The WSJ writes that Sony now owns 40% of the global sensor market:

“Unlike memory chips, making image sensors requires craftsmanship, and that’s not something competitors can copy in the short term,” says Hideaki Miwa, analyst at Techno Systems Research Co. According to the Tokyo research firm, Sony sold 40% of all image sensors last year, up from 35% in 2013. OmniVision’s market share was 16%, followed by 15% for Samsung. Total sales of image sensors grew to an estimated $8.65 billion last year, up more than 80% since 2009. Some analysts say keeping up with demand might be Sony’s biggest immediate challenge. In the long run, Sony could be vulnerable because of its dependence on Apple, which sometimes has shifted suppliers with little warning.  Satoru Oyama, a semiconductor analyst at research firmIHS Inc., says Apple likely would consider buying image sensors for iPhones elsewhere if another company could match Sony’s quality and price.”

via Image Sensor World.

Just a couple of consideration about the Sony sensor strategy on Digital Cameras (based on rumors, news and patents)
1) Sony plans to sell Four Thirds sensor to Olympus (See their new FT sensor at Sony.net).
2) Sony is now expanding their sensor sales to all manufactures. Mamiya/Pentax/Hasselbald use Sony’s 50MP CMOS medium format sensor. Canon uses Sony’s 1 inch sensor on the Canon G7x. Nikon on FF cameras and Pentax on APS-C DSLR.
3) Plenty of patents do disclose that Sony is working on Foveon alike sensor
4) Global Shutter will be mainstream in 2-3 years.

This means sensor in Alpha cameras will remain feature the best tech of the moment for the time being. There is little competition…for now.

The Switch-Nikon DSLR to Sony Mirrorless, 5 Reasons a Photographer Changed, WPPI 2015 w/Jason Lanier

Sony FE 28/2 First Impressions Review (Backgroundblur).
Sony World Photo Winners (Worldphoto).
1$ solution to all the light leak adapter-related problems (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony ILCE-7M2 a7 II review at Photoreview.
New Close Focus adapter by Kipon.
Rétro Photo – Sony Mavica : des balbutiements à la réalisation (Focus Numerique).
Firmware update for the FDR-AX100 4K camcorder (Sony Support).
Kinogrip launch new Kinohandle and wired trigger solution for Sony a7S (Newsshooter).

Quick tidbits of some weird/strange news:

1) Big LOL: TheCameraStoreTV tested the new Canon rebel and they kindly recommed to buy the Sony A6000 instead (see youtube video from min. 11:20 here).

2) Big $$$ for a 1,200mm lens: The most expensive lens you can buy for your FE cameras is that used(!) 1200mm f/5.6 Canon listed at BHphoto (Click here).

3) 2450mm f/8 NASA lens: Much cheaper and much more tele is that $33,500 NASA lens listed on [shoplink 36026 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Marc Galer on SonyAlphaForum
I am of the firm belief that there is no such thing as ‘good weather’ for taking a photograph. Even a grey day with drizzle offers an opportunity to capture an interesting image. This was captured with Sony’s FE24240. A great choice as a walkabout lens when you don’t really want to be changing lenses when it is raining :-)

1) Submit your picture with a message and picture here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors or on the SonyAlphaForum image section.
2) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors/photos_stream?tab=photos and on SonyAlphaForum.
3) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Note: When sending a pic feel free to also add a link to your site to promote yourself!

[shoplink 36072 ebay][/shoplink]

Two months ago Meike released the new MK-A7II battery grip for the new Sony A7II. And it’s now finally available via European and USA stores too:
Plenty of Asia/European stores are shipping it through [shoplink 36072 ebay]eBay (Click here to see the list)[/shoplink].
In USA it’s available at Amazon US (Click here).

Also the A7II Gariz case is in Store via European and US sellers:
In Asia/Europe/USA it’s available through [shoplink 36075 ebay]eBay (Click here to see the list)[/shoplink].
In USA it’s also available at Amazon US (Click here).

Official product description:

Focus Tracking Differences between Sony’s E-Mount and A-Mount Cameras by Gary Friedmann

Gary (video on top): “As I mention in my blog (friedmanarchives.com where this video first appeared), there are a lot of people for whom this situation may never come up. My purpose with the video is to let people better understand how the cameras evolved, and to touch on the strengths and weaknesses of each platform. It’s always useful to know under which circumstances your equipment will hit its limits, even if you never push it that far.”

For Germans: Gold Box on the RX1R (via DL) and A6000 (via DL).
Zeiss Loxia 35mm lens random thoughts by Sony Artisan Michael Wayne Plant.
State of the Camera Market (Diglloyd).
Sony Alpha A7 Family – Which One To Choose? (Verybiglobo).
Sony FE 24-240 tested at Dutch Pixelmania.
New kind of QX lens mount patent (Egami).
My review of the B-Grip Camera Holster for CSC’s and DSLM with my A6000 and A7R (Richardfoxphotography).
The Mighty Fifties – Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 vs Loxia 50mm f/2 vs Sigma 50mm f/1.4 (Ilovehatephoto).

Bernhard: “I started a little blog about my recent switch from my Canon 5DMKiii to a Sony A7s: http://www.wimair.at/WP/?page_id=3760. It’s written a little “personal”, to tech charts – only real life experiences. And it’s german only, so it may not be interesting for you.  As you sometimes post blogs of readers I thought you may like it.“

Sony just released their new Q1 financial report (files can be seen here). There are many good news:

1) Sony is recovering quickly from the big crisis and is making money again
2) Despite the collapse of the fixed lens compact camera market Sony is still doing money with the Imaging Segment
3) Sony is selling less fixed lens cameras and less video cameras. And the forecast is that it will sell less cameras the next months. But it’s shifting the focus on high value models and the strategy seems to work. Therefore they still expect to keep making profit with the business.

And this is what Sony writes

More graphs (Click on it to enlarge)

There is no info about a particular digital camera strategy or future products. But it’s good to hear Sony is one of the few companies still making money with cameras :)