A couple of days ago I posted an article on the Batis shipment shortage (Click here). Some readers reported that their preorder at Digitalrev got canceled because “our suppliers are not able to confirm with us when the next available stock can be ordered” (Source: Pete). Some other reported that their May 11 preorder at BH still didn’t ship and there is still no ship date (Source: Cbw).

Finally we have good news to report: After reading our article Zeiss released an official statement to clarify the future availability of Batis lenses. We deeply thank Zeiss for the helpful note! It’s a very good example of how to communicate with your own customers. Here is their text via Zeiss FB page:

The worldwide positive feedback from the first product reviews about the ZEISS Batis lenses and the demand for the lenses has been overwhelming.
We made the first shipments of the ZEISS Batis lenses to our global distribution partner network in mid-July 2015. Additional shipments were made in August 2015 and a more substantial volume of lenses is scheduled in September 2015, thanks to an expansion of the production capacity. This expansion will help serving the global markets more efficiently in the coming months.
At this time, the global demand is much higher than our current supply and we anticipate a wait of several months for orders which are placed now. If you have already ordered the lens from one of our dealers, then we will ship on a first-in, first-out basis depending on when the order was received. It is not possible for us to accurately predict when you will receive your order, since this is also dependent on our international distribution partners’ and local dealers’ allocation process which we have no influence over. In general, orders placed in late April and May should be delivered in the coming weeks, with later orders shipped in the months of October and November.
If you are interested, order immediately so as to obtain your ZEISS Batis lenses as soon as possible.

Batis store links:
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.

[shoplink 39621 ebay][/shoplink]

Fringer launched the world’s first [shoplink 39621 ebay]Contax N lens to E-mount autofocus adapter[/shoplink]. This means you can now have full electronic aperture and focus control on the whole Contax N lens line up. You can get the adapter for $680 on [shoplink 39621 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. One of the lenses you can autofocus with use is that massive Tele-Apotessar T* 400/4:

[shoplink 39629 ebay][/shoplink]

Here are all the Contax N lenses you can make work with the Fringer autofocus adapter:
[shoplink 39622 ebay]Vario-Sonnar T* 17–35/2.8 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39623 ebay]Vario-Sonnar T* 24–85/3.5–4.5 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39624 ebay]Vario-Sonnar T* 28–80/3.5–5.6 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39625 ebay]Planar T* 50/1.4 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39626 ebay]Vario Sonnar T* 70–300/4.0–5.6 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39627 ebay]Planar T* 85/1.4 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39628 ebay]Makro-Sonnar T* 100/2.8 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39629 ebay]Tele-Apotessar T* 400/4 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].

And you can also attach the [shoplink 39631 ebay]Contax NAM-1 adapter (here on eBay)[/shoplink] on the Fringer adapter. This will allow you to use all 645 medium format Contax lenses with autofocus!!! See the image here:

[shoplink 39636 ebay][/shoplink]
[shoplink 39636 ebay]645 medium format lens Planar T* 80/2 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].

Those are all 645 medium format lenses you can now use with autofocus support:
[shoplink 39632 ebay]Distagon T* 35/3.5 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39633 ebay]Distagon T* 45/2.8 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39634 ebay]Distagon T* 55/3.5 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39635 ebay]Vario-Sonnar T* 45–90/4.5 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39636 ebay]Planar T* 80/2 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39637 ebay]Sonnar T* 140/2.8 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39638 ebay]Sonnar T* 210/4 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 39639 ebay]Tele-Apotessar T* 350/4 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].

Here is a video showing the autofocus at work with the [shoplink 39626 ebay]Vario Sonnar T* 70–300/4.0–5.6[/shoplink]:

Image samples can be found on Xitek. And here are more images of the Contax N lenses on the Sony A7:

[shoplink 39622 ebay][/shoplink]
[shoplink 39622 ebay]Vario-Sonnar T* 17–35/2.8 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].

[shoplink 39623 ebay][/shoplink]
[shoplink 39623 ebay]Vario-Sonnar T* 24–85/3.5–4.5 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].

[shoplink 39629 ebay][/shoplink]
[shoplink 39629 ebay]Tele-Apotessar T* 400/4 (ebay search link here)[/shoplink].

Sony RX100IV + HX90V = Travelers Dream P&S Duo

Today Gold Box deal on the Wallimex 12mm f/2.0 E-mount lens at Amazon Germany (Click here and then scroll the bar).
Which “Super-Wide” Lens for an a7R ? (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony FE 90/2.8 Macro short review (DearSusans).
Canon nFD 14mm f/2.8L (SonyAlphaRumors).
Atomos Shogun Firmware 6.4 Adds FS700 / FS7 Raw to ProRes, Anamorphic De-Squeeze, and More (BHphoto).
Sony 35/1.4 wide open samples at TalkEmount.
Generating 3D-images in the 19th century (TheNakedCamera).

