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Posts Tagged ‘Sony’

Sony releases 2.00 firmware update for its a9 II mirrorless camera

10 Apr

Sony has released its latest firmware update for the a9II, bringing with it a collection of new and improved features.

Starting with what’s new, firmware version 2.00 for the Sony a9 II adds a new ‘Hi Frequency Flicker’ function that helps to ‘reduce the impact of flickering of artificial light sources (e.g. digital signage, electronic signboards, LED lights, etc.), by more finely adjusting the shutter speed.’ Also added is a new function that will close the shutter when you turn off the camera to minimize the chance of dirt or dust getting on the image sensor.

Sony has also added the ability to assign the Face/Eye Priority autofocus setting to a custom key that will activate and deactivate the setting when pressed. Those who already have Face/Eye Priority set to a custom key will be able to deactivate it with that same button after the 2.00 update is complete.

Other improvements include updates to the Remote Camera Tool function, improved FTP transfers, the option to display the camera’s MAC address as a QR code and other improvements that should improve the overall stability of the camera.

Sony also notes that the Image Edge Remote, Imaging Edge Mobile and Remote Camera Tool will no longer be supported after tomorrow, April 9, but doesn’t elaborate on what exactly that means going forward. We have contacted Sony and will clarify these details when we receive a response.

You can download firmware version 2.00 for macOS and Windows on Sony’s a9 II support page.

Changelog:

Benefits and Improvements from the [2.00] update

  • Adds the Hi Frequency flicker function, which allows you to reduce the impact of flickering of artificial light sources (e.g. digital signage, electronic signboards, LED lights, etc.), by more finely adjusting the shutter speed
    NOTE: The Imaging Edge Remote, Imaging Edge Mobile, and Remote Camera Tool software will not be supported after April 9th, 2020
  • Improves the Face/Eye Priority in the AF function:
    • When set to a custom key, the Face/Eye Priority in the AF function can be activated or deactivated each time the custom key is pressed
    • If Face/Eye Priorityis already set to custom key, this improvement will be available after the camera is updated
  • Improves the Remote Camera Tool function by adding support for displaying Focus Frame for almost all scenes
    NOTE: Version 2.00 (or later) of the Remote Camera Tool is required. Please update to the latest version.
  • Improves the FTP transfer function
  • Allows the camera’s MAC address to be displayed as a QR code
  • Adds a function to close the shutter when you turn off the camera to prevent dust or debris from adhering to the image sensor when you change lenses
  • Allows you to save or load the customized camera settings to My MENU
  • Improves the overall stability of the camera

For updated function usage and additional information, please refer to the ILCE-9M2 Help Guide. Additionally, a revision has been made to the instruction manual according to this update. The latest version of the instruction manual can be downloaded from referenced website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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These are the best portrait lenses for Sony mirrorless shooters

05 Apr

Our guide to the best lenses for Sony APS-C and full-frame mirrorless cameras has been updated to include recommendations for portrait shooters.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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What is the Sony a6400 Crop Factor?

31 Mar

Sony introduced the a6400 model of digital cameras in early 2019. The a6400 rapidly became a best-seller among both professional and amateur photographers. The camera is smaller than standard digital single reflex cameras but still uses Sony’s extensive line of lenses. Sony has achieved all this using an APS-C sensor system in a mirrorless body. What is Sony a6400 crop Continue Reading

The post What is the Sony a6400 Crop Factor? appeared first on Photodoto.


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Sony to transform its Electronics Products & Solutions segment into new holding company

26 Mar

Sony has announced it is transforming its Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S) segment into an intermediate holding company. Starting April 1, 2020, Sony’s Imaging Products & Solutions, Home Entertainment & Sound and Mobile Communications divisions, which made up its EP&S segment, will be known as Sony Electronics Corporation.

In a short statement on its public relations website, Sony Corporation says the creation of this new company ‘will not only accelerate the integrated operation of the EP&S businesses, but also aim to optimize its organizational structure, talent and business portfolio, while further enhancing competitiveness and creating new business.’

Sony has done multiple restructures in the past with little to no effect on consumers. It would appear that will be the case with this transition as well.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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TTArtisan to release a limited-run 50mm F0.95 lens for Sony E and Fujifilm X mounts

25 Mar

Lens manufacturer TTArtisan has released information on a new limited-edition 50mm F0.95 manual focus lens. According to Japanese photo gear distributor Shoten Kobo, TTArtisan will be making only 40 lenses: 20 with a Sony E-mount and 20 with a Fujifilm X-mount.

