Accesories, Review

Review: PocketPano Vario XL panorama adapter

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Introduction

Sony A7s | Sony FE 55mm 1.8 ZA | f/1.8 | ISO6400 | 13s | panorama from 14 shots

A panorama adapter can be a great addition to your kit, as it allows you to create shots with a wider field of view (up to 360° panoramas) and also vastly improves the image quality in any of your shots (e.g. in astrophotography). Unfortunately most pano adapters are either bulky and heavy, very expensive or cheaply made junk. A compact yet affordable and at the same time sturdy pano adapter was missing so far and pocketPANO tries to fill this gap. Let us find out if they managed to succeed!

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lenses, Sony E-mount

Review: Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM

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Introduction

Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM gmaster portrait bokeh sharpness a7rII a7rm3 a7riii 42mp review
Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM on Sony A7rII

Jannik already performed a thorough comparison between this lens and Sony’s cheaper FE 85mm 1.8, but a single review was somewhat missing so far. Here it finally is!

Sample Images

Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM gmaster portrait bokeh sharpness a7rII a7rm3 a7riii 42mp review
Sony A7rII | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM | f/5.6
Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM gmaster portrait bokeh sharpness a7rII a7rm3 a7riii 42mp review flare gegenlicht contralight backlit backlight
Sony A7rII | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM | f/1.4
Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM gmaster portrait bokeh sharpness a7rII a7rm3 a7riii 42mp review
Sony A7rII | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM | f/1.4
Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM gmaster portrait bokeh sharpness a7rII a7rm3 a7riii 42mp review flare gegenlicht contralight backlit backlight uv light ultraviolet
Sony A7rII | Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM | f/1.4

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photography, The creative process, Uncategorized

The best lenses for Brenizer / Bokehpanoramas

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Introduction

bokeh panorama bokehpanorama brenizer bokehrama mechanical vignetting guide review
Sony A7s | Canon EF 135mm 2.0L | 55m f/0.81 equivalent

Brenizer or Bokehpanorama is a panorama technique to get a wide angle shot with the much better bokeh of a longer tele lens. In this article I will show you what it is all about and which lenses work best.

What is a Brenizer/Bokehpanorama?

bokeh panorama bokehpanorama brenizer bokehrama mechanical vignetting guide review
4×9 single shots before stitching in Microsoft Image Composite Editor

By using longer lenses and taking a panorama you can simulate the look of fictional, wider, very fast lenses that are not even technically possible to build.

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lenses, Review, Sony E-mount

Rolling Review: Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD

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Introduction

The Tamron 2.8/28-75 Di III RXD is the first third party E-Mount autofocus zoom lens. I am excited about this lens because it defines a milestone for the E-Mount system: until now, we only had a choice between Sony’s budget line, Samyang and the other (super-)expensive Sony/Zeiss options. The three classic third party manufacturers (Sigma, Tamron, Tokina) have been very tentative in their commitment to the E-mount system, and this lens is the first one that really changes this situation. The specs of the lens look spectacular on the paper, so let’s find out about its performance in the field.

In this review I will check the performance of my own copy.

Sample Images

Tamron 2.8/28-75 | Sony A7iii | 36mm | f/10
Tamron 2.8/28-75 | Sony A7iii | 28mm | f/2.8
Tamron 2.8/28-75 | Sony A7iii | 75mm | f/3.5

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Uncategorized

Best Astro-Photography Lenses for the Sony a7 series

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Introduction

Sony A7s | Batis 18mm 2.8 | f/2.8 | ISO6400 | 20s

Landscape astrophotography is something I have been doing for several years with my Sony a7S and a7rII (and D800 before). Luckily over the past few years many lenses have been released that make this task easier than ever. So today we are going to have a look at all the available lenses for your Sony so you can choose the one that works best for your needs.

What is landscape astrophotography?

Sony A7s | Nikon AF-S 20mm 1.8G | f/1.8 | 3 shot panorama |

In landscape astrophotography you will usually try to have a combination of the starry sky (with Milky Way or Northern Lights) as well as some foreground (e.g. landscape) in your frame so we are mostly looking at ultra wide to normal lenses (for stitching) here.

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Manual Lenses | Sony Alpha