Sony Tidbits…

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Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens 1st Impression (feat. Canon 24mm f/1.4L)

Sony A7S II Review at Photographyblog.
Hands-On with the Sony RX1R II Full-Frame Compact Camera (Popphoto).
Long review in video and french of the A7rII (SonyAlphaForum).
Any way to speed up focus when vintage primes are on a7II? (SonyAlphaForum)
Sony A6000 Short Film “Imagination” (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony A7rII vs Phase One IQ160 by Photogy on Youtube.

Gary: “http://www.f8photography.com.hk/blog/2015/11/20/apec2015. I used only Sony A7RII and A7SII to shoot exclusive images ‘behind the scenes’ at APEC 2015 of 20 Heads of State. The Sony cameras were perfect for this job with great low light capability and small size for discretion when working in close proximity to these VVIPs.”

Derrick: “This is first 4K Pregnant Video using Sony A7R II from our team. https://vimeo.com/147101024”

Sebastian: “I thought I could at least contribute at least a little:
There are currently some A7R and A7S available in Switzerland for as low as CHF1498.-! -> http://www.fotopro.ch“

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Sony A7 superdeal at BHphoto: $898 only thanks to $100 gift card!

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SonyA7

Thanks to an extra free $100 gift card the “virtual” price of the Sony A7 is $898 only at BHphoto (Click here). Yes, quite amazing you get a new Full Frame camera for $898 only. How much could a future A5 FF compact body with EVF cost? $700?

All current Sony Christmas deals:

$200 gift card from Amazon US:
There is a new “hidden” Black Friday deal offer: You get $200 off on all major Sony cameras  if you click on that Amazon link (Click here) and use the code “CAMERAGIFT” at checkout. Here are the detailed Instructions: http://amzn.to/1lLDni1
Plenty of photo accessory Gold Box deals at Amazon US (Click here).

Sony A6000:
$50 gift card on the A6000 superbundle sold by FocusCamera (Click here).
Free extras and an additional $50 gift card for free with the A6000 double lens kit sold at Adorama (Click here).
$150 off on the Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Camera w/ 55-210mm Lens & Acc kit at BHphoto (Click here).
$230 off on the Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless l Camera w/ 16-50mm Lens & Acc Kit at BHphoto (Click here).
Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera – Body only Deluxe Bundle at Amazon US (Click here).

Sony A7rII and A7II:
Free $200 gift card and free Metabones Smart adapter with the A7rII sold by BHphoto (Click here).
Sony a7R II Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, Body Only Deluxe Bundle at Amazon US (Click here).
2% reward and free extras with the A7II sold by BHphoto (Click here).

RX100m4:
Free $100 gift card with the RX100 IV at BHphoto (Click here).

Full Frame E-mount lenses:
$100 off on the 24-240mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Camera Hotlink deals at Adorama (Click here).
$80 off on the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

APS-C E-mount lenses:
$50 off on the 50mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 35mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 10-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the lens 30mm macro at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$150 off on the 18-200mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 18-200mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$200 off on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.

A-mount lenses:
 $50 off on the 11-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 16-105mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 24mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 30mm macro lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 35mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 50mm DT lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-300mm II lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 85mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 100mm macro lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 135mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.

Upt to $300 off on Sigma A-mount lenses:
 $250 off on the 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$250 off on the 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$300 off on the 105mm F2.8 DG OS Macro HSM at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$250 Instant rebate on the 17-50mm F2.8 DC /OS at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
50mm f/1.4 ART for $849 at Amazon and Bhphoto.
Save $370 on the Tamron 150-600mm A-mount lens sold by [shoplink 42888 ebay]BuyDig on eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink]. Add the $120 mail in rebate and you pay $699 only.

Hasselblad:
Huge savings on the Hasselblad Lunar and Stellar Sony camera clones at BHphoto (Click here).

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Sony A7rII vs Phase One IQ160 battle. A7rII review by Photographylife.

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On the video above Epicmind compares the A7rII vs the Phase One IQ160. Watch it to hear who wins.

And Nasim Mansurov from Photographylife posted his detailed A7rII review:

After having a pleasant shooting experience with the camera, I wondered how good Sony’s new BSI sensor would look when compared to both the D810 and the 5DS R. To my surprise (and as you can see from the previous pages of this review), the Sony A7R II demonstrated superb performance at handling noise at high ISOs, easily surpassing both cameras. In my past evaluations, Sony full-frame cameras always fell short when put head-to-head against Nikon DSLRs, so I did not expect the A7R II to do better either. But looks like the BSI CMOS sensor that Sony decided to utilize on the A7R II was the right choice, as the performance speaks for itself. Not only does it deliver exceptionally good ISO performance, but it also does it with more megapixels than the D810 and a far better dynamic range performance than the Canon 5DS R.

