The A7sII construction (ePhotozine).

The A7sII has been officially presented to the press yesterday. And the camera will ship worldwide tomorrow: In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama, in Europe at WexUK, Jessops and in Asia soon at Digitalrev.

New tests:
Hands-on and image samples at ePhotozine.
The Spanish DSLRmagazine posted full size A7sII image samples you can download to pixel peep on your computer.
Brian Smith hands-on review

Something strange: In many European countries like Germany there is no(!) A7sII preorder option in any store. Not a good job from Sony :(

Today Sony had various press meetings to present the new Sony A7sII to journalists and reviewers. The camera will official after tomorrow (Source Amazon). And now the first reviews and image samples are being posted:

Marc Galer (Click here) posted the very first Sony A7sII review! The conclusion is:

For an average enthusiast and Pro Photographer who shoots predominantly stills, the lack of Phase Detection AF on the A7SII makes the A7RII a better option for stills shooters and single operators shooting video in reasonable levels of ambient illumination.
Another factor photographers (attracted by the prospect of being able to shoot 4K straight to the memory card) should take into account before making the jump to the A7SII (or the 4K recording of the A7RII) is to be aware of the computer processing power required to edit 4K footage, e.g. a Macbook Air is not really up to the task as you cannot easily review footage in real time in software such as Adobe Premiere Pro when using an i7 dual core processor and 8 GB or RAM). A photographer must also take into account the storage requirements of large amounts of 4K footage. If, however, you aim to make the A7S your primary camera for shooting pro-grade movie clips then you will never begrudge shelling out the dollars for this camera – you could in fact buy six of these cameras for the price of a Canon C300 MKII.

Tony Northup posted a video review.
Brian Smith also posted his A7sII review.
Image Gallery by Imaging Resource.
ThePhoBlographer posted a set of image samples.
Image samples at ePhotozine.

Sony A7sII preorders at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama and in Europe at WexUK. In Asia soon at Digitalrev.

Dpreview posted the full RX10m2 test:

The Sony RX10 II continues the tradition established by the original RX10. It can easily split its time between being an excellent stills camera and an outstanding video machine. Ergonomics, handling and build-quality are all top notch. And the camera’s sharp, fast 24-200mm F2.8 equiv. lens should offer plenty of versatility for most shooters. Autofocus is good in most situations, though it does struggle when photographing fast action, using AF-C. Its subject tracking capabilities also lag behind the competition.

The camera earned the Gold Award.

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RX10m2 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.

Photographyblog posted sthe first review of the new Rokinon-Samyang APS-C E-mount lenses!

About the 50mm f/1.2 lens they write:

Image quality is generally pretty good, especially in the centre of the frame. There are some optical issues to be aware of, though, most notably some minor chromatic aberrations, obvious corner shading until you reach f/5.6, and a lack of sharpness from f/1.2-f/2 in the centre and f/1.2-f/4 at the edges. If you like the effective focal length and don’t mind the lack of auto-focusing or big-brand name, we can certainly recommend the Samyang 50mm F1.2 AS UMC CS as an affordable short telephoto prime lens for mirrorless camera owners.

About the 21mm f/1.4 lens they write:

The Samyang 21mm f/1.4 ED AS UMC’s build quality is reassuringly good, proving to be an ideal partner to the Sony A6000 camera that we tested it with.Image quality is generally good, especially in the centre of the frame. There are some optical issues to be aware of, though, most notably quite prevalent chromatic aberrations, obvious corner shading until you reach f/5.6, and a lack of sharpness wide-open at f/1.4 in the centre and from f/1.4-f2.8 at the edges.

Full preorder links:
Rokinon 21mm f/1.4 Lens for APS-C E-mount (Black) at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
Rokinon 21mm f/1.4 Lens for APS-C E-mount (Silver) at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 Lens for APS-C E-mount (Black) at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.
Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 Lens for APS-C E-mount (Silver) at Amazon, BHphoto and Adorama.

The Sony A7sII will ship next week according to Amazon US. And if you want the camera for free(!) well there is a way! If you buy the PMW-F5 camcorder you get the A7sII for free (See at AbelCine).

