New DxOmark lens test: 28-70mm FE and Samyang 24mm A-mount lens.

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DxOmark tested two great lenses:

1) The Sony FE 28-70mm lens (Click here to read the test). The surprise is that it is almost as good as the 24-70mm FE Zeiss:

Although enthusiasts will head straight for the Zeiss, anyone on a budget won’t feel short-changed from the Sony 28-70mm f3.5-4.5. It has some shortcomings, particularly with regard to uniformity at the wider apertures where it’s easily outclassed by the Zeiss but the Sony puts up a good fight overall and doesn’t cost the earth.

2) Samyang 24mm f/1.4 A-mount lens (Click here to read the test):

Wide-open performance isn’t particularly impressive but sharpness improves noticeably at f2.0, at least in the center of the field.  Transmission when measured on the A99 is excellent and both distortion and chromatic aberration are very well controlled. Vignetting is heavy at the maximum aperture but it’s not unexpected and hardly a serious problem.

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Plenty of NEX (pardon Alpha) deals!

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Sony heavily discounted all NEX Alpha E-mount cameras.

1) The great package you see on top (NEX-5T + two lenses + bag) can be bought at BestBuy (Click here).
2) Up to $300 off on all NEX (including the Alpha A6000) at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here and click on save bundle).
3) The NEX-6 with lens sells for a very low $524 at Amazon US (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
4) $300 off on the A6000+16-70mm Zeiss is now back at Amazon US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

And obviously still running is the up to $650 off on the Full Frame A7/A7r bundles at Amazon US (Click here).

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First Sony A77 RAW stills for download. Will ship in late May in Canada and Europe. Full A77II presentation video.

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Image courtesy: Quesabesde.

Quesabesde (google translation here) is the first site sharing original Sony A77II RAW files for download. Quesabesde is pleasantly surprised by the af speed (says could be the best af tested so far). They also write there is a low pass filter on the sensor

A77II ISO test images on Flickr.

You can also watch the full Sony A77II presentation on youtube (part one and part two).

Meantime also Sony Canada (Click here) is accepting A77II preorders and they say they will ship the camera on may 22 already (like the Sony European stores). Here is the updated preorder list:
Sony A77 body in USA/Canada at Amazon, Adorama, Sony Store, BHphoto and Sony Canada.
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon, Adorama, Sony Store and BHphoto.
Sony A77 body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI and Wex UK.
Sony A77 in Asia at Digitalrev.

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Reminder: Sony announcement tomorrow (May 7). And RX100M3 announced on May 15?

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So far I got info about two more Sony announcements on May 7 and May 15. From what I heard the Sony A7s pricing and the RX100M3 will be unveiled. But I am yet not sure what exactlyw ill be announced when. The May 7 event flyer from Sony Hong Kong shows a big Alpha Logo. But I don’t know if they will just show the new A77II or also announce the A7s pricing. A trusted source told me he heard the RX100M3 will be unveiled on May 15.

A7s pricing: Sony is spreading different price info that’s why you didn’t see me posting an SR5 rumor yet. Store owners told me prices between $1800 and $5000. And they claim they got the info from Sony managers. So you see, better to wait for the real pricing announcement :)

New Zeiss 16-35mm f/4.0 FE lens: Maybe Sony will show this lens for the first time after tomorrow along the A7s pricing announcement.

RX100M specs: Nothing has changed from the previous info I got. The specs I share now are 99% correct:
20MP sensor (same as RX100M2 model)
ISO 125-25600
24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens
Built in View finder (SVGA OLED Tru-Finder 1440k dots)
Tiltable screen (180 degrees up)
Record in XAVC S format (Same format of the Sony A7s but with no 4K output option).
Almost same size and weight as the current RX100/M2 models.
I have been told all other specs are the same of the current RX100II model.
Price is said to be around 800-850 Euro in Europe. Should be around $800-850 in USA (US price is my guess)

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(SR4) New Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4.0 FE lens will cost about the same as the 24-70mm Zeiss.

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Image courtesy: Photoscala.

I have been told the newly announced Zeiss 16-35mm OSS FE lens will cost about the same as the current Zeiss 24-70mm FE lens ($1199 here on Amazon). Sony still hasn’t shared any image of the lens yet. But it should ship from August.

Image courtesy: Photoscala.

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Zeiss 24-70mm FE Price check:  in USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. And in Europe at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT (Click on country name to see the lens site).

A77 Preorders:
Sony A77 body in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI.

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Message to sources: You can send me more info anonymously by using the contact form you see on the very right of your browser. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.
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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!

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