Image courtesy: Jörg Haag.

The 16-35mm FE is shipping in Asia (Amazon Japan and Digitalrev) and Europe ([shoplink 30495 ebay]eBay UK[/shoplink]). And it will ship soon in USA too (check dates at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US, Sony Canada). SAR readers are getting their lenses and this is a review published by Jörg Haag (Click here):

The FE 16-35mm is an adequate replacement of the A-Mount, at least from the perspective of image quality. An aperture stop less light is something to get over, because this is easily compensated by the better ISO performance of the α7 in comparison to the α99. I am looking forward to many hours of photography with this lens and I think this lens will not be inferior to the A-Mount counterpart in the field of architectural photography.

You can discuss with Joerg directly on SonyAlphaForum. More image samples have been posted on Photographyblog.

Check the full shipment date info here:
USA/Canada  at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US, Sony Canada.
Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Australia and Asia at Sony AUS, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

Image courtesy: Photozone

Zeiss Touit 12mm at Photozone:

Ultra-wide angle lenses are never really perfect. However, within its scope the Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 delivers decent results. The center quality is great and the border and corner quality are good to very good at mainstream settings. The low lateral CAs contribute to the high sharpness perception. The distortions are fine at 2% – this is a normal value for such a prime lens and lower than on most conventional zoom lenses for sure. However, the vignetting is very high especially at max. aperture.

Photozone also reviewed the 32mm Zeiss Touit and writes:

The Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 didn’t really convince us – at least on the NEX 7. The image center is sharp straight from the max. aperture and even stunning when stopping down. However, the borders aren’t all that hot at large apertures although at least very decent beyond f/4. Lateral CAs may be just visible without being disturbing. Distortions are usually auto-corrected either by the camera or your favorite RAW converter. However, when looking behind the scenes, you can spot higher than expected issues here – which is a bit disappointing for a pricey Zeiss lens.

DSLRmagazine (translation here) compared the new Zeiss Loxia vs the Leica Summicron:

The Leica Summicron-M shows its classical analog in nature, being the center pointer on the corners, while the Zeiss Loxia shows a more “docile” nature’s own “flat curve” of digital optics with corrections computer support.

Sony FS7 E-mount and A-mount with LA-EA4 and Speedbooster lens tests from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Dan Chung from Newsshooter is reviewing the new E-mount FS7 4K camera. He is not happy with the E-mount lenses for many reasons while A-mount lenses do work much better than expected on the FS/:

What makes Sony’s A-mount lenses different to Canon’s is that the aperture is still controlled from the body (or LA-EA adapter) via a mechanical level. Canon EOS lenses are all electronic and so without power there is no way to adjust iris. This means the A lens aperture can be controlled by a simple ‘dumb’ mechanical adapter in the same way that most Nikon lenses can. This makes them about the most suitable AF lens out there for adaptation to video.

Read the full article at Newsshooter!

Camcorder preorders:
Sony PXW-FS7 body only at BHphoto (Click here).
Sony PXW-FS7 with 28-135mm lens at BHphoto (Click here).
Sony VCT-FS7 Lightweight Rod Support System for PXW-FS7 at BHphoto (Click here).
28-135mm at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
28-135mm powerzoom in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Sony 128GB XQD Memory Card G Series 400MB/s at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony 64GB XQD Memory Card G Series 400MB/s at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony 32GB XQD Memory Card G Series 400MB/s at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

The new Zeiss 16-35mm FE lens got tested at DxOmark (Click here). And it scored the best result among the three f/4.0 wide angle zoom tested by DxOmark. It beats by a hair the Nikon 16-35mm f/4.0 lens. The only real “cons” of the lens is that it’s also the slightly more expensive of the three. But we can live with that or not? As long as results are that good!

Also Focus Numerique (translation here) tested the lens and said “Le 16-35 mm f/4 de Sony est impressionnant“. I think it’s clear for everyone what it means :)

One more thing: Worldwide shipment officially started today at Sony Canada and Amazon Japan. Check the full shipment date info here:
USA/Canada  at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US, Sony Canada.
Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Australia and Asia at Sony AUS, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.

