Loxia 21mm lens in Stock and shipping in USA. New reviews from Admiringtlight and Photochirp.

[shoplink 45449 ebay]Bildschirmfoto 2016-03-02 um 16.06.02[/shoplink]

The new Loxia 21mm FE lens is in Stock for the first time at [shoplink 45449 ebay]Popflash eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. And I have been told the BHphoto preorders are now shipping out too.

Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 review by Admiringlight:

The Loxia 21mm f/2.8 Distagon is a lens truly worthy of the Zeiss name. They managed to create a compact lens that performs brilliantly through almost all aspects of imaging. Images show outstanding sharpness and stunning color and contrast, producing that signature Zeiss ‘pop’ in spades. Even the bokeh is fairly nice. While the lens handles well and has outstanding manual focus damping, I did feel that the close proximity of the aperture and focus rings caused some issues in the field, but overall, there’s really nothing to complain about. Zeiss has crafted a simply outstanding ultra-wide here.

Photochirp also tested the lens:

The Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 lens is more comfortable to hold than the Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2.0, and in pictures, you wouldn’t think so. The lens isn’t much longer, but it is long enough to be comfortable.  I have taken a photograph of a wall covered in wallpaper, and this shows the lens is sharp throughout the frame. The colours, from what I can tell, are superior to the Sony lenses I own.

Loxia 21mm store links: [shopcountry 45047].

New Sony A6300 reviews (Cinema5D, CameraLabs, Engadget, Dan Watson)

A6300

The embargo just broke and plenty of reviewers published their Sony A6300 (p)reviews. Note that the A6300 will start to ship in 10 days according to BHphoto, Amazon and Calumetphoto.de.

Cinema5D writes:

For the money this is truly a nice camera to have. I wish the higher frame rate would have been cleaner and audio would be addressed in a more serious matter but I guess there is a limit to what one can ask in this price range. All in all, be it for a family applications or a professional working tool, the Sony a6300 is a very capable tool. Highly recommended!

CameraLabs writes:

“I’m genuinely excited by the new capabilities of the A6300. In my brief time with the camera it felt quicker and more confident at tracking subjects, and I’d be happy to sacrifice 3fps for the new live update in the viewfinder. If it performs as hoped in my tests I’ll definitely be upgrading.”

Engadget writes:

“In my time so far with the A6300, I can already tell you that I’m impressed. The camera’s autofocus system is as fast as advertised, and it works for both stills and videos. Coming from someone who’s used to the higher-end A7R II or A7S II models, the A6300 feels like an upgrade.”

Sony A6300 Low Light Video Test Footage by Dan Watson on Youtube.

Preorders:
A6300 body at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. Amazon.de. WexUK. Jessops. Amazon.fr.
A6300 with kit lens at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. Amazon.de. WexUK. Jessops.
24-70mm f/2.8 GM FE at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. WexUK. Jessops.
85mm f/1.4 GM FE at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. WexUK. Jessops.

 

Great Sony CP+ report from US navy member Matthew Durr!

135mm
The massive Speedmaster 135mm f/1.4 displayed at the Cp+ show (Source: DC.watch).

Matthew Durr (Click here) posted the most detailed Sony Cp+ booth report I have seen so far. The United States Navy stationed him in Japan so he find some time to visit the CP+ show:

Sony is so confident in these lenses that they had their own live photo studio set up with multiple A7RII’s and 85mm f/1.4 GM’s, complete with two moving models and props galore. The GM lens lineup brings up the problem many mirrorless shooters are seeing with these cameras—as Sony and others release faster and larger lenses to compete with the big and bulky DSLR lenses, they cannot beat the laws of optics that tend to determine a lens’ weight.

I wish nothing but the best for Sony when the lenses get into the hands of reviewers and real-world testers to see what’s marketing fluff, and what is true performance. I’ve got a feeling Sony is doubling-down on these to help secure E-mount’s future in the pro segment, and they really have put their money where their mouth is. Time will tell.

Take time to read his whole article if you want to get a “feel” of what it means to visit the CP+ show!

Preorders:
A6300 body at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. Amazon.de. WexUK. Jessops. Amazon.fr.
A6300 with kit lens at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. Amazon.de. WexUK. Jessops.
24-70mm f/2.8 GM FE at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. WexUK. Jessops.
85mm f/1.4 GM FE at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy. Calumetphoto.de. WexUK. Jessops.

Watch how the $10,000 Leica Noctilux finally does autofocus(!) on your Sony A7rII.

[shoplink 45128 ebay]noctilux[/shoplink]

The impossible happened and there is a new Techart autofocus adapter for Leica M lenses. We reported about it first here on SAR (read here). Now as a world’s first we can show you how you can finally autofocus with the [shoplink 45128 ebay]$10,000 Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 lens[/shoplink]! Her is the lens tested on the Sony A7rII:

A more detailed report can be found at MXcamera and full test at Dcfever.

And here are more new test videos on M-mount lenses:


[shoplink 45139 ebay]Leica leitz elmarit 90mm f/2.8 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] on Techart AFM lens adapter (Beta) AF test


[shoplink 45101 ebay]Voigtlander VM 21mm f/1.8 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] Techart AFM lens AF Speed Test

 


[shoplink 45102 ebay]Voigtlander VM 28mm f/2 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] Techart AFM lens AF Speed Test


[shoplink 45103 ebay]Voigtlander VM 35mm f/1.2 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] AF speed test with Techart AFM adapter


[shoplink 45104 ebay]Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.5 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] AF speed test with Techart AFM adapter


[shoplink 45105 ebay]Minolta Rokkor-M 28mm f/2.8 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] on Sony a7II with Techart AFM adapter test


[shoplink 45106 ebay]Canon LTM 50mm f/1.4 (lens here on eBay)[/shoplink] on Sony a7II with Techart AFM adapter

World’s first test video with the new Sigma MC-11 electronic E-mount adapter

The video above is actually the world’s first video showing the autofocus performance of the new Sigma MC-11 electronic E-mount adapter. I cannot recognize the lens used but you can see how fast it focuses.

Sigma’s new MC-11 adapter cost $249 and will ship in April according to BHphoto (preorder here).

And below you can see the official Sigma MC-11 presentation video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dys6BjMUPm0

Thanks Gonzalo for sharing those videos!

P.S.: New Sigma 30mm E-mount preorder links at BHphoto, Adorama, WexUK and Calumet Germany.

Voigtlander 15mm F4.5 Aspherical III E-mount hands on by Newsshooter


CP+ 2016: Hands on with the Voigtlander 15mm F4.5 Aspherical III E-mount from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

We are getting to learn a bit more of those new Vogitlander FE lenses thanks to the CP+ report from Newsshooter. As you know just a couple of days ago Cosina Japan finally released the official price info (in Yen only) and shipment dates of the new FE lenses. But there is still no official price info in Euro/Dollar yet:

  1. 15mm f/4.5 will be released in April and cost 115,000 YEN (at current conversion this corresponds to $1,000)
  2. 10mm f/5.6 will be released in May and cost 155,000 YEN (at current conversion this corresponds to $1,380)
  3. 12mm f/5.6 will be released in August (price not revealed yet)

There is also a 10mm FE lens hands-on report by the Spanish DSLRmagazine site.