RUMOR: Sigma will announce the new 70-200mm f/2.8 FE lens on October 6

Good news folks! I looks like we might get an affordable alternative to the super expensive (and excellent) Sony 70-200mm GMII. One source told me that Sigma plans a live streaming event on October 6th. And they are likely to announce the new 70-200mm f/2.8 FE lens! As soon as I get images and specs I will post a new video and article on SAR. So be sure to subscribe my social channels and newsletter now to not miss that!
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HOT news: Sony is teasing the launch of the new Burano CineAlta camera!

Sony just posted this teaser for the launch of a new “Burano” named CineAlta camera on September 12. I wonder if this is an E-mount or PL-mount camera (seems like PL?)

CineD already has the new Burano in their hands and they do write:

CineD had early access to BURANO and we are encouraging you to join us on September 12th at the camera release time for an exclusive interview featuring the camera and its capabilities with my colleague Nino and a senior Sony representative. We can assure you that you won’t be disappointed!

A curiosity: Sony’s current high end E-mount Cinema Camera lineup is named Venice (see at BHphoto). Burano is the name of a small inhabited island near Venice. Less busy, more popular and super beautiful (you got to visit it!). So this new camera will be the successor of the Venice 2…likely with 8K recording?

Viltrox unveils new lens roadmap: 24/35/50/135mm FF E-mount “LAB” professional lenses coming!

I do own the Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 FE lens and I am impressed by it’s performance considering it costs a third of similar competition lenses. So I am very intrigued about what’s coming next and indeed sounds the company is on fire and plans some BIG stuff!

Richard Wong visited the Viltrox  headquarter and he got some info about what’s coming next:

1) These three lenses will be big and from what I understood FF lenses. They will be announced by end 2023:

  • 22-220mm cine lens (manual focusing)
  • 30-300mm cine lens (manual focusing)
  • 42-420mm cine lens (manual focusing)

2) Very affordable 20mm pancake around $150. But performance will be high. More smaller lenses will be coming in future:

  • 20mm f/4.5 pancake autofocus Full Frame lens

3) New LAB series will launch soon:

  • 135mm f/1.8 autofocus Full Frame E-mount lens (First of the LAB series)
  • 24/35/50mm f/1.4 autofocus Full Frame E-mount LAB lenses coming later

The LAB series will be something like the OTUS line at Zeiss. The optical performance will be higher than the PRO series of Viltrox. I do love the idea of a high quality lens that does cost MUCH less than Sony. But I do hope that they will also work on lenses that aren’t the usual focal length. At the moment we have SIXTYONE 50mm lenses (source BHphoto)…do we really need another 50mm f/1.4?

Viltrox, Tamron, Sigma, give us some f/2.0 or f/1.8 zooms, some nice compact f/2.0 and fast f/1.2 primes. That would be something or not?

Size comparison between the old and new 16-35mm GM lens

The new lens is 133g lighter and 10mm shorter than the “older” 16-35mm GM. Full specs of the new 16-35mm GM II lens (SEL1635GM2):

  • improved the sharpness
  • close focus is 22cm (older lens had 28cm)
  • an handle bursts at 30 frames per second.
  • The click modes of the aperture ring can be switched off.
  • The lens hood has been made as compact as possible
  • 3 XA lens
  • 4 XD motor
  • new anti-reflective treatment Nano AR Coating II which produces smaller and shadowy images
  • The entire construction is weather sealed.
  • 547g (133g lighter than older version)
  • length 126mm (10mm shorter than older version)
  • shipping in October
  • 2699 Euro (Price in USA might be around $2399)

Preorders:
Sony A7cII at BHphoto, Amazon US&EU, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK. Sony AUS.
Sony A7cR at BHphoto, Amazon US&EU, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK. Sony AUS.
16-35GMII at BHphoto, Amazon US&EU, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK. Sony AUS.

Fully leaked Sony A7cr and 16-35mm GMII images

Finally I have the fully leaked images of the new lens and also of the A7cr:

Leaked press text for the 16-35mm GM II from an online website:

The Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II ( SEL1635GM2) is 133 grams lighter than its predecessor the FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM . Together with the new FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II (-191g) and FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II (-435g) the weight saving is 759g.

The grams saved are basically due to Sony’s optical engineer making a so-called floating optical construction that makes the lens 10 mm shorter and thus lighter. The length is 112 mm and the weight 547 g.

The new construction also means that the center of gravity does not change so much when zooming and focusing (good for filming with a gimbal) and minimizes the occurrence of focus breathing , that is to say that the image section (e.g. focal length) does not change when focusing.

Similar to the other two lenses, Sony has also improved the sharpness and close range. Sony promises that the FE 16-35 mm f/2.8 GM II provides good sharpness right out to the edges already at the maximum aperture of f/2.8. The proximity limit has been improved from 0.28 to 0.22 meters (0.32x magnification).

Another important point with all the upgrades (including the FE 70-200mm f/4 G Macro OSS II ) is that the new lenses have apertures and autofocus motors that can handle bursts at 30 frames per second. The click modes of the aperture ring can be switched off.

The lens hood has been made as compact as possible.

Another improvement is the new anti-reflective treatment Nano AR Coating II which produces smaller and shadowy images. The front lens is of course fluorine-treated to protect against grease, dirt and moisture. The entire construction is weather sealed.

The Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II will begin shipping in October.

 

Preorders:
Sony A7cII at BHphoto, Amazon US&EU, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK. Sony AUS.
Sony A7cR at BHphoto, Amazon US&EU, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK. Sony AUS.
16-35GMII at BHphoto, Amazon US&EU, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK. Sony AUS.