Sony A7s and Canon L-series...thoughts?

[Chris Tangey]

Just about to take a jump to UHD with the Sony A7s and I have been trying hard to put together a package that will not break the bank but produce images that are very high quality...the eternal search for compromise on a budget. I will keep my bread and butter TV workhorse the Sony PMW350K with nanoflash but I see the A7S as more for arty work, music videos, higher-end TVCs etc. Of course I will also use it as a second camera and to build a large 4K stock library based around Central Australia.

I am about to put my order in but would appreciate comments on whether I should vary the lenses in some way before I do. Or are there things I need to consider I mightn't have thought about? Currently I am looking at getting all L-series... EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and the EF70-200ISII 70mm to 200mm also with the Extender EF 2X III. These will connect with a Metabones MB-EFTONEX adaptor.

Additionally as many clients now ask for us to shoot stills AND video side-by-side ( a bit of pain!) the lenses will need to work for that too. Thanks.

[Robert Wall]

Chris, 2 thoughts:

Skip the Canon 24-70 and get a Sony 24-70, which will give you autofocus for the stills side. It's not quite as good of a lens but the fast autofocus, ability to use autofocus while shooting, and lighter weight as well as cheaper price tag I think all add up. Since you need to shoot stills as well, the Canon's will be a pain there.

Yes on the other 2 lenses, although on the wide side, you might reconsider the 16-35; you could either get the just announced Sony version, or get the excellent Canon f4 IS version instead and save money and improve optical performance whilst picking up IS too; the A7s doesn't need the extra stop of light and on the wide side I don't think the DOF effects are as important.

As for the 70-200 there just isn't anything like it quite as good, so that's probably a solid bet, although it is a heavy lens to carry around. It of course works flawlessly with the extender.

Finally, I found the cheaper Commlite adapter to actually work a bit better than the metabones; neither adapter will give you reliable fast autofocus, so your stills, if they need that, will suffer. Really for fast autofocus on this body you have to either go native or go with the Sony adapter 4 and A mounts.