Sony 135mm GM reviews and tests by Marc Alhadeff, Phillip Reeve, Northrup, David Oastler

Tomorrow the new 135mm GM will finally start shipping to US buyers too (get it here on Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and FocusCamera). And here are some of the very early reviews of this lens:

Marc Alhadeff writes:

The Sony 135mm F1.8 GM is a new jewel in the GM serie, it will produce excellent results in Outdoor portraits, sports, weddings, street photography. Compared to its biggest competitor Sigma 135mm F1.8 , the Sony is lighter, smaller , a little bit more sharper , has a better color rendition and its AF is much more faster and accurate, Background blur is a little bit smoother , Bokeh Balls are better, the only areas where the Sigma has the edge is a little bit better resistance to flare, and the price (1400 euros)
A must have is you like the 135mm focal length

Phillip Reeve writes:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the sharpest of them all? It is the Sony FE 1.8/135 GM, at least for all lenses that I have used yet. It is the first lens where nothing happens when I stop down except of decreasing vignetting and increasing diffraction. Even the macro and microcontrast is completely there wide open.
Besides sharpness, I can also praise the good CA correction, low distortion, low vignetting and the close up sharpness.The proven GM build quality makes using this lens a joy, especially the large amount of manual lens controls is very useful.


Sony 135mm f1.8 GM Live Unboxing & initial thoughts


Sony vs Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Portrait Lens Comparison


Sony 135mm f1.8 GM vs Sigma 105mm f1 4 Bokeh shootout

Preorders:
Sony 135mm GM at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and FocusCamera. EU at ParkCameras, WexUK and Calumet DE.
Sony RMT-P1BT remote commander at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama and FocusCamera.
Sony T* Circular Polarizer Filters at BHphoto and Adorama.

Not a surprise: Panasonic S1 and Sony A7III score nearly identical results at DxO…likely because they use the same Sony sensor!

This won’t come as a surprise: The Panasonic S1 has been tested by DxOmark and Photonstophotos. And in both cases the S1 performed nearly identical to the Sony A7III. I think it’s a save bet to say the Panasonic uses the same sensor made by Sony (without the phase detection pixels). DxO writes:

With just one point between them in the DxOMark rankings and similar Portrait, Landscape, and Sports scores, the new Lumix DC-S1 sensor performs practically identically to its most direct competitors.

I am much more interested to see how the Panasonic S1R sensor scores at DxO…we should see these results soon!

via L-rumors

Side by Side: The new Voigtlander 50mm f/1.2 FE and the 40mm f/1.2 FE

Voigtlander announced this new 50mm f/1.2 FE lens. I do own the current 40mm FE and I am very tempted to buy this new 50mm lens too.

I also think this new 21mm f/1.4 from Vogitlander is one of the most exciting lens ever. Sony currently doesn’t offer an 21mm GM lens and this lens would be huge anyway. The 21mm is perfect fit for my small hiking bag :)