Allan Weitz tested the Kipon E-mount lenses and writes:
KIPON manual-focus lenses are built far better than your typical kit lens and are capable of capturing photographs you can be proud of without breaking the bank.
Preorders for the new Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 are now open at BHphoto, Adorama, Focuscamera. In Europe at Calumet Germany and Wex UK.
Fengniao published a long set of unboxing pictures for the new Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 E lens. Here are three images:
Sigma 24-70mm FE lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Calumet DE, FocusCamera. WexUK
Opticallimits reviewed the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 FE lens and concluded:
The Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN ART shows many of the strengths and weaknesses of a fast standard zoom lens. Don’t take this as something negative – it’s just how it is. In real life you can expect perfectly sharp results across the image frame at medium aperture settings. At large apertures, the center is ultra-sharp specifically at the wide end but the corners aren’t stellar – which is something that you can usually forgive in shallow depth-of-field scenes. That’s on high-megapixel cameras. On a 24mp camera, you won’t really notice much softness really. Image distortions as well as vignetting are heavy at 24mm but image auto-correction will take care of this (mostly). Lateral CAs are quite low whereas axial CAs are on the high side. A very positive surprise is the quality of the bokeh. Standard zoom lenses are rarely ideal in this respect but the Sigma is as good as most prime lenses in this respect.
Following Sigma’s ART line tradition, the build quality is excellent. The materials are top-notch and there’s no wobbling to worry about. The lens is also sealed against the elements (dust- & splash-proof). If anything to criticize, it’s the extending zoom mechanism but none of the manufacturers has managed to fix this aspect so far. The AF speed is pretty good but remains a little short of the best in class. Needless to say but the camera plays an important role in this respect as well.
If you are in the market for a fast standard zoom lens, the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN ART probably qualifies as the most reasonable choice – especially if you are targeting shallow depth-of-field photography and a quality bokeh.
Sony A7c at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon, FocusCamera. Calumet DE. Foto-erhardt DE. Fotokoch DE. Wex UK. Park UK.
ePhotozine tested the new Sony A7C and concluded:
Yes, the Sony Alpha A7C gives great image quality, as well as high-quality video. But there are other cameras that offer 4K at 60fps (and don’t have an annoying NTSC/PAL switch to change frame rates). More importantly, we think that other cameras, with a more traditional “DSLR” style design, offer much better handling. We’re also left with disappointment due to Sony not including the updated menu system that can be found in the A7S III.
But to try and end on a positive, the Sony Alpha A7C is a compact full-frame mirrorless camera, that is capable of producing great looking photos, and could be just what someone is looking for. Sony certainly seems to think so.
Here are two new video reviews:
Preorders:
Sigma 24mm f/3.5 at BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera.
Sigma 35mm f/2.0 at BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera.
Sigma 65mm f/2.0 at BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera.
Sigma 65mm f/2.0 unboxing pics at Fengniao:
Sigma 35mm f/2.0 unboxing pics at Fengniao.
Jordan and Chris named the Best and Worse gear of the year:
Best Lenses:
Best Hybrid Camera:
Best Stills Camera:
Worst Lenses:
Worst Camera:
The new Meike 50mm f/1.2 FE lens is now in Stock at Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT and Amazon FR.
A first review has been posted by Marc Alhadeff:
The Meike 50mm F1.2 (300 euros) is a nice 50mm that you will choose for its dreamy atmosphere at F1.2 and for the possibility to get tack sharp images as of F2.8. Compared to traditional 50mm F1.4, it will give you a smoother background blur at all apertures but will maybe be a little bit less sharp at F1.4 vs 50mm F1.4 competitor
