BastianK tested the Laowa 15mm f/2.0 FE lens and liked it so much that ended up buying it:

It is one of the very few lenses making actual use of the narrow flange distance of mirrorless cameras. When I first heard about this lens I thought it sounded almost too good to be true. But despite the few shortcomings this is in fact a pretty astonishing lens the guys at Laowa have put together. I also tend to think it is the most versatile ultra wide angle lens I have used so far:
It lets me take crazy close up shots, I can use standard filters on it, build quality is top notch, the size makes it a lens I want to put in my bag and yes, it can also be used for astrophotography. Personally I prefer it to the Samyang 14mm 2.8 (MF) for astrophotography because of the more even exposure and the speed advantage.

Matthew Durr alst tested the lens on the A6500:

There’s a whole lot to like about the Laowa 15mm f/2, and very little to complain about. At its price point, I would expect nothing less. The lens provides a pleasant shooting experience every time I take it out of the bag, and its high optical performance is notable given the compact size. While I can’t wait to use this lens to its full potential on a full-frame camera, it still performs admirably as a standard wideangle on APS-c. I highly recommend it to either E-mount camp looking for a versatile wide lens.

One a personal note…I am actually considering this lens too…

Get the lens at BHphoto, Adorama and Venuslens.net.

Ilija Melentijevic from Kolarivison disassembled the new Sony A7rIII. There are some interesting findings in his article that we are re-posting in full here:

Sony A7R III Dissasembly and Teardown

Our pre-ordered Sony A7R III finally arrived this morning, and we couldn’t wait to crack it open and see what’s inside. The A7R III has been receiving a lot of positive reviews and I can see why. First off, the camera looks and feels great. And, we finally got two card slots! The multi-selector and larger capacity battery are also a nice improvements. Beyond the cosmetics, the camera boasts significant improvements in frame rate, buffer capacity, light sensitivity, dynamic range, and more. I can go on, but I’ll leave that for the more detailed reviews. What we did notice is the camera is snappy. The A7 line has always had that signature shutter lag, it always felt like there was a slight delay from hitting that button to firing. With the A7R III, I am happy to say this is greatly improved; it feels like a more natural extension of the body. I think DSLRs might still be faster, but this is the first A7 series model that is competitive in that regard. We liked this camera so much, we almost decided not to tear it apart. Almost. We present you with the first look inside an A7R III.

One last look before we start.

Now that the A7rIII is shipping out everywhere more and more video tests are getting posted. This is the latest roundup:

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Sony A7rIII at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Calumet DE, Wex UK. Photo Porst Neuwied. Sony Netherland. Sony Australia. Sony Japan.
Sony 24-105mm at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Amazon DE, Calumet DE, Wex UK.

Join the A7rIII facebook group to discuss the camera features and tests.

The new Sony RX0 is in Stock at BHphoto and Amazon.

The RX0 is quite a mysterious gadget. It’s not a Photo or Video camera and not an Action Camera. But this video realized by filmmaker Dan Marker Moore shows you what you can do when using a rig with 12 RX0 cameras:

This is the behind the scenes video:

This is a guest post from “Y.”:

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The first Playmemories APP that Sony should bring back, and the potential of in-camera photo stacking

Author: SonyAlphaComplain

Most of Sony’s Playmemories APPs won’t be missed by me too much because I can easily find a workaround. Sometimes the workarounds are even better. But there is one killer APP that I found irreplaceable: Smooth Reflection. For those who are not familiar with this APP, here is a short introduction.

What does it do?

Smooth Reflection uses a technique called photo stacking to emulate the effect of long exposure. Traditionally, we need a ND filter to do the job in daylight since it’s difficult to reach long exposure time:

Disclaimer: We have plenty of technical reviews out there and I am not going to bother posting my own review. I will simply write my first “emotional” impressions of the camera and the lenses I received yesterday:

Sony A7rIII ([shopcountry 64780]):
I confess my fear was that the new camera upgrades would not be interesting enough to make me “WOW” on this camera. But I was wrong:

First WOW:
The first time I had my eye on the new A7rIII EVF I had my first WOW moment. If you plan to keep the A7rII and not to upgrade to the a7rIII do yourself a favour: Never look inside the A7rIII EVF! It really feels much bigger and brighter than the A7rII.

