Sony a7c and FE85mm F/1.4 GM! (feat. Leeum Art Museum)
For me, the Sony a7c is a business camera. This is because I use the Sony a7c when I shoot videos for work purposes and for my YouTube channel. The satisfaction is very high. This is because you can shoot comfortably with the automatic AF mode, face and eye detection mode. All exposures are used manually. I used it from the beginning because it was more convenient to set the exposure manually than to learn the features of the Sony system, but now it is just convenient, so I leave it at that.
The Sony a7c is really small. In addition, I shoot videos mainly with a combination of a G FE24 / 50mm / 35mm lens and a Carl Zeiss lens, a small lens that does not have to sacrifice image quality. With this combination, it can even be used comfortably mounted on the DJI RS3 mini gimbal.
Sometimes, however, when I want to take pictures, I take out the FE 85mm F/1.4GM lens. Certainly, Sony has a clear difference in image quality for each lens class (regular, G lens and GM lens). The GM lenses are satisfactory even by Leica user standards. But there are also disadvantages. The lens itself is very heavy.
When mounted on the Sony a7c, it is so large that you have to hold the lens instead of the body. It feels like the body is attached to the lens. However, if you can support the weight, you can get some pretty decent photos. Of course, you can also get videos to focus on the details. The FE85mm F/1.4GM video story seems to have something to watch next time.
When using this combination, mount and use the ND8 filter. I can take an open video in daylight, but I want to take photos at ISO 500-800 instead of ISO 100. These days, I don't like too clean photos. At least when shooting for personal hobby purposes, photos with a little digital noise are better. ND filters are a must for me.
What photos would you like to take with a telephoto lens?
Generally, people think that there are not many photos to take with a telephoto lens. However, telephoto angles like 85mm are quite useful (?). In my case, I usually enjoy landscape photography with a telephoto lens. It is no exaggeration to say that the 85mm angle of view together with the Leica 75mm is a sweet spot for me.
Now, here are some pictures taken with the FE85mm F/1.4GM.
Sony a7c, FE85mm F/1.4G - Leeum Art Museum, by 'Maurizio Cattelan'.
Recently, there is a new exhibition at the Leeum Art Museum. It is the exhibition 'Maurizio Cattelan', and yesterday I saw this exhibition. In fact, I didn't even know this exhibition existed. I just arrived at the museum with the habit of going to Hannam-dong every weekend, parking at the Leeum Art Museum, seeing exhibitions and drinking coffee at a nearby cafe, but people are no joke. It was the first time I had seen so many people since opening hours. As it turned out, it was all the more so because it was the first weekend of the famous exhibition.
Anyway, I'm going to write a separate post about the exhibition, and present some pictures first. For reference, considering that there were as many people as ants (?) at this exhibition, the choice of the FE85mm F/1.4GM lens was a blessing. It was because I could concentrate on the exhibition works a bit far away.
Sony a7c, FE85mm F/1.4G - Leeum Art Museum, by 'Maurizio Cattelan'.
Sony a7c, FE85mm F/1.4G - Leeum Art Museum, by 'Maurizio Cattelan'.
Sony a7c, FE85mm F/1.4G - Leeum Art Museum, by 'Maurizio Cattelan'.
Someone who was viewing the exhibition said this to his daughter. 'I feel a bit relieved when Hitler, who was doing bad things, apologised like this, even with a piece of war! OK?' Pressing the extended shutter, I nodded too.
Sony a7c, FE85mm F/1.4G - Leeum Art Museum, by 'Maurizio Cattelan'.
Sony a7c, FE85mm F/1.4G - Leeum Art Museum, by 'Maurizio Cattelan'.
FE85mm F/1.4GM
The GM lens, which is a G Master lens, is definitely of good quality. It's not bad even at F/1.4, but it definitely boasts sharp image quality when you start stopping it down to F/2 or higher. Because the image quality of the Leica M lens is so good, it's not easy to notice other lenses. However, the FE 85mm F/1.4GM lens is quite satisfactory.
Compared to other lenses, there are moments when the AF works slowly. However, if you know the logic that AF is calculated by phase difference or boundary difference, you can take a picture comfortably if you fix the focus on the part where AF can be easily achieved. Some people avoid this because of the sound of the lens motor in the video. However, if you pick up the sound with an external microphone anyway, you don't have to worry about this problem at all. (And I have yet to experience a case where the sound of the lens motor is picked up even with the built-in microphone).
I don't normally take photos with the Sony a7c, which mainly uses video, but thanks to the FE85mm lens, I think I will enjoy taking photos from time to time in the future.