Sony 14mm F1.8 GM review by Marc Alhadeff: “a must have”

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Preorders: Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM at BHphoto, Adorama, Focuscamera, Fotokoch, Calumet DE, Park Cameras UK, Wex UK.

Marc Alhadeff from SonyAlphablog reviewed the new 14mm GM lens and concluded:

The Sony 14mm F1.8 GM (1600 euros) is a new masterpiece from Sony and a new demonstration you can achieve outstanding results in a very small from factors. All the recent GM are a demonstration of this level of excellence (Sony 35mm F1.4 GM, Sony 50mm F1.2 GM, Sony 24mm F1.4 GM…)

Image quality is excellent : excellent to outstanding sharpness wide open , corners are also very good to excellent, color rendition and contrast are excellent, distorsion is minimal, coma is minimal. background blur is quite soft for a wide angle lens. AF is fast , silent and efficient, Ergonomics are excellent (small, light, click or click-less aperture ring) and the price stay reasonable for a GM lens compared to the Sony 12-24 F2.8 GM (3300 Euros!)

The lens will also be at ease on all situations : Astrophotography, Landscape, architecture and will also perfom very well in video handled or on a gimbal or for Vlog to film yourself providing a big frame around you and allowing for an important stabilisation crop if need be

  • The only competitor with the same specs is the Sigma 14mm F/1.8 DG HSM Art , at same price, that is 50% bigger and almost 3 times heavier ! for a sharpness that is clearly less good wide open and with corners that never reach the level of The Sony GM. If you like Sigma then the Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN Art will offer the same optical performance than the prime at a same price but with more versatility and much less weight and size
  • If you own the Sony 12-24mm F2.8 GM, you won gain a lot in term of image quality but you will gain in term of weight size and price
  • The Samyang AF 14mm F2.8 FE (600 euros) is a good price/quality option for a 24Mpix camera or if 14mm is a focal length you won’t use often. but there is a clear image quality gap between the Samyang and the Sigma/Sony lenses a better alternative is the very good NiSi 15mm F4 (479 euros) , a manual lens with a more modest aperture but providing better sharpness , color rendition and very nice sunstars and compatible with classical filters (72mm thread)

A must have for pro Landscape / Architectural / Indoor real estate / Close Actions / Astro photographer or for vlog

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Goldman Sachs says Chip Shortage will only end in 2022

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I told you recently that the ZV-E10 announcement has been postponed from the original May 26 launch date. And I heard from Sony and from other manufacturers that the cause is a global chip shortage. In short it means you have to pay 20-30x times more if you want to get your chip now. According to Goldman Sachs this shortage will end in early 2022 only.

In this video Tony Northrup thinks this is also the cause for the Canon R3 and Nikon Z8 launch delay. I wonder if this will also affect the A7IV launch which is rumored to happen in September…hope it is not!

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New firmware update for the A9II and A7III

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Sony A9II firmware update, Benefits and improvements.

Improves operability when using the Remote Camera Tool
NOTE: Please update the Remote Camera Tool to the latest version
Fixes an issue where the battery level indicator may not be displayed correctly when using a vertical grip
Improves the overall stability of the camera

Sony A7III firmware update, Benefits and improvements.

Fixes an issue where the battery level indicator may not be displayed correctly when using a vertical grip

Thanks Martin!

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