[shoplink 3032][/shoplink]The current Sony Fullframe Flagship camera: The [shoplink 3032]A900[/shoplink].

I am still waiting to get some news about the delayed NEX-C3 and A35. But in the meanwhile I got first good news about the next Fullframe camera…oh wait cameras! Yes I have been told that Sony is now planning to release two FF cameras in 2012!

One camera will have a low resolution sensor that can beat the ISO performance of the current [shoplink 6340]Canon 5D markII[/shoplink] and [shoplink 6341]Nikon D3x[/shoplink] cameras.
The second camera will have a high resolution sensor to come very close to medium format cameras like the [shoplink 6342]Pentax 645D[/shoplink] and [shoplink 6343]Leica S2[/shoplink].

Very important: Both cameras will be SLT (translucent). And both will be announced in 2012.  They will certainly feature the same (if not better) 3 million dots OLED Viewfinder as the A77. We should expect a mockup to be displayed at the Cliq (PMA) show in September.

I got the info from very good sources, but 2012 is still far away and I hope Sony will not change that roadmap! Sony is going to let us painfully wait a long time before we can get our hands on it!

Links to the current Sony FF cameras:
Sony A900 at [shopcountry 3032].
Sony A850 at [shopcountry 3028].

Other cameras discussed in the article:
Canon 5D markII at [shopcountry 6340]
Nikon D3x at [shopcountry 6341].
Pentax 645D at [shopcountry 6342].
Leica S2 at [shopcountry 6343].

A few days ago Sony canceled the new NEX-C3 and SLT A35 product announcements due the energy supply problems in some of their Japanese plants. I am constantly in touch with my sources and they told me that Sony has not yet decided when they will announce the new C-3/A35 cameras. The good news is that Sony will not delay the announcements of the important products. That includes the Sony A77 which should be announced in July. The NEX-C3 and A35 were just minor upgrades of the current [shoplink 3000]NEX-3[/shoplink] and [shoplink 3620]A33[/shoplink] cameras. One source told me that both do not have new features but just bring some “fixes”. The only major change would have been the new design of the NEX-3.
P.S.: I posted the rumor with SR4 value only because I don’t want to bring bad luck :)

Both cameras have been discontinued and (in some stores) discounted:
The Sony NEX-3 at [shopcountry 3000].
and the Sony A33 at [shopcountry 3620].

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!

I got in touch with my soruces and they do all confirm that ALL (!) new products announcements have been delayed! There will be no new product announcement yet. No NEX, no SLT no new lens! The sources confirmed that today (April 4) Sony should have announced the new products. Everything has been canceled and Sony didn’t decide when they will make the new product launch.

You can spread the word around the web. Sony production capacity has been hit very hardl by the earthquake-tsunami-Fukushima disaster. And I do believe most Japanese companies are not giving us the full view of the problems they have right now.

I want to thank all (many!) sources that contacted me to share that news.

The first hints about the upcoming SLT-A35 model have been found on the official Sony Netherlands website. Today Hans den Heijer, PR manager at Sony Benelux said that this was only a typo (Source: Tweakers.net). As you know we don’t believe him ;)
We got the info that A35 will replace the discontinued A33 model. So it sounds more than just a mistake! The real problem is that we have been told that Sony delayed many of the new product announcements because of the terrible situation in Japan. Let’s hope everything can go back to “normality” as soon as possible.

As soon as I have more info about the delayed product annnouncements I will post them on SAR. Thanks!

Over one month ago our sources told us that the NEX-3 and the A33 would be replaced by new slightly improved models. Sony recently discontinued both models making us believe the replacement would be imminent. But the very latest info we received from our sources do describe a very bad scenario for Sony plants in Japan. We have been told that during the last three weeks not a single sensor has been produced in Sony Japanese plants. As we told you on Friday there are two problems:
1) There are many aftershocks and every earthquake that is bigger than 5 point Richter automatically stops the production
2) Energy supply is very limited

Even Howard Stringer (CEO of Sony) said that the iPhone 5 will be release will be postponed because of sensor supply problems (Source: 9to5mac)! UPDATE: Our sources confirmed that the next iPhone will feature a Sony 8 Megapixel camera sensor.

The big question now is: Will the NEX-C3 and A35 announcement be delayed?

I have been told by one source that there have been a very last minute change. Some products that should have been announced before the NAB show in Las Vegas will be delayed. We don’t know yet if this includes the NEX-3 and A35. This is a very last minute decision and I ask my sources if they can send me more info about that.

And I guess that also other future Sony products could be delayed (I hope this will nto apply to the A77!).

If you have some info to share about that drop me a mail at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the contact form on the right sidebar. You can avoid to send me your name and mail address. It also doesn’t store your IP-address (you are 100% anonymous). Would be nice if you can at least send me a fake name so that I can recognize you in future. Thanks!

The Japanese website Egami.blog found a new Sigma patent that discloses a 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for APS-C mirrorless cameras. As you know Sigma announced that they will soon release lenses for E-mount cameras. That’s why we can assume that lens will be made for our NEX cameras. Anyway we already have a [shoplink 2996]Sony 18-55mm[/shoplink] lens for NEX. I really do hope they will release some fast prime lens too!

Check out the Sony 18-55mm price at [shopcountry 2996].

9to5mac just found an interesting statement from Howard Stringer (CEO of Sony). He said “that their camera image sensor facility in Sendai was affected by the recent tsunami/quake. In the next breath, he said something to the effect of getting image sensors to companies like Apple will be delayed.“. It is rumored that the next iPhone 5 will feature the same 8Megapixel backlit camera used inside the new [shoplink 6244]Xperia neo (Click here to se that cam)[/shoplink].

I know this is not an Alpha related rumor but at leats it’s good to hear that Sony sensors are gaining an interesting momentum. According to DxOmark Sonys APS-C sensors are better than the Canon-Panasonic-Samsung sensors. And now even Apple will use Sony’s knowledge.