–

The Hasselblad Lunar is ready to come soon! The picture on top shows the new Lunar with the new Zeiss lens. At DC.home (Click here) you can see first image samples shot on the Lunar with the 18-55mm and Zeiss lens! And Brad Morrise (the.me) wrote a first hands-on report. In short this are his first impressions:

– Compared to the NEX-7 the the Hassy feels to have a better quality click when releasing the shutter.
-The LED and VF are the same as the NEX-7 however there is a large eyecup now installed on the viewfinder
– the knobs are now quite sharp and uncomfortable to touch, almost like touching a cheese grater.

And he ends his first review report by saying “There is no compelling reason I can see to take this camera over the NEX-7.” Obviously the camera is not made for us poor SAR readers but rather for multi millionaires whose main daily struggle is finding a new unnecessary reason to spend their money :)

The Spanish website DSLRmagazine (google translation here) is the first website posting a full lens review of the new Zeiss Touit lenses!

Zeiss 12mm f/2.8:
The graph on top shows the sharpness of the lens. And the tester says that “the performance, both in the center and in the corners is spectacular“. Also the distortion and vignetting are very well controlled and almost non visible.

Zeiss 32mm f/1.8:
Also in that case we have an absolute stellar performance: “The center and corner performance is very high from the positive maximum aperture and in fact “the curve” response reminds us of the extraordinary Carl Zeiss Sonnar T * 35mm f / 2 riding the Sony RX1.”

In short “The optical performance is the highest level we ever tested. You could say that at the moment are “state of the art” optics for CSC.”

Zeiss preorder links:
12mm f/2.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here). In Europe at FotoMundus.
32mm f/1.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here). In Europe at FotoMundus.

DCfever (translation here) is the first website showing image samples shot with the new Zeiss Touit lenses on a NEX camera (unlike previous image samples shot on Fuji X). Also Lloyd Chambers is testing the lenses on the NEX-7 but his findings can be read only by subscribers.

Zeiss preorder links:
12mm f/2.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here). In Europe at FotoMundus.
32mm f/1.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here). In Europe at FotoMundus.

DxOmark (Click here) published the full test of the brand new Sony 70-400mm zoom lens and writes that this is “one of the sharpest super-zooms for wild life photography“. The lens is alreayd shipping in Europe and Asia. According to BHphoto (Click here) the lens will ship in USA from July 17 only.

[shoplink 18223].[/shoplink]

ePhotozine (Click here) tested the camera that could be the latest APS-C with SLT tech, the A58: “Despite an increase in resolution over the Sony Alpha A37, noise is well controlled with decent results at ISO3200 and even ISO6400. Rather than seeing this as a downgraded A57, the A58 is more of an upgraded A37, and offers improved detail in images and excellent value for money.”
A58 in Stock and Price check at [shopcountry 18223].

Digitalcamerareviews (Click here) posted the full RX1 review and writes: “Obviously the RX1’s image quality is the unequivocal star and rightly so. While techies (including me) are impressed that Sony fit a full-frame sensor in such a small body, the image is what photography is all about.”

RX1 links roundup:
RX1 at [shopcountry 15824].
RX1 Gariz accessories:
1) They made a new half leather case in Black and Brown ([shoplink 16437 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).
2) The new lens cap ([shoplink 16439 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).
3) The new entry is the anti loose button(!) ([shoplink 16438 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]). Don’t know if that will be really useful for you RX1 owners. Someone has it and call it how it works? Thanks!
4) And this is the really first time I see that. A special Leather skin hood! ([shoplink 16441 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).

[shoplink 18165 ebay]

[/shoplink]
The super RX1 deal on [shoplink 18165 ebay]eBay US (only three left in Stock)[/shoplink].

–

Well known photographer Massimiliano Angeloni (Click here) tested the RX1. He wrote that the camera is only 1cm far from perfection: “That centimeter in which there should be space for the sophisticated Trufinder 2 OLED (the viewfinder), a more useful battery, a more rational dial layout with the shutter speed dial.” Max is a well known Fuji photographer that finally started to use Sony cameras thanks to the RX1. We can argue a lot about Sony’s NEX and Alpha strategy but on the RX line Sony did almost everything right with the RX100 and RX1!

UPDATE: Also EosHD (Click here) just published the full RX1 review: ” I’ve been looking for a stealthy street camera with that Henri Cartier Bresson magic for a long time and now I finally have it, without resorting to the expense of a Leica system.”

And if you argue about the RX1 price than check the tree Open Box RX1 for sale at Top Rated Seller [shoplink 18165 ebay]Beachcamera on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. And if you need a grip check out the new JB grip at Amazon US (Click here).

—-

Reminder: Here are the brand new deals that have been launched by Sony US:
NEX-7 $50 price drop at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
NEX-5r $50 price drop at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
NEX-3n $50 price drop at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Up to $400 savings on camera-lens kit at BHphoto (Click here).
6% reward on Sony E and A mount cameras at Adorama (Click here).
NEX-F3 with kit lens for $399 at Amazon (Click here).

–

DxOmark (Click here) tested the Sony A58 sensor results. It earned 74 points which puts it right in the middle between the Canon 650D (62 points) and the NIkon D5200 (84 points).

As I told you yesterday this may be the last Sony APS-C camera using a translucent mirror. Now we are all curious to se how the next APS-C A-mount camera will be!