Chasing Aurora with the A7s

Why I don`t use DSLR cameras (Enrique Pacheco).
Should we really hate Sony ? (Dear Susan).
We pair the new Sony 35mm f/1.4 FE Zeiss Distagon with the A7 II for an initial gallery sampling (Imaging Resource).
The Sony A7 MkII ILCE-7M2 Review – Hand Held Video (Soundimagesplus).
Zeiss 50mm f2 Loxia review at ThePhoBlographer.
Sony A7r with the Canon 11-24mm f4 : Ultra-wide angle on a high megapixel setup (Josselin Cornou).
Sony A7m2 with Samyang 14mm f2.8 (SonyAlphaForum).

Vytas: “Some news for Sony A7 owners – proof positive that it is definitely worthwhile to upgrade to A7II if you are a night shooter. The two photographs below were taken of the same scene, lens, aperture, iso, etc. The first one was with an A7 and shows the nasty green goblins of flare, whereas the second one with an A7II is perfectly clear! All my night photos are flawless now, and while the A7II has the same sensor as the A7, the A7II has nevertheless definitely improved the overall quality of my photographs through better AF and IBIS.
A7 Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/72914878@N04/15852608288/
A7II Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/72914878@N04/16037278864/”

Boon: “I’ve recently posted about the Sony A6000 and images of my Yorkshire terrier running in the field and of a Red Kite bird-in-flight with the Sony A6000 and FE 70-200mm lens.
http://myphotojourney.co.uk/rosie-in-the-park-sony-a6000/ And http://myphotojourney.co.uk/bird-in-flight-kite/“

The German Journalist Martin Vieten got had a meeting with Sony Germany. And they confirmed to him that “there will be many new fast primes” and “One of the new fast primes should be a portrait lens (around 90mm).” My guess is that most of these primes will be announced by end 2015 but available from early 2016 only. What lens do you hope to get? My wishlist: 24mm f/1.4, 85 f/1.4 and 135mm f/2.0.

All new FE lens preorder links:
In USA at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony US.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony US.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony US.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony US.
Sony Fisheye Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F/2.8 and E 20mm F/2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Converter for E 16mm F2.8 and E 20mm F2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
In Europe at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide Angle converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
In Asia/Australia at:
Sony 24-240mm FE lens at Digitalrev, CameraPRO, Sony Australia.
Sony 28mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Sony 90mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

What’s in your kit bag with Matt Allard ACS from RØDE Microphones on Vimeo.

What is in your bag (Newsshooter).
The Jesus of Low light Cameras, a Sony A7s Review (Bitt-N).
Manual lenses on the Sony a7 – A beginners guide (Philip Reeve).
A7R with Canon 17mm TS-E tilt/shift and Metabones adapter Mark III (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony NEX5 IR converted (hyryz)
Sony FDR-AX33 4K Camcorder 2015 Unboxing and First Look (Youtube).
10 Reasons To Switch From A DSLR To A Mirrorless System (With examples: Nikon vs Sony) at iLoveHatePhoto.
Lightroom and Photoshop Creative Skills (Youtube).
Short test with the 1957 Jupiter-9 85mm f/2 (SonyAlphaForum).

Anonymous: “Very great video from the comet lovejoy in January 2015, with the a7s in real time! I think not one other camera can film it in real time video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lix4Zym-_HQ. Here a video from a Canon camera for comparison. The camera need 40 sec.!! shutter to film it….. its therefore only a timelapse possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RshNt4a5UQ”

Walter: “I got an A7s, and I’m a videomaker. I override the 30 minutes time limitation of recordings thanks to InfiniREC. It’s an IR remote control that makes one and only simple thing: press rec and stop and rec again and stop again and rec again… and again… and again… for you. EVERY 29.30 minutes! So, no more forgetting to press rec and just 2-3 seconds of break time between recordings. It’s a small package, patchable to the camera. It’s also customizable (how much often and time between recordings). Since I didnt read about it around and everyone is complaining about this limitation… Here is the solution and I would like to tell you, if you do not know about it.“

i-Micronews posted a highly interetsing interview with Yasuhiro Ueda (Sony Senior General Manager of Image Sensor Business). Here are some key info:

1) Sony steps out from the CCD sensor business: “As a sensor division it was then just a matter of course to consider our transition to CMOS sensors, as they have much greater speed advantages.”

2) Sony A7s sensor: “Lately academic demonstrations have proven light can still be acquired even when the sensor’s aperture is extremely small. This kind of technology is applied in our bigger cell size α7S SLR digital camera, capable of taking pictures in a pitch dark environment.”

