![\"Sony](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/sony-a7r.jpg\")
<\/a>The biggest news this week has to be Sony’s release of their brand new A7 and A7R mirrorless cameras, which are the first non-Leica full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. They’ve created two pro-grade cameras that feature full frame image sensors in a small body with excellent electronic viewfinder and a bunch of features. They re-use the existing Sony E-mount, which allows for mounting of all existing NEX E-mount lenses (though they will operate in a ‘cropped’ mode), plus the new full-frame compatible FE lenses.<\/p>\n
The A7 and A7R are virtually identical cameras save for the image sensors. The A7 features a 24 megapixel full frame CMOS sensor with phase detection pixels to aid in faster focus and more accurate tracking autofocus. The A7R has a full frame sensor with a whopping 36 megapixels and doesn’t have an antialiasing filter. The A7R does lack the phase detection capability of the A7, however. Both cameras have built-in 2.4 million dot EVFs with big bright optics and are weather sealed.<\/p>\n
The cameras promise phenomenal image quality in a relatively small body, but there are amazing things and things to be cautious about as well. On the positive side, these cameras should be the ideal platform for adapting manual focus lenses, from rangefinder lenses to older manual SLRs, as the short flange distance means that these cameras can take most any lens ever created. If you have a bucketful of Leica M mount glass, Canon FD lenses, Zeiss Contax lenses or the like, this is a great option to get the most out of that great glass. Caution does need to be exercised when shooting wide-angle rangefinder lenses, though, due to the extreme ray angle to the sensor…some color shift has been noted and a lot more testing needs to be done to see what rangefinder wides will work best. Regardless, this really does provide an amazing platform for using adapted lenses. I will hope to get my hands on one of these in the near future and will provide a full report.<\/p>\n
On the down side, Sony’s historic problem with the NEX series may raise its head again, and that’s native lens selection. Sony is determined to buck this trend by creating what it says will be 15 FE lenses by the end of next year, but I still foresee some issues. Sony announced five full frame lenses to go along with the A7 and A7R:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Sony 28-70mm f\/3.5-5.6: This is the kit lens for the A7 and will not be available separately. This will cost you an extra $300 over the A7 alone.<\/li>\n
- Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f\/4: This Zeiss zoom is the high-end standard zoom for the system. Estimated price: $1200 US<\/li>\n
- Carl Zeiss 35mm f\/2.8: A wide-angle prime with moderate aperture. This lens is pretty small and will be the main companion for a lot of shooters. Estimated price: $800 US.<\/li>\n
- Carl Zeiss 55mm f\/1.8: An excellent normal lens, though a little slower than one might expect for the price. Estimated price: $1,000 US.<\/li>\n
- Sony 70-200mm f\/4: A high-end portrait telephoto zoom, but relatively large and heavy for a mirrorless lens. No price has been announced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Zeiss](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Zeiss-FE-55mm-f-1.8-sonnar-e-mount1-300x211.jpg\")
<\/a>Zeiss FE 55mm f\/1.8 Sonnar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n This isn’t a bad starting lineup from a coverage standpoint, but it’ s not all great news. First off, aside from the 28-70, these lenses are all very expensive. $800 for a 35mm f\/2.8 and $1000 for a 55mm f\/1.8 are extremely costly for lenses with these specifications. Similar lenses for Nikon and Canon DSLRs are generally half to a quarter of the cost, though these Zeiss lenses are likely to be optically better.<\/p>\n
The ‘cheap’ lens, the Sony 28-70mm looks to be pretty poor in the image samples I’ve seen, which means you’ll really need to shell out some dough to take advantage of the great sensor. To pick up an A7 with 24-70 and a 55mm f\/1.8 will cost you nearly $4,000. That’s steep. Especially since a Canon 6D with 24-70mm f\/4 IS and 50mm f\/1.4 will cost you only $3500 (though is larger), while a Fuji X-E2 with 35mm f\/1.4 and 18-55mm f\/2.8-4 will cost you only $2,000. Should these lenses perform up to their prices, though, it may be worth the cost of entry for many shooters.<\/p>\n
At the outset, availability is a minor concern. The only lens available for the A7R at launch will be the 35mm f\/2.8. The 24-70 and 55mm f\/1.8 won’t be available until January, while the 70-200 doesn’t have an announced release. These lenses also are relatively big lenses, with minimal size savings over a similar full frame DSLR. So, if you’re planning on jumping on these cameras early, expect to wait a while for a decent native lens situation. The size is potentially going to be an issue for this system, but it still makes a lot of sense if you shoot primarily wide-angle to short telephoto, especially if you’ll be adapting smaller manual focus lenses.<\/p>\n
Regardless of potential lens issues, this is a very exciting release, and the A7 and A7R should have the best overall image quality of all mirrorless offerings. It’s great to see Sony push the envelope.<\/p>\n
Continue: Panasonic goes REALLY small.<\/a><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
Panasonic Lumix GM1 and 12-32mm Pancake Zoom<\/h3>\n
When the Sony A7 and A7R were announced, a lot of reactionary bloggers started sounding the death knell for Micro 4\/3. Why, they said, would anyone opt for Micro 4\/3 when you could get a body the same size as the OM-D E-M1, but with a full frame sensor? Well, price and the massive and awesome Micro 4\/3 lens lineup aside, Panasonic came back with an answer the very next day. Size.<\/p>\n
