Unboxing Sony SAL70-200 G F2,8 SSM 2
16-70mm F/4 ZA OSS reviewed by Kurt Munger.
Sigma 24-105mm review at Imaging Resource.
Sony RX100 Mark II Portable Macro Setup (Cheesycam).
A Nex 5R and a Drone to promote a little city in Sardinia, Italy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgNVe4JoDR8
A7r video quality test at Focus Numerique.
Sony NEX-3n test at Quesabesde.
iOS App texBlend and it’s is available in the App Store (Click here). More info about it at Outbackphoto (Click here)
Brad: “This is actually important. I stumbled onto something you might want to publish. You should provide some kind of coverage of the SAL70200G2. I posted a user review of it that seems to have come under heavy fire just for the price alone. It seems to becoming an very controversial lens of 2013 due to the outrageous $3000.00USD pricing. Read the comments people are providing. People are very upset by the price and are strongly voicing their opinion.
Hopefully Sony gets the message from Alpha users and lowers the price by at least $500.00 and issues all of the registered early adopters a $500.00 credit. Attached below is a link to the web page.
http://www.dpreview.com/products/sony/lenses/sony_70-200_2p8_ssm_ii/user-reviews”
Camera360 for iPhone v4.8 has updated with EasyCam, which provides you the ability to capture the most beautiful moments even without professional photography skills. All you need to do is to click the camera button, EasyCam lets your mobile camera recognize the shooting condition automatically and shot your biggest moments.
Check Camera360 for iPhone v4.8 here.
Check Camera360 for Android v4.8 here.
With EasyCam, Camera360 will help you get the best photos for particular circumstances, including backlight, low light and selfie. In backlight or low light environment, EasyCam will improve the picture brightness automatically to remedy the darkness caused by insufficient light. In addition, EasyCam will auto repair skin tone and blemishes in a fast way.
Danielle: I manage the photography business for one of your (sonyalpharumors) biggest fans……Dave Melges…in fact, he’s the one that took the pic of the hummingbird you have on the Facebook page. :)) He’s a long time Sony shooter, actually, he was predicting where Sony would be today, way back in 2002, so he’s kind of like the grandfather of Sony shooters, lol. Anyway, he’s got a new book, it’s on the PHILOSOPHY of creative photography:
http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Pebble-philosophy-art-photography/dp/1493759523/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387480469&sr=1-2&keywords=melges
Brian: The company Acratech produces a nice set of ball heads as well as a series of Arca-Swiss plates for mounting on their heads. They sell, for $25, a particularly well designed plate for the Sony NEX-6, Sony NEX-7. It has the lip to prevent the camera from rotating on the plate and the plate is slightly raised so as to allow the rear LCD to tilt down or up. In my hands, the plate allows enough clearance so as to mount the LA-LE4 A-mount lends adapter. Their site is: www.acratech.net
23 Responses
this music sounds like cable soft porn.
+1?!
Tamron 200-800mm f 5-6.3
Could definitely be made by scaling up the 150-600 by 1/3.
The approximate specs would be
Filter thread 125mm
Wieght 8lb
US price $2000.
Length 13.5″
Min focus 12′
Max magnification. 1/5
Would this be a good lens for Tamron to make?
Love the white lens hood~ 😀
Paint it black and knock off 1K please.
Totally aggree. Black and 1 k less
You can’t see the actual lens until 2:24, so don’t waste your time watching more than 1st half of this video, the question is, is it really worth it for $3000? I really want to see sample full size images.
Play in reverse and watch the “Packing up to sell on eBay” video.
Soooo utterly dissapointed with the 16-70 F4 Zeiss. Very unfortunate indeed. This lens could have made the NEX system into one of the best walkaround camera & lens combo in the industry (For the IQ).
All hopes pinned on the 18-105 G lens now, even though its a little big, it still doesn’t pinch in terms of pricing.
I totally agree. Would have loved a high quality lens with a bit more wide and tele than the 18-55 kitlens, but this 16-70ZA lens is not going to be it. To me the IQ is not much better if at all than the kitlens, at least not enough to justify the big price difference. Disappointing indeed.
You have to take things in perspective. I take Kurt Munger’s reviews very seriously and enjoy reading them. However, just like any other human he got his own biases. He is very value oriented and expect miracles from expensive lens. If you look at his older reviews you’ll find out that he is also not a fan of the 24-70 cz A mount (one of Sony finest zooms), again due to the value issue. Even he states that the 16-70 has the sharpest center and he doesn’t like the corners at the mid range of the zoom. I don’t see it in my lens, but I have no reason to disput his observation.
I have tested my copy against the 16-50 and the 18-55 (I own both) and it is superior to both.
I have both the 16-70 E Zeiss and the 24-70 CZ for the A mount and love both of them. The 16-70 was a game changer for me. Without a great walk around lens I was not enjoying my NEX system. With it on board, I also purchased the 10-18 and an additional NEX 6 body. Both lens are tons of fun.
Come on Sigma. Where is your constant f2.8 zoom for E-Mount?
