The new Zeiss on the A7r and A6000 (CameraSize).

We had plenty of new camera and lens announcements at Photokina (full list here on that special Amazon page). And of all those new lenses announced yesterday it is the Sony-Zeiss 16-35mm the most preorderd at Amazon US (here is the lens ranking). That’s a really good start!

Preorders, price and specs (Click on store name):
Zeiss 16-35mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US.
Zeiss 16-35mm FE in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
28-135mm powerzoom in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Sony FS7 4K camcorder at Adorama.
HVL-F32M Flash at Adorama, BHphoto.
HVL-F32M Flash in Europe at Sony DE, IT,
Sony RMT-VP1K Wireless Remote Commander & Receiver Kit at Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony XLR-K2M XLR Adaptor Kit (with microphone) at Adorama.
Sony LCS-PSC7 System Bag (Black) at BHphoto.

Loxia at BHphoto:
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here).
Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here)

Sony A7 with the new Zeiss 28mm f/2.0 FE lens..

Here is a long set of pictures of all new FE lenses and converters and Loxia lenses you can see at the Sony booth (Thansk Lars). You can download the full size images (282 MB!) at Dropbox. Feel free to use and post them were you want and please be kind to mention “SonyAlphaRumors.com” as source. Thanks!

Preorders, price and specs (Click on store name):
Zeiss 16-35mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US.
Zeiss 16-35mm FE in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
28-135mm powerzoom in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Sony FS7 4K camcorder at Adorama.
HVL-F32M Flash at Adorama, BHphoto.
HVL-F32M Flash in Europe at Sony DE, IT,
Sony RMT-VP1K Wireless Remote Commander & Receiver Kit at Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony XLR-K2M XLR Adaptor Kit (with microphone) at Adorama.
Sony LCS-PSC7 System Bag (Black) at BHphoto.

Loxia at BHphoto:
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here).
Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here)

Sony.net is now displaying the new Sony FE lens roadmap PDF file. A couple of thoughts I wanna share:

1) The “Large Aperture prime” is likely the rumored 85mm lens. Should be f/1.4. If it’s f/1.2 I will jump for joy and then cry because of the many $$$ Sony will charge on it :)
2) I expect the Large Aperture prime lens to be announced early 2015. But all other Six lenses (see grey lines) are likely to be available between end of 2015 and early 2016
3) Finally a Zeiss f/1.4 lens to come. This will quite down those people who were worried that FE lenses would always be 1 stop slower than their A-mount counter part
4) Among the six 2015 lenses there will be certainly tele primes and tele zooms.
5) Note that Zeiss will announce more Loxia manual FE lenses during 2015. These are not(!) included in the roadmap! And I heard of at least three more Loxias to come in 2015!

The lens I like most is the 35mm Zeiss f/1.4 But also the 24-240mm could be a n interesting lens for everyday use or travel (although quite big).

Preorders, price and specs (Click on store name):
Zeiss 16-35mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US.
Zeiss 16-35mm FE in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
28-135mm powerzoom in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Sony FS7 4K camcorder at Adorama.
HVL-F32M Flash at Adorama, BHphoto.
HVL-F32M Flash in Europe at Sony DE, IT,
Sony RMT-VP1K Wireless Remote Commander & Receiver Kit at Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony XLR-K2M XLR Adaptor Kit (with microphone) at Adorama.
Sony LCS-PSC7 System Bag (Black) at BHphoto.

Loxia at BHphoto:
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here).
Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar T* Lens for Sony E Mount (Click here)

The A-mount future slide showed by Sony last yer (the hidden camera was the A77II)

Sony just like every company has a roadmap of products already planned for the coming 1-2 years. And usually only minor changes can happen in between. It’s not an easy task, but my job is to get tidbits about that roadmap. The strange thing that happened this year at Photokina is the following: The same kind of trusted source that told me correctly about the FE lenses like the 16-35mm Zeiss, 90mm macro, QX1, Loxia lenses the 85mm lens (on new roadmap as large aperture prime) also told me there would be updated A-mount lenses at Photokina.

