A fake Sony NEX-7 rendering with built-in EVF (Source: http://timberwolf.zenfolio.com/)

After yesterdays allergy sickness I toke some rest and it did help a lot. I am now again 100% fully recovered! Thanks for your kind words and moral support!!!

A double checked some info I received during the last month. If Sony didn’t change the plan because of the recent Japan Tusnami disaster the Sony A77 and NEX-7 should be announced in July and available in late September/early October. What I also told you is that both will feature the same 24 Megapixel sensor. Some of my sources already had the chance to play a little bit with those cameras. The first impression was extremely positive. Both cameras do have a lot of “mechanical” controls and superb build quality. Sony worked with many photographers to develop those camera so expect major changes in a positive direction. The sources also confirmed the price of the NEX-7 with kit lens (18-55mm). It will be around $1,300. The direct competitor, the [shoplink 4718]Panasonic GH2 + 14-140mm lens (Click here to see the camera specs and price on Amazon)[/shoplink] costs $1500 and $1000 with the 14-42mm lens. There is definitely an electronic OLED Viewfinder but the sources “forgot” to mention to me if the NEX-7 uses a built-in or external viewfinder. I hope that after reading this post they can send me the answer :)

I don’t know how the camera could look like. I would love it would have a design and body-quality a la [shoplink 6503 ebay]Zeiss Ikon ZM (Click here to see that camera on eBay)[/shoplink]. That’s just my very personal dream :)

There are a lot of rumors I am working on:
1) I am trying to find out when the delayed NEX-C3 and A35 will be announced
2) There should be a new NEX lens announcement in late May. I hope Sony will not delay that announcement too
3) I got many info about new Zeiss and Sony lenses. I am trying to understand if those rumors are real and when they will be announced.

As usual you can help me by sending the rumor using the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar. You can avoid to send me your name and email address (send me a fake name so that I can recognize you in future). It also doesn’t store your IP address. Please understand that I try to post rumors only after checking them with other sources. So it could take some time before you see it posted on this website. You can also create a fake gmail account to contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. That is the only way I can answer you.

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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!

NAB 2011: Zeiss CP.2 E-mount adapters

Holding a candle to the Sony PMW-F3 (Abelcine)

Sony NEX Viewfinder with Magnifier (SonyAlphaNex)

I received quite a few messages about possible discontinued products:
Paul: “IF you look on the canadian sony style site, the A390 and all of the 500 series have been pulled. The only remaining DSLR cameras are the sony 850 and the 900.“. Answer: I checked SonyStyle USA and some other european Sonystyle websites and they did not pull the A390 and 500 series. So it might be a temporary issue on Sonystyle Canada.
Xxx: “Hi, I just ordered an A850 from Crutchfield. I went back to the site to check on my order status. To my surprise, the A850 is now listed as DISCONTINUED. Can you please post on the production status of the A850.” My Answer: Sources already told me the A850 would be disocntinued but Sonysyle and other big stores do still have it in Stock!
Kevin: “I have noticed that the Zeiss primes (85mm and 135mm) with screw drives are appearing out of stock at places like SonyStyle.com. Could this mean updated versions with HSM are on the way? Might want to quiz some of your sources and see if there be anything to it or just a shortage due to the quake and tsunami.” Answer: No.

A reader sent me also this: “Here is that 3CMOS 3D Digital SLR that you were talking about previously: http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/BroadcastandBusiness/minisites/NAB2011/files/pmwtd300_v2501.pdf. Note it is not a digital camera but a video camera. It is a 3D video camera with 6 sensors and two lenses.”

And another reader sent me the explanation of the lens patent we talked about last week: “Not really smart, this is the lens is already used on the [shoplink 6491]SONY DSC-HX100V (Click here to see that camera)[/shoplink]. It has A 30X range (27-810. The patent talks about the difficulty of correcting lens aberrations while maintaining proper illumination at the sensor edges (exit pupil angle) with mega zoom lenses (over 10x). Some lens element groups are used to fix certain aberration but can make other aberrations worse. This lens uses a 5th group to help correct such aberrations and provide good performance.”

[shoplink 6426][/shoplink]
Image on top: The [shoplink 6426]Sony A390[/shoplink]

I received one more confimration about the possible future camera and lens shortages:

“I’m a buyer for my company’s photo retail division, and was talking to my area Sony rep. He wanted me to be prepared for shortages in the Sony lineup. He mentioned that I should place orders in soon for my busy summer season. The Sony ordering system we use is quite accurate and lets me know what stock is currently available, and when any backordered stock will be shipped to us. My last order of 8 different compact digitals showed almost all are listed TBD. Which means they have no idea when they will be available. Due to this shortage, they have sped up the EOL (end of line) period for the [shoplink 6426]A390[/shoplink] to immediate. All backorders for the a390 have been cancelled.”

If you do plan to buy a camera or lens than it might be the right time to start shopping! Here are quick links to tour affiliate stores: [shopcountry 3003].

A deal reminder for our US readers:
When you buy a NEX-5 or NEX-3  you get an $150 instant rebate when you buy it with both the 16mm and the 18-55mmm lenses. Check at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

[shoplink 3000][/shoplink]

As you know my contact form didn’t work for the last 20 days. I am slowly catching up with the rumor messages I missed. I do hope my sources can give me an answer to the following message I received today:

“My [shoplink 3000]NEX-3[/shoplink] is now in the hands of techs in Larado, Texas getting its brains re-installed. Tech support person assured me that: ->we are aware of the problem and a fixed and proper firmware updater will be posted any day.<- Meanwhile, DO NOT use the firmware updater if you have an Intel Mac running 10.6.”

Did you hear something about the new firmware?

P.S.: Sony has still to decide when the NEX-3C will be announced. But I got some more info I will post soon on SAR.

Reminder: When you buy a NEX-5 or NEX-3 you get an $150 instant rebate when you buy it with both the 16mm and the 18-55mmm lenses. Check at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

The image on top shows an image of a new Sony lens patent. What looks so simple has in reality a very complicated description and I haven’t figured out yet the specs of the lens. It looks like patent writers sometimes do have fun to hide the real specs behind tons of data. I would appreciate the help of some smart guy! Here is the link to the new patent filed in September 2010: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20110085248.pdf

And did you understand something? :)

One of our very good sources told us that Sony has the plan to announce new Sony products on May 26. That includes the 55-200mm lens for NEX cameras. But all my sources do confirm that there is now a very “uncertain” situation. Sony like other Japanese companies is facing many production problems. While the product announcement planed for May 26 has yet NOT been delayed there is a fair chance that the announcement could be delayed. Let’s hope Sony can fix some of the current production issues.

Editor’s note: It’s very difficult for me and my sources to get reliable info about the upcoming products. If you have some info about the new Sony roadmap (including the NEX-C3 and A35 new announcements plan) feel free to contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the contact form on the right sidebar. As you know you can avoid to send me your name or email address. It’s 100% anonymous (it doesn’t store your IP address).

[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].