March sales report by BCNranking: 50% less mirrorless camera sales in Japan due the coronavirus outbreak :(

Now this is very bad news: According to the latest BCNranking report the mirrorless market sales decreased by 50% in March. Consider that Japan didn’t even shut down the full economy like EU and US are doing right now!

The graph above shows that Sony is leading in terms of market share but take that with a grain of salt because sales were extremely low anyway. And I am sorry to say I am not an optimist: I think the virus will come back in waves multiple times til we get a vaccine sometimes in 2021 :(

via Fujirumors

SLRlounge: Is Sony’s E-Mount “Too Small”? Let’s Put This Debate Out Of Its Misery

More than a year ago Sony did explain the E-mount size allows for very fats lens design. Still the myth about “large mount equals better lens performance” still persists. SLRlounge analyzed the myth saying that larger mounts are better. The simple answer is that NO this isn’t the case:

It all comes down to this: regardless of whichever lenses are optically possible, or even probable, that’s not even the final piece of the puzzle. The final piece is, of course, …which lenses do you see yourself actually buying and using?

Whatever slight difference there might be in the theoretical limits, or whatever exotic optics actually come to fruition, most photographers are going to be more than happy with any system. Indeed, they’re much better off choosing a system based on criteria that includes literally anything else…

There are many photographers who already know they love f/1.2 primes, of course. I just said that if I were exclusively a portrait photographer, Canon’s RF mount would be the most tempting choice, even though I could surely get any job done with any of the very impressive portrait lenses for Nikon or Sony. And, although I don’t think I’ll ever own the Nikon 58mm Noct, I’ll still look forward to seeing if Nikon makes their own 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm f/1.2 AF optics.

Sony FE could also get some of those exotic lenses, whether from Sony or Sigma or someone else. They might not be able to achieve the same level of extreme corner sharpness, as a vague prediction, but they’ve proven everyone wrong with fast glass corner sharpness multiple times already.

At the end of the day, that’s all we can say with any certainty- Almost anything is theoretically possible on Sony’s E-mount. But, maybe, just maybe, it is slightly less probable that we’ll actually see as large of a collection of “inconceivable” optical accomplishments. If true, though, it wouldn’t even be primarily a limitation of the mount, ironically, it would be simply due to Canon and Nikon’s desire to stand out.

Sony Tidbits…


Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G Hands-on Review

Note: If you are interested in electric cars check out our new website Electric-fun.com
Sony ToF VGA BSI Sensor in Lucid Camera (Image Sensor World).
Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 lens review with samples (Christopher Frost Photography)
Sony 20mm f/1.8 G Lens First Look (TheDigitalDigest)
8 Awesome Lighting Kits to Fit Any Budget (Explora).

Ionut:

“I’ve made 4 videos about my sony exchange experience maybe someone would find it useful when they decide to change system.
If you are interested to be posted on the website would be awesome.
https://youtu.be/HbXJcNUD59s Dynamic range
https://youtu.be/BkTnTAI_Gv0 A anti flicker issue with the sony
https://youtu.be/3aMkqx3whH8 Menu interface
https://youtu.be/uYTDqKqHKYE Ergonomics”

Personal photos and tests from SAR Admin Andrea on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and 500px.

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Sony releases the new Sony A9II firmware update 2.0

You can now download the new firmware update at Sony’s website.

Benefits and Improvements from the latest update

  • Adds the Hi Frequency flicker function, which allows you to reduce the impact of flickering of artificial light sources (e.g. digital signage, electronic signboards, LED lights, etc.), by more finely adjusting the shutter speed
    NOTE: The Imaging Edge Remote, Imaging Edge Mobile, and Remote Camera Tool software will not be supported after April 9th, 2020
  • Improves the Face/Eye Priority in the AF function:
    • When set to a custom key, the Face/Eye Priority in the AF function can be activated or deactivated each time the custom key is pressed
    • If Face/Eye Priority is already set to custom key, this improvement will be available after the camera is updated
  • Improves the Remote Camera Tool function by adding support for displaying Focus Frame for almost all scenes
    NOTE: Version 2.00 (or later) of the Remote Camera Tool is required. Please update to the latest version.
  • Improves the FTP transfer function
  • Allows the camera’s MAC address to be displayed as a QR code
  • Adds a function to close the shutter when you turn off the camera to prevent dust or debris from adhering to the image sensor when you change lenses
  • Allows you to save or load the customized camera settings to My MENU
  • Improves the overall stability of the camera

