Officially announced: New Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 lens now available at BHphoto for $899

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Viltrox has officially announced the 135mm f/1.8 FE LAB lens. You can pre-order the lens at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). Full press text on Explora (Click here).

The new Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 lens is part of Viltrox’s LAB series, designed to provide high-end performance at a more accessible price point than many other premium lenses. This 135mm f/1.8, compatible with Sony E-mount, is intended as a budget-friendly competitor to the Sony 135mm GM lens, retailing at $899—significantly less than Sony’s version. With an 82mm filter thread, a close focus distance of 70cm, and weighing about 1.2kg, this lens aims to offer strong optical quality and build.

The LAB series, newly launched by Viltrox, promises “pro-level” performance, similar to Zeiss’s Otus line, but with a focus on balancing quality with affordability. Although specific reviews are still emerging, expectations are high for sharpness and accurate autofocus in portrait and event photography settings. This lens rounds out an expanding line from Viltrox, who has recently been adding more high-performing autofocus options at competitive prices, hoping to appeal to both amateur and professional photographers looking for value without sacrificing quality.

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The PolarPro LightLeak 28mm f/11 Lens is now available for preorder at BHphoto

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You get it for $129 at BHphoto (Click here).

Lexar storage deals are up and running til November 9th on Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). Example:

Another deal runs on this Samsung T7 disk sold by Amazon:

REMINDER: You can find all reconditioned deal on those pages:

 

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Confirmed: Sony A1II and a new 28-70mm f/2.0 zoom will be announced on November 19

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At last! I can confirm with 100% certainty that Sony will be announcing the new Sony A1II flagship camera and a new Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM zoom on November 19th at 2pm London time!

As for the specs of the Sony A1II, I’m still working on final confirmation so please be aware that I’m not 100% sure of the following details yet:

Likely (but still not 100% confirmed) Sony A1II specs:

  • 50MP Full-Frame Exmor RS BSI CMOS Sensor (same of the Sony A1)
  • Sony A9III body
  • New AI chip
  • faster frame rate and faster autofocus
  • More expensive than the current Sony A1
  • New CFexpress Type A with 4.0 standard (doubles the speed)
  • C2PA support for content authentication.
  • Availability in early 2025 only

Sony’s first f/2.0 zoom lens:

  • Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 Full Frame GM lens will be more compact than the Canon 28-70mm lens
  • Price around $3,000

WILD rumors and probably FALSE:

  • Got some wild totally unconfirmed rumors on a possible new wildlife lens (maybe an update of the 100-400mm GM).
  • 99% bullshit rumor: New RX1rIII fixed lens 3000 dollar camera (I am near certain it’s BS)

Quick thoughts on the new gear

My take on the Sony A1II:

It will be hard to swallow the fact that this could be a $7,500-$8000 camera. But I’m told that Sony has improved every aspect of the camera and that the sum of the improvements and new features will make it a worthwhile upgrade. So let’s wait until I get the full detailed spec list before to draw conclusions.

My take on the Sony 28-70mm f/2.0:

My originally rumor from 10 months ago said this could be a 24-70mm f/2.0. But Sony is going for the 28-70mm probably to keep the size as small as possible. What do you think is this a god trade off for you?

Let me know in the comment system what your thoughts and expectations are!

Preorder links (going live on November 19)
Sony A1II
at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, WexUK.
Sony 28-70mm f/2.0 GM at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, WexUK.

 

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New Sony Gold Box deals at Amazon Europe

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These are the European deals are running now:

Reminder: Amazon Germany launched massive coupon code deals on Sony Alpha lenses that do push the price down to their lowest ever:

This is just a selection of the deals you can search for yourself on this page.

 

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