SAR reader Mark Lee sent me this [shoplink 30140 ebay]Meike A7 vertical grip[/shoplink] overview video. Thanks a lot Mark!

You can buy the Meike grip on Amazon US (Click here), [shoplink 30140 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and Alibabaexpress (Click here).

Cool 4k timelapse videos and photos from Alpha user in Iceland and Guatemala  (part one and part two). Shot on A7r and A7s and pictures can be found on Flickr.

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Sony A7s store links: Sony A7s in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada. Sony A7s in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
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It’s time for the next great A7s reviews and work roundup! And til now I didn’t find one single reviewer hating the A7s. Quite the opposite…all do love the cam!

Josh McLeod did a full model shooting with the A7s:

Lately I seem to be shooting more and more with the Sony cameras, and the more I shoot with them the more I like them (both the A7 and A7s). I love pretty much everything about them, and for my shooting style they are pretty close to the perfect tool.

EosHD posted the second part of the A7s review:

The Sony A7S is the first camera to really beat the Canon 5D Mark III across the board at almost every level for both stills and video, especially the latter. The A7R did not have the video quality to rival the Canon, but the A7S is a different proposition altogether and raises the bar to another level, possibly signalling the end of DSLR domination in this area at the same time. I can think of no reason to shoot on stock Canon 5D Mark III video settings when you can shoot XAVC-S on the A7S.

Imaging Resource posted the second part of their A7s shooter report:

I love the shoot-anywhere-in-any-lighting capabilities with the A7S’ insane high ISO sensitivity, and the smaller 12MP images are a breeze to work with on most any computer and save a ton of space on hard drives and memory cards. Plus, the solid build and cool design make it easy and comfortable to use, and the completely silent shooting mode makes the Sony A7S great for candid street, travel and event photography.

Slow motion and low light test at Westcoastvisualfx:

Overall, I feel this camera meets and exceeds my needs allowing me to shoot in greater variety of situations more efficiently and quickly. I love the menu system, and do not mind the record button being on the right. You have to be careful with the rolling shutter, which when shooting cinematically is not a problem. The low light is so fun to play with, and I am very impressed with the slow motion. There are so many benefits to this camera over the Mark III and even the 7d Mark II (Not even release yet). I was able to switch without a problem. Oh, and it takes a pretty great photo too.

Great Chinese fireflies video shot on the Sony A7s (Youku.com with english subtitles).

Full Spanish A7s review at Quesabesde and said it’s the new “reina de la noche”…Queen of the night :)

Jeffrey sent me this: “I recently competed in Pittsburgh PA’s first ever 48 Hour Horror Film Project. It’s a film festival in which you are given certain elements to put into a film and you have 48 hours to write a script, shoot it, and edit a short movie, and my film, “RUNNER”, took the runner up prize in the festival. The reason I am telling you this is because the film was shot entirely on an a7s in a dimly lit basement and a dark park. Most of the shots in the basement were filmed with only one or two 60 watt lightbulbs to light the whole scene, and the images look great.
I would be flattered if you would be interested in sharing it on your site if you need some Halloween type content for the 31st. I’m very proud of the film, even with the few flaws it has — remember it was written, shot and edited in just two days. Also, if you do decide to use it, be sure to mention that it is a horror film, so it may not be safe for work, or for small children. Here it is: http://youtu.be/aTC9wd47ZQo”

Andy: “My team and I made a part time lapse/part urban exploration video of Miami shot with the Sony A7S, filmed entirely with just moonlight and street lights as light sources. The middle portion of the video was shot on Miami Beach under a full moon at 2 am (you can see the sequence of shots begin at the 1:06 mark of the video), and we were really stunned and satisfied with the results. Everything came out surreal, almost as if there were a green screen or dreamy backdrop against the ocean. Almost CGI like, but much more natural than CGI. I’ve included a link to view the video below. We’d really appreciate your feedback, and if you like the video, please feel free to post on your site! We’d truly be flattered! Thanks again for being such a great site! Link to video: https://vimeo.com/109654084”

Sony A7s store links:
Sony A7s in USA/CA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA, Sony Canada.
Sony A7s in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PL. And Wex UK.
A7s Gariz leather case in [shoplink 27569 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27570 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 27571 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 27572 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink].