A7Rii + M43/Cmount lenses with crop/zoom

[Don Kotlos]

http://menexmachina.blogspot.com/2015/12/a7rii-m43cmount-lenses-with-cropzoom.html

[timpy]

Thanks for testing this. I have two questions though:

-How is the quality and noise levels when you record in 1080p?

-Is the rolling shutter effect reduced when you use this zoom?

 

It would be great if you could upload some footage. Again, thanks for your test!

[Don Kotlos]

Thanks for testing this. I have two questions though:

-How is the quality and noise levels when you record in 1080p?

-Is the rolling shutter effect reduced when you use this zoom?

The zoom is applied on the S35 image and then upscaled also for the 1080p. Since the quality of the 1080p in S35 is not that good, zoom should be only used in 4K mode. 

I did the test again in 1080p @ ISO 800:

You can see that for 1080p the FF is the best and probably the only usable in this resolution. You can see that zoom and cropping of the S35 give you the same result which is not that good. 

I checked the rolling shutter in 4K and as expected it is the same as the S35 mode:

It would be great if you could upload some footage. Again, thanks for your test!

I don't have any right now but other people have already uploaded some footage:

 

 

 

 

[jase]

1. sorry for hijacking but i really love hexagonal blur! how do i find other lenses with that effect? does it depend on the amount of blades?

[Cinegain]

Yup. It renders that way due to the shape the aperture blades make. I also like the Russians. The Zenit Industar 61 line-up renders pretty spec(ta)cular highlights... e.g.

 

[timpy]

Thanks for your tests Don Kotlos.

[Andrew Reid]

Had a couple of m4/3 & c-mount lenses that I decided to test with the A7Rii and its zoom function.

Lets first see how the quality of the zoom mode compares to the FF and S35 modes. Test done with FE 55 f/1.8 at 12800 ISO recorded in 4K 100mb/s. 

 

For FF, S35, S35 x1.5 & S35 x2 the fov was matched in camera. The S35 150% & S35 200% were shot at x1.5 & x2 distances respectively and cropped in Premiere.

Quality is best with S35 as expected. S35+1.5X and S35 with 150% crop are very close to FF. 

It appears that the zoom mode works by cropping the S35 and upscaling again to 4K. 

Then I tested the SLRMagic 25mm and I was delighted to find that it was usable even with X1.1 zoom. 

A c-mount lens that I had was usable with X1.4 zoom. I was surprised by that since spec wise it was designed for a 2/3" sensor. I really liked the hexagonal blur plus it focuses at 10cm! 

/

So there you go folks. If you have the A7rii and any manual m4/3 or c-mount lenses go and buy these cheap adapters because there is a lot of fun involved!

Its amazing to have a camera that shoots 4K from FF to S16. If not 4K you will have really nice 1080p. 

Very interesting.

And got to love Edmund's bokeh!!

[Don Kotlos]

I currently use the loxia 35mm as my sole lens when moving light, and with S35 and 2x clear zoom it covers from 35mm to 100mm. That lens is sharp enough for this extensive cropping. Very useful. 

I also found out that my SLR Magic 25mm T/0.95 is perfect with just S35 mode (no zoom) and the wide aspect ratio of 2.40:1 which crops the problematic corners. That makes it a great compact and low light combination with an effective 35mm. 

Here is a video from P.Bloom with A7rii, 400mm lens, S35 mode and 2X clear zoom (1200mm effective!) 

[The Chris]

I have yet to use the clear image zoom because things like this usually results in a noticeable drop in IQ. Gonna have to try it out. I've resisted buying anything longer than the 70-200 because of the bulk, but occasionally something longer would be nice. Plus like you say, primes suddenly cover more FL's. 

Great tip.