The X1D is now shipping but Hasselblad is in total tumoilt!

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This is the kind of camera that creates history: The new Hasselblad X1D is now shipping in the USA (preorders at Bhphoto). It is the world’s first medium format mirrorless system camera using the Sony 51MP sensor. And it has just about the same size of the A7rII:

x1d-a7rii

So far so good. But now comes the bad news:

Mirrorlessrumors reports that Hasselblad CEO Peer Oosting resigned from his post. He was the key person who moved Hasselblad away from the stupid Sony clone strategy and created the new X1D and 100 Megapixel H6D cameras. Probably the recent takeover from DJI played a major role in this. The future of long time Sony partner Hasselblad is very uncertain right now….

Just a personal crazy note:
I will now officially challenge Sony to hire Peer Oosting to make a medium format mirrorless camera too! But not with the X1D 44x33mm sensor but with the larger 53,7×40,4mm sensor. That would be amazing (and expensive)

size_mf_ff

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Sports Photography test: A99II vs D5 & 1DX Mark II

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Sport Photographer Davey Wilson (article at SLRlounge) tested the [shoplink 54828]new Sony A99II[/shoplink] and compared it with the “classic” sports professional tools like the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DX Mark II. The conclusion is:

The Sony A99ii has been a camera we’ve been excited about since PhotoPlus last fall. On paper, it’s a veritable powerful taking the best of mirrorless and DSLR’s and compressing those features into a compact SLR-style body. It’s not perfect, no camera is, but it’s nice to see a company like Sony listening to its longtime users and delivering a high-resolution performance driven camera that actually appears to be as advertised.

Sony A99II at [shopcountry 54828].

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Sony Tidbits…

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Sony SLT-A99 Mark II Product Overview

Samyang 50mm f1.4 AF test at SonyAlphaForum.
CES 2017: Sony at CES (Explora).
Photo Composition and Contrast: Leading the Eye to Your Subject (Adorama Learning Center)

To write a guest post on SAR follow the instruction on that page

Douglas:I just uploaded this on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hDIkUJyu3Ko The a99II & a7rII and the A-mount and E-mount battle it out in this video. I test the cameras and three equivalent lenses from each mount; see how the G Master lenses perform against A-mount glass.  You’ll have to watch for the detailed results.

Maartech:I did a detailed side-by-side menu, feature and function comparison of the A6500 and A6300 including burst, overheating, dynamic range and more. I found a few things that I didn’t like, and a few things missing …https://youtu.be/iAkRdgnq2nY

Stan Moniz:https://vimeo.com/199781907 A new short film featuring the Sony a7rii and the new and coming soon Tokina Firin 20mm f2.0. A truly unforgettable weekend get away at Yosemite national park. Hope you enjoy!”

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Sony A6500 Gariz case in Stock at Amazon US

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The new A6500 Gariz case is now in Stock at Amazon US (Click here).

Reminder:
New Sony US trade-in program is now running at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
Up to $300 savings on Sony cameras and lenses (Overview of all rebates at BHphoto and Adorama):

Sony A7 cameras:
$300 off on the Sony A7rII at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$300 off on the Sony A7sII at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$200 off on the Sony A7II at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$200 off on the Sony A7 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Adorama gives you an additional $200 gift card on the A7rII  and on the A7sII!!!

Full Frame E-mount lenses:
$100 off on the 16-35mm f/4.0 Zeiss lens at Amazon, Adorama (extra $100 gift card) and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 24-70mm f/4.0 Zeiss lens at Amazon, Adorama (extra $50 gift card) and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 24-240mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the Sony 28mm FE lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$50 off on the Sony 28-70mm FE lens at Amazon, Adorama (extra $25 gift card), BHphoto.
$100 off on the 28-135mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 5omm f/1.4 lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$50 off on the Sony 50mm FE f/1.8 lens at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon and Focuscamera.
$100 off on the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-200mm G lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-300mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 90mm macro lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.

APS-C E-mount lenses:
$100 off on the 10-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 16mm f/2.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 18-105mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 18-200mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 18-200mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 20mm f/2.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 35mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 50mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.

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Sony A7rII and Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 ready for sport photography?

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This is a Guest Post from IzioPhotography:

Sony A7rII and Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 ready for sport photography?

