Tamron announces the launch of a close-focusing fixed focal lens on January 30

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Today Tamron  informed the new 20mm FE prime lens will start shipping out on January 30. Still no info about the 70-180mm f/2.8 FE shipment start but I guess we will have to wait a couple of months more before we get that one too :(

All links to the new Tamron FE primes:
Tamron 20mm  f/2.8 at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto.
Tamron 24mm  f/2.8 at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto.
Tamron 35mm  f/2.8 at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto.

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Tokina 85mm f/1.8 FE autofocus lens officially announced!

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You can preorder it now at BHphoto and Adorama. In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.

Press Text:

Kenko Tokina announces release of the NEW atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE
New Series, New optics, New look – The atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE lens for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras.

Huntington Beach, CA, January 17, 2020: Kenko Tokina, Japan’s leading manufacturer of premium camera accessories, is releasing the Tokina atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE lens for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras. It is the debut lens for Tokina’s atx-m series of mirrorless lenses that will include lenses for multiple mounts and sensor formats.

The atx-m 85mm f1.8 FE lens features a clean design with high quality optics housed in a beautifully anodized, semi-satin black metal lens barrel. The fast f/1.8 aperture is perfect for portraits, low light shooting and produces beautiful bokeh.

The optical design has 10 glass elements in 7 groups including 1 SD (Low Dispersion) lens that offers excellent resolution, sharp edge-to-edge results, and well controlled chromatic aberrations. Tokina’s exclusive Super Low Reflection Multi-coating provides natural color and excellent contrast along with superior water, oil, and dust repellant properties.

The new ST-M auto-focus motor is quiet, fast, and accurate in still and video modes and thanks to an all-metal focus unit and high-quality lubricants; manual focus is tactile, smooth and precise.

The atx-m 85mm FE is developed and manufactured in accordance with Sony-licensed specifications and communicates all required data to the camera to take full advantage of the latest Sony features including 5-axis image stabilization, Face/Eye Priority AF, Real-time Eye AF, MF assist, and electronic distance scale.

“This is a very exciting new lens series for Tokina” says Yuji Matsumoto, President at Kenko Tokina USA. “The mirrorless camera market continues to expand and the atx-m series will address the needs of photographers using different camera mounts and sensor sizes.”

Worldwide sales of the Tokina atx-m 85mm f/1.8 FE lens will begin on February 7, 2020 with authorized Tokina USA retailers taking pre-orders January 17, 2020. Estimated USA Street Price of $499.00

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Sony releases firmware updates for the Sony A9II, 24mm GM and 135mm GM

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Today Sony released firmware updates on three E-mount products:

Sony A9II (download fw 1.01 here). Benefits and improvements:

  • FTP transfer can be started earlier after shooting pictures
  • Improves the overall stability and performance of the camera:
    • Corrects a specific condition where the camera can sometimes turn off when playing back RAW images
    • JPEG Image quality is more consistent when shooting under specific conditions

Sony 24mm f/1.8 GM (download fw 02 here). Benefits and improvements:

  • Improved aperture response when the lens is attached to the ILCE-9, ILCE-9M2 and ILCE-7RM4 camera models.
  • “Focus Priority” can be selected from the “Aperture Drive in AF” menu when the lens is attached to an ILCE-9 camera (with firmware version 6.00 or later).

Notes:

  • It is not possible to execute the lens firmware procedure with the following E-mount cameras: NEX-5, NEX-3, NEX-C3, NEX-VG10, PXW-FS7.
  • When using the PXW-FS7M2, follow the steps as specified in the instruction manual.

Sony 135mm f/1.4 GM (download fw 02 here). Benefits and improvements:

  • Improved aperture response when the lens is attached to the ILCE-9, ILCE-9M2 and ILCE-7RM4 camera models.
  • “Focus Priority” can be selected from the “Aperture Drive in AF” menu when the lens is attached to an ILCE-9 camera (with firmware version 6.00 or later).

Notes:

  • It is not possible to execute the lens firmware procedure with the following E-mount cameras: NEX-5, NEX-3, NEX-C3, NEX-VG10, PXW-FS7.
  • When using the PXW-FS7M2, follow the steps as specified in the instruction manual.

 

 

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WILD RUMOR: Reports from Thailand say the A7IV will have a fully articulating LCD screen?

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poorly photoshopped (LOL) A7III body with fully articulating screen

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A person who claims “to be close” to the Sony factory in Thailand reports that the A7IV will have a fully articulating LCD screen:

“Sony a7IV has full articulate screen, spec same as III no improvement, more like basic model for vloggers.”

This is the first time I heard about this so it might be complete BS. But this is the kind of wild rumor I hope it will become true. It’s something like seven years now the Sony community is asking for this to happen!!!

More reliable rumor talk:
Just last week I posted the rumor from a source who told me Sony will launch a new camera and new handle soon. Well yesterday Sony announced the GP-VPT2BT handle so this gives us a fair chance that indeed Sony will have a new camera on market by March. The A7III has been announced two years ago at the Cp+ show. So this would fit the timeline. But this is only a guess for now and I got no evidence or reliable rumor confirming this now.

Let’s guess the possible A7IV specs:
I presume Sony will take a very conservative approach. Which means: Expect the A7rIV body and features with an “Upgraded” 24MP sensor. Well, adding a fully articulating screen would be at least one positive surprise…

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Rumor ranking explained:
I now post only  two kind of rumors:

RUMOR: Marks rumors that  are somehow more solid and likely to be true
WILD RUMOR: Marks rumor that are from anonymous and first time sources. We post them just for the sake of fun and clickbait of course  :)

Note: Please hold me accountable for the “RUMOR” and not for “WILD RUMOR”  :)

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