I got the impression the new Loxia 85mm lens didn’t get a love here on the SAR community. And I guess the main issue is the high price ($1,399 at BHphoto and Adorama). That said the lens promises to deliver a stellar performance. Diglloyd writes:
The Zeiss Loxia 85mm f/2.4 Sonnar delivers performance that beats out the best Leica M APO lenses, according to its (measured) MTF chart provided by Zeiss (Leica MTF charts are theoretical computed, not measured). The Loxia 85/2.4 is a an exciting lens for Sony shooters because it is close to Otus-grade performance, yet native-mount for Sony in a relatively compact package. With a 2 or 3 frame focus stack, I’d bet that many outdoor images can be made that will be jaw dropping in detail—I’m sure looking forward to a 70 megapixel Sony of some sort.
And here you have the first Photokina hands-on video with the new Loxia lens:
Digitalrev published their Sony A99II first impression review:
It is indeed smaller than the first A99 (8% to be exact), and so close in size to the a77 II that Sony can even use the same battery grip for both cameras. The autofocus is worthy of all the Sony mirrorless cameras, and in Live View, it can focus at -4 EV – similar to the 5D Mark IV and far better than the D810, which only can focus at -2 EV. In its current reincarnation, the A99 II is better than either mirrorless models from Sony, but that must surely be a sign that the A9-series is imminent. I think it’s pretty clear the A-mount is secondary to Sony’s thoughts, especially since the a99 II has nothing particularly new.
Nevertheless Digitalrev keeps being pessimistic about the A-mount future. It’s understandable but I happen to disagree on that point. Despite the Mirrorless system camera rise the DSLR market is many times bigger and shows no sign of reduction in terms of sales volume. It would not be wise for Sony to step out from it to play a role in the much smaller mirrorless market only.
Matt Granger posted a short A99II hands-on video. In short he says that this may be like an A7rII without its downsides like terrible battery life, overheating and durability. Cinema5D interviewed Sony and there are few new info. For example Sony says that in their testing the A99II 4K recording mode will have no overheating when shooting at 40 degree Celsius.
1) The a99 II has all the same gammas and audio options as the a7R II, but with the addition of Slog-3
2) The new menu is quite snappy and a bit more intuitive that before, but its not a radical departure. More usefully there is a new dial on the front of the camera that can control aperture clicklessly – which is great. I wish this feature was on other cameras. You can also switch between S35 and full frame modes at the push of a button – this is also great.
3) Sony told us that the output of the sensor benefits from a new LSI processing chip. The result is that the image and rolling shutter performance may be even better than the a7R II.
4) Strangely autofocus is the camera’s weak area for video. The blisteringly fast new AF system doesn’t work the same way in video mode as stills.
5) Sony have created the camera that most Canon DSLR video lovers would have died for. If the a99 II had an EF mount the internet would probably have melted by now. As it is, the a99 II deserves more attention because Sony have done exactly what Canon have refused to do. If you want a well built S35 shooting 4K hybrid with S-Log3, audio options and the option to shoot full-frame then the a99 II should be top of your list.
Photokina opened his doors today and plenty of bloggers and SAR readers are sending us their hands-on reports and impressions. This post will be continually updated with new informations.
Photokina A99II newsfeed:
Hands-on with Sony a99 II at Dpreview. There is finally some small info about the new menu:
Sony has refreshed the camera’s menus to make them both easier to navigate and to remember. Some associated features have now been clustered together – you can find all the movie options in the same place, for instance. The tabs as the top of the menu are also now color coded, to help you recognise and remember which section of the menu you’re in. Whether this is be visible enough to help you recall where a particular setting is remains to be seen but it’s great to see Sony taking steps to address their menu system.
Sony A99 II Hands-On First Impressions: Time with Sony’s new professional speed demon (Imaging Resource):
“The autofocus system was very quick and seemed to lock onto targets as well as track them fairly well.”
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