A7r AF faster than the NIkon D800E? the “Buddha” 55mm Bokeh test.

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The image on top has been sent to me by a SAR reader. it has been taken with the Sony A7r and the superb 55mm Zeiss. You like the “Buddha” bokeh? I like it a lot :)

Today a couple of friends attended different Sony events:

Mike Kobal (Click here) had the chance to test the A7r camera displayed at the PDN show in New York City. And he writes:

AF speed with the new 55mm 1.8 Zeiss lens is VERY fast, FASTER then my Nikkor 50mm 1.4 on the D800E. If you happen to have a Nex 7 and the orig 16mm pancake, the FF 55mm Zeiss will focus just as fast, which, frankly, is quite amazing. As you probably know a 55mm requires a much higher level of accuracy and has a longer focus throw. I am impressed. This at regular indoor light levels. One has to wait and see how it performs in low light.

And Andrew from EosHD (Click here) had a hands-on in Berlin:

The A7R is Sony’s best handling camera to date. Excellent physical control layout and a unique rear card slot with angled door. Both headphone and mic jacks, unusual to find on a small camera like this.
The sensor is the best in the stills world, and second best in the video world just behind the 5D Mark III. If you’re shooting raw video with the Magic Lantern firmware on the 5D Mark III of course the A7R won’t improve on that for image quality, but if you need the convenience of a compressed codec and don’t mind a bit of occasional moire and aliasing then the A7R does a great job.

And a third report from a SAR reader that attended another Asian Sony hands-on event writes:

1. SEL1018 can be used at Focal Length 13-15mm but at it is optimal at 14mm with very subtle vignette at all aperture. At 10-12mm & 16-18mm you will need to crop the very heavy vignette off (actually it requires the crop or turn on the auto crop)
2. AWB for underwater (not sure if you already have this info)
3. A7 + FE lens, AF is very good comparable to DSLR
4. A7R AF is like NEX-7 a bit faster but still hunt
5. At low light, all lens with A7R hunts while A7 is ok
6. NTSC/PAL switchable so you can just buy from a cheaper place even though the TV system is not the same as your country with NTSC you get 24p/60p/60i, with PAL 25p/50p/50i (AVCHD 2.0 specs)
7. Pre-AF is quite battery intensive
8. B&W rendering is so nice

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
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, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, 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.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev
A7 at Digitalrev.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

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20% off on all Touit lenses. And Sony eBay deals on many current Alpha and NEX cameras!

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We have tow new great deals today:

1) 20% off on all Zeiss Touit ASP-C E-mount lenses:
The 12mm f/2.8 Touit now sells for $999 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
The 32mm f/1.8 Touit now sells for $720 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

2) Today eBay launched a special Sony deals page (Click here). And these are the best NEX and Alpha deals:
Sony NEX-F3 Kit w/ 18-55mm / 55-210mm Lenses Black for $539.00 on [shoplink 22257 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony NEX-5R White w/16-50mm Lens 16GB Package for $608.00 on [shoplink 22258 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony NEX-7 w/ 18-55mm Lens Black 2 Batteries, UV Filter for $955.00 on [shoplink 22264 ebay]eBay(Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony SLT-A58 w/18-135mm Lens, 32GB & More for $711.00 on [shoplink 22260 ebay]eBay(Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony NEXVG900 (Black) for $3,018.00 on [shoplink 22261 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony RX100 Digital Camera (Black) + 16GB, 2 Batteries + More for $543.00 on [shoplink 22262 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony DSC-RX100 II Digital Camera + 2 Batteries, 16GB & More for $671.00 on [shoplink 22263 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony E-Mount 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS Zoom Lens for $234.00 on [shoplink 22265 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony NEX-VG30H Camcorder w/18-200mm + 2 Batteries, 32GB + More for $2,210.00 on [shoplink 22266 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]
Sony SLT-A99 Black (Body) + 2 Batteries, 32GB, Flash + More for $2,361.00 on [shoplink 22267 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

Two more deals info:
Don’t forget to claim the 2% back in reward on the A7r-A7 at Amazon (Click here).
Sony FDR-AX1 Digital 4K Video Camera Recorder is in Stock for the first time in USA at BHphoto (Click here).

