If you are interested in buying affordable and fast Cine lenses check out the SonyAlphaBlog reviews of the 35mm T/1.05 Cine E (review here) and 50mm T/1.05 Cine E (review here) lenses. You can buy all these Cine lenses at BHphoto (Click here).
Check out Dan Watsons Arsenal of Sony lenses!
A7IV at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FocusCamera. BuyDig.
If you do own the A7IV be sure to check out the 28 tutorial videos posted by Marc Galer on Youtube (Click here).
The Japanese store CAPA reported that the Sony A7IV was their best selling camera in December. And now that the A7IV is shipping everywhere here are some new reviews:
How To Film A Wedding with the Sony a7 IV
Sony A7 IV Review & How-To Use the Camera In Detail
Sony A7IV BEGINNER’S GUIDE to Custom Settings – Part 1
The Sony A7IV secret that NOBODY knows…
Sony A1 at BHphoto. Adorama. Amazon. Focuscamera. FotoErhardt DE. Calumet DE. Fotokoch DE. Park UK. WexUK.
I think the real Sony A1 competitor is the Nikon Z9. The R3 isn’t up to the Sony in my opinion. Here is the comparison with the R3 from Dustin Abbott:
You can preorder the lens at BHphoto and Venuslens.net
Opticallimits tested the new lens on the Sony and concluded:
The Laowa 85mm f/5.6 2x Ultra Marco APO is a good lens. It delivers a predictable performance across its aperture range. At medium aperture settings, it’s pretty sharp without being truly outstanding. Diffraction takes its usual toll at small apertures and it’s advisable to avoid f/22 at least. That’s also a good idea because of CAs. They are very low up to f/11 but increase beyond – albeit not to a worrisome degree. Image distortions are basically absent as they should be with a macro lens. The quality of the bokeh is a bit of a mixed back. Out-of-focus highlights aren’t ideal whereas the out-of-focus transition zone is rendered nicely.
The build quality is perfectly fine with the usual caveats of an all-manual lens. The lens body is made of metal including the lens hood and we especially like the inner focusing system. On the downside, there’s still no electronic coupling thus you’d have to live without AF, EXIF data, and no camera-controlled. This is not a drama for a macro lens but it’s hindering Laowa from entering the mainstream market.
The question of the day is probably where to find the niche for this kind of lens. Its primary value proposition is the minimal size and low weight. Some may also appreciate the ability to focus down to a maximum magnification of 2:1. If these are your priorities, you may accept the lack of speed and the all-manual nature. At almost $500USD, we wouldn’t call it a steal though.
The new Sigma 100-400mm FE is now in Stock BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera. FotokochDE. WexUK. ParkUK.
Opticallimits tested the Sigma lens and concluded:
The Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary is a subtle improvement over the older DSLR version – both optically as well as mechanically. The image quality is primarily better at the wide end of the zoom range with a much higher sharpness in the outer image field. The high quality is maintained in the middle range. At 400mm, the center sharpness remains very good but there’s a drop in corner performance. Stopping down helps to broaden the really sharp zone. Keep in mind that the resolution has its limits because of the inevitable diffraction at f/6.3. Lateral CAs are low. Uncorrected image distortions are fairly high for a tele-zoom lens with a peak of 2% (pincushion style) at longer settings. This is, of course, not a drama with activated auto-correction. This also helps with vignetting which otherwise would be very visible at the long end as well. The quality of the bokeh is decent for a zoom lens albeit primes still rule the scene in this respect.
The build quality of the Sigma lens is quite impressive for a consumer-grade lens. Plastics have been replaced by metal near the mount and there’s at least a mount-gasket providing some shielding against dust and moisture. Few will probably take advantage of this but it’s nice that Sigma provides the option of attaching a tripod mount. The AF is snappy and combined with the effective image stabilizer, it’s fun to use in the field – also because it’s relatively compact and lightweight for such a lens reaching 400mm.
The decent optical- and mechanical qualities don’t even cost a fortune either and, as so often with Sigma lenses, the 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary is an obvious value king. If you want higher quality, you’ll have to invest quite a bit more.
