End of 2015 / early 2016 a couple of new (ultra) wide angle lenses entered the full frame market. Time to compare them to some candidates you might already know by yourself or from an earlier review on this site. Comparison was done using the Sony A7RII:

From left to right:

• Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f/4 (M-mount adapted using Novoflex adapter)
• Voigtlander Ultron 21mm f/1.8 ASPH (M-mount adapted using Novoflex adapter)
• Zeiss Otus 28mm f/1.4 (in the background, ZF.2 version adapted with mechanical Novoflex adapter)
• Sigma Art 20mm f/1.4 (Canon EF mount, adapted using Metabones IV adapter)
• Zeiss Loxia 21mm f/2.8 (native FE-mount, new Distagon design)
  
• Sony/Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS used at 21mm (native FE-mount)

To warm up with this focal length, let's see some examples. Clicking on the images will open the corresponding photo page providing higher resolutions (including full camera resolution):

Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 @ f/5.6

Sigma Art 20/1.4 @ f/1.4

Please select fullscreen and highest available solution in the player's button bar for best viewing experience.
Download available in full 4K resolution for Vimeo members.

After ZEISS announced six members of the new Milvus lens family in September 2015, we had the chance for an in-depth view on five of these lenses:

• Milvus 2.8/21 (Distagon design)
  
• Milvus 2/35 (Distagon design)
• Milvus 1.4/50 (Distagon design)
• Milvus 1.4/85 (Planar design)
• Milvus 2/100 (Makro Planar)

We tested the ZF.2 version (for Nikon F-mount) that comes with a dedicated aperture ring whereas the ZE version (for Canon EF mount) has an aperture controlled electronically by the camera or an adapter. The rubber coated focus ring provides good grip and allows smooth control over the focus. Other technical details like weather sealing or the declickable aperture ring were already explained in my earlier article. I was curious especially about the redesigned Distagon 1.4/50 with floating elements and one aspherical element, as well as the 1.4/85, a new Planar design with solely non-aspherical lens elements (including some floating elements) in order to prioritize a creamy bokeh.

As you can see in this example of the Milvus 1.4/50 attached to the Sony A7, the lenses are quite massive due to their solid construction and excellent build quality. The barrel design and the metal sun hood follow the design of the successful Batis and Otus families:

Milvus 1.4/50 (ZF.2 version) adapted to Sony A7

Let's start with the

If you already followed this site for some time, you may have noticed that its articles usually concentrate on gear like cameras, lenses, recorders etc. and do not care much about accessories. But while searching for a flexible and comfortable solution when travelling and walking around for hours with my mirrorless camera plus some lenses and filters, the Cosyspeed Camslinger bags attracted my particular attention. In 2014, Cosyspeed started with the Camslinger 160 and 105 bags designed to be carried on the hip like a holster. It provides very quick one-hand access to the camera like a sling strap but with much better protection against bumps, rain, dust and views. One of its unique features is the adjustable size in order to customize it to different camera types.

Enjoy "Feuervögel" performed by Caro and Kathleen from "Duo Flammenspuk" at Hagenbecks Tierpark:

Please select fullscreen in the player's button bar for best viewing experience.
The video was recorded in 4K using Sony A7S with Atomos Shogun

For more information about "Flammenspuk", please visit http://www.flammenspuk.de

Early in the moring in Hamburg's Hafencity...

Shot with Sony A7RII in 4K. Available as download on Vimeo. You can also play it directly in 1440p and 2160p on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrOIix3_Css . Please switch player to full screen mode and choose highest available resolution.

See the BTS (behind the scenes) at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/hhackbarth/albums/72157655471506733/show

For more information please visit www.KopterKraft.com.

August 2015 - A little low light comparison of the Sony A7RII 4K Super35 crop mode to the Sony A7S in fullframe mode.

The A7RII was set to Super35 (APS-C) crop mode and internal XAVC-S 4K UHD recording with 100 Mbps, lens was the Zeiss FE 2.8/35 @ f/4.0.
The A7S was set to 4K mode with external recording to Atomos Shogun (ProRes HQ 4:2:2), lens was the Zeiss FE 1.8/55 @ f/4.0 (providing about the same viewing angle as the 35mm lens in crop mode).

In order to evaluate the details, please download the original file here: https://vimeo.com/135731718 (Download -> right-click on "Original 3840x2160 / 548 MB" - choose "save as...").

You will notice, that both cameras produce a very clean 4K image at ISO 2000. The image from the A7RII shows some more detail due to its downscaling from a 15 MP sensor readout. At 25600 ISO there is a slight advantage for the A7S. Regarding noise, the A7RII is not far behind the A7S but the A7S is able to keep up more details at very high ISO.

Picture profile used for that test was "Cine gamma 4" with "Pro" gamut.

The fllowing aerial video was recorded in 4K (full frame mode) at XAVC-S 100 Mbps. You can download the original 4K video file at Vimeo (Download -> right click on "orignal 3840x2160" -> "Save as..."):

It is available on YouTube as well, providing an option to stream the 2160p and 1440p version directly to the player: http://youtu.be/zAR5K3HZu0A
For evaluation purposes I recommend to download the original 4K 100 Mbps rendering from Vimeo due to the loss in detail after the reencoding in YouTube.

(view as fullscreen slide show)

Complementary to my "first look" comparison here you will find an in-depth review of the new ZEISS Batis 2/25 and 1.8/85 with many more photos, most of them available in full resolution when you click on images.

ZEISS Batis 2/25

Some technical information where already given in my former article. Now let us start with some "unboxing":