The new Loxia lens preorders are now available at BHphoto and Adorama.

This lens isn’t going to create large excitement among the Sony Alpha crowd. But nevertheless this lens promises to deliver high quality in a tiny package.

ThePhoBlographer writes:

With Zeiss, you can always expect solid image quality to a very high standard. The Zeiss Loxia 25mm f2.4 isn’t any different at all. This isn’t Zeiss’s fastest 25mm lens and so you can’t expect the bokeh to be anything like an f1.4 lens. But Zeiss’s color and lack of chromatic aberration are surely there. At this point, that’s all pretty standard though I’d be shocked to see if most people could tell the difference between Zeiss color and Sony color–and they’d be even more surprised as to how much their color profile plays into that. As always, Zeiss’ sharpness is also fantastic. You can’t fault this lens at all when you nail the focusing.

ePhotozine writes:

The Loxia range is an attractive proposition, with useful focal lengths and, if the 25mm f/2.4 is anything to go by, excellent qualities. The new 25mm f/2.4 is compact, beautiful to use in a most traditional way, full of the tactile high grade feel that is rarely seen. The price may be slightly on the high side, but then again what price quality? Some may question the manual focus, but with this lens it is so easy to find the point of focus that with minimal practice it should soon become second nature. Admittedly that will not suit everyone.
All in all, a lovely lens that matches well to the Sony FE full frame mirrorless cameras.

Opticallimits (former Photozone) is a damn serious review site that has no fear to destroy a lens reputation when it deserves it. But luckily the 24-105mm FE managed to impress them:

Overall the Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS is an obvious choice in the Sony lineup. It may not be able to touch the center quality of the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM but the border quality is surprisingly high for such a lens – at least when stopping down to f/5.6. Lateral CAs are moderate. The quality of the bokeh is quite good for a lens within its scope.

The Sony lens isn’t flawless but just to provide a framework for comparison – it is superior to both the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS II and Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G VR. So it’s certainly a lens we can recommend to Sony FE users. 

Sony 24-105mm G FE at [shopcountry 66153].

Reminder: Don’t forget we from SAR are giving away one 24-105mm FE lens for free! Check this article to learn how to have a chance to win this lens.

Finally it’s here! Our very first Giveaway for a brand new Sony 24-105mm FE lens ($1,300 value). This is the must have lens for travel photographers and the most versatile zoom of the FE lens range. – To Enter follow these rules: 1. Like this Post 2. Follow me @andrea_pizzini_photographer 3. Tag a friend in the comments below. Each tag is an entry. Enter as many times as you wish. —————————————————— Optionally you can also can “Turn On Post Notifications” for my IG Profile, so that you can learn of additional chances to win. – The Winner will be chosen at random on February 15th, 2018 This giveaway is not sponsored by Instagram or Sony. No Purchase Necessary. Void where prohibited. All Giveaway/Sweepstakes Terms & Conditions can be found in the link in my IG Bio. – #sony #sonyalpha #sonyimages #sonygear

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Andrea Photographer-Explorer (@andrea_pizzini_photographer) am Jan 11, 2018 um 4:45 PST

Chuck Meyers sent us an email with this video link. He told me this “I made a video taking a closer look at some of the images I got while shooting an NFL Game with the A9 and A7RII.“

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:34 A7RIII Manual 00:48 USB Charging 01:18 Battery 01:43 Memory Card Configuration 05:08 Choosing Memory Cards 05:57 You Saved My Butt 06:00 Buy Cheap SD Cards 06:44 Ports 07:39 Taking a Picture 09:02 Diopter 09:44 Raw Compressed 11:18 Back-Button Focus 14:06 APS-C Super 35 17:10 Focus Magnifier 18:12 Reviewing A Picture 19:25 Auto Review 19:52 Rate Pictures 21:01 Modes 21:45 Bulb Mode 22:36 Remote Shutter Trigger 22:56 DOF Preview 23:54 Books! 25:18 Shutter Modes 26:25 Continuous Shooting Length 27:20 Focusing Modes 28:24 Focus Points 31:26 Manual Focus 31:56 Changing ISO 33:26 Exposure Compensation 33:55 Bracketing 35:07 Bracketing 36:15 Self-Timer 37:09 Timelapse 40:00 Interval Timer 40:28 e-Front Curtain Shutter 42:02 Adapted Lenses 43:26 Adapted Lens Recommendations 44:23 Silent Shooting 45:20 Copyright Info 46:28 Format Card 47:05 My Menu 47:46 Video 48:45 File Format 50:00 Dual Cards 50:28 Slow Motion 51:08 Audio Levels 51:52 Peaking Levels 53:19 Zebras 53:58 White Balance 54:27 Metering Modes 54:52 Custom Settings 56:59 Pixel Shift 59:14 Wi-Fi 1:05:37 Bluetooth 1:07:21 Recommended Settings 1:07:27 No Beeps 1:07:49 AF Illuminator 1:08:23 Enable Monitor 1:09:28 Function Menu 1:10:18 Lens Suggestions 1:12:17 Flash Suggestion 1:14:15 Tripods 1:14:41 Mobile

How to shoot continuous frames with the A9 and external flash, my findings
by Alin Popescu – Sony Image Ambassador, Romania

My very first frustrations with the A9 and event photography was the use of flash in different situations. This was actually my only complain about this magnificent camera.

What bothered me most, except the lag before the shot was taken, was that it was almost impossible for me to take continuous sequences with flash, without getting a miss or two, and by that I mean a flash-missfire or out-of-sync during the continuous shoot. I knew Sony cameras can do it, since the launch of the A7R III back in London when we shoot at 10fps with Profoto gear.

So today I tried everything I could, with every setting I imagined it might have a “saying” in this situation and I’ve finally found the “perfect” solution. I’m not saying I’ve discovered the wheel, maybe I was too stupid and did something wrong before, but trust me, I’m no beginner at this.

What I did?

First of all, I’ve upgraded all my equipment to the latest firmware. So this is what I’ve used:

Sony A9 – v. 2.0
Sony Zeiss Distagon 35mm f 1.4 – v. 02
Godox Wistro AD600B – v. 2.5
Godox X1T S – v. 16

Even if the Godox is the TTL version, for consistency between frames, I prefer to go full manual and set the trigger accordingly to shoot at 1/32 power.

A9 was on continuous M and Mechanical Shutter (the only way you can use flash on the A9), at 1/125s and F4, with an ambient value at -2.0 EV so I could clearly see if a no-flash shot happened during my sequence. ISO was set to 100 for no variation either and focus was AF-C.

I’ve filmed this with my iPhone on Slow-Mo at 240 fps, just to be able to “see” if flash popped at every shutter opening.

What I’ve discovered?

The lag we all noticed before is still present, but only at the first frame of the sequence. You can see in slow-mo, the complete black-out of the LCD, just before the first flash was fired, and then no black-out or any other lag. I’ve tested also afterwards if focus is working accordingly and it did, moving the camera to close and distant objects, did the trick.

What is to be solved? This mysterious blackout at the initial start of shooting. I have no explanation for this, since it wasn’t a TTL sequence I could blame on, as the flash/camera needed to perform pre-ttl flash to measure everything. Hope Sony will give us a no-lag system soon, but until then I’m happy I can shoot sequences without missed frames.

Please let me know of your findings!
aLLin

Meike’s new MK-A9 Pro Battery Grip for the Sony A9 and A7rIII is now shipping at Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon DE, Amazon UK. And a first video review is here too:

Click further to see the full presentation page: http://www.mkgrip.com/goods/show-237.html

Tony Northrup summed the state of the big three companies.