Sony Only Second to Canon on Lensrentals Most Popular Gear Rented in 2017 List

By Louis Ferreira | Published: December 28, 2017


Sony and Canon dominated the overall most popular photography & videography gear of 2017 at lens rentals. It’s pretty safe to say Sony is now solidly #2 overall in the professional market and gaining on Canon. It’s unlikely that they will surpass Canon this year, but it is coming and Nikon is being relegated to a nostalgia brand as companies like Fujifilm, Panasonic, and Olympus continue to take up market share in addition to Sony. While Nikon will likely never recover their market share it is still possible for Canon to hang on if they release something incredible in 2018. You can read the full article here.

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Sony CES 2018 is Coming… Set Your Calendars For Monday, January 8th 5:00 pm PST

By Louis Ferreira | Published: December 28, 2017


Sony is live streaming from CES January 8th 2018 at 5:00 PST or 8:00 EST this year and there might be some exciting announcements. While CES tends to not be a camera-centric event Sony has been trying to keep up with other camera companies lately, which is why the Sony a7RIII was released when it was, to combat the D850. Now the Fujifilm X-H1 is coming in February and Sony might try to preempt it’s announcement in some way with a camera like the a7SIII if we are lucky.

Nothing is for sure and Sony has more flexibility than any other company to move around release dates since they are highly vertically integrated. Sony’s ability to control every aspect of their supply chain allows them to ramp up products for producing in a way that other companies can’t, especially since most companies rely on Sony for their sensors today. Production ramp issues have caused numerous delays in recent years, but to the best of my knowledge, Sony has never had an issue with this, beyond maybe yield rates on a new sensor, which once again they have complete control over resolving, unlike other companies. So Sony might surprise us at CES this year.

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Add to Calendar
01/08/2018 05:00 PM
01/08/2018 7:00 PM
America/Los_Angeles
Sony CES 2018
Sony CES 2018 live stream event
www.sonyaddict.com

via Sony

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DC.Watch Sony G Master Interview

By Louis Ferreira | Published: December 27, 2017


DC.Watch had the opportunity to speak with Sony about their G series of lenses and below you can find some excerpts from the interview. Since the interview is translated I will do my best to clear up the language.

  • G Master lenses weren’t around when E-mount started because Sony focused on making compact/lightweight lenses for mirrorless since A-mount was pretty much complete.
  • The focus on compact/lightweight glass is why Sony released f/4 zooms, FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA and FE 35mm f/2.8
  • The release of the a7RII necessitated the development of G Master glass to satisfy professionals.
  • Similarly, the release of the Sony a9 required lenses like the FE 100-400mm f/4.5-56 GM  OSS be developed for sports and press.
  • Sony is trying to make their E-mount system complete thanks to the a9, which is why the development of the FE 400mm f/2.8 is actually ahead of schedule.
  • G Master glass is 100% developed by Sony with no compromises to get the best possible performance and bokeh.
  • G Master lenses are also designed for video functionality and the lenses coming were designed with the a7RIII and a9 in mind.
  • G Master lenses are Sony’s most durable and robust lenses.
  • Operational feeling, sound, image shake and focus movement are all taken into consideration for movies with G Master lenses.
  • Sony claims their G Master designs expand on what Zeiss has done for Sony in the past with lenses like the A-Mount 85mm f/1.4 from Zeiss.
  • Sony won’t flat out say their G Master designs are better than Zeiss and leaves it up to consumers to decide.
  • The only clarification given about the difference between Zeiss and G Master designs is that Zeiss designs focus on resolution and contrast, while G Master designs focus on resolution and bokeh.
  • G Master lenses are designed to a higher standard than G lenses like the excellent FE 12-24mm f/4 G and FE 90 f/2.8 Macro G OSS
  • It’s unlikely we will see G Master 35mm or 50mm f/1.4 lenses for at least 2 years since Zeiss versions of these lenses were released fairly recently and they are excellent.
  • The FE 100-400mm G Master is the only G Master lens currently made in Japan. The Others are made in Thailand at the moment.
  • Sony somewhat acknowledges that the very popular FE 85mm f/1.8 can rival the FE 85mm f/1.4 GM, but says the feal of the lenses also plays a part.
  • Sony thinks that the use of the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters will help fill gaps when the FE 400mm f/2.8 is released because the teleconverters don’t slow down the lenses ability to AF at all and you simply get more depth of field.
  • Lens development should outpace camera development in the coming years and lenses will become outdated after 10 years.

Via DC.Watch Interview Part 1

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RawDigger and FastRaw Viewer Now Support Pixel Shift ARQ Files

By Louis Ferreira | Published: December 26, 2017


What’s new:

  • Camera support added:
  • Sony ARQ format support (these files are  4 single ARW files taken in Multi-Shot mode and stitched by Sony Imaging Edge software)
  • Exiftool updated to version 10.67

RawDigger Beta 1.2.24.550

New features

Apart from support for ARQ files, this version adds a convenient method for copying or moving files into subfolders.

FastRawViewer Beta 2 1.4.6

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Sony a7RIII: Reviews and Holiday Impressions

By Louis Ferreira | Published: December 26, 2017

There’s a lot of interesting Sony a7RIII testing going on right now and it’s kind of funny to see digital rev try to poorly imitate Kai, but for me, the difference between a good and bad camera begins with do I want to work with the camera. This holiday season I did end up grabbing the Sony a7RIII more than my GFX, which was a bit shocking at first, but there’s a good reason for it. The Fujifilm GFX 50S is often fast enough to grab a great photo and it has a unique look that I prefer, so for a portion of the holiday season I was carrying the GFX and a7RIII everywhere I went, but I found bursting kids at 8fps took some of the stress out of shooting kids.

