Kai reviews the new Batis lenses: ” Bloody awesome image quality”.

Kai from Digitalrev posted that short Batis Lens review. And he really likes them both!

Both Batis lenses are now available for preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
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.
In Europe and Asia the Loxias can be found in Stock via [shoplink 36456 ebay]eBay sellers (Click here)[/shoplink] and Digitalrev (Click here).

Triple A7rII autofocus video test with Canon EF, Sony A and Sony E-mount lenses!


Hands-On with A7r mark II / A7rII autofocus with E-Mount and A-Mount lenses

A7rII and new RX preorders:
You can now preorder the new Sony cameras in US stores. Click on the store name to place your order and be among the first to get the camera in early August:
A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at:
A7rII at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m4 at DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m2 at DE, 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.

A7rII Autofocus tests:
These are three new videos made to show the autofocus performance of the new A7rII. Sony still didn’t allow journalists to record videos on their SD cards so we have to wait a couple of weeks more before to see real more “scientific” tests.


Sony A7R II + LA-EA3 + 70-300mm SSM (A-mount)


Sony A7R II + Metabones Smart Adapter + Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM

Store links:
In USA:
A7rII at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Uniquephoto.
In Europe at:
A7rII at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m4 at DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m2 at DE, 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.

Kai says the A7rII has killed the Canon 5Ds 50 Megapixel camera!

Canon_5DS_vs_Sony_A7rII
Sony A7rII
vs Canon 5Ds size comparison (CameraSize).

A7rII and new RX preorders:
You can now preorder the new Sony cameras in US stores. Click on the store name to place your order and be among the first to get the camera in early August:
A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at:
A7rII at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m4 at DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m2 at DE, 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.

Kai and the A7rII:
This week the Canon 5Ds 50 Megapixel camera started to ship via many stores like Amazon US. But the new A7rII really stole the spotlight from the Canon. Even not-so-Sony-friendly Kai from Digitalrev just posted an article saying the A7rII is a “Canon 5Ds R Killer“:

High-resolution, 5-axis stablisation, 4k video, faster autofocus, better shutter – these are not marginal improvements but rather changes of a colossal scale. Other camera manufacturers should take note: the a7R II is how a product update should be done.

When you look at what Canon are coming up with and then what Sony are doing, you can’t help but think that Canon are holding something back, playing it safe. In this comparison, there is no comparison because it has become quite apparent that Sony is the one that we should be eagerly anticipating to make the next big moves.

My thoughts: I believe the Sony A7rII 42MP files will match the Canon 5Ds files in terms of resolution because of the newers Sony sensor technology. And I have no doubt dynamic range will be higher ont he Sony! Can’t wait to see the comparison between the two to see if I was right with my speculations!

One more thing: Hugh Brownstones thoughts about the A7rII:

Store links:
In USA:
A7rII at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Uniquephoto.
In Asia at:
A7rII at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
RX10m2 at Digitalrev, CameraPro.
RX100m4 at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

A7rII bloggers and readers reaction: Four “Hidden” cool features and a list of cons.


Sony A7RII: Interview With Sony Alpha Product Manager Kenta Honjo

Small A7rII deal teaser: I have a good news coming soon for our SAR readers. I am preparing a special A7rII discount for some of you. Stay tuned ;)

We had busy days with the Sony A7rII announcement. Now let’s cool down and read some bloggers opinions about the new camera:

Luminous Landscape writes:

In other words.. the whole nine yards. Everything but the kitchen sink. You asked for it, – you got it. Think of a cliche.
This stands in stark contrast with the rest of the industry that doles our new features slowly, an upgrade here, a tweak there, a new feature once a year or so. This is the norm for some companies… keep the development costs low, and keep selling new cameras with a bit of extra chrome and shiny wheels now and then to keep the faithful happy.
But with the A7rII, following quickly on the heals of the A7, A7r, A7s and A7II, Sony has wrapped all of the goodies (and then some) into one package. Available in August for US $3200, it isn’t even priced as outrageously as one might think a new flagship camera might.

