Manfrotto’s special Alpha edition of the BeFree Advanced tripod

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Manfrotto announced the special Alpha edition of their Befree Advanced tripod:

The Manfrotto Befree Advanced Alpha travel tripod is a special version of the Befree Advanced Lever dedicated to all Sony α camera users who want maximum performance and stability in all shooting positions.
The plate is designed to match Sony α7 and Sony α9 camera bodies*, to ensure perfect grip, even in the most angled camera shots. The front jut of the plate physically blocks the camera, preventing any play both on tilt and rotational movements, always keeping the camera stuck to the head plate. The result is impressive camera stability, which takes image sharpness to the highest level. The plate is also fully compatible with the world’s most widespread standard head attachments: Manfrotto RC2 and Arca-swiss style. With this aluminium plate fixed to the camera, all Manfrotto heads and almost all tripod heads on the market featuring Arca-style attachments can be set up rapidly and effortlessly, without disassembling components.

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Thanks Colin for sharing this!

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Sony Tidbits…

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Sony Alpha Universe Underwater

Mitakon 50mm f0.95 FE review by Marc Alhadeff.
Things We Love: Peak Design Everyday Sling (Explora).
Sony a7R III: Ultimate Street Photography Camera (Three Blind Men and An Elephant Productions)
Using the Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art Lens on the Sony a7r III (ThePhoBlographer).
Sevenoak SK T1 Durable Mini Tripod Review (Personal View).

Personal photos and tests from SAR Admin Andrea on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and 500px.

Mariusz: “How to color grade without shooting LOG https://youtu.be/B_CVsad2Ymo. Color grading footage from a7r2 without log”

 

Join the new Sony Alpha Camera Facebook group.
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I kindly invite you all to follow our RSS feed, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to not miss news and rumors

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You can now preorder the new Sigma FE lenses at BHphoto

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Finally you can preorder the new Sigma FE lenses at BHphoto (Click here). The prices in detail:

Sigma 14mm f/1.8 for $1,599 at BHphoto (shipment start mid July).
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto (shipment start mid June).
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 for $849 at BHphoto (shipment start mid June).
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto (shipment start end April).
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for $949 at BHphoto (shipment start end April).
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for $1,199 at BHphoto (shipment start end April).
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto (shipment start mid July).

Sony A7III preorder links:
Sony A7III in USA at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon,  BestBuy, FocusCamera, BuyDig.
Sony a7III in Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras UK, WexUK.

Sony US deals:
Up to $900 off on Sony camera sand lenses. See full special page at BHphoto, Adorama, Buydig.
Up to $500 trade-in bonus to buy a Sony cameras. See special page at BHphoto, Adorama, Buydig, FocusCamera.

Zeiss launched new savings on Batis-Loxia lenses:
You save $500 on the Batis 135mm lens at Bhphoto, Adorama and Amazon.
You save $200 on the Batis 85mm lens at Bhphoto and Adorama.
You save $200 on the Loxia 85mm lens at Bhphoto and Adorama.
You save $130 on the Batis 25mm lens at Bhphoto and Amazon.

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Sigma CEO confirms they will make new FE lenses designed for Sony E-mount only!

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The French magazine Focus Numerique interviewed Sigma CEO Mr. Kazuto Yamaki. To read the french article you have to pay a fee (which I did). And I have some good news to report:

1) In future Sigma will develop new lenses designed exclusively for Sony FE cameras: “We will develop native optics for Sony FE if they are different from what we can already offer in our “reflex” range.”
2) Sigma plans to offer more of their current DSLR lenses with native E-mount. Also future new DSLR lenses will be immediately available for E-mount too.
3) The current new FE lenses are completely new from a software point of view. To write software for prime lenses is easier. But Sigma plans to release native E-mount zoom too (SAR note: expect an FE version of lenses like the 24-70mm ART for Canon).
4) About the current new FE primes: Sigma says that even if they had redeveloped these fixed focal lengths for the Sony FE mount, they would have arrived more or less on the same kind of optical design and especially the same type of weight and size. The only exception is for wide-angle lenses which could be much more compact.

To sum up:

  • All current and future DSLR lenses will be made available as native E-mount option (this includes zooms)
  • Some of their future lenses will be designed purely for Sony FE cameras (particularly wide angle lenses)

The newly announced ART FE prime lenses are all listed at BHphoto (Click here). There is no info about shipment and price. But it’s rumored the price will be the same as the Canon version:

Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67834].
Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67835].
Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67836].
Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67837].
Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67838].
Sigma 70mm F2.8DG MACRO | Art (CP+ 2018 exhibit with no price yet)
Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67839].
Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art (CP+ 2018 exhibit with no price yet)
Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art price at [shopcountry 67840].

Here is the big question:

Which lens are you considering to buy?

View Results

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Very first Voigtländer Macro Apo-Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 FE lens test

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We had many lens announcements in these weeks from Tamron, Tokina, Sigma, Zeiss, Laowa and Voigtlander. But the one lens I am personally very interested to buy is the new Voigtländer Macro Apo-Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 FE. I suspected right from the start that this would be a top performer. And it seems like my hope was well placed. The Spanish blog AlbedoMedia (google translation here) posted the very first quick test with image samples and their first impression is extremly positive:

In all the macro shots, we appreciate a very harmonic bokeh , which will undoubtedly please the photographers who love small subjects. In this case – since the images are made at full aperture – we think that the quality associated with the blurred parts is due to the excellent apochromatic correction that minimizes the corresponding aberrations.

One SAR reader also had the chance to play a bit with the lens and said:

It is extremely sharp and no C/A but quite heavy.

If the price and quality will be on par with their excellent 65mm FE lens I am probably going to buy it.

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New Sigma MC-11 firmware update

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Sigma issued a new firmware update for their MC-11 adapter. Those are the new features/improvements:

● It has become compatible with the SIGMA 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM | Art for SIGMA.
● With the SGV lenses*1 listed below, it has improved AF performance in the peripheral areas of the image as well as when the “Eye AF” function is selected.
● With lenses that are not compatible with the MC-11, it has corrected the release time lag which occurred during flash photography.*2
※ Before updating the MC-11 firmware, please ensure SIGMA Optimization Pro has been updated to ver. 1.4.1 or later for Windows, and ver. 1.4.0 or later for Macintosh.
＊1 SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 85mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 135mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art, SIGMA 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art, SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Art, SIGMA 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary
＊2 Please note that this does not guarantee accurate operation with all the lenses that are not compatible with the MC-11.

Sigma MC-11 at [shopcountry 60822].

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