Wild rumors: Samsung might battle Sony with new APS-C and FF sensors

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If you believe what’s reported on Korean forums like Clien.net and SLRclub things will start to get very interesting soon. Samsung is rumored to have partnered with Fuji and Ricoh-Pentax to deliver them new APS-C and FF sensors. These sensors would support H. 265 codec and cost 30% less than what you have to pay for equivalent Sony sensors.

P.S.: Rumors aside there is a fact: Samsung and Fuji have announced a partnership earlier this year. More about the Samsung sensor rumors at MirrorlessRumors.com

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Sigma 135mm f/1.8 FE review by Marc Alhadeff: “superb optics for outdoor portraits”

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Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, and Adorama.

Marc Alhadeff tested the new Sigma 135mm f/1.8 FE lens:

The Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art (1400 euros) is a superb optics for outdoor portraits. Considering the focal length and aperture, the size and weight is reasonable and much more manageable than the Sigma 85mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art

  • Sharpness is exceptional including in the corners even wide open at F1.8
  • Bokeh, background blur , color rendition are very good
  • AF its fast and silent and its efficiency is  good in general but with still some issues vs a Sony lens : expect to get 15% misses focus (tested on Sony A7RIII)
  • Ergnomics are ok but not perfect
    • no focus hold button that could have been assigned to eye Af 
    • No aperture ring which makes it less practical and more noisy for video

Alternatives

  • Zeiss Batis 135mm F2.8 (2000 Euros) Excellent lens but which does not achieve the same aperture and therefore less background blur. AF is very efficient and reliable
  • Samyang 135mm F2 AS UMC (560 euros) : excellent manual lens with excellent sharpness everywhere & very good color rendition
  • Sony 135 F1.8 GM : expected for end 2018, but expect a price higher than the 1400 for the Sigma

If you need an AF you can trust 100% , I would wait still a few months to see if the Sony will do better , if not the Sigma is a exceptional optics capable of wonderful images

 

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(SR5) Update on the Sony event: 24mm Lens announcement coming on September 20. No new camera announcement yet.

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We got an update on the new Sony E-mount Lens announcement. Today and Tomorrow Sony will have a E-mount lens hands-on meeting with journalist (see bealpha event on Instagram). But the official Lens announcement should be a bit later on Thursday September 20. This means journalists will have two days time to play with the new gear. This is a bit unexpected for Sony as they usually announce the lenses first and the hand-on reviews follow right after that.

UPDATE: Jordan Drake, Chris Niccolls, Jared Polin all other are at a Sony event in San Francisco. Note: I removed my previous Jared Polin quote as I misunderstood his msg. Sorry Jared! This is what Jared said on this poadcast.

We have been told there will be two new FE lenses:

24mm f/1.4 GM and 135mm f/1.8 GM

UPDATE: Only the 24mm GM is likely to be announced on Sept 20. The 135mm GM will be announced later!

Still no info about a possible new E-mount camera. But…:

1) I have been hinted that there might be “something else” too on Sept 20 or Sept 25 (not a camera nor a lens)
2) I have been told camera announcement is much more likely in mid October

For potential SOURCES:
If you know “something” and want to share it anonymously please use the anonymous contact form on the top right of the sidebar. Please use a nickname so that I can recognize you in future messages. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Use remailer.paranoici.org to send me an anonymous message if you prefer to do so.

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(SR5) UPDATED: Major Sony press event on Thursday September 20….expect new lenses and….

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And the big Sony week finally arrived! We can confirm Sony has a major press conference on Thursday September 20. SAR note: We updated the rumor. While journalists are invited to test the lenses on Tuesday Sept 18 the lens news will go out on Thursday 20. As soon as I have the exact announcement hour I will share it here on SAR. And there may be a video livestream I can embed too.

And now let’s recap what we can expect to see:

90% chances to get the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM
70% Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM
50% Sony High End APS-C E-mount camera. Not a A6500 successor but more of a new kind of model: Mini-A9 alike features.
50% New ASP-C E-mount lens.
20% New Sony A7sIII (4k60p, 5.6 million dot EVF, fully articulating screen)
10% New Sony A5 entry level Full Frame E-mount camera
10% Some other non-rumored surprise

So as you can see our sources are pretty sure there will be new lenses. But while we are sure the High End APS-C camera rumor is solid what it’s always difficult to say is WHEN the camera will be announced. Note that:

Sony will also have a press conference at Photokina on Sept 25 and Zeiss will announce the new Batis 40mm lens and the new FF fixed lens camera on Sept 27. Moreover there should be one more press event in mid October too!

For potential SOURCES:
If you know “something” and want to share it anonymously please use the anonymous contact form on the top right of the sidebar. Please use a nickname so that I can recognize you in future messages. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Use remailer.paranoici.org to send me an anonymous message if you prefer to do so.

For READERS:
To be sure to not miss any of the upcoming news do this:
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New Tamron 28-75mm FE reviews by TheBrotographer, Jason Vong, Jonathan Stewart and David Oastler

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The Tamron 28-75mm FE is a highly requested lens and nearly impossible to find in Stock in the USA at BHphotoAmazon, BuyDig, FocusCamera and Adorama.

Here are four new reviews to checkout:

TheBrotographer writes:

If I had to pick one lens under $1000 for the Sony E-Mount system, I’d pick the Tamron 28-75 most of the time. No, it isn’t a f/1.4 prime, but it does a fantastic job in many areas. It is a joy to film with on a gimbal with its excellent autofocus. Images coming out of the Tamron 28-75 are sharp, contrasty, and have nice colors. It comes in only $799. Yes, there are a few drawbacks, but at $1400 cheaper than its nearest competitor, those drawbacks are perfectly okay.

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for Sony FE User Experience Review – BUDGET ZOOM LENS for a7III a7RIII a7SII

Sony Zoom Shootout – G-Master v. Tamron v. G:

Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 incredible value:

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