Dpreviews take on the new Zeiss ZX1: “something truly different from the competition”

Zeiss ZX1 camera at BHphoto, Adorama and Fotokoch. There are also a ton of ZX1 accessories (listed at BH).

Dpreview is testing the new Zeiss ZX1 which is nearly entirely made of Soy components and can be sort of considered an RX successor camera. Their early first impression conclusion is:

Overall, I’m glad the Zeiss ZX1 exists. It’s refreshing to see a manufacturer do something truly different from the competition. The design is striking, and there are probably well-off photographers out there who want as simple a shooting experience as possible, but still want to be able to fine-tune their images in post. It’s an interesting proposition for world travelers as well (once such things are feasible again). For these folks, the ZX1 means you get everything you need in one device.

But what of the rest of us? After all, this is a $6000 camera, or fully one thousand dollars more than the already premium-priced Leica Q2. That buys a lot of gear, plus, frankly, a lot of smartphone. So speaking personally, I’m leaning towards sticking with the smartphone in my pocket and a ‘dumb’ camera around my neck… for now.

Sony A7sIII review by Engadget: “The best mirrorless camera for video, and almost everything else”


Sony A7sIII preorder at Adorama. BHphoto. Amazon. FocusCamera. Fotokoch. Calumet DE. WexUK. Park UK.

David Pardue from Engadget tested the A7SIII and concluded:

I can’t find many faults with this camera. Sony has addressed nearly every complaint I’ve ever had about previous A7-series cameras, but it didn’t just stop there. It also improved autofocus and other features that I already liked, keeping the A7S III far ahead of rivals.

Its limitations are down to the high $3,500 price tag and low-resolution sensor, which rules out the A7S III for landscape and other types of high-detail photography. If you need that, get Sony’s similarly priced A7R IV with a category-leading 61 megapixels.

If budget is an issue and you need an all around hybrid camera, check out the Canon R6, Panasonic S5 or Sony’s own A7 III, all between $2,000 and $2,500. However, if you’re into video or low-light photography and have the budget, I’d highly recommend the A7S III. Feature for feature, it’s simply the best camera I’ve ever tested.

 

Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G review at Opticallimits: This lens is THE reason for serious amateurs to prefer the Sony system over Canon/Nikon/L-mount

Opticallimits tested the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G and they really liked the lens performance:

In the grand scheme of things, the Sony G lenses seem to be a bit underappreciated whereas the GM lenses collect all the glory. However, we think that the G series could actually be THE reason for serious amateurs to prefer the Sony system over Canon/Nikon/L-mount. These lenses strike the perfect balance between costs and performance. The Sony FE 12-24mm f/4G, 90mm f/2.8G, FE 24-105mm f/4G, and FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3G are all excellent choices … and so is the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8G.

The Sony lens offers breathtaking sharpness in the broader center zone at all mainstream aperture settings. The corner performance isn’t quite as high but it’s very usable at f/1.8 already and very good at medium aperture settings – all with minimal field curvature and low astigmatism. As such the lens is also feasible for astrophotography. The native image distortion is low and nicely corrected in auto-mode. The same goes for lateral CAs. The biggest weakness of the lens is vignetting. It’s rather extreme at f/1.8 in raw files and not overly impressive even at f/5.6. Image auto-correction comes to the rescue here as well so usually, you will just spot some light falloff at f/1.8. An almost baffling aspect is the quality of the bokeh. Wide-angle lenses are usually rather mediocre in this respect – at best – whereas the FE 20mm f/1.8G is actually impressive with smooth highlight discs that can maintain a circular shape even in the image corners. And the general blur characteristic is good, too.

The build quality is excellent thanks to high-grade materials and a tight assembly. The lens doesn’t extend during focusing and is sealed against dust and moisture. Sony also added some mechanical goodies such as a dedicated aperture ring including a clickless mode and a focus stop button. You may argue that it would have been nice if they also added optical image stabilization but we think it’s good that they avoided this temptation. Especially ultra-wide lenses require precise centering and an image stabilization group would have made things more complex here – besides the extra costs. Another positive aspect is the compact size and low weight.

The Sony lens isn’t cheap to boot but then it’s also faster than your average 20mm lens. As a rule of thumb, an extra stop doubles the price tag. Keeping this in mind, the price of around 900USD/EUR is still reasonable. And we conclude our verdict with … highly recommended!

Sony 20mm f/1.8 FE G:
In USA at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. FocusCamera.
In EU at Amazon DE, Calumet DE. Amazon UK. Parkcameras UK. Amazon FR. Amazon IT. Amazon ES.