Competition news: The new Nikon Z30 is the Sony ZV-1 competitor

Today Nikon announced the new Z-30. A full spec comparison with Sony cameras can be seen on that special BHphoto page. The first odd thing you will notice is the pricing: $706. I believe it’s the first time ever I see a pricing not ending with $699 or $649. Weird choice :)

The Sony still competes well against the new Z30 but you have to keep in mind that Sony will soon announce their new ZV APS-C camera too!

Terry Warfield: Sony A7IV vs Canon R6

TerryWarfield:

Alright yall, its time to finally end this saga! In last two videos, I told you a bunch of reasons you should consider buying the Canon #R6 AND also a bunch of reasons why I think you should buy the Sony #A7IV. Well, now, its time to put them head to head, and to let YOU know which one I think you should spend your money on!!

Sony 24-70mm GM II review by Opticallimits: “an impressive piece of equipment”

Opticallimits tested the lens and concluded:

The Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II is a positive surprise in this lens class. To be honest – yours truly has never been a fan of “fast” standard zoom lenses. The truth is that they aren’t fast by the prime lens standards in this range at all, the zoom range is rather limited and on top of that, the whole package had the size and weight of a brick. Plus the insane price tag. And several members of the species aren’t even overly stellar in terms of optical performance. At least some of these counterarguments no longer apply to the new Sony lens. At less than 700g, it is in the same weight class as your average 24-105mm f/4. And the cream on the cappuccino is a great sharpness at most settings. The results are just great at 24mm and 40mm and still quite impressive at 70mm. The vignetting, distortion and CA figures are about typical for a lens in this class and usually nothing to worry about thanks to auto-correction anyway. The quality of the bokeh is pretty good for a standard zoom lens – especially when compared to its predecessor. In critical scenes, you may spot some LoCAs but it isn’t overly pronounced at least. The weakest aspect of the Sony lens is flare which can get freaky in difficult scenes thus it’s also a good idea to leave the lens hood attached during shooting.

While you might think that the build quality suffered due to the weight savings, we can’t confirm this really. Despite using more plastics, the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II still feels like a professional-grade tool. It’s far from the plasticky feel of your average Tamron lens for instance. Sony applied its usual set of additional GM-class goodness. The lens is sealed against dust and moisture – and the fluorine-coated front element should help in this respect as well. There are also two focus stop buttons and a dedicated aperture ring. The latter can also be set into clickless mode for movies. Additionally, you can control the friction of the zoom mechanism. The high friction mode should also prevent zoom creeping. Sony has been using XD linear motors for focusing for a while now but this time they incorporated no less than 4 of them. Despite the amount of glass to be shifted around, the AF speed is exceedingly fast and, of course, silent. In-lens image stabilization is not provided but then most modern Sony cameras can do this for you anyway.

Overall, the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II is an impressive piece of equipment and at least for the time being, it’s back at the top of the food chain. Highly recommended!

USA: BHphoto. Adorama. Amazon. FocusCamera. Henrys CA.
EU: Fotokoch DE. Calumet DE. FotoErhardt DE. Wex UK.
Asia: CameraPro AUS.

Yongnuo 85mm f/1.8 FE lens tested by DxOmark: “offers a high level of quality at a fraction of the price of its competitors”

DxOmark published the full lens review and concluded:

Photographers who shoot with the Yongnuo YN 85mm F1.8 S DF DSM get excellent sharpness at the center of the frame but will have to make some compromises, especially in terms of corner softness and chromatic aberrations. Build quality and materials are also not quite on the same level as the comparison lenses from Sony and Zeiss but essentially the Yongnuo offers a high level of quality at a fraction of the price of its competitors, making it an enticing option for budget-conscious shooters.

You can get the lens at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.

DxOmark tested the new Sony 70-200mm GMII and it’s the best lens in its class yet

This is DxOmarks conclusion:

The original Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS was already a very good performer, but it looks as if pressure from rivals (Canon’s RF 70-200mm F2.8 weighs just 1070 g) to lower the weight in this type has resulted in this newer GM2 version. Against its predecessor and the relatively new Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S (which at 1440 g is just 40 g less than the original Sony), the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II performs well and comes out in front, but it’s not by a large margin. While the weight advantage is nice to have the new model comes with quite a hefty price tag attached.

Sony 70-200mm GM II Lens at BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama. BuyDig. FocusCamera. FotoKoch DE, Calumet DE, WexUK, ParkUK.