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(SR5) Sony has an impressive camera roadmap for 2014

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First of all: Those of you that know me well will remember that in Spring I told you that there would be likely no more A-mount cameras this year. And I also told you that 2013 would be a year of relative calm (with the exception of the great A7-A7r launch). This is just to say that I am not a guy that likes to create fake hypes or expectations.

Amazing 2014: Well, with absolute no hype intentions and with certainties based on what I got in these days from my sources I can tell you that 2014 will be many times more exciting than 2013! There are also some unexpected camera to come (with unexpected I mean cameras that not even have been “rumored” until today). As usual I am working to triple check all info I get but this is what we can expect to be released in 2014:

– New APS-C E-mount cameras (branded as Alpha). This includes the NEX-7 successor and new entry level APS-C E-mount cameras
– New A-mount FF camera
– New E-mount FF cameras (yes guys….I intentionally used the plural!)
– With 80% reliability also a hybrid A-E mount high end camera to come.
– UPDATE: I am still not sure if there will be an APS-C A-mount camera. I know there are prototypes of such cameras. Don’t know if and when they will release them.

It will be the goal of the coming weeks to grab details about these cameras. Sources are welcome to share info by contacting me anonymously through he contact form you see on the right border of this site or by sending me an email at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.

One more thing: I know there is also a super brand new sensor tech. I still don’t know yet if it will make it in a production camera in late 2014 already or if we have to wait early 2015.

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Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
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, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, 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,

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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.

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!

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Voigtlander announces a smart VM-E Close Focus Adapter

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Voigtlander just made one of my dreams come true! They announced a new M-mount to E-mount adapter that will dramatically reduce the close focus distance of M-mount lenses! As you maybe know M-mount lenses usually have a close focus distance of 50cm on Voigtlander and 70cm on Leica lenses (the close focus distance is longer on tele lenses). By using that adapter this is what you get on [shoplink 22240 ebay]Voigtlander lenses[/shoplink]:

Here are the adapter specs:

The adapter costs 289 Euro and will ship in December! More info at Vogitlanders website.

Links: [shoplink 22240 ebay]Voigtlander VM lenses on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

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Surprise: Current 10-18mm OSS lens just works fine in FF mode on the A7/A7r!

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a7r_10-18mm-oss

Image courtesy: Meng Keat.

SAR reader Meng Keat was able to test the Sony 10-18mm f/4.0 OSS E-mount lens on the A7r. And surprise…it works fine in Full Frame mode. There is some Vignetting in the corner but absolutely acceptable and easy to mitigate in pos production. The important thing is that the resolution is there! The image on top has been shot at 13mm 1/60 | f/4 | ISO 800 | FL 13. It means current lens owners can happily upgrade to the FF mode and future A7-A7r camera owners can easily buy that lens if they need a wide angle zoom!

You can grab the lens at [shopcountry 22165].

One more test: Popescu tested the Zeiss Touit and the Sony 35mm G lens on the A7 (dpreview forum). These lenses work well in crop mode only.

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Up to 60% off on Sony’s SD cards (you could need them for the A7r)

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As a future A7r owners you will need many SD cards. And only for today you can grab them for an up to 60% discount at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

Note: A7r Still on top of the mirrorless ranking (Click here).

More current deals:
1) The NEX-7 just got the next price drop. You can get the body for $948 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). The kit version for $1,098 again at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). The rebate is valid til November 2.
2) Sony Alpha A3000 with 18-55mm and 55-210mm Lenses with Ruggard Streak 25 Shoulder Bag for 500$ at BHphoto (Click here).  That’s like the price of these two lenses alone, and you get a cam and a bag for free!
3) The Sony SEL1670Z Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS is now in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

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Some new superb A7r images by ijsvogel!

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Image courtesy: ijsvogel at Dyxum

If you click on the image on top to enlarge the image you can see the amazing sharpness of the Sony A7r with Zeiss 35mm FE combination. And now the surprise…this is a 100% crop! Here is the original image:

Image courtesy: ijsvogel at Dyxum

And more images can be seen at Dyxum. Thanks ijsvogel for sharing these amazing pictures! Can’t wait to see some 55m Zeiss FE samples too!

—

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
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, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, 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,

 

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