With all that A9 buzz we had no time to cover another good news:

Brian Smith reports that Sony expanded their Sony Pro Support network with a new 24/7 phone support in the USA! There are also new walk-in locations in New York and Los Angeles where Pro Support members can speak face-to-face to a tech who knows the cameras. Sony is also also expanding their network with Sony Pro Support for Canada.

• 24/7 Phone Support in USA
• Try-Before-You-Buy Loans
• Walk-in Locations in New York & Los Angeles

More info at AlphaUniverse.

I hope this will be extended to other countries too!

Preorders:
Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 lens at Adorama, Amazon, Bhphoto, PhotoPorstNeuwied and ParkCameras.
Zeiss Batis 135mm lens shade at Adorama and Bhphoto.
Full coverage and reviews on SAR (Click here).

Few thoughts on the new Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 lens

From the images and reviews I have seen so far it appears that this is really a high quality lens (Read Amateur Photographer and VeryBigLobo). I don’t mind the fact the lens has “only” f/2.8 aperture. It’s fast enough for 99% of my use and this also allows the lens to be much more compact than the competition despite having in lens stabilization and weather sealing.

But there is one big “BUT”. I don’t mind Zeiss making us pay a bit more for their quality and history. But with a $1,999 price tag the lens costs $200 more than the Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 A-mount lens and $600 more than the superb Sigma 135mm f/1.8 lens. So here is the question for SAR readers:

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And here are new Batis 135mm tests: In the Field with the Just Announced Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 at Explora. Dustin Abbott (and video on youtube), Portraits samples by Imaging Resource, PCmag, Lensrentals. The full PDF spec sheet with MTF graph is now available here: zeiss.com/datasheet-zeiss-batis-28135.pdf

Diglloyd is also testing the lens and writes:

As for image quality, the Batis 135/2.8 is the most even-tempered 135mm lens I have yet used, with a gorgeous flat-field (no field curvature) ‘cut’ through the scene—better than the DSLR lens for sure in that regard. At f/2.8 it is nearly a match the best lens for Leica M at f/5.6 and wildly outperforms the Leica 135/3.4 APO-Telyt-M—crazy good. There is nothing to gripe about even by my picky standards. And if things like contrast and flare are included, it’s astonishing in its abilility to deal with any challenge with optical aplomb.

Photographyblog reviewed the lens and writes:

There are very few drawbacks to the Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 lens in terms of peformance – the major stumbling block is really the asking price of £1749 / $1999, an awful lot of money to pay for such a specialist lens. If you earn your living from portraiture, though, the Zeiss Batis 135mm f/2.8 makes a fantastic addition to your lens collection.

The new Sony GP-X1EM Grip Extension will cost you $130 at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon. But there is an alternative. Our reader Alex Gee just sent me this message:

I’ve just made a 3D printable grip for the A7ii and A9 cameras. I’ve put it on shapeways for $40, so it’s quite a lot cheaper than Sony’s one.
shapeways.com/product/2676H4F7B/sony-a7ii-a7rii-and-a9-grip-extension

Cool :)

Jani Uljas‎
Novice monk reading a book in Bagan. The smoke from incenses combined with sun shining through the window form amazing light rays.
Sony A7Rii
FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM
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Today Sony published the latest financial report. As expected the 2016 sales in the Imaging segment dropped by 15% mainly because of the Kumamoto earthquake. The good news is that Sony expects a 10% sales increase for 2017.

In the Semiconductior segment Sony forecast its chip division, which includes image sensors, to return to profit this year, at 120 billion yen. To meet increased demand, it will more than double capital expenditure on image sensors to 110 billion yen, raising production capacity by 13.6 percent by the end of March.

Sony a99II Hands-On: Specs Gone Wild!

Original Sony A7 with Nikkor Ai lenses : Freestyle Scootering (SonyAlphaForum).
USA Solar Eclipse 2017 special at BHphoto.
Sony a99II review at CameraJabber.
Oskar Bakke captures glistening details with the Profoto B1 and Sony α7R II (Profoto).
Sony Chonburi Factory Tour: The source of all Alpha goodness (Imaging Resource).
Sony A7RII Overview Switching From Canon (Charlie Brown Photography).

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Kenji Tanaka from Sony (Photo: Rishi Sanyal from Dpreview).

Dpreview published the interview they had with Sony (before the A9 launch). There is not much detail about their future plans other than these three points:

1. Our biggest focus is to increase the market, not segment it.
2. Wedding shooters require more durability. We are actively working to address their needs.
3. In case of low sensitivities, we are working on increasing saturation capacities, or well depth, of pixels. In case of high sensitivities, pixel size matters.

Sony doesn’t just plan to eat up market share from Canon and Nikon. They are more focused to increase the overall market by continuous innovation. Global Shutter and 8K are for sure key tech they are working on while Light Field Cameras is a no go for now.