BHphoto posted that Zeiss Batis 25mm & 85mm Lenses First Look video. The store also shipped out the first preorders to SAR readers but they are now all sold out. The next Stock is supposed to arrive sometimes in mid August. I guess we will have to be very patient just like it happened with the still not in Stock Loxia lenses.

Mirrorlessons posted the full Batis 25mm FE lens review and writes:

The Zeiss Batis 25mm is yet another great lens for the Sony FE system. It isn’t perfect and vignetting can be the most annoying thing to deal with especially on the A7r. There is also some perspective and barrel distortion that can be easily fixed in post-production. Otherwise, it provides great sharpness, is perfectly usable at f/2 and has an excellent bokeh rendering when you focus close. It has a fast autofocus mechanism and the OLED screen can be useful for astrophotographers.

Alexander Voss: “Real raw’s from the 7r and the brand new batis. Feel free to share. Best greetings. Alexander https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k3ius8dvwvpd1ca/AAALi78kenwjVcAK1141spuRa?dl=0”

Batis store links:
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.

Loxia in Stock:
Kenmore camera has the [shoplink 38519 ebay]50mm Loxia (Click here)[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 38518 ebay]35mm Loxia (Click here)[/shoplink] in Stock.

New Zealand photographer Carl posted new A7rII full size image samples on Flickr (Click here). There is also one single RAW file you can download at Proimagenz. He writes about the A7rII:

I had the chance to spend about an hour with the camera today so thought I would blog some very brief thoughts as my time is limited tonight.
• Viewfinder – Terrfic, much bigger then the previous versions and really enjoyable in use.
• Shutter –  MUCH better, really well dampened and silent shutter is precisely that, no sound at all, nada. Yay!
• Feel – as you would expect if your a A7II user. Although this camera does feel a little more nuggety due to its more metal construction. I like it.
• Focus – is everything its previewed it would be. With native lenses it is swift, broad and (as far as I can tell initially) accurate.
• Adapted lenses – Wow! Incredible! Using Canon EF lenses with the Metabones III the focus was just like a native Canon camera. Very fast and torquey. No backwards and forwards like previous models. I also used the Commlite adaptor which wasnt nearly as quick sadly. Still fairly good and highly usable but not in the same league as the Metabones thusfar.

via Dpreview.

A7rII preorder list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

DxOmark (Click here) posted the full test results of the new 24-70mm F2.8 ZA SSM II lens:

As with its sibling, the new lens coatings have had a somewhat mixed effect on the sharpness levels across the field. While it has improved uniformity at 70mm, there are several instances where sharpness levels have dropped. It’s particularly noticeable at 50mm in the mid and outer field position. Overall, though, the lens is good performer. The addition of AF compatibility with the contrast detection AF capabilities of the E-mount cameras (using an optional adapter) and the weather sealing are significant benefits over its predecessor.

The new Zeiss A-mount lenses are in Stock in USA:
Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM II in USA at Amazon, BHphoto and at Adorama.
Zeiss 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA SSM II at Amazon, BHphoto and at Adorama.

Soon the A7rII will ship worldwide and here is a new roundup of camera related news:

SAR reader hands-on:

We got our first hands on with the Sony A7r Mk2 today and there were a couple of big features or rather fixes which haven been published anywhere significant.
First, you can now map the video record button to any custom button you want! In the Custom Key Settings, you’ll now see a new option called MOVIE. This has been a massive pain point so far and setting C1 for video record just solves everything!!
Next, you can now set the minimum shutter speed in Auto ISO. Something that has been default in Canon and Nikon since 2012/2011, but missing in the Sony line up till now. This is huge too and it can even be mapped to a custom key for a super fast experience.

Diglloyd Sony A7R II with Otus and other Lenses:

A one kilogram lens attached to a lens adapter adding 29mm of extension from the lens mount places a large torque on the mount. Even 5 or 10 microns out of kilter means asymmetric blur, not to mention possible static sag even if the lens mount were of superman genre. Hence the need for a tripod collar (which is not and cannot be particularly solid on such adapters), hence the need for a vibration free shutter. The Sony A7R II delivers that vibration-free EFC shutter at last.

Sony A7RII Launch Event at Samy’s Camera Los Angeles:

The A7RII is here! Come join Samy’s Camera and Sony on August 22nd for a 90-minute event brought to you by Sony. Meet Sony Senior Tech Rep, Rob Shelley, and attend his in-depth class on the A7RII, followed by a live model shoot with Sony Artisan, Paul Gero. Rob and Paul will then hold a Q &A session to recap all of Sony’s innovative technology.
Score your chance to win a Sony A7 full frame lens ($1000 value) when you attend this event. Full info at http://samysphotoschool.com.

