HolyManta VND for E-Mount cameras.

HolyManta VND from Holymanta on Vimeo.

There is a new “unique” adapter for all E-mount camera owners. It’s made by HolyManta and you better watch the video to see what it is :)

PRESS TEXT: ”

The all-new HolyManta VND is finally available! With this lens adapter (initially for Canon EF lenses) setting manual exposure has newer been easier and quicker. Video filming has always been for restricted compared to photography in terms of exposure – due to the shutter which most often should be set to a 180 degrees angle. The built-in variable ND filter allows you set the perfect exposure in second without taking your eyes from the viewfinder, and inserting the dust protected filter now takes less then a second instead of almost minutes as with external filters.
For more info, please visit www.holymanta.com or send your question to info@holymanta.com

All the best
/The HolyManta team”

 

Interview with Sony A7-A7r developers: Faster lenses are in development!

DC.watch (google translation here) interviewed the Sony team who developed the A7-A7r cameras. As you can see from the picture this is quite a young team! If these guys are reading SAR than let me say one thing: Well done guys! You really did a great job! I can imagine it was quite a challenge (and an excitement) to create something completely new. Doesn’t happen very often in the camera industry where usually company tend to focus on conservative development of existing camera.

They have been interviewed by DC.watch and I will report some of the key info. The google translation tool is messing up a lot so please excuse me in advance if there is some mistake. Hope Japanese Friends can check up my text :)

These are the names and roles of the people on the picture:
Front row left (sitting): Sokabe Taku, the Responsible Designer
Front row middle (sitting): Sudo Takahiro, Design Leader
Front row right (sitting): Daisuke Sato, Product Planner
Back row left (standing): Hosoi Masaharu, Responsible for optical design.
Back row middle (standing): Hasegawa Yoichi, Responsible for autofocus design.
Back row right (standing): Foshan Sakiken, Responsible for quality design.

Some key info from the interview:
– They confirm the NEX name is gone forever. Everything is branded as ALPHA now.
– Right from the start the main goal was to create something small. A DSLR quality in a small package.
– One of the hardest challenges was to add the 1/8.000 shutter in such a small body
– The A7r contrast AF is faster than in other Sony mirrorless cameras due the new algorithm and Bionz X processor. AF is 35% faster than the one on the NEX-7. And that has been achieved by keeping a high accuracy
– The LAEA4 adapter and Sony A99 translucent tech are “almost” equal.
– EVF brightness has been increased by 30% and contrast is three times higher over the external FDA-EA1MK EVF.
– 4K video recording has not been added on the 7-series because of power consumption issues such as thermal dissipation.
– To place the EVF in the middle has the advantage on larger lenses that you are on the optical axis.
– The body would have become large with the EVF placed ion the corner like it is on the NEX-7.
– we are actively involved in the development of larger aperture lenses.

Again, thanks Sony guys for working hard to fulfill our …dreams :)

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Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony  DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

Sony and Olympus will share mirrorless distribution and tech.

All the best Olympus E-M1 tech explained by TheCameraStoreTV

In an interview at with Olympus president Sasa confirmed at JP (Click here) that Sony and Olympus will tighten their relation ship in the mirrorless camera business. In Short this means that they will share components between their cameras to lower the costs. And also integrate the distribution network.

In short, what are the tech Olympus can hand over to Sony? Here is a list:
– The great 5 axis on sensor stabilization (likely coming on the new generation A-mount cameras in February)
– Their contrast autofocus tech
– Their Zuiko Lens design epxerience
– Their JPG engine (which is a tiny bit better than the Sony engine)
– The freezproof body design (see the new Olympus E-M1).

I have to say this is a nice list of things we need to get built-in in our future Sony cameras!

Sony A9r and A6r without EVF (rendering by Xitek).

I guess quite many SAR reader would like to have an A7r alike camera without that EVF bump on top. The Chinese friends over at Xitek designed it especially for you to show you how it would look! Obviously this is a pure imaginative rendering but I am sure some of you would like it to see as a REAL thing!

