Sigma has added two new fast-aperture lenses to its Art and Contemporary lineups. For owners of Canon, Nikon and Sigma APS-C bodies there's the 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art, which is equivalent to 75-150mm. This lens has a redesigned Hyper Sonic Motor, nine-blade rounded aperture and internal zoom. The other lens is for Sony E-mount and Micro Four Thirds bodies, and it's a fast 30mm F1.4 prime, equivalent to 45mm and 60mm, respectively. Read more
Sigma has announced an adapter for Sony E-mount cameras, making it possible to use Sigma's most recent lenses in Canon and Sigma mount on full-frame or APS-C E-mount bodies. The MC-11 is able to use phase detect AF with adapted lenses, and makes use of both camera and lens stabilization when present. Read more
Buried at the end of its press release announcing the α6000, Sony has revealed pricing and availability for its previously announced FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS. Like the other FE lenses it's not especially cheap, though; the image-stabilised telezoom will be available in March for about $1500 (or £1240 in the UK). The lens will work on both full frame and APS-C sensor E-mount cameras, offering a 105-300mm equivalent range on the latter.
Samyang has announced that, as promised in October, five of its full frame lenses are now available in Sony E-mount, and are therefore the first third-party optics with native mounts for the Sony A7 and A7R. The lenses are the 14mm F2.8, 24mm F1.4, 24mm F3.5 tilt-and-shift, 35mm F1.4, and 85mm F1.4. All feature manual focus and aperture operation and, because they're essentially SLR lenses with an adapter tube added, all are considerably more bulky than their Alpha mount counterparts. Click through for more information and images of the E-mount lenses.
Voigtlander has announced the VM-E Close Focus adapter, which will allow the use of M-mount lenses on Sony E-mount cameras such as the recently-announced full frame A7 and A7R. Unlike most similar adapters, though, Voigtlander's latest includes a focusing helicoid for close-up work, with 4mm travel. This overcomes a limitation of many rangefinder lenses, which tend to have longer minimum focus distances than similar SLR lenses. It's set to be available in December for €289.
Samyang has announced that it will be making five full frame lenses in E mount, which will be the first third party optics compatible with the A7 and A7R. The lenses are all based on existing designs, namely the 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC, 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC, 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC, 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC, and the T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC tilt-and-shift. All feature manual focus and aperture operation, and will be available within 2 months. As these are essentially SLR lenses with an adapter tube permanently fitted, they won't offer any of the size advantages achievable by 'native' lenses.
Sony has announced no fewer than five 'FE' full frame E-mount lenses to accompany the A7 and A7R. First up is the FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS, an image-stabilised 'kit' zoom for the A7. There are three premium lenses with Zeiss badges: the FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*, the FE 35mm F2.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T*, and the FE 24-70mm F4 Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar T*. The fifth lens is a 'G' class telezoom, the FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS. Sony has also updated its Alpha-mount fast telezoom to make the 70-200mm F2.8G SSM II.
The Sony A3000 is essentially a 20.1MP mirrorless camera that uses the same E-mount as the Sony NEX, yet which has the look and feel of a traditional SLR. Though not the first manufacturer to take this approach, Sony is the first to achieve the low starting price point of $399 for body and lens. It's a bold move; click through to read our first impressions review to see what we think in more detail.
Sony has announced three new E-mount lenses today for NEX system cameras: the Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar T* 16-70mm ZA F4, 18-105mm F4 G OSS power zoom, and a black version of its 50mm F1.8 OSS. All three feature Sony's Optical SteadyShot image stabilization. According to Sony, the 50mm F1.8 and 16-70mm F4 zoom will be ready to ship to consumers in September, with the 18-105mm F4 power zoom following in December. Click through for more details.
Metabones has introduced Nikon G-type versions of its Speed Booster lens adapter for Micro Four Thirds and Sony NEX cameras, which include a control ring for aperture setting with lenses that don't have aperture rings of their own. The Speed Booster itself is a lens adapter that that reduces the focal length by a factor of 0.71x, and increases the maximum aperture by 1 stop, effectively allowing lenses to give very similar angle of view and depth of field control on APS-C mirrorless cameras as they do on full frame. The Nikon G-type adapters are available to buy now for $429 from Metabones' website.
Sigma USA has given the price and introduction date of the 60mm F2.8 DN Art lens for mirrorless systems, originally announced at CP+. The 60mm DN will be available in the US for both Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-mount from mid-May at a cost of around $239. It will offer a 90mm equivalent field-of-view when mounted on Sony NEX bodies or 120mm equivalent on Micro Four Thirds cameras. This third lens for mirrorless cameras from Sigma (joining the affordable 19mm F2.8 DN Art and 30mm F2.8 DN Art), will also be available in a choice of black or silver finishes.
Zeiss has announced more detail on two forthcoming lenses for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X-mount APS-C cameras - the 12mm F2.8 and 32mm F1.8 lenses it unveiled at Photokina last year. The announcement came via the Zeiss blog, which went into detail on how they came to the name for the new series, 'Touit.' Pronounced like the English 'do it,' the new lenses are named after a Latin American band-tailed parrot, which Zeiss describes as 'small and agile,' much like mirrorless cameras are meant to be. Click for more on the new lenses.
