Yongnuo confirms they are working on a new FE autofocus lens that might be announced in March!

Yongnuo confirmed they are working on making new Sony FE autofocus lenses. The issue they are having now is to improve the autofocus accuracy. Here is the accurate translated text from our reader Jay Sun (Thanks!):

“Yongnuo will release new E/FE mount lenses before the Chinese New Year.”
“Sure, but why? Working out all the kinks is far more important than early release. Thanks all for your patience. Just give us a little more time and we will certainly release E/FE lenses soon.”

In a second message hidden within the comments they made a hint about a possible announcement in March when answering a question about the possible release time:

But it’s unclear if they will only shows some prototypes or if the lens development will be finished by March.

Yongnuo currently has a bunch of autofocus lenses for Canon and Nikon on sale here on Amazon US and BHphoto.

Competition: Panasonic S camera and lens specs leaked

Tomorrow (Feb 1) at 11:00am you should follow L-rumors.com live-blogging if you are interested to learn everything there is to know about the new Panasonic S Full Frame mirrorless competition. Below you can find the specs and images leaked so far. But here are my quick considerations:

PROS in  (base on pure leaked tech specs)
– Dual IS seems to be more effective than the Sony IS
– Has 4k60p
– superb 5.76 million dot EVF (actually made by Sony!)
– three way LCD
– better weatherproofing and solid build quality

CONS in  (base on pure leaked tech specs)
– Expensive!!!
– no fast zooms at start
– Big lenses!
– heavy cameras compared to Sony
– no phase detection autofocus doesn’t promise Sony alike performance
– did I say it’s damn expensive? :)

Specs:

LUMIX S1R

  • 47.3 million pixels Full size sensor · Low pass filter less
  • 5-axis hand vibration reduction within the body with 5.5 steps of effect
  • Dual IS 2 with 6 stages of effect
  • 4K 60p / 50p video
  • Sequential shooting performance: 9 frames / second (AFS), 6 frames / second (AFC)
  • 6K photo at 30 frames per second and 4K photo mode at 60 frames / sec
  • 5.76 million dot EVF
  • The finder magnification can be adjusted from 0.78 times to 0.74 times or 0.7 times
  • Movable rear liquid crystal with 2.1 million dots
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Picture of 187 million pixels (16,736 x 11, 168) can be created using high resolution mode
  • Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology Detecting Humans, Cats, Dogs and Birds
  • Size: 148.9 x 110.0 x 96.7 mm
  • Weight: 898 g
  • Overseas price: Body 3, 399 GBP, lens kit 4, 199 GBP  (rough conversion of the body price in Dollars is $4500. But keep in mind US price is usually much lower due to different taxation. SO it’s probablt $3999 in the USA)

LUMIX S1

  • 24.2 Million Pixels Full Size Sensor
  • Maximum standard ISO 51.200
  • It can create 96 million pixels (12,000 x 8,000) images using high resolution mode
  • Size: 148.9 x 110.0 x 96.7 mm
  • Weight: 899 g
  • Overseas price: Body 2, £ 199 GBP, lens kit 2, 999 GBP (converted it’s $2800 but more likely to be “$2499”)

LUMIX S PRO 50 mm F 1.4

  • Lens construction: 13 groups of 11 lenses (2 aspheric lenses and 3 ED lenses included)
  • Minimum shooting distance: 0.44 m
  • Number of diaphragm blades: 11
  • Filter diameter: 77 mm
  • Size: φ 90 x 130 mm
  • Weight: 955 g
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Overseas price: 2,299 GBP (around $3,000 but real US price will be lower due to different tax system)

LUMIX S 24 – 105 mm F4 Macro OIS

  • Lens construction: 13 groups 16 pieces (including 2 aspheric lenses and 2 ED lenses)
  • Minimum shooting distance: 0.3 m
  • Maximum shooting magnification: 0.5 times
  • Filter diameter: 77 mm
  • Size: φ 84 x 118 mm
  • Weight: 680 g
  • Dual IS 2 compatible
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Overseas price: 1,299 pounds (around $1,700 but real US price will be lower due to different tax system)

LUMIX S PRO 70-200 mm F4 OIS

  • Lens construction: 23 groups in 17 groups (1 aspherical lens and 3 ED lenses included)
  • Minimum shooting distance: 0.92 m
  • Number of diaphragm blades: 9
  • Filter diameter: 77 mm
  • Size: φ 84.4 x 179 mm
  • Weight: 985 g
  • Dual IS 2 compatible
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Overseas price: 1,749 GBP (around $2,300 but real US price will be lower due to different tax system)

Click on images to enlarge:

Competition making their moves: Canon EOS-RP(?) and Panasonic S1-S1R

In February we will get new Full Frame mirrorless cameras from the competition:
Panasonic:
The image on top shows the production ready S1 with the 24-105mm f/4.0 lens. This new Full Frame Mirrorless will be announced long the S1R and two more S lenses on Jan31-Feb1. Full specs can be read at L-rumors.com.
The one “special” thing the S1R can do is take 187 Megapixel High Resolution images in multi-shot mode.
Canon:
CanonWatch got word about a new Canon announcement on Feb 14. There are rumors about a possible new “EOS-RP” camera. I have no idea what this camera is and what the name stands for…maybe they intended “EOS-RIP“? :)
 

(SR5) Sony will announce a new E-mount mirrorless “in the first half of 2019”

Today Sony registered a new camera code which is 99% likely to become the new RX0. But Nokishita added one more info. Sony will announce a new E-mount mirrorless camera “in the first half of 2019”

From the info I gathered this is highly unlikely to be the new Sony A7sIII. Top candidate so far is the new High End APS-C camera which for now we love to name “A7000”. And if you still think a professional APS-C camera is just a phantasy please don’t forget that Sony confirmed it in this Dpreview interview:

“APS-C cameras for professional use must exist.“

But of course nothing is confirmed. I don’t think A7III and A7rIII will be replaced soon. If it’s not the A7sIII and not the A7000 I don’t know what it could be else…

To recap what we heard so far:
SR5: Sony RX0II to be announced within the next 2-3 months
SR5: New APS-C E-mount mirrorless camera coming within June
SR4: New E-mount lens announcement in February (probably 135mm f/1.8 GM and another lens).

–

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