(UPDATED) Sony solved the star eating issue with the new A7III…or not?

The A7III kit is in Stock at BuyDig (Click here).

Alan Dyer (article here) shared a good news. He tested the new A7III for Astrophotography and the conclusion is:

“The Star Eater is gone. Stars are not smoothed out in long exposures.”

UPDATE: Jim Kasson has just started testing the A7III spatial filtering. And while there is no final conclusion yet it looks like the A7III may has not fixed this issue once and for all:

There was a recent posting to the effect that the spatial filtering (aka “Star Eater”) present in many a7x cameras and firmware releases at shutter speeds of longer than 3.2 seconds has been “fixed” in the a7III. The spatial filtering is different, but it has not disappeared.

This means we have to hold off and wait until Jim has made the complete testing.

via PetaPixel

New RX100VI reviews and thoughts by Miquel Quiles, CameraLabs, Ted Forbes, That1CameraGuy and Edsel

Image on top shows the new RX100VI on the new VCT-SGR1 Shooting Grip

Sony RX100VI at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon, FocusCamera and BestBuy. In EU at Calumet Germany and Wex UK.
Sony VCT-SGR1 Shooting Grip at BHphoto, Adorama and BestBuy.

We have many RX100VI news to report:

We have new previews by CameraLabs and Photographyblog. And below you can watch Miguel Quiles take on the new camera:

These are some thoughts from people like us that actually had NO chance to play with the new RX100VI camera yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyuDILJBw_0&

Meike 50mm f/1.7 FE lens review at ePhotozine: “impressive lens at a very impressive price”

ePhotozine reviewed the new Meike 50mm f/1.7 manual focusing Full Frame E-mount lens. This new version has been announced in early May and you can buy it now at Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT and Amazon ES.

The review conclusions is:

Given that the price is fantastic, both for the Meike lens and the competition, then we need to consider whether a metal lens, manual focus, traditional in design, is preferable to the various camera makers’ Plastic Fantastic offerings.
The Meike image quality is a strong factor, as is the dust and moisture resistance. On the other hand, the AF lenses will be faster and easier to use and are pretty good themselves.
Overall, Meike has produced a very impressive lens at a very impressive price, but the final choice is a very individual one based on features, performance and ergonomics rather than price.

Full Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 E-mount lens review by Marc Alhadeff: “the best Kamlan lens produced so far”

Marc Alhadeff from SonyAlphablog tested the new Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 E-mount lens which is on sale today at Kickstarter:

The Kamlan 28mm F1.4 is a surprise and is certainly the best Kamlan lens produced so far. It gives very good results for numerous usages

  • For street photography and half body portrait , The Kamlan 28mm F1.4 is giving very nice results with very good bokeh and very good central sharpness
  • Closed down e.g. for landscape, you get very sharp pictures on the entire frame

Pros

  • very good bokeh and soft background blur
  • Nice color rendition and good contrast
  • 3D effect when shooting wide open
  • Good build construction and easy handling
  • Good to excellent central sharpness
  • Excellent corners when stopped down to F8
  • Lens fall off goes away as from F2.8
  • Price (>200$)
  • Size

Average

  • Chromatic aberrations
  • Distorsion visible but easily correctable in Lightroom

Con’s

  • Manual lens
  • soft corners wide open

At 150$ on Kickstarter , it is a real bargain

Its closest competitors is the Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN that has AF but that is costing 2 times the Kamlan price (380 euros)

New Kamlan 28mm f/1.4 E-mount lens announced. First review with samples by Christopher Frost and Dustin Abbott.

Kamlan announced the new APS-C 28mm f/1.4 E-mount lens. All details can be found on that Kickstarter page. This will be their fifth lens. All other Kamlan lenses are in Stock on Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon ES and Amazon IT.

They also teased the launch of four more APS-C E-mount lenses during 2018:

Christopher Frost and Dustin Abbott posted their review of the new 28mm Kamlan. Christopher also posted some image samples on Flickr.