The video on top has been made at BHphoto store in NYC. Enjoy!

P.S.: Sony will soon release a statement about the A77/NEX-7 production status. I guess the chance is low that we will see both cameras in Stock before Christmas. And only a few store accepting NEX-7 preorders. Check this search links: [shopcountry 8454].

I am having so much fun with my [shoplink 8452]Sony NEX-5n[/shoplink] that I am constantly looking for lenses I could purchase for it. Thought it would be nice to share my impressions about one of the lenses I am looking for. The [shoplink 10220 ebay]Zeiss ZM Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 lens[/shoplink]. You can see an image of the NEX-5n with that lens on Flickr. The reason why I am intrigued by that lens is that:
1) it has a super build quality
2) it has a perfect focal length for portraits (75mm on a NEX).
3) and it is relatively compact and fast.

The lens is not cheap, around $1200 on [shoplink 10220 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Plus you have to buy the M to NEX mount adapter ([shoplink 8850 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink]).

Lens reviews
To start I read the presentation on the Zeiss website. I didn’t find any official review of the lens on a NEX camera. I only found some reviews of the lens used with the lovely Zeiss Ikon ZM. Ken Rockwell writes that it is “an easy lens to love: it’s just so small and fast! It’s not a lens for pixel counters. It’s very sharp at middle and smaller apertures where it matters, but trades sharper images for smoother images at the largest apertures. This 50/1.5 is superb for general photography and people pictures.“. And Luminous Landscape tested the lens on the Leica M9: “There is something else that the Sonnar and some other Zeiss lenses have, and that is a very pleasant 3D feeling to the pictures. It´s not as clinical as pictures with some of the ASPH-Leica lenses sometimes can get. It just feels very pleasant, for lack of a better word.”
I would say the lens performs very well on Fullframe cameras. But how does it look on a NEX camera with APS-C sensor?

Image and video samples on NEX:
I found that aperture test made by Janus that shows the bokeh look of the lens on the [shoplink 8452]Sony NEX-5n[/shoplink]:

I also found some nice NEX+Zeiss image samples here at Dpreview forum, pbase, flickr (whaker), flickr (Amselchen), flickr (Clarobuck), Clubsnap.

It looks like the lens is a real winner but I will wait to see the first tests of the [shoplink 8448]Sony 50mm f/1.8[/shoplink] before to consider to buy the Zeiss Sonnar lens. The Sony has autofocus and is cheaper. But on the other hand I love to work with manual focus and I like to buy lenses with super build quality (makes me feel it was worth to buy it). If only the price would not be that high!

—
Zeiss ZM Sonnar f/1.5 links at [shopcountry 10220] M to NEX mount adapter on [shoplink 8850 ebay]eBay[/shoplink]

Andrew Alexander from SLRgear (Click here) tested what should be the best available NEX lens to date. I invite you to read his full review that includes some graphs to show the lens performance. As expected this is a wonderful lens! Andrew says: “Considering the price, you would hope that the Sony 24mm ƒ/1.8 Sonnar T* ZA didn’t disappoint – and happily, it doesn’t. Sharpness is excellent even wide open, and other factors such as chromatic aberration, distortion and corner shading are well-controlled. The 24mm ƒ/1.8 proves to be an able companion to the NEX camera.”
What can I say? Well done Sony! Now we want more of this kind of lenses!

Reminder: The lens will be in Stock early/mid December. There are only a few stores accepting preorders right now:
US: Sony, Adorama.
UK: Amazon.co.uk, Jessops, Sony.
Germany: Sony.
France: Amazon.fr, Sony.
Italy: Sony.
Netherland: Sony.

A nice video made with the A77: “Light and Wind” by Sony.

Jefferson Graham from USAtoday (Click here) tested the A77. He is a known Canon shooter but I guess he will become soon a Sony user: “If you’re serious about photography and video, spend what it takes. I know I will. I liked the camera so much, I plan on buying it once it is back in stock.” :)
There is one more review at Digital-photography-school (Click here) tested the Sony A77: “If you can afford the top glass available for it, this is a phenomenal camera. Deserves to do well in the market. Good news Sony!”

The A77 is almost sold out everywhere. It’s so bad for Sony will have nothing to offer for the big Christmas sales time!
In USA you can find the A77 as part of mega-kits only. Via Brooklyn camera and Yibum on [shoplink 8461 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. And as super-kit on Amazon (Click here) -> sell the huge Monitor :) UDPARE: The Sony A65 is back in Stock via Cameta at Amazon (Click here).
In Europe there are only a few in Stock at Jessops, Warehousexpress, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, and of course on eBay (Click here).

P.S.: More A77 tests:
Test à hauts ISO des Raw de l’Alpha 77 développés avec Lightroom 3 (Alpha-numerique).
Sony A77 test at Itmedia.

I guess you already know what’s to like or not to like on the new Sony NEX-7. So this is not a review that will reveal something new. The British Pocket-Lint website (Click here) like other reviewers fell in love with the NEX-7. While the “electronic viewfinder isn’t going to be to everyone’s tastes” but “Sony’s 2.4m-dot OLED viewfinder blows those out the water“. Nerveless it’s still not perfect and there is still some “ghosting“. And than there is that huge 24 million Megapixel resolution squeezed on the APS-C sensor: “It’s testament to the Sony engineering team that this doesn’t become an issue, however, as the NEX-7’s image quality is superb.”

The only real limit of the camera is the auto focus speed and precision. It’s not on par with the competition. The only two “downsides” are the high price and the limited NEX lens range. That’s why the camera doesn’t receive the full score and gets 4 of 5 stars.

Most stores are not accepting NEX-7 preorders yet. Check for yourself: [shopcountry 8454].

Quick look at the Sony SLT A65 and SLT A77 by Mike Kobal

While we are all waiting to see if the A77 firmware update rumors coming from Asia are true you can enjoy the nest Sony A77 review from Techradar (Click here): “superb level of image quality when shooting in most conditions, great handling, good build quality, industry-leading EVF, quick full-time phase detection AF system and a comprehensive set of exposure modes, we have little trouble with recommending this excellent camera.”

And Photographic Central (Click here) posted the full A65 review: “Compared to the A55 and A33, the A65 is simply in another class in most respects- especially when it comes to the viewfinder and handling characteristics. While I prefer the A55’s image output overall to the A65’s it doesn’t have enough features otherwise that impress me. Therefore when I compare the A65 to every other SLT Sony has made, I conclude it to be the best value for the buck- and a camera that A-Mount shooters ought to really have a look at if they are considering an SLT model.”

More small A77/A65 news:
SonyAlphaLab (Click here) compared the High ISO results of the A77 with the Canon 5dMarkII and Sony A580.
There is also a new A65 review at DC.watch (japanese).

In Stock status:
Sony A77 [shopcountry 8461].
Sony A65 [shopcountry 8459].

DC.view (Click here) tested many Pentax 110 lenses on the NEX. I am a ig fan of Pentax and I think some of these lenses could be very interesting to use on my and your NEX camera. These lenses are relatively cheap and sometimes offer a very decent quality. My preferred lens is the 18mm f/2.8 which is really tiny! Watch the image smaples on DC.view to make your own opinion about the lenses.

The list of tested lenses with links on eBay:
Pentax-110 50mm f/2.8 on [shoplink 10121 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Pentax-110 70mm f/2.8 on [shoplink 10122 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Pentax-110 24mm f/2.8 on [shoplink 10123 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Pentax-110 18mm f/2.8 on [shoplink 10124 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink] Pentax-110 20-40mm f/2.8 on [shoplink 10125 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]