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Right before the possible A35 announcmenet the discontinued [shoplink 3620]A33[/shoplink] gets reviewed at Steve Digicam’s: “We were impressed with the A33’s usability, image quality and performance oriented features during our testing, especially when you consider its attractive price point, and we have little doubt that this camera will appeal to a wide variety of photographers.”

The A35 will bring only marginal improvements and the A33 is currently discounted here and there. So you might take a look at [shopcountry 3620] (Click on shop name) to get the A33 camera for cheap!

P.S.: If you want to see something strange look at the Sony NEX-5 with Sirene 135 Large Format Camera on SonyAlphaNex.

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Kurtmunger (Click here) tested the Vivitar 85mm f/1.4 lens: “The inexpensive [shoplink 6161]Vivitar 85mm F/1.4[/shoplink] turned in a darn good performance, making an medium telephoto 85mm F/1.4 accessible to cost-conscious people, as this wonderful lens is priced $1000 less than the [shoplink 6052]Sony CZ 85/1.4 planar[/shoplink]! How does the Vivitar stand up to the CZ, or [shoplink 5979]Sony 85mm F/2.8 SAM[/shoplink]? I don’t have the CZ 85mm with me, but if memory serves me correctly(!), I think the CZ is sharper with better contrast at F/1.4, although I’m not sure about the mid-sections and corners, other differences can be culled from the Sony CZ 85mm F/1.4 review. The Sony 85mm F/2.8 SAM is very similar to the Vivitar in sharpness“.
Check out price and availability of the Vivitar lens at [shopcountry 6161].

Thisweekinphoto (Click here) tested the Sony NEX-5: “Back to the one question I have not answered, does the NEX-5 replace my Alpha 850 as an everyday camera. Since I shoot so little with flash or in a studio these days  it really does, in fact I have let go of my A850 to a more deserving home already. I am not saying I wont own another DSLR or even the new Translucent Mirror Sony due out later this year, but I really like having a camera that is small and almost always on hand.”
Check out price and availability of the NEX-5 at [shopcountry 3003].

ThePhoBlographer (Click here) posted the complete Sony A580 review: “The a580 has performed masterfully in a variety of situations. It handled the hot, hot heat of Thailand and the confusing lighting of a concert in Brooklyn. It did well with sweaty hands and it recorded a number of videos in radically different locations with ease. The a580 is a prime choice, especially if you’ve got a bevy of great Minolta glass and if you’re not quite partial to the two SLTs, the a33 or a55.”
Check out price and availability of the A850 at [shopcountry 4617].

Image courtesy: Photozone.

Last year Photozone tested the Zeiss 24-70mm on the APS-C A700 camera and the results were impressive. Today Photozone (Click here) tested the same lens on the Fullframe A900 camera and results are by far LESS impressive! The conclusion: “The [shoplink 6050]Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM[/shoplink] produced outstanding performance figures in our APS-C test but it’s not quite as good when used within its native full format scope. It is, of course, still able of delivering an outstanding center resolution but the corner quality disappoints at 24mm when using large to medium aperture settings. You may argue that the quality is fine at mainstream settings here (f/8-f/11) but for this amount of money you simply expect better results here. The lens is certainly very sharp at 40mm and still pretty good at 70mm. Lateral CAs may be visible at times in wide-angle images but it’s a non-issue in the middle to upper zoom range. A rather sour aspect of the lens is the quality of the bokeh (character of the out-of-focus blur) which could be better @ 70mm f/2.8 – this may cause headaches for some users. Bokeh fringing is very well controlled though. The lens is somewhat prone to flare.”

I am a bit surprised and you?

Check out the current price of the Zeiss lens at [shopcountry 6050].
The fullframe A900 at [shopcountry 3032].

