A7rII review at Imaging Resource: “Groundbreaking features”.

Bildschirmfoto 2015-12-17 um 16.56.01

UPDATE: You get a $399 Metabones EF smart adapter for free(!) with the Sony A7rII sold by BHphoto (Click here).

Imaging Resource posted the full Sony A7rII review and writes:

Image quality has also taken a sizeable step forwards in the Sony A7R II. In terms of resolution when shooting with a quality lens, its detail-gathering is simply spectacular. In fact, it comes surprisingly close to what medium-format cameras are capable of in a far, far more compact body.

Current A7rII deals:
$200 gift card with Amazon US (Use “CAMERAGIFT” as code).
A7rII Deluxe at Amazon US (Click here)
$160 reward on the A7rII sold by BHphoto (Click here).
Ssuperbundle deal on the Sony A7rII sold by Focuscamera (Click here).
New low price on the A7rII at Amazon Germany (Click here).

Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA Lens Teardown at Lensrentals: “The weather and dust resistance in the lens itself should be superb.”

[shoplink 43239 ebay]lens[/shoplink]

Roger from Lensrentals analyzed the build quality of the new
[shoplink 43239 ebay]Zeiss FE 35mm f/1.4 lens[/shoplink] and concludes:

“The Sony 35mm f/1.4 doesn’t give me everything I want in a lens. But it really does show that Sony is learning and improving with each product. The autofocus system is much more robust in this lens than in previous ones. The weather / dust resistance is phenomenal. The build construction is good. The optics, well, I think perhaps that may be a generation away (The one negative is that the Sony 35mm f/1.4 does not have much in the way of adjustable optics).”

Zeiss FE 35mm store price check: [shopcountry 43239].

New Sony RX100 IV reviews by CameraLabs and John Sison.

We have two new RX100m4 reviews. Above you can see the video review from John Sison. And Gordon from CameraLabs writes:

The RX100 IV becomes one of the smallest traditional compacts with 4k video, and the slow motion modes from 4x to 40x are simply fantastic. Whether you’re a film-maker, someone who analyses sports motion, or simply enjoys footage of your kids or pets running and splashing around, the RX100 IV delivers a combination of quality and features that hasn’t before existed in this form factor. They enhance what was already one of the best compacts around and if you can exploit them, the Mark IV is the compact for you.

One more thing: High Speed Shutter of the Sony RX100IV by Gary Fong.

RX100m4 store links: [shopcountry 42998]

Next Sony menu redesign proposal from Alexander Okolo-Kulak.

Menuredesign

This is a new Sony menu redesign proposal from Alexander Okolo-Kulak:

Attached above (Click on it to enlarge) is my attempt to rearrange Sony camera menus with then following objectives:
–      Retain the Sony menu structure
–      Create new Video Setup menu to house all video related menu items
–      Combine Applications with the Wireless menu
–      Group menu items functionally, whenever possible

I have added the menu #2 in the Video Setup (as option) which is an identical copy of the Photo Setup menu #2, with an idea that it might be useful to have different settings for these items to quickly switch from photo to video and back just by pressing the Movie button, without going through the menus; more menu items may fall into this category.

The menu items used here are based on the recent Sony cameras: A7M2, A7RM2 and A7SM2, and I hope have not missed too many.  On the other hand, not all cameras in all regions have all listed menu items available.

These arrangements were partially inspired by your previous post from Per Kylberg.

I hope that eventually Sony will take it serious and improve their menus.

Regards,
Alexander Okolo-Kulak
Toronto, Ontario

Sony A7sII gest DxOmarked.

A7sII

DxOmark (Click here) tested the new Sony A7sII. Unsurprisingly the performance of the new camera matches the previous model. But there are small changes and the A7sII has a negligible 2 points lower score:

Although the DxOMark score is slightly below the earlier A7S, the difference is pretty much negligible. The A7S II is slightly behind in color sensitivity, equating to just 0.3 bits color depth, which isn’t really perceivable in use. As for dynamic range, the new model is practically identical to its predecessor — and not just at base, but more or less throughout the ISO range. However there has been an improvement or refinement perhaps, between ISO3200 and 12800

Conclusion

Like its predecessor, the sensor in A7S II has impressive low-light performance — in fact, very impressive high ISO dynamic range, particularly between ISO3200 and 12800. But it comes at the expense of pixel count and the dynamics are not much of an improvement over the A7S, which (along with the $2999 price tag) we suspect will continue to limit the appeal to still photographers. As a camera intended primarily for videographers, however, that may not be much of an issue. Anyone that has invested in the A7 or A7R variants looking for a complementary video-centric model need look no further than the A7S II.

