Quick note on A-mount lens rumor…

People keep asking me about the new A-mount lenses. So here is my short answer for now:

The source who told me that new A-mount lens would come at Photokina is actually a long time trusted source. So I am very surprised like you to not see any new A-mount lens today. There are now three things that could have happened:

1) That trusted source was wrong for the first time.
2) Sony will show some updated A-mount lens the next days.
3) Sony did “freeze” the A-mount lens launch.

Will try to get the right answer the coming days…and I hope for you it’s answer 1) or 2) !

Sony 16-35mm FE press text!

Here is the official press text and preorder links:

Zeiss 16-35mm FE at Amazon, BHphoto, Sony Store US.
Zeiss 16-35mm FE in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.

Sony Introduces New ZEISS 16-35mm F4 Wide Angle Zoom Lens for E-mount Cameras

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 15, 2014 – Packing a serious amount of imaging power into a light, compact frame, the new Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS (SEL1635Z) lens offers photo enthusiasts a compelling choice for wide-angle photography including landscapes, architecture and more.

A natural match for the acclaimed α7 Series of 35mm full-frame cameras, the new Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS is Sony’s fifth full-frame zoom lens developed for the E-mount system, joining the Sony FE 28-70mm (model SEL2870), ZEISS 24-70mm F4 (model SEL2470Z), 70-200mm F4 G (model SEL70200G) and 28-135mm F4 G Power Zoom (model SELP28135G) lenses.

The new Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS wide-angle zoom lens features an uncompromising optical design with five aspherical lens elements, including one large AA (advanced aspherical) element and three ED glass elements. This ensures outstanding corner-to-corner resolution and sharpness, while reducing distortion and minimizing color aberration

A signature of ZEISS lenses, the Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS features T* coating on its optical surfaces which minimizes flare and ghosting and boosts contrast, clarity and depth with landscape shots and strongly backlit scenes. It also has a constant F4 maximum aperture, allowing photographers to achieve beautiful background defocus effects with a shallow depth of field at all focal lengths. The lens is equipped with Optical SteadyShot™ image stabilization and is dust and moisture resistant, allowing it to perform well in tough shooting environments.

Sony α Lenses Assortment

With the addition of the new Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS, the E-mount lens family now includes 24 different lenses and adapters, including several other premium options from ZEISS® and Sony’s G Series Lenses:

E 16mm F2.8
E 20mm F2.8
E 35mm F1.8 OSS
E 50mm F1.8 OSS
E 30mm F3.5 Macro
E 24mm F1.8 ZEISS
E 10-18mm F4 OSS
E PZ 16-50mm F3.5 – F5.6 OSS
E 18-55mm F3.5 – F5.6 OSS
E 18-200mm F3.5 – F6.3 OSS
E 18-200mm F3.5 – F6.3 OSS LE
E PZ 18-200mm F3.5 – F5.6 OSS
E 55-210mm F4.5 – F6.3 OSS
E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS
E 16-70mm F4 ZEISS OSS
FE 28-70mm F3.5 – 5.6 OSS
FE 35mm F2.8 ZEISS
FE 55mm F1.8 ZEISS
FE 24-70mm F4 ZEISS OSS
FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS
FE 28-135mm F4 G OSS
FE 16-35mm F4 ZEISS OSS

New Sony α Accessories

Sony has also introduced a range of new accessories for their α (alpha) mount camera system including the compact HVL-F32M flash. Rated at a generous GN32 guide number, the flash head can be adjusted in a variety of directions for pro-style bounce effects and has a variety of advanced flash functions including ADI flash metering, high-speed sync and Auto White Balance, and is dust and moisture resistant.

The new XLR-K2M XLR adaptor kit provides pro-style balanced audio input to α7 Series cameras plus the α99, Cyber-shot™ RX10 and NEX-VG900 interchangeable lens camcorder, and comes paired with the ECM-XM1 shotgun microphone.

