Personal note: Still blogging from inside the COVID-19 center

Share

Right at this moment the worse place in Europe in terms of COVID-19 incidence is the region of South Tyrol where I do live (after having moved from Belgium last summer). I am the only one inside the center reporting with videos and photos about what’s going on.

I am telling you this because now it’s rumor time: Sony will announce the FX3 on Feb 23 and Sigma will announce the new 28-70mm f/2.8 FE on Feb 24. I should be able to cover everything from inside the station but just to be sure I asked Patrick from Fujirumors to kindly be my backup in case leaks have to be posted on SAR. So if you read something like “Fuji is much better than Sony” on one of next SAR’s article you know it’s him :)

Technical note: I am shooting basically the entire documentary on the Sony A7rIV and the Voigtlander 40mm f/1.2 FE. Will explain why I use this lens another time…but it has to do with privacy and noise :)

Two pics I took a couple of nights ago:

Patient with downs syndrome sleeps with his Dumbo (posted with permission of the parents)

Nurse during the Nighshift

I have a ton of videos and photos and only started very recently to tease some of these on my website andreapizzini.com, on my Instagram channel, Flickr and 500px. Feel free to follow me there!

 

Share

New Sony A1 reviews

Share

Preorders:
Sony A1 at BHphoto. Adorama. Amazon. Focuscamera.
Sony XPeria 5G PRO at BHphoto. Adorama. Amazon.
Sony A1 in Europe at FotoErhardt DE. Calumet DE. Fotokoch DE. Park UK. WexUK.
Join the Sony A1 Facebook group here.

New Sony A1 reviews:

Sony a1 initial review by Dpreview.
Sony a1 review by Christopher Dodds

Alex Phan posted the next test video wiith this head up text:

 at the osprey scene, you will see me shaking up the camera erratically, i want to see if the camera will pick up on something else but it still locked to the eye

 

Rafael writes:

Maybe that’s something for you: I’m just reviewing the Sony A1 and as a sideproject I managed to edit the 8K footage on an iPad. Plus I found a trick to even export the whole 8K project and render it on a Mac since the iPad can’t yet render 8K videos.
https://youtu.be/DdNOYUasH0I
The video is in German but I added English subtitles.

Share

Just announced: new Cosina-Voigtländer 35mm f/2.0 Lanthar FE lens

Share

Cosina Japan just announced the new lens. English press text and worldwide price info are expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Here is the google translated text from the original Japanese press text:

Adopted an apochromat design that makes the on-axis chromatic aberration of RGB, which constitutes the three primary colors of light, as close to zero as possible. A semi-wide-angle lens that doubles as the APO-LANTHAR 50mm F2, a standard lens that pursues ultimate performance. It combines the performance of the best quasi-wide-angle lens in Voigtlander history with the compactness and ease of handling.

Main features:
● Compatible with Sony E mount.
Equipped with electronic contacts, the Exif information of shooting data reflects the usage status of the lens. In addition, since it has a built-in distance encoder, it supports 5-axis camera shake correction on the camera body side. It is also possible to enlarge the viewfinder by operating the focus ring.

● Optimized optical design A
full-size image circle is secured and an optical design optimized for the Sony E-mount sensor is adopted. High resolution is maintained up to the periphery of the screen, and phenomena such as color cast are suppressed.

● Apochromat design In
order to support the current digital sensor with high pixel count , axial chromatic aberration and chromatic aberration of magnification are thoroughly suppressed.

● 12-
blade diaphragm blades that allow you to enjoy the expression of bokeh The special shape that makes a circle not only in F2 but also in F2.8, F5.6, and F16 is adopted. It is possible to draw using “ball blur” such as a point light source.

● Manual focus that enables reliable
focusing. By adopting an all-metal helicoid unit that has been processed and adjusted with high precision and high-quality grease that produces appropriate torque, focusing with a smooth operation feeling is realized. Allows for delicate focus adjustment.

● Aperture click switching mechanism
Equipped with an aperture click switching mechanism that can open and close the aperture ring steplessly without generating a click sound. There is no need to worry about picking up the aperture ring operation sound when recording a video.

Share

This secret BHphoto code will give you big discounts on some products…

Share

Patrick from Fujirumors noted that you get a big discount on some products  using this “BHCC02” coupon code at BHphoto (Click here). UPDATE: It works for example on LEXAR cards (Click here).

I tried it on 2-3 Sony products and it didn’t work. But I have no time to check all hundreds of items so please do it for yourself and let me know if there are cameras-lenses or third party accessories where the code works!

Share

Tony Northrup thinks the FX3 is the “better A7sIII”

Share

From a purely cinematographers point of view he might be right. I think the FX3 might be a bigger deal than Sony expects. The FX3 looks like a perfect balance of size and features at a relatively decent price. I bet Sony will sell a lot of these!

The known specs are:

  • Price is 3795 Euro
  • Takes CFexpress A cards
  • records 4k/120p and not 8k
  • Preorder start on Feb 23

If you happen to know more about the specs of this camera drop me an anonymous message using this contact form or send me an email at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com

 

Share