Sony announces Full frame E-mount lenses

16-35 f/4 Sony Zeiss for the end of this year (was on the roadmap for June of this year!)
35mm f/1.4 Distagon Sony-Zeiss for March 2015
28mm f/2 for March 2015
16mm converter for 28mm f/2 for March 2015
21mm converter for 28mm f/2 for March 2015
24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 for February 2015

Taking over under bets now for Sony actually delivering all of this stuff on the dates specified - their track record is dismal for meeting committed dates, at least to customers in the western hemisphere.

Here are many pictures of prototypes of the lenses under development:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w5j37rjopf0l ... wSS5a?dl=0

Unless a new body style cometh,most of these lenses will overwhelm the small size of the present cameras. I have a feeling that the 35 and 90 were being developed for the A mount.

Mike in O wrote:Unless a new body style cometh,most of these lenses will overwhelm the small size of the present cameras.  I have a feeling that the 35 and 90 were being developed for the A mount.

They are on the Sony full frame E mount roadmap.  There is no A-mount roadmap that they have shared as you know.  I'm not sure I understand the obsession with lens size relative to camera size that seems to run rampant in Sony circles but at the same time there is a lot of complaining that the lenses need larger apertures.  Big aperture lenses are going to be physically large.  If you need it then you will put up with the balance issue, if not, then get something slower and smaller.  35mm f/1.4 lenses are all large but I do agree that it seems unusually long which does lead me to agreeing that it is likely an A-mount design and they put a flange on it to get the right sensor to optics distance.  This is exactly what Samyang did and why the were able to get a bunch of FE lenses to market so quickly.  They just took the Canon/Nikon lenses and welded a flange to them with an E-mount on the end.

It's like saying the Canon 600 f/4L overwhelms the the Canon 7D Mk II - nobody has those conversations except in the Sony world where everything seems to be a crisis all the time.  I don't get it

Why are Sony photographers always up in arms? It boils down to lacking in faith of Sony's long term commitment to grow a product. They are used to innovate, develop, and then move on like any electronic company. As far as your analogy with 600, yes, I can put my nex 7 on my Minolta 600, but I don't think ergonomically it is the best for camera or lens.

I do understand that and that is a legitimate concern - I call it Sony's ADD problem. I was referring more to the obsession with lens to camera size but at the same time complaining that the lenses aren't fast enough. Then when Sony does put forth large aperture lenses, they go nuts that the lenses are too big for the bodies, when they come out with small slower lenses they go non-linear about the lenses not being fast enough...

I think the internet and the big three camera producers boils down to this:
Canon - people screaming for sensors that at least use this decade's technology
Nikon - people screaming for DX support
Sony - people screaming about everyhting

Then there's the next tier:
Fuji - everything is perfect, the rest of the world is stupid for not switching to X-trans
Panasonic/Olympus - you all are idiots, m43 has better image quality than full frame
Samsung/Ricoh/Pentax - um (quietly raising hand), we make cameras too...

+1...Good breakdown EJ, I really hope all succeed in this downturn market because it is very hard to operate a camera company (and lens building). Once you lose these players, they are gone forever.

Well, apart from what you say about the Oly/Pany camp I agree with you

I'm in the Pany camp and I'm not overwhelmed by the image quality, however I love the size of the cameras. My main camera is the Pany GX1 (of which I have three - all bought used for next to nothing) with three different lenses, two pancakes (14mm and 20mm), and one zoom (range depending on what I'll be shooting). Love them to death.

I have the SONY RX1R, but the focal length of the lens restricts its usefullness. I am currently considering two A7 bodies, but have been waiting for a complete lens range before dumping the remains of my Canon gear. That said, I would like small lenses. I don't care about fast wide angles, and I don't see myself mounting a telephoto on an A7 anyway.

Will the perfect gear ever arise? Nope, but things are sure getting closer. I'm most of all happy that things are getting smaller. Smaller gear means more photography for me as I can take it anywhere. For nature that means longer treks because of less weight, and for candid shooting it means I can have a camera the size of a 1o year old cellphone in my pocket 24-7 (Sony RX-100).

Happy shooting to all of ya'!

Svein-Frode wrote: Will the perfect gear ever arise? Nope, but things are sure getting closer.

We all go about perfect gear, DR, High ISO, sharpness... but really we never had it so good.

I would actually be more interested in having Samyang making dedicated lenses for Sony NEX full frame. Get a size reduction from their DSLR line but maintain their build and optical quality.

I have the 8mm fisheye for my crop sensor NEX6 and it is a tiny and super sharp lens. Truly a perfect match for the NEX.

The whole point of the NEX and a7,7R,7S bodies was to create a smaller professional alternative to the heavier mirror-based DSLRs. But when you start making giant zooms that look as if they could easily snap off from the body mount, this kind of defeats the purpose. Oh Sony.

Steve Rood wrote:The whole point of the NEX and a7,7R,7S bodies was to create a smaller professional alternative to the heavier mirror-based DSLRs. But when you start making giant zooms that look as if they could easily snap off from the body mount, this kind of defeats the purpose. Oh Sony.

The original nex had  size is everything philosophy and that fixed it forever in peoples mind.  Sony is taking the mirrorless concept and broadening it out to include all levels of cameras, including competing with its own A mount.  The next cameras coming will include different size bodies to better support the more professional lenses.  As AF improves in these mirrorless bodies, they will be a direct competitor with dslrs.

