Dpreview says the Sony A7II is the best camera of the year in the $1200-2000 price range!

[shoplink 42630]Bildschirmfoto 2015-11-20 um 14.10.53[/shoplink]

Sony keeps winning all kind of different Dpreview awards. Today the Sony A7II got selected as the best camera of the year in the $1200-2000 price range:

Unlike the Samsung and the Panasonic, the [shoplink 42630]Sony a7 II[/shoplink] brings a full-frame sensor to the party while still maintaining a relatively small form factor (at the expense of larger lenses, of course). The in-body image stabilization is excellent, and the phase detection AF system ensures swift, accurate autofocus. The a7 II’s sensor is superb too, both in terms of resolution and dynamic range. And the recent addition of an uncompressed Raw option makes it all the more powerful photographic tool.

Sony A7II store price check at [shopcountry 42630].

And I have the strong feeling the A7rII will win the upcoming $2,000+ competition ;)

First Sony RX1rII tests at Dpreview and Imaging Resource.

Bildschirmfoto 2015-11-19 um 09.29.51

Imaging Resource tested the different LPF (low pass filter) settings:

“The trade-off between moiré and overall sharpness is evident, especially in the first example with the bottle label.”

Dpreview added the studio test scene and the RX1rII shows an impressive tack sharp resolution.

The new RX1RII will ship starting from next week at Amazon US (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

Sony FS5 4K E-mount camcorder review at Cinema5D. And one annoying limitation reported by Newsshooter.

Bildschirmfoto 2015-09-13 um 11.08.12

Cinema5D published the first impression review of the new FS5 4K E-mount camcorder:

The Sony FS5 is a well balanced package for the documentary/wedding/indie/news shooter cameraman. For those who are looking for an easy to use large sensor solution, be it “full auto mode” or “full auto focus” this is a very good alternative.
On the other hand, the advanced shooter will not feel neglected and be able to take control on most if not all camera functions in a manual way. As with most of Sony’s latest products, this one will receive a firmware update soon after its release to answer some of the shortcomings already found since the time it was announced. Sony also promised to introduce a future RAW recording capability for this camera at a later stage. Exciting.

Newsshooter pointed out one limitation of the camera

Last week we published news that the Sony FS5 won’t allow simultaneous recording of 4K internally to SD card, and externally to an external recorder at the same time. This means that anyone wanting to record to an external 4K recorder like the Atomos Shogun and at the same time internally to SD card for backup is out of luck.

There is also a Sony FS5 4K Hands on Video at Adorama Blog.

The new E-Mount 4K camcorder can be preordered in two versions:
FS5 body only at Adorama and BHphoto.
FS5 body with kti lens at Adorama and BHphoto.

DxO tests the 16-70mm E-mount Zeiss lens: “good balance of sharpness and uniformity”

Zeiss1670

DxOmark (Click here) published the fulL Zeiss 16-70mmf /4.0 E-mount lens review:

Although the overall DxOMark score is perhaps a little discouraging for a $1,000 stabilized zoom, the Sony Zeiss E 16-70mm f4 OSS actually has a good balance of sharpness and uniformity. It has low chromatic aberration, and distortion at 16mm is very well corrected, even if it’s bordering on the difficult to correct complex type. It might not wow users at either end of the zoom range, but it does in fact have excellent performance at 35mm.

What makes the lens even more appealing is that you save $300 on the Hasselblad version at BHphoto (Click here)!

Sony A7RII Review at DPreview. Gets one of the highest scores ever!

SonyA7rII

Dpreview (Click here) published the full Sony A7rII review. The camera got an impressive overall score of 90%:

The a7R II pushes the boundaries of not just mirrorless, but also cameras in general. It has many new features that photographers of the future will wonder how they ever lived without. And while skimping on simple common-sense core features like direct AF point selection or touch-based AF is bordering on inexcusable at this point, much like some aspects of the ergonomics, the a7R II garners our top award – and one of our highest ever scores – for its sheer photography-accelerating technical prowess.

Surprised? Me not :)

Small note: $400 off on two A7rIi Open Box at Samys: [shoplink 42553 ebay]ebay 1[/shoplink] and [shoplink 42552 ebay]ebay 2[/shoplink].

A7rII store list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, AdoramaSonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

Sony α7r Mark III Wish List / Feature Suggestions 17 Things we want to see next (Max Fury)

SonyA7rII

We now know everything about the new A7rII. So let’s talk about the future new A7Rm3! Max Fury from SonyAlphaForum shared his list of the “17 Things we want to see next” on the A7rIII:

“Since the introduction of the excellent Sony α7r II this year I cant help but think of the features that the next iteration of the camera will bring, and set a new bar for Full Frame Interchangeable Lens Camera once again. Althougt the α7r II seems to have many and killer features, there’s still a lot of room for improvements.
 
With that said here are the 17 things I like to see for the successor of the a7r II, that will keep all of the features of the 7r II, but also add these 17 things that will make it the best Full Frame Camera… Ever made!
 
#1. New Name
 Ok, I work at one of the biggest camera stores in my country and even my boss when talking about the Sony cameras many times confuses the names. 7a II, ar7, as7 and so on. He never gets confused with the Nikon cameras. Why? because they have simple names that’s why. The alpha 7r II or how Sony likes to call it the ILCE7RM2/B. Huh?! What’s that? Sony is absolutely terrible at naming their products. So I want a new name simple enough that even my grandmother can remember it. Get on it!
 
#2. Dual SDXC Card Slots
 Even though the α7r II is aimed at pro’s. Having just one card slot is not professional at all. In fact, it’s amateur. I, and I think all of the pros, would like to see this changed.
 
#3. Revamped Menus and User Interface
 Ok, this is the most complained about feature of the Sony Cameras. the User Interface. Everybody is complaining about it and nobody likes it. I own and have own many Sony products myself over the years and the one consistent thing that has been bad about Sony products is the UI. Sony… if you cant do it yourself, which you obviously can’t, please, acquire a company that can. And have that Time-Laps app by default in the camera for Christ sake!
 
#4. Faster Start-Up time
 Faster start-up time helps to capture that fleeing moment in life. And makes you confident to keep the Camera turned off to save battery and know that it will come back to life immediately when you need it.
 
#5. Touch Screen OLED Screen
 Nothing is more intuitive than touching to focus or to change a setting or to zoom. The iPhone has been demonstrating this since 2007. And no screen has better contrast to review our stills and clips than an OLED screen.
 
#6. Large Battery Capacity
 What is inside that grip area of the body? Just cram a huge-ass battery inside there. Because 270 shots in a modern pro Full Frame camera is just laughable. Especially when you think that it shoots 4K video also. Which btw brings me to the next feature request.
 
#7. 10 bit RAW Video (internally of course..) and Unlimited Recording
 For that ultra flexibility while editing in post our amazingly artistic videos with no time restrictions.
 
#8. Unnoticeable Rolling Shutter or Global Shutter
 Action or fast moving subjects look absolutely abysmal with that god awful Rolling Shutter. Do another Innovation and make the first Pro Full Frame camera for Action movies. It will be another huge innovation Sony!
 
#9. 16 Stops Dynamic Range, Stills and Video
 The current α7r II has a decent 14 Stops of DR in photos, but let’s live up to the potential and promise of digital and finally leave film and its 15 Stops in the dust. (The D810 is almost there with 14.8 DR). Color depth is great at 26 bit. No complaints there but your’re welcome to improve it even more.
 
#10. Faster Autofocus
 Who doesn’t like fast? Do your thing and add more of those cross focusy things to make focusing as fast as lightning.
 
#11. 10 fps Continuous Shooting
 I don’t mind the current 5 fps, but if you want to get those sports and wildlife pro’s on board, and get all that cha-ching $$$, gotta have the speed to keep up with their demands.
 
#12. GPS
 Apart from when, I also need to know where exactly I took those cat photos! Come on GPS is in everything these days. The cheapest phones have them! It’s useful for reference and organization that the pro’s need.
 
#13. AC WiFi
 Again. Who doesn’t like fast? Gotta transfer all that 42MP files fast and effortlessly. For better workflow and freedom.
 
#14. No Overheating
 The fastest car in the world, (Bugatti Veyron), has like 10 fridges in it. Why can’t you cramp on of those fridges in the new body but still keep it small and lightweight? Come on Sony, if you can’t do it… somebody else will.
 
#15. RAW Histogram and Preview
 Many of you may not know this but the photos that you see on the viewfinder or the LCD screen of the camera are actually Jpegs of the RAW files! Which are of course not representative of the real RAW captured data. No more lies Sony! Give us the true previews and histograms of our RAW images! ;P
 
#16 Variable Low-Pass Filter
 Sony has done it in the RX1R II! Now just put that thing in the next alpha 7 model. No more R’s and two models of the same camera, with and without Low Pass filter.
 
#17. Get rid of the mechanical shutter
 Why do we need a mechanical shutter in an all digital camera? I don’t get it. (I also don’t care so don’t bother explaining it to me.) Getting rid of that mechanical shutter will not only make the camera more reliable but also more power efficient, and ninja silent of course, so we can creep around and attract no attention whatsoever… Mooohahahahahaha.
 