A7rII preorder list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

DxOmark (Click here) published the full 16-35mm F2.8 ZA SSM II A-mount lens test. The performance is virtually on par with the predecessor:

New coatings rarely bring improvements under ideal conditions, such as those found in the labs, but it’s good see Sony update premium lenses like the Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8 ZA SSM II. Even if it’s just a minor upgrade, it’s more than either Nikon or Canon have done with their models, at least as far as we know. While there isn’t any real improvement in our lab tests, the Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8 ZA SSM II remains a competitive model in terms of optical quality, although at well over $2,200, it’s even less accessible now than its predecessor.

One more news: That 16-35mmII lens got an issue warning from Sony Japan. A few lenses from the first batch have some problems with the filter mount. Sony will repair those lenses for free.

The new Zeiss A-mount lenses are in Stock in USA:
Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM II in USA at Amazon, BHphoto and at Adorama.
Zeiss 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA SSM II at Amazon, BHphoto and at Adorama.

A slow motion test to have a laugh :) https://www.facebook.com/danulis/

EosHD published a detailed look at slow motion on the Sony RX100 IV / RX10 II:

My favourite way to capture slow-mo on the Sony RX100 Mk IV and RX10 Mk II is the regular 1080/120fps mode. It is the first recording mode circa-100fps I have used that doesn’t resort to heavy pixel binning on the sensor like with Sony A7S, Samsung NX1 and Panasonic GH4. The image is flawless, detailed and sharp. You can work in stills mode for faster one-shot AF to establish focus on a quickly moving subject for instance.

Henry: “I recently purchases the sony rx100 iv and shot a video of my daughter and I thought you may be interested in posting the content on your blog to show people what the camera is capable of. Here’s the link if you’re interested: https://vimeo.com/134107105”

Kristoffer: “Went to a mini festival this weekend to try out the new Sony RX10 II. https://vimeo.com/133881621”

Ovidiu: “Here is a cool slow motion test with the new RX100 MK IV :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKWXJ3otEnQ“

A7rII and RX camera preorder list:
In USA:
A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at:
A7rII at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m4 at DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX10m2 at DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at:
A7rII at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
RX10m2 at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
RX100m4 at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

I just got this from two SAR readers:

Reader_1: Just received notification that the Batis 85mm lens that I ordered from B&H shipped today on UPS. My card was charged. I ordered the lens in the first hour after I read of its preorder status on this sight. Thank you!

Reader_2: Just letting you know the Batis 25mm lens is shipping from B&H – mine shipped yesterday and is arriving on Thursday. It’s seems to be more of a limited supply.

At last! And also first German stores have the [shoplink 38631 ebay]Batis in Stock (on eBay here)[/shoplink]. And if you want the Loxia lenses than know their are in Stock at KenmoreCamera: [shoplink 38621 ebay]35mm Loxia (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 38622 ebay]50mm Loxia (Click here)[/shoplink].

And here are some more Batis lens tests and image samples:

Zeiss Batis 25mm first impressions at ThePhoBlographer:

So far, we’re very impressed with the image quality from the Zeiss Batis 25mm f2 lens. Then again, we didn’t have any doubts. What will be the deciding factor is how it is in manual use and how the display rendering works out in the long run. For news videographers, it may be a nice option, but otherwise it’s a very new concept that is a bit alien to us.

Mirrorlessons tested the 85mm Batis and writes:

The optical quality is what you’d expect: excellent sharpness, beautiful bokeh, and a fast and silent autofocus mechanism.

Eggry:

I’d like to share you some sample and test shot of Batis 85.8 from Korea. In Korea, Zeiss Batis 85.8 is already released, it would be useful information for westerners: http://eggy.egloos.com/4090510. This is my blog posting of Batis 85.8 test against Samyang/Rokinon 85.4. DOF, Close range resolution, near infinity range resolution, Distortion tested.
I think distortion is the most interesting part because it has really huge distortion for 85. Lense profile is not supported in Lightroom yet, so you need to endure it if you shoot RAW.
I took some sample photos too. followings are some samples from others.
http://www.popco.net=31807
http://www.popco.net=31761
http://www.popco.net=31758
http://www.popco.net=31834
http://www.popco.net=31732

Photos taken with the Zeiss Batis 2/25 and the Sony A7R & A7S on Flickr.

Zeiss Batis store links:
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.