Sony Alpha NEX Cameras and E Mount Lenses

It looks like Zeiss is in the Thanksgiving mood. Here are the lowest prices ever for their E-mount lenses, Batis (autofocus) and Loxia (manual focus) lines. Save $300 off on the Batis 135mm f/2.8 Sonnar Save $180 off on the Batis 85mm f/1.8 Sonnar Save $195 off on the Batis 25mm f/2.0 Distagon Save $225 off on the Batis 18mm f/2.8 Distagon Save $210 off on the Loxia 85mm f/2.4 Sonnar Save $140 off on the Loxia 50mm f/2.0 Planar Save $195 off on the Loxia 35mm f/2.0 Biogon Save $225 off on the Loxia 21mm f/2.8 Distagon Thank you for reading and sharing this blog. Amazon links help support this website.

Leica Thambar-M 90mm on Sony A7 by Kazuhiro ITOH Leica reintroduced their Thambar 90 f/2.2 lens this week. The look it produces is very distinctive, dreamlike image. Posted here is a gallery of Leica Thambar 90 images taken with the Sony A7 cameras via lens adapter. The 1935 designed Leica Thambar-M 90 can also be used in autofocus mode using the Techart Pro LM-EA7 adapter with the newest generation of Sony A7 cameras. From Leica: The new Thambar has almost entirely adopted the design of the original lens – featuring the same proportions, black paint finish and red and white aperture scales as its 1930s predecessor. The red scale applies when the center spot filter is in place, which diminishes the effective aperture of the lens – for example, from 2.2 to 2.3 when wide open. When working without the center spot filter, the white aperture scale is used. In order to retain its vintage appeal, the Thambar’s exterior has only been subtly adapted to reflect the pared-down character ...

SainSonic Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 Review by Kai Wong Here is Kai's review of the SainSonic Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 lens for Sony E-mount, a bokeh beast as Kai calls it. The lens covers your aps-c sensor found on the Sony a6500 . Below you can see the image it creates on a full frame sensor. The aperture is clickless which is good for videography. We would keep it at f/1.1 so the lack of clicks wouldn't bother us. The price of the Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 is very appealing for such a fast lens. Buy an ND filter and keep it at f/1.1. From the manufacturer, Sainsonic: Large Aperture - Designed with high quality multi-coated optical glass. Exquisite body features amazing maximum aperture of F1.1, which creates fascinating background blur effect and sharper image quality. No worry about the low-light & night scene, just shoot and enjoy the safe and fast shutter speed. Premium Optical Design - 11 circular aperture blade, 5 groups 5 elements lens stricture with high quality multi-...

Sony a7ii with 5-Axis SteadyShot (Image Stabilization) Video Here is the new Sony a7ii with a 5-axis SteadyShot Inside, which means that the sensor can compensate for movement in the pitch, yaw, roll, x-axis, and y-axis. The technology comes from Olympus which Sony has an alliance with after a large investment. The a7ii is about $500 more than the standard a7 . The a7ii will be available next month. New C1 / C2 Buttons Above shows the added customizable button next to the shutter. There are now 4 customizable buttons instead of 3 on the a7, a7r, and a7s. The body panels of the a7ii looks to be textured compared to the smooth body of the previous a7 cameras. The shutter button moves from the top plate to the grip. The front and rear wheel have a slimmer form factor. There is now a 45° ledge for the Menu and C button on the rear. Images of the new Sony a7ii

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 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.

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

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.

Save $545 on the Sony A7r The previous trade in deal saved us $460 from the MSRP of the a7r. The new trade in deal from Adorama is sweeter since the MSRP of the cameras are lower by $200. Sony a7 MSRPs Reduced by $200 What this means for us is a savings of $545 on the Sony a7r body, $500 on the a7 + 28-70mm lens bundle, and $455 on the A7 body only. You can also add in the trade in value of your old camera for more savings. The Sony A7 trade in offer from Adorama expires by the end of the year. Make sure to add items from our post on essential Sony A7 accessories . Sony A7 with 28-70mm Lens

Upcoming Sony / Zeiss E-mount Lenses Photokina 2014 introduced six new full-frame lenses for the Sony E-mount family.  The E-mount lens range now covers 16mm (converter) up to 240mm.  The image above shows four new prototype Sony / Zeiss E-mount lenses, 28mm with converters, 35mm, 90mm, and a 24-240mm zoom. The new E-mount lens roadmap added 3 lens slots compared with the previous roadmap .  The roadmap shows that seven more lenses will be announced in 2015.  The only hole we see is a fast portrait lens at around 90mm.  We are hoping that this will be the next lens announced. Sony E-mount Lens Roadmap Photokina 2014 Update Below are more details on the new lenses announce at Photokina 2014.  Included are photos of the prototypes found at Photokina and quick mock ups on a Sony A7 body .

Zhongyi Optics Mitakon 42mm and 24mm for APS-C E-mount Cameras Zhongyi Optics introduced two new lenses designed for the E-mount APS-C sensor (a6000, a5100, a5000, and NEX cameras) at Photokina 2014. The first is the Mitakon 24mm f/1.7 which translates to an EFOV of a 36mm lens on the APS-C. The Mitakon 24mm is attractively priced at $289. The second lens is a Mitakon 42.5mm f/1.2 lens which converts to 63mm on the APS-C sensor. The Mitakon 42mm is priced at $359. Both lenses are manual focus and provide a relatively large aperture for excellent low light shots. Both are very light and compact, perfect travel lenses. Below are specs and sample images from the new Zhongyi Mitakon lenses.

Zeiss Loxia on Sony A7r and A7s Cameras Here's a quick video from Carl Zeiss about their new line of Loxia lenses especially designed for the Sony A7 family of cameras. Fresh from #photokina : our product video for ZEISS Loxia lenses w/ product manager Christophe Casenave https://t.co/v2d8MZfJT7 #ZEISSphk14 — Carl Zeiss Lens Team (@CarlZeissLenses) September 18, 2014 Product Manager Christophe Casenave talks about the new Loxia Lenses Check out Loxia 2/50mm Planar samples we posted here . Full specs on the Carl Zeiss Loxia 2/35 and 2/50 can be found here . Pre-order the Loxia 35mm Biogon and Loxia 50mm Planar from Adorama.

Sony SEL1635Z Mounted on a Sony A7s from PhotographyBlog The wait is over. People have been hunting for a wide angle lens for the Sony A7 cameras ever since the full frame e-mount cameras were released. Some have been using the Sony 10-18mm at 16-18mm with great results on the Sony A7 bodies. Above is the new Zeiss 16-35mm f/4 Vario Tessar FE ZA OSS Lens or SEL1635Z, announced at Photokina 2014. It is fully compatible with E-mount cameras with autofocus and auto aperture control. The lens is designed for the A7 and will cover the 24x36mm sensor. The SEL1635Z will also work with the Sony a6000 and NEX cameras where it will provide a EFOV of 24mm to 52mm, nice walkaround lens range. Below are specs for the SEL1635Z and samples from Mark Galer who has been using the SEL1635Z on the Sony A7s.

Marsh Harrier 14 by 5bellies Digiscoping Here are some great digiscoping shots by 5bellies Digiscoping. He uses a Sony a6000 with a Swarovski scope which consists the STX-85 modular objective lens, the STX Eyepiece Module with a 25-60x magnification, and the TLS APO adapter . There are a few samples below and a quick tutorial by Swarovski. The Rig, Sony a6000 with a Swarovski STX-85 Digiscope

Zeiss Loxia 50mm Planar on Sony A7r Berlin Backstage was lucky enough to test out the new Carl Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2 Planar lens before the Photokina 2014 official release. Here are a points we extracted from their review titled "Blau trifft Orange," translated blue meets orange. 180° of focus ring movement for gentle, precise focus. Aperture ring can be de-clicked for videographers with a supplied de-click tool. Feels similar to the Zeiss 50mm ZM Planar lens .  The Loxia 2/50 is a massaged ZM Planar design for the Sony A7 series. The f/2.0 maximum aperture keeps the lens small which is a good compromise. The Loxia is a manual aperture lens, not electronic controlled. It provides Exif data to the camera. The lens hood can be mounted in reverse without blocking the focusing ring. Ten aperture blades for buttery soft bokeh. Important points for the reviewer: feel, color, contrast. See the sample images from the Loxia 50mm on the A7r from Berlin Backstage below.

Here are the specs for the upcoming Loxia lenses by Carl Zeiss designed for the Sony A7 family and other E-mount cameras. The first two announced are the Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon and the 50mm f/2 Planar.  Both lenses share the same physical dimensions and filter ring thread.  They are manual focus lenses with electronic coupling to Sony E-mount cameras. Loxia 2/35 Biogon

darwinfish105 used the Sony NEX-6 time lapse app at 1 second intervals and the Sony A7s with the RM-VPR1 remote in continuous mode to produce this wonderful time lapse.

Canon 100mm L IS Macro on Sony A7 via Commlite Lens Adapter Commlite Canon EOS/EF to E-mount Lens Adapter Video by FILM...SOUND...COLOR Here's an inexpensive Canon EOS/EF to E-mount lens adapter by Commlite. If you are a Canon shooter and have looked into switching to the Sony A7 series cameras, you probably know of the Metabones Canon to Sony lens adapter. Commlite has their own version which is about 1/4 the price with all the same features. Both lens adapters will allow your EOS lens to communicate with the Sony body. The Image Stabilization feature will work and autofocus as well, although slowly. The Commlite lens adapter comes in black and off-white to almost match your Canon lens. This adapter works with the full frame Sony A7, A7R, and A7S and APS-C sensored A6000 and NEX cameras. Commlite EOS/EF to E-mount Lens Adapter in Black Commlite EOS/EF to E-mount Lens Adapter in Off-White Sony A7 with Canon 70-300mm L IS via Commlite Lens Adapter