Image courtesy: Photozone.

Two top lens review sites tested the new Zeiss 24-70mm f/4.0 FE lens. And this is what they write about the lens:

Photozone (Click here):

The Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 OSS ZA didn’t really convince us completely – not at this price point for sure. While it is a joy to use the lens thanks to its high quality finish and super smooth controls, the optical characteristics aren’t quite as impressive. Sony/Zeiss seems to follow the ugly trend of under-designing lenses based on the assumption that digital correction will fix the flaws

SLRgrear (Click here):

In terms of build quality, the Sony FE 24-70 Zeiss is excellent with an all-metal construction and that characteristic Sony and Zeiss matte black design. When it comes to image quality, however, this particular lens misses the mark. With less-than-stellar performance in sharpness, particularly in the corners at all focal lengths (and even stopped down), plus strong vignetting and distortion, the Sony FE 24-70mm ƒ/4 ZA OSS Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* didn’t meet our expectations.

As you see both reviewers are not very satisfied with the lens performance. A good lens…but not stellar as expected from a lens with a Zeiss badge on it. I hope Sony will take note of it and offer a slightly higher quality version zoom lens in future!

The Zeiss 24-70mm FE can be bought in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. And in Europe at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT (Click on country name to see the lens site).

AF-C (NEX7, A65, A6000)

You can’t have enough of A6000 autofocus test videos? So here are some newly released videos from Sony Korea!
AF-S with stopwatch (NEX7, A65, A6000): http://youtu.be/NQseRKGruRA
Adjusting settings: http://youtu.be/wscaEDaXdiU

Really, the A6000 new AF systems makes look the other cameras AF system as…crap!

Thanks “Soupnazi” for sharing these links ;)

Note: Many AR readers now received their preordered A6000 in Europe and Asia!

Sony A6000 preorder list with US and Europe links:
Sony A6000 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama, BHphoto (Click here), SonyStore (Click here). In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, AT, NL, BE, CH, FI, SE, PT, WexUK.
Silver A6000 at WexUK (Click here).
Sony A6000 with lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama, BHphoto (Click here), SonyStore (Click here), Sony Canada (Click here), WexUK (Click here).
Silver A6000 with lens at WexUK (Click here).
Sony 70-200mm FE at Amazon (CLick here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyStore (Click here). In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, AT, NL, BE, CH, FI, SE, PT

Courtesy: Tobias

SAR reader Tobias posted the full A7 ISO scale comparison on Flickr (Click here) before and after the firmware upgrade. There seems to be no noticeable difference. Another test at Talkemount (Click here) shows a major improvement on A7r JPG images taken with NR off.

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Firmware download links for A7R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Firmware download links for A7
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia

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Specs and Store Links in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Store Links in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Sony G 28-70mm lens at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

The RX10 outclasses the newly announced Nikon 1 V3!

The superb Sony RX10 just got the Gold Award at Dpreview.

While it takes quite a bit of head-scratching to figure out where the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 fits in the market, a few things are clear. First, in image quality terms, it’s the best big zoom camera on the market. Second, its video quality is top-notch, and Sony provides tools that work very well in most respects. Finally – and unfortunately – it’s very expensive, especially for a fixed lens camera.

And DxOmark tested the newly announced Nikon 1 V3 camera. Well, the 1 inch Aptina sensor used by the Nikon is quantum leaps behind the Sony 1 inch sensor used by the RX10 or RX100II.

RX10 store links:
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.

A first menu and on/off speed test after the upgrade

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The A7 and A7r firmware update is finally available. Startup time, autofocus and the quality of high ISO JPG images improved. I would greatly appreciate if someone can share an image quality comparison to see the difference. I am at work now and have no time to do a proper testing yet. Anyway, here are a couple of feedbacks from SAR readers:

UPDATE: Here is a video from Jason Perry (Instagram) showing an increased AF performance.

Rowland: “I just updated my a7, it looks like sony did a great job this time. The camera do turn on quicker(not much but quicker is better :P ), and it seems the autofoucs speed is also incresed. And for the image quality, I think the greatest change is high ISO performance, especially form 1600 to 6400, the noise is reduced and maintain more details, and the false color is reduced dramatically.”

Minipixels: “Awesome! Definitely some improvements to AF and start up time but I’m still uncertain where the “image quality improvements” are….has anybody done any in-depth comparisons??”

Roy: “A7r: Startup is now 1 sec..Much faster. AF seems faster now as i tested it with the same lens on the NEX6 and it used to be slower now it’s faster!
NEX6: my 2470Z and 55Z are both now supported byt he camera with OSS (2470) and PDAF. Previously wasn’t.. Overall, it’s an update that actually improved something..Let’s hope Sony keeps this up.”

Arne “Startup time reduced from about 4 seconds to 1. AF in challenging low contrast against backlight seems to be improved too.”

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Firmware download links:

A7R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
A7
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
NEX5R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
NEX5T
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
NEX6
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia

The following is a guest post written by Dierk topp. Please contact me (Andrea) at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com if you want to write an article to be published on SAR. Thanks!

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Test of the new Zeiss Vario-Tessar FE 4/24-79 ZA OSS on the Sony A7R

This is no professional test and was planed for my own judgment of the lens.  After looking at these images I hope, that we soon will get profiles included in the next Adobe Camera Raw!

Setup:
autofocus, tripod, horizontal control with  bubble level, IR remote control
LR 5.3 default development, export JPG 92%, sharpening for screen during export
OOC JPEG images with camera defaults (I never use JPEG out of the camera and did not adjust any settings)
focal lengths 24, 50 and 70mm, with f/4, f/5.6 and f/8
I found severe distortions in all focal lengths and apertures  in the RAW files. These distortions seem to be very good corrected in the camera JPEG with the effect, that you loose parts of the 100% image!
I added the OOC images with f/4 for these three focal lengths. EXIF is included in all images.

You find all test images in full resolution on my flickr album (Click here)
together with a set of the OSS test images, of course a complete individual result!

as example 50mm at f/4 from RAW

and OOC JPEG

P.S.: The new Zeiss 24-70mm is in Stock in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS, and in Europe at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT (Click on country name to see the lens site).