Sony issued the full 2017 Fiscal year report and there is only good news to share. Engadget sums it up:

Sony’s latest earnings reveal a simple truth: former CEO Kaz Hirai left the company in a relatively good position. In the full year leading up to March 31st, 2018, the company raked in revenue of 8,544 billion yen (roughly $78.1 billion) and operating income, or profit, of 734.9 billion yen (roughly $6.7 billion). The latter figure is a huge improvement over the $2.6 billion it managed to pull in last time. The bump, however, was expected; in the last financial year, Sony’s camera imaging business was rocked by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. Now, that crucial division is back at full strength.

This is the Sony statement about the Imaging Business results:

Results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 SAR
Sales increased 76.3 billion yen (13%) year-on-year (a 9% increase on a constant currency basis) to 655.9 billion yen. This significant increase was mainly due to the absence of the impact from the Kumamoto Earthquakes in the previous fiscal year, the impact of foreign exchange rates and an improvement in the product mix of Still and Video Cameras reflecting a shift to high value-added models.
Operating income increased 27.7 billion yen year-on-year to 74.9 billion yen. This significant increase was mainly due to the above-mentioned improvement in product mix, the positive impact of foreign exchange rates and the absence of the impact from the Kumamoto Earthquakes in the previous fiscal year. During the current fiscal year, there was a 11.6 billion yen positive impact from foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

Forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019
Sales and operating income are both expected to be essentially flat year-on-year, primarily due to the expected negative impact of foreign exchange rates being substantially offset by an improvement in the product mix of Still and Video Cameras reflecting a shift to high value-added models.

All good so far. Now give us the new A7sIII and A6700 :)

Dear European friends: Sony Europe will launch massive up to €1.000 cashback action on May 1! Tune in on SonyAlpharumors.com on May 1 to get the links to the cashback action. – #sonyimages #sonyalphasclub #sonyalpha #sonyphotography #sonyphotogallery #sonyalpharumors #sonyalphagear #SonyPhotoGallery #SonyAlphasClub #SonyMirrorless

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Andrea Photographer-Explorer (@andrea_pizzini_photographer) am Apr 26, 2018 um 10:37 PDT

UPDATE: The Sony cashback is already running at Sony Netherland.

Meyer Optik just announced a new 75mm f/0,95 lens. It is the world’s fastest 75mm lens and will be available as native E-mount option (this is a Full Frame lens).

Press text:

Nocturnus 0.95/75 mm becomes world’s fastest 75mm lens with 15 aperture blades
Meyer-Optik-Görlitz Nocturnus 0.95/75mm continues the creation of the “master of light series” and the legacy of the fastest 75mm lens in the world
Available for Leica M, Sony and Fuji X

Again Meyer optic reaches for the next big step. But this time it’s a big one: the creation of the fastest 75mm lens worldwide causes a stir:

• sharpness with aperture of 0.95 – 16
• the fastest 75 mm lens of the world with 15 aperture blades
• a Bokeh ideal for portrait photography in difficult light conditions
• a lens that creates a three-dimensional appearance separating the subject from the background in a characteristic manner
• compatible with Leica M, Sony E and Fuji X
• click less aperture ring
• Made in Germany
• Highest requirements for the glasses used

Expected launch: May 2018
Expected Delivery Date/Availability: April 2019
Special Early Bird Price until 20.05.2018: 1899 €, expected MSRP €3999
Available camera mounts: Leica M, Sony E and Fuji X
More Information: http://info.meyer-optik-goerlitz.com/nocturnus75_presale_mailing_list-0

Meyer-Optik-Goerlitz: Again, in the leading position for available light photography
Already in the 1920s, Meyer brought lenses to market which were the fastest lenses of their time: the Kinoplasmat 75/f1. 5. Later the Primoplan 1.9/58 was to become the fastest standard lens for the famous Exakta camera, which was sold in the USA as “Kine night Exakta”. At this time Meyer-Optik Goerlitz was considered as the most prominent manufacturer of available light lenses, so called “giants of light” and in 2016 the company presented the Nocturnus 0.95/50 mm for the first time now available in its third version.
Now Meyer is following the legacy of creating the fastest 75mm lens in the world like it once did with the Kinoplasmat. The Nocturnus 0.95/75 mm lens is a full format lens available for Sony E, Fuji X and Leica M. The company also intends to follow with a 35mm lens later in order to complete its Nocturnus line.

Main Features

1. The Nocturnus provides unsurpassed portrait images

Like its “little brother” – the Nocturnus 50 – the Nocturnus 0.95/75 delivers outstanding performance with a fully opened aperture 0.95 for Sony E, Fuji X and Leica M photographers.
With its aperture at 0.95 and its 15 steel aperture blades with antireflection coating the Nocturnus 50 delivers an appearance and imaging which cannot be obtained by any other lens. This opens creative opportunities especially in “people photography” under difficult light conditions.

2. 75mm focal length, 15 Steel Aperture Blades: #1 and Only in the World of Available Light Photography

World premier! 75mm focal length, 15 steel aperture blades along with a maximum aperture of 0.95 is only available in the portfolio of Meyer-Optik Goerlitz. This combination allows photographers who are using Leica M, Sony E or Fuji X to make use of the outstanding creative opportunities by the conscious use of depth of field, sharpness and bokeh. The 15 blades aperture was designed by Dr. Prenzel from Goerlitz and the mechanical components of the aperture are built by Otto Niemann precision mechanics from Berlin. Otto Niemann has been one of the specialists in the production of iris diaphragms since 1945. Of course, the aperture of the Nocturnus 0.95/75 is adjustable to infinty. The mechanical quality is outstanding and as a result the Nocturnus 0.95 / 75mm is a tool, that the photographer can rely on all his life.

3. Handmade Masterpieces

The Nocturnus 0.95/75 is a handmade masterpiece. Trained expert staff and state of the art technology make each Meyer-Optik Goerlitz lens a masterpiece in itself. Meyer-Optik Goerlitz employs a selected staff who put in all their experience and pride to produce a perfect Meyer-Optik Goerlitz Nocturnus 0.95/75. The company offers guided tours in its production facilities in Hamburg, Germany, to give customers an insight into the high production standards.

4. Photography at the speed of light

The combination of 75mm and the unique aperture of f 0.95 creates images of an unmet aesthetic especially when shot wide open, generating a three dimensional appearance where the subject seems to be stepping out of the image. The Bokeh is smooth and under the appropriate condition may contain some sharp edged light circles.
Each shot is of unique sharpness, depth of field and Bokeh characteristic.