ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

The Sony adaptor will not allow autofocus with Canon lenses. That may not be a problem for you. But note that the full-frame Sony lenses for the a7 series are quite pricey and were relatively limited last time I looked. I don't know if anyone has come up with aftermarket lenses for the Sony a7; I haven't looked. I have the a7R and the 5D Mk II and plan to keep them both--each has its strengths and weaknesses.

merrittbtuhh Loc: Dallas, Tx

Hello, you might consider a Fuji XT1. I sold my 5diii for the Fuji and am happy. Superb IQ. Merritt

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

Good Sir
just how old are you That you would give up your L lenses and camera for a Sony? Ansel Adam used large format cameras well into his old age I believe you can to. If you need to purchase some 7 to 10 pound weights and do some arm curls You will be surprised how much this will help you get back to taking photos. I am almost 71 and I see that I'm like I was ten years ago but with a few a eights helps me a ton just don't give up on your self!

Goober Loc: Southeastern PA

I have been a dedicated Canon shooter for years and shoot APSC format with a selection of Canon lenses. I was getting tired of lugging a 30 pound backpack of gear around and also wanted better resolution so I bought the Sony A7r and the Sony Zeiss FE24-70 F4 lens which I am extremely happy with so far. I also purchased the Metabones adapter so I can use all my Canon lenses (EF-S as well as my FF lenses) until I decide which other Sony lenses I will add. The adapter works quite well but slow to autofocus especially with the Canon EF 70-200 F2.8 IS, but I don't shoot action stuff and I really like the manual focus anyway with the A7r. My plan is to eventually sell my Canon lenses as I add a couple more Sony FE lenses as the Canon lenses still result in a pretty big, heavy combination. In a nutshell, I am happy I made the change and will achieve my goal of high resolution, smaller and lighter.

Newsbob Loc: SF Bay Area

Just be advised that Sony has lots of prime lenses, but hardly any wide angle or telephoto zoom lenses. Only one of each and very expensive.

If all you want is light weight, the Sony is your best bet.

But if you want photographic versatility, stick with your Canon kit.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

Thank you for replying and your advice. I am not in a rush to change and would certainly go and hold a Sony and take a very good look at it before deciding.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

Thank you for a reassuring reply. I plan to do some proper research in the New Year and find a Sony to hold and play around with before any decisions are made.

ottopj Loc: Annapolis, MD USA

Google your title and read the comparisons. I'm in the same process myself.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

Thanks Newsbob. I find that I use my 100-400mm occasionally and use my 24-105mm lens the most, and just occasionally my 16-35mm lens. I have some others which hardly ever get an outing now, as I just don't want to carry all that stuff around any more. I'll obviously have to have a look at the lenses Sony offer before making any decisions. Thanks for your advice.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

Hi, thank you for suggesting the Fuji. However, I could go on for ever widening my choices and end up thoroughly confused! And over the last year, I have read and heard so much about Sony, which seems to have suddenly arrived on the scene with a growing reputation - although I am sure they have been making good cameras for ages: I just had not caught on.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

Hi Richard SM I used to be an aerobics Instructor and a SCUBA Instructor, and am not a total write-off physically, and I'm only a little older than you, but obviously I'm not doing as well as you! And I'm not a Good Sir either, I'm PhotoSARAH!
But actually, I don't think I need huge muscles to take photos - I still take loads and loads of them wherever I go, but do not need loads and loads of gear to do it with. So I may opt for being a wimp at the end of the day
:cry:

ottopj Loc: Annapolis, MD USA

Photosarah,

I'm also looking at the A7 II and possibly the Tamron 18-300.

Also considering the Panasonic FZ1000. You might want to take a look at it, although it is not in the same league as either the canon or the Sony. But it is light and goes to 400mm with a 2.8 to 4.0 and has 4K video for $900. Just a thought.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

Thank you, I'll do that.

Peekayoh Loc: UK

Just not true apart from the expensive bit of course
We're talking Full Frame here so Wide Angle is anything <35mm ....

SEL1635Z (Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35 mm F4 ZA OSS) £1,189 for extreme WA (in crop terms that would need a 10-17mm
SEL2470Z (Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS ) £ 849 WA to medium Telephoto
SELP28135G (FE PZ 28-135 mm F4 G OSS) £2,179 WA to Telephoto
SEL70200G (FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS ) £1,064 Medium Telephoto to Telephoto

These are undoubtedly on the expensive side (you get what you pay for) but there is the
SEL2870 (FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS) £449 Consumer grade WA to medium Telephoto
and coming shortly the
SEL24240 (FE 24-240mm f3.5-6.3 OSS)

There are no Superzoom lengths (>300mm) in FE Mount but I expect the thinking is that as there is little need for small size, users can use the LA-EA4 adapter with these lenses
SAL70300G (70–300mm F4.5–5.6 G SSM) £ 589
SAL70400G (70–400mm F4–5.6 G SSM II) £1,359
SAL300F28D2 (300mm F2.8 G SSM II) £5,799
SAL500F40G (500mm F4 G SSM ) £9,999

There are other non OEM lenses to be had and of course, any MF lens of any brand and age; that's a big plus in my book.