According to the product text, the lens is ‘designed for old lens fans.’ The manual focus lens is constructed of 12 elements in 7 groups, features a 12-blade aperture diaphragm, has a minimum focusing distance of 50cm (20in) and offers an aperture range of F0.95-F16.

The lens measures in at 69mm (2.72in) in diameter, 88mm (3.46in) in length and weighs roughly 725g (1.6lbs). Shoten Kobo says the lens will retail for ¥42,800 (~$ 410), but no release date is given.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Slideshow: Sony World Photography announces 2020 National Awards Winners

18 Mar

Sony World Photography announces 2020 National Awards Winners

Recently, the World Photography Organisation announced Sony World Photography’s National Awards 2020 winners. The National Awards program was developed to support and celebrate local photographic talent from 63 countries and regions around the globe. All images entered into the Open competition are considered for a National Award. Over 190,000 were submitted this year, the highest number yet according to organizers.

‘Winning a National Award was a huge reward for my hard work and this acknowledgment has made me focus even more on my work as a photographer. Sony and the World Photography Organisation have helped me gain some extraordinary exposure around the world,’ says Mikkel Beiter, Winner of the 2018 Denmark National Award.

Sony’s World Photography Awards is now in its 13th year. Its mission is to highlight work from photographers of all ages and abilities so they have a global voice. A full list of countries and regions the National Awards program represents can be found here.

1st Place, National Awards: ‘Flamingo Fly Over Lake Magadi’ by Hong Chen (Hong Kong)

About this photo: ‘The water forms many unique colors and shapes, when Flamingo fly over the Lake Magadi, Kenya. I shot this from a helicopter.’

2nd Place, National Awards: ‘Video to Jacks’ by Kam Moon Lai (Hong Kong)

About this photo: ‘The photo was taken at Sipadan on 8-9-2019. I saw a School of Jack fishes swimming towards to the diver who was taking video for them. At such moment I took this photo.’

3rd Place, National Awards: ‘Water Magic’ by Isao Tabayashi (Japan)

About this photo: This is a reflection of the water gate at the ferry crossing in Hamarikyu Park, Tokyo.

Winner, National Awards: ‘Mount Elbrus’ by Sergey Savenko (Russian Federation)

About this photo: ‘Bermamyt Plateau. The best place with a view of Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain peak in Russia and Europe, included in the list of the highest peaks of the world “Seven Peaks”.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘The Game of Shadows’ by Jacek Patora (Poland)

About this photo: ‘This image was taken a few days after 2019’s New Year’s Eve in Lisbon, Portugal.

I always wanted to take a photograph of this famous bridge covered in fog, and that day turned out to be perfect. I took this shot as I was astonished by the shapes created by the light and shadows, the perfect lines and people’s silhouettes. Lisbon is famous for it’s incredible light, and advection fogs like that one are a common sight there. They occur when moist air passes over a cool surface of the river Tagus, creating this breathtaking sight.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Horse Motion’ by Abbas Alkhamis (Saudi Arabia)

About this photo: ‘A horse breeder plays a horse in one of the stables of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Sur La Mer’ by Roberto Corinaldesi (Italy)

About this photo: ‘Swimmers seen from above take on the appearance of human ants.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Mobil Home’ by Greg Lecoeur (France)

About this photo: ‘During an expedition on a small sailboat, we explored the Antarctica Peninsula by diving below the surface. Although the conditions are extreme with a temperature of minus 1°C, we have documented an extraordinary marine life in its fragile ecosystem such as on this image: crab-eater seals living on the pack-ice but witch are affected by global warming with the melting of the ice.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Descend from Above’ by Tien Sang Kok (Malaysia)

About this photo: ‘Hundreds of horses are galloping when the sun is about to shine its last ray. It is traditionally said that a Mongol without a horse is like a bird without a wing, this is how strong the bond between human being and animal that we should appreciate.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Red Day’ by Kiatthaworn Khorthawornwong (Thailand)

About this photo: The beauty of Mount Fuji is highlighted in Autumn at Kawaguchigo Lake, Japan.

Winner, National Awards: ‘Dubai’ by Antonio Bernardino Coelho (Portugal)

About this photo: ‘Based on an image of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper and surrounding skyline in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this still life was made out of staples of various sizes. The staples were positioned on black glass with a black background, and lit via three independent sources.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Fun Fair’ by Wolfgang Wiesen (Germany)

About this photo: ‘A multi-exposure of people on a chairoplane.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Building’ by Liliana Ochoa (Columbia)

About this photo: ‘Workers assemble an iron structure during the construction of a building in Medellín, Colombia. This is a common scene in urban areas, and reflects the overflowing and uncontrolled growth of modern cities.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘Sunset’ by Atanas Chulev (Bulgaria)

About this photo: ‘The photo was taken in one of the excavated tunnels and galleries during the First World War. Most of them can be seen on Via Ferrata De Luca-Innerkofler, but it is advisable to go with the Via Ferrata kit.’

Winner, National Awards: ‘That’s Nothing to Laugh About’ by Adam Stevenson (Australia)

About this photo: ‘This image was taken with my iPhone X close to my home at Wallabi Point, New South Wales, Australia, after devastating bushfires swept through the area. As I watched the sun set through the smoke a kookaburra appeared and allowed me to walk right up to it. We shared a moment, watching the sun fade behind the apocalyptic scene… he was laughing.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Tokina Announces 6 Lens Roadmap for Fujifilm, Sony, Canon, Nikon

15 Mar

The post Tokina Announces 6 Lens Roadmap for Fujifilm, Sony, Canon, Nikon appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Gear news - Tokina Lenses roadmap 2020

Tokina has announced a “2020 Lineup” which details six new lenses the company will debut this year.

The lenses are designed for various mirrorless and DSLRs, including Canon, Sony, Fujifilm, and Nikon cameras.

According to the Tokina press release, the 2020 lineup “was originally planned to be presented at the biggest annual Asian Camera and Imaging photo show CP+2020 (Yokohama, Japan). Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the show was canceled.”

The CP+2020 was slated to take place at the end of February, but was abandoned due to the coronavirus.

Tokina goes on to explain that, in lieu of the CP+2020 announcement, the company would release the lens roadmap in honor of Tokina’s upcoming 70th anniversary.

Therefore, the lenses we can expect from Tokina in 2020 are:

  • An 11-20mm f/2.8 lens for APS-C Canon EF-mount and Nikon F-mount cameras
  • A 23mm f/1.4 lens for Sony APS-C E-mount cameras and Fujifilm X-mount cameras
  • A 33mm f/1.4 lens for Sony APS-C E-mount cameras and Fujifilm X-mount cameras
  • A 56mm f/1.4 lens for Sony APS-C E-mount cameras and Fujifilm X-mount cameras
  • A 35mm f/1.8 lens for Sony E-mount cameras (full-frame)
  • A 50mm f/1.8 lens for Sony E-mount cameras (full-frame)

Note that the first of these lenses – the Sony APS-C E-mount glass and the 11-20mm Canon/Nikon wide-angle – will come available in the summer of 2020, with the remaining lenses debuting in the fall.

This crop of new lenses should bolster already impressive lens lineups from Nikon, Canon, Sony, and Fujifilm. In particular, Sony users will appreciate the opportunity to purchase lower-priced, fast primes, given the limited options currently on offer.

Because that’s who should check out these Tokina lenses: Photographers who don’t want to spend massive amounts of cash for $ 1000+ glass, but who still require top-of-the-line image quality and suitably fast apertures.

And, given Tokina’s excellent third-party optics produced in the past, you can expect great things from these roadmapped lenses.

Now over to you:

What do you think of these lenses? Are you excited for any of them? Which camera system do you think is most in need of some third-party glass?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Tokina Announces 6 Lens Roadmap for Fujifilm, Sony, Canon, Nikon appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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C-4 Precision Optics releases $39,000 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens for Sony E mount

13 Mar

For $ 39,000 USD, you can now purchase a 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens for Sony’s full-frame E mount. This wild lens offers a 270-degree field of view, meaning that it can photograph the area behind the focal plane. For the curious photographers and videographers without nearly $ 40,000 burning a hole in their pocket, the lens can be rented from Lensrentals for around $ 1,250 a week.

The 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens has unique origins. Back in 2015, Roger Cicala and the Lensrentals team announced the launch of C-4 Precision Optics as an April Fools’ Day prank of sorts. There were various lenses discussed in the article, including a 66.6mm F0.666 Micro Four Thirds lens, a 150mm F1.0 full-frame prime lens and a full-frame 4.9mm F3.5 270-degree fisheye lens.

The lattermost lens was nicknamed ‘The Light Bender’ by Cicala and the C-4 Precision Optics team. Unlike most April Fools’ Day pranks, however, this one is no longer a laughing matter. Of the lens, Cicala wrote on the Lensrentals blog, “That means this lens not only shows everything from one side to the other (for the mathematically challenged among you, that would be 180 degrees), it actually shows stuff that’s behind you.”

In February 2019, Cicala and the Lensrentals team including Aaron Closz, Brian Caldwell and Wilfried Bittner, assembled a prototype version of the fisheye lens. You can see a video of this process below.

The lens is now out of prototype stage and available for preorder and rental. This specialty manual lens for Sony E mount delivers a 270-degree field of view and weighs a hefty 12.97 kilograms (28.6 pounds). Optically, it includes five extra-low dispersion lens elements. To help put into perspective what a 270-degree field of view looks like, you can see a sample image via Lensrentals below.

Sample image captured using the C-4 Precision Optics 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens. Image credit: Lensrentals.

Comparing the 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens to other fisheye lenses, Cicala says it most closely resembles Nikon’s legendary Nikkor 6mm F2.8 fisheye, which is very rare and can sell for upwards of six figures (USD). The Nikon lens captures images with a 220-degree field of view.

Physically, the lens is very different from most other lenses. It includes built-in extendable tripod legs and you mount the camera to the lens inside the tripod array. The lens has been designed with immersive video applications and specialty applications in mind. Accordingly, it cannot be set up and used as simply as other more traditional fisheye lenses.

The C-4 Precision Optics 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens shown with an attached Sony mirrorless camera. As you can see, the camera mount to the lens inside of the built-in extendable tripod legs. Image credit: LensAuthority.

For those interested in learning more about the lens, we recommend heading to Lensrentals to read a full recap of the prototype assembly process, which includes dozens of detailed images. It’s very neat to see a hand-built lens come to life.

The C-4 Precision Optics 4.9mm F3.5 Hyper Fisheye lens is available for Sony E mount and can be ordered via LensAuthority for $ 39,000 USD. You can also rent the lens from Lensrentals. This will cost $ 1,246 USD for a week.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sample gallery: Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN for Sony E-mount

05 Mar

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Sigma’s 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN is a fast and versatile zoom for Sony full-frame E-mount (as well as Leica/Sigma/Panasonic L-mount). It’s well-constructed, with extensive weather-sealing, and reasonably fast to focus. Output appears nice and sharp, corner-to-corner, and aberrations/ghosting are fairly well-controlled. Take a look for yourself.

See our Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN
sample gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sony reportedly cuts planned mirrorless camera features in response to DRAM shortage

21 Feb

Update: This story originally stated that Bloomberg’s sources alleged that PS5 production was given preference over mirrorless features that would require scarce components. Bloomberg’s story only points out that both mirrorless cameras and Playstation divisions are suffering due to the scarcity of DRAM and NAND; our story has been updated to reflect this.

Sources recently speaking to Bloomberg allege that Sony has nixed some features it had planned for an unnamed future mirrorless camera model due to the scarcity of certain hardware, namely DRAM and NAND flash memory.

The current demand for NAND and DRAM is high among smartphone manufacturers, according to Bloomberg, which reports that Sony is struggling to keep down the cost of its upcoming PS5 console. The article makes reference to high DRAM prices having an impact on other parts of the company, with cameras in particular being called out.

According to the article: ‘Sony has already canceled some previously planned features for a new mirrorless camera due this year owing to the constrained DRAM supply, several people with knowledge of the matter said.’

The report doesn’t specify which camera model will suffer as a result of this alleged decision nor which features were eliminated, though it does claim that Sony plans to release the camera this year.

The wording is interesting, in that it suggests the camera will still be delivered, shorn of the capabilities that fast DRAM memory would have provided. It could be that Sony planned to expand the use of stacked DRAM image sensors beyond the a9 and newer RX100 models, but will instead proceed with a more conventional CMOS sensor.

Given the current state of Sony’s lineup, the a7 III replacement seems a likely candidate. Or maybe the technology was meant to underpin the long hoped for NEX-7 high-end APS-C successor or an update to the a7S series.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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