Should you get the superb new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 FE lens or the much cheaper Rokinon 50mm f/1.4 FE autofous lens? What’s the trade off with the rokinon? Check out those two new review:

Admiringlight tested the Zeiss and concludes:

The cons list is short, and show really the only two things that are bad about the lens: it’s quite big, and it’s quite expensive. If you can get past those, there’s absolutely nothing left to worry about. Optically, this is the finest 50mm lens I’ve ever used, and is among the finest lenses of any focal length I’ve ever used. It’s exceptionally sharp across the entire frame right from f/1.4, and somehow gets even a bit sharper at smaller apertures. The bokeh is excellent and it controls almost all aberrations extremely well. The lens handily outperforms the already rather exceptional FE 55mm f/1.8: extremely impressive.

Lenstip tested the Rokinon (Smayang) lens:

The Samyang AF 50 mm f/1.4 FE seems to be a bit less successful lens than its reflex camera brother with the same parameters.Not so long ago the Samyang AF 50 mm f/1.4 FE was the cheapest standard with autofocus available and that fact held promise of a significant sale volume. After the launch of the Sony FE 50 mm f/1.8 the situation doesn’t look so rosy anymore; it seems without a distinct lowering of the price the Samyang won’t enjoy a huge market share.

To me this sound slike: if you have the money and ened the ultimate image quality go for the Zeiss. If money is factor and f/1.4 is not really needed go for the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8!

And by the way…here are the links to ALL FE 50mm lenses:

Sony FE 50mm f/2.8 macro ([shopcountry 51065])
Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 ([shopcountry 49849])
Zeiss FE Loxia 50mm f/2.0 ([shopcountry 47047])
Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8 ([shopcountry 37736])
Rokinon (Samyang) FE 50mm f/1.4 ([shopcountry 51066])
Sony APS-C 50mm f/1.8 ([shopcountry 51067])
Handevision Iberit APS-C manual focus 50mm f/2.4 ([shopcountry 51068])
Zeiss 50mm FE f/1.4 ([shopcountry 51069])
Rokinon (Samyang) APS-C manual focus 50mm f/1.2 ([shopcountry 51070])
Rokinon (Samyang) FE manual focus 50mm f/1.4 ([shopcountry 51071])
Zeiss Touit APS-C 50mm f/2.8 macro ([shopcountry 51072])
Mitakon FE manual focus 50mm f/0.95 ([shopcountry 51073])

Long list :)

Every week I do check the Amazon lens sales ranking (Click here) and through all the year 2016 one lens kept remaining steadily on top. It’s the Sony 18-105mm E-mount lens. Surprised?
If you wonder why this lens sells fine just read the review conclusions just posted by Photozone:

The broad zoom range is highly useful for applications such as travel photography. It’s also a natural mate to the Sony E 10-18mm f/4 OSS. And unlike Sony’s full format lenses, the Sony E 18-105mm f/4 G OSS is also surprisingly affordable (600US$/500EUR). So all in all we haven’t seen greatness in this lens but it is an attractive package nonetheless.

Reminder: Once again I ask Sony engineers and marketing guys to also focus on the development of new APS-C E-mount lenses. Thanks!

Why a Sony Mirrorless user needs to know about ‘Setting Effect’

Mark Galer posted a long list of video tutorials for Alpha shooters. You can check them out here: youtube.com/channel/UCd333V2AbeUItnE_fO1zRtA/videos

Dpreview posted the Sony RX100mV review:

The Sony RX100 V builds on a camera that was already class-leading in many respects and crams 24fps burst shooting, oversampled 4K video and a 315-point autofocus system into this new pocket-sized companion. But there are no updates to its design, ergonomics or user interface that would ease direct control of its immense feature set. It’s the most expensive pocket zoom camera on the market today, and there are other models that we find nicer to use in practice, but the RX100 V remains the highest-specced and most capable camera in its class.

RX100m5 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. In EU at Calumet.de. WexUK. PCHstore.

SLRlounge posted a hands-on review of the A99II:

“Sony not only hangs with the Nikon and Canon big boys, it does so while enabling many more selectable AF points, wider AF coverage, doubling the resolution, and all within a smaller lighter body that uses comparatively much less expensive standard SD cards. It’s astonishing.”

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

And Digitalrev keeps critizing Sony’s startegy ont he A6500 in a new post:

This is no upgrade – it’s a fix on a flawed core function of the a6300, and it should have been addressed by Sony engineers before the launch of the a6500’s predecessor.

And here is the A6500 hands-on video by Gear Glasses & Gadgets

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

There is also a new review by Cinema5D. Of course being a video blog site their focus is on the video performance of the camera:

In my opinion, the Sony RX100 V remains a camera with a split identity. On the one hand, it is a technological wonder which integrates the same engine as Sony’s a99II flagship camera in a tiny space. Additionally, it offers a feature-rich video manual control options including some that are hard to find in even more expensive and advanced devices from other respected manufacturers. Also, the improved autofocus in video mode is a pleasure to work with. On the other hand, many functions are “almost there”. A body with a mic interface but no headphone jack, HFR with almost HD quality and continuous shooting mode that might be great for photographers but almost useful to videographers. I’m fully aware that this is not a professional shooting device, and for now it can serve as a great family companion and second camera to just throw in the bag and keep handy for any production. But with a little extra attention and open ear to video enthusiasts, (especially when sales graphs are proving that video professionals would like to use that type of equipment),  this camera could have become a real gem!

Digitalrev writes:

With a fast card we were able to capture 65 RAW and JPEG images before filling the buffer, which is something many larger cameras can’t do. It was ridiculously fast in testing, although we do wonder what’s the necessity of all this firepower in such a small camera, since ultimately image quality will be limited due to the sensor size and lens.

RX100m5 at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. In EU at Calumet.de. WexUK. PCHstore.

Bohus sent me this video and the following message: “I just created a bunch of videos showing of the versatility of the Sony camera platform by mounting lots of different vintage lenses to the camera. I thought that you might get a kick out of this video, where I mount a lens from 1897 through a crazy amount of mounting hackery. ;)“