Sony HX50V vs NEX-3N

The State of the Mirrorless Camera Industry – May 2013 by AdmiringLight.
Sony Alpha 58 review by Photoclubalpha.
Sony NEX-3N CSC Review at ePhotozine.
The Old Minolta 35 mm F/1.4 tested at Gubsphotologue.
Speed Booster vs. Les Turbo test using Makro Planar 50/2 at Dpreview Forum.
Super sensible sensor made of graphene at Mashable.
Sony NEX and HDR at Hdrone.

Anonymous: “A friend bought a Sony RX100 a month ago in a Sony store in San Diego and after two weeks using it, a problem showed up. The camera started to randomly turn itself on, showing the last shot taken on the LCD but without actually extending the lens. That happens with the camera in or out of its storage pouch, leading to to a total battery drain if not noticed and turned off! I did a quick research on the internet and found that this problem has been reported in some Forums ( including Sony’s ). Please check:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCp1m4vz4Oc
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3391660
http://community.sony.com/t5/Cybershot-Cameras/RX100-Battery-Drain/td-p/44245/page/1
I’m sending you this because it seems Sony has not officially acknowledged the issue and it may be a good opportunity for them to improve customer credibility by either issuing a Firmware fixing the problem ( if that’s feasible ) or ultimately performing a recall!
One can always dream.
Regards!”

Cezar: “Hello Andrea, i’ve been using my nex-7 with the zeiss 24 and the sony 50 1.8 for more than a year now. i just want to say that the nex-7 coupled with some really good glass is simply a gem for me. Here’s a link to my work (all photos shot with the nex-7): http://www.behance.net/cezararon. P.S: also a new review on the touit line-up i just found (it’s in romanian but still good for samples) http://www.f64.ro/blog/2013/05/30/carl-zeiss-touit-2-812-si-1-832-un-nou-inceput/”

Galen: “Sharing some photos taken with the a99 with the Sony Zeiss 135mm and 24-70mm. Absolutely loving the lenses as well as the dynamic range and accuracy of the a99. Such a pleasure to take photos with. http://500px.com/GalenScorer”

Eddy: “last week I received the 70-400 G II, just in time for an interesting event: a re-enactment of a battle in 1447. I have posted a selection on dyxum:
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=98813&PID=1178518&title=what-a-fight-70400g-ii#1178518. The full set of pictures is posted on my photo blog: http://www.thelightpoet.be/2013/06/de-quaeye-werelt-june-2013/ And I have to say the 70-400 G II performed very well on my A900. Excellent sharpness and contrast. Really nice stuff.”

The recently announced Samyang 16mm f/2.0 lens will ship for $449 on July 8th. Preorders are being accepted by BHphoto (Click here). There is no pricing yet for Europe or Asia. Keep in mind that this lens sells under different brands: In USA as Rokinon, Samyang, Opteka, Bower and in Europe: Samyang, Rokinon, Walimex, Falcon, Vivitar.

You can download the full “Corporate Strategy Meeting” PDF file at http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/info/strategy2013/pdf/presenE.pdf. No big surprise here. Focus goes on Image Sensor Development, on Mirrorless and High End photography market.

SAR reader Andrea sent me his Lens Turbo first impression:

“First of all congrats for your great blog, I usually follow your updates every day.
I bought a lensturbo for canon fd lenses by the Shanghai eBay seller you posted  the link.
I received it two days ago. I tested it with my 50mm and it is fantastic to see the larger frame and, it seems, a better contrast and sharpness. The weak point is the already known issue of the blue spot when facing a light or the sun, but is not such a big issue.

The real problem came when I tested the lens turbo with the canon fd 20mm. I almost risked to ruin the rear/back lens of the 20mm! The fact is that when you are trying to reach the infinity focus the rear lens of the 20mm protrusion hit the front lens of the lens turbo!!

That problem is not mentioned by the seller and also by the reviewer (the martist, you linked in a post). I wrote to both. The reviewer only write to me he doesn’t have this problem. This is strange because the lensturbo seller just wrote to me:

Hi Andrea,
Thanks for the message…
Indeed the FD 20/2.8 can not use… the rear lens protrusion will hit the lens… sorry… I think you can only focus up to 3 meter, right ?
except for the 20, the other lenss 28, 35, 50, 85 all can use..
best,
R.J.
– jinfinance

Therefore I’m writing this to you because I want to avoid that the same thing happens to others.