On top you see a so called A9r. And here below the more NEX-7 alike A6r camera:

 

And here another version:

Sony TidBits…


Sony 300mm f2.8 SSM G Series II Lens Review

Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS got reviewed at Photozone:

The Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS is certainly one of the more interesting prime lenses in the Sony NEX lineup. Even when ignoring performance aspects, the very high speed in conjunction with the optical image stabilizer (OSS) are exciting value propositions for users who are intending to go beyond snapshots. The good news is, however, that the lens is also capable of producing quality images.

Minolta 35mm f/2.0 review by Ken Rockwell.
Minolta 35mm f/1.4 review by Ken Rockwell.
Minolta 28mm f/2.0 review by Ken Rockwell.
Sony NEX-5t first impression review Imaging Resource.
Sony NEX-5t test at Digitbox.fr (part two, french).
A7r image samples by LetsGoDigital.
Sony EXview HAD CCD II Explained (Youtube).
QX10 and QX100 test at Stiftung Warentest.
Sony A7 image samples at Digitalcamerareview.
Sony NEX-5t review at ThePhoBlographer.

Jorge: “As you know, Sony has decided to change all branding for their cameras to “Alpha”. Having said that, with Sony becoming a prominent player in the photo industry and introducing revolutionary new products it was only a matter of time before a dedicated site for the Sony cameras images was brought up online. I invite you to join www.SonyAlphaImages.com if you have not done so yet and begin posting your photos there for free.

Anonymous: “I have do some test on the New DXO Optic Pro 9 “Prime” Noise reduction on A77. I think the result is impressive, it effectively remove the High ISO Noise problem from A77. The only disadvantage is the processing time is a bit too long. 6mins for 36Mp D800 Raw file, 4mins for 24Mp A77 Raw file. I have post the compare images in the forum: http://www.dchome.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1230106&extra=page%3D1“

 

 

Guest post: full frame e-mount roadmap (by Vlad)

SAR note: This is a readers guest post. If you want to write an article on SAR just contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

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Full frame e-mount roadmap discussion by SAR reader Vlad.

Note: The following is a speculation, based on current rumors. It should simply serve as a conversation starter and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Today’s topic is the full frame e-mount roadmap

It looks like the different colors denote different lines of lenses, i.e. Sony Zeiss (blue), Sony G (yellow) and the regular Sony (grey). If that is correct, Sony is trying to present the ILCE line in its best light during the introduction, but there will be more affordable Sony lenses coming towards the end of 2014.
There are 3 upcoming lenses (mid 2014), that we can more easily speculate on, as they are described to some extent in the roadmap:
1. Sony Zeiss ultra wide angle F4 zoom – based on the current offerings and the speed indicated here, it’s already pretty clear that they are going for size reduction. I’d expect at best a 16-35, but probably something shorter and I don’t think they’ll go wider than 14mm.
2. Sony Zeiss fast prime – nice job of leaving that wide open. If we still consider that the grey lines are Sony lenses, it means that there won’t be many Sony Zeiss ones coming for some time, so something around 85mm makes the most sense (given that we already have a 35 and 55) and I won’t expect anything faster than F2. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an F2.8.
3. G macro lens – here we can expect everything. Given the G denomination, I don’t think it will be anything short, a good entry for a first macro lens for a system that Sony obviously wants to make look good, makes me think of a 100mm. Easily F4. Or faster and shorter, 60mm F2.8?
As to the upcoming Sony offerings, it seems probable that they will fill in the gaps (such as a wide prime), but also provide budget alternatives to the Sony Zeiss lenses and include stabilization for some.
On the high-end, the new family of Zeiss manual lenses (not Sony Zeiss), will probably be of big interest to many, but I expect really high prices for those.
(http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/zeiss-will-launch-manual-focusing-lenses-for-the-a7-a7r/)
What do you think about these assumptions and what Sony or Zeiss lenses would you like to see most, come end of 2014 and through 2015?