Buyingcamera listed the negatives of the new A7rII camera on SonyAlphaForum post:

Weight on the breaking point of being too heavy
Battery (old fashioned lithium-ion, they could at least design a new 2,000mah battery in the same size case)
No true 14bit uncompressed raw (I’m sure they’d have advertised it if it existed). If bandwidth is an issue, they could give you the option of a 1FPS instead of 5FPS mode. This would be great for landscapes.
No dual card slots or the option for redundancy (even if it used the USB port to write to a separate card reader, that’d be something)
Bigger. Both cameras are uncomfortable to me (I have large hands) and I found the previous model slightly more comfortable.
Price. Sony does what it always does and it’s upsetting to know that it’ll be nearly half the price in a years time. I know digital cameras are destined to be this way but sony pricing scheme has always been more annoying than other companies.
Lenses. FE lenses are sealed, no gasket. Some zeiss lenses either have a gasket and no sealing, or sealing and no gasket. I’d rather they just had sealing and a gasket, like canon lenses.
Sealing. Sony sealing usually always sucks and I doubt this is going to be different.

Sonymirrorlesspro writes:

The a7RII has a better autofocus system than the a7II—a much better system in fact, with hundreds of more phase detection points. It’s so fast that Sony even mentioned in their press conference that the a7RII will be able to focus competitor lenses (e.g., Nikon and Canon) at native speeds.

Bildschirmfoto 2015-06-15 um 08.53.14
A7r vs A7rII at CameraSize.

Mirrorlessons writes:

First of all, the native sensitivity of the camera is 100-25600 ISO but can also be extended to 102400 ISO. In video mode, the maximum is 25600. The question is: how good is the A7rII at the highest sensitivities? Because if the gap with the A7s has been reduced, the latter might not look as unique as it did a few months ago. Moreover, many users have complained about not having internal 4K recording on the A7s: you need an external recorder, which means a bigger investment. The A7rII can do everything on its own and since the HDMI output is still valid, the external recorder becomes an option for better quality (4:2:2 8bit) and is not a constraint anymore if you want 4K video.

Merlin Ulrich writes:

Screenshot 2015-06-11 18.57.38

Soundimagesplus likes the new camera but not the marketing:

Sony get a serious rasberry for one of the most ridiculous advertising BS slogans of all time. ‘Imaging beyond our eyes’ !!! Surely one of the most ridiculous examples of meaningless ad agency speak ever committed to print. A shame since Sony have addressed most of the missing features of the A7r.

Photoclubalpha writes:

If you really think 42.4 megapixels is going to take you to realms far beyond your 36 megapixel sensor, think again. It is the same step up as from 18 megapixels to 21 megapixels, a move Canon made without absolutely transforming the images created, or about the same as from 10mp to 12mp. There’s one big difference – it does not make the jump to any larger common print or repro size. Remember going from 6 to 8? That was from sub-full-page to a decent full page resolution, for US or A-size documents at a touch under 300dpi. 24 megapixels took us to a really sharp A2, 36 megapixels takes us to a acceptable A1, and all that 42 does is to make a slightly better A1 but not 300dpi.

ePhotozine posted a short A7rII hands-on:

The camera is weather sealed, and has a newly developed shutter unit which is designed for vibration suppression, plus silent shooting, and is rated for 500,000 shutter releases! There are currently 13 FE lenses, with Sony planning on having 20 lenses available by early 2016.

More A7rII tidbits:
Evaluated: “Sony, Fix These Things and Win” aka How Does the Sony A7R II Stack Up? (Diglloyd).
A7rII full breakdown at SonyAlphaLab.
Top 7 Game Changing Features of the Sony A7RII by Ilovehatephoto.
Forget 42MP, 5 Axis IS, Silent Shutter: Why PDAF Is So Important To Mention About the Sony A7RII (Patrick Murphy).
A7Rii is actually cheaper than the A7ii (Medium).
Sony confirma que la A7R II llegará en verano por 3.500 euros (Quesabesde).