Ok, pretty big list of feature ha? But I know if one company can do it it’s Sony.”
What do you think about that list? Sony is reading us, so feel free to add your suggestions on the comment system or directly at SonyAlphaForum!
A7rII store list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, AdoramaSonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

A Sony Menu Redesign suggestion by Per Kylberg.

SAR reader Per Kylberg sent me this:

Many complain about Sony menu system and user interface. In my professional work with virtual systems, the thing that differentiates between a success implementation is the usability. Easy to learn and use UI equals not only happy users, management see lead time go down and quality up and thus are happy too.
Below is my idea about a more logical, photographer perspective, menu system. It would be interesting to see how a discussion and proposals from SAR community can improve this starting point menu organisation!

Complain and propose!

Background
As with most camera manufacturers, Sony rightfully are critizised for the camera user interface and in particular for the menues. At the presentation of the A7Rmk2 a Sony official was asked about the UI and menues. The reply was (as I remeber): ”Menues are up to the engineers to decide”.
Engineers are very good at product development, yes. But they are not experts in using the products! Being in technical documentation and managing virtual systems (in automotive) for 40+ years, I have plenty knowledge from both sides of the matter. Engineers are great! They develop excellent cameras with great functionality! But the user interface should be developed by experts in UI and usage.
The reason for this is that engineers, naturally, think ”inside – out”. UI needs be developed ”outside – in! By UI experts
”Outside” are we: the photographers.

As – is analyse
The A7 cameras have about 17 outside physical controls. Nikon D8xx have 32 of them if I remember right.
In the menu structure the A7 has:
– 6 main menues
– 28 no-name sub menues
– 153 execution commands
Where is the logic in this hierarchical build? What is for instance the difference between ”Camera settings” and ”Custom settings”? And why no-name menues? There are 22 execution commands concerning focusing, spread out in 10 different no-name submenues under two different main menues. Why?

”Maybe To-be” alternative A – hierarchial structure
To reach execution commands, there should be no time/energy consuming search. The structure must have an easy to understand and remember structure. There must be a clear logic based on how photographers think. This should a core issue for Sony.
Below is my discussion proposal consisting:
12 Main menues
14 Named sub menues
153 execution commands

Photo/video setup
image quality mode and setting Shutter Flash Display
-image size Drive mode E-front curt Shutter Flash mode Grid line
-aspect ratio Auto Mode Silent shooting Flash comp Live view display
RAW/JPG Format) Scene select Auto slow shutter Red eye redux Auto review
Long exposure NR Reset EV comp Finder/Monitor
High ISO NR Bracket settings
Color space Zoom setting
Steady shot
Steady shot settings
Ten last used
My menu
JPG unique
Panorama size S Auto img extract
Panorama direction Soft skin detect
Creative style Auto object framing
Picture effect
Picture style
Zoom
Focusing
General AF MF
Focus mode Center lock-on AF MF assist
Focus area Smile face detect Peaking color
Focus settings Eye start aF Peaking level
AF illum Priority set in AF-S Focus magnify time
AF drive speed Priority set in AF-C Focus magnifier
AF track sens AF system
Disp cont Af area Per AF
Phase detect area Face registration
ISO and metering
Exposure comp Zebra
Exposure step Exp,comp,set
ISO
ISO auto
Metering mode
White bal
DRO/ Auto HDR
Video unique
File format Marker display 4K output sel
record setting Marker settings
dual video record Video light mode
Movie HDMI settings
Sound unique
Audio record
Audio record level
Audio out timing
Wind noise redux
Audio level display
Customizing
Memory Function menu set Movie button
Memory recall Custom key set Dial/wheel lock
Disp button My menu set
AEL with shutter Dial setup
AF with shutter Dial EV comp
Finder/monitor Zoom ring rotate
Wireless and apps
Send smartphone WPS push App list
Send Computer Edit device name Introduction
View on TV DMAC address
NFC SSID/PW reset
Airplane mode Reset network set
Camera setup
Control Display Help Connect Manage
Volume settings Monitor brightness Demo mode Remote ctrl Copyright info
APS-C/Super 35mm Viewfinder brightness Exposure set guide USB conn Format (card)
Release w/o lens Finder color temp Mode dilal Guide USB power supply Select rec folder
Release w/o card Display quality NTSC/PAL select New folder
AF micro adj Display media info File name
Lens comp PWR save start time Recover image DB
Audio signals Version
Language Setting reset
Date/time setup Cleaning mode
Area setting TC/UB settings
Playback
Delete
View mode
Image index
Display rotation
Slide show
Rotate
Enlarge image
Protect
Specify printing
Delete confirm

And what do you think?