Sony Alpha NEX Cameras and E Mount Lenses

Carl Zeiss Touit 32mm Planar Touit, pronounced "do it," is the new name of Carl Zeiss autofocus lenses for NEX cameras. There will initially be three Touit lenses, 12mm, 32mm, and 50mm. They are expected to be available by the summer. From the Carl Zeiss camera lens blog : Touit is pronounced like the English “do it.” Touit stands for good visibility, agility, mobility and diversity, qualities which also aptly describe the new ZEISS lenses for mirrorless camera systems. The name Touit comes from the band-tailed parrots. This bird is very small and agile, and its plumage is deep green. The Touit parrots live in Latin America and the Caribbean in a wide range of different habitats, from damp-tropical island regions to lowland rainforests to thorn-bush savannas and even high in the Andes Mountains at altitudes of up to over 20,000 feet. Please check our previous post for details on the three Touit lenses from Carl Zeiss. Carl Zeiss Touit 32mm Planar mounted on Sony NE

Sony NEX-7 with Speed Booster vs Nikon D600 TheCameraStoreTV posted their hands on video with the Metabone Speed Booster for NEX cameras. They used the Canon EOS to NEX Speed Booster lens adapter on the NEX-7. In the video they compare the NEX-7 and the Nikon D600 , a full frame camera, to see if there are perceptible differences. They used a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM lens on both cameras. The exposures were set to be equal at ISO 200 and aperture set at f/8. The NEX-7 with the Speed Booster registered and aperture of f/5.6 due to the full stop of light from the adapter. The D600 registered f/8. The image above is a side by side comparison at 400% enlargement. Would you be able to tell the difference? Check out the full hands on video with the Speed Booster below. Metabones Speed Booster Review by TheCamaeraStore Thanks Jordan and TheCamerStore ! The Metabones Speed Booster can be found here .

Leica M Type 240 vs Sony NEX-7 Sensor from DxOMark DxOMark published their analysis of the new Leica M Type 240's sensor and we compared it against the Sony compact heavyweights, the NEX-7 and the Sony DSC-RX1 . The NEX-7 is about the same as the new Leica M in the color depth and the dynamic range scores. It just fell short in the low-light ISO score which we can attribute to having an APS-C sensor compared to the Leica M 240's full frame sensor. We are hoping that the upcoming Sony NEX-7N will have ISO 50 to improve that score. Leica M Type 240 vs Sony DSC-RX1 Sensor from DxOMark But the full frame sensor of the RX1 is somewhat ahead of the new Leica M Type 240 according to DxOMark's measurements. Check out DxOMark's review of the Leica M Type 240 . Thanks DxOMark!

Here are a few shots from Old Sturbridge Village using our newly acquired Leica 60mm f/2.8 Macro Elmarit-R on the Sony NEX-7. The Leica 60mm Macro is said to have "excellent image quality at close-up range..." and "superb results at greater distances" when stopped down. We used the Macro Elmarit-R wide open all day at f/2.8 and only stopped down to f/5.6 when the depth of field was needed. The NEX-7 was set to Aperture Priority and ISO 100 outdoors or Auto ISO indoors. A basic Leica R to E-mount lens adapter was used. NEX-7 with Leica 60mm at f/2.8 ISO 100 The NEX-7 with the Leica 60mm is a nice match in good light. We had no problem of keeping the shutter speeds up at f/2.8 in snowy New England. NEX-7 with Leica 60mm at f/2.8 ISO 800 to 1600 The Leica 60mm Macro Elmarit-R has a long focus throw and focusing indoors takes some practice with moving subjects. The focus ring is well damped and provided nice feedback for critical focus.

Image from Map Camera The current line of NEX cameras are currently on discounts. It's a great time to buy and learn your cameras during the cold days of winter and be ready for spring. $200 off Sony NEX-7 Cameras Sony is offering a $200 discount on Sony NEX-7 cameras. The NEX-7 with 18-55mm OSS lens is now $1,148. The MSRP is $1349. The NEX-7 body only is now priced at $998. The MSRP is $1199. $100 off Sony NEX-6 Cameras Sony is offering a $100 discount on Sony NEX-6 cameras. The NEX-6 with 16-50mm Power Zoom lens is now $898. The MSRP is $999. The NEX-6 body only is now priced at $748. The MSRP is $849. $100 off Sony NEX-5R Cameras Sony is offering a $100 discount on Sony NEX-5R cameras. The NEX-5R with 18-55mm OSS lens is now $648. The MSRP is $749. The NEX-5R body only is now priced at $548. The MSRP is $649. The new Sony 20mm f/2.8 Pancake is also available for pre-order at $348 .