Of course I am surprised to hear this didn’t happen. Now, obviously you can believe the 2-3 sources who shared the A-mount info were simply wrong. And I hope that’s the case. But it’s my believe for now that something must have happened in those last two months. Something that lead Sony to “freeze” the A-mount lens announcement.

Now, fact is, last year Sony said they are fully committed to the A-mount system. Also a Fact is they are pushing E-mount now and they did not mention one single time A-mount during their 1 hour Photokina press conference. And they now mix the A and E-mount stuff under the same “Alpha Lens” brand which is pretty confusing. I think it’s time for Sony to clear things out about the A-mount future. They have two options:

1) Make a clears statement pro A-mount with a proper lens/camera roadmap to really convince us about that.
2) Just confess they will focus on E-mount and maybe offer all A-mount camera owners and E-mount camera in exchange with adapter for free.

You readers tell me if I am right on that. Write down all your frustration in our comment system!!!

UPDATE: I am busy at work and cannot visit Photokina. Those of you that will be there can please ask Sony managers to tell us more about the A-mount future? Thanks!

Note: Here are a couple of pro A-mount statement from Sony:
September 2013: “Rest assured that we will further develop the A-mount system together with the E-mount,” (SAR reader Brad)
October 2013: Sony UK’s Alpha product manager Takahiro Hirata, said: ‘We will not quit A-mount product lines. We will have both product lines.’ (Amateur Photographer).
October 2013: “Sony are still committed to the A-mount system.” (Photographyblog).
November 2013: Kimio Maki is Senior General Manager at Sony’s Digital Imaging: “for A mount we can realize superior image quality with better new technologies” (Dpreview).

One more thing: The BIG Sony January announcement is 100% confirmed.

Manual shooter lovers with pleny of $$$ in their pocket can use those newly announced M-mount lenses on their A7 camera. Here are the links to specs, pricing and preorder info:

Zeiss Distagon 35mm 1.4 at BHphoto.
Summilux 35mm Silver at BHphoto.
Summarit 35mm at BHphoto.
Summarit 35mm Silver at BHphoto.
Sumamrit 50mm at BHphoto.
Summarit 50mm Silver at BHphoto.
Summarit 75mm at BHphoto.
Summarit 75mm Silver at BHphoto.
Summarit 90mm at BHphoto.
Summarit 90mm Silver at BHphoto.
Voigtlander 35mm f/1.7, Heliar 40mm f/2,8, Super Wide Heliar 15 mm f/4,5 II M-mount (MirrorlessRumors).

And hopefull Zeiss will make a Loxia E-mount version of that nice 35mm f/1.4 Distagon!

Capture One launched a special free(!) express version for all Sony camera owners you can download here:
http://www.phaseone.com/en/Imaging-Software/Capture-One-for-Sony.aspx.

This is the official description:

Capture One Express (for Sony)

Capture One Express (for Sony) is one of the world’s best RAW converters, rendering precise colors and incredible detail. It contains flexible digital asset management, all the essential adjustment tools and fast, responsive performance in one customizable and integrated solution.

Think of Capture One Express (for Sony) as your digital assistant, allowing you to focus on realizing your vision for every shot. With its simplicity, intuitive organization and speed, it gives you peace of mind and provides you with an array of powerful tools.

via Brian Smith

If you want to see the first hands-on images with the new FE lenses jump over at Photographyblog:
16-35mm hands-on
90mm macro hands-on
35mm 1.4 hands-on
24-240mm hands-on

Those lenses do look quite big in a lady’s hand!

Preorders, price and specs (Click on store name):
Zeiss 16-35mm FE at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Sony Store US.
Zeiss 16-35mm FE in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
28-135mm powerzoom in Europe at Sony DE, UK, ES, IT, FR, CH, AT, NL, BE, FI, SE, NO, PT.
Sony FS7 4K camcorder at Adorama.
HVL-F32M Flash at Adorama, BHphoto.
HVL-F32M Flash in Europe at Sony DE, IT,
Sony RMT-VP1K Wireless Remote Commander & Receiver Kit at Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony XLR-K2M XLR Adaptor Kit (with microphone) at Adorama.
Sony LCS-PSC7 System Bag (Black) at BHphoto.