Samyang 24mm FE Tilt Shift review by Marc Alhadeff

I think it’s the first time I see a review of the Samyang 24mm FE Tilt Shift lens for Sony. Marc Alhadeff conclusion is:

If you look at the other tilt shift lenses you could use on a Sony you have the Nikon or Canon ones at 2000 euros. Is the Samyang costing a little bit less 1000 euros worth it ?

  • It is well built , only the knobs are a little bit small and in plastic (long term durability ?)
  • In architecture , the shift mode allow to get very good results at F11 from centre to borders
  • Distorsion is an issue but can be corrected manually or by taking as a proxy the Samyang 21mm F1.4
  • For the tilt effect you can get the Scheimpflug type of effects , but tuning a tilt is a delicate operation that is requiring a tripod to be at ease

I would recommend the lens for the hobbyist willing to do a lot of architecture,

If you are pro , it is certainly worth to invest in the Canon 24mm Tilt Shift with the Sigma MC11 adaptor to mount it on your A7 body. This one has much less distorsion and better sharpness at apertures wider than F11, and will be able to transmit exif data to the body (Lens name + aperture)

Full review at sonyalpha.blog/2017/09/20/samyang-24mm-f3-5-tilt-shift-ed-as-umc/

The Samyang T/S lens sells for $799 on BHphoto.

Voigtlander 65mm FE test by Kasson: “spectacular performance”

Jim Kasson posted a three part review of the new Voigtlander 65mm f/2.0 macro FE lens.

I don’t think I’ve seen this level of on-axis sharpness on the a7RII before. 
To give you an idea what a spectacular performance this is, compare it to the very sharp Soony 90 mm f/2.8 macro at the same f-stop and reproduction ratio. The green channel peak with the 90 is about 1700 cy/ph, and compare that to the  2300 cy/ph peak of the Apo-Lanthar.
I am seriously impressed.

Jim is a damn serious reviewer…so if he says it than this is a real winner lens!
The lens is now in Stock at BHphoto, Amazon and Adorama.

Sony A9 Unintuitive things by Gary Friedman

Long time Sony “Guru” Gary Friedman walks you through the A9 settings:

The most advanced camera in the world? Professional photographer Gary Friedman demonstrates the least intuitive parts of the A9’s features, including all of the different exposure and focusing modes. Even more detail can be found in his e-book on the camera at www.FriedmanArchives.com/A9 .

How it is to work with a $500 Sony E-mount kit (A6000 with three lenses)

You really don’t need a lot of $$$ to join the E-mount system. Photogearnews writes:

We challenged Warren to see just what he could do with a budget video kit that cost us just over $500. What we found may have been the best budget kit for video. The entire kit was based around a used Sony A6000, which if you have some patience you can find, as we did for around $250 (and £250). Then we threw in some brand new budget lenses. There is even more of a bargain to be had if you can find these lenses secondhand. Find out how Warren got as he talks of his experiences and gives advice on how you can build a similar setup of your own.

KIT USED:
Sony A6000
Meike 28mm f/2.8
Meike 50mm f/2
Opteka 85mm f/1.8
Nikon-NEX adapter
Total cost was around $540 USD