Sony has released seven firmware updates for Sony NEX cameras and lenses. Here is a quick summary of the changes. Sony NEX-7 Camera Firmware v1.02 Support for 16-50mm Power Zoom lens, image compensation and mechanical retraction Adds auto-exposure bracketing ranges of 1.0EV, 2.0EV, and 3.0EV Improves indication for using the "Flexible Spot" setting Improves image quality when using a wide angle lens Improves response for showing auto review images Adds the capability to enable or disable the MOVIE button Sony NEX-6 Camera Firmware v1.01 Support for hybrid af compliant lenses: SEL1018, SEL35F18, SELP18200, SEL30M35, SEL50F18, SEL18200LE Sony NEX-5R Camera Firmware v1.01 Support for hybrid af compliant lenses: SEL1018, SEL35F18, SELP18200, SEL30M35, SEL50F18, SEL18200LE Sony NEX-5N Camera Firmware v1.02 Support for 16-50mm Power Zoom lens, image compensation and mechanical retraction Updates the RAW data format version. After installing this update, distort

Mockup of Sigma 60mm on NEX-7 Sigma is adding a third lens to their Digital Neo series for E-mount cameras. It is the 60mm f/2.8 macro in native E-mount. The lens is similar to the one found in Sigma's new DP3 Merrill. Here is Sigma's description of the 60mm DN. Sigma 60mm F2.8 DN- Featuring the natural perspective of mid-range telephoto lenses, together with a shallow depth of field, this lens allows the photographer to capture a single part of a subject with great bokeh effects. It has an angle of view equivalent to 90mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). The minimum focusing distance is 19.7 inches; the maximum magnification is 1:7.2. This lens also contains Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass, which helps minimize axial and transverse chromatic aberration. Mockup of Sigma 60mm on NEX-5R Sigma Corporation announces four new lenses at CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013 YOKOHAMA, Japan — Jan. 29, 2013—Sigma Corporation of America a leading researc

Canon 50L Sample on NEX-7 with Metabones Speed Booster (effective 35mm f/0.9) LensRentals posted their review of the Metabones Speed Booster. The Speed Booster lens adapter tested was a Canon EOS to Sony E-mount variant mounted on a Sony NEX-7 . The lenses used were all Canon EF autofocus lenses, 14mm f/2.8 L II, 50mm f/1.2 L, and the 135mm f/2.0 L. The Speed Booster promises a one stop light improvement and a 0.7x focal length conversion. The lenses are effectively converted to 10mm f/2, 35mm f/0.9, and 95mm f/1.4 as seen by the Sony APS-C sensor. So what was their conclusion after their test? I think it was pretty obvious that I came armed for battle, ready to slam this product as some marketing overhype. I was wrong less correct than I might have been. The Speed Booster does what they claimed it would do, much to my shock and surprise. It creates a wider-angle, greater aperture lens while retaining resolution and acutance. Read the whole Metabones Speed Boooster review wi

NEX-7 with Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Ultron via Novoflex Leica M to E-mount adapter . TechTalk with Ron Sheffler tested the new Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Aspherical Ultron against three other Leica M 21mm lenses on the Leica M9. He also used the lenses on the Sony NEX-7 and found that the Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 the best at farther distances and large apertures. The Leica 21 f/3.4 Super Elmar-M came in second, the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 Biogon in third, and the Leica 21 f/1.4 Summilux at the back of the pack. At f/4 all the lenses performed equally well on the NEX-7's APS-C sensor. Here are some samples from the NEX-7 and the Voigtlander 21mm wide open at f/1.8. You can see more samples at TechTalk. Sample Images from NEX-7 with Voigtlander 21mm f/1.8 Check out TechTalk with Ron Sheffler for an extensive review and comparison between the four 21mm Leica M mount lenses mentioned above. There are also plenty of sample images from the Leica M9 with the lenses. Voigtlander 21m

NEX-7 with Metabones Speed Booster Lens Adapter with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens Metabones Speed Booster Sony NEX Lens Adapter Test by James Miller So what does the Metabones Speed Booster NEX lens adapter do? Increase aperture by 1 stop. e.g. f/1.4 becomes f/1.0, which means more light to the sensor. Increases MTF, which means better resolution all across the frame compared to a standard lens adapter. Provides a focal length multiplier of 0.71x, NEX's APS-C 1.5 * SB 0.71 = 1.065, a 35mm lens = 37.7mm equivalent focal length. Metabones Speed Boost Sony NEX Lens Adapter The EF E-mount Speed Booster Lens Adapter shown above also provides automatic electronic aperture control, image stabilization with IS lenses, EXIF information, and autofocus (albeit slow.) Read more about the Metabones Speed Booster from the Metabones web site and white paper . It's pretty amazing what the NEX has spawned from the third party manufacturers.

DEO Techart Contax G to E-mount AF Adapter by MX Camera. Contax G rangefinder fans take a seat. Your autofocus lenses have been brought back to life with an upcoming Sony NEX E-mount autofocus adapter. The video above from MX Camera shows the NEX-7 controlling the Contax G 45mm f/2 lens in autofocus mode. We hope to discover more about this adapter soon. We'll have to wait two weeks. We have the manual focus adapter for Contax G lenses and we love the images that come from the lenses by Carl Zeiss. Taken with a Contax G 90mm on Sony NEX-7.

All shots are from the Sony NEX-7 with a M-Rokkor 28mm f/2.8 and a close-focusing Leica M mount adapter. Happy holidays everyone and thanks for following the blog.