Let me catch up with some A7s related news:

On top you can see Frederick Van Johnson youtube video interview about the Sony A7s. And a must watch video is this one posted by Den Lennie who is actually one of the few that had the lucky chance to test the A7s:

A7s Launch Film BTS from Den Lennie on Vimeo.

An absolute must read article for photogrpahers wondeirng why the A7s is that interesting has been written by Soundimagesplus (Click here):

The quality of the image is at least as important, if not more so, than how big it is.And that is where a camera like the A7s will really score. Better performance at high ISO’s means faster shutter speeds, narrower apertures and cleaner, sharper images. The photographer is also freed from the constraints of tripods, flash and lighting rigs in many instances. And 12MP is certainly enough for most publishing requirements. Sensors that improve dynamic range and allow us to document the non-sunlit world with clarity and definition is surely something we should applaud and encourage as photographers. I’m actually more excited about this camera than I thought I would be.

A7s eyes-on by Engadget on Youtube.
Spanish A7s NAB video by CineDigitalTV on Youtube.

A7s sites in different languages at Sony US, DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL.

Adobe released Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 for Mac (Click here) and Windows (Click here). We also have the new Camera Raw 8.4 and DNG Converter 8.4 that now support the A5000 and A6000. Download for Mac (Click here) or Windows (Click here). It also contains Lens Profules for many A and E-mount lenses!

But the biggest news is that the company also released the new Adobe Lightroom mobile (for Creative Cloud Subscribers). You can read more about it here: adobe.com/products/lightroom-mobile.html. Plenty of How To videos can be seen at Adobes Youtube Channel. This may the future of photo editing?

Some of the interesting tidbits:

– A7s has been developed along the A7 and A7r cameras
– development took 2-3 years
– Reason why the camera doesn’t record 4K internally is because of power consumption and because of the heating produced by the large sensor
– The one big physical change compared ot th A7-A7r is that the A7s has a stainless steel made mount.

A7s sites in different languages at Sony US, DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL.

Newsshooter is busy producing videos (by the way great work guys!). And here is the a video about the new Atomos Shogun 4K recorder for Sony a7S:

For the first time the new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 A-mount lens is in Stock at BHphoto (Click here). Great lens! Can’t wait to see the 50mm ART lens too!

UPDATE: 34 NABshow special deals now live on that BHphoto page (Click here).

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Today’s new deals on eBay Deal page (Click here) and Amazon deal page (Click here).

So here we are. Awake after the very long A7s announcement night. If you missed the A7s live announcement you just have to watch the latest 5 minutes of this 1 hour long video at Livestram. To quickly get all the information you need about the camera check out the A7s sites in different languages at Sony US, DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL. The camera is listed at BHphoto but with no price or preorder option.

My first impression: This looks like a 4K camera made a bit in a hurry. And the not shared price info confirms that. So it’s hard to judge the camera without to know how much it actually costs but let’s sum the A7s weak and strong points:

CONS:
– no 4K recording on SD cards (Panasonic GH4 does it!)
– almost same A7-A7r autofocus system (why not use the A6000 hybrid AF system?)

PROS:
– no pixel binning at 4K
– 409,600 ISO!
– -4 EV auto focus sensitivity (A7-A7r has 0 ev)
– It has likely the best dynamic range and color fidelity of any Full Frame camera yet!

Professional videographers will use external recorders anyway (for 4:2:2 output) so the first cons I mentioned by not matter at all for them. I think the biggest strong point is the superb Image Quality you should get with the new 12 Megapixel Full Frame sensor. Would love to see some RAW’s of it! But I guess we will have to wait a couple of weeks until reviewers can test the camera. If the IQ is the best of any FF yet and the price is not too high than this could be a good day for pure photographers too!

And here are some more new news about the A7s: Hands-on at Newsshooter, Hands-on pics by Dpreview,  New Atomos 4K recorder for the A7s (Cinema5d), French presentation at Alpha Numerique, German press text at Photoscala, Short Japanese text at DC.watch.

Let’s see what SAR readers think about the new A7s:

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Image samples (Click on it to enlarge):

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The A7s is here and it’s an amazing camera for both video and still photographers! You can read the full details at Sony US (Click here). The only bad news is that it doesn’t record 4K on SD card. You will have to use an external recorder. But for the rest this is an amazing camera. It has ISO up to 409600! The best dynamic range and color fidelity of any Full Frame Sensor yet.

A7s sites in different languages at Sony US, DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL. The camera is listed at BHphoto but with no price or preorder option.

A7s characteristics
ISO 50-409600
extreme high dynamic range and color fidelity (So Sony says without to share numbers yet)
4K recording with no pixel binning
4K recording on external records only (internal recording only Full HD)
4:2:2 color sampling with external recorder
The “S” stays for “sensivity
Price will be announced later and release in “Summer”. Some other sites said price should be $1,699. But take this with a huge grain of salt!
Full press text follows on bottom of this post

Reviews, Image and video samples:
First shooting review at Fstopacademy.

