![\"The](\"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/rx1r.jpg\")
<\/a>The RX1R II feels great in the hand. There’s not a huge grip, but what’s there is comfortable and the controls are easily within reach. The camera has a similar control scheme to the A6000, though with an extra exposure compensation dial on top, a focus mode selection dial on the front, and (inexplicably), the play and menu buttons switched. The controls have good tactile feedback. The camera focuses quite quickly, and from what I could tell from looking on the rear LCD, accurately. Because it was a preproduction model, Sony didn’t allow me to put a card in for image samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest addition to the camera is a new EVF, which pops up from the rear of the camera. Unlike the RX100’s pop-up EVF, however, this one has the optics extend automatically. The viewfinder has a generous 0.74x magnification, and while it’s the same 2.4 milion dot EVF found in the newer A7 series bodies, the optics and eye point make it look every bit as good, if not better. The image was exceptionally clear, crisp and bright to my eye, with excellent eye relief even for glasses wearers (of which I am one).<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the EVF, the RX1R II has a tilting rear display similar to the ones found on the A7 II series bodies, and it works how you’d expect. The camera features the same excellent 35mm f\/2 Zeiss lens, so image quality should be outstanding. It’s a pricey camera at $3300, but if you know you want a small 35mm kit, it’s possibly an ideal camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The A7S II was also on display, and if you’ve used the A7 II or A7R II, then you already know how it operates. The body and controls are identical to the other Mark II series A7 bodies, and the EVF is the same as the one on the A7R II. As expected, the camera displays excellent control of noise in low light, and the mild 12 megapixels of resolution is easy on lenses, so sharpness isn’t usually an issue, even at high ISO. The full-size samples from the Loxia 21mm on the next page were all taken with the A7S II, so check those out for some straight out of camera JPEGs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Sony didn’t announce any new FE mount lenses for the show this year, but the representative I spoke to said that they have been informed that new FE lenses will be coming before the end of the fiscal year in Japan, which is in March. He didn’t know what was coming, but that they would be coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now on to a new lens for FE mount, the Zeiss Loxia 21mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zeiss announced the newest member of the manual focus Loxia line a few weeks ago, and I got a chance to put it through a few test shots. This is the most exciting Loxia in my mind, as it’s small, wide and excellent, which are three characteristics not often found together in the same lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Loxia 21mm shares the same build quality and same relative size (though slightly longer) as the other Loxia lenses, making it a very compact package indeed. The focus ring is smooth as silk, and the aperture ring has nice clicks to it that can be turned off for video use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got a chance to try the Loxia 21mm f\/2.8 on the Sony A7S II, and while this isn’t the highest resolution body, you can still get an idea of the quality of the lens. In my early samples? It’s a winner. The lens is sharp to the corners right from f\/2.8, and displays almost no chromatic aberration and minimal distortion. At first blush, it appears to fit in very well with some of the legendary wide-angle lenses from Zeiss. Take a look at some full size samples below to get an idea of the quality of this lens, as well as the imaging characteristics of the A7S II. Click on the image to enlarge, and then click the green arrow at the bottom of the screen to view full size:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing I really liked about the Zeiss booth was that the representative really wanted to hear what I thought should come next. Being a bit against the grain and liking my small lenses, I told him I’d like to see a 135mm f\/2.8 Batis. I know some would want f\/2, but I’d like the smaller size. I also said I’d love a compact but very high quality standard zoom for landscape use. I’d love to see Zeiss create something very hard to come by these days: a slow, small standard zoom with impeccable image quality. I know many others would like the speed (and I mentioned that to him), but I want the size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of size, what happens when you don’t compromise on optics, and allow size to fall where it may? The Otus 28mm f\/1.4 happens. This is a MONSTROUS lens. A 95mm front element and weight akin to a 70-200mm f\/2.8 zoom, the Otus 28mm is not for those who want a compact kit. However, if you want the best, then here it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stay tuned for more news from the floor of PhotoPlus Expo 2015!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s day one of PhotoPlus Expo and there’s plenty to discuss. First stop: Sony. Sony RX1R II It’s not a huge event for Sony this year, but for serious shooters, two new cameras stand out. First, there’ the new Sony RX1R Mark II, which updates the original RX1 with the same 42 megapixel sensor found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","_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","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,22],"tags":[361,360],"class_list":["post-5676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-shop","tag-photo-plus","tag-photoplus"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/loxia21.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28RGq-1ty","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676","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=5676"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12683,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5676\/revisions\/12683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>Sony A7S II<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Continue: Zeiss Loxia 21mm f\/2.8 (And an appearance of the Otus 28\/1.4)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Zeiss Loxia 21mm f\/2.8<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>More Zeiss Fun<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>