Second WOW:
Focus speed. Oh damn…I really did not miss a single shot yesterday. It nailed it fast and accurately every single time. I did some Ice Skating shooting and it’s a really strange feeling to see an A7r camera acting like a professional sports camera.

Third WOW:
The battery life! Now, the idea of going back to using the A7rII makes me sick :) Richard Butler from Dpreview wrote this yesterday: “This eliminates the constant battery anxiety I’ve previously felt with many mirrorless cameras“

Sony 24-105mm ([shopcountry 64781]):
Disclaimer: I am a prime lens shooter. And never fell in love with any zoom.

The one WOW:
Having a 105mm instead of a 70mm makes all the difference. So unless you really need the f/2.8 aperture go for this 24-105mm lens instead of the 24-70mm GM. I never found the 70mm focal length to be really useful. Too far away from the 85mm standard and too close to the 50mm I use most of the time. But at 105mm you enter in a different “world”.

Sony 12-24mm ([shopcountry 64782]):
First a confession. I am a wide-angle “virgin”. I mainly bought this lens because of the many good reviews and I wanted to see if it could suite my needs for landscape photography (I do a lot of hiking and climbing).

The first WOW:
Damn is this thing light

The second WOW:
Oh what a funny lens! I am running like a child to take one shot after another. And yes, this is a completely unprofessional and non-serious behavior. But this is the only zoom I ever fell in love with.

In summary, yes after 24 hours I can say the A7rIII is worth the upgrade and that’s the biggest surprise (and thanks to the Colby Brown tips and tricks guide for helping me figure out the perfect A7rIII settings. The 24-105mm lens is a nice lens but I will not keep it and wait for the 105 or 135mm FE prime lens. The 12-24mm is superb and I will keep it in my bag all the time!

Way more serious and useful new A7rIII tests and reviews:
NFL with the Sony a7RIII and a9 by Chad Wadsworth.
Sony a7RIII Review by Dan Watson

DxOmark posted the full Sony A7rIII sensor test results. The camera matches the Nikon D850 score and leads the Full Frame camera ranking. DxO writes:

It’s clear that the Sony A7R III has a high-performing sensor that’s capable of capturing images with a broad range of color and tone, while keeping noise well under control.

However, comparing the A7R III sensor to the Nikon D850’s reveals the advantage that the Nikon camera’s lower minimum sensitivity (ISO) value brings. Photographers who predominantly shoot in bright light or capture motionless subjects with the camera on a tripod will record the most information, be it color, tone, or detail with the Nikon D850 set to ISO 32. However, if they require values above that, the Sony A7R III sensor produces marginally better images.

Sony’s in-body 5-axis image stabilization system is widely respected, and if it achieves the 5.5 EV shutter speed compensation in the A7R III that the company claims, it would enable the camera to capture images at ISO 100 instead of at ISO 3200 (provided the subject is stationary).

It’s impressive to see that Sony A7rIII matched the D850 despite two disadvantages: The Sony has no ISO 32 option and four less Megapixels. It would be nice if Sony could add lower ISO settings via firmware upgrade. But maybe I am asking the nearly impossible as it’s likely you need hardware to support this too?

Still to be honest we would rarely use ISO 32 in real life shooting. And from ISO 100 towards the A7rIII beats the Nikon on all charts:

Impressive!

Preorders:
Sony A7rIII at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Calumet DE, Wex UK. Photo Porst Neuwied. Sony Netherland. Sony Australia. Sony Japan.
Sony 24-105mm at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Amazon DE, Calumet DE, Wex UK.

Join the A7rIII facebook group to discuss the camera features and tests.