Like the A99 also the Nikon D600 is using the new Sony 24 Megapixel FF sensor. Dpreview now posted the Nikon D600 studio samples (Click here to see them). I hope the Sony A99 samples will follow soon. Can’t wait to see if Sony catched up with the Nikon and Canon Jpeg engine (RAW quality should be about the same).

P.S.: For now the D600 outsells (in terms of preorders) the A99 according to Amazon rankings. Maybe Sony has to make to make a cheaper A95 FF model…

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A99 preorders at  Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.

I am quite busy at work today but I found a bit of time to check the Sony RX1 pictures posted today by Sony. And I liked them at all. Here are just some early thoughts:
Image at ISO 100 and ideal f/5.6 aperture (Click here):
On that picture taken at the ideal aperture you can check the edge to edge sharpness of the lens. I see only a little sharpness loss on the edges of the frame but I guess we would have seen a sharper image with f/8.0 aperture. Overall this is a very Zeiss alike sharpness rendering!
Image at ISO 1.600 and f/5.6 (Click here):
This image has been taken at ISO 1.600. This is usually the top ISO limit in real daily use. You will not go above that considering the f/2.0 lens aperture. Noise is a little visible in dark areas but it’s very harmonic and not disturbing at all.
Image at ISO 100 and f/5.6 (Click here):
Pictures of clouds. Almost ideal to see how the camera renders the dynamic range, particularly the white highlights.
Image at ISO 100 f/2.0 and macro (Click here):
The bokeh is extremely smooth and beautiful. And just look at that nice sharp detail!
Image at ISO 6400 (Click here):
As I told you before you will you want shoot at 6.400 very often. Noise is very visible but again, no fancy pattern or chrome noise. It’s definitely a surprise to see such a result on a Sony JPG sample.

And now……

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RX1 preorder links Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.

Sony just posted fifteen new image samples taken with the new Sony RX1. You can find them all on Flickr (Click here). UPDATE: There is one 6.400 ISO sample here. At first glance all I can say is that the superb lens and sensor combination delivers a great sharpness. The noise at 6.400 is very harmonic (no fancy noise pattern). Hope we can see some full size RAW samples soon! What do you think?

I just added new RX1 preorder options for Europe. Check out by clicking the links: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.

P.S.: ThePhoBlographer (Click here) posted the full RX100 review.
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Sony preorder list:
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.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.

So it really works! The video on top shows how Canon EF lenses autofocus works on NEX cameras thanks to an adapter made by a Chinese company. UPDATE: I have been told that this is just a prototype version of an adapter that will be sold in a few months. Right now there is an “older” version for sale with aperture control but no AF control at [shoplink 14445 ebay]eBay Hong Kong (Click here)[/shoplink].

Sony A99 test video with different A mount lenses.

Today let’s analyze the image quality of the A99 cameras. As usual keep in mind that the firmware isn’t final yet!

Our reader Michael shared many A99 Jpeg and RAW samples on Dropbox (Click here to download). More  image samples on tweakers, Dcfever. An ISO comparison at Postimage here and here (via Fotozine). Thanks pics with firmware version 0.90 on Flickr. And more pics by our reader Nikola Ovcharski. One more Sony A99 video sample on youtube.

So, now you have plenty of images to get an idea about the A99 quality. I think the camera is great and will be on par with cameras like the Nikon D600 and probably better than the Canon 5DmarkIII. And can’t wait to see how the A99 compares with the RX1 that lacks of the new FF translucent mirror. Anyway, a camera is more than just pixel peeping and the A99 is definitely an amazing camera when it comes to think “hybrid”, still and video in one. But still, the camera isn’t really a hotseller at Amazon US (ranking here). Let’s see in time how successful the A99 will be!

P.S.: Our readers David talked with a Sony manger who said: One more thing, the mentioned about why they use 24 but not 32mp pixel in a99 is the 60p recording, they said they realized that 24M pixel is the best fix in nowadays sensor technology.

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Sony preorder list:
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.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.

The D600 score by DxOmark (Click here)

May not everybody knows it but the new Sony 24 Megapixel Full Frame sensor is used not only by Sony (A99, RX1 and VG900) but also by the Nikon D600 (in stock today). And DxOmark (Click here) already posted the results of the D600 sensor test. The results are impressive. Compared with the Canon 5DmarkIII the Sony sensor has an image dynamic that is nearly 2.5-stops better! And a 2/3-stop advantage in color quality too!

This means that 1) Canon should be worried 2) We can expect similar extraordinary results on the A99, RX1 and VG900. Particularly the superb RX1 (specs and price here) may surpass the Nikon D600 score due the excellent Zeiss lens. I hope it can dethrone the D600 as leader of the Amazon ranks (here to see).

I updated the preorder list with the new BHphoto Sony lens preorder option Here it is:
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.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.