Reminder: The camera will be available for today at 11am New York time at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

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Thanks Patrick for the video!

Matt Granger posted the first hands-on video with the new Sony 50mm FE macro lens. The lens will start to ship worldwide next week and can be preordered in USA at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon and FocusCamera. And in Europe at Calumetphoto, Cyberport and Wexphotographic.

Newsshooter at Photokina 2016: Canon 5D mkIV beater? full featured Sony a99 II shoots 4K from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Future Sony A99II owners are going to love the first impression review just posted by Newsshooter:

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.

Preorders:
The camera will be available for preorder tomorrow (September 21) at 11am New York time at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

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.”

Sony A99 II Continuous AF Tracking Demo video on Youtube.
First Look by Adorama Learning Center.
A99II hands-on pictures at Photographyblog.
Tony Northrup v-log about the A99II (He says it’s a more interesting camera than the new Canon and Nikon DSLR)
Sony a99 II autofocus and buffer demo on SAR.
Italian A99II hands-on video by Ridble on Youtube.
Something else: First 1 Terabyte SD card announced (more info at Mirrorlessrumors).

Preorders:
The camera will be available for preorder tomorrow (September 21) at 11am New York time at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

Poll:

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Official Press material:
Original coverage post on SAR.
The full press text can be read here at SAR
Official A99II page can be seen at Sony UK.
Image samples at Sony.net.
Brochure available for download (PDF).
The full video of the Photokina announcement on SAR.

The Sony A99II official videos from Sony

The camera will be available for preorder tomorrow (September 21) at 11am New York time at BHphoto (Click here).

You can now preorder the new Zeiss Loxia 85mm FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

Zeiss also published a full Image Gallery shot with the new Loxia 85mm lens on Flickr (Click here). The leaflet with the full technical details can be downloaded at Zeiss (Click here).

And DearSusan (Click here) published the first and yet only full Loxia 85mm review:

To sum things up, this new Loxia is mostly a stellar performer, from a technical point of view.
Though the f/2.4 max aperture might not turn heads at the pub, it is at least a fully usable f/2.4 in which aperture is used purely as a means of light gathering and depth of field control, not to control aberrations. And the Sonnar design certainly lives up to its sweet-bokeh reputation.
The Loxia 85 significantly outresolves my 42Mpix sensor and should be future-proofed for the next couple of generations of megapixel lunacy that manufacturers will inevitably inflict upon us in place of better handling

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DxOmark tested almost all FE zooms on the Sony A7rII. And the best lens is the [shoplink 47257]70-200mm f/4.0 G[/shoplink]. I suspect the real leader will be the [shoplink 48791]new 70-200mm f/2.8 GM lens[/shoplink] once it gets tested. By the way Sony…when are you shipping the lens again?

The top ranked zooms are:
70-200mm G at [shopcountry 47257]
24-70mm GM at [shopcountry 47915]
16-35mm Zeiss at [shopcountry 49023]
24-70mm Zeiss at [shopcountry 49022]
28-70mm Sony at [shopcountry 24940]
70-300mm Sony at [shopcountry 47527]
24-240mm Sony at [shopcountry 34245]
70-200mm GM at [shopcountry 48791] (not tested yet and probably the real top ranker)

DxOmark also posted the full 70-300mm FE results and the good news is that the lens beats the competition:

Against rival models from other makers, the Sony is a very competitive performer optically. Indeed, it is a slightly better performer than the $1,600, L-series Canon equivalent, introduced in 2010, and is several leagues ahead of the Nikon.