Adobe Lightroom 3 and Camera Raw lens profiles for the Sony A900

Here I eventually provide the lens profiles for my Sony A900 in combination with various of my lenses. These profiles only work with Lightroom 3 and the latest Camera Raw and eliminate distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberrations.

Here are the download links to the profiles:

A900 + Carl Zeiss AF 24-70mm F2.8 ZA T* SSM:        http://www.mediafire.com/?dh4c6kw8r4xvonq

A900 + Sigma AF 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG Asph:        http://www.mediafire.com/?ip3g8dt64et8m63

A900 + Minolta AF 100mm F2.8 Macro:          http://www.mediafire.com/?bemre9ue7o5agjb

A900 + Sony AF 50mm F1.4:               http://www.mediafire.com/?ndkkri1e1dli7rt

A900 + Sony AF 70-200mm F2.8 G SSM:             http://www.mediafire.com/?5z4xhz931pr1l7i

IMPORTANT:  It is possible that these profiles will require your lenses to be named correctly in the EXIF data of the respective photo files. I am not sure how tolerant Lightroom 3 is, but if for example your lens is named Zeiss 24-70 instead of the name which I use (Carl Zeiss AF 24-70mm F2.8 ZA T* SSM), my profile might not be recognized. Therefore you might have to change your lens name in the EXIF data. While this sounds like a lot of work, especially if you already have a ton of photos made with this lens, there are actually some convenient free software tools that can help you:

Personally, I use the free AlphalensInfo software, in order to automatically recognize my Sony lenses and to write the correct lens name to my EXIF data. The software takes a little bit to get used to, but in the end it works very well. Download and instructions can be found here:  http://www.equational.org/importphotos/alphalensinfo.html

Comparison of the Sony/Zeiss 1.4/85 vs. the Minolta 1.4/85

there is an interesting review at lenstip.com, comparing the two currently best 85mm portrait lens offerings for the Sony Alpha mount: the Sony Zeiss Planar T* 85 mm f/1.4 and the Minolta AF 85 mm f/1.4 G D.

link:  

http://www.lenstip.com/123.1-article-A_history_of_Sony_Alpha_-_Minolta_AF_85_mm_f_1.4_G_D_versus_Sony_Zeiss_Planar_T*_85_mm_f_1.4_Introduction.html

new private galleries of Baxter SP and Block Island

I uploaded photos from recent trips to the Baxter State Park (Maine) and to Block Island (Road Island). Just follow the “friends & family” link at the top of our webpage.

Sony announces the NEX-VG10 E-mount HD camcorder

this is a big deal: Sony now announced their first interchangable lens full HD camcorder for the E-mount. What exactly is so great about it?

 

in short:

a) the camera has a huge APS-C sized sensor. Hence you get much shallower depth-of-field compared to normal camcorders.

b) the camera takes all kinds of Sony E-mount lenses, and even all Sony/Minolta A-mount can be used via an adapter. This opens up great creative possibilites.

c) the camera can also take photos. And not just low quality, but actually stunning DSLR-quality shots at 14 MP resolution.

In my view the only negative about the camera: It does not allow RAW format capture of neither photos nor video. Not a huge issue, but at least RAW still capture would have been nice for post-processing.

The camera will cost ~2000 USD.

 

 

some links:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&identifier=S_NEX_Handycam#/handycamCamcorderSection

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1007/10071401sonynexvg10e.asp