You can now preorder the new Sigma FE lenses at BHphoto

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Finally you can preorder the new Sigma FE lenses at BHphoto (Click here). The prices in detail:

Sigma 14mm f/1.8 for $1,599 at BHphoto (shipment start mid July).
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto (shipment start mid June).
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 for $849 at BHphoto (shipment start mid June).
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto (shipment start end April).
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for $949 at BHphoto (shipment start end April).
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for $1,199 at BHphoto (shipment start end April).
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto (shipment start mid July).

Sony A7III preorder links:
Sony A7III in USA at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon,  BestBuy, FocusCamera, BuyDig.
Sony a7III in Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras UK, WexUK.

Sony US deals:
Up to $900 off on Sony camera sand lenses. See full special page at BHphoto, Adorama, Buydig.
Up to $500 trade-in bonus to buy a Sony cameras. See special page at BHphoto, Adorama, Buydig, FocusCamera.

Zeiss launched new savings on Batis-Loxia lenses:
You save $500 on the Batis 135mm lens at Bhphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
You save $200 on the Batis 85mm lens at Bhphoto and Adorama.
You save $200 on the Loxia 85mm lens at Bhphoto and Adorama.
You save $130 on the Batis 25mm lens at Bhphoto and Amazon.

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Sigma CEO confirms they will make new FE lenses designed for Sony E-mount only!

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The French magazine Focus Numerique interviewed Sigma CEO Mr. Kazuto Yamaki. To read the french article you have to pay a fee (which I did). And I have some good news to report:

1) In future Sigma will develop new lenses designed exclusively for Sony FE cameras: “We will develop native optics for Sony FE if they are different from what we can already offer in our “reflex” range.”
2) Sigma plans to offer more of their current DSLR lenses with native E-mount. Also future new DSLR lenses will be immediately available for E-mount too.
3) The current new FE lenses are completely new from a software point of view. To write software for prime lenses is easier. But Sigma plans to release native E-mount zoom too (SAR note: expect an FE version of lenses like the 24-70mm ART for Canon).
4) About the current new FE primes: Sigma says that even if they had redeveloped these fixed focal lengths for the Sony FE mount, they would have arrived more or less on the same kind of optical design and especially the same type of weight and size. The only exception is for wide-angle lenses which could be much more compact.

To sum up:

  • All current and future DSLR lenses will be made available as native E-mount option (this includes zooms)
  • Some of their future lenses will be designed purely for Sony FE cameras (particularly wide angle lenses)

The newly announced ART FE prime lenses are all listed at BHphoto (Click here). There is no info about shipment and price. But it’s rumored the price will be the same as the Canon version:

Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67834].
Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67835].
Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67836].
Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67837].
Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67838].
Sigma 70mm F2.8DG MACRO | Art (CP+ 2018 exhibit with no price yet)
Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67839].
Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art (CP+ 2018 exhibit with no price yet)
Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67840].

Here is the big question:

Which lens are you considering to buy?

View Results

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Very first Voigtländer Macro Apo-Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 FE lens test

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We had many lens announcements in these weeks from Tamron, Tokina, Sigma, Zeiss, Laowa and Voigtlander. But the one lens I am personally very interested to buy is the new Voigtländer Macro Apo-Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 FE. I suspected right from the start that this would be a top performer. And it seems like my hope was well placed. The Spanish blog AlbedoMedia (google translation here) posted the very first quick test with image samples and their first impression is extremly positive:

In all the macro shots, we appreciate a very harmonic bokeh , which will undoubtedly please the photographers who love small subjects. In this case – since the images are made at full aperture – we think that the quality associated with the blurred parts is due to the excellent apochromatic correction that minimizes the corresponding aberrations.

One SAR reader also had the chance to play a bit with the lens and said:

It is extremely sharp and no C/A but quite heavy.

If the price and quality will be on par with their excellent 65mm FE lens I am probably going to buy it.

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New Sigma MC-11 firmware update

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Sigma issued a new firmware update for their MC-11 adapter. Those are the new features/improvements:

● It has become compatible with the SIGMA 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM | Art for SIGMA.
● With the SGV lenses*1 listed below, it has improved AF performance in the peripheral areas of the image as well as when the “Eye AF” function is selected.
● With lenses that are not compatible with the MC-11, it has corrected the release time lag which occurred during flash photography.*2
※ Before updating the MC-11 firmware, please ensure SIGMA Optimization Pro has been updated to ver. 1.4.1 or later for Windows, and ver. 1.4.0 or later for Macintosh.
＊1 SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 85mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art, SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Art, SIGMA 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary
＊2 Please note that this does not guarantee accurate operation with all the lenses that are not compatible with the MC-11.

Sigma MC-11 at [shopcountry 60822].

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New Sony A7III tests and hands-on by Kevin Raber, CameraLabs, Dpreview

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Sony A7III preorder links:
Sony A7III in USA at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon,  BestBuy, FocusCamera, BuyDig.
Sony a7III in Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras UK, WexUK.
Join our Sony A7III Facebook group!

Kevin Raber writes:

They understand the market, their customers, and the competition and have strategically positioned their camera lineup, so it is attractive to a wide variety of photographic needs. They didn’t cripple or hobble the Sony  a7III and they released it at a fair price, considering its features and abilities. They addressed just about all if not all the issues that were part of the older line. It’s tough to find major flaws with this camera.

Sony A7 III shutter test – mechanical vs silent at 10fps by CameraLabs:

Hands-on with the Sony a7 III (Dpreview).
CP+2018 a73 vs a7r3 Video Performance Comparison on Youtube.

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Details on the Sony A7III “stripe issue”

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The web went in tumult after discovering a weird “stripe issue” in the top right corner of that Dpreview image sample. Here is the feedback from experts on that matter:

Rishi from Dpreview writes:

In a couple of the photos you may notice striping, a problem we’ve found common to all cameras with masked phase detect AF pixels when shot a certain way: with very fast lenses wide open pointed directly at bright light sources to purposefully induce flare (e.g. here and here). In continued shooting today in the same venue and lighting, we noticed no issues shooting more modest apertures and zoom lenses.

Jim Kasson writes:

I’m not particularly worried about this, but some of the a7III examples I’ve seen make me think the effect might be worse in that camera.
It’s pretty clear that this effect is related to the on-sensor PDAF pixels in the a9. Bill Claff and Horshak did some work last year and identified a weaker version of the same pattern in dark-field images. It’s not clear to me why the effect is stronger with a very bright light source in the image.

Bill Claff writes:

Compared with the A9 the A7III has “Dramatically (3 stops) higher Read Noise in the PDAF blue pixels”

Tony Northrup writes:

We shot 4,181 pics with the a7 III and I can’t find any trace of this effect in the images, including shots with the 85 f/1.4 wide open into light sources, zooming in to 5:1. I’m confident this issue exists, but I think the community is making WAY too much out of it. People really love to latch onto any flaw in a new camera, and I think this is blown out of proportion.

To sum up: This is an issue that appears under very special conditions only. But it’s definitely here and we have to see if this is something Sony can fix easily via firmware update.

–

Sony A7III preorder links:
Sony A7III in USA at Adorama (free overnight shipment), BHphoto, Amazon,  BestBuy, FocusCamera, BuyDig.
Sony a7III in Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras UK, WexUK.

Important note: I would appreciate if you use those preorder links to preorder your camera. It rewards me for the work on SAR. I get a small commission and you don’t pay any cent more for that. Thanks:)

Join our Sony A7III Facebook group!

 

 

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