prayingmantis

Hi Photosarah, I started working in the darkroom at age 12, that was 53 years ago. I have done every kind of photography and have owned full systems of Nikon, Canon, Pentax 6x7 and 645,Calumet 4x5 view camera and Crown Graphic 4x5 press cameras, full underwater systems, microscopes for fine art photography etc. I used to sell cameras in Chicago in the 1970's and am a camera collector with about 50 cameras of historical interest. I have been shooting Sony digital cameras since early 2009. I currently own Sony A7r, A99 and A77 cameras. The following is a list of the pertinent issues to be addressed in regard to making the decision to switch from Canon to Sony mirrorless cameras:
1. Contrary to what one participant in this discussion stated, when using lenses of other manufacturers on Sony E mount bodies you do not have a slower autofocus, you have no autofocus whatsoever. There is no communication between the Sony body and the lens so not only do you lose autofocus, you can not set the aperture on the lens unless the lens has full manual use capability meaning it has to have an aperture ring. Most Canon and Nikon lenses of the last 15 to 20 years do not have an aperture ring, the aperture being set on the camera body. When you remove the lens from the body or when it is connected to a Sony body with an adapter you will usually find that the aperture is by default at its smallest aperture and you will not be able to change that aperture with the Sony body. You will be limited to shooting at f16 or f22 whichever is the smallest aperture of the Canon lens you are using.
2. Contrary to what was stated above the adapter does not add much weight, only about 3 ounces. If you cant handle the extra 3 ounces of weight perhaps you shouldn't be doing photography at all. I use Metabones adapters as they fit very securely to my Sony A7r as well as to the Nikon or Canon lens mounts. I have 8 lenses that I use, 3 Carl Zeiss lenses including the 50mm f1.4, the CZ Makro-Planar f2 100mm lens with a Nikon mount on it and the CZ 135mm f1.8 lens. I also shoot Sigma with their Art series 35mm f1.4 lens. I own a classic Nikon lens which has been in production since the early 1990's, the 200mm f4 macro lens which is the longest macro lens being produced (true 1:1 macro). I also have owned the Sony 300mm f2.8, the Sony 70-400mm zoom lens (quite sharp but slow lens), the Sony 100mm f2.8 macro (I am going to sell this one because I have the CZ 100 Makro-Planar which is superior), the CZ 16-35 f2.8, the CZ 24-70mm f2.8, the CZ 24mm f2.0 and a very inexpensive Sony 85mm f2.8 lens which has great IQ. I also have a 1980's version of the Zeiss Jena Biometar 85mm f2.8 lens which has been custom converted to make it a tilt-shift lens with the Canon tilt-shift mechanism attached to the lens. I shoot almost exclusively in full manual mode, that is I use manual focus, I set the aperture on the lens and the shutter-speed I set on the body.
3. Most Sony DSLR's that are out there in use have the A mount (also known as Minolta mount as Sony bought out Minolta years ago and adopted their lens mount). The Sony NEX cameras and the A7, A7r and A7s cameras have the E mount. There are many fine lenses available from Sony that have the A mount on them such as my CZ 50 mm f1.4, the CZ 135mm f1.8 and the Sony lenses I mentioned above. To use those A mount lenses on Sony E mount bodies you have to purchase a Sony LAEA-4 adapter for about $150. That adapter does have communication between the Sony A mount lens and the E mount body so you can choose the aperture and shutter-speeds using controls on the camera body however I have found the autofocus function using such a combination to be so poor I regard it as worthless. It hunts for focus endlessly even in good bright light and is very slow. If you purchase one of the newer lenses made specifically for E mount DSLR's you will have much better autofocus function however there are very few lenses to choose from. When last I checked there were only 4 lenses available.
4. All of the DSLR's made by Sony until the A7 and A7r were first released had image stabilization in the body rather than in the lens. This distinguished Sony IS from all other manufacturers because it meant that you weren't purchasing the image stabilization hardware with every lens you bought and theoretically it means that equivalent Sony lenses can be produced more inexpensively. Sony however has not passed on that savings to the buyer. For me the loss of image stabilization in the body of the camera (my A7r) means that I do not have image stabilization available to me with any of the 8 lenses I own as none of them have IS capability. They were made for the A mount bodies that have IS in the body and there are vastly more of those A mount bodies out there than NEX or A7/A7r bodies. Sony has essentially abandoned the majority of DSLR users who own a full set of A mount lenses. We lose autofocus and image stabilization. As I have mentioned I shoot the A7r as I make huge enlargements and the 36mp sensor in the A7r is far superior to any Canon sensor with regard to resolution. IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT SONY HAS FOR YEARS MANUFACTURED THE TOP LINE NIKON CAMERA SENSORS AND THAT INCLUDES THE NIKON D800 36 MP SENSOR WHICH IS THE SAME SENSOR ON THE SONY A7r.
5. Lastly I would suggest you take a critical look at your Canon lenses with regard to the quality of the images you get as well as how much use you get from each lens under consideration. If you have a particular model you really use a lot and you find it meets your needs and if it has an aperture ring which you can set on lens and if there is no equivalent focal length in the paltry number of lenses offered by Sony for E mount cameras then I would suggest you keep those Canon lenses that meet the above criteria and get used to shooting manually. If your photography absolutely requires autofocus and/or automatic exposure control then you will have to wait for Sony to come out with more choices.