Yesterday Sony announced the new faster XQD cards (Press release here). The first generation XQD cards had a write speed of 125MB/s and the only camera capable of using them is the Nikon D4. This is the kind of super speedy cards you will be able to use on the next Full Frame SLT camera from Sony. The 24 Megapixel FF sensor is rumored to have a 10-12fps speed and you will need those cards to get the best out of it! And it comes for a price. The current 125MB/s cards are priced at $120 for the 16GB version (here at Amazon) and $230 for the 32GB version (here at Amazon). The newer faster cards will cost ¥60,000 (around $754) for the 64GB card and ¥40,000 ($503) for the 32GB model.

Yep, cute prices :(

The E-M5 sensor…from Sony!

Back in February Olympus announced the popular Olympus E-M5 camera. They didn’t unveil the sensor manufacturer that they said was not Panasonic. Yesterday Olympus President Hiroyuki Sasa “confessed” that the sensor has been made by Sony (Source: Yahoo Japan).

So after Nikon (for example the D800), Pentax (K-5) and Ricoh (See some GXR modules) we now have Olympus on board. Sony is far away from becoming the DSLR and Mirrorless camera market leader but they are now close to dominate the global sensor market!

RX100 rules the rankings and shipping in two weeks:
BHphoto (Click here) finally reported a shipping date for the new Sony RX100. Ant the RX100 remains the most sold overall(!) digital camera at Amazon US (click here to see the ranking).

That said I have to report something interesting about the sensor size definition:
Like him or not his blog is many times more popular than SAR. And on his website (Click here and scroll down) he just launched a heavy Sony attack he launched on he website. He writes about the RX100: “Sony is deceptive when claiming a “1 inch” sensor. Its image area is only 8.8 x 13.2 millimeters (0.34″ x 0.52″), so where is the FTC when you need them to stop this baloney?”
Let’s start with the naked truth, he is certainly RIGHT by saying that it’s not exactly an 1 inch sensor. But there are a few things he didn’t mention.

1) First, the sensor of the RX100 has the same size of that of the Nikon 1 and I found it weird that he didn’t attack Nikon before. Nikon itself also says it’s a 1 inch sensor (press release here at dpreview) and on Ken’s Nikon 1 preview he didn’t deserve Nikon the same critic. Maybe I missed it to find it or he forgot to mention it.

2) Wikipedia reports that “Sensor formats of digital cameras are mostly expressed in the non-standardized “inch” system as approximately 1.5 times the length of the diagonal of the sensor“. And David Pogue of the New York Times states that “the actual sensor size is much smaller than what the camera companies publish – about one-third smaller.”
In short…EVERYONE is cheating :)

This is just to say that Ken is right when saying that there is a need for a clear standard, but it’s pretty unfair to attack Sony on that matter when actually everybody (Nikon, Canon and others) do the same. Please do not transform this in a pro or against KEN debate. My only intention was to make it clear for you how this sensor size definition actually works.

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RX100 Preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany, Amazon France and Jessops.

Sony Japan marked the SAL 300mm f/2.8 as “discontinued”. Don’t know if a successor will be announced soon. Not everyone needs a $7,000 lens (that is the price at Amazon).

Reminder: SLT cameras got an $50 discount:
Sony A77 body only (Click here).
Sony A77 with 16-50mm (Click here).
Sony A65 body only (Click here).
Sony A65 with 18-55mm (Click here).
Sony A57 body only (Click here).
Sony A57 with 18-55mm (Click here).

I think this is the first time ever I see a Sony camera ruling the overall camera ranking at Amazon (Click here to check it out). The ranking includes all cameras, compact, mirrorless and DSLR!

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RX100 Preorders at Amazon US, Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon Germany, Amazon France and Jessops.

And the next rumor turned out to be correct. A couple of months ago we first reported that Sony was ready to launch a Go Pro competitor. Tonight Sony Blog unveiled the camera: “The video camera is tiny and lightweight, but it houses Sony’s hallmark SteadyShot^® image stabilization technology, Exmor^® R CMOS image sensor, and an ultra-wide angle Carl Zeiss® Tessar® lens.”

This is not an SLT nor a NEX camera but you have to know that Sony is entering a very huge and profitable market. Go Pro cameras (Click here to see them on Amazon and [shoplink 12725 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink]) are very likely the most sold cameras ever. You see them everywhere! I met many climbers, skiers and cyclists using them here in the Alps.

The already doing well Imaging Division now has the chance to expand the business (and profits). Now let’s hope Sony engineers will make us go crazy with the A88, A99 and new NEX cameras too!

P.S.: Thanks to all sources for sharing the rumor about that camera. It makes SAR a pretty reliable rumor site although of course nobody is perfect :)

Our friend Gary Friedman just released the new NEX-7 book. You can buy it here:http://friedmanarchives.com/NEX-7/index.htm. I guess you all know who Gary is and there is no need for a presentation.

A readers sent me that screenshot of a NEX-7 that has been sold with a $224 discount by Electronic Expo on Amazon (Click here). There was one copy only but this was a hell of a deal. Will keep my eyes open to see if the deal will be back soon. Meantime the best lens you can use on that camera is still in Stock at Amazon (Click here).