Alsong the A77II, A7s and RX100M3 Japan presentation Sony also confirmed the launch of the new Zeiss 16-35mm f/4.0 OSS FE lens (Source: DC.watch). Still weird that the lens hasn’t been announced in other countries too (a part of Germany).
There is no info about the pricing and final release of the lens although I have been told price will be on the same range of the Zeiss 24-70mm FE lens. Price check in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. And in Europe at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT (Click on country name to see the lens site).
Sony Japan also showed that image of the 28-135mm G OSS PZ zoom prototype (price unknown). And here is the question:
[poll id=”186″]
A7s and RX100M3 Preorders:
Sony A7s preorder in USA/CA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Sony (Click here), Sony Canada.
RX100M3 preorders in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Sony (Click here).
RX100M3 preorders in Eu at Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, NO, FI, PT.
RX100M3 in Asia at Amazon Japan.
Sony A7s EU pages (no preorder yet): Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL.
A77II Preorders:
Sony A77II body in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77II with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77II body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI.
SonyAlphaRumors support note: If you use these store links to preorder the camera I will earn a small commission that will help me to cover the cots and if preorders are high also reward me a bit for the daily work I do on SAR. Thanks for your help guys!!!!
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What are the strange numbers on a third ring: 00, 11, 22 … 55???? Who knows?
It looks like another focus ring
it’s the zooming factor. Those lenses do not change sharpness over the full zoom range since they are Cinema lenses. You adjust sharpness with the front ring and zoom with the center one, while the one on the rear end is to select the diaphragm clickless.
I don’t think so. If it was diaphragm it would be labeled in f-stops or maybe t-stops for cine. E mount lenses f-stops are controlled by the camera body and do not have a ring. I see one ring for focus, one for zoom and then the mystery ring. I still want to know what it is.
Zoom speed maybe?
I’ll throw in a guess from left field. It is obviously a cine lens so perhaps it is some type of variable ND filter. I must admit I’m very curious about that ring. It’s times like this I wish I was also a cine guy and not just stills.
look at the other engravings, the lens itself is called “FE A/88-XXX” … and the focus scale can’t be right as 44m != 33ft. These engravings are place holders only and have no meaning at all. Perhaps the third ring is a aperture ring, as ist has the ability to be driven by follow focus like geared controls. The E-mount protocol may allow for a manual aperture control ring at the lens, to date no E-mount lens use this function, so we will know only at the final release of this lens.
And that G lens after the 28-135 is a 100mm 2.8 Macro lens
If it’s a G, there’s a reasonable chance of oss
16-35 Zeiss has OSS and it’s not a G lens.. I think that they are trying to make most of lenses optically stabilized because A7/R doesn’t have in body image stabilization.
stabilization for macro is more important than wide angle lenses
Zeiss only includes OSS on zooms and have said on a number of occasions that they won’t release stabilised primes. G lenses don’t have this restriction so hopefully FE G lenses will all have OSS.
Sadly not a 16-35mm G lens! Instead overpriced Zeiss… 🙁
Sony put a g instead of a blue badge on the new 70-200 lens for a-mount. It’s their most overpriced lens in the context of the “upgraded” features and versus the competition.
and, only F4….sic.
Zeiss lenses don’t strike me as overpriced when considering the image quality – especially the FE primes.
G lenses are hardly the last word in bang per buck. Check out that 35/1.4 G – now there is an overpriced lens.
Only the 55 1.8 Zeiss is really good…..even the 35 2.8 should be better performing for the price and the zeiss logo…..they should made it as a 2.0 instead of 2.8 at least…it should have been possible without huge impacts on the compact size….only marginally bigger…..would lead to better bokeh, cinematic effects, street shoots etc..and fit better to the 55 prime as a combo…..what a bummer….
cheers
The 35/2.8 should be better performing?
Let me guess, you’ve never used it, have you?
And no… bigger apertures don’t always lead to better bokeh. In fact it’s more the other way around. You’re likely confusing DOF and bokeh.
It’s ok to be a noob… just limit yourself to questions than statements about a subject you don’t know yet.
+1
No. If Sony is going to release an A5 without viewfinder hump, then Sony will need two lines of primes: one similar to the FE 55/1.8, and one ultra-compact like the FE 35/2.8.
And yeah, obviously you’ve never used the latter. In its aperture range it matches or exceeds the Sigma 35/1.4. And it wipes the floor with its mirrorless competition: Olympus 17/1.8, Panasonic 20/1.7 and Fuji 24/1.4 I know from first-hand experience. The FE 35/2.8 is a gem and probably the first lens anyone should get with an A7.
You again: wishful thinking. Every test I have seen so far shows Sigma is sharper.
LOL at you missing the DP Review lab report then!
