Niveau Wiggle Trioscopic 3D lens announced

This new Niveau Wiggle Trioscopic 3D lens has been launched on Kickstarter. And Marc from SonyAlphaBlog tested it. He concluded:

The Niveau Wiggle 3D Trioscopic lens (100$) is a refreshing lens , it is very fun to use and will allow to create original gif to illustrate a product, your website or for your social network
For a 3D printed lens it is well built and fully functional with a aperture and focusing ring. The lens fit well on The Sony body without any scrap or risk to damage your camera
The sharpness and color rendition is good when you close down a bit the aperture , but a little bit slowly wide open
You will need to learn the technique to post process them and for the first one it could take you 15min per photo but with some practice you get this down to 4-5 minutes
If you want to experiment something different , worth to try it and get fun

Dpreview published the full Sony a7 IV review: “It’s enough to wrest the crown from the R6, which is also enough for it to earn a Gold award”

A7IV at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FocusCamera. BuyDig.

Here is Dpreviews take on the new Sony A7IV:

The Sony a7 IV is the most expensive model in its series so far, but it’s also the most capable.

The a7 IV’s image quality is extremely good, with excellent levels of detail, extensive dynamic range and attractive JPEG color. However, it’s not significantly improved over its predecessor or its rivals: you’ll get more detail in low ISO situations but this small gain seems to come with slight decreases in dynamic range and high ISO noise performance. The margins are tiny but it’s hard to see a net benefit to the new chip.

Autofocus is powerful and can be very simple to use. For a majority of subjects, you can just point an AF point at your subject (or let the camera choose one), and be confident that the camera will track it and put focus in the right place. We get the sense that it’s not quite as pinpoint accurate as the previous generation of models when it comes to focusing on eyes, but it’s much quicker and easier to use.

Video is similarly impressive, with a host of tools to support high-quality video capture. While video industry-standard features such as waveforms are absent, the a7 IV makes solo shooting easier by extending its impressive AF capabilities to video mode. Only the slightly jerky stabilization counts against what is otherwise a very powerful camera.

The a7 IV’s extensive customization and power come at the cost of complexity, though. Once you’ve explored the camera and configured it the way you want, you can ignore much of what lurks in the menus and just get out and shoot. But the ability to define virtually every behavior can be overwhelming. Even as an experienced enthusiast shooter, it was the simplicity of the AF system I appreciated much more than the extensive (excessive?) level of customization the camera offers.

In the space of eight years, the a7 series has gone from being a low-cost full-frame camera with rough edges and autofocus that lagged its DSLR peers to producing one of the most all-around capable cameras we’ve ever used. There are few photo or video activities the a7 IV can’t turn its hand to, comfortably.

Competition in this space is fierce, with Nikon and Panasonic making very capable, less expensive cameras, and Canon’s EOS R6 going toe-to-toe with the Sony in most respects. Dig deep enough, though and the ways in which the Sony stands out start to add up. It’s enough to wrest the crown from the R6, which is also enough for it to earn a Gold award.

The a7 IV is an all-round capable camera, supporting the photographer in almost any situation. Its video capabilities live up to a similar standard, making it a hugely flexible imaging tool. Its extreme levels of customization can be daunting but its powerful autofocus system means it can be a very simple camera to use.

Canon EOS R3 vs. Nikon Z9 vs. Sony a1 – Flagship Mirrorless Comparison by DpreviewTV


Full detailed spec comparison between the three flagship camera on this special BHphoto page.

What the Sony A1 really needs now is a nice price cut to compete better against the newer competition. That said, I am damn curious to see what the A1II can do when it’s released….in early 2023???

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Sony A1 at BHphoto. Adorama. Amazon. Focuscamera. FotoErhardt DE. Calumet DE. Fotokoch DE. Park UK. WexUK.

Laowa 45mm F0.95 and 85mm F5.6 2:1 Macro tested at SonyAlphaBlog

Laowa 45mm F0.95 Argus review at SonyAlphaBlog:

Overall the Laowa provide very good results but at a price tag quite above the others without providing major improvements over its competitors

Laowa 85mm F5.6 2:1 Macro review at SonyAlphaBlog:

The Laowa 85mm F5.6 is globally a very good macro lens , not the best possible 2:1 but offering a lens that is very discrete light and small with excellent sharpness and very good color rendering
If you want a more versatile lens then the Laowa 100mm F2.8 Macro , for almost the same price will allow to shot portraits with small depth of field but will be much bigger and heavier