For Me Anyway… Sony & Rokinon Already Made The Retro-Ish Compact Camera/Lens Combo I Asked For.
I saw an article recently asking,
“Why Won’t Sony, Nikon or Canon Make This Camera?”
The camera in question was in the realm of a fixed lens Fujifilm X100VI or Leica Q3. Nods were also given to the interchangeable lens Nikon Zf and Fujifilm X-Pro 3.
I have experience with the predecessors for some.
The X100S.
The OG Leica Q.
Wrote a “so…” post about the Nikon Zf.
And I had an OG X-Pro1.
The brief seems to call for a camera that adheres to the relatively compact, high-quality film cameras of the past with the added bonus of modern digital internals. I have asked for the same in this space.
In that article above they called out Sony for not issuing an update to the nearly 10-year-old RX1R II. But for my purposes, Sony released something better. The original Sony A7C. Then the upgraded A7C II followed suit. Yes, a little larger and less MP…
…but compared to the RX1R II there are advantages.
- A proper fixed EVF as opposed to the fiddly pop up affair on the Rx1R II.
- I prefer the flip around screen of the A7C over the tilt one on the RX1R II. This also allows the screen to be turned in when you want to use it EVF only.
- More advanced. Sony has added many features and improved the performance immensely since the Rx1R II was released.
There was an issue though. As has been documented over the last few years a lens eluded me. Had thought the Sony 40mm f/2.5 G finally fulfilled the mission.
But for reasons I cannot 100% nail down it just didn’t. Most likely the lack of a truly compact design played a large part. That is an issue I ran into with the Leica Q years ago before I moved on.
To the point that I eventually traded it for the not that much larger but significantly more flexible Tamon 20-40mm f/2.8.
Had made my peace with this setup. But then Rokinon/Samyang managed what I thought was impossible. A true pancake lens for full frame Sony.
This kit was a bit of a revelation for me. What I ended up with was not a kit just smaller than the other full frame solutions mentioned,…
…but also smaller than the APS-C options.
I initially wrote a flurry of posts about this kit. So much so that I decided to take a bit of a break to let the new gear pixie dust settle. Had set it aside until I saw that article mentioned above.
So what we have here is a modern full frame solution barely larger than the fixed lens RX1R II and smaller than the APS-C and full frame options mentioned. As much as makes no sense it is also no larger than the MFT sensor Olympus PEN-F.
Part of me wonders why the A7C does not get more love. But I get it. Sony is locked in as being a maker of appliances. Heck, even I have mentioned their cameras being so crushingly competent that I regularly pivot to more “interesting” film and digital cameras.
But, the A7C II had one trick up its sleeve I did not take advantage of with the first generation model. Instead of choosing the Darth Vader monochromatic all black version as I did the first time…
…I went with the silver topped model.
Cool. But… then to give my pinky a place to perch I picked up the silver SmallRig bottom plate. And I likey.
Now we add in the Remaster Slim.
And there you have it.
Is it a retro-futuristic digital camera aping the control scheme of analog cameras of the past? No. But I have no issue with this. While not retro themed it does have all the controls one could want with the added bonus of most all of Sony’s most recent features. New AF chip. Tracking crop in video. And so on and so forth. All in a solution smaller than anything you could compare it to on the market regardless of sensor size. This includes the recently released Olympus OM-3.
These are all fantastic devices, But all things considered I would not trade this A7C II/Remaster Slim pairing for any of the other options listed.
Oh, and you get three focal lengths. 32mm, 28mm, and 21mm. And they all perform well.
21mm.
28mm.
32mm.
I have gone on long enough.
Do I expect someone intent on acquiring a media darling to change their mind and consider the A7C and Remaster Slim? Not at all.
But if, like me, you happen to have an A7C on your person and would like to complete a solid AF compact full frame solution, then you could do much worse than this.
While it may lack the pixie dust some are after I will argue that this pairing performs as good if not better than all of the other options listed. Technically and image quality wise.
Well, that wraps things up for now.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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