Indistinguishable sharpness at f/2.8 and sharper than the Sigma when stopped down to f/5.6. The comparison is down to nitpicking… but for what it does (a compact f/2.8) it is *stellar*.
Sigma is better at corners and it is lack of AA filter that makes it slightly worse at the center. BTW, stop using DPR as a source, they have no idea what they are doing.
They have no idea what they are doing? Since when do lenses have AA filters?!
I agree that DPR makes mistakes and has biases—so does DxO Mark where they get their data but you’re a little misinformed here, buddy.
LOL
I know so much more about these things than you. Of course I meant lack of AA filter in A7r, while the Sigma was measured on AAed D800. When used on D800E Sigma is about 2 stops better (I mean it has roughly the same sharpness as FE 35 with aperture two stops shallower).
BTW DxO is not biased. There is just no room for that in the area.
It seems DPR clowns have managed to spoil even well based DXO procedure. Now take a look here: http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Compare/Side-by-side/Sigma-35mm-F14-DG-HSM-A-Nikon-on-Nikon-D800E-versus-Sony-FE-Carl-Zeiss-Sonnar-T-STAR-35mm-F28___1057_814_1251_0
The sigma at f1.4 performs about as good as Sony “zeiss” at f2.8.
The sigma is better at every equal aperture since f2.8.
I certainly agree re the 35/1.4. It should have been taken out back and shot years ago (anyone buying it over the Sigma would be crazy).
What annoys me is Sony seems very reluctant to compete with sony-zeiss lenses (which effectively gives the market to sigma).
I love my 35/1.4 G lens!
Then you have no business calling Zeiss overpriced!
I wish Sony would inform better about upcoming lenses. Two great primes and two expnsive bit below average zooma so far…. Not much to motivate investing in a new system.
A 100mm as mentioned in a comment, would be a great addition.
Then a real wide angle prime, please!
Sony give US better information – make me want to switch from D800 to Sony A!
Sorry for bad spelled above – a mix of english and swedish spellcheck obviously is a bad thing 🙂
You missed out the 70-200mm FE which is an excellent lens…
Maybe he didn’t miss it, Sony still is not shipping the 70-200 FE in some geographies including the USA
Now that the A7S can shoot 105000 iso, we will probably see Sony making F22 to F 64 lenses only. What is the reason for this stupid F4 game, if someone could tell me, while most of us complain about Sony doing no fast lenses for the E/FE system.
You are an idiot.
LoL…
only fools laugh ….
Life is a mirror, and what you say reflects on what you are. Insulting people is not a prove of intelligence, it makes part of the human’s bios.
Size and weight savings obviously.
Who really needs a 16-35mm f/2.8? It would hardly be a master of bokeh. I would far prefer a smaller, lighter and cheaper lens for UWA.
The 28-135mm is a different lens entirely, but you weren’t expecting an f/2.8 version were you? Look at the size of it at f/4.
You’re mixing up bokeh and DOF. You can have a f/16 lens with good bokeh too.
I know the difference – my point was that that even those wishing for an f/2.8 16-35mm are not going to be demanding beautiful defocussed backgrounds as a priority.
This might be ok for zooms, but still, why is Sony not making fast primes. 35-2.8 is a joke. despite the good IQ it produces. Look at the size of the Voigtlaender 21/1.8, why can Sony not do a lens like that one. Why not make a set of fast primes for MF only, why do we have to go to the neighbor to buy this? I think that A7 system is a bit more than just a tourist camera.
We’re talking about trade-offs here. Clearly the goal with the 35/2.8 was small and light – and they succeeded. It’s not particularly fast, but it IS a good performer.
The Voigtlander 21/1.8 is not that small by the way. It’s 3 times the weight and twice as long as the 35/2.8, so there is nothing spectacular about that lens that suggests Sony can’t do something similar, it’s just a matter of when.
There is a rumoured fast prime on the way, most likely 85/1.8, so they ARE coming, but it won’t happen overnight. If you want fast MF primes, well Zeiss are going to be covering that base.
Sony’s logic is thus: users who want 2.8 zooms or 1.4 AF primes do not care about size & weight considerations. The additional length & weight added to such lenses by the a- mount adapters is negligible. Thus, users can adapt larger zooms & primes. For those that are buying into the system for its combination of quality & compactness, the new lenses will serve them.
that is all ok, we know about size and weight, but, the question is till, WHY do they no do any in e-mount?
Since they already make the larger, faster lenses and a way to use them…
The relative size difference is very little so they want people to use the A mount version with the adapter.
Even with the FE 70-200/4, the size difference between Canon and Nikon versions is not of great consequence, if you keep them side by side. In fact, the Canon lens is thinner.