Of course what makes the A7sII standout compared to the predecessor is the 4K internal recording and the 5 axis stabilization. It’s a camera mainly made for film makers.

A7sII store list:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Adorama.
In Europe/Asia at ParkCameras, WexUK, Jessops and Digitalrev.

Dpreview hands-on with the massive Mitakon 135mm f/1.4 E-mount lens!

Bildschirmfoto 2015-12-10 um 11.26.18

The Mitakon 135mm f/1.4 FE lens is one of the kind of lenses you want to absolutely hold in your hands at least one time! And Dpreview had the lucky chance to test one:

The 135mm F1.4 is a massive piece of glass, and in its E-mount flavor, absolutely dwarfs Sony’s a7 bodies. With a 105mm thread, fully manual operation and a weight of over six pounds (about 2.7kg), it can be rather intimidating, and is near impossible to use hand-held. With the proper support in place though it isn’t difficult to use at all, and can reward patient use with dramatic, unique results.When viewing our samples, it’s worth bearing a couple of things in mind. Firstly, this lens is one-of-a-kind. Almost literally. So it has no direct competitors that we can shoot alongside. Also note what we said earlier – we were using an engineering prototype that was not cosmetically final, and may not be completely representative, optically, of the finished shipping lenses when they become available (although it’s likely to at least be extremely close).

Image samples can be seen here: dpreview.com/sample-galleries/8958190061/mitakon-speedmaster-135mm-f-1-4

Bildschirmfoto 2015-12-10 um 11.26.14

The Cameras of the year at BH by John R Harris.

CameraofTheYear

On behalve of BH John R Harris selected the cameras of the year (full article here).

The A7rII got selected because:

“those who were clinging to their DSLRs until a “worthy” camera came along have been convinced to make the mirrorless move to this camera.”

The RX100m4 got selected because:

“the RX100 demonstrates how a well-designed compact camera will create much better images than your phone and will still fit easily in your pocket.”

All current Sony Christmas deals:

$200 gift card from Amazon US:
There is a new “hidden” Black Friday deal offer: You get $200 off on all major Sony cameras  if you click on that Amazon link (Click here) and use the code “CAMERAGIFT” at checkout. Here are the detailed Instructions: http://amzn.to/1lLDni1
Plenty of photo accessory Gold Box deals at Amazon US (Click here).

Sony A6000:
$50 gift card on the A6000 superbundle sold by FocusCamera (Click here).
Free extras and an additional $50 gift card for free with the A6000 double lens kit sold at Adorama (Click here).
$150 off on the Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Camera w/ 55-210mm Lens & Acc kit at BHphoto (Click here).
$230 off on the Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless l Camera w/ 16-50mm Lens & Acc Kit at BHphoto (Click here).
Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera – Body only Deluxe Bundle at Amazon US (Click here).

Sony A7rII, A7 and A7II:
Free $200 gift card and free Metabones Smart adapter with the A7rII sold by BHphoto (Click here).
Sony a7R II Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, Body Only Deluxe Bundle at Amazon US (Click here).
2% reward and free extras with the A7II sold by BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A7 with free $100 gift card at BHphoto (Click here).

RX100m4:
Free $100 gift card with the RX100 IV at BHphoto (Click here).

Full Frame E-mount lenses:
$100 off on the 24-240mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Camera Hotlink deals at Adorama (Click here).
$80 off on the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 FE lens at BHphoto (Click here).

APS-C E-mount lenses:
$50 off on the 50mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 35mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 10-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the lens 30mm macro at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$150 off on the 18-200mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 18-200mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$200 off on the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.

A-mount lenses:
$50 off on the 11-18mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 16-105mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 24mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 30mm macro lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 35mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 50mm DT lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-300mm II lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 85mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$50 off on the 100mm macro lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 135mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.

Upt to $300 off on Sigma A-mount lenses:
$250 off on the 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$250 off on the 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$300 off on the 105mm F2.8 DG OS Macro HSM at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$250 Instant rebate on the 17-50mm F2.8 DC /OS at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
50mm f/1.4 ART for $849 at Amazon and Bhphoto.
Save $370 on the Tamron 150-600mm A-mount lens sold by [shoplink 42888 ebay]BuyDig on eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink]. Add the $120 mail in rebate and you pay $699 only.

Hasselblad:
Huge savings on the Hasselblad Lunar and Stellar Sony camera clones at BHphoto (Click here).