![\"Panasonic](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/panasonic-gm1-1-580x434-300x224.jpg\")
<\/a>Panasonic Lumix GM1 with 12-32mm Pancake Zoom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Sony may have shrunk the full frame camera, but it’s hard to shrink the lenses, and Panasonic proved that you could provide a quality interchangeable lens camera and make it extremely small. The new Panasonic GM1 is the smallest Micro 4\/3 camera ever made (by a relatively big margin too), and the body is slightly smaller than Sony’s tiny RX100 compact camera. The camera is about as small as a Micro 4\/3 camera can be made, as the height is equal to the size of the Micro 4\/3 lens mount, with a slim and tiny body attached. They put the outstanding sensor from the Panasonic GX7 into this little body, so image quality should be outstanding.<\/p>\n
To keep the overall size small, they also released a remarkable pancake zoom with a surprising wide end of 12mm. The Panasonic 12-32mm f\/3.5-5.6 is nearly the size of the super-tiny Panasonic 14mm f\/2.5 pancake lens. The result is a camera with excellent image quality that can easily fit in a jacket pocket.<\/p>\n
The GM1 isn’t a cheaply built product either. Panasonic built it solidly of metal and provided as many direct controls as was feasible given the tiny size. The 12-32mm has MTFs that show it to be the best kit zoom released for the Micro 4\/3 system, which is saying something given the excellent optics of the Panasonic 14-45mm. This is a camera that won’t cater to everyone, but certainly proves that Micro 4\/3 can provide extremely small size while still maintaining excellent image quality.<\/p>\n
Continue: Fuji ups their game<\/a><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
Fujifilm X-E2: A bigger upgrade than meets the eye<\/h3>\n
![\"Fujifilm](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Fuji-X-E2-camera-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>Fujifilm X-E2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Fujifilm announced the update to their well received X-E1 yesterday, with the new X-E2. If you go by the looks, you’d think all they did was enlarge the rear screen and slap a new number on the camera. The body of the X-E2 is virtually unchanged from the X-E1 with the exception of a larger 3″ LCD with 1 million dot resolution. The insides, however, have received more of a significant upgrade.<\/p>\n
The X-E2 still features a 16 megapixel X-Trans sensor, but the X-E2 inherits the upgraded version of this sensor that first debuted in the X100s. The X-Trans II sensor has phase detection pixels on the sensor, which, combined with better contrast detect algorithms, should drastically improve autofocus speed for all lenses. The PDAF sensors should also allow for continuous autofocus that is also much improved. Manual focus has been enhanced by allowing for Fuji’s unique digital split prism focusing aid and better implemented focus peaking. With the newer image processor on board, the X-E2 is also a significantly more responsive camera, and will write to the card and process images quicker than its predecessor. This increased processing power also allowed Fuji to bump up the burst rate on the camera to a respectable 7 frames per second.<\/p>\n
While the X-E1’s electronic viewfinder was beautifully detailed and clear, it had significant lag in low light. With the X-E2, the refresh rate in low light has been tripled and early reports show essentially zero lag in low light. Exposure compensation has also been increased to allow +\/- 3 stops. WiFi capability has been added and several early previews point to small refinements throughout the interface and operation as well.<\/p>\n
While none of these improvements are drastic or revolutionary, they address nearly every single thing that I viewed as negative with the X-E1. They’ve taken what was a good, but slightly flawed camera, and fixed nearly everything. The result should be an extremely polished mirrorless camera. I will have a full review of the X-E2 shortly after public release.<\/p>\n
Summary<\/h3>\n
It’s an exciting time in the mirrorless industry. \u00a0Fuji’s getting stronger and more capable cameras to leverage their excellent lenses, Panasonic pushing the limits of size for interchangeable lens cameras, and Sony is packing in giant full frame sensors in a tiny package. \u00a0While all of these systems have strengths and weaknesses, they also are all capable of creating great images with a good photographer behind them. \u00a0What is best for you will depend largely on your specific needs. \u00a0In any case, it’s a fascinating time in the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What a week in the Mirrorless Camera industry! We’ve seen new cameras announced for the big three mirrorless camera mounts, with some very exciting news on all fronts. Naturally, I have my thoughts, both of excitement and caution for these announcements, so let’s dive in: Sony Alpha 7 and 7R The biggest news this week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,21],"tags":[295,13,225,71,297,10,296,182,6,181],"class_list":["post-2538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-opinion","tag-alpha","tag-csc","tag-fuji","tag-full-frame","tag-ilc","tag-micro-43","tag-mirorrless-camera","tag-nex","tag-panasonic","tag-sony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/sony-a7r.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28RGq-EW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2538"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2547,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2538\/revisions\/2547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}