You can already find a lot of reviews on the internet about this topic. Unfortunately they have used the [shoplink 54958]70-200mm f4 lens[/shoplink]. Certainly a very good lens but not when you have to shoot sports like Hockey. Depending on the light this lens is just to slow. And since i have received my [shoplink 54957]Sony 70-200mm f2.8[/shoplink], why not giving it a try. As one of my assignment I’m acting as team-photographer for the premier league Hockey Club EV Zug in Switzerland. A perfect playground for the test. During the last 3 home games of the EVZ I have used the combination of a [shoplink 55034]Sony A7rII[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 54957]Sony 70-200mm f2.8[/shoplink] as my main “working-horse”. I have integrated them in my mobile pictures-creating work-flow:

  1. shooting pictures with the Sony,
  2. transferring them via WLan to an IPad pro
  3. quick post-processing them on the IPad
  4. uploading them to the social-media and news services

This work-flow is a bit different to a “classic” one. Were you would use a Notebook and perhaps a tool like Photomechanic to add description to the pictures. But since I create the pictures for the team and their social-media, websites and news-feed I have different needs. Like being light, mobile and fast. I do not have to write that much into the files. My first concern was how the autofocus of the Sony A7rII would perform and would the lens start hunting for the focus? Over or under exposed pictures can be recovered. But out of focus? They are lost. Therefore forget the Wide focus setting. It might look cool, to watch all those green boxes hunting for an objective to focus on. But first they are way to slow, second they will not always lock on the objective you want and third did I mention they are slow? My tests indicated that the Centre focus setting has the fasted and most reliable focus. The lens had never an issue with “hunting for focus”. Smoothly working lens, sharp and fast. The pictures that you find in this posts are all taken with this lens. The setting of the camera:

  • 1/800 shutter speed
  • f2.8 aperture
  • ISO 2000

Post process was done in Lightroom: straighten up, cropping, correcting white balance and contrast. In a nutshell, what did i like:

  • The lens is sharp, even at full open aperture
  • The lens does not hunt for the focus. Works smoothly
  • Autofocus is reliable when you set it up correct (Centre)
  • WLAN is working smoothly. Better than my Nikon WT-5

What did I not like?

  • I miss a second slot for a memory card
  • Battery performance is weak. The battery-grip is a must. You need those two batteries for the full length of a Hockey game
  • 5 frames per second is a bit slow. A few more would be great
  • More reliable autofocus settings to play with.

Let’s come back to the initial question. Is the A7rII ready for sport photography? Yes, but not for all sports. Hockey is fine, as you see with my images. For soccer we are missing longer lenses like a 400mm or 600mm. Some action sports would profit with more frames per seconds and a autofocus that you can tweak more. In my case I’m happy with the Sony. Picture quality is the same with my other Nikon cameras (D4s/D810), the WLAN work much more reliable compared to the Nikon WT-5 module.

I hope I could help someone with this short test. I’m not affiliated with Sony or Nikon.

70-200mm f/2.8 FE GM store links: [shopcountry 54957] 70-200mm f/4.0 FE store links: [shopcountry 54958]

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Sony Tidbits…

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Capture One Pro Tethering – Easiest Way To Tether with A99ii

Fuji GF vs Sony FE lens size comparison (Dpreview Forum).
Feature film coming to theaters shot entirely on A7S II (Imaging Resource)
The Sony FS7 II and why it absolutely is a big deal (RedSharkNews).

To write a guest post on SAR follow the instruction on that page

Marc:To share my 70-200mm GM testing i have started a blog here : https://sonyalpha.blog/. You can already find the first 2 parts of the fe 70200gm testing on it. It is written in general in both french and english.
You can also find my portoflio here : https://marcalhadeff.myportfolio.com/
And my flickr : https://www.flickr.com/alhadeff

Fivepin:Hey guys I wanted to share a video on something I get a lot of questions about. How to micro adjust your lenses. I don’t use a 45 chart or any chart for that matter. I have come up with my own way of doing it over the years and all you need is some fine detail and any photo program to adjust your lenses. I shoot Sony but you can use this method with any camera that has micro focus adjust. Check out the video and I’ll show you how I do it. Trust me your lenses will thank you! https://youtu.be/FN8aR36v9VI

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