Optical Limits: Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master Review

By Louis Ferreira | Published: July 31, 2018

Optical Limits (formerly Photozone.de) reviewed Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS G Master lens and it produced very respectable results, but for half the price you can get the Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS or Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS. I personally own the Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS and find it to be a great value performance lens.

The Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS is an impressive piece of equipment. The broader center-zone is especially outstanding when keeping in mind that the lens has been tested on a 42mp sensor. The far corners could be better at 70mm f/2.8 and 200mm f/2.8 but that’s usually not an issue in real life. Lateral CAs are low. Image distortions as well as vignetting are well auto-corrected. The native distortion characteristic is somewhat worse compared to what we’ve seen with similar DSLR lenses though. The quality of the bokeh is pretty nice for a lens in this class. The amount of bokeh fringing is about average.

The build quality is perfectly aligned to professional standards. It feels super-sturdy and the weather sealing certainly helps when the going gets tough outdoors. Sony also paid attention to details such as a retractable window in the lens hood for using a polarizer and a bunch of focus stop buttons. The built-in image stabilizer is good enough for about 3 f-stops. If there’s one aspect that didn’t really convince us, it’s the auto-focus. Things may be different on the A9 but on the A7R II, the speed wasn’t all that great (compared to DSLR lenses) and we even experienced a few bugs which we haven’t seen in other Sony lenses so far.

If you want to achieve shallow depth-of-field with a zoom lens, the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS is certainly a go-to lens in the Sony system – albeit a pricey one.

Sony’s 70-200 range of lenses offer a few options and you really cant go wrong with any of them. If you don’t absolutely need their f/2.8 than you’re probably better of with their f/4 lens or longer 70-300mm zoom. You can read the full review here.

Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

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Voigtlander Macro APO Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 Delayed

By Louis Ferreira | Published: July 30, 2018


The Voigtlander Macro APO Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 is being delayed according to a press release by Cosina. You can read the translated press release below and you can pre-order the lens at B&H Photo or Adorama.

Fact Lenders
MACRO APO – LANTHAR 110 mm F 2.5 E – mount
Notice of postponement of release date

July 2018

Koshina Co., Ltd.

Thank you very much for your patronage from usual day. As for ” MACRO APO – LANTHAR 110 mm f / 2.5 E – mount ” now, We have announced the planned release in August 2018, but due to the production circumstances of our company, Although we are sorry indeed, we decided to postpone the release date.

For customers concerned, waiting for this product, everyone concerned, it is a great inconvenience. We apologize from the bottom of your heart that you will be charged. Regarding the release date after the change, I will guide you as soon as it is decided. Humbly, thank you for your understanding.

that’s all

via Photorumors

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Robot Skin A7M3/A9

By Louis Ferreira | Published: July 30, 2018


Robot Skin A7M3/A9
The new Robot Skin is another innovative professional LockCircle cage designed to fit like a glove around the latest mirrorless Sony A7III/A7RIII and A9 cameras, featuring the exclusive “Asymmetrical Design Approach” for right hand camera grabbing and controlling with the original camera ergonomic feeling.

Designed for comfortable grip and action, leaving on the left side of the camera all the production tools and accessories mounting:
a still and film camera without the limitations of other cages.

If looking for a more cinematic approach, the asymmetrical concept can be upgraded to “total wrap” with the Side Bar to add other accessories and rigging solutions on the right side of the cage. A special ergonomic approach offers something more than just wrapping around the Sony mirrorless cameras with a metallic cage with some threads: a natural extension of the original camera shape! Read More »

Posted in Accessories, Sony a7 II, Sony a7III, Sony a7R II, Sony a7RIII, Sony a7S II, Sony a7SIII, Sony a9| Tagged | Leave a comment

Meike RX100 Aluminum Alloy Hand Grip Quick Release Plate L Bracket for Sony RX100 RX100II RX100III RX100IV RX100V

By Louis Ferreira | Published: July 30, 2018


Meike released an aluminum alloy hand grip for the RX100 for the Sony RX100 RX100II RX100III RX100IV RX100V.

Product weight:80g
Package Size: 5.9×2.3×2.6 inch
Package Weight: 100g
Material: Aluminum Alloy

It’s currently available on Amazon.

