Generation Z is buying the Fujifilm X100VI and other Fujifilm cameras because of the look but also mainly because of the built-in film styles. I do believe Sony could match or ever beat Fuji on this playground. My ask in this video is: Sony do add Kodak-Agfa-Ilford film styles on your Sony Alpha Cameras!
The Sony A1 still holds up well against the Nikon Z9 even if it’s an older camera. Now we can all wonder what the upcoming Sony A1II will be able to do ;)
The Viltrox 27mm F1.2 (600 euros) is another gem from Viltrox. Its unusual focal length (40mm equivalent) is a bit narrower than a 23mm (=35mm equivalent). It offers Excellent sharpness, bokeh balls , soft background blur , very good color rendition and very good AF. Note with the F1.2 aperture you will need sometimes to have a ND filter with the limitation of 1/4000 sec on A6xxx Compared to the Sigma 23mm F1.4 DC DN, it is better balanced as the Sigma although a bit more sharper has more nervous background blur and more Chromatic aberrations
Mapcamera had the unique chance to play with the new Voigtländer NOKTON 50mm f/1.0 Aspherical E-mount lens. These images have been taken with the lens on the Sony A7rV and the author writes:
The color is really neutral and reproduces what you see. Up to F1.2, the image has a very soft and warm expression, and as you stop down from F1.4, the focus area gradually tightens, giving you a sense of transparency. I really felt that this lens taught me how fun it was to manipulate.
It’s been a long time since I came across a lens that really made me feel the joy of controlling the aperture. This looks like it will become an indispensable lens for cityscape snapshots.
Except of the Base ISO 100 and the ISO 8000 the A9III is more or less on par with the previous A9II in terms of dynamic range performance
It also beats the Nikon Z8 at any ISO except again base ISO and ISO 800.
The Sony A7rV is the Dynamic Range king but from ISO 800 the A7rV and the A9III performs the same!
Bill writes:
Base ISO is 250 due to low full well capacity (FWC).
High conversion gain (HCG) is available from ISO800.
Maximum PDR is quite good considering the base ISO settings.
Low-light ISO is also quite impressive.
Noise reduction (NR) is baked into RAW at all ISO settings, and is most noticeable from ISO 16000.
In the Fixed Pattern Noise (FPN) test, the I LCE-9M3 showed good results. Low values are better than high values.
In summary:
The A9III performs much better than the “Internet” lead us to believe. In fact if you shoot at any ISO expect ISO 100 and maybe ISO 800 you can expect top class results with all the extra benefits that rolling shutter gives you (fast readout, no banding, no rolling shutter artifacts, flash sync at any speed).
ThePhoBlographer reviewed the A9III and focused particularly on the Flash photography aspect:
By far, the Sony a9 III is the single best camera that Sony has made thus far. Nearly every issue that I’ve had with the company’s cameras over the years has been resolved in some way or another. Ergonomically speaking, this is the most perfect Sony camera I’ve held. It truly feels like the evolution of a Minolta camera for mirrorless. It’s simple enough to use, and anything that you really need can be wired to a button or two. But perhaps the greatest innovation is the global shutter. While I miss the fact that I could physically feel the shutter, I’ll accept that it comes with new technology that makes strobism even better. If you’re a photographer that uses a lot of off-camera flash, then this is the single best camera you can get on the market right now.