This isn’t really a surprise…The RX100 is the Compact Camera of the Year 2012 at Photographyblog. And I guess quite many here on SAR bought that little jewel. One more thing: In these days I also got a weird rumors from an unknown source saying that Sony would launch a new RX100 model. Let me know if you got something about it.

That said the cheapest price I found in US is at [shoplink 16489 ebay]BigValue (Click here)[/shoplink] and as super kit for $648 at Amazon (Click here). And to noble your RX100 you may look at the Italian Leather Gariz case.

Image on top: Alpa 35mm f/4.0 MC PC-Curtagon

A short update about the new Metabones Speed Booster adapter. There will be three of them for sale in February:
ALPA to NEX ([shoplink 16469 ebay]check Alpa lenses here on eBay[/shoplink]).
Canon EF to NEX
Contarex to NEX ([shoplink 16478 ebay]check Contarex lenses here on eBay[/shoplink]).
Contax C/Y to NEX
Nikon F to NEX
Leica R to NEX ([shoplink 16471 ebay]check Leica R lenses here on eBay[/shoplink]).

Source: metabones.
And again…it’s Alpa and not Alpha! I didn’t make a spelling error :)

Like you I am surprised they added support for the Alpa lenses!

As you know MXcamera will sell the new Contax G to Sony E-mount adapter starting from February. The “special” feature is that it supports full auto aperture and auto focus control. Only the 16mm and 21mm Contax  G lenses will not be compatible on a NEX camera. Anyway, the news today is that there are two more videos published by the store selling those adapters, MXcamera. One video you can watch on top and the second video can be found here on youtube. Yep, looks like the af works :)

MXcamera already sells the Canon EF autofocus adapter on [shoplink 16463 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

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Reminder: list of great G lenses with links to eBay price:
Hologon 16mm; 1:8 on [shoplink 16235 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] -> (will not work on the DEO TECHART adapter).
Biogon T* 21 mm; 1:2,8 on [shoplink 16236 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] -> (will not work on the DEO TECHART adapter).
Biogon T* 28 mm; 1:2,8 on [shoplink 16237 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Planar T* 35 mm; 1:2,0 on [shoplink 16238 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Planar T* 45 mm; 1:2,0 on [shoplink 16239 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Sonnar T* 90 mm; 1:2,8 on [shoplink 16240 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Vario-Sonnar T* 35 – 70 mm; 1:3,5-5,6 on [shoplink 16241 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Philip Bloom announced and tested the new Metabones “Speed Booster” adapter. And what it does sounds as it would be some kind of magic trick! It makes any lens faster, wider and sharper! Philipp explains how it works:

“In essence, it’s an optical adapter that attaches to the E mount of a Sony NEX camera (Super 35 sensor) and then to a full frame SLR lens. The Metabones ‘Speed Booster’ is a 0.71 x focal reducer, that will effectively turn your full frame 50mm f/1.8 lens into a 35mm f/1.2 lens. Note, doing so (as a guide) will increase the aperture of that lens by one stop. Your Sony NEX Super 35 E-Mount will effectively have near full frame coverage on a full-frame lens. It also serves ‘double-duty’ as a lens mount adapter, from Canon EF lens (but not EF-S) to Sony NEX, with auto-aperture and image stabilisation.“

Amazing or not? It will be available in January 2013 from Metabones’ web site http://www.metabones.com and its worldwide dealer network for US$599 / £372 plus shipping and applicable taxes and duties.

Here is an image that shows you how it works:

The image circle gets reduced and this actually doesn’t decrease the image quality. The only real drawbacks are:
1) the lens has no fast autofocus like the recently announced [shoplink 15341 ebay]EF to NEX Smart Adapter II (they are here on eBay)[/shoplink].
2) You have to use a Full Frame lens and you can use it on an APS-C camera only (not on FF cameras).

And here is a video sample shot by Philip:

194 grams from James Miller on Vimeo.

Question now….

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Gariz keeps launching high quality stuff for the Sony RX1! There is a full list on eBay (via Slidoo). In detail:

1) They made a new half leather case in Black and Brown ([shoplink 16437 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).
2) The new lens cap ([shoplink 16439 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).
3) The new entry is the anti loose button(!) ([shoplink 16438 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]). Don’t know if that will be really useful for you RX1 owners. Someone has it and call it how it works? Thanks!
4) And this is the really first time I see that. A special Leather skin hood! ([shoplink 16441 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).

You can spend over $450 to cover your RX1 with luxury leather all around :)

Sigma Japan just issued a new press release where they do NOT unveil the shipment date for the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 A-mount lens. The release date is “undecided“.  Meantime TheDigitalPicture tested the same lens (with Canon mount) and writes that: “the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Lens is my new favorite Sigma lens.”

The A-mount lens is availble for preorder at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (click here). To get notified when this lens is on eBay login and save this search at Slidoo.

At CES 2013 Sony unveiled a 4K camcorder. Sony calls it a consumer model, but it definitely looks more like a prosumer piece of gear. The guys at photographybay had a close look on the 4K handycam, they write:

The 4K concept camera features an XAVC badge, which is Sony’s new codec introduced last year. As Sony puts it, “the primary objective in adopting the XAVC format is to develop a family of professional production tools that can economically handle High-Frame-Rate (HFR) HD and 4K imaging formats.” The maximum capability of the XAVC codec allows for 4K video at 60p and 4:4:4 12-bit at 960Mbps bit rate. Of course, it’s likely a consumer-grade 4K camera would be substantially lower than the max that XAVC can deliver.

We have yet to learn more about this new camcorder, maybe NAB 2013 (in April) will bring some news. Check the post at photographybay for pics of the camcorder and more tidbits.