Jared: “https://vimeo.com/133890464. I filmed this while working on the set of Star Trek Continues. Filmed with the a6000 and 18-105mm f4. Not a true test of the cameras capabilities, but I would like to highlight the Timelapse App. Pretty great little app, easy to use, and pretty powerful. It gives the option to save as JPEG, Raw, Both, and/or MP4 or AVCHD movie. The Raw Images were so amazing for the all the pans, that I didn’t even use the AVCHD recordings. Also a plus that you can view the timelapse results without constantly scrolling a wheel or dial. Combined with the AC adapter, I just set it and left it.”

Douglas Doug
Stormin’ the beautiful Kona Coast. Hapuna Beach, Hawaii
1/400, f8, iso 100, 24mm (FE16-35) SonyA7

1) Submit your picture with a message and picture here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors or on the SonyAlphaForum image section.
2) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors/photos_stream?tab=photos and on SonyAlphaForum.
3) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Note: When sending a pic feel free to also add a link to your site to promote yourself!

Sony A6000 Firmware Update to 2.0

Venus Optics Introduces The Ultra-Wide-Angle Macro Lens and Flexible Macro Flash (BHphoto Explora).
Your top 3 favorite Legacy Lenses (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS Review (Photographyblog).
Samyang 100mm f/2.8 ED 1:1 Macro Lens Hands-On (ePhotozine).
Two flashes for Sony Manual and TTL by Paul Gero.
Flying with a wingsuit through a 2 meter wide cave (TheNakedCamera).

Imaging Resource interviewed Mike Fasulo, Neal Manowitz and Toshifumi Okuda from Sony. Here are some key highlights of the interview:

1) DSLR market declinging: “So we see one of the challenges we have, as we were sharing last night, is that the DSLR market’s declining.”

2) 4K: “You’re looking at your personal creative work on a 4K monitor, there’s nothing more spectacular than that. You want to see a mom smile, just put her child in 4K on a television.”. Further there is a “Crazy-fast adoption for 4K TVs (4K is a really big deal)”

3) Mirrorless is growing (but more slowly in USA): “if we look at the mirrorless market, it’s growing significantly. It’s been growing for years in Asia as well, but there’s quite unique differences, right? In the US market, as Mike pointed out, bigger is better.”

4) DSLR vs Mirrorless: “What’s exciting is simply that you can capture an image that you could have never captured before. You can do things that you couldn’t have done before. Forget about the technology, whether it happens to be mirrorless or DSLR, that’s not the real win here. What’s happening is that the technology enables you to do something special.”

5) System cameras vs Smartphones: “We’re competing against how we convince customers to come back to the imaging world. Everybody seems to feel good enough with a smartphone camera, but that’s not necessarily the case.”

6) Sony-Olympus partnership: “for now, I will say there is no impact or an influence in terms of the Digital Imaging product concerned”

7) High Frame rate on new cameras: “High frame rate is an area where it doesn’t show up as high in terms of the voice from the customer, but we see the opportunity. And there’s been many times in our history where there is that imagination, that ability and the conviction to go after that market, right?”

8) A7rII and A-mount lenses: “On the Sony A7R II, the technology lends to everything we were talking about upstairs, with the better focusing and the ability for it to now use A-mount glass as if it was native glass. And that’s a big benefit, especially for someone that’s already invested in A-mount cameras and their lens technologies. So there’s a huge value there.”

Imaging Resource conslusion is:

Bottom line, nothing’s ever a given in the camera business, and ongoing success is never assured. But Sony seems to have developed a set of successful strategies, has a good understanding of where their strengths lie, and shows no sign of letting up any time soon. Stay tuned; there’s never been a better time to be a photographer, and Sony certainly seems poised to do their part in continuing to let the good times roll :-)

A7rII preorder list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT. Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

A7rII case:
Gariz leather case in [shoplink 39113 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39108 ebay]Camel (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39110 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39111 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39112 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink]. Also available on Amazon US (Click here).
Gariz Alcantara case in [shoplink 39094 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39095 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink]. Also available on Amazon US (Click here).
Lim’s case in [shoplink 39107 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39102 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39103 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39104 ebay]Yellow (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 39105 ebay]Navy Blue (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39106 ebay]Khaki (Click here)[/shoplink]. Also available on Amazon US (Click here).