Press text: Timelapse+ VIEW 1.8 update adds more camera support and includes a brand new USB Camera driver

Press text:

Timelapse+ VIEW 1.8 update adds more camera support and includes a brand new USB Camera driver

Minneapolis, MN — Friday March 13th 2020– ​ Timelapse+ today announced two exciting news: Timelapse+ VIEW v.1.8 and Timelapse+ CORE.

VIEW 1.8 is a firmware update to their popular intervalometer and Timelapse+ CORE is their new USB Camera driver.

The last couple of years has seen a major trend toward mirrorless from pretty much all camera manufacturers. From the perspective of time-lapse, this has been good news since you now have the option of electronic shutter (time-lapse no longer needs to wear out the camera) and many of the new cameras can be powered over USB as well, extending the battery life (and making up for the tiny batteries in most mirrorless).

New Camera Driver: Timelapse+ CORE
Over the last year and a half, we built a 100% new camera driver from the ground up, we’re calling ​Timelapse+ CORE​. It’s designed to work optimally for time-lapse, giving us more flexibility and making it much easier to quickly support new cameras. It’s more reliable, faster (allowing shorter intervals) and is also much easier on the development side to maintain and keep up with new cameras.
While the new driver was written first for use in VIEW, Timelapse+ is packaging it and licensing it as a separate product. The CORE driver is a perfect solution in other applications where high-performance USB camera control across a broad range of cameras is needed. It’s free for personal use and paid for commercial use. Contact Timelapse+ if you’re interested in learning more.

Timelapse+ VIEW New Camera Support

● Canon EOS and EOS R
● Nikon DSLR and Nikon Z
● Fuji X and Fuji GFX
● Olympus
● Panasonic.

Sony Updates
Sony cameras have been supported since the beginning of the VIEW, but it’s better than ever now with the CORE driver. 1st and 2nd generation Sony cameras don’t allow saving to the camera’s SD card while connected via USB. This requires that the images be copied to the VIEW’s SD card, which takes a little time. With the CORE driver, however, it now takes less than half the time it did before, so the 1st and 2nd generation Sony cameras can support much shorter intervals and become a great option.

Timelapse+ VIEW Additional Improvements

Besides the new camera driver, there are hundreds of minor improvements and bugfixes. Here are a few of the more noteworthy:

● Live adjustments: change time-lapse parameters across a series of frames while it’s running● Long-term time-lapse: Weekly schedule can be configured with daily start/stop times.
● The auto ramping ​starting exposure is now decoupled from the post-transition exposure​. Now if there are lots of blown highlights due to a backlit scene at sunset, the night exposure won’t also be blown out. Instead, the post-transition exposure is based on an absolute luminance preset and can be adjusted in Ramping Options. This handles a wide variety of scenes much better with fewer “surprises”.
● Support for the ​eMotimo ST4​ using a USB data adaptor cable, but we’re also working on a simple solution that will allow full control over just the AUX2 TRS interface, so the USB can stay open for the camera without a hub.

Experimental

● We’ve started work on supporting the DJI Ronin S and SC gimbals. The goal is getting it to provide keyframe motion control through the VIEW’s app. We have control and setup working but the resulting motion is not smooth — there’s likely more work to be done figuring out the commands for motor stiffness, etc. It’s a tedious process trying to decode a stream of numbers and finding patterns so we can’t say when this might be complete yet. If interested in being a beta tester, email: mail@Timelapseplus.com

Website:
https://www.Timelapseplus.com

Pricing, updates, and availability for the Timelapse+ VIEW Intervalometer
Retail Price: $399. ​Pricing may vary by country for non-USD purchases, and additional fees may apply, including tax and shipping costs.