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Image courtesy: DSLRmagazine

The Zeiss Loxia 50mm is now shipping in some countries (like in here in Germany) and first reviewers are testing it:

Diglloyd writes:

I now have the 35/2 and 50/2 Zeiss Loxia lenses in hand. From an ergonomics standpoint alone they are terrific, and these are the lenses I would choose as a Sony A7s/A7/A7R shooter for many purposes. The Loxia lenses are extremely well built, an entirely better feel in the hand than the plasticky Sony/Zeiss 35/2.8 and 55/1.8 designs.

Verybiglobo also tested the lens and writes:

While Sony FE 55/1.8 is optimized for high resolution and contrast at wide apertures, Loxia is rather oriented to smooth rendering wide open. But stopped down, to f/5.6 and smaller, Loxia probably even surpass Sonnar FE 55 in terms of sharpness. In fact, you have too lenses in one – nice portrait lens where due to some coma and bit of SA, you can notice characteristic bokeh and unique subject isolation, while stopped down it is great multipurpose and landscape lens.

Spanish DSLRmagazine (translation here) writes about the 50mm Loxia:

We can at least confirm that this Planar 50mm f/2 performs as well as expected, a nice optical use, simple in concept and convincing results.

UPDATE: Real-world comparison between the new Zeiss Loxia 2/50, the ‘old’ Sony Zeiss FE 1.8/55 and the Mitakon 50mm f/0.95 at Backgroundblur.

There is also a Japanese Loxia 50mm review at Kasayapa (translation here). Overall the lens looks to be more interesting than expected. A great alternative of the 55mm FE if you want to focus…on manual focusing :)

Zeiss Loxia preorders:
Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens for Sony E Mount at BHphoto, Adorama., WexUK, CameraPro.
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens for Sony E Mount at BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, CameraPro.
Zeiss Lens Hood for Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss Lens Hood for Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss 52mm Front Lens Cap for Touit and Loxia Lenses at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss De-Click Key for Loxia Lenses (5-Piece Set) at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss Rear Lens Cap for Loxia E-Mount Lenses at BHphoto and Adorama.

You can download the free Alpha Universe magazine at Google Play or iTunes.

F Stops vs T Stops – what is the difference?

70-200mm G lens review at 13thfloorphotography.
The IBELUX 40mm f/0.85 Lens. World’s Shortest Review (Steve Huff).
RX10 and A6000 Image quality comparison at Soundimagesplus.
Sony E PZ 18-105mm f/4G OSS Review (Photographyblog).
A77II Menu system Walkthrough video on Youtube.
See how Evo & BBC Top Gear photographer produces killer car photography (Inmybag).
Sony A7r review at Colbybrownphotography.

Lior: “This is a video I shot with the Sony A7s – a night in the Tel Aviv Jaffa old port. Great place, great camera. Shots were taken in up to ISO 25,600.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDotTTFCgXs”

Kamila: “I would like to show you timelapse/hyperlapse made with a6000. I took around 10.000 photos in three days. Whole project was made in cooperation with Tropical Islands resort. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Df7DZOr6U and https://vimeo.com/108408115”

Lee: “I know you sometimes post about interesting new accessories for Sony cameras. I thought you might be interested in the plate I just launched for using the A7/r/s with a loupe, hood, Z-finder, etc. See more at http://www.elliscamera.com/products/asp-a7s/”

Josh: “It is a Behind the Scenes video of a swimwear shoot I did. The shoot was done with a Sony A7s and A7 but the video was shot with a Red Epic Dragon. http://joshmcleodphotography.com/2014/09/26/behind-the-scenes-at-tumbling-waters-retreat/. And here is a link to the YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/mjOXMmYHkZA“

The price of the Sony A7 dropped down to $1,299 or €1.200 at Digitalrev (Click here). I contacted them and the price includes free(!) FedEx or UPS express shipment (3-6days) and in case of Europe all import taxes are included! And the 55mm FE Zeiss got a greta price too. It sells for $759 or €755 at Digitalrev (Click here).

Reminder: The Fotodiox full metal E-mount ring can be bought now at Amazon US (Click here).

