RX10 is the best bridge camera for CameraLabs and The.me.

We have two more new Sony RX10 reviews:

CameraLabs writes:

 the Sony RX10 is the most powerful and capable bridge camera to date, but it’s also the most expensive. So that’s the non-shocker here: pay more, get more. It’s a gamble, but on the whole I’d say it’s paid off. The RX10 is clearly head and shoulders above its bridge rivals in every respect and a compelling alternative to a DSLR or mirrorless camera for certain photographers.

The.me writes:

Again, would I buy the camera? Rather yes. Despite some quirks, I really do like this king of bridge cameras. It’s all about the Zeiss optics and a really good sensor. One camera that lets you shoot everything. Portraits, macro, the street, landscape, far away stuff. One top-notch lens.

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

Sony A7 and A7r test roundup….


The Sony A7: All About the Gear by Frederick Van Johnson

Sony’s 11+7-bit LOSSY File Compression: 32-pixel Line Artifacts Clearly Visible on Star Trails (Digglloyd).
Samyang 24mm f/1.4 Cine E-Mount on Sony A7 (Diglloyd).
The Sony A7R with Canon 17mm/4 TS-E. Architecture Dream Team (Steve Huff).
Life by the Lake: Sample Pictures from the Sony A7r Camera with FE 35mm & 24–70mm ZA Lenses (Invisiblephotographer)
Sony A7 review by Quesabesde (Spanish).
Sony A7r review by Trustedreviews.
Sony Nex 7 vs Sony A7 review: Which camera should you get? (Theinspiredeye).
French A7r test at cmp-color.
My first month with the A7-A7r at Friedmanarchives.

Peter:Just want to share a non-technical user travel test of the A7 video capabilities using 35mm 2.8 and other legacy lens. As shared on Steve Huff site and NZ tourism FB page: https://vimeo.com/84311946

David:I just got my Arca-Swiss camera plate for the Alpha 7 from Really Right Stuff. Here’s a short review: http://davidtanzer.net/rrs_arca_swiss Spoiler: It’s great. Totally recommended.

Javier:Video grabado con sony A7 + nikkor 50mm f1,8 la tomas artisticas de la entrevista, y con sony VG20 + zeiss 24mm f 1,8 la toma fija maestra y audio: http://youtu.be/tLFZGPJCEzM

Stilgar:I made some new tests between Leica M and Sony A7r with 2 R lens
R APO Telyt 180: http://stilgar-photo.blogspot.fr/2014/02/a7r-vs-m-part-08-R100APO-01US.html
R APO 100 Macro: http://stilgar-photo.blogspot.fr/2014/02/a7r-vs-m-part-08-R100APO-01US.html

Anonymous:Not a rumor but more usage of the a7 + 55mm 1.8 at a wedding. Nice pics. http://www.mikee.nu/?p=5115

Christian: I guess I am not the only photographer using NEX who toys with the idea to upgrade to the A7 or somewhere else for still better image quality and fun. I am still toothing with the question how and if to upgrade from my NEX 5N towards to the Sony A7. For this purposes, I evaluated the A7 with several lenses and also extensively with the kit lens. Many comparisons between A7 and 5N performance followed. Due to issues with the kit zoom FE2870, I had
to return the A7 kit twice.
In the end, I compiled my findings in a document “The Sony A7 from a potential NEX 5N upgraders perspective” instead of posting all on my blog, because for me, the blog has a photographic focus and adding a 9 page testing text would spoil the layout :-). I have added a link however to the 3 MB PDF file on it:
http://luxorphotoart.blogspot.de/2014/02/essay-sony-a7-from-potential-nex-5n.html
I am still undecided on the A7 and see its greatest shortcomings in the non-availability of a good quality standard zoom.

Joan:got the chance to work for two days with the Sony A7r. I asked Casanovafoto shop for the camera because I was not getting enough information on the internet about how this camera works with shift lenses. I’m an architectural photographer and these kind of lenses are my day to day. I’m planning to move from a Canon 5D mark II to a sony A7r due to the magnificient sensor of the A7r.
They have published an article I have done about the test in his blog that I think it can be interesting for you. Although it is in spanish maybe google translator can do a good job. If not, I can try to simplify the article in a few words if you are interested in publishing it.
Here’s the link:
http://www.casanovafoto.com/blog/sony-a7r-fotografia-arquitectura/
Lenses proven were Canon 17 TS-E, Canon 24 TS-E II, Olympus 35mm shift, Mamiya 50mm shift and Canon 100-400. All of them worked perfectly in absolutely all conditions. The only issue I had with the camera was the shutter vibration with the 100-400 at shutter speeds around 1/30s on a solid tripod. This is not happening with my 5D mark II with the mirror locked.

