On October 3, 2019 Sony announced the second iteration of their flagship full frame camera – A9II. Looking at the specifications we get the impression that it is just an incremental upgrade over the A9. Or is it?

On July 17 Sony announced the 4th generation of their Alpha 7R camera. This came a bit as a surprise because everyone expected any of the new A7SIII, A9II or A7000 models first. Instead, Sony surprisingly launched the A7RIV. Yes, we all know what is the “big deal” of this new camera – the 61 Mpx, which gives us better details, ability to print bigger, better opportunities for crop, and may be the new sensor will give us better dynamic range and lower noise, despite the higher resolution. The technology changes, right?

You can find the specifications everywhere, so I will not waste your time by listing all of them here again. For those who want to read them, here is a link to the Sony official Product specifications page. Instead, I would like to share with you my own thoughts about this announcement, the overall Sony strategy, and of course if I think A7RIV is a worthy upgrade over the A7RIII. Stay tuned… start in 3, 2, 1…

Lightweight, compact and affordable – this is how we can describe the just announced SONY FE 35mm f/1.8 lens. The f/1.8 aperture allows the lens to remain small and well balanced on both APS-C and full-frame Sony cameras.

Some other, not so obvious things, make this lens very desirable addition to each camera bag. Either for Professionals, enthusiasts or beginners. The linear auto-focus motor for quickly and accurately locking onto your subject, the customizable focus hold button, as well as the small minimum focus distance of just 0.22cm (0.73ft) will be a huge advantage over the older Sony FE 28mm f/2 lens.