Sigma official teaser for a product announcement on February 21st, 10 a.m. JST

For me this means I have to wake up early and live blog at 2am my time :(

Sigma will announce those two new lenses:

  • 500mm F5.6 DG DN OS | Sports
  • 15mm F1.4 DG DN DIAGONAL FISHEYE| Art

Sigma 500mm f/5.6 specs:

  • Lightweight lens…less than 1,5kg and so the lightest telephoto prime lens you can buy.
  • Very fast AF on Sony A1 (lens has linear motor)
  • The lens sharper than the Sony 200-600 G
  • very low chromatic aberration
  • Coming for Sony E and Leica L mount cameras
  • Price just under $3,000
  • Announcement on February 21.

500mm f/5.6 will be priced a tiny bit below $3,000!

I got confirmation that the lens will be priced just below the $3,000 mark.

Sigma 500mm f/5.6 specs:

  • Lightweight lens…less than 1,5kg and so the lightest telephoto prime lens you can buy.
  • Very fast AF on Sony A1 (lens has linear motor)
  • The lens sharper than the Sony 200-600 G
  • very low chromatic aberration
  • Coming for Sony E and Leica L mount cameras
  • Price just under $3,000
  • Announcement on February 20/21.

Sigma announcement on Feb 20/21:

  • 500mm F5.6 DG DN OS | Sports
  • 15mm F1.4 DG DN DIAGONAL FISHEYE| Art

Canon USA claims to be the number one in the mirrorless segment….Sony says nope…we are number one!

PetaPixel reports about a funny marketing battle between Canon and Sony. Lats week Canon USA claimed to be the number 1 in the mirrorless world. But Sony gave PetaPixel a call and told them this:

“This year, Sony received numerous #1 claims from the Circana/NPD agency, as we do every year,” Sony tells PetaPixel.

As noted, Sony cites Circana/NPD (it’s one company that used to go by just NPD), a private firm that tracks sales and sells that information to manufacturers. Canon’s data also comes from Circana. According to the data it received, Sony says it was number one in several categories last year, but says two are worth pointing out:

  • Sony was the #1 full-frame mirrorless camera brand in 2023 (both dollars and units)
  • Sony a7IV was the #1 full-frame camera in 2023 (both dollars and units).

My two cent: Maybe both are right. Canon is slightly ahead in the mirrorless world when it comes to APS-C+FF cameras while Sony is leading in the FF world?

Top 10 camera and lens sale sat Yodobashi: Sony A9III takes second spot

Yodobashi released the official sales date for the second part of January:

Top 10 camera sales:

  1. Sony α7C II body
  2. Sony A9III
  3. Sony α7 IV with kit lens
  4. Sony α7C II with kit lens
  5. Sony α7 IV body
  6. Canon EOS R6 Mark II Body
  7. Nikon Z 8
  8. Hasselblad 907X & CFV 100C
  9. Sony α7R V body
  10. Nikon ZFc with kit lens

Top 10 lens sales:

  1. Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 (E mount)
  2. Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II
  3. Canon RF 200-800mm
  4. Tamron 28-200mm F/ 2.8-5.6 Di III RXD (E mount)
  5. Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary (E mount)
  6. Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
  7. Canon RF70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM
  8. Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120mm f/4 S
  9. Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
  10. Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD (E mount)

New firmware update for the Sony 100-400GM and Venice 2

Sony 100-400mm GM firmware update (Download here). Benefits and Improvements

  • Adds support for continuous shooting with AF/AE tracking up to a maximum of 120 images/second when used with the ILCE-9M3 camera body
  • Fixes an issue where, after updating to Ver. 04, the AF (autofocus) and MF (manual focus) do not work after setting the camera shooting mode to S&Q mode or 4K video mode

Sony Venice 2 firmware update (Download here). Benefits and Improvements (list via CineD).

Added virtual production shooting support functions 

  • When shooting in an environment where background lighting from an LED wall used for in-camera VFX applications and real lighting are mixed, you can improve the color reproduction of human skin tones by setting the color temperature of the LED wall and the mixing ratio of the LED wall lighting and the actual lighting.
  • When adjusting the genlock phase, the changed value is now reflected immediately. This makes for easy adjustment of the imaging phase relative to the panel light emission.

Enhanced functionality for live production 

  • When RM/RCP Paint Control is off (standard mode), you can now set whether to control the white balance function and shutter function from a remote control unit, such as the RM-B170.
  • When RM/RCP Paint Control is on, the Look can now be selected as a LUT and applied to various video outputs. The use of User 3D LUT is also supported.
  • Saturation and Skin Detail functions have been added. Configurable in the Paint menu when RM/RCP Paint Control is on.

Other improved functions 

  • An FPS value of 33.33 can now be set when Project Frame Rate is set to 24/25/50.
  • Resolved flickering and stuttering issues on the viewfinder screen when Project Frame Rate is set to 23.98/24.00 and the frame rate is set to 60 FPS during variable speed shooting (FPS set to Variable).
  • When the imager mode is 5.8K 17:9, Zoom to Fit can now be set to 2.39:1 when the de-squeeze ratio is set to 2.0×. This enables high frame rate (HFR) shooting up to 90 FPS even when shooting on the MPC-3628 with an anamorphic lens.
  • Log(Legal) can now be selected as a LUT and applied to various video outputs. This setting enables S-Log3 data output in legal range to external editing equipment.
  • Peaking display can now be turned on/off using an assignable button.
  • ACES 1.0 Output-Rec.709 can now be selected as a LUT to apply to the Monitor output video and viewfinder screen video when Input Color Space is set to ACEScct.
  • Display of a 2.2:1 aspect marker is now supported.
  • File data saved in internal memory, such as passwords and User 3D LUTs, can now be reset together with the menu settings by executing Factory Reset in the Maintenance menu.

Finally: CFA finally shared a list of VPG VERIFIED CFexpress Type A cards. And here are the recommended cards for your Sony camera!

Finally we have an accurate list of RELIABLE Type A cards!

The CompactFlashAssocitation tested all currently available Type A cards and those are the cards that are proven to support the minimum Bitrate and therefore ave consistent performance:

VPG 400 class (minimum fo 400MB/s the card can write continuously). Links to Amazon US&EU:

VPG 200 class (minimum fo 200MB/s the card can write continuously). Links to Amazon US&EU:

What is Video Performance Guarantee (VPG)?

The Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) is a standard established by the CompactFlash Association to ensure that memory cards can handle the high data rates required for video recording. Specifically, VPG guarantees a minimum sustained write speed necessary for recording high-quality video without dropping frames. This is crucial for professionals and videographers who rely on uninterrupted, high-resolution video capture.

The VPG classes marked by the logos on the card (e.g., VPG200, VPG400) indicate the minimum number of megabytes per second (MB/s) that the card can write continuously. Higher VPG ratings are indicative of better performance enabling more demanding video formats like 4K as well as allowing high-frame-rate recordings to be captured reliably. This standard helps consumers select the appropriate memory card for their specific video recording needs ensuring compatibility and performance.

CFA-Certified Media Cards that Support VPG Profiles

The following products from CFA Members are certified by CFA to support VPG classes VPG200 and VPG400.  For a card to support VPG, the card must pass the VPG certification test by CFA.  These cards will have the VPG certification logos – the clapboard logos with either 200 or 400 designators –  on their labels. End users requiring VPG Profiles should choose media cards from this list.  This list will be updated in real-time as new products are introduced.