Max Yuryev (video on top) tested the video features the Sony A7rIII. And below you can see TheDigitalRev’s take on the camera.
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Sony A7rIII at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Calumet DE, Wex UK. Photo Porst Neuwied. Sony Netherland. Sony Australia. Sony Japan.
Sony 24-105mm at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Amazon DE, Calumet DE, Wex UK.
Join the A7rIII facebook group to discuss the camera features and tests.
Opticallimits (former Photozone) tested the Sony 85mm f/1.8 FE lens:
Moderately fast (as opposed to insanely fast) 85mm or 100mm lenses are generally an easy choice unless something went terribly wrong during the design phase. Still, honours where honours are deserved – the Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 is an epic lens. It combines outstanding sharpness with a buttery bokeh which is a quite rare combination actually. Lenses that are pushing sharpness are usually not quite as smooth when it comes to the quality of the bokeh. Lateral CAs, as well as image distortions, are low. In terms of weaknesses, we’d list the bokeh fringing – albeit it isn’t any worse than the competitors, a fairly high RAW vignetting at f/1.8 and a reduced quality at very close focusing distances (if that matters in this lens class).
The build quality of the lens is surprisingly high considering the fact that the lens is primarily targeting the consumer market. It’s a tightly assembled, all-metal construction and it’s weather-sealed, too. Manual focusing (by wire) works nicely and the auto-focusing speed is above average.
And to complete the nice story, all that is available at a very affordable price. Therefore, unless you really need that extra speed of a 85mm f/1.4 (and most don’t really), we finish with … highly recommended!
Sony 85mm at [shopcountry 65241].
And Opticallimits also tested the Zeiss Batis 85mm:
The Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 is one of the best lenses that we have reviewed so far. It isn’t just a sharp lens. It is excessively sharp even at fully open aperture. Low CAs add to the goodness. That being said – it is not a perfect lens. Image distortions and vignetting are weak spots making it almost necessary to take advantage of Sony’s image auto-correction. The quality of the bokeh is very good but there are a few lenses out there that are better still. That also applies to bokeh fringing which is on the high side.
The build quality is up to professional standards – a metal body, no wobbly parts, weather sealing – that’s all excellent. However, we are still no big fans of the slippery surface coating, the dust catching focus ring and the dismal quality of the lens cap. The AF speed is good albeit not extremely fast. The OLED display on the lens is a looker for sure … whether it’s really useful may be a different question.Even when taking its downsides into account – the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 is an awesome lens. Therefore … highly recommended!
Batis 85mm at [shopcountry 54737].
The Best & Worst Photo/Video Gear of 2017. Note that the D850 did win only because of “romantic” reasons…because this might be the last top DSLR for the years to come. Jordan (who is the smarter of the two…joking) did choose the A7rIII as the camera of the year.
Best camera:
First place: Nikon D850
Second place: Sony A7rIII
Third place: Fuji X-T20
Best Lenses:
First place: Leica 8-18mm MFT lens
Second place: Fujinon 18-55mm
Third place: Sony 85mm f/1.8
Best Video camera:
first place: Panasonic GH5
second place: Panasonic EVA1
third place: C200
The worst camera of the year is the Leica CL
Meyer Optik Goerlitz is developing the second generation of their Primoplan 75/1.9 lens. You can buy the lens Indiegogo. This video was shot on the Sony A7rII with this new lens:
https://vimeo.com/247454721
Jim Kasson posted two articles (link one and link two) about the new Sony A7rIII Pixel Shift Mode. This is his conclusion so far:
Not only is the moire reduced by the stacking, the dynamic range is improved. This is not surprising given the fact that four times as many photons gave their lives making the four-shot stack than perished in any one shot. The stacked image is a big improvement. I think this is going to be a big win for anyone doing product shots of fabrics, or any other situation where the subject is still and false color is a problem.
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Sony A7rIII at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Calumet DE, Wex UK. Photo Porst Neuwied. Sony Netherland. Sony Australia. Sony Japan.
Sony 24-105mm at Amazon, Bhphoto, Adorama, BuyDig, FocusCamera, Amazon DE, Calumet DE, Wex UK.
Join the A7rIII facebook group to discuss the camera features and tests.
Dpreview is testing the Rokinon 50mm FE lens but doesn’t seem to like it. The lens has some issues like the noise AF: “The AF motor is very noisy, not unlike a distant submarine distress call”. And the bad news continues:
The lens also has some issues with bokeh. Take a look at the onion rings in the out-of-focus highlights here, and if you search around the image above at 1:1, you’ll see slightly out-of-focus highlights having distracting holes in their center.
The takeaway: If you’re on a budget and want an FE 50mm F1.4 lens with autofocus, well, you don’t have a lot of options. Seeing as you can get some nice, usable images wide open, I wouldn’t steer you away from pulling the trigger on the Rokinon. But I would probably try to convince you to settle for F1.8 and save up for the Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA ($900) instead (quality-wise it is far superior to the Sony FE 50mm F1.8 – $200).
I do own the Zeiss 55mm FE and I absolutely love it. But I loaned it to a friend for a couple of weeks and it camera back with that noise AF. This is a “distant submarine distress call” :(
