Multi-Drone indoor formation performed with seven Tello EDU.

When I saw the announcement of the camera in January 2021, I realized: This is THE ONE for me. For content creators in the imaging as well as in the video section, this is the first camera from Sony, putting everything together into one body. After two weeks using this beast, I decided to share some experiences that may go beyond the pervasive buzz about AF performance, shutter speed etc.

In this article I am focussing especially on the high resolution features for photography and videography as well as Eye-AF.

High Resolution Photography

When you shoot with good glass, the amout of detail and the reserves for cropping right from the new 50 megapixel sensor may be already more than enough for most situations, like you can see from this example taken with the Sony G 20mm f/1.8 at f/5.6:

(clicking on the image takes you to further resolutions)

Looking into a 1:1 crop (100%) gives you an impression on the level of detail:

Due to Corona pandemic, this year there will be no "Maskenzauber an der Alster" and no Venetian Carnival, so the only thing we can do is reminisce about "best of" photos of the last years.

Just arrived: Zeiss Ventum 21mm f/2.8.

An exclusive review can be found on our partner site at: http://kopterkraft.com/index.php/zeiss-ventum-21

Please click on the image for further impressions.

Please click on the image for further impressions.

Most enchanting masks and costumes as every year! Please click on the image for further impressions.

If you missed it last year, see the video (4K):

Please select fullscreen and the desired resolution (available up to 2160p) in the player's button bar for best viewing experience.
You can find the original UHD file (5GB) for download below the player on the Vimeo page (Vimeo account required).

The fire show after the mask's walk is available as well here, starting at 07:27: https://youtu.be/oC-_bKITXLQ?t=7m27s

Just arrived - the latest prototype of the world's widest rectilinar f/2 Micro Four Thirds lens - the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 mFT.

During Photokina 2016, Venus Optics presented first prototypes of two new ultra wide angle lenses - the Laowa 15mm f/2 for full frame and the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 for mFT. Although I left mFT some years ago in favor of full frame, I still appreciate mFT in situations where more compact and lightweight gear is required - e.g. when recording 4K footage on a drone. I found the Yi M1 quite interesting (see my review here) but had to recognize, that it uses only a crop of it's 20 MP sensor for 4K video which makes it quite hard to find lenses that provide a very wide angle even in 4K mode. Before the Laowa appeared, you could find in this focal range only fisheye lenses or the heavy and expensive Lumix Vario 7-14mm zoom. It is also worth mentioning that you can use standard filters with a filter thread of 46mm (an earlier prototype shown on the Photokina used 49mm but 46mm will be the final diameter) and the lens hood is removable.

This is, how this little 170g gem looks on the Yi M1 mirrorless:

But before putting it on a drone, I took it around for some photos in Hamburg's Hafencity and it's new town landmark, the "Elbphilharmonie", where it could demonstrate it's extreme viewing angle of about 110° combined with good low liight capabilities and even some potential to play with depth of field. In all following photos there was not any electronic correction for distortion, chromatic aberrations (CAs) or vignetting used. If you click on the photos, the flickr photo page will open so that you can see EXIFs and select higher resolutions including full size.