The first Sony DSLR shaped E-mount camera is now in Stock and Shipping at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here). And so the new NEX-5T again at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).
The Zeiss 16-70mm f/4.0 will ship a week later than expected (Sept 22) acocrding to Amazon (Click here), and BHphoto (Click here). And you can see some full size image samples taken with the lens at DCfever (Click here).
Also in Europe the two new cameras are in Stock:
ILC-3000 at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony ES, Sony SE, Sony AT, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony FI, Sony CH.
NEX-5T + 16-50mm at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony ES, Sony SE, Sony AT, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony FI, Sony CH.
NEX-5T double lens kit at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony ES, Sony SE, Sony AT, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony FI, Sony CH.
93 Responses
Zeiss 16-70 is marked Made in Thailand! (SEL24F18Z is marked Made In Japan)
I have not seen this !!
If it is not made in Japan, this will be a reason more, for me, to wait until I have seen lots of reviews with this lens !!
It’s on the last picture. It clearly says Made in Thailand!
Boooooooo Sony/Zeiss!!!
I also didn’t expect to extend so much, but just slightly, similarly to 10-18mm.
This lens looks less appealing to me with every minute. I hope it has superb IQ… at least.
So Thai people should only cook curries, but not make lenses?
They can play Thai-boxing as well… 😉
It seems the future of Sony is the E-Mount ?
And what do we get: A Zeiss logo on an overpriced f/4 APSC lens
($ 1000 for “made in thailand” opening at f/4, no thanks !)
…meanwile Sigma is targetting the L-series with a 24-70mm f/2 FF.
That’s real stuff !
http://www.canonwatch.com/rumor-first-picture-of-sigma-24-70mm-f2-lens-leaked/
+1
Here we go again with the “overpricing”.
Anybody who cares about where it’s made is ignorant
+1
+1
You are a huge example of what is a true ignorant !!!
+10
are you saying that thai-made products are inherently inferior to japanese-made products? it sounds kind of racist. i’m sure you’re not the type to go around slurring blacks or jews or catholics or japanese; so why do it for the thai. have you ever seen the inside of a world-class manufacturing facility? do you think that the japanese facilities have clean-rooms and computers while thai facilities use dirt floors and donkeys?
pull your head out, ignoramus.
Then why you think they (let’s say Nikon) produce their “PRO” lenses and other equipment in Japan only, their “mid-level” stuff in Thailand and the kit lenses in China???
Doesn’t this talk something to you????
Here are the real ZEISS lenses for NEX… and guess what…
they are MADE IN JAPAN!!!
http://www.fstopacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Zeiss-Touit-2-2.jpg
Mike, Im not though to be honest. I actually work for a company that mass produces optical instruments. I have first hand experience that there is an awful lot that contributes to how well made a lens is, mostly dependent of quality control, which is at the discretion of the manufacturer.
You possess an outdated idea from the 1980’s before engineering of the precision it does today existed. Nowadays, globalisation has taken such a form that factories of the same standard crop up all over the world. To such an extent that some companies (I think Nikon is one of which) manufacture the same lenses in different countries, and there is absolutely zero difference in them.
So Sir, I am not ignorant. Would you care to back up your claim?
Citrus
For your information, cine lenses (REAL cine lenses, not Samyang and the sort, those I don’t know) are all made where their companies are established originally established, Zeiss in Germany, Angenieux in France, and Cooke in England, and Cooke happens to use some polishing equipment developed 100 years ago, for “precision”, they say, and Cooke zooms have a reputation.
I’ve also seen a comparison between MMG Contax 35/1.4 and MMJ Contax 35/1.4, the thing is, when you compare real live shots with your eyes instead of believing in lab tests and company claims（of course Zeiss claims that they’re completely the same, they can’t be caught doing cost control at the price of quality）, the MMG renders slightly, but visibly different colors, superior colors if you ask me, due to MMG using German glass and MMJ using local Japanese glass. Judging by the circle of confusion, the MMG encorporates an aspherical element with higher precision than the Japanese version. Both of these were made after the 80s.
There is also nothing wrong with lenses made before the 80s, earlier lenses show less signs of cost control as the Japs, so eager to do so, haven’t become such a strong presence in the market yet. Earlier lenses also use better glass, since environmental standards have become stricter and stricter and the addition of lead into glass has become difficult and expensive nowadays.
Ultimately, mass production still can’t compete quality-wise with small batches involving manual labor, there’s just not enough effort put into manufacturing and too much effort put into lowering costs.
As I usually work with Thailand and Japan supplier, I know of far the quality difference could be !
Don’t know who is the more ignorant !!
What supplier?
It seems very unlikely to me that the glass used in their Japan made lenses is made in Japan, and in their Thai made lenses is Thai.
I didn’t mean quality of lenses, but Japanese labour salary at least $2000 per month vs Thai $200-400 so this lens is overpriced.
WOW! This is means….!