Full A7s details and image samples disclosed at Sony US (Click here).

A7s Video release:

Surprise:
Sony also announced the Power Zoom 28-135mm f/4.0 development.

Press text:
Dpreview, Sony A7s PDF file, Sony press center, Photographyblog, DSLRmagazine, Lemoundedelaphoto, Imaging Resource, Quesabesde.

Official Sony Press release and A7s specs:

• Wide ISO sensitivity setting from 50 to 409600 and unprecedented dynamic range
• World’s first full-frame sensor capable of full pixel read-out without pixel binning process for movie and 4K (QFHD: 3840 x 2160) HDMI video output
• Professional video functions including XAVC S Full HD recording at 50Mbps, time code and optional XLR audio inputs
• High ISO sensitivity range allows faster shutter speeds during low light shooting
• α Mount System compatible with a wide range of high quality lenses, including power zoom lens ideal for movie shooting
• Improved Fast Intelligent AF performance in light as low as EV-4
• Ultra compact, light-weight body for comfortable pro-style operation

From starry night-time skies to atmospheric, candle-lit interiors: there’s now a camera that opens up extraordinary creative possibilities for capturing flawless, emotionally engaging movie footage and professional-quality still images.

Joining the acclaimed α7 and α7R – the world’s smallest full-frame interchangeable lens cameras – the α7S from Sony puts extraordinary sensitivity, low noise and spectacular 4K (QFHD: 3840×2160) image quality into the hands of serious photographers and videographers.

Equally suitable for still photography and cost-conscious movie production, the α7S delivers dramatic artistic possibilities in the smallest body of any full-frame interchangeable-lens digital camera in the world.

Key to the extraordinary sensitivity of the α7S is a specially developed new full-frame 35mm Exmor CMOS image sensor.

With a 12.2 effective megapixel count the size of each individual photoreceptive site is significantly boosted to increase their light-gathering power. Coupled with the camera’s powerful BIONZ X processing engine, this reduces image noise while increasing effective sensitivity range of the α7S to ISO 50 – ISO 409600 in expanded mode (ISO 200 – 409600 for movies).

This unrivalled sensitivity and ultra-low noise floor allows the α7S to capture beautiful images in low light conditions where a lengthy exposure would normally be needed. Thanks to the camera’s huge sensitivity, it’s possible to shoot crisp, low-noise stills and video using faster shutter speeds. Its immense dynamic range is also ideal for high-contrast scenes, effortlessly handling extreme highlights and rich, deep blacks in the same frame.

Because of the image sensor’s extraordinary sensitivity, the amount of light it can collect is dramatically increased compared with conventional cameras. The newly developed image sensor provides photographers/videographers with high dynamic range in all conditions from extremely low light to bright sunlight.

Using data read-out from every single pixel of the 35mm full-frame sensor (24p and 25p), 4K images created by the α7S are impressively detailed, with outstandingly rich colours and life-like textures in every frame. Refined by the BIONZ X processor, the high-speed data stream allows the α7S to output video at 4K resolution from the HDMI connector with 4:2:2 colour sampling, for recording onto an external storage device or viewing on a compatible monitor.

Thanks to the full pixel read-out from the whole of the 35mm full-frame sensor, there’s a notable absence of undesirable aliasing (moiré) effects and ‘jaggies’ that betray lower-resolution video. Stunningly clear images can be recorded on a memory card in Full HD quality with XAVC S[5] recording format at the 50Mbps data rate that’s highly regarded by professional videographers.

In APS-C crop mode, the α7S supports high frame rate shooting at 120fps or 100fps with HD resolution (1280 x 720 pixels). The 120fps footage can be played back at 24p for a 5x slow-motion effect – ideal for seeing every detail of sports action or the balletic grace of a dancer.

There’s a wealth of other specialist functions to please professional videographers such as Picture Profile™ for wide ranging visual expression and S-Log2 gamma. Time code/user bit functions allow pro-style editing workflow, while an optional XLR Adaptor Microphone Kit supports high-quality audio acquisition.

As already proven on the α7R, high-speed, high-precision Fast Intelligent AF has been further improved to fully exploit the new camera’s extraordinary low-light performance as low as EV-4. Other features familiar to α7 users include a high-contrast XGA OLED Tru-Finder, Wi-Fi/NFC connectivity and compatibility with the growing range of downloadable PlayMemories Camera Apps.

There’s a growing range of α lenses to take full advantage of the camera’s near-limitless creative potential. Currently under development, a brand-new full frame E-mount power zoom 28-135mm, F4 lens appeals to quality-conscious movie-makers. In addition, Sony is collaboratively working with third parties to support pro-quality 4K video workflow. A new XLR adaptor kit with a direct attachment mechanism is also under development.

The new α7S full-frame interchangeable lens digital camera from Sony will be available in Europe in summer 2014.