Posts

Meike Vertical Grip for the Sony A7 Cameras

Image
3rd Party Vertical Grip for the Sony a7 Cameras Here is a third-party version of Sony's VG-C1EM Vertical A7-Series Camera Grip by Meike. Their model designation is MK-AR7. It duplicates the front and rear dials, shutter button, and the C1 button for use in a vertical shooting orientation. It provides room for a 2nd battery to extend shooting. It also has a receiver for a wireless remote with timer for time lapse photography. We have not used this Meike MK-AR7 ourselves but the price is very tempting. The added battery is a plus but we always carry extra. The support provided by the grip is the major feature of this grip. We always have to warn people that 3rd party accessories causing damage to your Sony a7 will not be covered by warranty. See the video and data sheet below to see if the MK-AR7 will work for you.

Hands On with Zeiss 35mm Distagon on Sony a7r at Photo Plus

Image
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 Distagon on the a7r Here is the newest Zeiss lens for the Leica M system. It is a Distagon 1.4/35mm ZM lens - Carl Zeiss' fastest lens for rangefinder cameras. We stopped by the Zeiss booth at Photo Plus and tried it out on the Sony a7r with a close-focus adapter. Voigtlander makes a better version of the adapter but this one works for us. The 35mm Distagon ZM feels like a fine piece of machinery. The aperture from f/1.4 to f/18 have soft click stops. The focus ring is smooth, well damped, and pleasing to use - we prefer it to the Otus' ring . The lens is dense and heavy for such a small size thanks to the all metal construction. The 35mm Distagon ZM is deceptively heavy as the 85mm Otus ZE is deceptively light.

Zeiss 16-35mm Lens Review by Mobile01

Image
Zeiss Vario-Tessar 16-35mm FE OSS lens Barrel Extension Here are some corner samples of the new Zeiss Vario-Tessar 16-35mm FE OSS lens from mobile01.com . The samples compare the center sharpness against the extreme corner of 16-35mm for the Sony A7 cameras at 16mm and 35mm at all apertures. Check out more Zeiss 16-35mm Vario-Tessar high resolution samples and the full review at mobile01.com . Pre-order the Zeiss Vario-Tessar 16-35mm FE OSS lens for a mid-November ship date.

Faces with Sony A6000 by Craig Martin

Image
ISO: 100 Aperture: f/2.2 Shutter speed: 1/3200 Here are some images created with the sony a6000 and the 50mm f/1.8 OSS lens by Craig Martin. ISO: 100 Aperture: f/2.2 Shutter speed: 1/500

Jeff Koons at the Whitney Museum with the A7r

Image
Jeff Koons: A Retrospective Whitney Museum We discovered that the Jeff Koons exhibit was on its final days at the Whitney Museum. We also learned that the Whitney was closing the doors at the Breuer Building location and was moving downtown towards the Highline. We took the Sony A7r and a Contax 28mm Distagon and tested out GeoTagging - posted earlier . Here are some images from the excursion. Bear and Policeman by Jeff Koons

Sony A7s Video: Aurora Borealis in Tromsø

Aurora Borealis in Tromsø by Anders Mildestveit Real time video of northern lights on oct. 18th in Tromsø, Norway. Shot with a Sony A7S and Rokinon 24mm T1.5 at 25600 iso with no noise reduction applied. The video of the of the Aurora Borealis demonstrates the low light prowess of the Sony A7s.

Sony A7 GeoTagging with Exiftool

Image
Smartphone Running MyTracks Showing GPS Info for Time Calibration Geotagging your images, attaching location information, is a great way to help document your shooting.  Many services like flickr, Google, and iPhoto/Photos take advantage of the geotags to show where the image is taken.  We took a quick stroll around New York City to test out how easy geotagging Sony A7 files were. Above shows the GPS status provided by our smartphone's built-in gps and shown by an app, GPS Status.  The third icon from the top left shows the app MyTracks is running and is logging our location along the way.  The image below shows the final product, a geotagged image. Here's a quick tutorial on geotagging your Sony A7 photos using your GPS enabled smartphone and exiftool.