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Iridient S-Transformer 1.0 Beta 2

By Louis Ferreira | Published: July 30, 2018


Iridient Digital is expanding their transformer product to as many camera manufacturers as possible from their origin which is tightly tied to Fujifilm’s X-Tran sensor. You can read more about what this product does below, but many Fujifilm photographer swear by Iridient Digital’s processing algorithms.

Iridient S-Transformer is a utility that can be used to convert Sony ARW and ARQ images to DNG format using Iridient Digital’s high quality RAW processing algorithms. Much of the core RAW processing, sharpening, noise reduction and lens corrections featured in this program are shared with Iridient Developer a more full-featured RAW processor that is available only for macOS.

The Iridient RAW processing routines have been in active development for over 14 years for use in Iridient Developer and have been optimized and refined over the years for the best possible image quality. Iridient Developer is widely regarded as one of the highest quality RAW processors available.

This program converts Sony’s proprietary ARW and ARQ image data to the openly specified DNG image format. The DNG format was created and is publicly documented by Adobe. They have detailed information regarding the format on their website here:
Adobe DNG information

The key RAW processing stages that can be applied by Iridient S-Transformer during conversion to DNG include:

  • Interpolation or demosaic processing. This transforms the camera sensor’s Bayer color filter information or associated pixel shift frames to produce a full color RGB image. This processing is always applied by Iridient S-Transformer and cannot be disabled or undone. There are two interpolation options, one for a more detailed rendering and a second smoother, lower artifact version. The algorithms are identical to the latest “detail+” and “smooth” options in Iridient Developer 3.2.2.
  • Sharpening. Iridient S-Transformer features advanced sharpening based on the very highly regarded “Iridient Reveal” sharpening algorithms featured in Iridient Developer. Sharpening is optional and can be adjusted (low/med/high) or disabled.
  • Automatic lens corrections for distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting. Corrections are based on native Sony lens information specified in their ARW metadata. The lens correction stage is optional and lens correction information can also be passed on through DNG opcode metadata and left to later processing stages or ignored altogether. The lens correction processing in Iridient S-Transformer uses the same high quality resampling algorithms as Iridient Developer.
  • Color and luminance noise reduction. The noise reduction processing in Iridient S-Transformer shares much in common with the latest noise reduction available in Iridient Developer and is specifically optimized for RAW image processing. Noise reduction is optional and can be adjusted (low/med/high) or disabled.

Supported Cameras

Iridient S-Transformer 1.0 beta 2 — Sony ARW/ARQ to DNG processing for macOS and Windows:
http://www.iridientdigital.com/products/stransformer_download.html

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DPRTV: The Best Entry-Level Mirrorless APS-C Camera – Fujifilm X-T100 vs. Sony a6000 vs. Canon EOS M50

By Louis Ferreira | Published: July 29, 2018

Chris and Jordan explore the Fujifilm X-T100, Sony a6000, and Canon EOS M50 for DPReview TV and the Sony a6000 holds up well.

Design and Aesthetics

  1. Fujifilm X-T100
  2. Canon EOS M50
  3. Sony a6000

Autofocus

  1. Canon EOS M50
  2. Sony a6000
  3. Fujifilm X-T100

Image Quality

  1. Fujifilm X-T100
  2. Canon EOS M50
  3. Sony a6000

Lens Lineup

  1. Fujifilm X-T100
  2. Sony a6000
  3. Canon EOS M50

Price

  1. Sony a6000
  2. Fujifilm X-T100 and Canon EOS M50

Video

  1. Canon EOS M50
  2. Sony a6000
  3. Fujifilm X-T100

Overall winner

  1. Canon EOS M50
  2. Fujifilm X-T100
  3. Sony a6000

The Sony a6000 has been around a long time, yet it competes well with the Fujifilm X-T100 and Canon EOS M50. Chris hopes they will release a mark II a6000 at some point like they did with the Sony RX100MVA, but a few of the shortcomings like JPEG could be solved via a firmware update.

While the Sony a6000 falls behind in many areas it is at a very different price point than the X-T100 and M50 without or even with rebates. At almost $100 cheaper that might be something that matters to someone trying to get into more serious photography. I think the a6000 is still a very viable option for those kinds of customers, but the X-T100 and Canon M50 have a big technological advantage consider the a6000 was released in 2014 so the technology inside is 4 years old already.

Join our Fujifilm X-T owners group and follow Fujiaddict on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

Sony a6000: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Fujifilm X-T100: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Canon EOS M50: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

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