DxOmark tested a set of A-mount lenses on the new A99II. Those are the best lenses you can get for your camera:

Best wide-angle prime: Sigma 35mm f/1.4 A (here at [shopcountry 54238])

Best standard prime: Sony 50mm f/1.4 (here at [shopcountry 54239])

Best portrait prime: Sony Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 (here at [shopcountry 54196])

Best telephoto prime: Sony 300mm f/2.8 G II (here at [shopcountry 54240])

–

Sony A99II at BHphoto, Adorama. Amazon. PhotoPorst, Calumet Germany, Amazon UK and WexUK.

Shawn Steiner posted his Loxia 85mm review at Explora. We know the lens is razor sharp but the main hurdle from some SAR readers is the not so fast aperture. Shawn writes about that:

Another question for potential buyers has to do with the f/2.4 aperture and whether it is fast enough. Well, that depends. For most of these types of street shots, I generally wouldn’t be shooting at f/1.4 anyway—it’s too shallow for most day-to-day work. Portraiture would make me hesitate to choose this lens over faster options, but that depends on your personal style, as well. Personally, I think f/2.4 is just fine, as long as you are satisfied with all the other features. Sure, the bokeh could be a little smoother and rounder but, overall, this is a great lens. Just see for yourself.

The lens is set to start shipping right before Christmas at BHphoto, Amazon and Adorama. In Eu at Amazon.de.

This is a Guest Post from Per Kylberg:

Sony a5100 – The best second camera!

At least for me… After upgrading from A7R to A7R2, I sold my RX100III and a6000. The A7R2 IQ was so much better and I used it for everything. Then Life changes. For sad reasons there is now less room for extensive and frequent photo trips.

I need a camera for laid back photography!

The a5100 is 2/3 of a a6000, the a6500 is three times more. It is smaller and 60g lighter than a 6000 and half the weight of the A7R2. It lacks EVF, but has touch screen. It has the same menu logic (if any), but fewer features means shorter menus. The image quality and auto focus = A6000= great.

For laid back photo I neither need nor want every possible feature – simply simplicity!

How it works

Holding and handling the a5100 is at least as good as the a6000. The engineer in me recognizes that the right plastic is better than metal for camera shell. This applies for the a5100 – sturdy and reliable feel and better shock absorb (resilient) compared to metal.

I miss EVF! Not just for composition but also for steady hand holding. Re-training needed here! Touch screen with focus area move with just a tap is great!

Lenses

The plan is using it mainly with the 35/2.8. This is a 400g, big pocket kit, delivering truly beautiful images. The Sigma 19 2.8 Art, not as good as the 35mm is a very capable lens. The 55/1.8 “mini-Otus” is the best of the three lenses.

The Batis lenses goes really well with the a 5100. 85mm on the heavy side but OSS is very useful.

                        A5100 and Sigma 19/2.8 Art iso 250 1/160 f4.0

Pros

Great image quality

Small and light

Handling and build

Simplicity

Con

No EVF

55/1.8 iso160, 1/200, f6.3 (all images post processed with my Lightroom workflow)

Overview of great lenses for Sony E

Bloggers and in this site comments often claim that there are no good and cheap lenses for Sony E. Below are 21 lenses. Too expensive is a subjective thing. Selected lenses are “three digit $” – or two digit. Lenses I regard as rubbish and those expensive or heavy vs image quality are not listed.

• Want to go really cheap with great IQ? Get the Sigmas 19, 30/2.8, 60!
• A bit better IQ and more flexible? Zoom 10-18 OSS, Sigma 30/1.4, FE 55/1.8
• Really light weight: Sigma 19/2.8 Sony FE 35/2.8, Sigma 60/2.8

   A5100 and FE35/2.8 iso 640 1/160 f4.0

Wide angle

Zeiss Touit 12/2.8 – seen beautiful images from this. On the expensive side.

Samyang/Rokinon 12/2 – owned this, great IQ, can’t trust distance scale

Voigtländer 15/4.5 FE – Great light little lens – on the expensive side

Sigma 19/2.8 Art – Own this. Good not great. Extremely cheap. 140g

Sony 24/1.8 – Wonderful images, on the expensive side.

Zoom 10-18/4 OSS – Consider buying this. Very good IQ. Expensive side. 225g!

Normal

35/1.8 OSS – Owned this. Great IQ, 155g

35/2.8 FE – Own this, superb IQ, just 120g

28/2 FE – Seen images from this – great IQ, 200g

Sigma 30/1.4 Contemporary – Seen superb images from this. 300g

Sigma 30/2.8 Art – Owned this, great IQ, extremely cheap 140g

Zoom 16-70/4 OSS – Owned this. Beautiful images and sharpness after had it rebuilt on warranty. Expensive. Just 308g.

Zoom 18-105/4 G PZ OSS – more than decent IQ, 427g. On the heavy side.

