You can now have the new Mitakon Zhongyi Creator 85mm f/2.8 1-5X Super Macro E-mount Lens at Adorama

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It’s available for preorder at Adorama (Click here).

The Mitakon was back in November:

Zhongyi Mitakon 85mm f/2.8 1-5X Super Macro Lens has a wide magnification range (from 1X to 5X) allowing photographers to capture subjects at different sizes. Users no longer need to DIY or use any extension tubes to reach high magnification shooting. The lens is also designed to have one of the longest working distance for ANY super macro lens. The closest working distance at 5x magnification is 3.93” (10cm) and 10.7” (27.2cm) at 1x magnification. This working distance is so much longer than traditional macro lenses in the market. Photographers can now start shooting macro objects without getting too close and scare them away. The extended working distance also implies lighting can get to the subjects easier. It is also more friendly to use on video shooting. This new super macro lens also has a near telecentric performance which is a big advantage when it comes to macro image stacking photography or industrial usage.

The new 1x-5x Super Macro lens incorporates a 12 elements in 8 groups structure which delivers impressive resolution from corners to corners. The chromatic aberration is also controlled to the minimum (APO design). Weighing merely 1.65 lbs (750g) and 6.7cm long, it is a perfect companion for both wildlife or indoor lab shooting. It is relatively compact in its class which allows photographers to capture extremely fine subjects or patterns with different sizes. Greater magnification can also be achieved by stacking extension tubes or bellows. The high magnification is extremely useful for scientific purposes. The lens can only be used in macro distances and cannot focus to infinity. A 58mm filter thread is also available.

The enclosure of the lens is made of metal to strengthen its durability. Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony FE, Sony Alpha, Pentax K, Sony E, Micro Four Thirds, Fuji X mounts are available.

Sample Images

5 years warranty only covers the lens but NOT the accessories (i.e. tripod collar & LED light)

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Sony newly published videos show the Xperia 1 II 5G camera UI

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As you know Sony is working hard to transfer the Alpha features on their smartphones. And I do hope the benefit will also go into the other direction: Proper smartphone touchscreen features that will find their way into future Sony A7 cameras.

Below you can find the newly published videos showing the User Interface of their new flagship Sony XPERIA 1II model:

I like how this works and can’t wait to finally get an A7x camera with this very large high resolution screen, new UI and fully functional touchscreen operations!

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via Phonearena (Thanks to the anonymous messenger)

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World’s first review of the new Meyer Optik Görlitz Trioplan 100mm F2.8 II E-mount lens

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Marc Alhadeff from SonyAlphaBlog tested the new Meyer Optik Görlitz Trioplan 100mm F2.8 II E-mount lens. This is the first lens produced by the new company OPC Optics. They acquired the bancrupt Meyer Optik in 2018. You can now preorder them at BHphoto:

Conclusion of Marc Alhadeffs review:

The Meyer Optik Trioplan 100mm F2.8 is an unusual lens that has its own signature
It will give you a unique look for portraits and flowers pictures if you can compose a scene with a subject at 1m and a noisy background at 3-10m (with some lights if you want big well defined bubble)
You can also use extension tube to do some more macro and increase the size of the soap bubble bokeh
Video results are also very nice and give a unique look

To summarise

  • Excellent build quality
  • Good sharpness wide open with low contrast requiring post processing
  • Good as of F4 with decent contrast
  • Unique soap bubble bokeh at F2.8 and very good diffuse bokeh at F4
  • Need to compose with subject at 1m and background around 3-10m to maximise effect
  • Reduced zone that will be in focus : so good for individual portrait but not for couple
  • Lot of Ghosting flare with incident light
  • Price relatively high : 1000 euros

Compared to a vintage lens it will not do better in term of sharpness , contrast, bubble bokeh and some 1st grade vintage Trioplan like the one I own are doing better

One of the main advantage of the new version is that the focusing does not change when you change the aperture, on the old one when I was closing down the aperture I had to refocus otherwise it was a little bit out of focus most of the time
But buying an old Trioplan does not give you warranty on the mechanics and expose you to more variability in term of the quality of the results (Try to find a one with the 1 in the triangle = 1st grade)At 1000 euros vs 400-700 euros for an old one , you pay for brand new mechanics, high quality manufacturing , no need of adaptor and more controlled/constant quality

Choice is yours

  • be adventurous buying an old one or
  • stay safe buying the new one ,

In both cases you will be able to experiment the Soap bubble bokeh but will require some post processing for contrast

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Our 2020 rumors were right all along: Sony officially registered the “surprise” (RX?) camera that we told you would be announced soon!

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Today Sony officially registered a new camera model with 5.1GHz Wifi (via Nokishita). This means it’s a high end model !!!

Our rumors are therefore confirmed!
We told you on May 15 that Sony plans to launch the A7sII successor and a “surprise” model in June (max early July). And indeed Sony has now registered a total of two camera featuring the 5.1Ghz module:

WW271448 (Sony Corporation of Japan and for)
WW850128 (Sony Digital Products (Wuxi) Co., Ltd, China)

UPDATE: The new High End camera might be an RX model because it has been registered by Sony China?

I got some early whispers about this “surprise” model but I need to dig more into it before I can share something with you. Anyway. it’s going to be an exciting time on SAR and if you don’t follow us on Twitter and Facebook you will be banned from SAR :)

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So far in 2020 we have a very good track on our rumors:
May 18: We leaked the first ZV1 images
May 6: We reported first about the new ZV1 launch
April 17: We leaked the Samyang 75mm specs
April 3: We leaked the Tamron 70-180mm price and market release date.
February 17: We leaked the Sony 20mm FE specs
February 13: We leaked the first Sony 20mm FE info
February 7: We leaked the Prime lens rumor

Note: The timeline of Camera rumors posted before the Covid-19 outbreak did get shifted. So if there was a rumored FF E-mount camera launch at Cp+ or Photokina this would of course be postponed by up to 6 months.

 

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