The best lenses for your NEX7 according to DxOmark.

After the A99 DxOmark (Click here) also published the list of best lenses for the Sony NEX-7. The best prime is the 50mm f/1.8 (it beats the Zeiss lenses too!) and the best zoom is the 10-18mm wide angle zoom. It’s interesting to read that conclusion from DxO:

“Designing lenses smaller than their retro-focus equivalents remains a challenging prospect, however, Sony has introduced a couple of ‘pancake’ type primes and compact zooms that perform well. The range also includes several high-performance primes, although image quality assessment based on the 24-Mpix Sony NEX-7 means that sharpness scores aren’t quite as expected. Whether that’s due to the limitations of current lens designs only time will tell.”

I hope more quality lenses will be announced along the next NEX-7 successor coming in late August!

Zeiss 50mm in Stock at Adorama (and first owners feedback). Bower TS also in Stock.

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The new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 SSM lens is right now in Stock and shipping at Adorama (Click here) and on their [shoplink 19371 ebay]eBay store (Click here)[/shoplink]. Another new lens is in Stock, the Bower Tilt Shift lens at BHphoto (Click here).

And here is the first feedback from SAR readers:

Anonymous: “There are many samples at the topic here http://sony-club.ru/showthread.php?t=63681&page=43“.

Joel: “Received the new Sony Zeiss SAL50F14Z today.  It did not come with the usual premium lens case.  No lens case at all.  That was quite a big disappointment for such a lens with a premium price.  Is this how Sony hopes to shore up their digital imaging business?”

Jonathan: “Just received my SAL5014Z.  The AF-D focus option is not available when using the new Zeiss 50mm on the a99 body.  I suspect it’s because each lens, in order to work with that feature, requires firmware specific to that lens.  It’s hard to imagine Sony releasing this premium lens without a plan to upgrade the firmware on the a99, to make it fully functional with the new 50mm.  So, let’s keep our eyes out for that new a99 firmware update.”
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All Sony deals of the day at DealsRunner.com.

DxOmark test: The best primes and zoom for your Sony A99.

DxOmark (Click here) tells you which lens is the best for your Sony A99. I guess none here will be surprised to see the Zeiss lenses on top:

Primes:
The Sony Planar 85mm lens wins easily. It will be curious to see if the new Zeiss 50mm lens (in Stock now at Adorama) can match or even surpass the Planar.

Zooms:
The Zeiss 24-70mm lens wins. But the other zooms are pretty close (see table on the bottom of this post)

Note:
Too bad DxO had no time to test Samyang lenses. I suspect they are pretty close to the Zeiss lenses.

Price check:
Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 at [shopcountry 19367] Zeiss 24-70mm at [shopcountry 6050]

RX100MII sells very well! And new test roundup.

According to Amazon overall camera Ranking (Click here) the preorders on the new RX100MII are very. Obvioulsy the RX1R is a niche product and cannot be foudn in the top 100. By the way, both cameras got a new shipping date. According to Amaozn the RX100MII (message) and the RX1R (message here) will now ship on July 27 (previoulsy it was July 14). And there is another message on the product page: “Visit amazon.com/camera on 7/1 at 10 a.m PST for an exclusive preview of these new Sony cameras. Submit your questions via Twitter with #Sonylive.”

New RX1R and RX100MII tests:
1) Luminous Landscape erroneously writes “RX1N” instead of “RX1R”. According to them: “There is a difference. The Rx1N is sharper. But as with the Nikon 800e vs the 800, the difference is very small. In fact, my experience is that only in direct on-screen side-by-side comparisons at 100% magnification is that difference really noticeable. ”
2) Focus Numerique (Google translation here) tested the RX100MII and they say that up to ISO 400 there is no image quality gain over the RX100. Only at High ISO you see slightly better results but the difference is minimal.
3) The German Photoscala (Google translation here) tested both RX cameras. The say the RX100MII delivers an “almost” DSLR image quality. And the sharpness gain on the RX1R is negligible and not visible in real world shots.
4) And there is even a Greek review at Authority.gr (google translation here). It has been written by SAR reader Vangelis. Thanks!

Here is the updated preorder list:
RX1 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, Sonystore US, Sony Canada, Sony Deutschland, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Spain.
RX100MII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, Sonystore US, Sony Canada, Sony Deutschland, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony Italy, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Spain.
Sony HVL-F43M TTL flash at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sony VFA-49R1 Filter Adapter for the for RX-100 & RX-100M2 & RX-1R at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sony AG-R1 Attachment Grip for RX-100 & RX-100M2 & RX-100M2 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sony Premium Leather-Like Jacket Case for RX-100 & RX-100M2 at Adorama.

Both Zeiss Touit NEX lenses get tested on DxOmark.

DxOmark (Click here) just published the full Zeiss Touit lens tests. They write:

“The two new Touits from ZEISS live up to our expectations. On the Sony NEX-7, both lenses are very good indeed, excellent even, but the high price is likely to give potential purchasers pause for thought. “

The lenses are in Stock…
in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
and in Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex Uk, Amazon FR.

Closer look on the RX1R and RX100R image quality. And full US, Canada, UK, and Europe pricing and preorder list.

noise performance graph by Techradar.

 

Finally we have pricing and preorders options for Canadians and Europeans too. Here is the updated preorder list:
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RX1 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, Sonystore US, Sony Canada, Sony Deutschland, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Spain.
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RX100MII at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, Sonystore US, Sony Canada, Sony Deutschland, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony Italy, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Spain.
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Sony HVL-F43M TTL flash at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sony VFA-49R1 Filter Adapter for the for RX-100 & RX-100M2 & RX-1R at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sony AG-R1 Attachment Grip for RX-100 & RX-100M2 & RX-100M2 at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sony Premium Leather-Like Jacket Case for RX-100 & RX-100M2 at Adorama.

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Image quality:

Sony RX1:
It’s Dpreview (Click here) that gives us a good idea of how much sharpness you gain with the absence of the Anti Aliasing filter on the RX1R. They write:

“The RX1R does seem to offer a genuine (albeit not enormous) increase in resolution over the RX1.”

As you can see from their comparison you gain a little sharpness. Certainly not reason enough to switch to the RX1R if you already own the RX1.

Sony RX100MII:
Techradar (Click here) is the first website having published a full camera review. They write:

“We were excited to test out the Sony RX100 Mark II’s new backlit sensor, and both our labs results and real-world samples indicate that Sony has made some significant improvements to the performance of the sensor, making it an incredibly useful camera to use in low light.”

Imaging Resource: Example of RX100 (image here) vs RX100MII (image here).
Sample Gallery at Dpreview.
The RX100MII definitely shows a better image quality!