A900 versus A99. Image courtesy: Photoclubalpha

Long time Sony blogger David KIlpatrick posted the full A99 review at Photoclubalpha (Click here). And he is heavily criticizing Sony for releasing a camera like that: “In my British Journal review, I concluded that the Alpha 99 was between 30 and 50% over-priced and combined with the cost and limited range of Sony lenses there would be little good reason for any new full-frame entrant to prefer Sony over Nikon or Canon.”

and “Despite this, I would be very happy if Sony revived the highest end optical prism DSLR in future. An Alpha 900 quality version of the D600 would have been perfect. And I do not think I am alone in showing some regret for the apparent end of the single-lens reflex Alpha.”

Read the full article and comment his very detailed analysis. I have to say I found it honest and also a clear description of Sony’s current limitations. I hope Sony will take notice of it for the sake of the future FF camera development!

Meantime price is slowly falling down. You cna get a new A99 for 2499 Euro at [shoplink 16220 ebay]eBay Germany (Click here)[/shoplink] and 2430 Euro at [shoplink 16221 ebay]eBay UK (Click here)[/shoplink]. To get notified on more price drops save this search on Slidoo eBay (login to save it or change root country).

Image courtesy: Techradar.

The latest RX1 test made by Techradar (Click here) shows an unexpected result. The JPG quality of the RX1 is worse than the one delivered by the A99. While RAW files for Dynamic Range and Noise are very similar (with the A99 having the edge on mid ISO). I am surprised to see that the JPG quality shows that huge(!) difference. I actually was expecting a better result!

The only real image quality of the advantage of the RX1 can be seen at Low ISO when shooting RAW. Than you will get the best results (and better than the A99).

Click these links to check price and in Stock status: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals. Save $170 by simply purchasing the $7 cheap chinese metal hood ([shoplink 15410 ebay]there is one here on eBay[/shoplink]) instead of the original expensive Sony hood.

You still have no price drop on the Sony RX1 but at leats you can get the camera in a superkit version at Adorama (Click here) for the same price of the camera only. The optical and electornic viewfinder are still available in Asia only (via Slidoo ebay).

And keep in mind that you have still one week left on the SLT rebate in US:
$300 off A77 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$300 off A77 with 18-135mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$300 off A77 with 16-50mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$200 off A65 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$200 off A65 with 18-135mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$200 off A65 with 18-55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$150 off A57 body only at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$150 off A57 with 18-135mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
$150 off A57 with 18-55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.

Let me catch up with some NEX related news:

Developing NEX-6 RAW files in Adobe Lightroom 4 (SonyAlphaLab).
Full review at Cnet US.
Prolongation des promotions Sony sur les reflex Alpha et les NEX (AlphaNumerique).
SLR Magic HyperPrime CINE 35mm T0.95 on the NEX-7 at 3Dkraft.
First Time Lapse App trial on youtube.

The Big guys over at Dpreview posted the full Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens test. And the lens got a “Gold Award” with a very high score of 89%: “The Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM is a truly excellent lens, that performs as well in the field as its superb lab test results suggest. With fast silent focusing and solid build, its lower price makes it a compelling alternative to the camera manufacturers’ equivalents if you don’t need weather-sealing.”

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.

DxOmark (Click here) just published their full Sony A99 sensor test. And it scores right in the middle between the Canon and Nikon Full Frame. The only real downside is the Low Light performance which is less good compared to Canon and Nikons score. But if you shoot at Low ISO than the A99 is on par with the best Nikon FF and far better than the Canon. DxO writes: “The use of Sony’s SLT technology in its top-of-the-line full-frame shooter delivers both pros and cons. The obvious downside is low-light performance compared to its closest competitors. The upside to the technology, of course is fast performance with full-time live view and continuous autofocus, which makes the A99 one of the best choices among semi-pro cameras for shooting video.”

It’s a good result for the A99 and at leats for me color depth and dynamic range are far more important than the image quality at 6400 ISO :)

I suspect that the Sony RX1 will score an even better results because of the lack of the transparent mirror. And this may another a good reason why a NEX FF makes sense…don’t you think?

A99 and RX1 links:
A99 Best price in US is at [shoplink 16154 ebay]Bigvalue ($2,600 on eBay here)[/shoplink].
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.

One of my favorite websites just reviewed the RX1: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/sony_rx1_review.shtml

It’s a must read article that ends with that sentence: “I hate sounding like a fanboy, but I must say that the Sony RX1 presses all the right buttons for me – no pun intended. Built quality is exemplary, haptics are mostly excellent, as are control placement and customizability. The Zeiss lens is truly excellent, and having a full-frame 24MP camera that can fit in a coat pocket and go almost anywhere without being an encumbrance makes this camera greatly appealing. One can always find quibbles in any piece of equipment, but the RX1 is more operationally all-of-a-piece and desirable than just about any recent camera in my experience.”

Sounds like Sony is on the right path with the RX series. Both the RX100 and the RX1 are well made cameras. Now let’s see if the RX10 is coming as next!

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Click these links to check price and in Stock status: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals. Save $170 by simply purchasing the $7 cheap chinese metal hood ([shoplink 15410 ebay]there is one here on eBay[/shoplink]) instead of the original expensive Sony hood.