DxOmark says: A99 new full-frame sensor is Sony’s best yet.

Share

DxOmark (Click here) just published their full Sony A99 sensor test. And it scores right in the middle between the Canon and Nikon Full Frame. The only real downside is the Low Light performance which is less good compared to Canon and Nikons score. But if you shoot at Low ISO than the A99 is on par with the best Nikon FF and far better than the Canon. DxO writes: “The use of Sony’s SLT technology in its top-of-the-line full-frame shooter delivers both pros and cons. The obvious downside is low-light performance compared to its closest competitors. The upside to the technology, of course is fast performance with full-time live view and continuous autofocus, which makes the A99 one of the best choices among semi-pro cameras for shooting video.”

It’s a good result for the A99 and at leats for me color depth and dynamic range are far more important than the image quality at 6400 ISO :)

I suspect that the Sony RX1 will score an even better results because of the lack of the transparent mirror. And this may another a good reason why a NEX FF makes sense…don’t you think?

 

A99 and RX1 links:
A99 Best price in US is at [shoplink 16154 ebay]Bigvalue ($2,600 on eBay here)[/shoplink].
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.

Share

Deal roundup: First silver 16-50mm lens in US. Lightning deal on A35. 35mm OSS in Stock in US and EU.

Share

[shoplink 16147 ebay]

[/shoplink]
NEX-RX deals:
Many SAR readers own Silver NEX cameras. So they might be interested to know that the first Silver 16-50mm pancake zoom lenses are now in Stock in Europe and in USA on [shoplink 16147 ebay]eBay (Click here to check the auctions)[/shoplink]. Found via Slidoo.
The 35mm f/1.8 OSS lens is also finally in Stock at Amazon and BHphoto. In Europe the camera is in Stock at Wex UK, Wex DE and of course on eBay (via Slidoo).
RX1 cameras you can find in Stock right now at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Free 16 GB SD card with the RX100 at BHphoto (Click here).

SLT deals:
There is a LIghtning deal on the SLT A35 at Amazon (Click here).
$275 off on the A57 bundle at Amazon (Click here).

Share

(SR5) Full Frame mirrorless from Sony coming in almost exactly one year! 24 or 30-32 Megapixel!

Share

It’s Christmas time and what bad administrator would I be if I wouldn’t give you an SR5 rumor :)

1) These last two weeks I contacted all my best sources and they now all(!) confirmed that the next Sony Full Frame camera will not be a new SLT camera. It will be a Full Frame mirrorless camera!
2) Plan of a FF SLT release in 2013 have been dropped to fully focus the development resources on that FF mirrorless camera. Sony’s main priority is to create a real High End camera. A camera that can have all the functions and capabilities of a DSLR (that means for example fast AF). Sony sees that camera as the one that should bring back some significant interests on Sony FF system.
3) The camera is still in the final stage of development. We can expect the release of the cameras by end 2013 at earliest but early 2014 sounds more likely for now.
4) The camera has some key tech not seen on any Sony camera yet. I am still working on this rumor to get some detailed info. So stay tuned!
5) The camera is a bit bigger than the current [shoplink 8454]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink] and not that much different in terms of the design.
6) The camera has a native E-mount and both E-mount and A-mount lenses will be fully supported.
7) One of the trusted sources said that Sony is right now testing two different prototypes. One features a 24 megapixel and the other camera features a new 30-32 Megapixel sensor.

 

In summary, in about one year the NEX world will expand into the High End Pro market. And this may be a bad news for the [shoplink 16137 ebay]Leica M system[/shoplink]! I know you have many questions about lenses, specs and so on. I am working on that and as you imagine it’s not easy to get specs about a camera which features are being tested and changed every couple of weeks. So what can we expect in 2013? we will have plenty of new NEX and SLT (APS-C) cameras and lenses. And I hope Sony engeneers will manage it to announce that NEX FF by Christmas 2013! But as I said, it all depends from the development speed. As Sony stated a couple of times, E-mount FF is a “challenge”. A challenge that Sony has no worry to take!

Now a short question:

What would you like to get?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Don’t miss any rumor about the Sony NEX and SLT world. Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here)!

—-

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!

Share

RX100 for $599. And my wishlist for the RX10

Share

[shoplink 16132 ebay][/shoplink]
Three brand new RX100 cameras are right now for sale with a $50 discount by a trusted Californian [shoplink 16132 ebay]eBay reseller (Click here to check out the auction)[/shoplink]. In case you miss the deal login my new Slidoo eBay website and save that RX100 search to get notified when the deal will be back online.

Somebody asked me about the RX10 specs. I have no info yet about it. Will try to digg into it with my sources. The RX1 is a luxurious expensive camera, the RX100 is a pocketable cameras. If you ask me I would like to have the perfect mix between the two. A High image quality sensor in a compact size. The best would be to use a fixed, compact and high quality f/2.0 prime lens. Something similar exists already, ti’s called Fuji X100 :)

What’s your perfect RX10?

—

The RX1 is now again back in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

Share

The 2013 prediction by Impress Japan magazine (NEX FF)

Share


Every year the Japanese magazine “Impress Japan” interviews company managers form the photographic industry and after that writes down their 2013 product forecast. These are the three main new things they expect from Sony:
1) Full Frame NEX
2) Further miniaturization of lenses (pancakes)
3) New improvements in hybrid AF performance

None of the three points is a real surprise for us. I am working on the NEX-FF rumor any day know. It’s difficult to share some SR5 news because Sony is righ know evaluating the product specs and release strategy. So please be patient. I am on this rumor every day!

I also got the image of the interview with a Sony manager. But it’s in Japanese and I will need the help of our Japanese SAR readers to know if there is some interesting info. Click on the image to see the large version:


Thanks for your help!

Share

Full Sony RX1 review at Luminous Landscape!

Share

One of my favorite websites just reviewed the RX1: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/sony_rx1_review.shtml

It’s a must read article that ends with that sentence: “I hate sounding like a fanboy, but I must say that the Sony RX1 presses all the right buttons for me – no pun intended. Built quality is exemplary, haptics are mostly excellent, as are control placement and customizability. The Zeiss lens is truly excellent, and having a full-frame 24MP camera that can fit in a coat pocket and go almost anywhere without being an encumbrance makes this camera greatly appealing. One can always find quibbles in any piece of equipment, but the RX1 is more operationally all-of-a-piece and desirable than just about any recent camera in my experience.”

Sounds like Sony is on the right path with the RX series. Both the RX100 and the RX1 are well made cameras. Now let’s see if the RX10 is coming as next!

–

Click these links to check price and in Stock status: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals. Save $170 by simply purchasing the $7 cheap chinese metal hood ([shoplink 15410 ebay]there is one here on eBay[/shoplink]) instead of the original expensive Sony hood.

Share