I do that, I use hybrid lenses with adapter. But, making eternal F4 lenses and chasing people to other manufacturers to get honest and pricey glass is just one more way for Sony to miss sales and leave the market to others. I use Minolta glass with LA-EA adapters, but also all my Nikon glass with other adapters. Despite that, why leave fast lens market to people like Samyang, Voigtlaender, Sigma, Mitakon, and similar companies. With a few hyperfast primes in G quality, Sony could boost their sales of glass and cameras. Many do not buy the A7 system because there is not enough fast native glass for it. Why many do not want to use adapters is a riddle, with the size of fast lenses, 2 inches more do not make any difference. F4 lenses from ancient systems, from all brands is something I can get between 25 and 100$ on e-bay. A beercan in 70-200/4 is sold 60$ on e-bay, and they are super huge lenses. No need to spend 1200$ for a Zeiss to get same results.
It’s all about the AF. Adapted lenses from say Canon AF very slowly. I never had issues manual focusing even on DSLRs but some people are so reliant on it, even on mirrorless cameras where MF is easier than ever before.
Basically people are so bent on doing things the way people did these things back in the day. They don’t use their heads.
Sony can only release so many lenses at a time and right now they’re trying to get a wide spread of portable lens options. Later hopefully we’ll see more interesting lenses.
What are the strange numbers on a third ring: 00, 11, 22 … 55???? Who knows?
Focus distance in m and ft (above)
I thought the same thing, but they are placeholder markings that don’t mean anything. It is interesting that the lens has three rings, so definitely has an aperture ring and as has been noted before is very much an ENG lens.
you’re an idiot. I thought you to be so intelligent.
This lens is a Cine lens for video use, and those lenses have 3 levels of adjustment. The front is sharpness and since in zooming, this sharpness follows and never changes, we use a separate zooming ring with a ratio scale, this one going possibly from 24 to 125, the ring tells you at what length you operate. Seems to me that none of you has ever used a zoom lens, on our photo zooms you have that scale too, just not as detailed. The separate sharpness ring allows to end a sequence or do a transition in video on a total blur. The last one on the end is diaphragm selection. No need to say that those lenses are clickless. You select a diaphragm from 00 to 64 on most of them stepless, and you understand then why they cost generally around 6000$ and more. Video has other needs, and on this one you see the gears for the synch motors to operate the lens remote without touching it. Samyang has cheap lenses of the kind and Zeiss some heavy priced ones. Leica, Angenieux and others do such lenses for video use.
What is the 4th line?
I must know now
no one read Japanese?
Big Aperture
Forgot to mention, the third one is Macro, in case you did not know.
Wanna know about the Macro.
And then I hope the mf 5 Zeisses will be great. Like 35/1.4.
Notice the road map has changed? It used to be 4 Zeiss and one G per year, now we have one ‘grey’ this year and All grey next year… Does this mean we have at least 6 low cost ‘Sony’ (non G non Zeiss) lenses coming?
I really hope Sony goes the low cost route since their low cost A-mount lenses are good optically. In addition, with the 3 f4 zooms the standard line-up is finished. They already have a 35 and 55mm prime, so I expect an 85 prime first or the rumored macro. From then on, I assume a cheaper telezoom would be a good addition to the line up. From then on, it would be nice if Sony also made an Easy Choice line-up like with A-mount.
It was hinted that a 21mm f1.8 was coming, likely the Zeiss. If that and a 90mm Macro come we’ll have 21/35/55/90 primes and 16-35/24-70/70-200/28-135mm f4 zooms and a kit zoom. Hopefully the next 5 will mostly be primes and maybe one longer zoom like 100-300mm.
The heavy discounts on the 16mm and 20mm point to these lenses being replaced. However, the 1.8 would probably prevent from being a pancake. I, d be happy with f2 if that allows it to be pancake-y just like the 22mm that the eosm has.
Zeiss already said they will make 5 mf primes. I think they just greyed out all forthcoming lenses for less transparency.
But you’re right, there is one more lens in the 2014 roadmap. The 2 zooms, G Macro and ZA prime was always there, but now there’s one more unannounced lens showing up.
There were always 5 for this year, 2 were previously ‘unknown’ now only one is with the ENG 28-135mm being added. I was referring more to the colour, but looking at other road maps they have been grey in the past so nothing new (I thought maybe they were Sony ‘normal’ lenses as the kit lens is grey also).
My bad then. I thought there were only 4 up on the map so far. Guess the ZA Prime will be a 85 1.8 or 2.0, but owning the 5518 I’m not very interested. So the other one would be interesting to know. Maybe a wide angle prime.
A fast 35 and I’ll be golden with my A7. I have a Voigtlander 35/1.2 II, but MF frustrates me.
Will you sell me your Voigty then? 🙂
I think the only FE 35 1.4 will come from Zeiss themselves, which will be MF too.
