New Zeiss Batis short test by Chad Wadsworth.

batis_85mm_25mm_zeiss_sony

Chad Wadsworth (Click here) shared a first impression of the new Batis lenses he tested:

Batis 25mm: Where the FE 28mm is in-your-face sharp, the Batis looks a bit smoother, yet zoom in to pixel peep and bam, there’s the same level of sharpness and micro contrast. The render of the Batis very much reminds me of the ZA 24mm f/2 but without all the field curvature AF issues that were endemic to that A-mount lens.

Batis 85mm: Focus was quick and sure – and dead on accurate. Pixel peeping shows an impressive amount of sharpness and detail at f/1.8. Having previously owned the legendary ZA 85/1.4 I have been anxiously awaiting an FE replacement but was concerned that the lens would be too large or too slow. Again with the Goldilocks reference but the Batis seems to nail it with just the right dimensions, weight and image quality.

You can chat with Chad Wadsworth on his SonyAlphaForum thread (Click here).

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).

New Sony A7s video and tests roundup!


Sony A7s VS Panasonic GH4

Ryan:I shot this feature for /DRIVE run-and-gun style with the Sony A7S a couple months ago. The A7S was rigged with a SmallHD DP4, JuicedLink XLR, Westside AV Sony L battery adaptor and a Movcam cage. Filming took three very long days in direct Arizona sun. The full 27-minute piece was edited and graded in 2 days with Final Cut Pro X. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SwWoTYJp9A

Almos:his a super low light test I did with the sony A7s, testing out how well the autofocus works in very low light at f5.6 for video. I used the stock 28-70FE lens. Let me just say, it works unbelievably well (in addition to the A7S being an unbelievable low light camera, that we already know). I did this test when recording a BTS footage of a band recording in a pitch dark studio. I like it so much I cut it into a Birdman tribute, enjoy :) https://vimeo.com/122160970

Sean:I made this during the Sony/B&H/Philip Bloom event, and was hoping you might share it on your sight: https://vimeo.com/115041588

Danas:Maybe you would like to see and post a short video done with A7s – perfect travel partner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DXPiK6R2Mc

Florian:May I ask your attention a moment to introduce the first film project “WAITING” made in Lisbon. All clips are shot up with sony A7S. This project aims to provide an artistic vision of a city, a country, a place … The films of this project are available in several more or less short formats. Some were processed in time “capsules”, while others have been so longer and documented. https://vimeo.com/123554872

Jannik:I found it to be very easy compared to the conventional way of grading, because the Software seems to handle the footage better. And best of all, it’s free! Here’s the link to my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCmnuYXl7Gw

Peter:Not a rumour but just sharing my wedding video production shot with a pair of A7S. Quality from these cameras are just amazing! https://www.facebook.com/PETERTAN.Photography/videos/vb.115270480558/10153295662500559/?type=2&theater. Am waiting for A7sII now to buy more!

Sony A7s store links:
Sony A7s in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
A7s Gariz leather case in [shoplink 27569 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27570 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27571 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 27572 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink].

DxOmark tests the Sony FE 24-240mm zoom: “convenient and good value choice”.

Bildschirmfoto 2015-05-28 um 22.00.10

DxOmark (Click here) posted the full Sony FE 24-240mm lens test. They write:

Costing $998, the FE 24-240mm is not very cheap, but packing a massive 10x focal range, Sony’s OSS image stabilization and dust/moisture resistant construction, you get a lot of lens for your money.
While offering a versatile all-in-one solution for wide-angle or long telephoto shots without having to change lenses, the FE 24-240mm is not the strongest optically and ranks in the lower half of our lens database. That said, the image quality delivered by the FE 24-240mm is good for a superzoom, and as we’ve seen in the Sony FE 24-240mm vs Nikon 28-300mm analysis, the Sony is as good in most areas and actually slightly better than the Nikon at the wider apertures.
The FE 24-240mm’s performance is also better at the wider focal lengths between 24-50mm. Zoom in further to the telephoto focal lengths and Sharpness and Transmission start to suffer somewhat, which has affected its overall score. Head-to-head against the $1,498 FE 70-200mm f4 G OSS, the analysis showed that much better performance is available from a dedicated telephoto zoom with more homogenous sharpness across the entire frame. At the wider focal lengths, however, the FE 24-240mm actually displays better edge sharpness than the FE 28-70mm standard zoom, which covers a much shorter focal range. So if you’re looking for a good quality standard zoom with the added versatility of being able to shoot telephoto without changing lenses, the FE 24-240mm is a convenient and good value choice for Sony A7 shooters.

Sony 24-240mm FE lens store links:
USA: Amazon, Adorama, BHphotoFocusCamera, Sony US.
Europe: Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Asia: Digitalrev, CameraPRO, Sony Australia.

Diglloyd tests the new Batis lenses and says the 85mm Sonnar “Rocks”!

Zeiss_Batis_25mm_FE_Sony

Diggloyd is the first photographer testing the new Zeiss Batis FE lenses. And his first impression is that he is…impressed :)

The Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 Sonnar rocks. What a gorgeous lens (the Zeiss Batis 25/2 also). MUST HAVES for Sony shooters.

