You can now change the E-mount of your camera with a “wiggling-free” full metal mount!

fotodiox_mount

Maybe not all of you know the E-mount is made of an outer metal and inner plastic ring. Fotodiox writes:

The lens mount is a two part construction, with the critical component that holds the lens in place made of plastic. This is why any lens you attach to an E mount camera is prone to wiggling, especially longer pro lenses.

That’s why Fotodiox came up with a solution to entirely replace the ring:

Anyone can replace the original 2 piece NEX mount on their camera with an all-metal one in about five minutes. All you need is a jewelers screwdriver (phillips) to remove and replace four little screws.

The Fotodiox full metal E-mount ring can be bought now at Amazon US (Click here).

Here is a video to show you how easy it is:

via MirrorlessRumors.

National Geographic photographer Bob Krist explains why he moved to Sony.

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The following article is a guest post by National Geographic photographer Bob Krist. Thanks Bob for sharing!

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I didn’t start out looking to jump ship from my favorite line of DSLRs to Sony mirrorless, cameras. It just kind of happened out of necessity.
I’m a 30+year veteran shooter for National Geographic publications. A few years ago, they asked me to go along on one of the high end, educational private jet tours that their new division, National Geographic Expeditions, was starting to offer. I would teach lecture and teach photography, and oh, could I also shoot some video and stills of the trip?
No problem. But as it turns out, these were not the type of assignments I was used to shooting for them. Usually we have a lot of time in each place to get to know it, and the pace of the assignment is long and slow, and the coverage they expect is comprehensive and deep,

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But these were whirlwind tours for folks who wanted to see as much as they could, as fast as they could, and once I started shooting the run and gun videos they asked for, I ran right up against the limitations of the DSLR.
On these fast moving assignments, which are epic, globe-girdling trips that move at a breakneck pace (11 countries in 26 days…and you thought I was kidding when I said “breakneck pace!”), I have no time whatsoever to stop and outfit my camera with an LCD loupe, a shoulder rig, mic pre-amp and all the other bells and whistles you need to prepare a DSLR to shoot video.
I know that because I tried on my first assignment, and I missed a lot of key moments while I was kitting out my DSLR. After that first trip, it was clear that what I needed was a lightweight, video-friendly machine I could pull out of the bag and start shooting at a moment’s notice.

Ahu Akivi Moai in Easter Island, Chile.
And a mirrorless camera was basically the way to go. I chose a selection of Sony gear so I could get at least one camera with an APS-C sized chip (for nice bokeh), mic jacks, decent lower-hiss, built in pre-amps, the 60fps frame rate option for slo-mo, and the ability to adapt any Nikkor (or basically, any other lens) to it.
In the ensuing years, more and more of my work for National Geographic has been for Expeditions on these jet and ship based expeditions, and I’ve cycled through a lot of the Sony gear, owning at one time or another, every NEX model made.
Up until recently, the A6000 was my APS-C chip size camera of choice for run and gun video. It lacks headphone and mic jacks, but the image quality is superb, the autofocus is lightning fast, and it takes a huge array of lenses thanks its easy adaptability. I use a Sony mic in the Multi-interface hotshoe for ambient sound.

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I pair that with the Sony RX 10—It features a smaller 1″ chip with superb, sharp video that is not downsampled (hence little to no moire or aliasing), headphone and mic jacks, built-in ND filter, a Zeiss 24-200mm f/2.8 equivalent lens…the perfect video run and gunner, not to mention still camera, for a traveling shooter who wants a lightweight, but fully featured camera. The recent firmware upgrade that gave us X AVCS codec instead of the dreaded AVCHD is just icing on an already very tasty and attractive cake.

A candlelit concert at Petra, Jordan

For lenses for the A6000, I take along the Sony 10-18mm f/4 (for ultrawide work), a Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 (for general shooting) and an assortment of prime lenses that can vary, but always includes a Sony 35mm f/1.8 E, and often two old but sharp Nikkors, a 24mm f/2, and an 85mm f/1.8, outfitted with a Metabones Speed Booster for Nikkor to Sony E (which retains the original lens’ field of view and adds almost a stop of light-gathering ability. A miracle adapter!)
The Sony and Zeiss E lenses are sharp, autofocus, and have the OSS (Optical SteadyShot) which make them super for run and gun situations.
The adapted Nikkors are manual focus, but they are super sharp and I only use the compact ones  (besides the two mentioned above, I also have the 50mm f/1.8 Series E, and the 75-150mm f/3.5 Series E) so they balance beautifully on the smaller camera body.

Krist_Oaxaca
One of the biggest advantages of the mirrorless camera is built in electronic viewfinder (EVF) for shooting video outside on bright days. No need to snap on a bulky loupe over the back of your LCD screen, just put your eye to the viewfinder and voila, you’ve got a crisp image to work with.
The other huge benefit of these cameras is their size and weight (or more accurately, their lack of size and weight!). My camera bag weighs about half of what a similar DSLR outfit would and the bag is correspondingly smaller as well.
About a month ago, I switched out my A6000 for the new A7s. It is a lowlight monster and it was just what the doctor ordered for shooting low light temple interiors, night markets, and the kind of things we cover on these trips.
Now, most of the time, I’m using it in APSC mode, which may seem counterintuitive, but it allows me to use the OSS of the Sony lenses, and it is a lot more resistant to effects of rolling shutter, that jello-ey look that sometimes occurs during camera movement in certain cameras.
But when the light is low, the adapted Nikkor primes go on and it’s back to full-frame, low light heaven. I’ve been fully Sony mirrorless for almost two years now, and I haven’t looked back!

