Honest and in-depth reviews of photography gear, software, and accessories. Make informed decisions with our hands-on experiences and comparisons to find the best tools that fit your style and budget.
When the original Sony A7S came out, it impressed many of us with its amazing low light capability. Sony had introduced the 2nd generation of the A7 series, which is well known for the powerful 5-axis image stabilizer. Let’s check out how the Sony A7S II performs with the combination of a powerful 5-axis image stabilizer.
Sony A7 II was hot stuff when it was announced and launched. So how about the new Sony A7R II? Is it a Sony A7 II with more megapixels count or an original Sony A7R with 5-axis in-camera body image stabilizer only? No. Sony A7R II has packed more than enough features to distinguish itself from the Sony A7 II and the original Sony A7R. Let’s have a quick look at what exciting features it has come along with.
The Sony A7R II uses the world’s first 35mm back-illuminated CMOS sensor. The megapixels count is boosted to 42.4 MP from its predecessor 36 MP. Besides, it has better low light performance than the Sony A7R, thanks to the new back-illuminated sensor.
The new sensor can output the captured data 3.5 times faster than Sony A7R sensor. With the combination of the 399 AF points and Fast Hybrid AF system, Sony A7R II’s AF speed is 40% faster than its predecessor. The new Zeiss T* coating EVF on Sony A7R II features the world’s highest viewfinder magnification at 0.78x.
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Sony Singapore introduced two new exciting cameras in its RX series on 2 Jul 2015, the Sony RX100 IV and the RX10 II. Let’s have the hands-on preview on the new Sony RX100 IV!
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Sony RX1 and RX1R are full-frame compact digital cameras that were introduced in 2012. The Sony RX1 and RX1R came together with a fixed (non-interchangeable) Zeiss F2 prime lens, a 24MP full-frame sensor, and a premium price tag similar to the professional full-frame DSLR camera that could easily overwhelm many of us.
I’m writing this review in 2015. Sony had introduced the A7 full-frame interchangeable lens mirrorless camera series. Why would I still review a 3-year-old camera now? Well, the Sony RX1R is very compact and lightweight (480g with Zeiss F2 lens and with battery) vs Sony A7II (600g body with battery, 1.23 kg when attached with Zeiss SEL35F14Z), the Zeiss F2 fixed prime lens is one of the best lenses in the current market. None of the other camera manufacturers introduced a similar full-frame compact camera even though the Sony RX1R had been introduced to the market for three years.
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In short, the Sony SEL2470Z is a Zeiss constant aperture zoom lens with dust and moisture resistance for the Sony E-mount full-frame cameras. The lens comes with a “matched” price tag (SGD 1,599).
The Sony A7 II is hot stuff since Sony introduced the Sony A7 II in December 2014. I did a brief hands-on review of the Sony A7II, covering some hands-on impressions of the Sony A7 II. If you have not heard about the Sony A7 II or want to know more about it, this is the full review.
The Sony A7 II is the first full-frame interchangeable-lens camera with 5-axis in-body image stabilizer. It is the most desired feature that we have seen on the Olympus OM-D E-M5, and Sony has managed to get this technology into its camera. The main difference between the Olympus EM-D 5 and the Sony A7 II is their image sensor size. The Olympus OM-D E-M5 is a micro 4/3 camera, while the Sony A7II is a full-frame camera.
The Sony A7 II uses a 24.3 MP full-frame “Exmor” CMOS sensor. It features the same BIONZ X™ image processing engine as the first generation A7, which delivers stunning details and low noise output. The lens mount is the same E-mount that we had seen on Sony’s mirrorless camera series, but it is more sturdy for better handling of larger/heavier lenses.
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I appreciate your patience in waiting for my Sony A7 II hands-on review. I will give a quick view and impression about the new Sony A7 II that I was trying with the Zeiss Sonnar SEL55F18Z and the SEL2870 kit lens during the 30 minutes hands-on session 😉
We get a larger grip on the Sony A7 II than its predecessor.
The shutter button and front dial are reallocated to the front of the grip. The new shutter button, front dial, and larger grip give a more natural and more comfortable experience overall. The Sony A7 II replaces the first-generation Sony A7original shutter location with two customizable buttons (C1 and C2).
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Sony Singapore hSony Singapore holds a Southeast Asia (SEA) launch event for its new Sony A7 II on 11 December 2014 at Garden by the Bay. The new Sony A7 II is currently hot stuff because it is not only a full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (ILC), but it has integrated the 5-axis in-camera body image stabilizer we had seen in the Olympus EM-1 and EM-5.
The event had the conference session as usual, and Sony Singapore also prepared enough Sony A7 II for all of us to try out in the Flower Dome. I split the event into two posts. The first post is about the conference press and a quick view of the underdevelopment sample FE lenses. The second post is the Sony A7 II hands-on review (I need some time to filter the photos and write the review, too 😉 ).
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When the DxO first introduced the Prime noise reduction in its DxO Optics Pro 9, it caught my attention immediately. Although I’m satisfied with the Lightroom 5 noise reduction, I’m still interested in how better the Prime NR can be. However, the processing and loading time in DxO Optics Pro 9 was significantly slower than Lightroom 5.
Soon, DxO released the DxO Optics Pro 10, which claims that the Prime NR performance and loading time in DxO Optics Pro 10 had been boosted up to 4 times and 10 times faster, respectively, than it was in DxO Optics Pro 9. So I grabbed a copy and gave it a try, wow! Impressive! The Prime NR only takes between 1 minute to 1 minute 20 seconds to render my photos on my MBP 13 late 2013, and the loading time for images is significantly improved!
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Well, Sony is a creative company and always come out the innovative product. A few days ago, the newly announced product in Japan became a hot topic on the web again. What is it? It is the new Sony Mirrorless Full-frame camera – Sony A7 II! Why is it so hot debating this time? It is because it finally has a function everyone is dreaming of – the 5-axis in-body image stabilization!
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Sony had introduced three full-range zoom lenses into its E-mount camera system. They are the SEL18200, SEL18200LE, and the SELP18200. The SEL18200 is the largest and heaviest among the other two brothers, and it comes with a silver chrome body. The SEL18200LE is the lighter edition of the SEL18200, which is smaller and lighter and comes in a black body. Both of them use a mechanical zoom ring, while the SELP18200 uses the power zoom, which comes in a black body.
The lens that we are going to review today is the SEL18200LE. Due to the full focal length coverage by the SEL18200LE, this review is extremely long. Please be patient and ready to go through the rest of this post to see how does this lens perform 😉 I provided a summary at the top of each testing section if you want to get the result at a glance.
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Sony Singapore organized a hands-on session for its new Sony Alpha A7S on Monday, 25 Jun 2014, at Sony Store at 313 Somerset Singapore. I’m so glad to be invited to participate in this event with many other professional photographers and photography amateurs. The most important thing is, the host of this hands-on session is the famous Den Lennie!
It is an honor to have Den Lennie as the A7S hands-on session host. Den Lennie is an industry expert who has played as a producer, director, colorist, director of photography, and lighting cameraman. He shared his valuable insight into the Sony Alpha A7S during the hands-on session.
The new Sony Alpha A7S “S” represents the high sensitivity. It is the sales point of this latest full-frame camera. It is capable of shooting from ISO 50 to an unbelievable ISO 409600, yes, 400K of ISO!
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