e-mount

Sony slowly fattens E-mount lens line

Sony adds to its E-mount lens line for the Alpha NEX series of cameras with a 20mm f2.8 pancake (30mm equivalent) that will ship in April for $349.99. Sony currently only offers one other pancake lens, a 16mm f2.8 (24mm equivalent). From a size standpoint, the pancakes are a nice complement to the skinny NEX bodies, but you'll usually get better image quality --and faster apertures -- out of their not-so-slim counterparts.

Sony also took the opportunity to announce standalone pricing and availability for the 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 power zoom E-mount lens that it unveiled … Read more

Sony's E-mount plans

At this week's CP+ show in Japan, Sony unveiled its road map for the next couple years' worth of NEX E-mount lenses. Hint: it's light on the heavy glass.

According to the plans Sony unveiled at the show, photographers with Sony's Alpha NEX series of cameras have eight new lenses to look forward to over the course of the next year and a half or so. These include:… Read more

Sigma's first MFT, E-mount lenses surface at CES

LAS VEGAS--It's been almost a year since Sigma announced its intention to create ILC lenses, and at this year's CES/PMA that intention finally bore fruit.

Dubbed "DN" lenses, Sigma's debut consists of two primes available in Micro Four Thirds (Olympus, Panasonic) and E-mount (Sony) models.

The initial models will be the 30mm f2.8 EX DN and 19mm f2.8 EX DN. (Because of the different sensor sizes associated with the mounts, the effective angle of view is different for a given lens--multiply MFT by 2 and E by 1.5 for that.) They both use a new direct autofocus motor that sounds similar to the one used by Sony in its new 16-50mm, which drives the system without gears for less noise during video recording.… Read more

Sony opens up E-mount specification to lensmakers

Hmmm. Earlier today, both Zeiss and Schneider announced plans to manufacture lenses for the Olympus/Panasonic-brainchild Micro Four Thirds (MFT) mount for ILC (interchangeable lens) cameras. Hours later, a note from Sony has popped up in my inbox stating that it will open its competing E-mount specification up--free of a license fee--to all lens and adapter makers, starting in April.

When you think about it, Sony really didn't have much of a choice. Whatever inroads MFT has made in the market is partly attributable to the availability of lenses and adapters for legacy lenses. But it's also worth … Read more

Sony launches NEX generation of camcorders

It doesn't take a genius to guess that the first relatively mainstream large-sensor camcorder would come from one of the big three manufacturers of both cameras and camcorders: Sony, Panasonic, or Canon. And it looks as if Sony's going to cross the finish line first, in September, with its Handycam NEX-VG10. The VG10 is based around the same sensor and lens system as its Alpha namesakes, the NEX-5 and NEX-3, but in a body designed for prosumer/entry-level pro videography.

Though Panasonic, too, announced an interchangeable-lens camcorder a few months ago, the company provided very little information about it. Even the preliminary brochure (PDF) posted on Panasonic's site fails to illuminate. There's enough detail to figure out that the AG-AF100 is targeted at professionals more than Sony's--it has stereo XLR mic inputs and an SDI connector, plus a broader selection of resolution and frame rate options--but without even a ballpark price you can't make any meaningful comments about it. Plus, it's not slated to ship till the end of the year.

Here are the basic specs for the VG10 and what little is available for the AF100:… Read more