Nikon officially announces the Z7-Z6 cameras

Nikon finally announced the Nikon Z7 (specs here) and Nikon Z6 (specs here). You can see a full review and new coverage on MirrorlessRumors.com.

It says a lot about this company that they basically match the Sony camera performance without adding any ulterior new features. The goal was clearly to keep their own Nikon DSLR base to not buy Sony. And I think they will achieve this. But it’s disappointing to see that the goal was NOT to innovate. The Z7-Z6 really look like a Sony camera with Nikon design. Some might be happy with that (and I appreciate good ergonomic). But it also confirms that in future innovation will come as usual from Sony with Nikon improving their cameras 1-2 year after Sony.

What’s good on the new Nikon Z:
– Well rounded products (ergonomic and usability)
– True weathersealing
– Has Intervalometer
– 4k 2:2:2 (external)
– the 0,95 autofocus lens (but it’s manual focus only!).
– Nice 50mm f/1.2 autofocus lens coming in 2020

What’s not so good on the new Nikon Z:
– Z7 costs $400 more than the Sony A7rIII
– By end of 2020 Nikon will have 15 Z lenses. Sony currently has 29 lenses in the range (I am not counting in the Zeiss-Tamron-Sigma-Samyang lenses).
– No Eye AF
– Nikon Z6 (310 shots) has nearly half the battery life of the A7III
– Sony A7III and A7rIII have dual card slots (Nikon has 1 XQD slot).
– 18/23 shot buffer (at 12 bit compressed RAW)
– Only 5.5 FPS with auto exposure
– they made a huge mount to accomodate larger, expensive and manual focus only f/0,95 lens.
– Only fast autofocus prime is coming in 2020 (50mm f/1.2). And no fast portrait lens on roadmap yet.

Here is the hands-on video by DpreviewTV:

The Nikon lens roadmap:

This is the 58mm f/0,95 manual focusing lens:

Good news: Sony A7III and Tamron zoom will be in Stock tomorrow. Bad news: Sigma 105mm shipment delayed.

Both the Sony A7III (Click here) and the Tamron 28-75mm FE (Click here) will be in Stock tomorrow at BHphoto.

And now the bad news: Sigma US said the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 FE lens will ship in October and not in August :(

Reminder: You save up to $400 on Sony cameras, lenses and accessories at BHphoto, Adorama and other US stores:

Cameras:
$400 off on the Sony A9 superkit at Bhphoto.

Sony FE lenses:
$100 off on the 12-24mm f/4.0 lens at Bhphoto, Adorama, BestBuy, Focus and Amazon.
$100 off on the 16-35mm f/4.0 Zeiss lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the 24-240mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the Sony 28mm FE lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the 28-135mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto
$50 off on the Sony 50mm FE f/1.8 lens at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon, Focuscamera.
$50 off on the Sony 50mm macro at BHphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
$100 off on the 70-200mm G lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-300mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the Sony 85mm f/1.8 FE at Buydig, BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama and Focuscamera.

Sony APS-C lenses:
$100 off on the 10-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 16-70mm Zeiss lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama.
$50 off on the 18-105mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Sony E PZ 18-110mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$100 off on the 18-135mm lens at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, FocusCamera and BestBuy.
$100 off on the 18-200mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the Sony 30mm macro at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 35mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 50mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto

 

Sony now has 40% of the US Full Frame market share!

Image courtesy SonyMirrorlessPro. Source: The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Retail Tracking Service, Detachable Lens Camera, Sensor Size: Full Frame, Based on Dollars Share, Jan.- Jun. 2018.

SonyMirrorlessPro added an additional detail about the Sony Full Frame market share in firts half 2018. The NPD group market anlysis shows Sony owns 40% of the market while Canon follows with 33% and Nikon with 26%.

They also added this interesting note about Nikon:

It’s also important because—well look at that market share position over Nikon. That’s 14% more dollar share than Nikon in a year when Nikon has delivered their highest-demand product in years, the Nikon D850.

This helps put the new Nikon mirrorless camera into context as well. Nikon owns 26% of the market share, so to move up to the number two spot they’d need to capture eight percent more of the share going forwardsfrom the other two companieswho are both competing against Nikon.

So, if Nikon only sells their mirrorless camera to existing Nikon customers, they’ll be competing against their own market share. That’s called “market cannibalization” which is the effect that a new product has on existing product sales. They’d simply be trading the sales of DSLRs for the sales of mirrorless cameras. As it stands now, Sony need only pull away more Nikon customers that are dissatisfied with the new mirrorless ecosystem than Nikon pulls away Sony customers, and that gap is going to be impossible to bridge.

And yet again a Sony vs Nikon Z mount size comparison…

The German site Cameracreativ.de created this new Nikon Z vs Sony E-mount size comparison. Not that this means a lot anyway. But this week (August 23) Nikon will finally announce this camera and Sony will have it’s first direct competitor in the FF mirrorless market. According to info share via Nikoneye the Nikon Z will feature an improved version of the Sony 45MP sensor found inside the D850. I bet this new sensor is produced by Sony too :)

Sony Tidbits…


Sony RX100 for travel & vlogging

Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art for Sony E-mount sample gallery (Dpreview).
24-70mm GM review by Mari Pack.
Lilliput A5 Field Monitor Review (Personal View).
Canon FL 55 f1.2 – Razor-thin DOF on a budget (Theweekendlens).
Print on the Road with these Six Portable Printers (Explora).
Alpha On Location At Coachella With J. N. Silva

Personal photos and tests from SAR Admin Andrea on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and 500px.

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New Samyang 85mm f/1.8 ED UMC C lens for Sony E announced

Samyang announced a new 85mm f/1.8 manual focusing lens. This is made for APS-C E-mount cameras. It will start shipping out in September for £319.99.

Press text:

Samyang unveils the MF 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS lens for mirrorless cameras with APS-C crop sensors

Samyang Optics launches a new manual-focus lens for mirrorless shooters: The MF 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS is designed for use with APS-C sensor mirrorless cameras in the following mounts: Sony E, Fujifilm X, Canon M, and Micro-Four-Thirds. It is competitively priced and light-weight. This medium telephoto lens inherits the renowned image quality of Samyang’s manual focus series and also boasts beautiful out of focus bokeh and availability for a variety of cameras.

Ideal portrait lens, with a fast, bright maximum aperture…

This manual-focus 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS lens is a medium telephoto lens, with a similar angle of-view to a 135mm lens when compared to full-frame cameras. The Samyang MF 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS is designed with 9 lens elements in 7 groups and it delivers high resolution from the centre to the corners of the image. A high-refractive and an extra-low dispersion element, along with Ultra Multi-Coating (UMC) help minimise chromatic aberrations and deliver clear, vibrant images. This lens is ideal for portraits, with beautiful bokeh from its floating-element system. Its low-light performance and shallow depth-of-field are especially useful features. mirrorlessrumors

Wide range of uses, with crystal-clear resolution…

The compact and light-weight design offers the portability and comfort needed for a long day’s shooting. This lens would be the ideal choice for keen photographers who want to capture everyday moments in high-resolution. The Samyang MF 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS has a host of features including its outstanding optical performance. Its wide range of uses include portraits and other close-ups such as food, as well as landscapes and many other situations.

More fun with Manual Focus lenses…

The MF 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS lens is perfect for shooters who want to have more involvement and express their own characteristics through their images. The Samyang MF 85mm F1.8 ED UMC CS weighs in at just over 300g and measures approximately 8cm long (without the hood and lens caps). Photographers can expect superb, emotional and unique images from this compact companion.

Price: suggested retail price £319.99

Availability: from September 2018