frame lens.

I believe the "strange effect with things like telephone poles" is distortion. While the amount of distortion does increase with wide angle lenses, each lens is different, and with zooms, each focal length in the zoom range often has different distortion effects. Also, image processing software can correct for the lens distortion. Basically, I wouldn't use your frustration with the results from the 43mm Mamiya as a reason to not try a 24mm wide angle lens with a full frame camera.

lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

I like the 70mm end for portraits, and the 24-28mm end for groups and landscapes. I shot Lake Michigan at sunrise while it was frozen over, from the shore (of course), using the 24mm end at about f8 and it was fantastic. That's the right focal length for that expanse, for sure. I also shot a shoreline shot of the Highway One coastline just south of Bodega Bay using that lens between 35-40mm at f6.7 and that came out good. I also shot a family shot of three generations of girls, aged 90 on down to 17 using the 70mm at f4, and that was good too. The zoom works for me.

lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

Rent a 24-70 f2.8 Carl Zeiss zoom for your FF body, and do some comparisons at different focal lengths, then buy what you think you'll use the most, or just buy the CZ 24-70 itself!
To Amehta's point above, the 24mm is an interesting and quite wide (wide enough without too much distortion), especially for use with landscapes (sweeping vistas). Growing up, I was always taught that 28mm is the "perfect" wide angle due to lack of distortion, and that anything wider than that would yield a distorted perspective. Today, I don't think that perspective is really all that bad (the 24mm one, that is)!

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

The 24-70mm CZ is an EXCELLENT lens... one of my favorites and a great walk-around lens so long as you only go on a short to medium length walk. (It's kinda heavy!) ;)

lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

It's one of my top three favorite lenses; and yes it's heavy, but I've found the weight to actually be a stabilizing force. The images I get out of that bad-boy on the A99 are simply beautiful.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

More reach on the APS-C A77 so the images are from a shorter angle... but TACK SHARP, crystal clear, and beautifully colored. :thumbup:

lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

Amen, brother.