And we have two new A7sII hands-on videos:
The video on top shows Lok from Digitalrev at the Sony press conference in Hong Kong. He finds out whether the A7sII can really see in the dark!
The video below si posted by Dpreview and shows Jared Polin in the “dark room” to see how good the A7sII is in low light conditions.

Sony A7sII at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama and in Europe at WexUK. In Asia soon at Digitalrev.

[shoplink 41116 ebay][/shoplink]

Reviewed.com is the first site posting a first impression review of the [shoplink 41116 ebay]Hasselblad HV A-mount FF camera[/shoplink] . And they like this camera more than the previous Hasselblad Lunar and Stellar Sony camera clones:

The grip, for instance, is coated with a lovely soft-touch material that’s stamped with the iconic Hasselblad “H” to give it texture. It’s a tiny little touch, but shows the care the designers used in crafting the exterior appearance. he top plate of the camera is made from machined aluminum, which Hasselblad claims has “far more qualities” than the magnesium alloy typically used in modern DSLRs. Among those qualities: corrosion resistance, toughness, and durability. Hasselblad has also coated the body with a PVD (physical vapor deposition) coating that it claims is second only to diamond in terms of hardness.

What I didn’t know is that Hasselblad produced only 100 of those cameras. One of them is owned by David Beckham (Source: DailyMail UK). And thanks to a massive $7,999 price drop you can buy on of the other 99 cameras on [shoplink 41116 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] and at BHphoto (Click here) for a more “affordable” $3,999 price.

Kelly’s work can be seen here:
The artciles images can be found here: Flickr page.
General Photographers page can be found here: kellypadgett.net
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Recently I was asked by SAR to write a guest post. The photo that piqued their interest, was one of my nude images that I shot of a friend of mine here in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Alex is a well-known model, photographer, and graphic designer, and having known him for quite some time I felt comfortable enough asking him for an all nude shoot. After a short discussion where we both expressed our desire of wanting to do something different, we agreed on a date and time, and I arranged the location.
The decision to shoot a nude male came from only seeing everyday street- and documentary photography and wanting to do something that I had never done before, and as far as I know, no one was doing here, in Ho Chi Minh City in an artistic way.

The images can be seen here: Flickr page.

The location was a coffee shop owned by friends of mine (Fix Republic Coffee), which is frequented by artists, photographers, celebrities et cetera. A true artist’s hangout. I wanted to shoot on the first floor, because of the naturally diffused light that bounces off a nearby building and into the coffee shop window. I then decided to shoot Alex’s reflection in the large dirty mirror that was propped up against the opposite wall. I thought that it would be interesting for Alex to interact with himself in the mirror as if no one else was around, to help create a mood of sadness and loneliness which I was going for. I also brought a portable speaker along and played music by John Martyn to enhance this mood. Even when I work on commercial shoots we often play music, it helps the shoot.

These images are the first proper images I took with my Sony A7II, using the 55mm F/1.8 Zeiss lens. The second set of images, with the light blue background, are from another shoot with the same model, but in a studio setting. Those images are shot with the same 55mm F/1.8 at F/8, and are the sharpest images I have ever seen straight out of the camera. The clarity and detail are remarkable.

I made the switch from Canon to Sony on January 1, 2015, as a good way to start off the New Year with a new camera. I grew up shooting everything from disposable cameras to Nikon film and digital, then to Canon, and now Sony. It’s not because I’m chasing the next best thing, it’s more about the right tools for the right job. To be quite honest, it was partly a weight issue and the fact that I was never happy when I traded my Canon 5DII for the 5DIII.

I’ve also noticed a big difference in people’s reactions to the A7II when I’m out in the countryside shooting portraits et cetera. The A7 series cameras are far less intrusive than big bulky DSLRs, and I feel that people feel less threatened or intimidated by the Sony, as it’s a more traditional film body style camera. I’m inspired again after making the switch, and it has made me love photography all over again.

http://www.kellypadgett.net/
Flickr page (Click here)