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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.

TheCameraStoreTV A6000 video review: “It’s a fantastic solid product!”

TheCameraStoreTV posted the first full (video-) review of the A6000 and has really little to complain about the camera. Even the EVF is a positive surprise despite the lower resolution! And the conclusion is quite simple, they say it’s a “fantastic solid product”.  Watch the video, it’s really worth to take 8 minutes off from your work to see it!

This is the updated 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

DSC-H300 at  Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
DSC-H400 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
DSC-HX400 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
DSC-WX350 Black at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
DSC-WX350 White at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
DSC-W800 Black at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
DSC-W800 Silver at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).

New Tamron 150-600mm lens already gets DxOmarked!

DxOmark (Click here) posted the Tamron 150-600mm lens test. They used the C-mount version but as you know there is an A-mount version too (prerder here at BHphoto). DxO confirms that this is the best superzoom they have tested to date:

If Tamron built this lens to outperform the Sigma offering then they succeeded with full frame cameras. The gain in performance over their rival’s offering is less noticeable on the APS-C cameras. Despite that, the image quality is a slight improvement over the Sigma. Given the longer range and similar price, it’s a pretty impressive achievement. 

The Tamron even outperforms the pricier Canon lens on the full frame Canon EOS 5D Mk III though it’s less convincing when compared with the Canon EOS 7D. There’s likely too little in it to switch but for first-time buyers the new Tamron is attractive proposition.

Great lens!

Slrgear tests the 35mm FE: “Another triumph of sharpness for Sony”.

SLRgear tested the Zeiss 35mm FE lens and writes:

Optically, this lens is a stellar performer, as many Zeiss lenses are, with very sharp images on both the new full-frame cameras as well as sub-frame Sony cameras. Other factors like chromatic aberration and distortion are practically nonexistent with this lens, but there is some vignetting and a minor amount of corner softness, particularly on full-frame cameras at wider apertures — a pretty small price to pay for outstanding performance otherwise.

Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS T* Review at ePhotozine.
Sony E 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS Lens Review at ePhotozine.
Zeiss 55mm lens tested at SonyAlphaLab.
Sony FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* Lens – First Impressions at Soundimagesplus.

P.S.: SLRgear title via Imaging Resources partner site.

Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT

Sony A7r review at DPreview.

Dpreview (Click here) posted the full Sony A7r review. The camera earns a Gold Award:

Creating a high-resolution full-frame mirrorless camera that’s reasonably portable was inspired. That Sony was careful to craft lenses that are not only of sufficient quality for 24.7MP but equally stunning at 36.3 essentially mitigates the current lack of quantity in native FE lenses. If Sony intends to maintain this kind of quality as the lens selection grows, their full-frame mirrorless line promises to be a premium camera system indeed.

Well, now it’s only up to Sony to deliver more FE lenses as fast as they can and to fix some of the A7-A7r quirks by continually updating the firmware (learn from Fuji!). If they do that than yes, they could become serious Canon-Nikon competitors!

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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.

New 35mm, 24-70mm and 28-70mm FE lens reviews.

Zeiss 24-70mm FE lens. Image courtesy Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve (Click here) tested the Zeiss 24-70mm lens and has mixed feelings about it:

From the perspective of a people/reportage photographer I think it is a decent  but pricey lens. Looking from the perspective of a landscape photographer I am somewhat disappointed:
From 24-60mm most of the frame is super sharp from f/4, at 70mm you should stop it down to f/5.6 for really good results.
OSS, AF, the light weight and the useful zoom range make it a really handy lens which will give good results for most applications
From about 28mm to 60mm the performance is quite good, most of the image is super sharp from f/4 and the corners are sharp stopped down. The corners aren’t as sharp as those of some of my better primes but they are good enough in my eyes. The corners at around 24mm are lousy. Period. I don’t mind if corners aren’t sharp at f/4 as I am shooting at f/8 or f/11 anyway, but they never get sharp.

Our friends over at Photozone (Click here) tested the Zeiss 35mm FE lens. In short, the mechanical quality is top, the optical quality is high (with few flaws) and the only real flaw is the…high price.

Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS Review at Photographyblog and writes:

The Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS is a very competent, if unspectacular, standard zoom lens for the Sony A7R/A7 full-frame compact system cameras.