And there it is the next review at Kurtmunger. Kurt never rests :)
That time he tested a third party lens, the Vivitar 7mm F/3.5 fisheye lens on the Sony A700: “Optically, this fisheye lens is quite good, and I’d recommend it for people that have APS-C cameras. It’s pretty sharp stopped down, and control of color fringing, light fall-off and ghosting is above average. The Vivitar 7mm APS-C fisheye performs well stopped down, although it isn’t as sharp as the Sony 16mm fisheye in the centers with a wide aperture. However, the Vivitar corners seem to be sharper with more contrast at smaller apertures. Don’t use the Sony 16mm F/2.8 fish-eye (review) on an APS-C camera, as the distortive effects are diminished by the crop factor, that’s why it doesn’t make any sense to directly compare them.”

Check out price and availability of the Vivitar lens at [shopcountry 6025].
Check out price and availability of the Sony 16mm lens at [shopcountry 6026].

Optical or electronic Viewfinder? It doesn’t matter anymore what you prefer! If you want to stick with Sony than electronic viewfinder is the only possible future. As you remember Sony officially announced they will drop the classic optical viewfinder technology. So is there really no other option?

Yes there is one…The hybrid Viewfinder! The new [shoplink 5969 ebay]Fuji X100[/shoplink] offers a dual EVF/OVF vision. The bad news is that such technology works with fixed lens only. I thought you might be curious to see how it works (see the video on top). The question now is, can the X100 technology be improved? In short yes. Sony should learn from the [shoplink 5968 ebay]Contax G2[/shoplink] that has the best viewfinder ever put in a rangefinder camera. It zooms as you change lenses, so it always has the perfect size! (Click here to read the review made by Ken Rockwell). Now the dreamers question:

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I would love to get my hands on that camera!

You can preorder the Fuji X100 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon UK. There is also one single camera on auction at [shoplink 5969 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. It will not be cheap!
Check out the Contax G2 auctions on [shoplink 5968 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

Today we have a nice mix of new Sony camera reviews!

Whatdigitalcamera (Click here) tested the Sony A580: “The most important element of the Sony A580, the image quality, is impressively consistent if not quite as eye-catching as it should be. Results are of an equivalent level to the chasing pack and the camera performs reasonably well in low light, although above ISO 800 image noise becomes apparent.”
Direct Sony A580 links to [shopcountry 3028].

Stayfocusedpress (Click here) posted a three part Sony A55 review: “When I first learned about the Alpha A55, I was amazed by the number of innovative features that Sony claimed to have packed into this new body. In the two months that I’ve used this camera, I remain impressed by the results that I’m seeing in the images and the ease with which I am able to capture them.”
Direct Sony A55 links to [shopcountry 3617].

Trustedreviews (Click here) tested the Sony NEX-3 which is going to be replaced soon by the NEX-C3: “The ‘negatives’ here are a ‘basic’ looking design, lack of body integral anti shake, omission of built-in flash (so you have to carry the clip-on variety around with you), and in the case of the NEX-3, video clips are ‘just’ 1280×720 pixels rather than Full HD. Howevermitigate, on the positive side, the price for the NEX-3 body plus twin lens kit combo on review feels very fair, at between £540 and £599 depending on where you shop. It’s also very easy for the amateur to get detailed, ‘professional’ looking results at the press of a button. It may not be truly pocketable, and has it’s issues but overall it’s well worth considering either as a smaller alternative to a DSLR or a step up from high-end compacts. ”
Direct Sony NEX-3 links to [shopcountry 3000].

Warning! Don’t show that post to your Canon friends, they could become very angry ;)
It’s right, Canon has a much wider lens range and a more professional/complete system. But you can no longer say that Canon sensors are really better than Sony sensors. De facto DxOmark (Click here) proved that Sony do deliver a better image quality than Canon sensors! See the image on top. The new [shoplink 6011]Canon 600D[/shoplink] gets easily beaten by both SLT and DSRL Sony models. Also the much more expensive [shoplink 6012]Canon 7D[/shoplink] can’t come close to the Sony cameras (Click here to see that at DxOmark). Now let’s hope Sony can prove to be a reliable system by releasing new lenses too and by improving their customer service. If that happens I am sure they will get much closer at Canon in terms of sales share.

Check out those direct links to see price and specs of the cameras:
Sony A55 at [shopcountry 3617].
Sony A33 at [shopcountry 3620].
Canon T3i/600D a [shopcountry 6011].
Canon 7D at [shopcountry 6012].