Short of Zeiss Otus you’re not going to do any better at 25mm and 85mm on Canon and/or Nikon. And the Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 surely looks to be a better lens than the [shoplink 36845 ebay]Zeiss ZF.2 25mm f/2 Distagon[/shoplink]. Which raises a nagging question I’ve been wondering about for 2-3 years: when is Zeiss going to raise its wide-angle game in the DSLR arena?

A camera system depends on its lenses, and the Zeiss Batis line now solidly anchors the Sony mirrorless platform. Along with the Sony 28mm f/2 (more review coverage coming) and the Sony/Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 and the prospect of a 50+ megapixel Sony A9, one wonders about Nikon and Canon and Fujifilm as distant runner ups in key markets like travel, landscape, wedding photography, etc. If only Sony would fix is dog excrement service and support.

It’s really amazing we have Zeiss 100% focused on the Sony FE system. With the Zeiss Batis and the [shoplink 36846 ebay]Zeiss Loxia lens line[/shoplink] we have some game changing options in for the Sony FE system. Now Sony it’s your turn to learn from the early FE camera faults and limits and improve them on the future A7 and A9 cameras! P.S.: And please, give us a proper bigger A9 soon!

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).

New Sony A7s ISO Sensitivity Test by BananaManaTV.

That new ISO test shows once again the impressive low light performance of the A7s!

Sony A7s store links:
Sony A7s in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
A7s Gariz leather case in [shoplink 27569 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27570 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27571 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 27572 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink].

Full FS7 review by Philip Bloom .

This is an almost one hour-long FS7 review by famous cameraman Philip Bloom. The FS7 E-mount is a yet unmatched camera in that price category. Watch the video!

FS7 store links:
Sony PXW-FS7 body only at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
Sony PXW-FS7 with 28-135mm lens at BHphoto.
Sony VCT-FS7 Lightweight Rod Support System for PXW-FS7 at BHphoto.
28-135mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
28-135mm powerzoom in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Sony 128GB XQD Memory Card G Series 400MB/s at Adorama and BHphoto.
Sony 64GB XQD Memory Card G Series 400MB/s at Adorama and BHphoto.
Sony 32GB XQD Memory Card G Series 400MB/s at Adorama and BHphoto.

Mark Galer finds faults in Tony’s Northup “Pixel Density vs Noise” test.

On that Youtube video (Click here) Tony Northrup claims that there is actually almost no noise performance difference on still images between the A7s and D810 (once you downsize the D810 images). Mark Galer spotted some “problems” with Tony’s test:

In response to Tony’s Northup “Pixel Density vs Noise” test.

There are a couple of problems with Tony’s argument. He is basing most of his judgement on a photograph of a white wall at ISO 6,400. The highlights of an image are more of an even playing field. The problematic area for noise in our digital images is to be found in the shadows and not the highlights. The test ISO has been capped at ISO 6,400 and the A7S low-light performance really becomes noticeable when the ISO is raised beyond ISO 6,400. 12,800 is the maximum ISO for the Nikon D810 (without artificially pushing it) and 25,600 is the maximum ISO for the A7m2 and A7R.

I would like to quote Ian Norman from the Lonely Speck website: “The sensor on the a7S is relatively ISOless between ISO 3200 and 51200. This means that for any given shutter speed and aperture setting, changing the ISO between these values shouldn’t change the relative level of noise in the image.”

http://www.lonelyspeck.com/sony-a7s-astrophotography-review/

This means that the A7S has two full stops more light collecting potential compared to the Nikon D810 for recording information in extremely low levels of ambient illumination, whilst holding onto the same levels of noise that is present in the files produced by the Nikon D810. I am not sure why Tony forget to mention this in his 22-minute video – but I can see why some people would begin to question his motive or expertise in making this assessment. This is a failure to recognise a significant leap in sensor development – and as Tony pointed out, the Video comparison at ISO 51,200 is profound – but Tony dismisses the A7S advantage as ‘in-camera software processing’ – truly bizarre.

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Click on image to see the full set of comparisons from Mark Galer.

Here is a link to the gallery of sample images.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/markgaler/sets/72157652903515692

This is a ‘real world’ test. No white wall and ISO values above and beyond the maximum setting capable by the Nikon D810.
I ‘exposed to the right’ and processed each file using the same settings in Adobe Lightroom. Noise reduction was switched off in camera. White balance was adjusted slightly to render the same colour for the pairs of files and a moderate amount of sharpening and noise reduction applied (+40 & +40).
The A7R stacks up well in these conditions (especially when expositing to the right) but the A7S still shows a clear advantage in additional detail and with less noise when the files from both cameras are exported as 4K files. The A7S still has a stop up its sleeve with noise at 51,200 not climbing above that being recorded at 25,600 although the low light conditions did not require any higher ISO values.

You can also discuss the matter on Mark Galer’s SonyA7 Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AlphaA7/

Sony A7s store links:
Sony A7s in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
A7s Gariz leather case in [shoplink 27569 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27570 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27571 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 27572 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink].