Ray Larose hands-on test of the new Zeiss ZX1

Ray Larose is one of the very few people who had the chance to shoot with the new Zeiss ZX1 (specs here).

Holding it in the hand is like nothing else. When I first grabbed it, it reminded me (slightly) of the X1D and much nicer than the Sony RX1R II I had.

The rear screen is incredible. A bright (even in bright sunlight) 4.3” OLED touchscreen with intuitive menus. Being able to take a shot, swipe of a thumb to add my own custom preset in Lightroom CC, then exporting it to social media – with nothing more than a click – was an amazing and exciting experience. And having all this stored on an internal 512 GB SSD drive – just wow.

The slight curve to the body is a dream and fits the hand really well. Raw photos are a dream (even in beta) – a feel that’s really approaching medium format for me.

I feel this one has a touch more character than the RX1R II version. I see it have a smoother bokeh and a nice edge to edge sharpness. As you know, the RX1R II has slight distortion in the edges, something I didn’t see on the ZX1.

Ray cannot dislcose more yet but I can’t wait to see some real work shot with it.

Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2 CF Review at ePhotozine: “has the sparkle that gives that emotional element”

ePhotozine posted their full Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2 CF Review:

Quality, lack of compromise and elegance of design. These are the things that characterise the new lens, one which I have found very exciting to use. It also does not fall into the trap of being clinically sharp without having that indefinable character. It manages to be crisp and clean in terms of its images, but they also have the sparkle that gives that emotional element. Sometimes this is referred to as “pixie dust”, the magical extra ingredient that makes great lenses.

Thus the new Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2 CF lens justifies its price tag and it has that extra quality that makes it an Editor’s Choice.

The new Zeiss Batis lens is available for preorder at Adorama and BHphoto.

Photokina reports and tests roundup

Sigma 28mm, 40mm, 56mm, 70-200mm and 60-600mm Hands-on Photos (Photographyblog).
Sony Cyber-shot HX99 Hands-on Photos (Photographyblog).
Photokina marks a massive upheaval in the camera landscape (Engadget).

Image of the new Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro FE lens at Photokina

Optyczne shared this image of the new Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro lens. This lens will be available as native Full Frame E-mount lens too. There are some image samples shot with the Canon version on Optyczne. Some more hands-on images are also available at Photographyblog.

Here is the press text I shared a while ago:

Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO
Followed by the success of the Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2:1 Macro, the 100mm f/2.8 2:1 Macro is the 2nd member of Laowa 2:1 macro line-up. This new 100mm lens can cover full frame sensor size and focus from 2:1 magnification to infinity. The wide magnification range allows macro photographers to capture subject at any sizes. This 100mm portrait lens also features an apochromatic (APO) characteristic that no chromatic aberration can be found. The 12 elements in 10 groups optics design delivers a crystal sharpness image in both macro and tele distances. Canon EF / Nikon AI / Pentax K / Sony FE mounts are available.

New Batis 40mm f/2.0 FE lens test by Allan Weitz and Lisa Beaney

Zeiss 40mm f/2.0 CF lens preorder at Adorama and BHphoto.

Allan Weitz (test here) conclusion is:

Though my personal lens preferences lean toward wide-angle lenses, the slightly wide-angle PoV, combined with the 40mm Batis’s ability to focus closer than your typical normal lens, made my time with the Batis 40mm f/2 CF a creatively enjoyable experience.

Lisa Beaney (test here) conclusion is:

From the testing I’ve done this lens is very sharp (not a scientific measurement, just from using it and looking at the images !)

Preorder status check:
The new Zeiss Batis lens is available for preorder at Adorama and BHphoto.
The Sony A7III will be in Stock within days according to BHphoto and Adorama.
The Tamron 28-75mm FE will be in Stock tomorrow according to BHphoto.
The Sony 400mm GM FE will be in Stock on October 11 according to BHphoto.
The Sigma 105mm f/1.4 FE will be in Stock on October 18 according to BHphoto.

Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM review at Photographyblog: “outstanding wide-angle prime lens “

Photographyblog posted the full review of the new Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM lens (preorder at Bhphoto. Adorama. Amazon. Calumet Germany. WexUK.):

The Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM is an outstanding wide-angle prime lens with a very fast maximum aperture, although the high asking price is certainly reflective of the performance and image quality on offer.
This relatively compact, lightweight optic delivers excellent sharpness in both the centre and edges of the frame almost throughout its aperture range, even performing well wide-open.
The near-circular 11-blade aperture creates some lovely bokeh effects, despite the wide-angle nature of the lens, making it suitable for everything from landscapes to portraits, as shown in our Sample Image gallery.
Coupled with a high-resolution camera like the A7R III that we tested it with, it’s capable of producing incredibly detailed, very sharp images, with Sony’s excellent Eye AF function seamlessly tracking the subject.
The Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM delivered fast, near-silent and reliable auto-focusing on the A7R III camera, intuitive manual focusing and a high level of build quality, plus it’s usefully weather-tight too.
If you really love the 24mm focal length, we’d heartily recommend the Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM – you certainly won’t be disappointed by the image quality that it can deliver.

And here is the hands-on by Photogearnews: