Sony Alpha NEX Cameras and E Mount Lenses

Windham Graves shows us how to create a new lens for your Sony E-mount camera from a film point and shoot. He harvests the lens from an Olympus Infinity camera which has a relatively fast 35mm f/2.8 lens. A Russian m39 lens tube with a helicoid is used to Frankenstein the final lens for the e-mount. Olympus Infinity 35mm f2.8 Adapted to Sony E-mount

Songstress. Here are some photos from a wedding we invited. All we were equipped with was our trusty Sony NEX-7, a Metabones Speed Booster, and the Contax 50mm Planar - a gem. The Speed booster gave us an effective 55mm lens at f/1.2, necessary for this low light event. Double trouble. The NEX was set to shoot jpeg only in black and white with contrast and sharpness at negative two. This made the post-processing much easier than usual with cropping as the only requirement. Tequila ice bar. Holding court.

We took the subway down to Red Hook - Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, which is definitely a place for bikes since the nearest station is a mile a way. We had a nice compact setup with the Sony NEX-7 and the Contax 50mm Planar via the Metabones Speed Booster. The Speed Booster effectively gave us an f/1.0 lens with a 55mm focal length. We have some static shots but it takes away from the sensation of speed that the women were achieving on the track. Above is the lead pack during the race. We only had 2 minutes between each lap until we saw them again. It's always fun to watch the Red Hook Crit even though it was cooler than usual. We did pretty well with a manual focus lens during a sporting event. I wonder what the Sony A6300 with its advanced autofocus tracking can manage.

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 .

Cambo ACTUS - a compact view camera made for the Sony A7 cameras. ACTUS is based on the X2 Pro View Camera System The Cambo ACTUS is a view camera system with E-mount compatibility. This allows us to have tilt and shift movement using the Sony A7, a6000, or NEX cameras. Cambo has the X2 Pro which is made for DSLRs, the ACTUS is half the weight and around 40% less in size than the X2 Pro. Pictures shown are not final. ACTUS provides Front Tilt and Swing and Rear Shift from Capture Integration: Cambo is proud to announce the new compact ACTUS View Camera. The Actus is a new technology camera system designed for mirrorless cameras, such as the Sony Alpha 7 series. Cambo is working on the final product developments before the official announcement in the upcoming weeks. Read below for the specs that we have today. The system is expected to ship in early July. Depending on the configuration, the core system will be available in the ballpark of 1,500€. The core syste...

Here are some test shots with the Minolta 40mm f/2 M-Rokkor for the Minolta CLE. This is the multicoated version of the Leica 40mm Summicron-C. We used the very compact 40mm M-Rokkor walking around a local train museum with the Sony A7r via a Leica M lens adapter . The shots up to the handcart are all done at maximum aperture of f/2. Manual focus was very easy with using the viewfinder magnification of the A7r even in the mid-day sun. The mid-day sun also guaranteed high shutter speeds at ISO 100 and f/2. All the shots are handheld. The shots below are at f/5.6 up to f/11. We need to test this lens more but the sweet spot is definitely at f/5.6. The CSX 152 (GE AC4400CW diesel-electric locomotive) and the CSX 7305 (GE C40-8 [Dash 8]) was shot during the afternoon sun. Sony A7r with a Minolta 40mm f/2 M-Rokkor via Leica M Adapter The lens has been great on the Minolta CLE and NEX-7 and it performs well on the full-frame A7r. The lightweight and ...

We've seen what the Sony A7r can do with the Konica 57mm f/1.2 , now it's the NEX-7's turn. We actually took these shots almost two years ago. The 57mm on the NEX-7's APS-C sensor produces an equivalent field of view of 86mm. The lens having such a large aperture at f/1.2 is perfect for isolating your subjects. The shots are most likely at f/2.0 instead of wide open. We had to stop down since it was producing better results that day. We love greens that are produced by the Sony sensor and the shots below show it well. /> Can you tell a big difference between the 2 year old NEX-7 shots vs the recent A7r shots? Our biggest lesson is to process your files as soon as you can.

Sony A7r with Konica Hexanon 57mm f/1.2 shot by NEX-7 with a Leica 60mm Macro-Elmarit-R Here are some of our test shots from the Sony A7r and the Konica Hexanon 57mm f/1.2 lens. The lens was mounted on the A7r using a Konica AR lens adapter . We wanted to test out the lens at f/1.2 the whole time and it was fitted with a 4X ND filter to battle the sun. The 1/8000 shutter speed and 50 ISO of the Sony A7r helped at times as well. The Konica 57mm played very well with the A7r per our standards. All the shots were handheld as we rarely use a tripod. The focusing, at such a shallow depth of field from the large f/1.2 aperture of the lens, was manageable on the A7r. The weight of the lens would make us think twice of walking around with it but the results are hard to argue with. The details shown at f/1.2 is remarkable even at the outer edges of the shots. 100% crop of the shot above shows great detail. Not a technically perfect shot. Red Pail Pops. 100% crop of the shot a...