Skylum launched the new free Luminar 4.2 update ($10 discount with our code “SAR”). The biggest new feature is the Augmented AI feature. Here is how it works:

You save $10 on the new Luminar 4.2 using our coupon code “SAR” at checkout!

Marc Alhadeff listed the sharpest lenses for the A6xxx APS-C camera series. It’s interesting to see that the only “outstanding” lens is the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 E lens which is also among the cheapest to buy (Check price at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES)

A couple of important notes from Marc:

• It focuses only on the resolving power of the lens = sharpness
• Optical sharpness on APSC is obtained around F5.6-F8 at F11 diffraction is already visible and reduce the sharpness
• Many other criteria needs also to be considered before choosing a lens : AF accuracy and speed, Bokeh, background blur, color rendition , CA , resistance to flare, distorsion ….So don’t take the pure sharpness ranking on its own to make your choice but look at the other criteria as well
• For the APSC series only 2 models have in-body stabilisation : A6500 and A6600, so people doing primarily video should first look at the optical stabilization before sharpness. Only Sony lenses offers the OSS (Optical steadyshoot) among APSC lenses

Opticallimits tested he Sony FE 28mm f/2 and concluded:

The Sony FE 28mm f/2 may be a prime lens but it’s quite obvious that Sony had (or wanted) to cut a couple of corners in order to save costs. The resolution characteristic isn’t overly harmonious to say the least. The lens may be sharp at medium aperture settings but has a substantial border/corner weakness at f/2 and f/2.8. Of course, you may argue that this isn’t really overly important for shallow depth-of-field photography but it’s hardly impressive for a prime lens in any case. If you operate the camera with activated image auto-correction, you won’t notice drastic weaknesses beyond this. However, both the original image distortions as well as vignetting are on the high side. Lateral CAs aren’t all that hot either for a contemporary lens. The quality of the bokeh is one of the better aspects. The rendition of out-of-focus highlights is a little rough but the general blur is very smooth.

The lens may not feel like much due to its low weight but objectively there isn’t anything to complain about the build quality. An all-metal body and a smooth focusing ring are good base ingredients and adding a constant length as well as the dust- and moisture-sealing makes it a very decent package. The AF is also reasonably fast and, typical for most Sony lenses, noiseless. Sony skipped the implementation of an optical image stabilizer but this would have been unusual in this lens class anyway.

The reason for the existence of a prime lens should be that it offers something “more” over a zoom lens its focal length class. In the case of the Sony FE 28mm f/2, it’s about an extra stop or two of speed. The question is whether this alone can be a reason for buying the lens …

Patrick Murphy-Racey:

Sometimes I can be long-winded on my youtube content, so after so many of you liked and watched by A9 Speed Review, I thought I would try one on the new 400mm f/2.8 lens from Sony. I got to shoot it last Saturday and had a BLAST. If you want more information, just search for my LONG review of the same lens, but have some popcorn or chips at the ready. Chocolate can also be good…

Opticallimits tested the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 E-mount lens:

While there are numerous fast, full format E-mount lenses available, they are very expensive and simply oversized when mounted on APS-C cameras. Sony showed little interest in providing dedicated APS-C prime lenses lately so it’s most welcome that Sigma has taken the leap of faith by providing some new and interesting designs for the smaller format. The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary is about as fast as it can reasonably get without running into a cost trap especially considering the rather wide-angle of view – equivalent to a “24mm” full format lens. Performance-wise it is pretty good but it has a couple of weak spots, too. At maximum aperture, the center resolution is very decent but the corner quality falls apart. Whether sharp corners at f/1.4 are really important is a question of application. For astrophotography, it’s clearly not ideal whereas for shallow depth-of-field scenes, it’s hardly relevant. Stopping down to f/2 helps a lot in the image corners and the results are sharp across the image field from f/2.8 onward until diffraction effects set in. The native vignetting characteristic could be better and image distortions are on the high-side. However, this isn’t too much to worry about with activated auto-correction. Lateral CAs are generally very low. The quality of the bokeh is a bit of mixed bag with very nice out-of-focus highlights but also with a fairly smeary general bokeh rendition.The overall build quality is very good. The lens body is made of metal and the huge, rubberized focus ring is both smooth as well as very grippy. It also has basic sealing of some kind. On the downside, manual focusing is way too coarse to be useful at shorter focus distances. The AF is quite speedy and noiseless though.

The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN is may not be flawless but given the very reasonable pricing, it’s a great value offering.

Sigma APS-C E-mount lenses:
16mm f/1.4 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
19mm f/2.8 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
30mm f/1.4 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
30mm f/2.8 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
56mm f/1.4 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
60mm f/2.8 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.

Chris from DpreviewTV tested the new Tamron 20mm f/2.8 lens (here at Adorama, FocusCamera and BHphoto). The conclusion is that this is a very good lens considering the price:

Jim Kasson has started testing the new Sony lens and wrote two articles:

Sony 20mm f/1.8 G initial tests: “This looks like a promising lens”

Sony 20/1.8 vs Batis 18/2.8: “At four or five hundred dollars cheaper than the Zeiss lens, and a stop and a third faster, the Sony 20/1.8 looks attractive here.”

Sony 20mm f/1.8 FE G:
In USA at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. FocusCamera.
In EU at Amazon DE, Calumet DE. Amazon UK. Parkcameras UK. Amazon FR. Amazon IT. Amazon ES.