The new 24mm f/1.4 GM is in Stock for the very first time via FocusCamera. It should be in Stock within hours here too: Bhphoto. Adorama. Amazon USA. BuyDig. Calumet Germany. WexUK.

Albert Dros posted his full and very detailes 24mm GM lens review. The conclusion in short:

Overall I was very happy with this lens. Most importantly because I didn’t really feel it was even there in my bag because of how small and light weight it was. And I could almost always find a use for it. I would definitely recommend this lens to anyone. I love shooting extreme wide angle and extreme telephoto, but this lens is just so great for a wide variety of uses and it’s always worth it to carry around. Please check the gallery below for lots of more images I took with this lens in Iceland.

Summary:
Very versatile lens
Excellent sharpness on all apertures even wide open at f/1.4
Very lightweight with only 445 grams
Aperture ring on the lens and a switch to make it stepless.
67mm filter thread
Great sunstar
Great for astrophotography. Stars in corners are sharp with very few coma and aberrations. Best performance on such a lens this fast I’ve seen.
Has some flaring going on that is fixed by putting the lens hood most of the times.
Overall a great allrounder prime. to carry around everywhere

Zeiss 40mm f/2.0 CF lens preorder at Adorama and BHphoto.

We have two new videos shot with the new Batis 40mm lens:

Kim Bear of Wild Child Photography does an excellent job with the new ZEISS Batis 40CF in capturing the sleeping newborn Amelia in this tender video. Using the short focal distance of as little as 9″, she is able to capture the fine details of this family and their new addition.

Greg Watermann shot this on an a9 with the new Batis 40CF at f/2 using Eye-AF, which works pretty well on a moving subject in changing sunlight.

Sigma 105mm f/1.4 for $1,599 at BHphoto, FocusCamera,and Adorama.

Marc Alhadeff tested the new Sigma 105mm F/1.4 FE lens. His conclusion:

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The Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (1500 euros) is an outstanding optics for portrait and well deserve its nickname of Bokeh Master

• Background blur is exceptional with superb 3D effects
• Sharpness is incredible
• AF is fast and very efficient including for eye AF
• Color rendition is very good
• Distorsion / Lens fall off / CA are close to zero
• Bokeh balls are very good but not perfect when close down to F2.8/F4 (nor perfectly circular)à
• Reasonable price considering performances  
• A min of 1/250s shutter speed will be required
• Built in tripod collar is a very nice idea to support the weight of 1.85 kg
• One of the only flaw is the resistance to flare which is just ok as you can get some loss of contrast in direct sun
• Huge (difficult to put in a standard photo bag), heavy (1,85 kg!) , filter size is uncommon (105mm = expensive)

Before testing the lens, I was convinced , I would not be able  stand the weight of it and that this 105mm was a pure technical demonstration of Sigma capability, but when I saw the results, I was astonished and really started to love the lens ! It is a real “Bokeh” machine to produce wonderful portraits ! Its signature is unique. After a second look at the photos made I finally decided to order the lens for myself

The new Nikon Z and Canon EOS-R are still far behind the Sony cameras if you intend to use them for sports photography. The Sony A9 is the best camera of the tested bunch. But the “secret” winner might be Fuji X-T3. I know it’s APS-C but it’s a hell of a good camera and the lowest priced too. This si the camera Sony has to beat whenever they decide to release the new A7000.

Aaron contacted me to share his A9 review:

Award-winning Professional wildlife photographer Aaron Baggenstos travelled to Alaska to photograph the incredible biodiversity of birds and wildlife that teem there. For the first time Baggenstos left his Nikon D5 at home, instead carrying Sony’s a9 flagship mirrorless camera. In the video below, Baggenstos details his findings highlighting his favorite features and critiques, all while showcasing stunning images from his encounters with giant brown bears, fox, puffins, eagles, and a grand variety of Alaskan wildlife.

Sony A9 at [shopcountry 60549].

Marc Alhadeff posted the review of the new Sigma 14mm F/1.8 DG HSM Art lens:

The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art (1600 euros) is an excellent lens optically for a wide angle with the fastest aperture available for that focal length.
Centre sharpness is excellent , and corners are already good wide open and become progressively excellent
The Sigma 14mm F1.8 is certainly the best 14mm available in the market in term of sharpness , bokeh and color rendition, and it low coma makes it suited for astrophotography
The F1.8 allows for some unique effect of background blur for a wide angle that has no equivalent
The only issue is the capricious Autofocus and the price tag (1600 euros), one of the most expensive of the Art line

The new Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5 E-mount lens is in Stock at Amazon US (Click here).

Fred Miranda (Click here) is the first person testing the Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5 E-mount

Pros
Compact and light lens, ideal for hiking
Solid all-metal construction with tight manufacturing tolerance
Excellent resolution at all distances including MFD
Voigtlander signature color and contrast
Very good flare performance
Great coma performance wide open
Low distortion
10-blade straight aperture allows well-defined sunstars starting at f/4
Very low chromatic aberrations
Reasonably priced compared to the competition

Cons
Mounting and un-mounting is troublesome since the only non-rotating lens’ surface is very thin
Mid-zone not as great as center and corners at wide apertures. (f/3.5-5.6)
Pronounced vignetting that never truly goes away
Slight lower contrast/resolution compared to its main competitor (Loxia 21/2.8)