Steve Rood wrote:The whole point of the NEX and a7,7R,7S bodies was to create a smaller professional alternative to the heavier mirror-based DSLRs. But when you start making giant zooms that look as if they could easily snap off from the body mount, this kind of defeats the purpose. Oh Sony.

The only giant zoom is the parfocal 28-135 cinematography lens.  Have you seen parfocal cine lenses for DSLRs? They are huge.  A parfocal 24-70 T2.8 is bigger and heavier than a DSLR 70-200 f/2.8.

OK lets compare apples to apples - two full frame 22-24 megapixel bodies each with 24-70 f/4 stabilized lens.
Weights:
Canon 5D3 = 950g
Canon 24-70 f/4L IS = 600g
Total = 1550g

Sony a7 = 470g
Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/4 OSS = 430g
Total = 900g

And here is the size comparison I'd say, they are succeeding in creating a smaller and lighter weight system.  Add to that a 36 megapixel camera option (a7R) instead of this 24 megapixel option that weighs essentially the same as the a7, and you have something very powerful indeed.  In fact I could add the 840g 70-200 f/4 OSS lens to the kit and weigh only 190g (less than 7 ounces) more for the a7 and the two lenses than the 5D3 and 24-70 f/4 would weigh.

The only thing that Sony really needs to do is put an electronic shutter in the 36 MP sensor so you can take full advantage of the sensor's resolution.

signgrap wrote:The only thing that Sony really needs to do is put an electronic shutter in the 36 MP sensor so you can take full advantage of the sensor's resolution.

the list is longer than that but that is an important one.  I have prioritized them in three categories - A absolutely needs to be done yesterday.  B should be done as soon as pracitical, C nice to have:
− Implement true lossless compression of RAW files (A) 
− Remove the artificial auto-bracketing restrictions (A) 
− Put all crop modes on the same function rather than separating 1.5x crop from the other crop 
modes (A) 
− Fix Aperture Priority Auto ISO and allow the user to determine the slowest acceptable shutter 
speed (A) 
− Allow any function to be assigned to any programmable button, not just shooting options (A) 
− Add option to save camera settings to the SD card (A) 
− When delayed shutter modes are selected via the self timer function, close the shutter 
immediately, then wait for the duration of the self-timer and take the shot to reduce shutter 
induced vibration - electronic front curtain simulation since the sensor doesn't have the capability built in (A) 
− Make a smaller focus spot size available for higher precision autofocus (B) 
− Require a half press to cancel viewfinder magnification rather than touch detection (B) 
− Improve Focus Peaking precision (B) 
− Enable the full -5 to +5 metering scale in the viewfinder rather than displaying -5 to +5 but only 
using -2 to +2 in manual exposure mode and -3 to +3 in Aperture and Shutter Priority modes (B) 
− Allow Exposure Compensation dial to be re-tasked (B) 
− Eliminate the first screen that draws a bounding box when focus magnification is selected (C) 
− Allow different displays on the EVF and the rear LCD (C) 
− Add additional crop modes like 5:4 and Square (C) 

E.J. Peiker wrote:

Steve Rood wrote:The whole point of the NEX and a7,7R,7S bodies was to create a smaller professional alternative to the heavier mirror-based DSLRs. But when you start making giant zooms that look as if they could easily snap off from the body mount, this kind of defeats the purpose. Oh Sony.

The only giant zoom is the parfocal 28-135 cinematography lens.  Have you seen parfocal cine lenses for DSLRs? They are huge.  A parfocal 24-70 T2.8 is bigger and heavier than a DSLR 70-200 f/2.8.

OK lets compare apples to apples - two full frame 22-24 megapixel bodies each with 24-70 f/4 stabilized lens.
Weights:
Canon 5D3 = 950g
Canon 24-70 f/4L IS = 600g
Total = 1550g

Sony a7 = 470g
Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/4 OSS = 430g
Total = 900g

And here is the size comparison

I'd say, they are succeeding in creating a smaller and lighter weight system.  Add to that a 36 megapixel camera option (a7R) instead of this 24 megapixel option that weighs essentially the same as the a7, and you have something very powerful indeed.  In fact I could add the 840g 70-200 f/4 OSS lens to the kit and weigh only 190g (less than 7 ounces) more for the a7 and the two lenses than the 5D3 and 24-70 f/4 would weigh.

How about you show the picture of the Sony with the new 16-35mm f/4 G OSS?

Your wish is my command  Here's the same comparison with each system's stabilized 16-35 f/4.  The weight for the Canon combo is 1565g and the weight for the Sony combo is 992g.  The Sony lens is 100g less in weight.

My bad - The Sony Alpha Rumors site posted wrong information. I was referring to the 28-135mm f/4 G OSS. The weight of the lens alone is 1215g.

Steve Rood wrote:My bad - The Sony Alpha Rumors site posted wrong information. I was referring to the 28-135mm f/4 G OSS.

That's a parfocal cine lens as I mentioned earlier.  Completely different animal.  Parfocal (meaning that the focus does not change as you zoom) makes a lens much bigger.  Also provisions for all of the external gears on video rigs add a lot to the size and weight to that lens.  it is intended for cinematography, especially on the a7S which is really marketed as a low light cinema camera.