Sony Japan has just introduce a new LCD Module. It is 100% brighter or you can switch to the normal mode where it consumes 50% less power than existing units. The new LCD uses an additional white “dot” to provide a brighter image. The LCD has 1.24 million dots and a VGA resolution (640×480 pixels).

Important: This is not the same LCD that will be used by the upcoming new A77. The A77 will have a 921 million dot Trueblack LCD.

What’s happening in UK is a terrible story. I am not going to tell you what’s going on as I guess you already know everything. But there is one news regarding Sony. The Sony London Distribution Centre burned down: “Eyewitnesses described how they saw a gang of around 20 looters leaving the warehouse, in Solar Way, north-east Enfield, with electrical goods before the fire took hold” (Source: Mirror). The video on top shows the fire.

One of my good sources explained why the new Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens is so large: “The large lenses have optics that are usable, with minimal modification, with SLT cameras. NEX-7 is a high quality photographic tool. Shorter size lenses would have very short distance of the rear lens element to the film plane. With small exit lens on wide lenses there would be too much light fallout. That is why a high quality WA lens needs to be bigger. The problems with NEX system. Very short flange distance is excellent for making inexpensive, quality, small WA lenses. The problem is light fallout at the edges of the picture – because the exit pupil of the lens would be too small and close to the CMOS. It is the reason the new 24 mm Zeiss is so big.”

Reminder: The Zeiss will cost around $999 and it will have a 16cm close focusing distance.

The video on top shows a video made with the new [shoplink 7207]Sony NEX-C3[/shoplink] and a set of M-mount lenses:
Zeiss 18/4 Distagon ZM ([shoplink 7996 ebay]Click here to see that lens auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Leica Summicron-M 28/2 ASPH ([shoplink 7997 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Leica Summilux-M 35/1.4 ASPH ([shoplink 7998 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Leica Summilux-M 50/1.4 ASPH ([shoplink 7999 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Leica APO-Summicron-M 90/2 ASPH ([shoplink 8000 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Glidetrack Shooter SD ([shoplink 8001 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Zacuto DSLR baseplate / Rails ([shoplink 8006 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])
Manfrotto 535 CF / 503 HDV ([shoplink 8007 ebay]auctions on eBay[/shoplink])

Sony NEX-C3 first look at SonyAlphaLab (Click here).

Sony HX9V Review by Thom Hogan (Click here): “It fits in a shirt pocket and it has a lens that goes from here to there, exactly as you’d want. For the small sensor size, the results are (barely) up to snuff in stills at low ISO, great in video. A serious shooter can do worse with some of the other compacts. Far worse in a few cases.” See the HX9V at [shopcountry 7597].

Picture effects tested on the Sony A55 at DC.watch (japanese).

A Sony NEX-C3 review by David Pogue from the New York Times (Click here). See the NEX-C3 at [shopcountry 7207].

Today Sony announced two new compact cameras, the TX55 and WX30. The TX55 is the most interesting camera which is the world’s thinnest camera in its class (among cameras with an optical anti-shake function). It has 16.2 Mp backside illuminated CMOS sensor and a 27-135mmlens. It records 1080i60 videos. It has a 3.3 inch OLED touch screen. The “coolest” new feature is the ‘Super Pixel Resolution’ digital zoom mode: “That boosts magnification without lowering the pixel count in the final image. Exclusive to Sony, ‘By Pixel Super Resolution’ processing further extends the camera’s 5x optical zoom range, allowing full-resolution 16.2 megapixel images with a maximum 10x zoom.”

You can already preorder that camera at Amazon US (Click here).

Sony α55 DSLR with Glidecam HD-2000 steadicam ([shoplink 7779 ebay]Click here to get the Glidecam on eBay)[/shoplink].

Full Sony NEX-C3 review at Photoreview Australia: “Although the NEX-C3’s grip is slightly better than on the NEX-3, it’s not nearly as comfortable as on the NEX-5. It forces you to pull your index finger back to trigger the shutter, instead of positioning it comfortably above the shutter button…We’re not sure why Sony has restricted the ISO range in this way when the sensor is clearly capable of covering a wider range. It’s most puzzling to see the lower end of the sensitivity scale not being fully exploited…Differences between JPEG and raw files were less than we’re accustomed to seeing, probably as a result of using the supplied raw file converter. Resolution remained high throughout the camera’s sensitivity range, with a gradual decline across the sensitivity range. ”

Also CNET US tested the NEX-C3: “Compact and attractive, with a tilting LCD and excellent photo quality, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 has some compelling aspects. But with the 18-55mm lens the camera becomes substantially less compact, there’s no EVF option, and the video capabilities are more limited than I’d expect for the price. A lot of people will like the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 for its excellent photo quality and a now more usable design, but it can get unexpectedly heavy with the zoom E-mount lenses, and it’s still a bit more expensive than many point-and-shoot upgraders will like.”

The NEX-C3 will be soon in Stock in non asian countries too. Preorder it at [shopcountry 7207] (Click on the shop names to visit the search page).

That’s a cool accessory: Jtec announced a hotshoe converter for the NEX cameras (from the proprietary Sony hot shoe to the universal hot shoe). Check at DC.watch.

Some nice NEX images sent to me by one of our readers (http://www.fluidr.com/)