I’d also like to know if other lensturbo buyers had the same problem as I did.

Thx for your time.
Best regards“

Chain Reaction: A Story in Four Images

Here is a roundup of all mails to tests and work done by SAR reader. If you have links to send me (or if I missed to post a work you sent me in the past) contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.

Jason: “Not exactly news  but thought id share anyway, testing the Sony FS700 with the Metabones Speed booster and loving the full frame esque results. https://vimeo.com/67176161”

Marc: “Here are some photos of the new sigma 35 f 1.4 for alpha and a few sample shot available in full resolution; http://www.flickr.com/photos/alhadeff/sets/72157633770534271/”

Алексей:  “Hello, Andrea.If You have 10 – 15 free minutes welcome to http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/paparazi2008/album/351277/ My first outdoor shooting with A99 – many CamJpg + several RAW + several A77 foto. Fullsize without postprocessing with open exif.”

Laszlo: ” yesterday I got the new Sigma 35mm f1.4 from www.Digitfoto.de and it´s really a wonderful lens on my A57. I uploaded some testshots on google –> https://plus.google.com/photos/104390226143263323305/albums/5882966453347908337?authkey=CKL2w8Ws3cDOhQE”

Ainga: “I think your readers will be interested in seeing the very capable Sony NEX 7 in low light action. Most of the images were taken with the NEX 7 and the 24mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.8. Here is one of the posts shot entirely with the NEX 7: http://aingaframes.com/blog/2013/4/15/bw-photo-set. I wrote a NEX 7 user review here: http://aingaframes.com/blog/2013/4/6/sony-nex-7-one-year-review”

Jonathan: “Hi Andrea, I made a comparison video between the new and old 70-400 with focus speed and sharpness comparisons.  My conclusion:  the focusing is MUCH better on the new lens, but the IQ is pretty close. Check out the video: http://youtu.be/QzKQWqTUJ6Y”

Sergey: “I am a photographer from Russia. March 1, 2013 I started my “Project 365” with the camera Sony NEX-6. Every day I make one picture and write a story about photo and the camera. This is my fifth NEX – and the camera is so good, that I started this project: http://nex6everyday.blogspot.ru/”

Gkemp: “I modded a Meike clone VG-B50AM grip so it can be used with my a55, allowing me to power the a55 with a pair of NP-FM500H batteries and get use of the shutter release.  For details, see my set on flickr linked below.  Feel free to share pics with SAR readers if you like.  Just thought I would pass this info around in case others find it useful. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gkemp/sets/72157633542391862/with/8756515667/”

Lehwego: “just sharing a video I made from trinidad carnival earlier this year.  Nex5n with 35mm/1.8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRvl90c1lWo”

Jeroen: “RX-100 to the test in video! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151472068242151”

Brandon: “ just shot an episode of the MTV show True Life on two Rx100’s.  Here’s my blog post with all the details: http://rungunshoot.com/how-i-made-an-mtv-reality-show-with-two-pocket-cameras-and-a-macbook/”

Anders: “Hello, I haven’t seen any pictures by people using professional Sony equipment.  If you like to, do I have a picture I took yesterday with a Sony a99, and Sony Carl Zeiss 16-35mm F/2.8. The picture shows how big dynamic a99 have, and the power from a carl zeiss. http://500px.com/photo/36169198”

Thanks you all!

The video on top has been made by SAR reader Arthur Fritz. The good news is that the Zeiss Touit is finally shipping! But it seems X-mount version is shipping first. You can find FUji versions right now in shoplink 18719 ebay]US (eBay)[/shoplink] and Europe (Holland).

It would help all SAR readers if you cna let us know where the Touit for NEX is in Stock. Send me an email or submit the deal at DealsRunner.com. That way your submitted deal will be displayed on the sidebar of this website and you don’t have to wait for me reading your mail and writing the post. Thanks!

P.S.: Zeiss Touit image samples at Optyczne.pl.

Small update on the newly announced Rokinon 300mm f/6.3 lens. It’s going to ship in July for $299. And on top of this post you can see the video showing the new lens. What I didn’t know until now (Thanks Mike) is that Rokinon already has a Mirror lens for Sony. It is the Rokinon 500mm f/6.3 for A-mount ([shoplink 18677 ebay]can be found here one Bay[/shoplink]).

—
To get notified when the lens will be o auction on eBay save this search on Slidoo.