Full Frame E-mount:
Sony A7-A7r trade in program is back at Adorama (Click here).
$200 off on the A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and SonyStore.
$200 off on the A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and SonyStore.
$200 off on the A7 with kit lens body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and SonyStore.

A-mount:
$300 off on the A99 and free vertical grip included too at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
The A58 with kit lens sells for $448 only at Amazon (Click here).
The 16-105mm lens sells now for $498 at Amazon (Click here).
Sony A77 for $618 at SonyStore.
Sony A77 with kit lens  for $787 at SonyStore.

RX cameras:
Sony RX100M2 for $499 at BeachCamera (Click here) and BuyDig (Click here).
Refurbished Sony RX100M3 for $699 at Secondipity (Click here).

Extras:
Rocky Nook sells all their Sony eBooks with a 35% discount when you sue the code “RNSY14“.

A year ago Samyang announced plenty of Full Frame E-mount versions of their current lenses for DSLR. But as noticed by our readers there is one lens that is still not available yet: the Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC. You cannot even preorder it anywhere. Maybe one of you knows what’s going on at Samyang? Or maybe Samyang is reading this and wills end me a note…

All other four FE lenses are in Stock at Amazon (Click on it to see them):
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC
Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC
Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC
Samyang 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC

An image taken with a new sensor in an “almost” complete dark room!

This is not an Alpha camera news but it shows how advanced Sony sensor technology is. Sony announced the new IMX224MQV 1/3-inch 1.27MP CMOS sensor for automotive cameras. Like you know Car aided driving (and full automated driving) is a big business and that Sony sensor is the very first(!) sensor that fulfills the AEC-Q100 reliability tests. It means it can help to drive a car in a moonless night!!!

Image Sensor World writes:

It’s the world’s highest sensitivity levels of any image sensor of its kind. The new sensor is capable of capturing high-resolution color images in light conditions as low as 0.005 lux, a level equivalent to that of a moonless night and one that is far below illumination levels under a star-filled night sky. The is set to become Sony’s first image sensor for automotive cameras to meet the requirements of the AEC-Q100 reliability tests. The sensor sampling starts on Nov. 2014, mass production is planned for Dec. 2015.
The IMX224MQV sensor has 2,350mV (standard F5.6) sensitivity, a level of sensitivity that is around twice that of older Sony IMX238LQJ sensor with 3.75um pixels and the industry’s highest. This was achieved through the adoption of photo diodes that improve the conversion efficiency of light into electrons and through the addition of circuits that improve the conversion efficiency of those electrons into voltage. Also, a PGA with a gain up to 72 dB further contributes to the ultimate achievement of a minimum object illuminance of 0.005 lux. With this design, it now becomes possible to capture high-resolution color images even on a dark road at night with no stars to illuminate the surroundings.
This image sensor also supports a WDR that allows for extended exposure time, which, when compared to conventional multi-exposure WDR systems, makes possible improved image quality in low light conditions when combined with a compatible ISP (Mass production of compatible ISP from Sony is planned on June 2016). Furthermore, the sensor’s pixel has an improved NIR sensitivity for better object recognition when used in with NIR LED illumination.

Sensor specs:

Sony Alpha A6000 Revisited: Best Mirrorless APS-C ILC 2014

Sigma Art on the A7r at Soundimagesplus.
First impressions of the 16-35 at Brianmatiash.com.
10 ways to optimize your gear for awesome Travel Photography (Inmybag).
Loxia 2/35 und 2/50 Flickr Album.
Spanish Zeiss Otus review at DSLRmagzine.

Michael: “Now I can feel the Full-Frame on my APS-C camera SONY A6000 with Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm F/0.95. Full album @ http://goo.gl/x7wuJz
Pros:
– The build quality of lens is excellent, solid and HEAVY (in good way!)
– The box that made by leather do feel good too!
– The focus ring do turn smoothly.
– The aperture ring a bit hard to turn, but I personally take that as good to avoid change the aperture accidentally.
– Do feel nice on hand with the A6000 for the size and the look.
Cons:
– The plastic hood do feel “cheap” (just a little bit), therefore I get a metal one.
– The weight made it a bit hard to manual focus, because the hand must support the lens more than the body.“