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The Creepy House – Sony A7r w/ Canon 17-40mm f/4 L Lens – Killer Combo!

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/32
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/320, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held

I drive past this creep house from time to time and had to stop by while packing the full frame Sony A7r and Canon EF 17-40 f/4 L Lens plus Metabones III lens adapter.
The house is actually for sale if anybody is interested. It is a nightmare project that probably involves asbestos, ghosts, and who knows what else 😉 Usually Layla is in the car and I can’t really stop, but the other day happened to work out perfect.

I took it slow at first, then quickly barreled through the snow back into what looked to be a snow covered driveway. I really didn’t want to get stuck and who knows if a ditch was under that snow bank! I then quickly mounted my really high quality Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens to the Sony A7r via the Metabones III lens adapter and headed towards the creepy house.

On a full frame sensor equipped camera, like the A7r, 17mm is extremely wide! I had to get right up on the house in order to fill the frame. Literally about 6-8 feet away at 17mm. On the APS-C sensor Nex-6 I would have to be much further back even with the 16mm pancake lens mounted. If I was using the 10-18mm f/4 OSS lens on the Nex-6 I would be able to get really close like I can with the 17-40mm on the full frame camera. That is one of the big differences with full frame vs APS-C 1.6x crop factor cameras.

The Camera, Lens, and Adapter

This set-up is not exactly cheap with the Metabones III adapter going for $399 US and the 17-40mm lens costs $839 US for a total of $1239 US with no optical steady shot included. It’s still not too bad when you consider how much Sony charges for the A-mount 16-35mm Ziess lens ($1998 US); although it’s f/2.8 which is a big difference if you need that speed. Sigma also makes a lens I would consider buying before the Sony or the Canon. It’s the Sigma 12-24mm and it goes for $949 US as it stands today. The other option for the A7r is of course the ultra wide angle E-mount 10-18mm f/4 OSS lens. It actually works all the way to 16mm on the full frame sensor and is high quality with OSS.
Sony A7r with the Metabones III and Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Lens:

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens

The Creepy House

Had to go with BW for the opening frame; just look at this house. I edited this A7r raw file using Lightroom 5 and Silver Efex Pro 2.

Also, be sure to click on the photos for the much larger view!

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/320, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/320, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held


100% Crop:

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/320, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held
100% Crop – Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/320, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held

Another view from much closer and in color. I used Lightroom 5 and Color Efex Pro 4 on these next two images to enhance the contrast and color a bit.
3/4 creep view

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/160, 17mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/8, 1/160, 17mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held

Straight on view and this is actually the side of the house with the front being to the right from  this angle.

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/11, 1/100, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/11, 1/100, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held

Getting to the minimum focus distance of the 17-40mm lens on the full frame A7r can produce something like this which is a lot of fun! I only used Lightroom 5 on this next image to show you that the Nik software is not required to get a good result. I added some contrast, clarity, vibrancy, a high contrast tone curve, recovered the highlights a bit and used the hue saturation panel to jack up the blue. I also did the lens profile corrections and added some sharpening, but no vignette this time for a change.
First the OOC (Off The Camera) raw file so you can see what exactly you get:

Also, be sure to click on the photos for the much larger view!

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held
Raw – Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held


Edited:

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held
Edited – Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held


100% Crop of focus area:

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held
100% Crop – Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held

Here is what the house looks like from the front side.
First the OOC Raw file:

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/11, 1/160, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held
Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/11, 1/160, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held


Fully edited with Lightroom 5 and the Nik Software.

Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/11, 1/160, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held
Raw – Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/11, 1/160, 17mm, ISO 800, Hand-Held

100% Crop:

Also, be sure to click on the photos for the much larger view!

100% Crop - Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held
100% Crop – Sony A7r w/ Metabones III, Canon EF 17-40 F/4 L Lens @ F/4, 1/125, 31mm, ISO 400, Hand-Held

Closing Remarks

As you can see from these photos the Sony A7r is capable of capturing insane detail, and the Canon 17-40mm f/4 L lens works awesome with the Metabones III lens adapter I’m very happy to report! Not having another wide-angle option for the full frame A7r, the 17-40mm lens is a killer option in my opinion. Especially if you already have one laying around like I do.
The creepy house is located below on the google map if you’re in the area and want to check it out for yourself.

Thanks again for checking in and enjoy the big game later today if your watching it! I’m not into football so will be watching UFC 169 instead, Oh yeah 😉
Jay


Sony A7r for $2298 @ BHPhotovideo | Amazon

  1. Reviews of the A7r are making Me hungry for the image quality (IQ) afforded by such a camera system. How will You be able to give it back after You are done reviewing it… especially since You have some fine glass already (via Canon)?

