29Mar Sony FE 50mm f1.8 anounced
Meet the Sony 50mm f1.8 full frame lens, one of the first affordable full frame primes for the E-mount lineup. Priced at $248, the 50mm f1.8 is still substantially more expensive than the competition from Canon’s 50mm f1.8. Still, I’m glad to see Sony has finally started to address the lack of mid range lenses in it’s full frame E-mount lineup. I’m starting to get tired of adapters.
The Sony 50mm f1.8 full frame lens should be available for pre-order starting March 31st.
29Mar Blatantly miss labeled Generic DOT-01 Sony NP-FW50 batteries
First of all, I’d like to point out that most generic battery claims are dubious at best. If you look at the labeling for any type of generic battery out there, the Watt-hour (Wh) and milliamp hour (mAh) ratings are almost always higher than their name brand counterparts.
It is easy to assume that a larger mAh (corresponds with Wh rating which is a factor of voltage x current over time) number on the back of your battery automatically means a better battery. There for any generic battery that has a larger mAh number than the OEM battery will last longer, right? The problem with this thinking is how that number is calculated.
I’m not going to work through a lot of math here because this site is not dedicated to engineering. So let’s do this the easy way. A battery’s mAh rating is derived from a calculation of the rate of discharge over time and the time limit is reached when a minimum voltage is hit as the battery discharges.
So, let’s say your camera needs an absolute minimum of 3.8 volts to operate. With that number in mind, your mAh rating comes out to a certain number. If you are a manufacturer of batteries, your marketing team says “We could sell a lot more of these if that mAh number was higher.” so what do you do? Simple, you lower the minimum voltage for your rating and suddenly your mAh rating jumps up. Now instead of 1020mAh your battery is 1860mAh. Good job team, you’ve made a better battery, on paper. The problem is that your camera can’t actually run at a voltage that low. Which means this new higher number is basically useless to the end user.
Now, let’s take a look at this generic Sony NP-FW50 from DOT-01. Somehow DOT-01 managed to fit a 2200mAh into this tiny form factor. On top of that, this battery weighs about 5 grams less than Sony’s official NP-FW50 battery which is rated at 1020mAh. How can this lightweight DOT-01 battery have double the capacity in the same form factor? Is that even possible?
The answer is, it’s not. Either DOT-01 is fudging the numbers, or they are outright lying in their advertising. In testing, the performance results are consistent with a mislabeled battery. They seem to last a little over 25 min v.s. 50 min from the Sony and Wasabi brand.
Is it false advertising? That’s hard to say thanks to the way these numbers can be calculated and because of that, Manufactures like DOT-01 can posit claims of 2200mAh without much issue. They aren’t the only offender, just scroll through page after page of batteries on amazon for every type of camera. There isn’t really much of a solution. Be mindful of the reviews and stick to brands you’ve had good luck with in the past.
26Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 92
Episode 92 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Devin from Devocut.com joins me to discuss the Irix 15mm f2.4 lens, Gear ties, GH4 Firmware and more.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
25Mar Minolta 85mm f1.4 Sony a7s II lens review
If you are looking to save a little bit of money on glass for your Sony a7s or a7s II body, you always have the option of buying older A-mount or Minolta glass. After all, Sony’s A-mount was purchased from Minolta years ago, which means all you really need is the proper adapter.
In this case, I have the Minolta 85mm f1.4 which can be had for under $5oo. With the correct adapter, in this case, the Sony LE-EA4, you can get this and other lenses (how does a 50mm f1.4 for under $200
) up and running on your A7 camera.
If you aren’t familiar with the Minolta line of lenses, you’ll find that they are very small compared to other brands with the same focal length and f-stop. This is because there is no internal motor, which is why the Sony LE-EA4 has a built in motor driver. This isn’t the end of the world, but it also isn’t ideal if you are looking for the fastest focusing system on the planet. That said if you are looking for fast focus and you’ve landed on Sony, you might need to reset your compass and start again.
Is a body-driven focus system like this as fast as an internal motor? No. Does Minolta glass focus faster and more accurately than adapted Canon glass? Absolutely. I would argue that Minolta glass with a Sony LE-EA4 focuses just about as fast as my native Sony 24-70mm f4 lens on the a7s II body.
As for the Minolta 85mm f1.4, it’s an oldy but a goody. Here are a few sample DNG images you can donwload. Bokeh is nice and smooth, there isn’t much light fall off in the corners and center sharpness is great. On the downside, the focus ring is that tiny little thing in the middle so if you want to use it for manual focus you’ll need tiny fingers. Build quality of the Minolta 85mm f1.4 is mostly plastic with a metal mount and metal focus ring, the quality of materials is very similar to Canon 50mm f1.4.
As you can see (Sample image of Hero above), the Minolta 85mm f1.4 wide open provides a very pleasing image. Center sharpness is great and corner sharpness is as soft as you’d expect from a lens of this age. I think the low price of the Minolta 85mm f1.4 reflects the build quality and lack of internal motor drive. Overall it is a great lens for the price, provided you plane to buy a few Minolta lenses to cover the cost of the Sony LE-EA4 adapter.
23Mar Traded in my 5d mark III for a Sony A7s II
I’ve been shooting on the Canon 5d mark III for about 4 years now and Canon bodies in general for almost seven years. During that time, I’ve stuck with the Canon 5d mark III even as I began to shoot more and more on the Panasonic GH4. Even though many have complained about the lack of resolution of the 1080p image recorded by the 5dmkIII, the quality has kept me happy all this time. While I still love the look of the 5dmkIII, it’s finally time for me to move on.
