What’s next from Sony: New 50mm GM, new A1 firmware update, new A9III and more!

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An imaginary Sony Alpha on the shore (Source: Andrea Pizzini Instagram)

In exactly one month from now the Cp+ show will open their doors. Sony is known for avoiding using those events to announce new gear. They prefer to have all the buzz for themselves.But here is what’s coming next for us E-mount shooters:

  1. The Sony 50mm f/1.4 GM II is coming in February (I am 100% sure of that). Hope to get the exact announcement date soon
  2. The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 FE will also be announced in February (my leaked image and specs can be found here)
  3. New Sony A1 firmware adding A7rV video AF features might be announced in February too (but I hope it will add a ton of other new features too!)
  4. 16-35mm GMII is on the roadmap, announcement within the next few months
  5. Sony A9III is 100% confirmed to be coming the next months. Just don’t know yet when exactly.
  6. Overall I am 100% sure there will be many more E-mount cameras this year than we had in 2022. Will update you about this soon on my youtube channel!

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Tamron Announces Plans to Build New Plant in Vietnam

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We know from their latest financial reports that Tamron is doing extremely well. Merit goes to their very good E-mount lens lineup. And now Tamron Japan announced it will expand their production capabilities by building a new factory in Vietnam. Here are the key data:

  • Socialist Republic of Vietnam Thang Long Industrial Park No.3
  • Interchangeable lenses for interchangeable-lens cameras, automotive lenses, surveillance lenses, etc.
  • Investment amount: Approximately 4 billion yen (planned)
  • Start of construction: October 2023 (planned)
  • Start of operation: January 2025 (planned)
  • Scale: Land approximately 25,000 m2

Here are the rumored lenses that might be announced in 2023:

  • 35mm F3.5 Di III OSD Pancake
  • 45mm F1.4 Di III USD
  • 90mm F1.8 Di III USD
  • 150-400mm F2.8-5.6 Di III VC VXD
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AI trickery: How to take a realistic portrait with a Sony A1 and 50mm f/1.2 GM lens…without to actually use the gear!

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AI created portrait of a young women that doesn’t exist (Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM lens setting).

Intro:

I remember the days when digital photography was born. The voice was strong of those photographers who said digital isn’t real photography. It was a lost battle and nowadays it has become the absolute standard for photographic work.
Quickly after the days of Digital editing came: Photoshop filters, Topaz AI filters and Luminar…and again the voice was strong of those (now digital) photographers saying that this was the same as “cheating”. Nevertheless now it has become common to edit your images so much that the final photo is completely different from the original you took.

The AI revolution:

Now I am getting a lot of negative critic for even talking about the next AI revolution…which actually in my opinion is a simple “evolution” from what we already saw coming in the past years. In my heart I am still a medium format photographer, and my soul doesn’t love anything digital. This is why I created my analog Cube camera project (read about it here). But I am aware the world doesn’t care about my opinion or my ethical view about photography. The choice for me is simple: Ignore the current trends and rant on what’s about to happen, or open my mind about anything new and try to understand if I can still use it in a way that it fulfills my artistic goals.

Why does this matter for us Sony shooters?

  • We photographers want to know how good (or bad) this shit is or not?
  • You can use your real photos and modify them with AI
  • It might kills some of the classic photography business (like Stock photography) but it also might open NEW Business opportunities!
  • It might be able to emulate the style of some Sony gear (Camera colors, Lens bokeh and so forth)

What this video is about:

On my quest to understand the new AI tools I tried to answer this simple question: Can AI give me a portrait image that looks like it has been shot on a Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM lens? Here is what I found out:

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