[shoplink 31639 ebay]

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The very first Stock of Loxia 35mm lens are now shipping in [shoplink 31639 ebay]Germany (on eBay)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 31640 ebay]Japan (on eBay)[/shoplink]. It will ship soon at BHphoto. And here are the first three reviews of the new lens:

VeryBigLobo (Click here) writes:

Zeiss Loxia 35/2 is made of high quality light metal and glass. The only other material that can be found is a blue (company color) rubber sealing gasket ner the lens mount. While Zeiss Loxia is not claimed to be weather sealed, this little detail will certainly help keeping dust and moisture away from the electric contacts and sensor. Loxia looks impressive so far and that is exactly what I expected after brief hands-on Photokina 2014. It is maybe not the sharpest lens in absolute figures in the center, but it has rather flat focus field and brilliant control of chromatic aberration. (I’ll have to check for LoCA) Distortion is also negligible. Corners wide open are good enough and they will certainly improve with more distant subjects.

The.me (Click here) like the lens but also metnioned one limit of the lens:

What disappoints me is the way that even a slight inadvertent touch of the focusing ring will change where you have put it. It is not loose — remember it is a Zeiss, but I had hoped for more stiffness. This is crucial for a manual focus system that you do not constantly want to adjust. And working with only a left hand, which I’m forced to do, now requires a dexterity of acrobatic-like precision just to avoid the slightest change of focus.

BackGroundBlur (Click here) writes:

To be honest I was expecting the Sony to be a tad sharper than the Loxia. From my initial tests it seems to be the opposite by quite a large margin. Nailing focus is also much easier on the Loxia due to the correct focus scale / infinity stop. Combine that with the significant difference in bokeh, and it looks like I won’t be using the Sony 2.8/35 very much anymore. Don’t get me wrong, the Sony is a very good lens with excellent 3D pop, but the Loxia lives up to its full expectation and it indeed as spectacular as its 2/50 brother. 

Zeiss Loxia preorders:
Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens for Sony E Mount at BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, CameraPro, Digitalrev.
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens for Sony E Mount at BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK, CameraPro.
Zeiss Lens Hood for Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss Lens Hood for Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss 52mm Front Lens Cap for Touit and Loxia Lenses at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss De-Click Key for Loxia Lenses (5-Piece Set) at BHphoto and Adorama.
Zeiss Rear Lens Cap for Loxia E-Mount Lenses at BHphoto and Adorama.

Reminder: A7II now in Stock at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto and Sony US and Digitalrev.

Brian Smith (Click here) wrote a detailed hands-on of the new A7II. He confirms that some third party lenses will get the 3 and not 5 axis stabilization:

Other lenses will receive 3-axis IS from the camera IBIS – but even 3-axis is one axis more than what’s available with almost any other image stabilization system. Lens-based image stabilization only controls Pitch and Yaw (with one exception – Canon’s “Hybrid IS” in their 100mm macro). With this exception (at least for now), Sony and Olympus 5-axis IBIS are the only IS systems that offer X/Y or Roll compensation.

Another yet untold detail is that one:

The 5-Axis Sensor-Shift Stabilization mechanism also moves a magnesium-alloy heat sink that’s attached behind the sensor. This helps dissipate heat when shooting long video clips of long continuous still bursts.

Also no more “Phantom ISO changes”:

A relatively small change – but a good one – is that the control wheel no longer adjusts ISO without first selecting activating that control.

and:

ony A7II uses the same 24.3mp sensor used in A7 but it with different image processing that promises better high-ISO noise reduction for in-camera jpegs.

One more hands-on at ChipChick and noise test at Focus Numerique.

USA/Canada A7II links:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for $1,698 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore and Sony Store Canada.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,998 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II Lens for $1,148 at BHphoto.

EU A7II links:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for 1.799 Euro 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.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for 2.099 Euro at Amazon Germany, Wex UK, Jessops UK, Verkkokauppa.

Asian/Australia A7II link:
Sony A7II at Sony Store Australia, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.