Everybody is waiting…
I’m not going to buy the SAL70200G2 for sure. Not for that pricetag in new condition. The Canon is like 800USD lower with Image Stabilization and Weathersealing included and while I understand Sony doesn’t sell the volume Canon or Nikon manages, that doesn’t justify an increase in 1000USD just for the weathersealing (and no imagestabilization). I would pay 2200USD max. for it.
Seems like my next lens will be the SAL70400G2… Too bad it doesn’t have weathersealing. I don’t think white paint, SSM upgrade and coatings alone is worth the 200USD increase but so far people like that lens.
Just got a SAL50F14Z and while the pricetag is waaaay higher (1499USD) for a 50mm and I don’t like the hood (for that pricetag it deserves a metal hood), it’s the only interesting lens of 2013 (since it got weathersealing and seems sharp to me)
There are viable alternatives to the Sony 70-200mm f2.8. I don’t understand why people expect/want Sony to give a $500 rebate for early adapters, since they went ahead and bought the lens at the price. If they didn’t want the lens at that price, they did not have to buy it. Yes, the lens is overpriced. You don’t have to buy it. Or you could have bought the older model which is still a pretty darn good lens. Or get a Tamron or Sigma. Lots of choices.
Make that early adopters.
Ok, first, I don’t know what you’re talking about Sony giving rebates. What I was writing is that I expected Sony to price that lens with a competitive price given that the closest lens (in price and quality) is the Canon with Image Stabilization and Weathersealing for 2300.00 USD.
Second, I know there are alternatives, but if I wanted the original Sony 70-200 with weathersealing, I’m quite sure it doesn’t deserve a 1000USD price increase. If someone demostrates, that some of the coatings applied + the revised optical formula (if there is any) gives this lens a perfect performance wide open across all the zoom range, then fine, I would gladly buy it for 1000USD more. But if it’s just a minimal increase in performance, everyone knows the original SAL70200G was underperforming compared to the Nikon and Canon counterpart and then, still doesn’t deserve a 1000USD price increase.
How silly, that would be like saying “since Sony decided to give away a vertical grip and shoe flash with the A99 they should offer us early adopters a $900 refund/credit”. $500?, suck it up! It’s the cost of being first in line!
I own the 16-70 lens. It is a wonderful lens; at least my copy. It delivers very sharp real life pictures. I have not made any systematic tests, but the results are so much better than with my Tammy 18 – 200.
Now I like my NEX 7 again and I am happy to have now a walk around combo “NEX 7 & 16-70”. And A3 prints prove its quality. I do not see any differences to my pictures made with A77 & Zeiss 24-70.
I agree, I’m absolutely satiesfied with my copy as well. Some minor bad corners wide open? I could’t care less. Center is sharp and contrast and color are superb for a zoom.
I mostly shoot primes. However, I want a good zoom. The only zoom I own is the 16-50. I want to sell it but then I use it. It’s very sharp..almost to sharp for a zoom.
My point is I really need a zoom at this point. Despite all my primes, walking around in the woods I miss a lot of shots. It’s a pain in the ass when you have to switch out your lens every couple of minutes. The 16-50 is great, but I shoot full frame most of the time now. I need a good FF zoom from like 20-50 range. That zeiss 24-70mm doesn’t do it for me- to expensive and I’m not really taken back by it’s sharpness. So, I’m screwed. I guess I’ll continue on with my crop for zoom stuff and full frame for the rest.
I totally disagree with the judgment of Kurt Munger, who among other things has tried the 16-70 on the NEX-C3. I have the Vario-Tessar lens for a few months now and I consider it a gem: I tried it on the Sony NEX-7 mounted on a Manfrotto 055 Carbon tripod and Markins M20 ball head. OSS was Off. I made several tests and I can tell the correct focus is critical to achieve significant results. I fired the shutter with the remote control at two-second delay. The lens has an excellent performance at all apertures and all focal lengths, with a peak in the resolution around af/8-f/11, clearly rivals the best full-frame primelens mounted on the Sony A900. The Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens is worth all the money it costs!
I forgot to say that the NEX-7 had the Electronic First Curtain Shutter On when I did the test, this feature improves the performance of all lenses because it eliminates shutter vibrations. Some months ago I had a landscape picture taken with Sony NEX-7 + Sony E 18-55 Higly Commended at Asferico Photocontest 2013 (one of the most prestigious nature photography competitions in Europe). But now I’m so surprised at how sharp are the images produced by this little Vario-Tessar lens, that now I think the NEX-7 + 16-70 is one of the best equipment that you can use in landscape photography hand held or on a tripod instead of a full frame reflex.
Its a workhorse, and your paying for the construction/durability. The lens is built like a tank, and has obviously been designed for outdoor work. I’ve had it since 27 Nov 13, and can tell you its worth the extra money.
I live in Ontario, Canada, and my SAL70200G2 has seen pretty extreme use (or abuse) over the last month. It has survived multiple major ice-storms, and several snow falls unscathed. Its been used on a boat in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and survived that as well. Its been used in Nova Scotia on another boat in a storm surge, and has had no problems.
If it was the previous model then it would be broken, as well as any other A-Mount lens constructed to date. For anyone shooting in extreme conditions this is the lens to buy.