Short tele

50/1.8 OSS – Seen images from this, Great IQ 200g

55/1.8 FE – Own this, superb IQ from this 280g mini-Otus. Expensive

Zeiss Touit 50 macro – Seen beautiful images from this. On the expensive side.

Sigma 60/2.8 Art – Owned this, superp IQ, 190g, extremely cheap

50/1.8 FE – Know little, probably a tad better than the 50/1.8OSS

50/2.8 Macro FE – Know little, less expensive than the Zeiss Touit

Tele

The 70-200/4 OSS – owned one, would do great as it did on A6000

About me: Done photo since 1961 and used most camera brands, film and digital. Professionally used photo in my 15 years in graphic design. Transition to IT was a natural development. Job: System owner of virtual system at large transnational company.

After my retirement I focused on photography. I do art photo and the A7R2 is a great tool for that as large prints with superb IQ is possible.See my photography here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/perkylberg/

Sony a6500 (First Day)

This is a roundup of new A6500 test videos.

A6500 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, Focuscamera. In EU at Amazon.de, Fotomundus, Calumet.de. WexUK. PCHstore.

Sony a6500 + Sigma 18-35 (IBIS, Low-Light, AF)

Got My Sony a6500!! (Unboxing)

Sony a6500 Review I Tips from Daniel Peters on Vimeo.

Techart Pro Adapter working on Sony A6500 – Demo

Brad: “I wanted to share my first film assignment with the A6500. This was a freelance project I filmed for the local newspaper website the day after I received the new camera. I shot it in 4K using only the Sigma 17-50 lens with the MC-11 adapter. The five axis stabilization worked flawlessly. Edited 1080 in FCPX so I could crop when needed. My thought is the A6500 is an A6300 clone with IBIS and improved overheating.
https://vimeo.com/194307597“

Dpreview published the full A6500 test and the conclusion is:

For the money, you get a light-weight, weather-sealed body with excellent still image quality, excellent 4K video quality, a degree of in-body stabilization and the ability to photograph high speed action with ease. And if you take the time to fully customize the camera, you can really make it sing. Simply put, as an all-arounder, its pretty hard to beat what the a6500 offers, but as an engaging artistic tool, the a6500 may still leave some wanting more. 

A6500 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, Focuscamera. In EU at Amazon.de, Fotomundus, Calumet.de. WexUK. PCHstore.

And this is their PROS and CONS list:

Pros:

• Excellent stills image quality in both JPEG and Raw
• Impressive buffer depth with buffer countdown
• In-body image stablization averages 2.5 stops of added stability
• One of the best APS-C cameras at high ISO
• Flexible Raw files with plenty of dynamic range
• Impressive autofocus performance and frame coverage
• Superb video quality
• Extensive video support features
• Solid construction
• Good degree of customization
• USB charging is convenient
• 14-bit Raw in most shooting modes
• 3rd party lens support for phase-detect AF
• New menus are less cluttered than previous generations’
• New highlight-weighted metering mode
• Eye sensor disengages when the screen is pulled out, EVF won’t switch on
• Redesigned eyecup slides on and locks in place, no longer prone to falling off

Cons:

• Touchscreen operation is laggy, feels unrefined
• Still no “My Menu” option for clustering most-used menu options
• Only one top plate control dial
• Rolling shutter when shooting 4K in both 24/30p
• No Lock-on AF area modes when shooting video
• Lock-on AF can be erratic (failing to distinguish chosen target)
• ‘Live View’ in 8 fps mode shows only static image between captures
• No in-camera Raw conversion option
• Lack of headphone socket for audio monitoring
• Drops to 12-bit mode in various modes inc. continuous shooting and silent shutter
• Risk of overheating limits use for extended recording periods
• Screen automatically dims when shooting 4K video
• Lack of included charger makes it hard to keep a spare battery charged
• Lossy compression of Raw risks occasional artifacts

The Techart PRO adapter opens a whole new world of possibilities. In the video below Mathieu Stern shows how to add autofocus on a 120 Years Old lens!

The Techart PRO adapter is available at Amazon, TechartPRO, Adorama and BHphoto.

Photogrpahyblog tested the new Zeiss Loxia 85mm f/2.4:

The Zeiss Loxia 85mm f/2.4 is a pleasure to use, thanks to its superb weather-proof build quality and wide, smooth focusing ring. When manually focusing the Zeiss Loxia 85mm f/2.4 delivered a very high percentage of keepers thanks to the A7R II’s excellent magnification and peaking features. Vignetting is apparent when shooting wide-open at f/2.4, but quickly disappears as you stop down to f/5.6, while both chromatic aberrations and pin-cushion distortion are very well controlled.
There are a few drawbacks to the Zeiss Loxia 85mm f/2.4 lens, though. You obviously don’t get auto-focusing, the 80cm minimum focusing distance is a little restrictive, it’s larger and heavier than its main rivals, and the asking price of $1399 / £1199 / €1399 is a lot of money to pay for a manual focus prime lens.

The lens is set to start shipping right before Christmas at BHphoto, Amazon and Adorama. In Eu at Amazon.de.