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Upcoming Carl Zeiss lenses for Sony E and Fujifilm X mounts

May
1
2013
May 1, 2013
By 3 Comments

For quite some time now photography enthusiasts have been very eager to know what Carl Zeiss has in store for Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount cameras. Ever since the legendary optics manufacturer announced that it will be making autofocus lenses for the two mirrorless camera systems, they’ve never stopped receiving requests for more details on their blog. What’s the big deal, you may ask? Well, the only photographers able to enjoy autofocus Carl Zeiss lenses were Sony Alpha and NEX users. The rest of the world had to make do with manual focus lens lineup. Carl Zeiss has been known for their extremely high quality optics for many decades, but avoided implementing AF motors, which many consider an essential in a modern lens. DSLR shooters are still left wanting, but Sony NEX and Fujifilm X series owners will now have a chance to enjoy possibly some of the sharpest optics around (assuming CZ lives up to its name).

Carl Zeiss Touit 12mm f2.8 Lens

The new CZ Touit Lenses

Carl Zeiss states that “Touit” (that’s how the line is named) is designed to take full advantage of the size potential offered by APS-C sensor mirrorless cameras. The new lenses are designed to be much more compact than their SLR counterparts. I, for one, am very glad to see such an initiative. We are yet to see if what Carl Zeiss promises turns out to be true. Fujifilm has been doing a pretty good job at keeping its lenses reasonably small, but quite a few Sony NEX lenses are rather large and feel poorly balanced when mounted on minuscule NEX cameras.

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Sony SLT-A58 and NEX-3N Announced

Feb
25
2013
February 25, 2013
By 11 Comments

Following Nikon’s announcement of the D7100 DSLR, Sony introduced a new SLT camera, called A58, along with their newest entry-level mirrorless offering, NEX-3N. As before, Sony is pushing a lot of innovative, consumer-friendly features into both cameras to attract customers. Not having all that much pedigree as a camera maker (at least when it comes to DSLR or, in their case, DSLT), features and numbers is their surest way of shifting attention of a potential buyer away from better-known camera manufacturers, such as Canon, Nikon and, perhaps, even Pentax.

1) Sony SLT-A58

The new SLT-A58 is a replacement for two older Sony cameras, A37 and A57, which is a good thing – I’ve always found they had too many models not that different in their positioning. Luckily for current Sony users and temptingly for potential new ones, however, the camera fitted with the usual 18-55mm kit lens will cost around $600, which is on par with Nikon’s lowest-end D3200 camera (while on $100 rebate program). Mind you, on paper, SLT-A58 is no slouch against its competitors.

Sony-SAL-A58-Top

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Sony NEX-6 Review

Jan
13
2013
January 13, 2013
By 51 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the Sony NEX-6 mirrorless camera that was released on September 12, 2012 during the Photokina event, along with three lenses for NEX cameras: Sony 10-18mm f/4, Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 and Sony 35mm f/1.8. Just like the Sony NEX-5R that we reviewed last year, the NEX-6 also comes with WiFi capability and the new hybrid autofocus system, offering both phase and contrast detect for quicker focus acquisition and accuracy. The camera is the first from the NEX series that offers a real PASM control dial, along with an ISO standard hot shoe for triggering on and off-camera flash. In this review, I will go over the features and capabilities of the camera and compare it to other mirrorless options, including the Nikon 1 J2, Olympus OM-D E-M5, Canon EOS M and other Sony NEX series cameras.

Sony NEX-6

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Full-Frame Sony NEX in 2013?

Dec
31
2012
December 31, 2012
By 10 Comments

Back in September, just after major Sony announcements, we predicted an upcoming full-frame Sony NEX mirrorless camera. We are not usually ones to speculate and spread rumors, but this time evidence was rather convincing. First of all, NEX-VG900 35mm sensor camcorder, the first of its kind, was launched. As it packs NEX E mount we now know it’s compatible with full-frame image circle. This cleared out any technical reasons why a large sensor NEX would be out of question. Secondly, with the launch of latest NEX-6 camera, they’ve indicated and APS-C sized sensor at its heart on the camera body itself, something they’ve never done before. And the only reason for such an indication we can think of is the existence of a larger or smaller sensor. Now, a smaller than APS-C size sensor doesn’t make all that much sense, of course, and recently many other photography websites have been reporting rumors of the upcoming full-frame Sony NEX camera.

Sony NEX Sensor Comparison

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Sony NEX-5R Review

Dec
29
2012
December 29, 2012
By 35 Comments

Overview

This is an in-depth review of the Sony NEX-5R mirrorless camera that came out on August 29, 2012, an update to the existing Sony NEX-5N that I reviewed last year. While I loved the image quality from the NEX-5N, its AF performance was a bit sluggish, certainly not anywhere close to the Nikon 1 series cameras. Sony revamped the NEX-5 series with the 5R, introducing its first hybrid AF system that uses both phase and contrast detect AF to acquire focus, added WiFi connectivity options and a couple of other layout/control tweaks, making the NEX-5R a compelling option for new and existing owners. In this Sony NEX-5R review, I will go over the features and capabilities of the camera and compare it to other mirrorless options, including the Nikon 1 J2, Olympus OM-D E-M5, Canon EOS M, Sony NEX-F3, NEX-6 and NEX-7 series cameras.