Bob Krist’s details his adventures in motion and mirrorless cameras in his new blog Old Man in Motion (www.oldmaninmotion.com). His website is www.bobkrist.com

 

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Preparing for big rumor time: Help needed from readers and site owners :)

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There is going to be a big Rumor time soon. As “boring” as Photokina was as “exciting” the time will become soon right before the next January-February announcement. One thing I noticed this year is that many sites pick up my news and “forget” or “not properly” cite me as source. I am not going to be mad with anyone here but it’s important for me to get some credit back. Don’t forget this is a a small site and there is no big company financing me like they it happens on other “official” photo sites. So it’s important for me to survive with the only push of my readers. I kindly ask you to help me by following those rules and tips:

For website owners reposting my news:
1) You are absolutely free to take news from me…also images! But please credit me for that.
2) Please do not write “SAR” as source but “SonyAlphaRumors.com“. Also kind would be to not “hide” the backlink with bad visible color (light grey on white background as someone does), or by writing “anonymous source” instead of my site’s name. Thanks!
3) Often I post news about external reviews and news not original from this site. But it would be nice to write “found via SonyAlphaRumors.com” if you find the news through my site. Like for example deals, reviews or news. Thanks!
4) The rules also apply to myself and if I do a mistake please contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Please note that most of the news I post I receive from my readers and they sometimes forget to mention the proper sources. Excuse me in advance if the main sources is not mentioned or wrong. It’s sometimes impossible for me to track who wrote what first.

For readers:
Follow me on RSS feed (Click here), Twitter (Click here), Facebook fan page (Click here) and Google+. It’s the best way to not miss any rumor and to get them as first!
Spread and Share the rumor and news that matters by retweeting or reposting stuff. This would help me to make it clearer to anyone who is actually writing the news as first.

An interesting note on social followers:
I noticed that “less” famous site have more followers than me. This is because they either pay to get followers or because they get pushed by official companies (like when they write a good review about a certain company camera). I do not get that kind fo support and have to do all for myself. Therefore if you can and want please help me to increase my social fellowship :)

Thanks a lot! Rumor time is coming… :)

Sony Tidbits…


10 Reasons Why a Professional Photographer Left Nikon and started shooting with Sony by Jason Lanier

RX100 III and whether we think it is worth upgrading from the RX100 II (BMCR).
The Pro-Democracy Protests in Hong Kong shot on the A7s (Sinosphere).
Philip Bloom Sony a7S Seminar Trailer
Sony A77II first impression/review by a former Sports Illustrated photographer and Sony Artisan Associate (PMRphoto).
German A7s review at Digitalkamera.
Kickstarter campaign for the Infinity Arm has officially launched
RX10 is making my job easier (Soundimagesplus)
Sony A7r field report at Hikinginfinland.
The Sony FE 16-35mm F4 vs Delicate Arch (Brianmatiash).

Oleg: “I filmed some swans with my Sony a65 and created this clip just for fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5yRuj1hraE. I used old but nice Tamron 200-400/5.6 lens with manual focus and aperture-proirity mode on f13-f16.
Quality of final video was slightly decreased because it was re-encoded on youtube with stabilizer feature. In windy weather is so difficult to get nice picture with software Anti-shake on 400mm focal. But anyway, i like results getting with this camera and this lens, and filming process too :)

Edward:I found out about the Mitakon 50mm f/0.95 first on your website. After a really long wait for the lens to arrive, I’ve finally managed to get some decent samples for a review. I’ve just finished it and thought some of your readers might like see what I found: http://infraedd.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/lens-review-mitakon-50mm-f095.html

 

You didn’t see that coming: High demand warning on the QX1 and QX30!


Image made by Usperedi.

Many of us still struggle to understand the utility of the QX camera line. But it looks like Sony was spot on to make those weird cameras :)
Sony Japan just issued an official statement sying that because of the exceptional high demand we can expect some delays in shipments. Literally they say preorders were “much higher than the expectations“.
Well done Sony! And now give us those new RX cameras with curved sensor as next :)

QX1-QX30 store links
E-mount QX1 in USA at Amazon (Click here), SonyStore US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), FocusCamera (Click here).
E-mount QX1 in Europe at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony ES, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony NO, Sony BE, Sony PT, Sony SE, Sony FI.
E-mount QX1 in Asia at Digitalrev (Click here).
QX30 in USA at Amazon (Click here), SonyStore US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), FocusCamera (Click here).
QX30 in Asia at Digitalrev (Click here).

New Sony RX-100 MK III book by Gary Friedmann!

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All RX100M3 owners can now buy a great book to learn more about their camera. Gary Friedmann just released the complete RX100m3 guide available in DRM-free, .pdf, .mobi, and .epub (and a new process for creating the e-reader formats resulting in superior user experiences!) available for one low price: http://friedmanarchives.com/RX-100MK3.

RX100M3 store links:
RX100M3 preorders in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony USA and FocusCamera.
RX100M3 preorders in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PT. And Wex UK,
RX100M3 in Asia at Amazon Japan and Sony Australia.