View this post on Instagram

Life+Guard Skin protection on the #SonyA7rIII and the new 24mm f/1.4 GM lens. via http://immian.com/lifeguard – #sonyimages #sonyalphasclub #sonyalpha #sonyphotography #sonyphotogallery #sonyalpharumors #sonyalphagear #SonyPhotoGallery #SonyAlphasClub #SonyMirrorless #sonyalphaphotos #sony #sonyalphauniverse #sonyalphaclub #photogear #photography #photographer #bokeh #inspirational #mirrorless

A post shared by Andreas Photography world (@andrea_pizzini_photographer) on Dec 7, 2018 at 5:05am PST

ePhotozine conclusion is:

There are some really excellent lenses available, and the Sony G Master range includes some of the very best. This continues with the new Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM lens, which performs impeccably and at a price level that is competitive with Canon and very much less than Nikon. There are third-party alternatives that are also very good indeed, but for those seeking the manufacturer’s own lenses then this offering is very, very attractive and an obvious Editor’s Choice, the high expectations that we started out with having been totally met.

ThePhoBlographer conclusion is:

Marrying a petite footprint with a feather like body, the Sony 24mm f1.4 G Master is capable of creating stunning images with razor sharp detail and dreamlike bokeh. A marvelous union of technological advancement and optics engineering, as far as 24mm f1.4 lenses goes, Sony simply did it better, smaller, and lighter than the competition.

Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM lens at Bhphoto. Adorama. Amazon. Calumet Germany. WexUK.

Well this is quite an interesting finding. One of our reader shared it:

I am Le Minh Bui from Vietnam.

I want to share with you a surprise. A friend of mine accidentally found out that there are different versions of FE 28mm f/2 that show a huge change in the sunstar effect. He borrowed a new FE 28mm and it produces a fantastic sunstar, which is in contrast with the old lens (mediocre sunstar).

A closer look revealed that the new version has re-designed aperture blades that are curvy at the top and straight in the bottom, instead of being curvy from top to bottom (the old design). For comparison, I included the close shot of Voigtlander 28mm f/2, which shows a very nice sunstar even at f/4. Voigtlander blades are straight!

It seems nothing else is different between the two. Based on various reviews, I narrowed down the time when Sony made the change is in 2016-2017 period, but I can’t tell exactly from which batch. The easiest way to distinguish them is by the shape of the iris. If the lens is closed down and form a straight nonagon shape, it’s the new version.

I notice that all of the lenses that Sony has announced recently have the same blade design to balance the bokeh and sunstar effect, especially the new GM 24mm f/1.4 (very round bokeh even when stopping down to f/5.6, but the sunstar is very nice from f/8).

Maybe some readers can report if they had similar results on other lenses too?

Marc Alhadeff is the first person testing the new Zonlai 50mm f/1.4 APS-C E-mount lens (you can get it at Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK). The conclusion:

The Zonlai 50mm F1.4 (150 euros) is an excellent manual portrait lens for A6000, perfectly usable wide open (very good) and giving excellent results as of F2.8
The background blur and bokeh is very good and the global color rendition is good as well, it will only require small color correction to correct the magenta tint

CamerLabs updated his ongoing Sigma 56mm f/1.4 lens reivew with new image samples.

Ephotozine posted the full Sigma 56mm lens review:

The Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN C offers a fantastic performance, superb sharpness in particular, and a reasonable price tag. All round, a very satisfactory and desirable lens. A slight downside is the fiddly nature of some of the mirrorless cameras, with many functions tucked away in menus as opposed to dedicated switches and dials. This is not the fault of the lens though, which handles totally smoothly.
But in terms of a fast, short telephoto that is unobtrusive, works efficiently and delivers superb results the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN C is absolutely an Editor’s Choice.

Get the lens at [shopcountry 77454].

For the first time the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 APS-C E-mount lens is in Stock via FocusCamera

Some time ago Lensbaby announced a new SOL 45 lens which you can preorder as A-mount or E-mount version at BHphoto and WexUK.

Marc Alhadeff is the first posteing a full review of this lens on Sonyalpha.blog. And this seems to be a very decent lens:

This Lensbaby Sol 45mm F3.5 (200 euros) is really a surprising lens. 

On other Lensbaby lenses I often found that effects were too much present or that sharpness was really below average

With the Sol 45, it seems Lensbaby has found the perfect balance with nice creamy blurry background, very sharp subject in focus and very nice color rendition. The atmosphere created is very nice and give picture full of emotions

In addition you have

• Some tilt possibilities. 
• Bokeh blades that are a nice addition, to get some alternatives background
• You can also play with flare if you want, with some nice effect with the sun. 

I showed some photos to some friends and they thought is was : a 85 F1.8, a 70-200 F2.8, a 50 F1 ! 

The lens is very well built and easy to use : at 200 euros it open a world of creative possibilities without overdoing it for the bokeh effects

Immediately after returning my test lens , I order one for me ! Highly recommended

For several years Sony had the full frame mirrorless camera market all to itself, but recent introductions from Canon and Nikon have changed the landscape. This week, Chris and Jordan compare the current generation entry-level full frame mirrorless models from each company: the Nikon Z6, Sony a7 III, and Canon EOS R. Watch their analysis to find out where they think each model excels or has room to grow.