Sony Tidbits…


Carl Zeiss 35mm F2.8 Lens Review by John Sison.

Sony is one of the 20 coolest brand in UK (TheGuardian).
How To apply Sony creative Styles in Lightroom by Brian Smith.
Kipon HandeVision IBELUX 40mm f/0.85 Hands-On Preview (ePhotozine).
Speedmaster 50mm 0.95 FE review at Coolframe.
Olympus v. Fuji v. Sony – Camera Shoot-out – Part 5 – Final Thoughts by JoshMcLeod.
Sony A77 II Shooter’s Report Part I (Imaging Resource).
Konica Auto S3 rangefinder with NEX-5 sensor inside at Frankencamera.
Leica T+35mmf2 and Leica MP+35mm Summilux vs Sony A7R+35mmf2.8 Zeiss at Thevisualexperience.

Boon:I’ve just posted on Waddesdon Manor today. Infrared images shot with Sony NEX-3. http://myphotojourney.co.uk/waddesdon-manor/

Could that be the new Full Frame 16 megapixel Monochrome Sony sensor?

Many months ago I reported how Sony was developing a Full Frame monochrome sensor. Interesting enough Nikon just announced a new DS-Qi2 monochrome camera for microscope use. It has a 16.2 Megapixel Full Frame monochrome sensor “that features high pixel density, high sensitivity and low noise, making it an excellent choice for applications in quantitative fluorescence imaging.“. As you know “most” of the Nikon FF sensors are made by Sony so is that one a Sony FF too?

I hope we will get such kind of sensor on a real RX(?) camera soon!

Here are the sensor details:

Read more

All the Photokina announcement and news roundup (ordered by facebook likes ranking).

If you ever wondered which are actually the most Facebook liked posts on SAR just check the top 20 posts lists from Photokina:

1795 likes: This is how weird the QX1 looks with huge lenses :)
856 likes: (UPDATED) Zeiss Loxia officially announced! 50mm costs $949 and 35mm costs $1,299.
677 likes: Crazy! Sandisk announces world’s Highest Capacity SD! Up to 512GB on one card!
640 likes: (SR5) First image of the E-mount FS 4K camcorder!
613 likes: (SR5) First image of the new Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2.0 Planar lens!
596 likes: (SR5) Zeiss will soon announce the new “Loxia” lens line for Sony Full Frame E-mount!
461 likes: New Samyang 12mm f/2.8 Full Frame lens announced!
444 likes: (SR5) New Zeiss Otus 85mm pics and design info. It’s going to be the best FF lens of the world!
442 likes: (SR5) New leak of the QX1(20MP sensor) and new E-mount lenses (Zeiss 16-35mm costs 1350 Euro).
380 likes: Sony Japan launches a special FE camera/lens kit box!
379 likes: New monster lens from Sigma: 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM weather sealed Sport zoom!
313 likes: First Speedmaster PRO “Dark Knight” FE lenses in Stock (and first unboxing video).
301 likes: Sony announces the new FE lenses!
294 likes: (SR5) Full Zeiss 16-35mm FE lens MTF and design graph.
235 likes. World’s best lens officially announced: Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4.
202 likes: Worldwide first Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 review with the Sony A7r!
186 likes: Sony FS7 E-mount 4K and 28-135mm FE powerzoom officially announced!
182 likes: Officially announced: QX1 E-mount module (and the QX30).
169 likes: Sony: “We want to keep developing both the A mount and the E mount system”
151 likes: New FE roadmap also shows a “large aperture prime to come” (85mm?).

I am actually surprised to see the QX1 news on top….

This week SAR readers photos selection (and a Facebook link fix reminder).


Jason Bassett‎
“Little thief”
An exciting photograph with a beautiful model and ferret!
Sony A7 + Zeiss 35mm + Profoto

Good news: Facebook had some problems with the photo albums view. But they fixed it and SAR readers pictures are now again listed at https://www.facebook.com/sonyalpharumors/photos_stream?tab=photos.

That’s why this is the new How To to share and like SAR readers pictures on our SAR Facebook page:

1) Submit your picture with a message and picture here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors.
2) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: https://www.facebook.com/sonyalpharumors/photos_stream?tab=photos.
3) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Read more

Curiosity: Canon says we and not Sony make the best sensors!

rx100sensor

I really had a laugh when reading that part of the Canon interview released at Dpreview. DP asked Canon why their sensors cannot compete with Sony sensors in terms of dynamic range. The answer was:

I’m not sure what measurements you’re looking at but when it comes to dynamic range for example we consider image quality as a whole, from low to high ISO sensitivities and on balance we consider our sensors to be the best.

Canon really believes their sensors are “currently the best on the market“! They are really living on another planet :)

I am not trying to play down Canon. Their DSLR are in many aspects superior to Sony SLT cameras. But when it comes to sensor performance they really denied the evidence. While every test from DxOmark shouldn’t be taken as a holy grail or as an absolute truth the difference in performance is really huge:

Bildschirmfoto 2014-09-25 um 13.17.40

Like I told you in my previous post both companies will offer new kind of FF sensors in the upcoming 2015 cameras. That’s going to be exciting!

One more thing: Canon you make the best sensor? Than why you use the same RX100m3 sensor inside your new G7x? (Source: CanonWatch).

 

Two new Zeiss videos about the 85mm Otus and 35mm ZM.


Carl Zeiss Lenses – Otus 1.4/85

Zeiss posted those two new videos. You can use both lenses on your E-mount camera. One is the world’s best 85mm lens, the Zeiss Otus.  and the other one is the 35mm f/1.4 M-mount lens. And it may be that one day this new 35mm Distagon will be the “basic” for the Loxia version.


Carl Zeiss Lenses – Distagon T* 1,4/35 ZM

Otus  and ZM Preorders:
BHphoto with Nikon mount (Click here) or Canon mount (Click here) version.
Adorama with Nikon mount (Click here) or Canon mount (Click here) version.
In Australia at CameraPro.
Distagon ZM preorder at BHphoto (Click here).

New Photoshop Elements 13 released. Reloaded Sony ref stuff.

Bildschirmfoto 2014-09-24 um 19.09.56

Adobe released the new Photoshop Elements 13 software. You can buy it at BHphoto (Click here) and of course at Adobe (Click here).

Current deals list:
Sony SD double pack at Adorama (Click here).
Free bag, SD card and Lightroom 5 with the A6000 sold by Groupon (Click here).
NEX-5T with bag and two(!) lenses for $449 on [shoplink 29176 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
Sony A7 for $1,399 on [shoplink 29180 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
Zeiss 55mm FE for $874 on [shoplink 29177 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
Zeiss 24-70mm FE for $999 on [shoplink 29179 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
Distagon 24mm for 984 on [shoplink 29178 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
NEX-5T with kit lens for $349 on [shoplink 29181 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
NEX-6 for $324 on [shoplink 29182 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
A full list of refurbished cameras and lenses can be seen on SonyStore (Click here).
E-mount QX camera is now shipping fo the first time worldwide through Digitalrev (Click here) and on plenty of [shoplink 29231 ebay]eBay Hong Kong dealers (Click here)[/shoplink].