Im.in far more of a rush to see some other FL’S than duplicates. One of Sony’s problems in the past has been only covering a smallish area of FL’s in the 16-50mm range (on crop). So hoping they go a bit higher and lower more quickly than they have in the past (I don’t doubt they will, just want it to be a priority).
i hope that “large aperture prime” gets announced soon 🙂 for most of my shoots the heavy canon gear will stay at home than 🙂
“What new FE lens will you buy?”
The wide zoom if I make a visit to Japan or Thailand where the prices are ~1/2 those in the EU. Here is it nothing but daylight robbery when it comes to the FE lenses. The price parity can not be accounted with import duties and taxes.
i will do the same…..totally agree…we have to pay (especially europe,uk) for the profit margins and for the customers in their domestic market/ home country…japan…less usa, other asia
But sadly nothing new to us (e.g. Playstation 3,4, Xbox etc.)….every company do so…
All, Canon has that new UWA f/4 prime in its stable, at around $1,200-$1300. Comparisons will be inevitable. Let’s hope Sony figures out the challenging physics of this mirrorless digital system and competes with its closest cousin.
If they give us mushy corners on a landscape/architecture lens, it would be a real problem.
i hope you are rigth and they will prevent us form that and lerar from their mistakes in the past…but already the new FE 24-70 4 oss is overpriced and underperforming mushy corners etc. etc….so it doesnt look bright…;) i’m not very opimistic….but maybe they surprise us
Yes and Canon 17-40mm was soft and crap too. Yet people thought it was ‘great’ because it had a red ring. Sony’s 16-35mm f2.8 runs rings around Canon’s crap 16-35mm f2.8…
You have no clue what I prime is… 😛 The lens you’re talking about is a zoom!
Sony needs to release much more good budget lenses (no G, no Zeiss, <$600). A5000, A6000 or old NEXs are not brought by users who spend $1k+ on a new lens or two. Even the A7 is a budget fullframe and therefore (also) brought by price-aware costumers. Actually there's only SEL-35F18, SEL-50F18 and SEL-20F28 good enough, out of only 10 lenses total – and maybe the SEL-55210. I mean, that's good for a start but could be better (considering E-mount isn't there since yesterday). Where's the SAL-1650 counterpart? Where's the SAL-55200, SAL-85F28, SAL-2875 … ?
Fun fact: During the e-mount life time, Sony as bought us only 10 budget lenses but 8 cameras. Think about it.
Which is why the constant whinging about lenses, it isn’t a lack of lenses, just a lack of 49c ultra fast pancakes with OSS and IBIS that gets all the whining.
The world does not need more craptastic plastic lenses. You can buy plenty of them from Canon and Nikon. The world needs more lenses like the FE 55mm. The A7 + 55mm is incredible value for money.
I would like to see a wide angle and a tele (100~135mm) in the spirit of the FE 55mm.
More a wishful thinking. The FE55 is a step above older 55s but not in Sigma and Otus league. The sigma has significantly more complicated design than FE 55 and still cheaper.
LOL at you living of off test charts. Here you go Sigma vs. Otus vs. FE: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3653295#forum-post-53464206
That «test» is off, as it usually is for a kind of joke called DPR.
And what, pray tell, is a test that’s “on”? I don’t think any one is calling the Sigma a bad lens but the FE 55mm is certainly competitive performance wise while being smaller, lighter, and less than a 1/4 T-stop slower.
Obviously, Sigma focus is off.
Sigmas AF su*ks. Sigmas build quality may be ok, but not in the league of the Zeiss stuff. Their margins are way lower. Hence the price tag.
And those lenses are waaay bigger and heavier than the nifty 5518. Which is superb nonetheless.
The Sigma is a Sharp Lens, thats all. The Zeiss makes much more pleasant pictures due to its rendering and bokeh. Forget about measuring lenses in numbers… And the Sigma is a heavy DSLR lens, no comparison.
It can be larger or smaller, but the fact is: sigma has more complicated to design and build, it is better performer and still has lower price. I pointed to the fact the FE55 should not be considered as a marvel. It is not. It is quite an overpriced lens for what it is.
BTW, what zeiss you are talking about? Those japan designed sonies? They are not real zeisses if you didn’t know.
Umm which Canon and Nikon lenses have you used? LOL
I think that goodand cheap is G, and eithout G you’ve just got cheap
If the 18105 is any indication of what G lenses can do, then I hope sony focuses on releasing more G lenses. It’s super sharp and the colors are nice, but they need to deal with the distortion beforw customers can see it, just like MFT does.
Sony needs budget lenses? 16mm? 18-55? 55-210? These are all budget lenses. Also, what is good enough? 10-18, 20, 35, 50, 16-70 all perform very well even on the most difficult current APS-C sensor. All priced competitively to other mirrorless solutions.