What exactly?
it means the price can be lower due to relative cheaper labour in thailand.
+1
Oh, I see. Like how iPhones can be a lot cheaper because they are made in China and Mercedes models made in China…, sign the petition here!
oh wait.
it is your money so feel free to pay whatever you like.
The point is that usually we have little insight where things are really made, at best only where they are (partially) put together. Let alone how the margins are built up.
In the end what should matter is what it does, for you. And the standards and quality you expect, whether those are met in factories in Japan, Thailand or in my backyard. That’s what you pay for. Indeed with your wallet.
I don’t care if it was made in China, as long as it was made by Sony, or any other recognized brand for that matter. Just because it was made in China doesn’t mean it’s a Yongnuo now. It was made in Sony’s factory. Okay, I actually did buy a couple of Yongnuo triggers, so maybe my preference of brand is not as high as yours.
The Pentax K1000 and Nikon D90 outsell the A57…. http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Camera-Photo-Digital-SLR-Cameras/zgbs/photo/3017941/ref=zg_bs_nav_p_1_p#3
What does your comment have to do with this article?
Nothing
According to a tiny interval from a single retailer in a market that covers less than 15% of worldwide demand.
Almost meaningful information. 😉
+1
An earlier article pointed out that the A3000 is selling well and used the Amazon rank as proof. I pointed this out to add some perspective.
saw samples.. not that impressed with this zeiss.. my sigma E 30mm 2.8 is sharper!
But the Zeiss has a tad longer zoom range.
Obviously, it’s a prime lens
Yes it cost me 100 euro:)
Even at 70mm?
for many, going triple Sigma will make a lot more sense as a matter of fact. A lot cheaper and optically close or even better (I’d expect at least for the 60mm). You lose OSS but gain some aperture value which is more useful, arguably.
True. Although, if you go for the new better built versions, that’d be more than 600US already. This Zeiss seems to be well priced (let’s see how it performs first, though).
you also have to change lenses all the time if you want different focal lengths, it is nice, cheap and sharp but when you’re changing you can get dust getting in
not much of a long term problem if you clean your sensor but i’d only do it at home and not clean it between changing lenses when im out
This lens is intriguing but so is the FF Nex,
anyway a Germany discussion with two sets of 16-70 examples from Sept. 1st seems more interesting than these,
one set on the first page and a second set on the second page,
http://www.sonyuserforum.de/forum/showthread.php?t=136546
Unfortunately my Deutsch isnt up to scratch to comprehend the discussion. Are there links to full res files? I ask because, as interesting as those photos are, to really see the potential of a lens I would always go for full res files (preferably jpegs coming from RAWs)
Contrast looks good wide open (as you’d expect, to be honest), but creatively I’d find F4 too limiting on apsc. Don’t get me wrong – I can see why they’ve made the trade off, but for me primes are the best option on a Nex.
I know the 5T is the new kid in the block and what not but…but can’t we get NEX 7 samples to really see the potential of the lens because:
a) It’s the highest MP APS-C sensor out
b) Its RAW files can be read by a myriad of programs that can bypass the disappointing Sony jpeg performance.
These samples are as useful as a stringless guitar.
I also have trouble loading them. Too slow.
Andrea,
Any information concerning an evantual Nex7 firmware update.
I was hoping a jpeg engine improvement with the start of the new Xperia Honami
Thanks
nope
So this A3000 is an E-Mount and has an Alpha symbol on the camera body. Some people are going to get confused here. Maybe they should have called it the E3000. Marketing/ Branding at it’s worst here in my opinion.
Not really, all NEX have Alpha symbols.
+1
But Nex aren’t DSLR shaped, I think a newbie will get confused between this and an A58 maybe………just my opinion.
seems like made in thailand. wait for confirmation.
seems like it doesn’t matter. wait for confirmation.
I would like the saving of the labour cost transfer to the customer rather than extra profit to the manufacturer. Again, it is your money, so it is absolutely fine if it doesn’t matter to you.
Ah, you meant it that way. Unfortunately, we probably won’t see much saving. Though, the lens does seem well priced.
5T would be more interesting if it was 20 megapixel. 16 is too low & if shot in crop mode it is 12 megapixel. Where is the new nex 7?
+1
why would you shoot an APS-C camera in crop mode?
Is the 16-70 full-frame or aps-c?
its aps-c 🙁
Other hands what happen with zeiss 50macro e-mount ??? Is anyone has sample of sony 18-105 f4 ????
Hello everyone.
For your convenience http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/46214853/file.html
All 17 NEX-5T + 16-70Z pics in full res from an aforementioned Chinese site.
EXIF says it was shot JPG+RAW, and it’s seems to be directly from camera, unlike resized and lightroom-adjusted Nex-7 + 16-60Z set from German forum.
