Sony TidBits (and first video made with the new A57)


One of the First video made with the new A57!

It’s weekend time and I have a list of smaller news I collected ruing the last days. Here they are:

Hands on Review of the Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom w/ Ballhead at SonyAlphaLab (Click here).
Sony 500mm lens at the bird show in London (Amateur Photographer).
Mac OSX now supports NEX-7 & NEX-VG20
Sony A77 review at Dday.it (Click here).
Sony interview at Megapxiel (Click here)
2012 Sony World Photography Awards at ePhotozine (Click here).
Sony A77 review at Camerastuffreview (Click here).
Sony 16-50 review again at Camerastuffreview (Click here).

 

Have a nice weekend! I will be here to watch out for new rumors :)

New Sony A77/65 firmware is here!


A77 firmware update 1.05 Power off response test. The menu&dial response test can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o93fAsFCMo. Our reader Cheong posted another video on facebook (Click here).

Finally the new 1.05 firmware update is out! The official press release can be found here. Direct download links are here:

A77 windows version (Click here to download).
A77 mac version (Click here to download).
A65 windows version (Click here to download).
A65 mac version (Click here to download).

Here is the official improvement list:
• Adding an automatic lens correction support: [shoplink 4419]24/2 ZA[/shoplink], [shoplink 6052]85/1.4 ZA[/shoplink], [shoplink 10337]135/1.8 ZA[/shoplink], [shoplink 11583]70-300/4.5-5.6 G[/shoplink], [shoplink 6422]DT35/1.8[/shoplink], [shoplink 11584]DT50/1.8[/shoplink]
• Improve the response until the power turns off and then actually from “OFF” the power switch
• Improved response
• Improved response before dialing until you see the two improved auto reviews. Response, the dial after
• Improve response of AF (SAL500F40G) 3. 500mm F4 G SSM
• Improve the accuracy of auto focus in the scene, including the four bright spots. (Only SLT-A77)
• Five other improvement.

The firmware is not available or mentioned on Sony Europe and US sites. I am continually updating this post. Please let our readers know how the new firmware works on your camera!

Here are the first User reports:
Michael:This time the performance improvements are actually noticeable. Auto-review is now usable, and turning off the camera is as fast as with earlier models. I recommend 1.05 for everybody!
Lifeispixels:Speed of both control dials is now greatly improved. The number no longer lags behind when turning the dial quickly. Turning off time is also swift. No longer had to wait a few seconds before the AF motor turns the lens to infinity. Now just switch off and the motor turns the AF to infinity immediately.
Shaokee:holy shit, the camera’s response towards both dial turns is amazing. and switching the camera off is very quick. highly recommend this update!
Rui:Installed! start and shut down is instant. dials very responsive. Thanks Sony!
Cody:Update applied and it is definitely a big improvement in responsiveness, much more than 1.04 was. If I’m being picky, the lag isn’t completely gone but much improved. The usable auto-review is very nice. Startup is faster (and consequently waking up from sleep is faster). I never cared about the shutdown time, but it is fast now. Overall, it now feels like I’m not beta testing this camera anymore
Fotowolf:On/Off-delay is now a fraction of a second (not 5 seconds any more). Looks like they removed the debugging-flag while compiling the source code. Overall performance is excellent. Even AV speed has improved. The only issue that I have noticed: microAF adjustments do not work anymore
Cheong: 1. the dials are VERY responsive now. it feels like the a850 and my old a230 now.
2. the switch off time is def better, just a tad slower than the a850 (from my impression of using it in occasions)
3. the auto review now will not have the ‘now loading’ screen popping out and will immediately display your pic. even when i use single shot and take a few continuous photos, it will just display immediately. the minus though is that you are effectively doing blind shooting when you do that. However, when you take e shot, see your review, and immediately release and half press the shutter, it will go back to the EVF live view very very very quickly. so now its just a lame excuse if you say the EVF is making you miss shots!
” (video on facebook)


In Stock status and price check links:
Sony A77 at [shopcountry 8461].
Sony A65 at [shopcountry 8459].

New Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai makes the first step to strengthen the imaging division.

As Imaging Resource reports the new CEO Kazuo Hirai’s intention is “to make digital imaging one of three core pillars of Sony’s business.” And today Sony issued a statement saying that “Sony is positioning digital imaging, game and mobile as the three core pillars of its electronics business, and going forward aims to concentrate its resources in these areas to further reinforce the businesses.

In simple words, the digital imaging department has been elevated to an independent and strong arm of Sony’s strategy. I hope this step will simplify and accelerate the development process of new camera and lens products. With the new NEX and SLT systems Sony created a unique Chance to grow in a market that until a two years ago was merely dominated by Canon and Nikon. Good Luck!

P.S.: Talking about rumors…there is something in the air… ;)

Domain name change on hold. Thanks for your support.

Dear readers!

I have to thank you for the support you are giving me on SonyAlphaRumors. As you know I have to consider to change the domain name because of some “pressure” on my work here on SAR. I am still on hold to see if there is a chance to keep things how they are. I received more than 400 mails with domain name suggestion and support messages. Please understand that I cannot answer you all and I am writing this post to let you know that I read every single mail I got and it really helped me to get back some energy. Thanks again!

I want to make clear that I think so many people at Sony are doing a great work. It’s just pity “someone I don’t know” is trying to make my work on SAR a bit more diffcult. But I think in one way or another things will be solved soon.

And now let’s go back to work on Sony enws and rumors ;)

 

Sigma 30mm and 19mm release date and new reviews (In Stock in UK and Germany)


The newly announced Sigma lenses for the NEX system will start shipping in April. The 30mm lens release is scheduled for April 6 and the 19mm for April 13. Dpreview (Click here) posted some image samples of the 30mm Sigma on the NEX-7. And also the German Mittenkontakt (Click here) posted images with the exact same camera-lens combination.

The 30mm Sigma lens is in Stock on [shoplink 11967 ebay]eBay UK (Click here)[/shoplink] and Amazon Germany (Click here). USA readers can preorder the lens at BHphoto (Click here).

Source: Sigma Japan.

NEX-FS100 firmware release delayed (hope this won’t happen with the A77 too).

Sony PRO (Click here) announced the delay of the long awaited NEX-FS100 firmware release. Planned release date is now April 19. As you know also the new A77 firmware is supposed to e launched next week on march 29. Let’s hope they will not delay that too!

P.S.: You can see the full A77 new firmware features list here: http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/good-news-a77-firmware-1-05-coming-on-march-29/

Pressures to change my domain name :(

I really don’t know how I should talk about the following issue. I can’t go into any details because I don’t want to have any troubles with anyone. All I can tell you is that some “superior forces” are trying to make the life on that website harder. They really don’t understand (as our readers do) how valuable this website can be for them. It’s going on since a while and it is a very tuff battle. One day I may will tell you everything but I can’t do it right now.

That’s why I will be probably forced to change the domain name by dropping the word “Sony”. That will make keeping the website alive much easier. My question to you is the following:

The camera that can grab back attention from the Canon-Nikon launch is the...

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If you have other domain name suggestions please send me an email to sonyalpharumors@gmail.com (and please check if the domain name is available).

P.S.: Hope one day the “superior forces” will understand that Internet is changing the world and you should learn to live with that idea or at least try to contact me directly instead of playing some “not so nice game“.