Triple FE lens review: 55mm, 16-35mm and 70-200mm.

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Bildschirmfoto 2015-04-02 um 12.04.24
The lens size comparison via Camerasize.

Photoreview tested the Zeiss 16-35mm lens and writes:

Subjective assessments of test shots showed the review lens to be a good performer, delivering good centre-of-field sharpness, well-resolved detail and accurate colour rendition. Quite a lot of corner softening was found at the shorter focal lengths, probably caused by curvature of field, which is not uncommon in ultra-wide-angle lenses. Stopping down largely eliminated it.However, even at the smallest aperture settings, there was high enough resolution for the lens to be useful, which makes this lens a good choice for landscape photography.

SLRgear reviewed the Sony FE 70-200mm lens:

Optically, the lens is very good and carries many of the technical bells and whistles that an enthusiast to professional photographer demands — good image stabilization and well-built construction (though we have our doubts about the lens’s purported dust and moisture resistance). But for all other avenues, the 70-200 ƒ/4 FE lens is solid choice for Sony mirrorless shooters looking for a high performance telephoto zoom.

Mirrorlessons tested the 55mm FE lens:

I think that the 55mm paired with any of the Sony A7 cameras produces a fantastic combo and I wouldn’t renounce it even now. It was also very helpful for the last wedding I shot in Italy. The only lens I could perhaps consider to replace the 55mm is the Loxia 2/50. The quality is basically the same and I really liked my time with the two Loxia lenses when I reviewed them in November last year. But there is no question that autofocus is a nice feature to have.

16-35mm Zeiss FE lens store links:
USA/Canada  at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US, Sony Canada.
Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Australia and Asia at Sony AUS, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev.
Sony 70-200mm FE lens store links:
USA at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyStore (Click here).
In Europe at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, AT, NL, BE, CH, FI, SE, PT
Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens store links:
USA/Canada: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonyStore US and Sonystore Canada.
Europe: Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT

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Sony Tidbits…

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Sony Alpha Tutorial – Setting up a Sony Flash as the Wireless Remote

Sony A7r with the Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 by Josselin Cornou.
2015 Sony world Photography Awards Shortlist anounced! (Worldphoto).
Comparison between the Contax G 45/2, the Zeiss Loxia 50/2, and the Sony 55/1.8 (SonyAlphaForum).
Loxia vs Sonnar comparison at iLoveHatePhoto.
Professional Photography with E-Mount (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony Imaging PRO Support (Sony Europe).
Olympus pen F 60/1.5 (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony A7m2 with Samyang 14mm f2.8 (SonyAlphaForum).

Free promotion for one of our friends who created a new APP: SCNX is the Photography App for the purist who loves to tell Visual Stories (here on iTunes).

Richard:I made a small test video with Sigma lens 30mm f2,8 on a6000. I am really pleasantly surprised, how good is AF in video with this non-Sony lens, especially when this lens is not last Art version (but quality of this lens is unbelievable for this price) and PDF is with this lens on a6000 very limited. Look on video and sorry for my bad english :)
http://youtu.be/QWt6M7ce8QA
http://youtu.be/TmPz4OR1i_Q
This video is with older basic lens 18-55mm from Nex-5, with updated firmware for right PDF support:
http://youtu.be/QE4lsIlRnls
αLens Promotion Video shown at CP+ (Youtube).
a7R as a sports camera at NBA games (SonyAlphaForum).

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(SR3) Great news: Sony testing High Resolution 48MP mode on the A7II?

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Sony-stabilization-other

A source told me that Sony is testing a High Resolution mode that works just like on the Olympus E-M5II. The sensor takes multiple shots in slightly different positions moved by the stabilization system and then combines time in one High Res Picture. The source told me he saw it creating 48.9 MP images on the fly. Of course that features works fine when shooting still objects. The source doesn’t know yet if the tested feature will work as hoped by Sony. If yes than it could be introduced in a future firmware upgrade. If you want to check out how good the Olympus solution works check out the test at Imaging Resource.

What lens will you buy?

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A7II links:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore and Sony Store Canada.
In Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Jessops UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Spain, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Portugal, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Norway.
In Asia at Sony Store Australia, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
A7II lleather case in [shoplink 32354 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 32396 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink],  [shoplink 32355 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 32356 ebay]Camel (Click here)[/shoplink].

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Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!

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SAR reader Nicolas wrote a free “LensChanger” APP for you!

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ac59b060

Hi,
I have released a new free application that could interest SonyAlphaRumors readers, as many of them may use alt lenses on A7 series.

A lot of alternative bodies, adapters, lenses etc don’t report lenses right, if any. LensChanger is an application that allow you to change lenses registered into xmp files (sidecar files for Raws), jpeg files, and tiff files through exif metadatas.