They don’t need budget lenses. We in the EU need their lenses at Japanese price range. What is the point of WTO, etc if someone in the chain is lining their pockets while Sony claims to be losing money? They do lose a lot because of the pricing.
Yep, it is indeed crazy in Europe.
Jup, as I said, the 35 and 50 are good ones. The 55-210 is decent too, although corner sharpness at the low end could be better (I just want the A mount SAL-55200). The 16-70 Zeiss is just too expensive. For ~$650 it would be nice always-on travel lens. But the IQ and f/4 doesn’t justify the $1k price tag for me (and I own the 24-70/f2.8 Zeiss for my A mount).
See, I’m not talking about “cheap budget” but “reasonable budget” range, $300-600 for a good, solid lens. And if I’m considering my statement, I’ll specify it to zoom lenses (we have enough good primes for sure). A good wide angle zoom (like the 16-50), a standard zoom (28-75) and a better tele-zoom (50-200), all with faster apertures and OSS, priced between $300-600. Sony, Tamron, Sigma … doesn’t matter.
Yes and just as soon as these budget lenses are released, you will hear a litany of complaints from the cry babies that want cheap lenses but not the compromises required to meet that price category. If cheap lenses is what you want buy third party lenses from the likes of Samyang and learn to focus manually.
Sure, everybody wants a Zeiss lens for the price of a kit lens. And nobody cries more for not meeting a $2k+ Zeiss prime quality with every lens than the comment boys. But when it comes down to actually buying such a lens, you try to get the best in your affordable price range. Sony shows with A mount, that it’s possible to deliver good lenses at reasonable price tags. For E mount it’s either expensive or crap – and the few good ones I mentioned above. And, sorry, Samyang without AF is not a option for those people. Also, currently Tamron, Sigma and Samyang aren’t that strong in the E mount market like they are on A mount. Sigma has 8 cheap primes out without OSS, Tamron only has 1 shitty travel lens and Samyang 4 primes, with 2 of are fisheye. Doesn’t sound very interesting to me.
It’s not that I want Sony stopping all G and Zeiss lenses, but also consider their customer base (which aren’t the SAR comment boys). How many people, you think, will buy a A6000 and a SEL-70200G? Or even a SEL-35F28Z? But the A6000 is a decent camera. Why should they stay with their crappy kit lens or the mediocre SEL-30M35? I’m not talking about <$150 lenses but the reasonable $300-600 range.
The problem with this roadmap, at least in some geographies, is that it’s pure fiction. Take for example the 70-200 f/4 FE lens which is still not shipping in the USA and the 24-70 didn’t ship until 6 months after this roadmap indicates.
My order has pushed one week per week for 3 months now. Every week it says that it will ship the next week. And companies like Sony wonder why they are having a hard time in the mirrorless segment in the USA. it’s a self fulfilling prophecy if you don’t make the gear available…
Ever think that maybe they have been a lot more popular than anyone anticipated?
What does that have to do with NOT SHIPPING IN THE USA yet!
Uhm that there aren’t enough of them to go around? Geez people on here definitely aren’t the brightest bunch are they?
“And companies like Sony wonder why they are having a hard time in the mirrorless segment in the USA.”
Try reading and comprehending before criticizing and name-calling. He is speaking about a specific region and market (sony’s biggest) and the failure to fulfill their delivery estimate.
There aren’t ANY to go around, as in zero shipped – they repeatedly miss shipping commitments. Reading comprehension lessons might be in order!
OK, perhaps you aren’t comprehending what is being said, maybe language, who knows. The issue is this… If you place an order with a company, Sony in this case, and they provide you with a ship date and then that date comes and goes without shipment and no communication whatsoever on why the date has changed, it leaves the customer with a bad taste. Now do that over and over week after week. It has nothing to do with “Typical Americans think they are the only country on earth or that things are made special for them.” and everything to do with the integrity of a company. The roadmap above is also lacking in integrity, which spurred my original comment. The 24-70 may have been announced in 2013 but it did not ship anywhere until 2014. The 70-200 was announced in 2013 but is not shipping at all in some geographies, yet Sony has taken orders on their website, with promised ship dates and has repeatedly missed them.
It’s pretty hard for something to be popular if zero units have shipped…
Lots of units have shipped. I don’t know where you get ‘zero’ from bright spark? Typical Americans think they are the only country on earth or that things are made special for them.
I think you are right E.J. Looking at the roadmap , My guess is 2015 before the 16-35 will ship.
From the image itself “this roadmap is approximate, subject to change, and does not indicate actual release dates”.
It seems to indicate ANNOUNCEMENT dates rather than release dates – which is stupid, but at least accurate.
Considering the latest lens releases, it seems that design and qualtiy departments at Sony are understaffed for what reason ever.
There are few zoom lenses over all brands which are close to perfect.
And I am pretty sure that (although we wish for) nobody earnestly expects perfect lenses even if the Zeiss logo is on it.
It is not only the performance of the lenses we are struggling with.
I am still using my NEX7 with certain lenses, but it was necessary to swap multiple lenses due to centering defects (35, 1018, 1670Z, 18105G), one three times.
The 1018 has some issues which are easy to correct (hefty vignetting, over average CAs).
The 1670Z needs to be stopped down at least two times in order to get acceptable corners if needed.
The 2470Z that I had for a weekend was extremly soft on the left side (centering issue, was a demo lens I could not swap).
Taking the latest Sony zoom lens experiences, and the general difficulties of designing FF UWA the 1635Z will be of similar flaws and defects.
Don’t get me wrong, technical reviews and/or experience are no final judgement.
However they are measure for a price-performance-ratio evaluation.
And that’s my point.
Time for Sony to tell us whether they have switched to FE lenses completely or that we will see new APS-C E-mount lenses in the (near) future. Yes, FE lenses can be used on APS-C E-mount, but they are more expensive and bigger than lenses which are designed for APS-C.
What APS-C lenses do you need? Ok, maybe a cheap 85/2.8 or something like that.
But look at the range they are offering, then you’ll realize, that there will be not many budget lenses possible (from sales point of view)
Doesn’t have to be budget really. I said more expensive because I think FE lenses will be compared to the non FE version, however that does not mean for me that APS-C lenses need to be inexpensive. And yes you guessed it right! One of the lenses, or rather type of lenses, I miss are tele primes like an 85mm.
Try a good quality legacy 50/1.4, they can be had for reasonable money. I have an old Zeiss in C/Y mount on a basic adapter and it is tack sharp with razor thin dof when you want it.
It would be a logical move on Sony’s part to concentrate on FE lenses which are compatible with both formats. Granted they are more expensive and larger but will likely retain resale value much better that APS-C lenses. Eventually most users will upgrade to or purchase a full format camera to use in addition to the APS-C camera as the price continues to drop. The FE lenses would work well with both cameras.
I hope they pull another neat trick like the 10-18 and make it really small and light.
Yesterday, I was at the show which is called “The Big Photo Show” in LA and Sony was there. I spoke with one of the camera developing department manager and he told me SEL1635Z will be about the same size and price as FE2470z.
and what did he told you about better AF ? when is coming the new A7 with better AF (cuz this one really sux) ?
Go out and shoot before demanding something you don’t need anyway. Even Zeiss will release manual focus only lenses for this system.
And if you happen to come across as a professional wildlife shooter for national geography once, you can come and ask again. Until then, the A7 is perfectly fine for you.
no, it’s not. it’s the same sh!tty slow af like my old nex 7 (for example: kids). i prefer my really old 5d2 a million times. sony is still a big waste of money.
thank you.
Yeah? A7 with native lenses is slower than a 5mkII?
no! it’s not slower! it’s much, much, much slower 😉
I’m hoping the successive generations of the A7 get the upgraded AF system of the A6000.
When this occurs I’ll buy one for sure to use along side the A77, A850, and A99.
Sell your A7 and get A6000
If so, then it’s not a bad size/weight (slightly smaller/lighter than the Nikon/Canon equivalents). I guess for some the choice would be between this and the f2.8 Alpha mount version.
SEL 16-35mm F4 2.8″ x 3.75″ x 430g??
Alpha 16-35mm F2.8 3.3″x 4.5″ x 860g (without adapter)
or maybe the SEL 10-18mm F4?
2.8″ x 2.5″ x 225g
I am a little worry about that 1635f4 will be as sh!tty as 2470f4 with such price.
Let’s hope SEL1635Z will be good as SIGMA’s 1635.
Hopefully. If it’s close to the Sigma 16-35mm f/1.8, I’m game.
Hope it will be available soon, one of my friend is coming from Hong Kong in 2 weeks.
Not a chance. They haven’t even shown a physical prototype yet.
I wished Sony would offer G lenses like this 35mm/2 lens here: http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/35mm-f2-m.htm This would be fine.
Not wise to quote kenrockwell, if you know what kind of person he is.
What kind of person is he? I’m not asking facetiously. I’ve read a couple of his reviews and see a lot of people criticize him.
Read his ‘review’ on A77II, this is part of it. But I prefer not to encourage traffic to his site:
“I wouldn’t buy one of these Sonys, I’d step up to a real Canon or Nikon DSLR for better color rendition, higher real speeds and better overall handing, for less money. Honest, I greatly prefer the less expensive Canon SL1 or Nikon D3300 over any of the Sonys. The Sonys are flashy and loaded with foolish features, while real cameras are better at doing what we really need them to do: just take the picture — and Nikon’s and Canon’s 18-55mm lenses are much better then the Sony equivalents.”
