PDNonline wrote that they tested the A7/A7r with “the so-new-it’s-still-a-prototype Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 (via the LA-EA3 adapter)“. If true this would mean they had an A-mount Otus Prototype in their hands! But guess what…this isn’t true. They just confused the Metabones EOS adapter with the LA-EA3 adapter :)
The RX10 will ship soon! November 23 according to Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). And there are also superkits for that cameras on Focus camera: kit one, kit two and kit three.
There are also two new deals on Samyang (aka Rokinon, aka Bower) lenses:
$50 of on the Bower 35mm f/1.4 Lens for Sony/Minolta at BHphoto (Click here).
$100 of on the Rokinon 16mm f/2.0 Lens for Sony A or Sony E mount Groupon (Click here).
A trusted source just told me that “the pre-ordered quantities are almost 200% bigger than expected by Sony“. That’s great news! It means they already sold triple as expected! Now imagine how much more they could sell with a rangefinder designed version (NEX-7 alike).
And now a new review:
CameraLabs (Click here) published the full Sony A7r review. And I like that first part of their conclusions:
“I’ll cut straight to the chase: the Sony Alpha A7r is one of the most impressive and exciting cameras I’ve ever tested. This is a camera which delivers the quality of the Nikon D800e in a body which weighs half as much and costs almost one third less….most high-end photographers I speak to cite the absence of full-frame models with AF as what’s holding them back from dumping their DSLRs and adopting mirrorless. Well Sony’s now removed that barrier with not one but two full-frame mirrorless bodies.”
Obviously the camera gets the “Highly Recommended” mark :)
—
Specs and Preorders in US and Canada:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. TheCameraStore Canada.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.
Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev.
A7 at Digitalrev, Amazon Cina.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.
SAR note: This is a readers guest post. If you want to write an article on SAR just contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Thanks!
—-
Full frame e-mount roadmap discussion by SAR reader Vlad.
Note: The following is a speculation, based on current rumors. It should simply serve as a conversation starter and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Today’s topic is the full frame e-mount roadmap
It looks like the different colors denote different lines of lenses, i.e. Sony Zeiss (blue), Sony G (yellow) and the regular Sony (grey). If that is correct, Sony is trying to present the ILCE line in its best light during the introduction, but there will be more affordable Sony lenses coming towards the end of 2014.
There are 3 upcoming lenses (mid 2014), that we can more easily speculate on, as they are described to some extent in the roadmap:
1. Sony Zeiss ultra wide angle F4 zoom – based on the current offerings and the speed indicated here, it’s already pretty clear that they are going for size reduction. I’d expect at best a 16-35, but probably something shorter and I don’t think they’ll go wider than 14mm.
2. Sony Zeiss fast prime – nice job of leaving that wide open. If we still consider that the grey lines are Sony lenses, it means that there won’t be many Sony Zeiss ones coming for some time, so something around 85mm makes the most sense (given that we already have a 35 and 55) and I won’t expect anything faster than F2. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an F2.8.
3. G macro lens – here we can expect everything. Given the G denomination, I don’t think it will be anything short, a good entry for a first macro lens for a system that Sony obviously wants to make look good, makes me think of a 100mm. Easily F4. Or faster and shorter, 60mm F2.8?
As to the upcoming Sony offerings, it seems probable that they will fill in the gaps (such as a wide prime), but also provide budget alternatives to the Sony Zeiss lenses and include stabilization for some.
On the high-end, the new family of Zeiss manual lenses (not Sony Zeiss), will probably be of big interest to many, but I expect really high prices for those.
(http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/zeiss-will-launch-manual-focusing-lenses-for-the-a7-a7r/)
What do you think about these assumptions and what Sony or Zeiss lenses would you like to see most, come end of 2014 and through 2015?
At Blog Naver (Click here) you can see the very first image samples taken with the new Tamron lens (link found via Dicahub). The A-mount lens is now listed at BHphoto (Click here). But there is no info on price and availability yet.
Specs at Tamron.
One source just told me that it’s highly likely that the next A-mount cameras will be announced in Q1 already. He mentioned both, FF and APS-C cameras are ready to be announced. They will use the current sensors from the A7-A7r while the APS-C cameras will use an improved 24MP sensor. This part is yet not confirmed but other new sources told me that the A-mount cameras could also have some innovative features (read Z-shift and that kind of stuff). I am working on it to verify this.
I know in these busy A7 and A7r news days I didn’t post many rumors but what you don’t know is that I worked a lot on the background trying to get reliable info about the massive(!) 2014 camera and lens roadmap. To verify all that info I need the feedback from my longtime trusted sources, hope they can share some hints about the 2014 so that I can be sure about the rumors I got :)
So please be patient. You really don’t have to wait a long time to enter the next rumor storm :)
—
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.
For readers: Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here) in order to not miss any news!
—
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!
Click on image to enlarge
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
–
At very beginning some readers were disappointed to see that new Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens didn’t have a faster f/1.4 aperture. That said, the Zeiss 55mm shows an impressive performance! The graphs here show the FE lens versus the $4,000 Otus 55mm Zeiss. UPDATE: We are obviously are comparing apple and oranges as MTF graph do not match the same aperture. But as you see at medium apertures the lenses are on par. But obviously the Otus has been designed to give you a maximum sharpness at f/1.4 aperture. And compared to the Zeiss FE the corners are sharper when shooting wide open (f/1.4 the Otus and f/1.8 the FE). But not really by that much!
Click on image to enlarge
–
MTF graph source: Zeiss Otus pdf, Zeiss FE page.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS. Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT
