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You can read the full Sony A580 review at DPreview (Click here). It earns a very high score of 75% and a “Silver Award”. The Sony A55 sister got 76%. That’s a short excerpt of the conclusion: “The Sony DSLR-A580 is an excellent all-round performer that gets all the important stuff – image quality, metering, focus – right most of the time. Whether you like its slightly live-view centered design and user interface is pretty much a question of taste and shooting style.”

At that point I want to remind you that the Sony A580 is probably the last Sony camera having an optical viewfinder. The future is SLT (translucent technology with electronic viewfinder). The A77 and next fullframe cameras will be SLT models. As long as Sony can improve the electronic viewfinder technology that shouldn’t be a problem for any of us!

You can check the Sony A580 price and availability by clicking those direct links: [shopcountry 5509].
And here are the links for the SLT version, the A55: [shopcountry 3617].

Now you have a new reason to play a little bit with the DxO mark comparison tool. They just added the Sony 35mm f/1.4 G lens test results inside their database (Click here). And you can see how the lens performs when used on different cameras. See for example the Sony A900, A700 and A550 lens results (Click here). As you can see the lens is neither a winner neither a looser. I hope there will be soon an upgraded version, maybe a 35mm 1.4 Zeiss for Alpha? Let’s cross the finger!

Check the Sony 35mm f/1.4 price at [shopcountry 7016].

We just got that screenshot that describes a new feature of the upcoming A35 (to be announced on June 3). The text is pretty clear and I don’t have to add naything to that :)

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Photographyreview (Click here) tested the Sony A55: “The Sony Alpha SLT-A55 is a great camera with an innovative design, great performance and excellent image quality. It’s not quite the sports camera I was hoping for but it’s a very capable all-round performer that most people will be very happy with – especially people who value video as much as still photos.”

Day 5 of the Sony A55 review at ThePhoBlographer (Click here). He also made some ISO tests and those are the conclusion for the RAW noise test: “When viewing images at a normal size, noise starts to become noticeable around ISO 1600 but it’s nothing to be concerned about. I probably wouldn’t make any post processing noise adjustments until ISO 6400 unless I was blowing up the image to a larger size. I think this is impressive ISO performance from a consumer DSLR. ”

Jhpvideotutorials (Click here) also tested the A55: “If you’re looking for a SLR style camera that takes much better HD video than Canon or Nikon SLR’s, and takes very good photos, then this camera might just be the one for you!  If you’re a Photographer looking for the best image quality possible and plan to use studio lights, then I would not recommend this camera for you.” (P.S.: You have to click on the small page numbers at the bottom of the post to see all 5 page long review).

CLick those links to check price and availability of the A55: [shopcountry 3617].

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Kurtmunger (Click here) tested the Tamron 60mm f/2.0 macro lens for Sony: “I would highly recommend the Tamron 60mm F/2 lens when used out in the field at longer distances, where F/2 can come in handy for getting a defocused background, or hand-held available light situations.  For people wanting a good macro lens with plenty of working distance, and will be using it at close focus, I’d recommend the Sony 100mm macro.”
Click on shopnames to check price and availability of the Tamron: [shopcountry 6803].
And click here to check price and availability of the Sony macro: [shopcountry 6805].

On Dpreview forum (Click here) a user tested the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 on the NEX-5.

P.S.: “jieying” made four new reworked Kowa 55mm f/1.0 lenses for NEX. He is selling them on [shoplink 6804 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

I found a bunch of nice third party lens reviews (tested on NEX cameras). Let’s start with the most expensive lens:

1) Leica 50mm f/0.95
Steve Huff (Click here) tested the $11,000 lens on the NEX-5. yes it’s not a typo…$11,000 or 10.000 Euro. Don’t believe me? See the scary auctions on [shoplink 6749 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Got a heart attack? :)
That’s what he think about the combination: “This also made me wonder if there is anyone out there who bought an NEX-5 and a lens like the Noctilux to use with it. IMO, it would be a waste as the NEX sensor can not take full advantage of this masterpiece lens.”

2) Panasonic 14mm f/2.5
EosHD (Click here) tested a Micro Four Thirds lens on the NEX-3. You wonder how that is possible? With that adapter you can find on [shoplink 6750 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
EosHD says: “It covers the whole sensor just about with a slight light fall off. What’s interesting is just how extreme the distortion of the image is without the electronic image correction of Micro Four Thirds bodies. The optics really are very compromised on their own. But it’s a sharp lens, even wide open at F2.5 and very contrasty.”

3) Contax Zeiss Distagon and Planar
SonyAlphaNex (Click here) tested a bunch of (awesome) Contax lenses on the NEX-5!

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The famous “starblogger” Ken Rockwell stopped at Sony and tested the NEX-VG10 (Click here to read the full review). He usually reviews Nikon or Canon stuff so let’s see what he thinks about the VG10: “It’s about time someone made a large-sensor video camera dedicated for the video market, and it’s about time that Canon and Nikon SLRs got put to bed for video. SLRs were never made for video, and Sony knows video cameras better than anyone.“…”For those of you looking mostly to make video, I consider this a much smarter buy than a DSLR, and the NEX-VG10 includes a great lens for video; no need to use the interchangeable lens feature.”
Thanks Ken for posting a Sony review!
Check the VG10 price at [shopcountry 3058].

Imaging Resource (Click here) tested the Sony A580: “The only major fault we’d bring to the fore is the over-aggressive noise suppression in JPEG images, which strangely get worse in the red channel when you switch to Weak Noise Reduction mode. But there’s no arguing with our printed results, which show the Sony A580 able to produce good quality 20×30-inch prints from Large Fine JPEG images from ISO 100 to 400, and even the highest setting of 12,800 produces a good quality 5×7-inch print. ”
Check the A580 price at [shopcountry 4617].