Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II review by Lenstip

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

Lenstip tested the new 70-200mm II lens and concluded:

Pros:

  • solid, shapely, lightweight, and weather-sealed casing,
  • sensational image quality in the frame centre,
  • excellent image quality on the edge of the APS-C sensor,
  • very good image quality on the edge of full frame,
  • sensible correction of longitudinal chromatic aberration,
  • negligible lateral chromatic aberration,
  • lack of problems with spherical aberration,
  • slight vignetting on the APS-C/DX sensor,
  • very good coma correction,
  • low astigmatism,
  • nice out-of-focus areas for a zoom lens,
  • silent, flash-quick, and accurate autofocus,
  • very efficient image stabilization.

Cons:

  • very weak performance against bright sources of light,
  • noticeable vignetting on full frame.

If only the Sony FE 70-200 mm f/2.8 OSS II didn’t have that slip-up concerning the performance against bright light it would be really a perfect lens. There’s also the vignetting problem mentioned in cons but in such a construction it would be very difficult to avoid it (of course providing you want your instrument to have sensible physical dimensions and weight). Anyway, it’s hardly a tragedy, especially for mirrorless standards.

New Sony A7IV reviews by Digitalcameraworld and Tony Northrup

Sony A7IV preorders (Use those affiliated links to support my work. Thanks!):
In the USA at BHphoto. Amazon. Adorama. FocusCamera. BuyDig.
In Europe at Fotokoch DE. Calumet DE. Foto Erhardt DE. Park UK. Wex UK. Amazon DE. Amazon UK. Amazon IT. Amazon ES. Amazon NL.
In Australia at Sony.com. CameraPro.
Sony HVL-F46RM Wireless Radio Flash at BHphoto. Adorama.
Sony HVL-F60RM II Wireless Radio Flash at BHphoto. Adorama.

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Digitalcameraworld tested the A7IV and concluded:

Don’t think of the A7 IV as Sony’s new ‘entry level’ full frame mirrorless camera. It’s both too powerful, too complex and, yes, too expensive for that. It’s more like a mini-A1 that’s terrifyingly good at everything but less than half the price. Stills photographers can revel in its 33MP resolution and incredible burst mode, while videographers get a camera that leaves the previous A7 III far behind.

Dpreview answered the question: “Should you upgrade? New Sony a7 IV vs a7 III”

Ultimately, then, it all comes down to money. The a7 IV is a better camera than the a7 III in just about every respect. Not just its performance but also in terms of everyday usability. If you’re in the market for a new E-mount camera and you plan to keep it for a couple of years, we believe the additional cost, spread out across those years, is worth it for a camera that’s just that bit nicer to work with, in addition to the specific feature upgrades it gets.

And this is Tonys take on the A7IV:

Unusual review of the Sony 300mm f2.8 G II SSM with LA-EA5 on Sony A1

Sonyalpha.blog tested the 300mm A-mount lens on the Sony A1 and writes:

The Sony 300mm F2.8 G II SSM A-mount II (7500$) is a lens with an optical design of 2003 (Minolta) and it shows its age. Sharpness is just “good” at F2.8 on 42-50/61 Mpix cameras. On 24Mpix it still delivers very good results at F2.8 . Things get much better at F4 / F5.6 but you don’t buy a 7500$ lens to use only at F4/F5.6

On A1 /A7RIV is works perfectly with the LA-EA5 adaptor although limited to 8fps : the Af is very quick and efficient. However the adaptor does not allow AF in video but all other mode works in photography : Tracking, eye Af, animal eye AF…

What is striking with this lens is the butter smooth background blur , that I only find an equivalent in the Sony 400mm F2.8 GM OSS or the Sony 600mm F4 GM OSS

You get some excellent shots with a superb rendering with this kind of 300mm F2.8 lens. If Sony could release an E mount newly designed 300mm F2.8 GM between 6000-8000 euros it will be an ideal lens for sports/action photography but also for wildlife in low light , medium distance , for concerts, Portraits from a distance ….

The LA-EA5 by combining the motor you could find on the LA-EA4 and SSM compatibility of the LA-EA4 offers a great and efficient way to still use with very decent performances your A mount lenses (preferably on 24mpix)

If you don’t own the Sony 300mm F2.8 , I would not recommend to buy it new , but if you find it used for 2000 euros max and are ready to use it at 24Mpix max go for it

Waiting for a E mount GM version of this lens , lighter and capable to support 61Mpix , and 30fps, you had a preview of what could be the rendering of such a lens

World first review of Zenitar 35mm f/2 for Sony E mount

SonyAlphaBlog tested the new Zenitar 35mm f/2 FE lens and concluded:

The Zenitar 35mm F2 , (700 euros) is a niche artistic lens. Its build quality is good , it is compact and small , but ergonomics are a little bit weird with no aperture ring but more an aperture crown on the front lens.
The image produced have a lot of field curvature which means there will be only one region in focus. In that zone the sharpness will be good to very good wide open which is rare for such artistic lens.
Contrast and colors are good , but the key signature of this lens is the bokeh balls at F2 that looks like trioplan Soap bubble bokeh, together with some background blur that looks like a zoom effect. You only get that effect at f2 , with light in the background and with your subject being between 50cm and 100cm. In those circumstances for portraits or flowers it produces images with a unique signature that I found better than the Trioplan 35mm F2.8 by Meyer Optik Görlitz, that had bad sharpness and not very little visible soap bubble bokeh at 35mm
This is definitively not a generalist 35mm manual lens, but if you like special rendering of bokeh / background blur this is definitively a lens to consider like the Helios 40-2 and Helios 44-4 , or Lomography Petzval 55mm F1.7 MkII
If you look for an all purpose 35mm generalist lens , I recommend you the Kipon Iberit 35mm F2.4, that give very nice results for a small price (350 euros)