There are rumors that Canon may be updating the 5d line of cameras. When they do, the 5dmkIII will likely drop from the current price of $2000 to somewhere in the $1400 range or even lower as people begin to sell in order to migrate up. At the same time, the Sony a7s II has started to hover at a price of around $2400. While I still love the 5dmkIII, the Sony a7s II has a lot more to offer.
I’ve been renting the Sony a7s II off and on for the last 6 months. The 5dmkIII is a far better stills camera, AF is much better (especially in low light), and the 5dmkIII is built a lot tougher than the Sony a7s II. That said, the a7s II records 4k video internally, offers very good in body 5 axis image stabilization, focus peaking, extreme low light performance, and an integrated XLR audio adapter system via the K1M XLR audio adapter. These features, as well as the ability to adapt just about any lens to the a7s II finally won me over.
My Canon 5d mark III has sold and I’ve joined the Sony a7s II camp. I will soon be selling off my original Sony a7s, but in a surprise twist, I’ll be holding on to the Panasonic GH4 and all of my M43 kit. While the GH4 isn’t a low light monster and it lacks the full frame image that I have grown to love, the camera is a joy to use and does a great job at ISO 1600 and bellow. I have a robust collection of M43 glass that I’ve built up over the last few years, and it seems to be the perfect complement to the Sony a7s II.
Will I ever go back to Canon? The truth is, I still have a Canon 6d body for stills and I’ve kept all of my Canon glass. If a 5d mark IV or 5dc is released in the next year or so with things like internal 4k recording, focus peaking, and great low light performance, I would consider moving back. That said, the camera I have is the camera I shoot on. The a7s II and GH4 will be my main and backup cameras for the rest of 2016 and maybe even longer.
I don’t plan to invest heavily in Sony FE glass as adapters will do the trick, but if Canon doesn’t step up to the plate, my L lenses might hit the auction block. If things escalate to that point, Canon will most likely loose me as a customer and I suspect I’m not the only one facing this dilemma.
Do better Canon, your market share is at stake.
23Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 91
Episode 91 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Mitch from planet5D.com joins me to discuss the New Ursa Mini 4.6k Release, Revl Arc stablized action camera with no gimble, Sony price drops, Robocam over view, and more.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
21Mar Silicon Power S55 960GB SSD $199
While it is probably not the fastest or most powerful SSD on the market, or a brand I’ve even heard of for that matter, the Silicon Power S55 is priced to move at $199. Reviews seem mixed, but more positive than negative. At this kind of price, I’d say buyer be where. Still, I’m glad to see large drives are dropping down under the $200 mark and for $20 more, there is always the Sandisk 960Gb Ultra II SSD drive with a 3 year warranty if you want a good price with a little more security.
20Mar Gear Tie, a nice cable management option
As a filmmaker, you know that cables end up on everything and the more cables you add to your rig the more of a rat’s nest it becomes. You can try to twist cables around the frame or use tie wraps, but maybe there is a better way, which is where Gear Tie comes in.
Gear Tie is basically a beefed up rubberized twist tie that’s designed for cable management. Bright colors make it easy to see, and far more reusable than standard trash bag twist ties.
The usefulness of Gear Tie is pretty easy to see. Here I’ve used a few 3 inch Gear Ties to hold down a loose audio cable. It’s clean, easy, and keeps stuff out of the way.
Bundling up groups of cables is also a good use for Gear Tie and if you get really fancy you could probably even support a paper script with this stuff. For a price of $2 to $5 Gear Tie is a pretty handy addition to any cable bag. I’ve ordered a few packs these Gear Tie and I think they’ve earned themselves a place in my kit.
19Mar Feeding two Lav mics into a 3.5mm Audio port on the cheap
There are tons of very expensive audio adapters out there that allow you to mix XLR and 3.5 mm audio sources into your camera, sometimes you just need to feed two lav mics into your camera on the cheap. That’s where the $4.50 Hosa stereo breakout cable comes in handy. After all, most Lav mic kits (like the Sennheiser G3 units I use) have built-in amplifiers with controllable output settings which mean all you need is an easy way to bring audio into the left and right channels.
There really isn’t much to it. The $4.50 Hosa adapter is just a breakout cable for the tip and ring connectors on the stereo plug. With it, you now have the option to feed to channels of audio into your camera.
If you want to take things up a notch, grab yourself one of these right angle stereo adapters. This will give you a little bit of strain relief on your cameras microphone port.
Also, if you use something like this Varavon Armer cage, the right angle stereo adapter gives you a nice solid place to clamp down on that will do an even better job of protecting your camera’s stereo mic input.
All together the combination of Hosa stereo breakout cable and right angle stereo adapter will set you back about $8. It is a pretty decent combo if you are looking to feed two lav mics into something like the Panasonic GH4. If that is what you are trying to accomplish, it is a pretty decent investment.
18Mar DSLR FILM NOOB Podcast Episode 90
Episode 90 of DSLR FILM NOOB podcast is up. Devin from Devocut.com joins me to discuss Atomos Ninja student pricing, M43 adapters, and other random stuff, grab bag show today folks.
You can find the show notes here. You can find the show on itunes here, Soundcloud, or under the podcast tab above. You can also leave questions on reddit at r/dslr.
