photokina

PhotoComment visits photokina to bring you the latest news in the photographic world as it happens from the world’s biggest photo show.

Review: Sony Alpha A580

In the midst of all the excitement of the Sony Alpha A55 and it’s Translucent Mirror technology, there seems to be little attention being paid to it’s more traditional counter part, the Alpha A580. Since this camera accompanied us to Photokina as well, we thought it time to give it a chance in the spotlight, even if its a little bit late.

Handling

I tend to tackle this first in a review as for me it is the most critical part of the camera. The ease of use, whether the camera fits well in the hand etc have become almost more important than anything else. Even if a camera has brilliant image quality, if I cant bring myself to hold it and use it then I am not going to shoot with it.

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Photokina Report: Review of Sony Alpha SLT-A55

As you will have noted, we were @photokina 2010 with Sony Alpha which entailed not only giving the best exposure we could to Sony’s latest products but more importantly, using the latest Sony products and putting them through their paces. If you have read our earlier post about what gear we took then you will know what our first impressions were. If not, here is the list.

  • Sony Alpha SLT-A55
  • Sony Alpha DSLR-A580
  • Sony Alpha DSLR-A850
  • Sony SAL35F18 – new
  • Sony SAL85F28 – new
  • Sony SAL1118
  • Sony SAL18250

In addition to this we took one or two other lenses, flashes etc. So how did the new Alpha A55 shape up?

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Photokina Report: Review – Sony Vaio VPCW217

Over the next couple of days we will be wrapping up the last of the exciting things we saw at Photokina 2010. In addition we have a few products that we took out to review on our journey. One of these is the Sony Vaio VPCW217 Netbook.

Some of you may be asking why on earth a photographer would use a somewhat gutless netbook over a more powerful laptop when traveling? Here is my reasoning:

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Photokina Report: Sony Carl Zeiss 24mm f/2 SSM

I had the chance to play briefly with Sony’s new Carl Zeiss® Distagon T* 24mm F2 ZA SSM (model SAL24F20Z) – that is a mouth full so excuse me if I use only portions of the name or designation from here on out. While this did not allow for a definite conclusion on the lens I can openly admit to putting it on my Christmas Wish List.

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Photokina Report: Gear We’ve Taken

It’s Friday and and for us at least, the day to wrap up our Photokina Experience. We head to London tomorrow and get back home to South Africa on Tuesday, so long as there are no flight delays. Its has been exciting so far – and this is by no means the concluding post – however in the very little spare time we have had, we have tried to be tourists and I thought you may like to know what gear we’ve been using.

We must give a big thank you to Sony South Africa for making some of the latest gear available to us to mix with our own.

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Photokina Report: Kenko Variable NDX Filter

We have been walking the halls of Photokina trying to spot some of the different or often overlooked products at such shows. We will aim to share some of those with you kicking off with the Kenko Variable NDX (Neutral Density) Filter that was on display. What makes this filter special? If you use ND … Read morePhotokina Report: Kenko Variable NDX Filter