Additionally, the RMT-VP1K wireless remote kit lets photographers enjoy ‘hands-off’ control of cameras functions including shutter release, start / stop movie recording and zoom. There is also a stylish new LCS-PCS7 system bag that’s an ideal match for the α7 Series of cameras.

Pricing and Availability

The Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS (SEL1635Z) full-frame wide-angle zoom lens will be available this November for about $1350.

The HVL-F32M flash will be available this December for about $300.

The XLR-K2M XLR adaptor kit will be available this October for about $600.

The RMT-VP1K wireless remote kit will be available this November for about $70.

The LCS-PCS7 system bag will be available this October for about $160.

The new lens and accessories will all be sold at Sony retail stores (www.store.sony.com) and other authorized dealers nationwide.

Sony announcement: Few hours to go!

Few hours to go until Sony announces the new lenses. And hopefully we will finally now what that fast large aperture prime lens is :)  Here are a couple of notes for you:

1) Zeiss 16-35mm will ship within end of this year. All other lenses that Sony will Pre-announce today will ship 2015

2) Website sometimes doesn’t load. Just click ont he reload button of your browser if that happens.

3) I haven’t found any live streaming video yet. Please contact me if you find one (sonyalpharumors@gmail.com).

Announcement at 15:00 London time:
7am in San Francisco
10 am in NYC
16:00 in Berlin
23:00 in Tokyo.

Photokina competition announcement: Samsung NX1 restarts Megapixel war :)

There are a dozen of companies announcing new stuff today! The first news comes from Samsung. It’s interesting because it’s sets a new record of resolution on an APS-C sensor (28 megapixel). It is also the third company after Panasonic and Sony to offer 4K video recording on a mirrorless camera!

NX1 specs at BHphoto (Click here). More info and full press text at MirrorlessRumors (Click here).

Learn more about the Sony FS7 4K via Den Lennie, Dan Chung, Cinema5D, Teradek!

IBC 2014: News Shooter – Sony FS7 from Teradek on Vimeo.

Probably only few readers here are interested to learn more about the new Sony FS7 4K E-mount camcorder. But this is a real milestone for Sony. It’s a great camera for the $$$! Just watch those videos! And the sites to follow to read more about the Sony stuff are Newsshooter, Teradek, Fstopacademy, Cinema5D. Thanks!


EXCLUSIVE: cinema5D Sony FS7 hands-on from Nino Leitner on Vimeo.


Sony Professional: FS7 First Footage (3min)
from Sony Professional on Vimeo.


Newsshooter at IBC 2014: Den Lennie walks us though the new Sony FS7 4K Super35 camera
from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Announcement Recap: magnificent Tamron 15-30mm A-mount. Sigma monster zoom. 4K Sony E-mount cam. FE powerzoom. Boring Nikon D750.

The great Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 comes with A-mount!

Sony 28-135mm Powerzoom:
It’s the worldwide first Full Frame Powerzoom lens for mirrorless systems.
28-135mm at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here). Press text here on SAR.

Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 DI VC A-mount lens:
Tamron announced the development of this lens which is also the first wide angle Full Frame zoom with optical stabilization. There is no preorder option lens and press release can be read here on SAR.

Sigma’s two A-mount zooms:
Not for preorder yet but specs can be read here:
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens for Sony A at BHphoto (Click here).
Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO HSM Contemporary Lens for Sony A at BHphoto (Click here).

Sony FS7 4K E-mount camcorder:
Incredible 15 stops of dynamic range camera that can record (and live stream!) in 4K. Press release can be read here on SAR and a couple of great videos can be seen here on SAR.

Competition from Nikon:
Nikon has the exraordinary capability to announce new cameras that are only a tiny bit better than the predecessor: The Nikon D750 landed (specs at Amazon) and has flip screen and 810 af. Good camera but boring :)

Crazy Sandisk:
World’s biggest fast SD card got announced. $712 for 512GB! But good for you there are also some “cheaper” versions:
SanDisk 512GB for $729.00 at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
SanDisk 256GB for $359.00 at Adorama (Click here).
SanDisk 128GB for $189.00 at Adorama (Click here).