Sigma US has announced the price and availability for its three latest 'Art' series prime lenses - the 19mm f/2.8 DN and 30mm f/2.8 DN for mirrorless cameras, and the 30mm f/1.4 for APS-C DSLRs. The DN lenses will be available for street price of $199 and the redesigned 30mm f/1.4 will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts for $499. All three will start shipping from the end of this month. No details were given about the 60mm f/2.8 lens also announced during the CP+ tradeshow.
Sony has announced the NEX-3N, its entry-level NEX camera, replacing the NEX-F3. The 3N is, as before, aimed at users stepping up from compact cameras and gains a compact-style zoom lever around its shutter button. It features a smaller body than the F3, and Sony says it is the smallest, lightest mirrorless camera to feature an APS-C sensor, despite featuring a built-in flash. The camera will be bundled with the e-mount 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 power zoom lens, to make the most of the camera's zoom control.
Sony has announced a series of firmware updates for its NEX-7, NEX-6, NEX-5R, NEX-5N mirrorless APS-C cameras and two E-mount lenses. Version 1.02 for both NEX-7 and 5N adds automatic lens correction with the 16-50mm E mount lens, as well as a number of other improvements and bugs fixes. Firmware v1.01 for NEX-6 and 5R provides Fast Hybrid AF support with multiple E-mount lenses. Owners of NEX-6 and 5R cameras who use the 50mm f/1.8 or 30mm f/3.5 E mount lenses must first update the latest lens firmware that adds the Fast Hybrid AF capability. Click through for more details and a link to the updates.
Sony has announced it plans to release several firmware updates for A-mount and E-mount systems on February 4, 2013. Updates to Alpha and NEX bodies relate mostly to lenses, including the addition of Dual-AF support for 11 lenses on the A99, and Fast Hybrid AF support for six E-mount lenses on the NEX-5R and NEX-6, among others. Three E-mount lenses also get updates to enable Fast Hybrid AF support. See table below for more detail on which bodies and lenses will get updates.
CP+ 2013: Sigma has announced four additions to its 'Art' range of prime lenses, including a 60mm F2.8 DN lens for mirrorless cameras and an updated 30mm F1.4 DC for APS-C DSLRs. Alongside these are redesigned versions of its 30mm and 19mm F2.8 DN lenses for mirrorless in metal bodies. Like these lenses, the 60mm F2.8 DN features a metal casing and will be available for the Sony E and Micro Four Thirds mounts. It will offer a 90mm equivalent field of view on Sony NEX cameras or 120mm equivalent coverage of Micro Four Thirds bodies. The Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC is a completely redesigned version of the popular normal lens for APS-C DSLRs - it will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts. Price and availability details have not been given.
Sony has announced the E 20mm F2.8 - a moderately wide-angle pancake prime lens for its NEX cameras. The moderately-fast E-mount pancake will offer a 30mm equivalent field of view and adds another compact lens option for NEX shooters. It will be available in April for around $350. Sony has also said it will offer its video-targeted 18-200mm OSS F3.5-6.3 power zoom lens as a standalone product. Previously only available bundled with the NEX-VG30 camcorder, it becomes the company's third E-mount 18-200mm superzoom and will cost around $1200.
Metabones has updated its EF to NEX Smart Adapter II, allowing recent Canon lenses to autofocus on Sony E-mount cameras. As with most systems that attempt to use DSLR lenses on contrast-detection-based AF cameras, the focus speed is considerably lower than when used on their native cameras. However, despite not being able to use the hybrid-AF system from the NEX-5R or 6, Metabones claims performance is often better than Sony DSLR lenses being used with the original LA-EA1 adapter. The adapter costs $399, with existing Smart Adapter II owners able to upgrade for $50.
Sony has announced a series of firmware updates for its cameras and lenses, including the addition of Hybrid-AF compatibility for key E-mount lenses and the option to disable the movie record button on cameras including the NEX-7. The NEX-7 also gets an increase in the range over which you can set exposure bracketing - the ±3EV range it now offers is something a users have been calling for. Firmware v1.01 also promises to improve the responsiveness of post-shot image review. Further updates for the SLT-A37, A57, A65 and A77 also offer the option to disable the movie button and provide lens correction for a broader range of lenses.
Just Posted: Sony E-mount 10-18mm F4, 35mm F1.8 and 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 Power Zoom lens samples on the NEX-6. Our last set of images from the Sony press trip is a series shot with the latest NEX camera and the three E-mount lenses announced at Photokina - the E 10-18mm F4 OSS super-wide-angle zoom, the E 35mm F1.8 OSS fast normal prime, and the E 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 PZ OSS power zoom. We've selected ten images shot with each lens and compiled a combined gallery. Full-size images are, as ever, available for download.
Responding to the swift and negative reaction to its just-announced Lunar mirrorless camera, Hasselblad's business development manager, Luca Alessandrini, forcefully defended the venerable camera maker's new partnership with Sony in an interview with the British Journal of Photography. Alessandrini also says that the decision to use the NEX-7 Sony sensor for the first Lunar camera doesn't preclude the company from making sensor modifications for future models.
Photokina 2012: Hasselblad plans to release a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera utilizing Sony's E-Mount. The Hasselblad Lunar, which is expected to cost around €5000 (~$6500) appears to share a lot of technology with Sony's recent NEX-7 model, including the same 24.3MP CMOS sensor, OLED 'True Finder' EVF, and the 'TriNavi' navigation system. The Lunar, which is set for launch in the first quarter of 2013, will be available 'in a choice of standard models plus a variety of exclusive hand grips and precious materials on special order.' [Updated with images of mockups]
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