3) Sensor development depends from the customers demand: “Some people ask for greater pixel count as the application range is higher. On the other hand some find it bothersome and just ask for larger sensors.  The demand is coming from the customers and we are prepared to answer either way. ”

4) 3D sensor: “We are and also have been interested in supporting the path of Dual cameras and likewise 3D camera to answer our customers’ needs, meaning the demand is coming from customers.”

5) Mobile sensor: “To reach that SLR level work has to be achieved with enabling technologies such as optical, image processing and sensors. We are and will continue challenging the SLR camera quality. Mobile phone cameras also have a bad video quality compared to broadcasting gear and similar to the SLRs we shall be aiming to challenge these quality levels.”

6) The future three new application areas for CMOS sensors: “First, it should be the automotive market. Then we believe the “new mobile imaging” market will grow. This is a field consisting of action cameras, drone cameras and new moving region concepts. The third is an area which we defined as a “sensing region”. Traditionally we defined sensing in respect to imaging to be an enabler in order to enjoy high quality images.”

found via Image Sensor World.

Sony Japan officially marked the current [shoplink 34489 ebay]Zeiss 16-35mm A-mount lens[/shoplink] as discontinued. This means the new version anticipated at Photokina will be released within the next 1-2 months.

The new 16-35mm and 24-70mm A-mount Zeiss lenses will have following improvements:
– Improved AF speed
– Updated design and weatherproof body
– Image Quality improvement (like ghost reduction)

Nauticam announced the new housing for the Sony A7II. Full press release here: nauticamusa.com/news/2015/3/5/new-housing-for-sony-a7-ii.

And now let’s see a bunch of new A7II reviews. But first a Curiosity: With a sub [shoplink 34385 ebay]$100 cheap Helios 53mm f/1.8 lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink] you get those kind of results on the A7ii: SonyAlphaForum (DC.watch).

New A7II reviews:

The full A7II review has been published at Photographyblog and earned the “Essential” mark:

Despite these caveats, the Sony A7 II is the best-balanced of the four A7-series cameras currently on sale (the original A7 is continuing for the time being). It doesn’t offer the sheer resolution of the A7R or the low-light and 4K video capabilities of the A7S, but for the majority of users, it’s the best do-it-all model.

An ongoing review can be followed at Soundimagesplus:

Now I’m often critical of new versions of cameras that seem to be more about generating brand awareness and income rather than offering any substantial improvement. But, even from the couple of day I’ve spent using the camera, I don’t see that here. The improvements to the body are very welcome and the slight redesign has produced a much nicer handling camera. And I do like the new aesthetics as well.

Digitalversus says this is the best hybrid FF camera to date:

We had some excellent shooting sessions with the Sony A7 II. It’s very nice to use and offers all-round performance. The picture quality is excellent, and, with the help of a lens converter, you can re-use all your old full-format lenses from different manufacturers. As you can probably tell, we found there to be more than enough positives to outweigh the annoying oversights, like the relatively poor battery life.

USA/Canada A7II links:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for $1,698 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore and Sony Store Canada.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,998 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II Lens for $1,148 at BHphoto.

EU A7II links:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for 1.799 Euro at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Jessops UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Spain, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Portugal, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Norway.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for 2.099 Euro at Amazon Germany, Wex UK, Jessops UK, Verkkokauppa.

Asian/Australia A7II link:
Sony A7II at Sony Store Australia, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.

Carl Zeiss 55mm F1.8 Lens Review

ABC TTL Transmitter For K4T Strobe Released Flashhavoc.
ISO-less Camera Presentation (Image Sensor World).
Leica M/39 on E-mount cameras (SonyAlphaForum).
Welcome the newest member of the TRP family, the Sony A7mk2 (Tyson Robichaud).
Canon FD lenses images (SonyAlphaForum).
SLR Magic Anamorphot 2x test with the A7s on Vimeo.
PlayMemories Camera Apps “Stop Motion+” (Youtube).
Sony A7II test at Optyczne.
Sony A7 II Sample Images (Photographyblog).

Paul: “I thought you might be interested in a long term photo/video project I did on a local H.S. Football team – Tesoro HS here in Southern California. Dan Milnor, Blurb’s Book Evangelist, interviewed me for his blog site called Shifter and that audio interview is included, along with photographs of the physical book and printed pieces created from the project, as well as the Vimeo movie from the project. http://shifter.media/print-a-season-with-the-titans-by-paul-gero/”

John: “I am one of the few invited SLR Magic Anamorphot 2x-50 testers and I believe your viewers might like to see some test footage using the Sony A7s with the Sony FE 55mm f/1.8. I’m sorry but I can’t give away any info on the release date or price yet but it’s an amazing value for the money very much like the older Anamorphot 1.33x-50. https://vimeo.com/120444648”