In short: Sigma lenses for NEX, Sony 500mm prototype and CES booth.
Time for a short recap of what’s happening at the CES show in Las Vegas. There is not a lot for us NEX and SLT users:
1) The image on top shows you the official images of the two new Sigma E-mount lenses. One is the 19mm f/2.8 (here on Sigma website) and the other one is the 30mm f/2.8 (here on Sigma website). There is no info yet about price and availability.
2) There is again that 500mm f/4.0 lens prototype for display (here is the image)
3) In general Sony is “using” the event to show their new compact cameras, bloggies, televisions (55 inch OLED!) and so on. You can find a list of the new products at Sony.blog (Click here). Sony booth images are available here at dpreview.
Rumors: While I had to give you that bad news about the A99 delay I will now soon post all the other rumors I got in these weeks. And there are many good things to tell you. You will not have to wait a lot to see new NEX and SLT stuff…promise!
Linh
2 years ago |Sony are out of the OLED game. It’s “Crystal LED”.
Joe
2 years ago |No FF but at least new lenses and firmware?
Pablo
2 years ago |Seriously…
Who and why would want such F/2.8 lenses?
If I want fast, I have the Noktons 0.95 and 1.2 or the 28/1.9 Ultron.
If I want cheap, light and SHARP, I have the 28/2.8 Zuiko MC.
If I want wide and sharp, I have the 15/4.5 Heliar.
If I want wide, light and cheap, I’d get the 16/2.8.
Really, Sigma… wtf?
You should listen more to what people are wanting…
Alex
2 years ago |“Seriously…Who and why would want such F/2.8 lenses?” and “If I want cheap, light and SHARP, I have the 28/2.8 Zuiko MC.” Sounds like a contradiction. How do you know thew Sigma lenses wont be sharp and cheap? Also, AF matters to some people who dont want to always be manually focusing.
The Sigma 30 is a half-stop quicker than the Sony 30mm. Also, the Sigma is smaller than the Sony version. Two very good reasons there alone.
Why would you whine about new E mount lenses being brought to the market? There will be more. Stop complaining.
obican
2 years ago |The problem is, even if it is half a stop faster than Sony’s own 30mm, it is still not fast enough to gather enough light in most situations. When you think about it, Sony’s 18-55 kit lens is about 1.5 stops slower at 30mm, but also has image stabilization. You can always bump the ISO one stop too.
If you care about depth of field, it really is deep at 30mm anyway, wouldn’t make much of a difference if you had a 30 1.8 too(it would make SOME difference, but not night and day).
If you care about macro performance, forget the AF and buy any old macro lens, with an extention tube or something.
So, in short, 30/2.8 Macro is mostly useless for everyone.
19/2.8 is better though. I’d still prefer it to be a bit wider, I’d really like to have a 16/2.8 with good optics.
Christopher
2 years ago |Good point about the image stabilization. It makes a big difference, at least in my experience with the 5n- in low light, the kit lens gives me better pictures at 35mm f4.5 than when I use my 35mm 1.8 with an adapter wide open. The kit lens IS seems to give me more stops of compensation than my a55′s in-body IS. With the great low-light performance of the 5n, once we get fast lenses (like the 50mm 1.8) that do have IS, that combination will be amazing in low light situations. That’s one reason I’ll pass on the Zeiss 24mm…a lens that big and expensive, but with no IS, it won’t give any advantage in ISO or shutter speed for low light than the kit lens. (not saying that the kit lens is nearly as optically sound, but a blurry picture is useless, no matter the lens.) It looks like neither of these sigma lenses have IS, which is fine if they’re small, but still, even at wider focal lengths, it makes a difference, and really pushes the performance of the 5n to another level.
Jojo
2 years ago |Who? Photographers perhaps?
28mm (or equivalent) is one of THE most popular FLs of all time.
So if I wanted to use a NEX in its most compact way – body plus one lens only – the Sigma 19mm 2.8 seems a much better alternative than anything Sony have yet offered us……….He said, retreating behind his flameproof shield……….
The Lotus Eater
2 years ago |None of those lenses autofocus on NEX. That is one MASSIVE reason.
Moreover, the majority of people don’t want to have to mess with adapters – they simply want a nice, clean, fully functional camera system.
Ollder
2 years ago |Still waiting. Both A77 and news, both are strongly promised
Amateur Sony Shooter
2 years ago |It makes me laugh when I see that mockup 500mm lens, again and again.
jan123
2 years ago |Sigma HAS listened to what I want – it is BLACK
Seriously, if that 30mm is a macro, it would be a real competitor. But obviously it isn’t?
zstan
2 years ago |Oh i just realised the Sigma macro is faster than the Sony’s. So this means the Sigma will definitely be priced higher than $300.
The Lotus Eater
2 years ago |The Sigma isn’t a macro – unless you class 1:8.1 as macro.
JonasM
2 years ago |The 500mm looks impressive but I hope SONY stops using its crappy rubber on high-end (G and Zeiss) glass. Even the lenses on display in the Sony Style stores here in Thailand are all have their rubber focus rings deteriorating (probably from cleaning agents but still)…
Hannes Brecher
2 years ago |Hmm.. it’s a bit odd. We have a not so great Sony 30mm 3.5 macro with “cheap” metal body and a (let’s assume) okay good 30mm f/2.8 plastic fantastic Sigma lens. Now what’s to buy if you want a 30mm lens? I really couldn’t decide. The Sigma one looks nicer, has the perfect size and is probably faster to focus and sharper, but to have a short macro lens is also a nice idea.
I bet most people will buy the cheaper one. That said, if the price is the same (street price of the Sigma one should come down anyways) I personally would go for the Sigma – because it’s a bit faster, looks nicer and of course, it’s smaller!
What do you think?
JonasM
2 years ago |F2.8 with that macro will leave very little in focus. Mostly a sales gimmick IMHO. I have the 30M35 and very rarely shoot at F3.5, more often at F22 actually
focus speed doesn’t matter that much with peaking turned on and you probably want to have that on to control focus better near wide open…
Poki
2 years ago |The Sigma isn’t a macro, so f/2.8 is very usable as a standard lens. Remember, the 30/3.5 also doubles as slowish standard lens – most people won’t buy it purely as a macro lens.
But you’re right of course – if you want a short macro (or any macro, as you look on the NEX lens roadmap), the Sony lens is the way to go.
The Lotus Eater
2 years ago |The Sigma is NOT a macro!!!
Why are so many people assuming this to be the case?
SonyGUySmiles
2 years ago |HAHA, please dont tell me you took that pic with a Sony cause it looks like a cell phone pic.
The 500mm will be shown in Prototype form for the next few years, so don’t count on it.
Soccer moms don’t need this lens, and thats who Sony’s DSLR camera base is these days.