Good to know, I needn’t bother with any information he puts out there if he is so biased and unnecessarily obtuse.
I still visit his site because if you discard his personal opinions the facts are still present. He does real tests and it’s extremely helpful as my pockets aren’t deep enough to do the tests myself. The real world facts that he puts out there make sense.
This is not only with him, but with any other site/photographer. Ignore the opinions and just look at results and real world usage that they add. Simple.
What Varn said, in a nutshell. The problem most people have with him is the ill-informed fanboyism. Wonderful nuggets like “I would also leave the hood in the box for resale time. I don’t use them”.
In his last review that Jared Polin ranted about in his podcast, Ken Rockwell told photographers to shoot jpg small not RAW. Doesn’t mention the difference in quality, his reasoning is that Raw files take up too much SD card space. The guy is a nutcase.
Comparing KR and the FRO…. who do you really think presents themselves MUCH more as a nutcase?
KR has his personal opinion along with facts. At least his first opinion on gear isn’t on it freaking smells!!
Seems there won’t be hiqh quality fast (ultra) wide angle glass? E.g. like the Nikon
14-24 f/2.8 or
24 f/1.4 or
35 f/1.4 Sigma Art
O.k. you could adapt those lenses? Without AF I think? Probably without much loss of image quality. But then WHY adapting and not using a D800 from the start? Just my 2 pence.
The Metabones smart adapter 3 has autofocus for canon lenses. A-mount lenses can obviously be adapted with AF too.
I’ve adapted the canon 17mm and 24mm tilt-shift lens on an a7r. The quality it produced is higher than a 5d2 ( which I previously used those lenses on).
How fast is the AF with this adapter? Faster than the 5d mk II?
Jack, it’s slow, but works great in manual and you have every advantage with focus peaking and the evf. If you’re a run and gun shooter, AF is very slow with metabones 3 adapter.
I really need AF but thanks
I hope that soon we will see wider than 35mm, with AF and fast (under 2.8)
That 16-35 f4 seems nice but if it’s as big as the 24-70 and still f4 what’s the point of going mirrorless…
http://camerasize.com/compare/#487,378
Sony A7 is 10% (14.1 mm) narrower and 16% (18.6 mm) shorter than Nikon D600.
Sony A7 is 41% (33.8 mm) thinner than Nikon D600.
Sony A7 [474 g] weights 44% (376 grams) less than Nikon D600 [850 g] (*inc. batteries and memory card).
but you are right. lens kinda suck. http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=sony_fe_28-70_3p5-5p6&products=sony_zeiss_fe_24_70_4p0_za_oss&products=nikon_24-85_3p5-4p5&sortDir=ascending
and if you plan using adapters, just forget it because you lose all the portability and size advantage. better get a dslr in that case. because the A7 will be about the same size and weight with the adapter, will cost much more with the adapter and it will have a crippled performance.
Lenses are the deal breaker for me – in particular the lack of stabilised primes (I often shoot in low light and no, not cats, so stabilisation is a must for me). Adapting a-mount lenses isn’t really an option (no OSS), but some of the chat here has given me overly optimistic expectations on the af performance of adapted Nikon/Canon lenses. Hopefully we’ll see a line of more affordable G OSS primes in the next couple of years…
don’t listen to Christopher he’s just a troll that comes here to say shit.
Sony A7 + LA-EA4 is 10% (14.1 mm) narrower and 0% (0.1 mm) shorter than Nikon D600.
Sony A7 + LA-EA4 is 36% (52.6 mm) thinner than Nikon D600.
Sony A7 + LA-EA4 [634 g] weights 25% (216 grams) less than Nikon D600 [850 g] (*inc. batteries and memory card).
The LA-EA4 does work with lenses that have internal OSS.
But then there’s no primes for it. (excluding telephotos).
In fact only canon makes full frame primes with OS. the other real alternative is using a sony slt full frame with built in OS.
Another advantage over dslr is live view in the viewfinder not a different mode and view screen only. No need for a dim depth of field preview either because the lens is always stopped down. There are a number of advantages for mirrorless over dslr that have nothing to do with size. Focus peaking is another advantage a dslr will never have. I actually like it better than the ground glass of a dslr. On the other hand my favorite focusing aid was the old fashioned split image of the 70’s/80’s slr so you need not take me too seriously.
imo the major issue is and will be until who knows when, the avaiable
lenses. we all know lenses matter a lot more than the camera itself.
and unfortunately there’s only 7 lens available for sony e mount full frame vs over 200 for canikon for example.
The tilt-shift lenses are manual focus so couldn’t judge the AF speed.