Some fun: There is really a SAR reader trying to get money to buy the A7rIi through Indiegogo (Click here). Good Luck!

Store links:
In USA:
A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at:
A7rII at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m4 at DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m2 at DE, 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.

Preorders will be available from June 17 only at 11am New York Time!!! A7rII will ship in August. The RX10m2 and the RX100m4 will be available in July. Full press coverage here at SonyAlphaRumors.

Zeiss Batis lens reviews by Matt Granger and 3D-Kraft: ” stellar performer” and it “will sell like hot cakes”.

Matt Granger just posted that Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens review. And considered all pros and cons Matt thinks this is a stellar lens!

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3D-Kraft (Click here) tested the new Zeiss Batis lenses and writes:

“Even though there was not much time for an in-depth look, I am sure, both members of the new Batis family will find friends easily and sell like hot cakes. The Batis 1.8/85 may not have the level of perfection like an Otus 1.4/85 and relies more on lens correction profiles provided by camera firmware and/or raw processors but taking into account the enormous resolution and processing speed of today’s cameras, this seems like a very well balanced compromise. This allows to provide a professional grade lens it in a compact and lightweight form factor including autofocus and optical stabilization with a reasonable price tag.

The Batis 2/25 surprised me with extraordinary sharpness across the whole frame right from open aperture in a compact, lightweight housing. At f/2.0 you may have to correct some vignetting and some minor CAs but these almost disappear already when you stop down one step to f/2.8. Thanks to its wide aperture and short close focus, it provides additional options to play with depth of field and shows a pleasing bokeh not available when using wide angle zoom lenses.”

Both Batis lenses are now available for preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
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.
In Europe and Asia the Loxias can be found in Stock via [shoplink 36456 ebay]eBay sellers (Click here)[/shoplink] and Digitalrev (Click here).

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3D-Kraft Image sample with the Batis 25mmm lens

First A7rII SAR readers test feedback: No rolling shutter in S35 mode! Fast Af with Canon lenses!

A7rII

Two of our readers got the chance to shortly test the new Sony A7rII:

Faymus Media tested the A7rII video mode and posted his impressions on SonyAlphaForum (Click here):

I used one today at the Adorama Fair. The S35 crop mode eliminates motion scew/rolling shutter. Tack sharp video, looks amazing. The native ISO for Slog-2 is 800 ISO. I punched the ISO to 12,800 and the lens to f/16. Looks clean. Has backlit sensor. Images are 14-bit RAW. I never had any issues pushing the images.

And one of our readers tested the A7rii with metabones and the [shoplink 37552 ebay]Canon ef 35 1.4L[/shoplink]:

I have to say that performance was really amazing!! it really seems like you’re using canon lens on its native camera

Terrific news! Sony is learning and improving…let’s hope they will sooner or later give us lossless RAW too :)

UPDATE: Slashcam posted that A7rIi vs A7s video mode comparison:

SonyA7rIIinternal4KA7S-12186_PIC2

Store links:
In USA:
A7rII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX10m2 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
RX100m4 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at:
A7rII at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m4 at DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
RX100m2 at DE, 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.

 

SAF post found via EosHD.

Diglloyd tests the Batis lenses: “are must-haves for the serious Sony shooter”.

batis_85mm_25mm_zeiss_sony

Diglloyd (Click here) is the first blogger having the chance ot test both new Batis lenses. And his first conclusion is unmistakably favorable:

Both the Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 Distagon and 85mm f/1.8 Sonnar are must-haves for the serious Sony shooter. I intend to buy my own set along with the new Sony A7R II. I suspect that the Zeiss Batis lenses will be in very high demand just as has been the case with the Zeiss Loxia lenses.

Both Batis lenses are now available for preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
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.
In Europe and Asia the Loxias can be found in Stock via [shoplink 36456 ebay]eBay sellers (Click here)[/shoplink] and Digitalrev (Click here).