Page under construction
Transferring from Sony A-mount to Sony E-mount
I have been shooting Minolta, Konica/Minolta, Sony since 1986 when I left Canon by trading in my Canon F-1. So... I think I know what I am leaving behind if and when I leave the A-mount. Entering the realm of the E-mount doesn't necessarily mean to leave the one from A-mount. I gave one A99ii to my youngest son, the other one may stay for two reasons. One is that my 70-400/4.0-5.6 G SSM II in combination with the TC20 teleconverter looses aperture control on the A7rV with the LA-EA5 mount adapter. The other reason is that I can use it for my microscope which does absolutely not need 61 Mpix and even 42 is way too much.
I was reluctant to go for the E-mount. All models are smaller than the A99ii which in order was already smaller than the A99 and I have been shooting with those big SLR's my whole life (since I was 10). But... the grip of the A7rV is deeper and reports told me that holding it is much better than other models from this mount. And yes... to my not so modest surprise the A7rV feels good in my hands. And once that feels good the first hurtle has been taken.
Why transfer in the first place?
The A99ii of all A-mounts can do anything you can think of. But, that being said, technology went on and since 2016 a lot has changed. Does that justify the transfer? Well that mainly depends on the way you use a camera and if your specific need has been surpassed by an E-mount body. Or... there is a lens that is specific to your needs and is not produced for A-mount.
My experience is with the A7rV only, I can't speak for other bodies and thus for the E-mount as a whole.
But now that almost 3 months have passed I must admit that I had really underestimated the E-mount. The design of the A7rV is well thought through. The buttons are placed better though the function wheel is double and has confusing setpoints. And the second minor is the placement of the lock button for the lens which is at an absolutely rediculous spot squeezed away in a tiny corner when the grip is attached. 180 degrees away from where the A-mount has it. What I absolutely love is the extra wheel for exposure compensation though evere button and selectorwheel can be assigned any function. To my honest shame I found out some things that are also possible on the A99ii but since my 2nd A99ii is definitely staying that is only extra profit as return on investment.
What I like about the grip is that the mounting screw is open at the front as well so you have a way more firm grip when screwing the grip to the body. Also the buttons are placed in a more logical way. Disadvantage is that you have to remove the battery door from the body and stow it inside the grip. Also there are again only two batteries available with the grip where that was 3 with the the original A99 mk1.
As this article is for differences only I will not go into the new lenses, there is enough info on them on Youtube. That being said... the E-mount is lighter even with the physical longer lenses that are lighter themselves as well. And talking about lenses...
The Sony 70-400/4.5-5.6 G SSMii already had issues when the TC-20 teleconvertor was added. The A-mounts lost their capability to autofocus this lens because its effective aperture became f8 which was to dark for the bodies to let the AF activate. At the LA-EA5 adapter the loss of aperture control adds to that. So the lens is effectively useless.
The Samyang 24/3.5 TS makes the Steady Shot shake beyond a 9 on the Richter scale but without Steady Shot it works fine.