Really slow. Can take multiple seconds in low light. I returned mine because it’s unusable IMO if you rely on AF.
Probably also worth noting that some features won’t work. Examples:
– AF on some 1st party lenses, like the EF50mm f/1.8 II, doesn’t work at all.
– The zoom on manual focus didn’t work for me on any of the Canon lens I owned.
I too would love to get some fast FE lenses with OSS. Some will point out that you can use A-mount adapters to circumvent that, but there’s almost no Sony lens with built-in IS (because A-bodies don’t need it), and even the 3rd party lens makers purposefully removes the IS from the Sony version of the lens. Yes, the lens would be large, but I believe there would be a market for it if Sony continues to aggressively sell A7* bodies.
O.k. you can use those great glass with adapter. But I don’t see the ADVANTAGE of e.g.
1.) Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 + adapter on a Sony body over
2.) Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 on a Nikon D800
Otherwise I would be tempted to go the Sony route ^^
Dear Admin, I contacted Sony Canada site, and I live in BC, Canada. The link to Sony a7s does not exist. I searched the site as well. It seems every link you provided for Sony Canada site have not worked last week. Though, I listed correct addresses in this comment section.
Wide angle FTW
This lens might make or break the system. After the disastrous FE 24-70, they need a serious win. They should only release this lens if it really deserves the Zeiss label. The 24-70 should have been a G labeled lens.
The “G” Mark is not intended as an inferior designation. It started out as Minolta’s highest performing lenses with specific optical design attributes detailed here:
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/lens_glossary.asp
I view the g lenses to be complementary to the Sony zeiss lenses, the main difference being the G lenses are all Sony (with Minolta heritage) whereas the Sony Zeiss are Sony with some level Zeiss input.
Sony’s most expensive photo lenses are G designated not zeiss.
G stands for ‘Gold’, highest standard of Minolta/Sony lenses. Though Sony’s most expansive lenses are G designated (Telephoto lenses), but if comparing same focal length and aperture, Zeiss lenses are still more expansive than G.
admin, you forgot an option for both lenses.
this 16-35mm is the game changer. any words on the shipping date?
hm you took your medicine today, always raging but today your zen thats good.
I often find online comments regarding the excellent quality of MF lenses such as Pentax’s 67II system or the Mamiya Leaf for digital as an example. In terms of films tonal gradation and accurate color rendering it still seems to win out- also sharpness with MF. Can anyone tell me, wouldn’t Sony’s A7R perform better in both tonal gradation and color rendering due to it’s pixel density than the A7S? I assume more pixels means more accurate rendering since each pixel reads off of those around in an effort to determine color transitions, etc. I’m also interested in how these newer lenses are stacking up against MF offerings.
For stills?
Then the real question is when was the last time you down-sampled the a7r images to match the resolution of an a7s (i.e. to less than 12MP) and was happy with it 🙂
If properly compared, it would be very impressive if the a7s even has 1 stop over the a7r. My bet is it’s less than that. So best case scenario, instead of 12800 you can do 25600.
For that you’ll be stuck with a 12MP sensor. There’s very little out there that needs ISOs that high from a mirrorless when there are modern fast stabilised lenses. I’d much rather opt for the flexibility of a f/1.4 lens+a7r than be stuck with a 12MP a7s just to use a f/2 lens for the same quality.
There are no duties on photographic equipment in Canada therefore if you are a pro photographer with Tax Numbers all you pay is price only.
eBay and Amazon is therefore a supper source of supply.
I have on list this new 16-35mm f/4.0 OSS FE lens as companion to 24-70 and 70-200. I am also thinking about some other Zeiss lenses as well since these A7 and A7r proof them self as excellent cameras. I have recently purchased A6000 and I love this little beast. FE Zeiss lenses work on this A6000 just beautifully.
I’m surprised that the FE 16-35mm is being kept so low key without much info on release or pricing….guess the RX100 mk3 stole all the thunder
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The sel-70200g is still unavailable for purchase and only has some limited tests but we hurdle to the next 2 lenses that may or may not ship before new year…..and 3 more on the way? To show up in stores around 2016?
Seems available for purchase to me, since I did yesterday. I’ll be out using it this weekend.
What store did you buy it from? I cannot find it in Europe or US alike
Sony plz make the Pancake AF lens like Voiglander 20 f3.5 or 28 f2.8 pancake For Nikon Canon if it have ultrawide , fisheye coverter like 16 f2.8 it great lens i will buy it for sure
it a very good travel lens for everyone
make it small , light , moderate sharp , good colour make it a good price …… make sense!!
As usual with Sony, the 28-135 looks neither great nor bad but still, I find it half-assed : F4, not enough focus marks, no 0.8 lens gear, plastic look. I also predict (please prove me wrong !) heavy distortion at wide end.