First impression is kinda ruined by sony’s ugly/dirty in-camera-jpeg compression, honestly. But potential is there, it’s quite obvious from German forum shots. Bokeh is nice and smooth, sharpness and color is very good comparing to 16-50 😀
I do seriously consider this lens for my NEX-6. But lets see how 18-105 will perform first…
thanks for sharing, i was having trouble waiting for so long for each to load 😀
Quality control may be lower standard in Thailand. If things are equal I could care less. New sigma lenses are made in Japan
as far as i know sigma has always been been made in japan
theoretically they should be all made from the same drawings, so the allowable tolerances should be the same, but then again the workers in thailand may have less skills, or worse machinery, but in the end if its all within design tolerances then it should be close enough
All Sigma products are made in Aizu, Japan.
The Zeiss 16-70mm sample pics look good, but not $1,000 good for me personally.
Do they look Zeiss good? I wouldn’t say that 24mm Zeiss has that Zeiss look nor do Tuoits, at least my 50 Plannar ZM and MF Zeiss glass render differently and consistently.
ZM Zeiss, Contax C/Y and even Hasselblad Zeiss all have different looks, so which Zeiss “look” are you after?
They all have great micro-contrast and punchy colors. There is also that 3D look, which while not exclusive is something that all Zeiss lenses have.
Thank you Vlad for replying 🙂
Great micro contrast is relative to most low end Jap lenses, there’s still great difference among Zeiss, for example, the 50/1.4 loses nearly all micro contrast from around 10m and beyond.
There’s also a fairly obvious difference in color amongst different Zeiss lenses. When it comes to color, I still see that older usually means better.
Does A3000 have a PROPER REMOTE CABLE!??!
MANUAL controls in video?
Tethering???
A $400 dollar camera/lens combo with such features is available from which manufacturer?
The A3000 does not get cable TV.
It does have a Manual that talks about Video functions
And it does include a tether that can go around the photographer’s neck.
Thats about it for $400. Not good enough? Time to cough up more money for something else or find a new hobby.
Zeiss… If they are made in Germany is OK, in Japan is ok too. If thailand factories have trained personnel and good quality control, as well as in Japan… it may be ok.
Rollei fucked it up with italian electronics and singapore factories. It was 25-30 years ago.
New Olympus 12-40 f2.8 will cost the same.
AND I sold my Nex.
AND I never use zoom lenses
😀
even within a country there are good and bad manufacturers too 😛 i wouldn’t be too quick to stereotype
ive had a few Sony lenses made in Thailand and have had no difference with the Japan ones
The quality of the lens is hard to evaluate with these pictures. They are mostly shot at low shutter speeds, and he wasn’t using a tripod so there is some camera shake. But you can see what quality is there, is pretty good near the edges as well as the center of the lens – that’s a good sign. I’m looking forward to more samples, since I have preordered a copy of this lens from B&H.
And by the way, can we stop the name-calling and insulting each other? It would be nice to have a forum where courtesy is the norm, like it used to be a few years ago.
it usually is the case when forums/blogs get bigger and more people with differing opinions congregate under aliases
Yeah, I know – but I remember when I hardly ever saw a rude or derogatory comment towards another participant. It’s probably been a while though – maybe 10 years. I always figured that people would be bound by their common love of photography, but it seems like the web in general has become a more hostile environment.
yeah, the only thing one can do is just to remain calm on the internet 😛 and post less negative stuff
+1
Since this 16-70mm lens is aps-c only and on an aps-c body it is really 24-105…why is this lens not being marketed as 24-105? Anyone?
because if the sensor was a 135 format sensor (“full frame” 35mm sensor, and the image circle was bigger it would have the angle of view of a 16-70mm lens 😛
most if not all interchangable lenses at this level are marked with their 135 format lenses, i personally prefer this over marking lenses with actual equivalents even if it takes some calculations in your head of focal length times crop factor
Pb, thanks for the explanation. I was under the impression that Canon’s EF-s lenses were marked with their equivalent focal lengths but after looking back into them they too are marked with their 35mm equivalent).
Personally, I’m not a fan of marking the crop lenses with unachievable focal length(s).
Think about it this way. Canon, Nikon and Sony have both FF and APS-C cameras. If you advertise lenses at their equivalent FOV, it will be very confusing and you will need to specify what sensor they cover.
I work for electronics company [sorry cant name] in China and Thailand. When we get a huge production contract for an example Apple or Sony etc. Our client will send a team of 20-30 people from Apple or Sony representative to check everything before and after all the products is shipped. These representatives stay until all products are shipped out. They will check all our machines, workers even workers salary and compensation. If they are happy they sign the contract. wherever it is made the lenses, plastics, boards even packaging will be under Sony’s qualification standards. whatever, wherever you buy it will be the brands 100% product.
I don’t think made in Thailand is bad.
With the Sony & Zeiss badge, means it meet their quality standard.
Lower production costs, means either you can buy the lens at lower price,
or Sony can get more profit, so they have more money to the R&D and make better camera & lens.
In either case, it is good for customer.
Finally some test shots
I would be very interested to see the test shots with smaller apertures as well