Sony NEX-5R

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Battle of the Mirrorless – Part 1 (Dynamic Range)

Dec
15
2012
December 15, 2012
By 22 Comments

As promised, I have performed some additional dynamic range tests on the mirrorless cameras I am testing (Nikon 1 J2, Canon EOS-M, Sony NEX-F3, Sony NEX-5R, Sony NEX-6, Sony NEX-7 and Olympus OM-D EM-5) and I have the data ready for your viewing pleasure. As expected, the Sony APS-C sensors performed the best, with the Sony NEX-5R and NEX-6 leading the game (although other NEX series are extremely close) followed by the Olympus OM-D EM-5, then Canon EOS M and then finally the Nikon 1 J2. Here is a comparison chart that shows performance of the various mirrorless cameras:

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Battle of the Mirrorless – Part 1 (Low Light Performance)

Dec
14
2012
December 14, 2012
By 31 Comments

I have spent a considerable amount of time working with 7 different mirrorless cameras from Sony, Canon, Nikon and Olympus. I apologize for not being able to provide periodic updates on these cameras. I have come up with new ways to measure digital camera sensor performance, so it took me a long time to do it in a way that I believe will be more accurate and objective compared to my previous methods. Not only will you be seeing crops of sensor performance in a controlled environment, but I will also provide some numbers to quantify performance in colors and dynamic range. As I have already mentioned before, I will be measuring dynamic range myself going forward without having to rely on other websites for the data. It will be interesting to see how my data compares to other sites like DxOMark. I am not planning to do anything super intensive and I bet my measurements will not be without issues and errors, but I believe it is something worth trying. Hopefully it will give a different perspective to testing sensors.

Here is the first test that shows the low light performance of the following mirrorless cameras: Nikon 1 J2, Canon EOS-M, Sony NEX-F3, Sony NEX-5R/NEX-6, Sony NEX-7 and Olympus OM-D EM-5. Since these cameras all look excellent at ISO levels between 100 and 800, I decided to only show ISO performance at 1600 and above. Take a look!

Nikon 1 J2

Nikon 1 J2 ISO 1600 Nikon 1 J2 ISO 3200

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Full-Frame Sony NEX-9 Mirrorless Camera in the Works?

Sep
15
2012
September 15, 2012
By 15 Comments

With Sony’s big week coming to an end (they’ve announced more new products than other manufacturers, with all of them being quite exciting), we’ve missed a couple of announcements, which haven’t been directly relevant to this photography-centered website (at least for now). Both of these announcements were of their new NEX series camcorders, the NEX-VG30 and NEX-VG900. The former is a successor to the great NEX-VG20H camcorder and packs a 16 megapixel, APS-C sized sensor found in many of Sony cameras, such as NEX-6 and SLT-A57. Both new camcorders come with rather advanced video capabilities and will likely be very popular among videographers – I’ve had to trade ergonomics in favor of technical and aesthetical quality of DSLR video for a while now, and so have a couple of my close friends. With the great NEX camcorders Sony offers, both new and old models, you can get everything and for a relatively low price.

But, again, we are photography-centered at this time. Which, ironically, brings us to (the more expensive of the two) NEX-VG900 camcorder.

Sony NEX Sensor Comparison

Why? Because it’s the first NEX mirrorless camera (which it is, only put in camcorder casing) to pack a full frame sensor, same one used in RX1 compact and A99 SLT cameras (and possibly the already immensely popular Nikon D600). And it does bring a thought. I’m not usually one to speculate, or spread rumors for that matter, but photography community has been waiting a long time for a logically priced Leica M9 (and Leica isn’t about being logical, which, strangely enough, makes sense in today’s viciously competitive market).

So.. How about a NEX-9 instead?
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Sony NEX-6 Announcement

Sep
12
2012
September 12, 2012
By 5 Comments

Sony, rather unexpectedly for some, has just announced a Wi-Fi ready NEX-6, which slots in the middle of the recent NEX-5R and the flagship NEX-7 mirrorless camera, combining features of both. Based on the familiar 16 megapixel sensor, the new mirrorless offer hybrid AF system and camera applications. Along with these useful features of the NEX-5R, it also boasts an OLED EVF with 2.36 million dots (same one you can find in many mirrorless cameras, like the new Fujifilm X-E1 and Sony’s own NEX-7). Another interesting move by Sony is to incorporate the standard flash and accessory hotshoe found on almost any other camera – previously, Sony would use their own specific hotshoe.

Sony NEX-6

Curiously, if you take a closer look at the camera body, you will find “APS-C” written at the lower right corner at the front of the camera. Why would Sony specify sensor size on NEX-6, when the whole system consists of APS-C sized sensor cameras only? I’m not familiar with mount design and least of all would want to start a hot debate on this, but it got me curious if Sony is planning a full-frame NEX camera (if it’s even possible).
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Sony Announces 10-18mm, 16-50mm and 35mm f/1.8 lenses for NEX System

Sep
12
2012
By 1 Comment

One of the biggest criticisms towards Sony NEX system has always been lack of high quality, fast lenses. While they certainly make very competent and attractive from a technological standpoint mirrorless cameras, lack of decent “glass” has put off a lot of potential buyers. It seems, however, Sony is not just about superzooms and kit lenses. Today, they’ve announced three new additions to their lens lineup, and it should please some owners and, possibly, attract new ones.

Sony E 35mm f/1.8

All lenses seem to offer something likeable – the new kit zoom offers pancake design and is both affordable and compact, and thus will suit small NEX system cameras very well. With 35mm f/1.8 lens Sony has finally given it’s E-mount users a (relatively) cheap, fast normal prime – let’s just hope it’s good! And, finally, the ultra-wide 10-18mm f/4 zoom lens offers constant aperture – something not always found even in older APS-C DSLR systems. All lenses feature in-built optical image stabilization.

We will have these lenses reviewed as soon as we get our hands on them.
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