New RX200 rumors from China (probably fake).

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The Sony RX100 price history in Germany (Source: Idealo).

For the first time I found new RX100 cameras priced under 500 Euro in Europe -> [shoplink 18236 ebay]Photodirect (eBay Germany)[/shoplink]. And in US you can find them for less than $600 on eBay (here on Slidoo). Does it mean the successor is going to be announced soon?

Rumors is floating around a web created by the Chinese Forum XITEK. It says the RX200 is going to be announced the first week of June. It will have a 28-140mm f/1.4-2.2 zoom lens. The body is more or less the same of the RX100 but it includes a pop-up viewfinder.

I hope my sources can tell me more about it soon but to me this sounds like a fake rumor. A 28-140mm with that bright lens and having the same large 1 inch sensor would require a huge lens! It’s almost impossible to maintain the current RX100 size!

RX100 links roundup:
RX100 price search links: [shopcountry 13014].
Cases: [shoplink 13347 ebay]Official Sony LCJ-RXA case[/shoplink], [shoplink 13344 ebay]Gariz case[/shoplink], [shoplink 13345 ebay]more leather case[/shoplink].
Batteries: [shoplink 13346 ebay]NP-BX1 Battery[/shoplink].
Special stuff: [shoplink 13343 ebay]Multi-Coated LENS ARMOR UV[/shoplink]. Magfilter at Amazon (Click here). RX100 filter adapter on [shoplink 13486 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

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Japanese 2012 market analysis: Only High End product sales didn’t decline.

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The Japanese agency Cipa published the full Digital Camera Market sales analysis for 2012. The report is available in Japanese only but here are some key info:

. Japanese Companies produced 44% less cameras (14,4 Million cameras).
– The compact camera production declined by 50% (11,2 Million cameras produced).
– The DSLR and the Mirrorless production declined by 25% (3,1 Million cameras produced).
– Only High End Camera and Lens sales saw a small growth. There is a growth of 14,1% in the Full Frame Lens production while APS-C lens production felt by 21 %.
– In the Japanese DSLR segment Sony has a 6,1% share. In 2010 Sony had 7,8%. Canon (52,2%) and Nikon (33,6%) are the leaders.

Summary: Smartphones are eating up the compact camera market and the System Camera market is saturated. The good news for Sony is that they produce most of the imaging sensors for smartphones (for Apple iPhone’s for example). The bad news is that Sony is still not an important player in the only camera segment that is growing. The High End Full Frame system. That’s where Sony has to put their efforts. The new NEX-FF is a step into the right direction but I hope cheap FF A-mount cameras will come in early 2014 too!

Click on these two thumbnails to see the most sold Mirrorless and DSLR cameras:

found via Photoscala.

Amazon camera market rankings:
US ranking (Click here).
DE ranking (Click here).
UK ranking (Click here).
FR ranking (Click here).

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Sony TidBits

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Antarctica from Darek Sepiolo on Vimeo. Shot with the Sony EX1 camera.

Sony gapless sensor patent at Egami.
Sony NEX-3n review at ThePhoBlographer.
Rokinon 35mm f/1.4 review at SonyAlphaLab.
SEL 50 f1.8 Compared to Leica Summicron 50mm f2 at PhotoCineNews.
Remote Camera Control Ver.3.1 for Mac OS X adds support for the A58 (support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp).
Sony E 35 mm f/1.8 vs Sigma E 30 mm f/2.8 EX DN by Per-Analogia.
Street Photography with the Nex7 and the Zeiss 24mm Sonnar T (F-StopEight).
RX1 review by SpiegleBerg.

Kerioke: here is an excellent documentary on Sony which was recently broadcast on 28th of April. it talks about how it developed the EXMOR sensors: NHk.or.jp.

Jordan: “Sony Artisan photographer goes to Kickstarter to fund his new book project, Future Presidents.  Future Presidents is a photography project that aims to inspire children of all races and backgrounds to embrace their dreams by expressing what they would do as President of the United States. View and pledge at www.KickstarterPresidents.com”

Rishi: “I did a nice little short film that captures the essence of the 2013 Wisdom 2.0 Conference and listens to attendees and speakers who come to explore a movement towards living with greater presence, meaning, and mindfulness in the digital age. The relevance is that all of it was done on the nex 7. I love this camera for a hybrid photography and film work. The highest quality video and photography you can get in the smallest form factor. http://blog.rishio.com/2013/04/2013-wisdom-20-conference.html”

Baron:” Please share this short film with the rest of the world. It carries a social message of responsible drinking and I think everyone should watch. It has a surprising twist in the end. Here is the video: Some Stupid Drunk Driver !!! This short film is made for the world’s co-leader in wines & spirits, Pernod Ricard Malaysia. To infuse a cinematic quality to this film we chose the Sony A99 and NEX-6 cameras with Zeiss 24-70mm F2.8 ZA. Many of the scenes happen at night and this is where the A99 shines. It could give me very useable footage in low light.  The noise from A99 is monochromatic. The footage holds up well. I could bring out the details in the shadows and I could still pull the highlights during editing with Edius.
We also used the A99 on a Glidecam Smooth Shooter in 2 key scenes. The Zeiss lens with A99 was heavy enough to balance very well on the stabilizer. Surprisingly stable shots even without Optical Image Stabilization.
The NEX-6 was used for most of our car-mounted POV shots. Its lightweight and compact feature let us attach it far into the car’s windscreen so we could shoot less wide for the actress. The dynamic range matched very well with the A99.“

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First Zeiss Lens unboxing video (comes with hood).

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The video on top is the first Unboxing video for the new Zeiss lenses. It shows the X-mount versions but the NEX mount version have exactly the same package. The video is useful because at least it proves you that the lenses come with hood included :)

The lenses can be preordered at:
32mm f/1.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here).
12mm f/2.8 at BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Uniquephoto (Click here).

Current US deals:
NEX-7 $50 price drop at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
NEX-5r $50 price drop at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
NEX-3n $50 price drop at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Up to $400 savings on camera-lens kit at BHphoto (Click here).
6% reward on Sony E and A mount cameras at Adorama (Click here).
NEX-F3 with kit lens for $399 at Amazon (Click here).
Up to $200 savings on Sony SLT cameras has been prolonged through June 1 (Click here to see the list at Amazon).
A99 superkit deal (Click here).
Sony Alpha Lenses (Click here).

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New RX1 and A58 review.

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[shoplink 18223].[/shoplink]

ePhotozine (Click here) tested the camera that could be the latest APS-C with SLT tech, the A58: “Despite an increase in resolution over the Sony Alpha A37, noise is well controlled with decent results at ISO3200 and even ISO6400. Rather than seeing this as a downgraded A57, the A58 is more of an upgraded A37, and offers improved detail in images and excellent value for money.”
A58 in Stock and Price check at [shopcountry 18223].

Digitalcamerareviews (Click here) posted the full RX1 review and writes: “Obviously the RX1’s image quality is the unequivocal star and rightly so. While techies (including me) are impressed that Sony fit a full-frame sensor in such a small body, the image is what photography is all about.”

RX1 links roundup:
RX1 at [shopcountry 15824].
RX1 Gariz accessories:
1) They made a new half leather case in Black and Brown ([shoplink 16437 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).
2) The new lens cap ([shoplink 16439 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).
3) The new entry is the anti loose button(!) ([shoplink 16438 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]). Don’t know if that will be really useful for you RX1 owners. Someone has it and call it how it works? Thanks!
4) And this is the really first time I see that. A special Leather skin hood! ([shoplink 16441 ebay]Click here to see them on eBay[/shoplink]).

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