New reviews and preorders of the new stuff (A7sII, RX1rII, Loxia 21mm, Otus 28mm and Sigma 20mm).

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There will be soon new product announcements from Sony: early November for the A-mount camera and maybe earlier for the new FE lenses. But before to talk more about the future stuff I have to catch up with tests and reviews done with the newly announced cameras and lenses:

New A7sII, RX1rII, A7sII, Loxia 21mm news:
Hands-on with the Sony a7S II (Dpreview).
Loxia 21mm FE image samples by Christian Dandyk.
Sony announces new RX1R II (WexUK).
Sony’s new rx1r ii variable optical low pass filter – could the new technology eliminate aliasing and moire in video forever? (Newsshooter).
Sony RX1R Mark II: First Impressions (Planet5D).
Sony Alpha 7S II: Erster Eindruck und Fotos des High-ISO-Monsters (Photoscala).
Sony RX1R II: la compacta que querrás comprar (Quesabesde)

New RX1rII, A7sII, Loxia 21mm and Sigma 20mm store links:
Sony A7sII is now shipping in USA at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama. And in Europe/Asia at ParkCameras, WexUK, Jessops and Digitalrev.
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Nikon F mount version at BHphoto and Adorama.
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Canon EF mount version at BHphoto and Adorama.
Loxia 21mm FE lens at BHphoto and Adorama. In Europe at WexUK.
RX1rII at Bhphoto, Amazon and Adorama.

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Say hello to the Leica A7 :)

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Leica SL et objectifs

Mirrorlessrumors just leaked the first images and specs of the new Leica SL. It is the first Sony A7 competitor (mirrorless, autofocus and Full Frame). And the design somehow reminds me also of the …Sony A7 :)

The Leica SL has a 24MP sensor and costs $6900 Euro (twice the price of the A7rII and 4 times the price of the A7II). It’s certainly a niche product. But what could be a bit more interesting is that Panasonic is part of the project and delivers plenty of tech to Leica (4K video, processor, autofocus and so on). There might be a chance that sometimes in the not so distant future Panasonic will use the same mount to launch their first FF camera. And that would certainly be a worthy Sony competitor.

P.S.: Follow the Leica presentation live blogging on Mirrorlessrumors at 19:30 berlin time.

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Sony A7rII tests with firmware 2.0 (Buffer test, image quality, file size)

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Sony A7r II – Buffer Test with compressed and uncompressed RAW

Sony A7rII firmware 2.0 is out (Download here for Windows or Mac). I checked the first tests done by the community and so far that’s what people noticed when shooting uncompressed RAW images:

1) You get 80+ megabyte files
2) Buffer size is much less (You can shoot around 10 frames of RAW until you reach the limit on a fast card).
3) Image quality difference is only visible in extreme conditions (when you push files at +5EV). Artifacts in high contrast situation are gone.

More test links:
Sony A7R II Uncompressed RAW with Adobe DNG Converter (Photographylife).
Sony a7r II uncompressed raw file support in Camera Raw and Lightroom (Adobe).
First impression by Ricky Ban.
Bulletproof Guide to firmware upgrade by Brian Smith.
First comment by Diglloyd.
Comments on SonyAlphaForum.

For German readers -> [shoplink 41753 ebay]Batis 85mm in Stock at Foto Siegl eBay[/shoplink].

A7rII store list:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

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First pictures of the worldwide fastest 135mm f/1.4 Speedmaster FE lens! Costs USD 2,999!

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[shoplink 41641 ebay]Mitakon_135_FE[/shoplink]

Zyoptics (know also as Mitakon) officially announced the new crazy fast 135mm f/1.4 FE lens! This makes it the fastest Full Frame lens yet available after the [shoplink 41643 ebay]Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 A-mount lens[/shoplink].

You can preorder the lens now at zyoptics.net/product/pre-order-mitakon-speedmaster-135mm-f1-4/. The lens costs $2999 and will ship in early 2016. Only 100 pieces will be preoduced so if you want one get it now!

Source: Weibo (via Mirrorlessrumors and Xjrumo).

Low resolution image samples:

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Amazon sells a new Sony A6000 DELUXE super bundle!

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A6000deluxe

There is a new A6000 Deluxe super bundle sold directly by Amazon US (Click here).

There are also dual lens kit options with loooooot of free etxras for sale for $799 at [shoplink 41717 ebay]FocusCamera (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 41718 ebay]Buydig (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 41719 ebay]Bestbuy (Click here)[/shoplink].

Reminder:
$365 off  on the Sony FE 70-200mm lens at [shoplink 41508 ebay]GetDigital eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Grey imported with 1 year seller warranty
55mm FE for $714 at [shoplink 41509 ebay]GetDigital eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
A7rII with a $300 discount and full 3 year US valid seller warranty on [shoplink 41581 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

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Download now! Sony releases A7rII firmware with 14 Bit uncompressed RAW

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A7rII_firmware_14bit

Sony just issued firmware 2.0 for the Sony A7rII. Download links:
Windows: Sony.com, Sony Australia.
Mac: Sony.com, Sony Australia.

Those are the new features:

  • Adds the selectable feature for uncompressed 14-Bit RAW image capture
  • Adds support to output video via HDMI during use of the Remote Camera Control software (still mode only)

UPDATE: There seems to be an issue with the firmware update. If you have APS-C mode on “Auto” than once you install the firmware update you can only shoot pictures at a max resolution of 18 megapixel. You can still change the settings after the firmware update so don’t worry. But just in case you can’t take any 42MP pictures any more know it that the firmware seems to activate it as default! (Thanks Mirrorlessons for the tip).

Thanks Oliver, Mike, Craig for sharing the links!

A7rII store list:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

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New FE lenses to be shown at the School of Visual Arts in NYC on October 20?

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FE

Many Sony Artisans and Sony manager Kenta Honjo will attend the Sony mirrorless expert panel at the School of Visual Arts in NYC on Ocotber 20. So many big names usually come together when there is also some new Sony products to be announced. Keep in mind the PhotoPlus show will start the day after and we are expecting Sony to announce their new FE lenses and an updated FE lens roadmap.

Here is the official event description:

MPS Digital Photography and Sony present department chair Katrin Eismann, Sony Alpha product manager Kenta Honjo, photojournalist Ben Lowy, photographer and filmmaker Ben Moon and portrait and wedding photographer Miguel Quiles in a panel discussion on how technological developments such as the mirrorless camera have improved the quality of digital photography, reduced the size and weight of cameras and increased accessibility to photography. Moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning celebrity and portrait photographer Brian Smith.

It’s free for people to attend!

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