Two Years with the Sony A7IV | Everything I Learned

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
TTArtisan 10mm f2 Lens Review – For Fujifilm, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus/OM, Panasonic (Rob Trek).
Nikon, Sony and Canon fight AI fakes with new camera tech (Nikkei Asia).
Top Mirrorless Cameras of 2023 (Explora).
Is the Acrylic Photo Album the Perfect Holiday Gift? (42West).
Sony A9III test at Xitek.
35mm or 50mm? –The Best Street Lens (Matti Sulanto).

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Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, was interviewed by Dpreview. And he made an observation that is very important and where I think Sony is making a mistake: Sony is neglecting the low-end market and focusing too much on the ‘technology’ of the camera instead of the ‘experience’. So let’s see what he said:

Yamaki is worried about the future of the market:

It looks like the trend of the shrinking market has hit the bottom. For the time being, many photographers are now switching from DSLR to mirrorless, which will sustain the market. However, after they switch to mirrorless cameras, I worry that the market could shrink in the coming years.
One reason for my concern is the increasing average price of cameras and lenses. I truly appreciate the passion of the customers who are still spending so much money on cameras and lenses. However, I’m afraid that not so many customers can afford such high-priced cameras and lenses, so we’re still trying hard to keep the retail price reasonable.
Especially these days, the younger generation takes huge amounts of photos with smartphones. While we can expect some of them to switch from a smartphone to a camera, many may find the price gap too wide, and challenging to make the switch.

And I think he is right on how companies should think when making new cameras that can generate sales:

We’ve seen some cameras with very technically impressive specifications, but I worry that they’re not always capabilities that many photographers really need. Moving forward, I speculate that more user-friendly specifications might mean more to customers. Easier to use interfaces, a compact and lightweight body for enhanced portability, or some other specifications might be more important.

The younger generation bought compact fixed-lens cameras that don’t cost TOO much: cameras like the Ricoh GR, old digital cameras and so on. They don’t care if the sensor is small or big, if it has a 5 or 7-stop IBIS… they care that the cameras are fun, affordable and easy to use. Sony should think about making APS-C cameras that are easy to use, don’t you agree?

Topaz released a new major Video AI 5.1 update (features page here). Just recently I told you that Topaz has completely redone the website for their AI software. Check out the new pages at Photo Ai, Video AI, GigaPixel AI.

Press text:

There are several major changes that we’re excited to announce:

1. Instant Rendering (Experimental)

Video AI now renders previews as soon as you click ‘Play’.

Instant renders make the timeline more interactive and allow you to directly compare models with shorter wait times.

2. Frame Interpolation for DaVinci Resolve OFX (macOS + Windows)

Access Apollo, Aion, and Chronos directly from DaVinci Resolve. Convert to slow motion at up to 16x interpolation and make use of Resolve’s retiming controls for smooth speed-ramping.

To use Frame Interpolation in Resolve, be sure to follow the guide posted here. 12

3. New multi-GPU options (Video AI Pro)

Video AI now includes two multi-GPU modes. The existing “All GPUs” option now supports NVIDIA cards running TensorRT models, leading to major utilization increases for systems with 2+ NVIDIA cards. This mode is now named “Single video” under “GPU Settings”.

The second mode, “Multiple videos”, optimizes for large export queues when running on systems with multiple GPUs. We’ll have more to share about this Video AI Pro feature when it launches in June.

4. New Welcome Screen

Quickly reopen projects and resume renders using the new Welcome Page. This is a home for recent projects and includes the ability to select favorites for easy access.

5. Preferences UI Refresh

Navigate settings using the new preferences sidebar with expanded categories and new tooltips.

6. Colorspace settings added to Video Input Options

Set custom colorspace, color primaries, color trc, and color range for video inputs with metadata issues.

ちなみに12-32mmの作例っぽい写真で話題になってるアレはコレらしい。

EOS 5DsR
428mm F5.3
レンズはタムロン150-600mm G2https://t.co/VxN9pxCrlw https://t.co/sAC1zMPLzY pic.twitter.com/XZXn6jQc0A

— とるなら (@FukuiAsobiWeb) May 27, 2024

Sometimes marketers can really get it wrong. Using stock images taken with competitor cameras to promote the new Lumix S9 is like admitting that one’s own camera is not up to the task. Credit is due to FukuiAsobiWeb who tweeted a long list of examples: The example I posted above was taken with the Canon EOS 5DsR!

Panasonic Japan has apologized for this, removed the Canon and Nikon images…. but it really should start rethinking its marketing and communication strategy and its position as manager…

Portrait Photography Lighting: Hard Light vs Soft Light

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
Sony RX10 IV: Buy it now or Wait????? (TechToRemember)
Buying Guide for Astrophotography Lenses (Explora).
ULTIMATE TRAVEL CAMERAS? | Fujifilm X100VI vs Leica M11 vs Hasselblad 907X vs Sony A7CR (Benj Haisch)
Patent application for Sigma “17mm F4” “15mm F4” “17mm F2.8” optical system (Asobinet).
Compact SanDisk Desk Drive Offers Big Storage (Explora).
10 Content Trends to Expect in 2024—According to Creators (42West).

Follow our new Youtube channel.
Join our SonyAlphaForum.
I kindly invite you all to follow our Discord channel, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Twitter to not miss news and rumors

We have our own Facebook camera groups you can join to discuss the upcoming new cameras in detail:
Sony Alpha group. Sony A1 group. Sony A9 series group. Sony A7r series group. Sony A7s series group. Sony A7 series group.

If you do not have $2,999 to spend on the new Sigma 500mm FE and are looking for a cheap alternative that still has autofocus (with limitations) than you should consider to buy the old Minolta AF 500mm F8 REFLEX A-mount lens. You get this lens for under $200 on eBay (Click here).

Kitamura reviewed the performance of this lens on the Sony A7rV using the Sony LA-EA5 autofocus adapter.

Here are some images of the lens that also has a nice drop in filter option:

The unfortunate thing with the AF is that you can only use the center focus point. You can solve this problem by using focus lock:

Amazon Italy offers a couple of hots deals:

• 200 Euro off on the Sony 70-200mm G II (latest generation).
• 200 Euro off on the Sony 16-35mm GM (first generation).

There are a ton of new coupon rebates at Amazon Germany:

• 140 Euro coupon rebate on the Sony 20-70mm G
• 140 Euro coupon rebate on the Sony 24-105mm G
• 100 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 40mm f/2.5 pancake lens
• 100 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 24mm f/2.8 pancake lens
• 50 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 11mm f/1.8 APS-C lens
• 70 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM
• 80 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 200-600mm G
• 85 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM
• 140 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 70-200mm GM
• 70 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 16-35mm GM
• 75 Euro coupon discount on the Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM

There are similar deals in other Amazon stores like Amazon UK (on this page), Amazon Italy (on this page), Amazon France (on this page).