LensChanger as been designed as a standalone, lightweight, portable and very easy to use application. It can thus work with whatever software using xmp sidecar files for raws, like LightRoom, ApertureOne, etc… So, you can keep it on an USB drive and run it with a few clicks to get all your files with correct lenses.

you can use ‘Rewrite’ after having set a list of lenses to change to and a folder to work on. This allow you to have LensChanger to automatically rewrite some lenses into custom defined lenses, if your adapter or bodie doesn’t report lens you need.
Or you can directly manually select a few files (or entire folder) and directly override a custom lens into. For raws file, it will create an xmp file with lens data if none exist. So once you import them into Lightroom for example, the lens will be good ! Of course, is an xmp file is ever created by a raw editing software, all your datas (tags, rating, develop settings etc) will still be there!

All informations and downloads, both for Windows x64 and Mac OSX, are here:
http://www.nicolasgenette.com/blog/lenschanger-application/
This application is written by a photographer who needed it, and who decided to release it for everyone, for free.

Cheers!

Nicolas Genette,

 

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Diglloyd: “The (FE) system mediocrity ends now with the Sony/Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 Distagon”.

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Bildschirmfoto 2015-04-09 um 09.09.51
FE Distagon by SLRclub.

Note for US readers: A couple of Distagon lenses are in Stock at Amazon US (Click here). Refurbished 55mm FE for $749 on [shoplink 35281 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Many bloggers and photographers are testing the new FE lenses. Time for a new roundup:

Diglloyd is testing the new Zeiss Distagon FE 35mm lens.

A camera system needs at least one outstanding lens that makes owning that system worthwhile. Or rather, a lens that is so appealing that the camera body becomes an accessory.
Until now, that Sony A7 series platform has been a study in “good enough”. That system mediocrity ends now with the Sony/Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 Distagon. The question is whether lens siblings of similar quality will emerge to complete the nucleus of a complete system that demanding photographers hunger for.
Dang, where is that 50 or 80 megapixel Sony A9 with real 14-bit files?

Just a note for Digglloyd. Do not forget there is an excellent 55mm FE lens in the line up :)

Steve Huff tested the FE 28mm lens:

As for this 28mm, it is to me, a no brainer at $450. You will not find a better new production 28mm for full frame for this price, period. While not perfect due to the distortion that is present without correction or using a lens profile, it is easily overcome. Shoot JPEG and they are perfect out of the camera. Shoot RAW and you will need to apply the camera lens profile to fix the distortion, but when it is fixed the images will be gorgeous.

Amateur Photographer also tested the 28mm lens:

This 28mm lens may not be quite as optically stunning as the Zeiss-branded 55mm f/1.8 or 35mm f/2.8, but it’s still pretty sharp wide open, and once it’s stopped down to normal working apertures of, say, f/5.6 to f/11, it’s very good indeed. It’s also small and light enough to slip into your bag and carry around, where larger lenses may be left behind.

Mark Galer is testing the 90mm macro lens:

This is sharpest lens I have tested since the original 55 and 35 mm primes. It is sharp at maximum aperture and stacks up well with the 55 F1.8. I like the fact that the Focus ring, when put in Manual Focus, has definite stops and was surprised that it was not as heavy as it looks. It is well balanced lens on the A7R. Sony’s Eye AF was quick and accurate – even with such a narrow depth of field. I posted two full size JPEGs to a Flickr album so Alpha users can pixel peep.

Amateur Photographer reviewed the 24-240mm lens:

In essence, the 24-240mm has the quality of a good kit lens, but with a focal length that can’t be equalled without a significant financial, and backbreaking, investment in extra glass. Those who demand the best image quality already know the downside to travel-zoom lenses, and this Sony 24-240mm optic certainly won’t be for them, but as a travel companion I think this will form a good partnership, especially with the Alpha 7 II and its advanced image stabilisation system.

More tests:
Sony FE 28mm f/2 Samples Gallery (Dpreview).
Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS real-world samples posted (Dpreview).
28mm FE review at SLRclub.
35mm f/1.4 FE review at SLRclub.
Distagon image samples by Paulferzoco.

All new FE lens preorder links:
In USA at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphotoFocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphotoFocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphotoFocusCamera, Sony US.
Sony Fisheye Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F/2.8 and E 20mm F/2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Converter for E 16mm F2.8 and E 20mm F2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
In Europe at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide Angle converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
In Asia/Australia at:
Sony 24-240mm FE lens at Digitalrev, CameraPRO, Sony Australia.
Sony 28mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Sony 90mm FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE lens at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

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(SR4) New Sony E-mount camera (A7rII?) to be announced in mid May. Shipment in June.

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A trusted source got word from Sony a new E-mount camera will certainly be announced around mid May. And it’s said to ship in June. It’s yet not 100% confirmed but that should be the new A7rII. To sum up the recent rumors:

1) On April 12 Sony will announced the HDC4300 high end camcorder (info here on SAR). There will be no new E or A-mount cameras.
2) On April 23 Sony will announce RX or A-mount cameras (or both). No new E-mount camera will be announced. I am yet not sure what Sony will announce but the “best candidates” are the RX2 and A99II followed by the A58, RX20 and RX100m4. Also likely to be announced are the new HX60 and WX350 successors.
3) Mid May Sony will announce new E-mount camera(s). The A7rII is likely to come while it’s yet unclear if Sony will announced the new A6xxx/A7xxx camera because there was a delay because of some 4K recording heating issues.

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Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!

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