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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This week SAR readers photos selection.

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Bildschirmfoto 2015-12-05 um 17.08.25
Neuert on SonyAlphaForum.
South Iceland with Sony A7, Zeiss Batis 2/25mm and Voigtländer 4.5/15mm Heliar III

1) Submit your picture with a message and picture here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors or on the SonyAlphaForum image section.
2) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors/photos_stream?tab=photos and on SonyAlphaForum.
3) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Note: When sending a pic feel free to also add a link to your site to promote yourself!

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Gariz now offers a full special “Alcantara” product range (sweat proof for photographers)

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[shoplink 38169 ebay]A7rII_Gariz_alcantara[/shoplink]

The Korean company Gariz is so far the only one offering cases and straps in Alcantara material. They are quickly expanding the product range and this is a roundup of their actual products. I highly recommend their [shoplink 38169 ebay]Alcantara made products[/shoplink] over the Leather version for the following reasons:
– It doesn’t make you sweat.
– Increased durability and stain resistance over leather.
– It feels like leather but it is not.

1) Gariz A7II and A7rII Alcantara half case
on eBay in [shoplink 39094 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39095 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink].
on Amazon US (Click here).

2) Gariz Alcantara Hand Strap:
on eBay in [shoplink 39087 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39088 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink].
on Amazon US (Click here).

3) Gariz Alcantara Neck Strap:
on eBay in [shoplink 39090 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39089 ebay]Red stitching (Click here)[/shoplink].
on Amazon US (Click here).

4) Gariz Alcantara Super Car Leather Wrist Strap Black/Red Color:
on eBay in [shoplink 39092 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 39093 ebay]Red stitching (Click here)[/shoplink].

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New Zeiss Batis reviews by PcMag, John Sison, Chad Wadsworth and Otto Schulze

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Carl Zeiss 25mm F2 Batis Lens Review by John Sison

PcMag tested the 85mm Batis and writes:

The Zeiss Batis 85/1.8 is a near-perfect lens, at a price that’s well shy of the company’s manual focus Otus line. It’s tack sharp from corner to corner, even at f/1.8, captures a heck of a lot of light, and draws wonderful portraits with a very shallow depth of field. The only real complaint is the pincushion distortion that it exhibits, and that’s something that’s easily corrected on a computer. If you’re in want of a prime lens in this focal range for your Sony mirrorless system, and you put an emphasis on portrait and general photography, look no further.

Chad Wadsworth writes:

The a7R II/Batis combination was simply praise worthy – it focused quickly and accurately, producing razor sharp images with pleasing bokeh.

Otto Schulze writes:

Yes, the Otus just in terms of sheer IQ wins but I was surprised by how close the Otus and the Batis were in pure IQ. Add to that equation the size difference and addition of fast and quiet AF and I have an absolute winner for my destination wedding work. And the 25mm Batis met all my needs on the other end of the spectrum as well. Just superb!

quick test between the Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 and the Sony FE 28mm f/2 on Admiring Light.
Why I’m returning my Batis 85 mm f/1.8 (Alin Popescu).
Skydiving with the Batis 2/25 and Alex Torre (Lenspire)

Batis store links:
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.

 

 

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Sony finilized the Toshiba’s image sensor business acquisition for 19 billion yen

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Toshiba-Sony

Sony’s world sensor domination plan made one step further. They announced the definitive acquisition of Toshibas Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities:

Tokyo, Japan, December 4th, 2015 — Based on the memorandum of understanding entered into between Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and Toshiba Corporation (“Toshiba”) on October 28, 2015, the parties today announced that they have signed definitive agreements to transfer to Sony and to Sony Semiconductor Corporation (“SCK”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony, certain Toshiba-owned semiconductor fabrication facilities, equipment and related assets in its Oita Operations facility, as well as other related equipment and assets owned by Toshiba (the “Transfer”).

Under the agreements, Toshiba will transfer semiconductor fabrication facilities, equipment and related assets of Toshiba’s 300mm wafer production line, mainly located at its Oita Operations facility. The purchase price of the Transfer is 19 billion yen. Sony and Toshiba aim to complete the Transfer within the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, subject to any required regulatory approvals.

Following the Transfer, Sony and SCK plan to operate the semiconductor fabrication facilities as fabrication facilities of SCK, primarily for manufacturing CMOS image sensors.

The parties expect to offer the employees of Toshiba and its affiliates employed at the fabrication facilities to be transferred, as well as certain employees involved in areas such as CMOS image sensor engineering and design (approximately 1,100 employees in total), employment within the Sony Group, upon the completion of the Transfer.

via Engadget

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