If you have ever worked with kids it can be really hard to get one or two of them looking in the right direction at the right time, never mind 10 or 20 of them when they are hyper and running around. Almost no one stands still or says cheese where I live anymore because everyone is constantly hustling. This is where having a high frame rate camera really benefits me because I can ensure my kids and their friends have the best expressions in the photos I choose to share with family and friends. I can also photograph them playing football and can even play football with them while shooting. So the Sony a7RIII lets me capture a lot of unique photos that I would otherwise miss or not even attempt with the GFX.

That being said, no one was interested in the a7RIII again, but everyone wanted to see the Fujifilm GFX 50S. Fujifilm design draws interest from photographers and nonphotographers alike because it reminds them of the cameras they used when they were kids. Most people that haven’t been actively drawn to photography over the past decade thanks to the smartphone seem to be completely uninterested in Sony/Canon/Nikon cameras, but they like Fujifilm and I think that’s something the camera companies need to pay more attention too. The smartphone pretty much killed off the compact camera and it’s affecting low-end camera sales quite a bit now, but a more retro dial driven design might bring some of those people back to photography. The feel of a camera is almost as important as the images you can create with it and Sony still doesn’t have a great feel.

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Sony a7RIII: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

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Sony Sunday Savings X-Mas Eve Edition

By Louis Ferreira | Published: December 24, 2017


I hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season this year. Sony got all of their big news out of the way well in advance of the holiday season this year so things have been a bit slow, but a lot of bloggers and vloggers are catching up with their coverage of the news Sony equipment recently released so there will be plenty to read and watch if you have downtime this holiday season. 2017 has been an exciting year in photography and I want to thank the readers for keeping SonyAddict going strong.


New Apple iMac Pro: B&H Photo / Adorama

APS-C Lenses:
Save $120 on Rokinon 50mm f/1.2: B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Save $50 on Rokinon 21mm f/1.4: B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Save $70 on Rokinon 12mm f/2.0: B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

SD Cards
Sony 128GB M Series UHS-II (2 x 64GB) (Save $12): B&H Photo
Mixed SD Card Savings

Voigtlander
Save $60 on Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2: B&H Photo
Save $100 on Voigtlander Heliar-Hyper Wide 10mm f/5.6 ASPH: B&H Photo
Save $30 on Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical III: B&H Photo
Save $100 on Voigtlander Ultra Wide-Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Aspherical III: B&H Photo
All Voigtlander Deals

Rokinon
Rokinon 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS (Save $69): B&H Photo
Samyang 12mm f/2.0 NCS CS (Save $104): B&H Photo
Rokinon 8mm f/2.8 UMC Fisheye II (Save $50) B&H Photo
Rokinon 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS (Save $100): B&H Photo
Rokinon 21mm f/1.4 (Save $50): B&H Photo
Rokinon 20mm f/1.8 ED AS UMC (Save $140): B&H Photo
Rokinon 35mm f/1.2 ED AS UMC CS (Save $160): B&H Photo
Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 (Save $120): B&H Photo
Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS (Save $100): B&H Photo

Lights
Save $230 on Impact Venture TTL-600 for Sony: B&H Photo

Software
Luminar 2018 & Aurora HDR 2018 (Savings code FUJIADDICT)
ON1 Photo RAW 2018

General Holiday Shopping Links
B&H Photo
Amazon
Adorama

Sony a7 Bodies
Sony a7rII (Save $500): B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony a7sII (Save $300): B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony a7II (Save $300): B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony a7 (Save $200): B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

Sony Alpha a6500 Deals
With 16-70mm
With 16-50mm and 55-210mm

Sony Alpha a6500 Deals
With 16-70mm
With 16-50mm and 55-210mm

Sony Alpha a6300 Deals
Sony Alpha a6300
With 16-50mm
With 16-70mm
With 16-50mm and 55-210mm

Sony Alpha a6000 Deals
Sony Alpha a6000
With 16-50mm
With 16-50mm and 55-210mm

Sony Alpha a5100 Deals
With 16-50mm

Sony RX100V Deals
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

FE Lenses
Sony FE 28mm f/2 (Save $25):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Distagon T* FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Zeiss Planar T* 5omm f/1.4 (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony 50mm FE f/1.8 (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 50mm f/2.8 Macro (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Zeiss Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 85mm f/1.8
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS (Save $25):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE PZ 28-135mm f/4 G OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama 
Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS Lens (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

NEX Lenses
Sony 20mm f/2.8 Alpha E-mount (Save $25):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony E 10-18mm f/4 OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony E 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS LE (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

Accessories
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony LA-EA4 A-Mount to E-Mount FF Lens Adapter with TMT (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FA-WRC1M Wireless Radio Commander + FA-WRR1 Radio Receiver (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon
Sony FA-WRC1M Wireless Radio Commander (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony FA-WRR1 Wireless Radio Receiver (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony ECMGZ1M Gun/Zoom Microphone (Save $20):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony ECM-CG60 Shotgun Mic (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony Vertical Battery Grip for a7 II, a7R II, and a7S II (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony CLM-FHD5 Clip-On 5″ Full HD LCD On-Camera Monitor (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

Flashes
Sony HVL-F60M (Save $100):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony HVLF43M High Power Flash with Quick Shift Bounce (Save $70):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony HVLF32M MI (Multi-interface shoe) Camera Flash (Save $50):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama
Sony HVLF20M (Save $20):
B&H Photo/Amazon/Adorama

Tripods
A Few Oben Tripods On Sale

Sigma Art Sale

Sigma MC-11(Save $100): B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

Sigma Art prime lenses:
Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon

Sigma Art zooms lenses
Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon
Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art (Save $100.00): B&H Photo / Amazon

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