Started new blog & Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 arrived

My motivation in starting this blog is somewhat personal of course, a place to think out loud and record my photographic explorations but also because there are not too many sites that dedicate to alpha-mount on Sony D-SLRs and D-SLTs. A notable few include Kurt Munger (link on the right) and Photozone, though neither are exhaustive. DPreview is also very helpful and thorough in their fully reviewed items but various Sony lenses have not been reviewed there yet. Sites such as DPreview, Lenstip, Photozone, to some extent Kurt Munger, Ken Rockwell (links on the right) focus on technical testing and rigorous comparisons, either in controlled conditions with charts or real-world putting the lenses through their paces.

I am also interested in the ergonomics and real-life experience of using the lenses and applying them in different styles and contexts of photography. It is not always evident how it is going to perform from generic shots. Some aspects, such as chromatic aberration and lens flare become much more apparent in daily use. I have also learned a lot by reading the customer reviews on BHphoto, in flickr groups and looking at people's folios. Some of the foibles such as lens creep, focusing accuracy, sturdiness and general ergonomics only emerge after spending some time with the lens in practice. So I will write about my impressions over time and load images from which you can judge yourself. I am also perplexed that, as of the time of writing, there are no camera user stats for the Sony D-SLT a55 on Flickr while so many of the D-SLRs, APS-C and full-frame, do feature in their user data. Really curious.

I guess I am also indulging my particular preferences for fast, bright lenses, the Zeiss colour factor and some degree of 'pixel-peeping', over-scrutinising and, at the moment, a particular interest in nature and wildlife photography. I hope you find any insights helpful.

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Having tried the Sony 16-105 f/3.5-5.6 and Sony Zeiss 16-80 f/3.5-4.5, finally I have arrived at the satisfying Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM on the a55 body. Looking forward to testing it in decent conditions.

EXIF 1/10 sec, f/3.9, 7.3 mm, ISO 100, 2011:03:16 17:41:00, u9010,S9010

(1024 x 768) Sony a55 & Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8