    1. Hi Gerard,
      BHPhotoVideo.com sends me the gear I review, and then I send it back. I return the favor by linking only to BHphoto in the actual review of any particular item. It’s a pretty good deal for both of us, and allows me to play with the latest cool gear at the cost of reviewing it. If an item sells based off my link to bhphotovideo.com I get credit for that referral. That is how I’m able to send the gear back, because I’m only temporarily buying it on a credit I have established over the years.
      BHPhoto does offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so you could technically try it out for 30 days and just send it back for a refund. It would only cost you shipping as long as you don’t break the gear and had a credit card to float the cost. I would never do something like that personally, but I know plenty of people who would!
      I own all the Canon gear and my Nex-6 plus a bunch of lenses. The A7 I was reviewing, and the A7r I’m currently reviewing, but might just purchase for real I like it so much 😉
      I hope that clears things up for you,
      Jay

      1. TY for the explanation of how the business side of it works. I may use that info some day for My own. However, I was not thinking about the business side of it when I asked about the difficulty in having to return A7r after having had it in Your hands, using it, and seeing what it can do. But for having gone through google+ before arriving here in Sony Alpha Lab, Your opening comment to Your one post, “I’m definitely keeping the Sony A7r :)”, definitely indirectly answers My question.

        1. You got it bud 😉 It’s not easy to get equipment from the retailers just so you know! Many requirements evolved as you can imagine.
          Jay

  2. Trey Ratcliff did a good side-by-side comparison of the 10-20mm E-mount Sony and the 16-35mm A-Mount Zeiss. From memory, I think he said that you can use it as wide as 14mm without noticeable vignetting. Quite astounding given the price (and weight) of the lens.
    I would be really interested in seeing a revie of the Sigma 12-24mm lens (I’m thinking of getting one of these for my A99).

    1. I’ll see what I can about that 12-24mm Gavin. From my experience the Sigma 10-20mm has noticeable purple fringing and distortion, but for the cost it’s a great lens. I tried to use it with my Metabones adapter, but it did not seem to like it.
      Best,
      Jay

  3. Thanks Jay, I bought A7r from your results, couldn’t be happier.
    thankyou.
    Tell did you have many shot failures because of camera shake ?

    1. Hi Rob and thanks for the comments! Also congrats on your full frame Sony A7r investment! With the 55mm Zeiss lens I did have several shots that came out a little soft, but that was because I was using Auto ISO and it put shutter speed at 1/60sec. That is too slow to hand hold this lens, so I raised the shutter speed to 1/125sec and have had no issues since. I have not noticed anything with the shutter as of yet, but I have a very solid tri-pod. More testing still needs to be done, but I hope that helps you out.
      You having any issues?
      Thanks again,
      Jay

  4. Great images, especially like the edited versions. Started enhancing my photos with Lightroom last year, and without question have saved what would have been throw away previously – even turning out to be great images.
    Have you fitted the 17-40L to your NEX-6? I’m asking because I’m trying to decide if I want to keep my NEX-6 and get the metabones speedbooster and use my 17-40L or make the jump to the 7 / 7r.

    1. Hi Keith and thanks a lot for the comments 😉 Yes I have used the 17-40mm lens on the Nex-6 with the regular metabones III lens adapter and my fotodiox lens adapter. It works awesome, but is not really that wide honestly. I mean it’s wide, but compared to the 10-18mm or the 17mm on the full frame camera it’s not that wide. 17 x 1.6x = ~27mm. So even my 24-105mm f/4 L IS Lens is wider on the full frame A7r than the 17-40mm lens would be on the Nex-6. Optics wise it’s incredible as you would expect and performs great on the Nex-6.
      I hope that helps with your brutal decision making Keith 😉
      Jay

  5. Nice house!!!!
    I’ve been using the same lems adapter combo since the A7r came out back in December. I have recently found something slightly better:
    A7r + novoflex adaptrr + the new Nikon G 18-35…
    Although comparible sharpness at 18-20mm, the nikon is sharper at the ‘long’ end – 24-35 especially.
    Although you do have to manual focus and manual aperture…

  6. Great post as always Jay. Your site are one of the top 5 i go to whenever i need to know about any sony camera i want to get. i got the nex5n, nex6 and nex7 because of you. I do have a few questions.
    1. In the “3/4 creep view” shot how large are the raw files and the output jpg file after LR?
    2. Would you make a quick review of the A7r with previous nex lens in crop mode? including the 16/2.8, 30/3.5, 24/1.8, and 50/1.8 ( im curious to know what would be the output IQ ) Since i might just get the body and use my current E-lens and FD manual lens.
    Thanks Jay, More power to your site.

    1. Thanks for the comments Ace 😉
      The 3/4 creep view photo is 35.59MB and the output jpeg file you looking at above is 558KB for the full size ~1200px version. I did not output a full size jpeg, but the file size would depend on the compression used.
      I’m working on the A7r review now, so I will mount the 16mm and 55-210mm lenses to the A7r and see how they work. I don’t have the other lenses on had, but the 55-210mm will be a good judge I think. In crop mode I think the lenses will work well, but it is possible the light will hit the sensor a little different I guess.
      Take care and thanks again,
      Jay

    1. Ace,
      I just mounted the 55-210mm lens on and the OSS does not work. the A7r says shows the steady-shot option grayed out, and says not available on this lens. I was not very happy to see that at all. I honestly don’t know if a firmware update on the lens will fix it or not, but I figured you would want to know. Otherwise the lens worked fine.
      Jay

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