The most expensive of all Sony lenses will be available on April 23th at BHphoto (Click here). Don’t know how many of our SAR readers will buy that $12,999.99 lens! I will certainly save that money for something else :)
UDPATE: A reader showed us a much cheaper alternative: The [shoplink 11531 ebay]Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX APO (Click here)[/shoplink].
One of my very trusted sources told me that the next Sony compact cameras will have a new “Pixel Binning” feature. For those of you not knowing what this is here is the wikipedia description: “binning is the procedure of combining a cluster of pixels into a single pixel. As such, in 2×2 binning, an array of 4 pixels becomes a single larger pixel,[1] reducing the overall number of pixels. This aggregation reduces the impact of read noise on the processed image at the cost of a lower resolution.“.
This is an interesting news because it is also a feature many of you requested for the future NEX and SLT cameras. I don’t know yet if that feature will be exclusive for compact camera or if it will be implemented in future system cameras too. I would certainly welcome that feature on my future A99 :)
The new 55-210mm Sony lens for the NEX system is right now in Stock at Amazon (Click here). But I don’t think the deal will be available for a long time as at the time of writing only a few lenses are in Stock. And don’t forget that the hottest NEX lens will be in Stock next week at BHphoto (Click here).
One more thing: Searching for a fast lens I found that [shoplink 11511 ebay]SLR Magic HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. I never read of one of my readers having that lens. That’s why I ask you if you have some image samples to show me! Thanks!
Sony Zeiss 24mm for NEX review
Andrew Reid posted his final NEX-7 video quality review at EosHD (Click here): “Faced with the 5D Mark II and Panasonic GH2, the NEX 7 is a better stills camera than the GH2, ergonomically superior to both for video, has great colour and tonality in the standard picture profiles, but is not up there in terms of resolution and compression.”
NEX-7 and Zeiss lens test at SonyAlphaLab (Click here):”next to my Canon L Glass it’s the best lens I’ve used on the Sony Nex cameras. Corner to corner sharpness is very well maintained considering the engineering challenges of the E-mount 18mm flange distance to the sensor.”
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Check the availability of the NEX-7 at [shopcountry 8454].
Check the availability of the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 at [shopcountry 8450].
Carl Garrard got an update about the A600 rumor. In very last moment Sony opted for the 16.2 Megapixel sensor instead of the rumor 18.4 Megapixel sensor. This happens because of the high demand of the 16.2mp sensor from other manufacturers so that the 18.4mp sensor wasn’t put to production. The good news is that the 16.2mp sensor was upgraded!
Please keep in mind that the rumor is coming via Carl’s source. So I cannot tell you if the rumor is correct or not. Anyway, I am sure the A57 and probably the NEX-F3 are coming soon (March 13th). I also heard about unknown other camera coming soon. This may or may not include that A600 model.
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!
Sony didn’t please us with any new NEX lens so we can be glad that Sigma announced two new lenses. One of them (the 30mm f/2.8) is now available for preorder at BHphoto (Click here) and Amazon Germany (Click here). The lens has no spectacular specs but it doesn’t cost a lot (199 Euro). A far more appealing lens is the new 50mm for NEX which is (now was) in Stock at Amazon Germany (Click here). And it will be in Stock next week at Sonystore US (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here). Announced back in late August 2011 that lens is finally being shipped to worldwide stores.
One more thing: The A77 is now almost regularly in Stock at Amazon (Click here) and Adorama (Click here). I hope all that means that the SOny factory in Thailand is now back to 100% full production. Time to announce new stuff Sony! :)
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The current last announced model with optical viewfinder: The [shoplink 5509]Sony A580[/shoplink]
My friend Carl Garrard (Click here) got some interesting tidbits from an “old” source with good reputation. According to him there will be a new [shoplink 5509]A580 DSLR[/shoplink] successor. The real big news here is that Sony didn’t give up the Optical Viewfinder cameras: “I was told that for now Sony’s reaction to gathered marketplace demand is to keep traditional and non traditional DSLRS in the fold, but that only two OVF DSLRS would stay in the lineup. Priority is now given to SLT but that OVF are not yet out of the lineup. At least not yet. Apparently this is a pretty sudden switch in strategy, according to him.”
I know the A57 is coming and a source also told me there is one more camera coming too but I don’t know the specs yet. I hope my soruces can confirm soon if that rumor is true or not. I would certainly be happy if it would be correct! Here are the specs Carl got from his source.
Let’s cross the fingers!
P.S.: Don’t forget there is a huge Sony announcement day o March 13! The A57 is coming (and maybe NEX stuff too!).
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!
