Sometimes it’s worth reading a new report about an OLD camera. Do we always need the latest and greatest to create beautiful works?

The first Sony A7 camera was announced in October 2013. In 11 years, the body has grown in size and compared with the new Sony a1II it is now:

• 2,5mm taller
• 9,2mm wider
• 24,7mm thicker (mainly due the larger grip)
• The A7 weight was 474g while the Sony a1II weight is now 658g

Image courtesy: CameraSize

Bill Claff from PhotonsToPhotos measured the dynamic range of the new Sony A1II. Ther are a few minor differences:

• Dynamic range is improved across the board by around 0,2-0,3 stops
• High Conversion Gain moved from ISO 500 to ISO 640

Sony A1II at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia.
Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia.

Now that the new gear is in Stock and shipping we are seeing more reviews of the production models:

Sony A1II at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia.
Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia.

Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM is in Stock for the first time at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy.

Lenstip tested the new Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM and concluded:

In a nutshell the Sony FE 28-70 mm f/2 GM test showed that you get here an outstanding 2/50 standard lens along with three very good, momentarily even excellent 2/28, 2/35, and 2/70 primes in just one instrument.
Of course you have to remember that you deal here with a big and heavy zoom lens, although Sony tried their best to make it easier to handle and to use than the rival Canon device.

Still, if you wanted to get almost exactly the performance offered by the Sony you would have to buy as many as four primes. There is also another problem – no producer has 2/28, 2/35, 2/50, and 2/70 models in their line-up although it seems Sigma is the closest to that goal, offering you in their C line the following lenses. It’s easy to add up their weight – it would amount to 1440 grams so over half a kilo more than the weight of the tested Sony model.

And this is ProAvs take on the new lens:

Sony A1II at  BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia.
Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia.

Becca Farsace explains why Sony needs to launch a new 1-inch R100 camera model. Personally I don’t know if Sony will ever do this. First of all they have the ZV-1 lineup that is probably the true replacement for this series.If anything, I think a new model in the Sony RX1 full-frame series is needed more. Do you agree with my opinion or do you lean more towards Becca?

SonyAlphaBlog tested the new Samyang 35mm f/1.4 FE lens and concluded:

The Samyang 35mm f1.4 AF Prima (600 euros) is an upgraded version from the Samyang 35mm F1.4 AF II (700 euros). it is cheaper, lighter, more compact, a bit sharper but has downgraded ergonomics
Overall image quality is very good to excellent (on 33Mpix sensor) , color rendering, bokeh, background blur are very good. Improvement points are the sharpness wide open on 61Mpix, level of CA , Resistance to flare , Vignetting

And this is Artur’s review of the lens: