Tag: sony

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Zeiss Announces the Batis 18mm f2.8 Distagon

The lensmakers at Zeiss have announced a new addition to their premium full-frame line of autofocus lenses for Sony E-Mount. The all-new Batis 18mm f2.8 aims to build on the success of it’s predecessors, the Batis 85mm f1.8 and 25mm f2. The reception of this new line from Zeiss has been quite positive placing the lenses on what seems to be a perpetual back-order.

Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss

The Batis 18mm f2.8 is crafted using a variation their classic Distagon design. The optical formula employs 11 elements in 10 groups and touts the ability to resolve the fine details that modern sensors hunger for. The body of the lens is metal and is dust / weather sealed. It’s focusing ring is rubberized like it’s siblings. Autofocus duties are handled by a near silent drive unit with linear motors.

Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss

Another design cue consistent with previous Batis offerings is the innovative OLED display that resides on the lens barrel. This serves as a highly visible focus scale and depth of field preview. While some critics have been quick to claim gimmick, I personally appreciate Zeiss pushing the limits of what photographers should expect in a premium lens design.

Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss

The resolving abilities of the Batis 18mm f2.8 aside, the sculpted metal body of this lens is a sight onto itself. It’s body trumpets toward the front element and when fitted with it’s lens hood appears to be one solid, contiguous bit of goodness. Well done Zeiss.

Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss

Zeiss isn’t shy about referring to it’s Batis line as being designed for professionals and it has priced them accordingly. The Batis 18mm f2.8 will be released with a $1500.00 usd/euro price tag. Availability is slated for May 2016 but if previous models stocking levels are any indication, I’d suggest a pre-order to stake your claim. Sample images are available below.

Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss
Image courtesy of Zeiss
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Sony RX10 III 4K Super-Zoom, 50mm f1.8 & 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

Sony announced today that it’s FE mount lens offering will be growing by two. First, the 50mm f/1.8 prime ($250) will be available May 2016.

This non-stabilized standard offering comes in at about one quarter the price of it’s big brother, the Carl Zeiss co-branded FE 55mm f1.8. While I wouldn’t go calling it a thrifty-fifty (it’s about twice the price of the Canon 50mm f/1.8), it’s price should go down a bit more smoothly than some of the other 1st party offerings in the Sony catalog.

Fans of the system will no doubt be very curious about the resolving power of the new 50mm; we’ll test it as soon as we get our hands on it. We’ve been happy with our Sony-Zeiss 55mm f1.8, but at 1/4 the price, this new lens will certainly not be as sharp.

Sony FE 50mm f/1.8
Sony FE 50mm f/1.8

Next up is the new 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS. This stabilized zoom comes in at about $1,200 USD and is also slated for a May release. This is Sony’s longest reaching telephoto lens, and it features class leading close-up performance with a minimum focusing distance (MFD) of less than 3 ft. That kind of MFD makes the FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 a nice option for tele-macro shooting. The new zoom is also dust and moisture resistant.

Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS
Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS

Lastly, the torrent of ever fresh Sony cameras continues with the latest revision of the RX10, the RX10 III. The RX10 III features an optically stabilized 35mm equivalent 24-600mm f/6.5-f/11 super-zoom lens with optics branded and co-designed by Carl Zeiss. Sony’s marketing the lens as a 24-600mm f/2.4-f/4, but that’s because they’re converting the focal lengths to 35mm equivalent without converting the f/stops.

Sony RX10 III
Sony RX10 III

The RX10 III uses one of Sony’s acclaimed 1-inch sensors paired with a BIONZ X image processor. The pair is capable of blazing stills burst rates of 14 fps with minimal blackout as well as super slow-motion video at up to a blistering 960 fps. As with other recent Sony offerings 4k video is on tap and just to make the competition nervous the RX10 III does it with full pixel readout and no pixel binning. In fact, Sony states that the RX10 III captures approximately 1.7x more information than is required for 4K footage. Showoff.

RX10 III Internals
RX10 III Internals

The new RX10 III is slated for a May release with U.S. pricing looking to come in at $1,500.