Roberts Raw!

› posts tagged ‘zeiss’

Sony Announces 35mm, 85mm, and Zeiss 24mm Primes

Sony has also announced three new primes, one of which carries the Zeiss branding. As usual, the names of the lenses really tell you all the pertinent bits, and so, without further ado, those names are:

  • F2.0, 24 mm Carl Zeiss Distagon T* ZA SSM lens
  • F1.8, 35 mm Sony DT lens
  • F2.8, 85 mm Sony lens

The two Sony-branded lens are quite economic (although beware that the DT designation means it will only work on their crop bodies, A800 and 900 series users need not apply), at $200 for the 35mm, and $250 for the 85mm. The Zeiss carries a Zeiss-worthy price tag and will set you back a cool $1,250 when it hits the market.



Sony Alpha A850′s Have Hit

Sony Alpha A850

Sony Alpha A850

Word just came up that Sony’s new full-frame shooter, the A850, has hit the store.

To review, it’s got the same sensor and dual-processor set-up of the A900, but cuts costs down a bit with a smaller viewfinder and slower continuous shooting. It uses the same grip as its bigger bro, though, and last I heard we had those too.

Sony has shown a real commitment to their DSLR line, and it’s growing every day. And, whatever reservations I may have about the other divisions of Sony, I find their larger DSLRs (the A700, A900, and now this one) to be quite excellent machines, and I like the very honest, no-nonsense tool aesthetic and feel they’ve built into their full-frame shooters. And, with a growing collection of constant-aperture zooms and Carl Zeiss lenses, it’s a system heavily worth considering if you need depth of field, low light, and studio resolution in one budget-friendly body.



Stories From The Past

50mm f0.7Every now and then I forget just how long a history photography has of pushing the very limits of physics. And then, today, I was reminded once again of this as I read an article about modifying a Carl Zeiss 50mm f0.7 (yup, 0.7, 2 stops faster than 1.4) for Stanley Kubrick to use on a video camera. While cool enough to hear about at all, reading about how it was made to work is also pretty darn cool.

So, if you’ve never read this, check it out here.



Did We Mention We’re Having an Expo?

Spring Expo 2009

Spring Expo 2009

So, I somehow miraculously keep not mentioning this, but the 24th and 25th this month at or two Indianapolis (area) stores is our annual Spring Expo. We’re going to have most anybody who’s anybody (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Mamiya, Leica, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Profoto, Induro, PocketWizard, FJ Westcott, RPS Studio, Manfrotto, Gitzo, Lastolite, and on and on and on…) out in our store, showing you the merch. If you’re within traveling distance, it’s really a good time to swing by and give us a visit, because there’re just too many toys to play with. It’s one of the two times a year I get to try one of the f2 constant zooms for my E-3, for instance. (Although, dyed-in-the-wool Oly shooter I am, I think I’ll step down and play some with the A900 and some Zeiss lenses and with Nikon’s under-rated D700, both of which are systems I’d have in a giant rolling case if my pay-grade allowed for it.)

I’m sure specials will abound as well, and for those of you who unfortunately can’t come out and see us I’ll be mirroring as much of them as humanly possible on our website as well, so remember to swing by the site that weekend and check on that equipment you’ve been scrounging for (and maybe some you didn’t know you needed, occupational hazzard).



Sony Innovation

So if you are new to higher end Cameras, or have old incompatible manual SLR camera equipment you might be ready to step up to your first DSLR system. If you are ready but confused by all the choices, you might just buy what your neighbor bought, most likely a Nikon or Canon Digital SLR Camera. They are great cameras that’s why they trade the #1 and #2 spot all the time. Still I might suggest that you look at Olympus and Sony Digital Cameras before you “Just keep up with the Jones’”.   Olympus and Sony  are doing some amazing innovative stuff to get your attention, maybe you should look their way. I’m going to focus (no pun intended) on Sony for now.

read more



Prime Interest

Nikon lensesOne of the big things the past couple of months in photgraphy seems to have been primes.  The Nikon 50mm 1.4G has been an exceptionally hot little item. And, it’s not just Nikon lenses with renewed prime interest, if you follow the various forums. There’s quite a lot of clamor about for more primes. We have to admit, the resurrection of interest in primes caught us a bit by surprise.

For those just joining us already in progress in the digital age, primes were the de facto norm for film for a large chunk of photographic history. A single focal length historically made it easier to formulate a sharp optic, a feat more difficult in zooms because you have to try to optimize a wide range of focal lengths, which often adds weight and size and makes the lens slower.

In the modern age, decades of experience formulating primes, in addition to their simpler and smaller optic constructions, typically leads to primes being among the cheaper offerings a manufacturer has. (The EF 50mm f/1.8 I, for example, is one of–if not the cheapest–Canon lenses, weighing in at under 100 bucks.) Also, primes are usually faster, typically being f1.4 or f.18, much faster than standard kit lenses which are usually f3.5 or slower.

So, for cost and aperture speed, primes are still hard to beat. But, if you want more flexibility than a single focal length can offer, don’t fret. Despite the common insistence that primes are the best optically, computer assisted design has lead to a generation of quality zooms that perform to the level of primes of old at many, and sometimes most or even all, focal lengths. Olympus is famous for the consistent performance of it’s mid and high grade zooms, the new f2.8 constant aperture zooms from Nikon also offer equal performance. And, of course, Canon prides itself on the performance of it’s L-series senses, and if you buy Sony Alpha DSLRS you’ll find a collection Carl Zeiss zooms which also lack any concerns in their optical performances.



I Can Feel It, But I Can’t… No Wait, I Can Touch It

DSC-T300
It’s no news to regular readers of this blog that I have a fascination with gimmicks, gadgets, and the fine points on spec sheets. Afterall, in the end all it takes to make a camera is a shutter, a sensor, and a lens, so it’s what else gets wrapped into the package that I find interesting.

Today’s subject. That shiny silver eyecandy there is the DSC-T300, a Sony CyberShot camera with a feature that sets it apart in my mind from many other super-slims these days.

Touchscreen LCD.

Three and a half inch touchscreen LCD.

Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. Yet, anyway. Sony’s certainly putting it on more and more cameras, but this one will always stick out to me as the first one I remember seeing it on.

And, sure, it’s got that nice little lens which might be overlooked by some, with it’s 5x optical zoom (which’ll save you from needing a point and shoot lens adapters), and it’s Carl Zeiss branded, which is something of a gold star in the camera world.

But, I’m all over that physical interaction with the touchscreen. It’s just neat.



Sony Alpha A900

We just got out of a training on the new Sony Alpha A900 camera.  Wow!  This little gem is amazing.  Built like a tank.  24.6MP full frame CMOS.  5 frames/sec burst.  Wow.  Dual flash memory card slots.  It takes regular compact flash cards for storage and memory stick as well.  The steady shot in camera works VERY well.  The lighting was pretty bad in the room we were in and when I shot with it, things were razor sharp.  The A900 weighs in at only 850g.  Not bad for a rugged body like this one.  It’s a winner, folks!

a900
The new flash was also available to play with.  Model HVL-F58AM.  It can pivot 90 degrees left or right on a horizontal axis, keeping the flash head in the optimum position when the camera is rotated from landscape to portrait position. Priced at $499.99

Roberts Imaging should see these close to the end of October at $2999.99.

Also coming soon from Sony, the Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 16-35mm F2.8 ZA SSM priced at $1799.99 available January 2009.  70-400 F4-5.6 G SSM available January 2009 priced at $1499.99.




Switch To Mobile Site