Sony TidBits (Some products discontinued?)

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NAB 2011: Zeiss CP.2 E-mount adapters

Holding a candle to the Sony PMW-F3 (Abelcine)

Sony NEX Viewfinder with Magnifier (SonyAlphaNex)

I received quite a few messages about possible discontinued products:
Paul: “IF you look on the canadian sony style site, the A390 and all of the 500 series have been pulled. The only remaining DSLR cameras are the sony 850 and the 900.“. Answer: I checked SonyStyle USA and some other european Sonystyle websites and they did not pull the A390 and 500 series. So it might be a temporary issue on Sonystyle Canada.
Xxx: “Hi, I just ordered an A850 from Crutchfield. I went back to the site to check on my order status. To my surprise, the A850 is now listed as DISCONTINUED. Can you please post on the production status of the A850.” My Answer: Sources already told me the A850 would be disocntinued but Sonysyle and other big stores do still have it in Stock!
Kevin: “I have noticed that the Zeiss primes (85mm and 135mm) with screw drives are appearing out of stock at places like SonyStyle.com. Could this mean updated versions with HSM are on the way? Might want to quiz some of your sources and see if there be anything to it or just a shortage due to the quake and tsunami.” Answer: No.

A reader sent me also this: “Here is that 3CMOS 3D Digital SLR that you were talking about previously: http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/BroadcastandBusiness/minisites/NAB2011/files/pmwtd300_v2501.pdf. Note it is not a digital camera but a video camera. It is a 3D video camera with 6 sensors and two lenses.”

And another reader sent me the explanation of the lens patent we talked about last week: “Not really smart, this is the lens is already used on the [shoplink 6491]SONY DSC-HX100V (Click here to see that camera)[/shoplink]. It has A 30X range (27-810. The patent talks about the difficulty of correcting lens aberrations while maintaining proper illumination at the sensor edges (exit pupil angle) with mega zoom lenses (over 10x). Some lens element groups are used to fix certain aberration but can make other aberrations worse. This lens uses a 5th group to help correct such aberrations and provide good performance.”

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Market share 2010 now public: Sony very close to Canon!

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The gap in the DSLR market between Canon and Sony is still big but if you take into account all sold cameras in the year 2010 (DSLR+Mirrorless+compact cameras) the gap is only 1.1%!
According to Bloomberg worldwide camera sales jumped 10 percent to 141 million units last year, helped by the introduction of new models and economic growth in markets such as China. To win new customers, Sony and Samsung Electronics Co. are among companies unveiling devices that eliminated the need for a mirror in professional- grade cameras, where Canon has the lead.
“Sony’s and Samsung’s launching new mirror-less digital cameras helped them obtain more market share,” said Masahiko Ishino, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.
Most of the sold digital cameras are the small compacts. But you have higher profit margins on system cameras (That’s why Canon and Nikon are making more money than Sony). You can see on Amazon that most cameras in the TOP 20 are compacts:
Amazon US rankings (Click here)
Amazon DE rankings (Click here)
Amazon UK rankings (Click here)
Amazon FR rankings (Click here)
Amazon IT rankings (Click here)

My two cent on that: My crystal ball tells me that Sony will have the chance to surpass Canon if they manage to gain back some trust in the pro business with the A77 and the future full frame translucent cameras. Not to talk if they will manage to release a fullframe NEX. That would make one of my dreams become true! One more thing: I hope all that will happen before the end of the world in December 2012 -> according to the Maya calendar ;)

 

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Thom Hogan talks about the worldwide supply problems (and Sony mulls two-week summer break to save energy)

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As you know Sony had to delay the recent NEX and SLT camera announcements. Some of my sources already saw the cameras and they still don’t know when Sony will release them (a possible date is May 26th). The reasons for the delay are well known. In his latest post Thom Hogan made a brief desription about what’s going on with the digital camera production problems in Japan. It perfectly fits with the info I received from my sources: “I see several different estimates from various sources within Japan, but in no case does the Northern Japan power grid (which includes Tokyo itself) look like it will be anywhere near handling the demand this summer. There could be 50% shortfalls some days, and the average shortfall in July and August could reach 30%. That means frequent and long power blackouts, which is bad news for the camera industry. Sensor fabs, for instance, of which several are in the area, need continuous power (on top of the temperature issues in many critical processes, you’ve got to maintain continuous air filtration to avoid contamination). High quality glass factories can’t be turned on and off easily with rolling blackouts. It appears that the deeper into the supply chain you go (e.g., back to chemicals and raw materials), the worse the problem gets: those plants can’t be toggled on and off at whim. Many need long warm-up periods or continuous power to operate.”
and…
“Between the March quake and early winter when things even up a bit in the power realm, I’m guessing that the output of the plants in the affected area could be less than 50% of normal. That could mean nearly nine months of significantly reduced production of everything from Nikon FX bodies, to Nikon/Canon/Panasonic lenses, to Sony CMOS sensors, to all those proprietary lithium batteries, and more.”

Sony is also  considering having all its employees in Japan take two-week summer vacations to save energy (Source: Breitbart)

I guess the Tsunami-Fukushima disaster will affect the digital camera industry for the whole year and maybe more. Le’s hope Japanese engineers can fix the Fukushima plant as soon as possible…

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Fuji tweaked Sony sensor is the best in its 12 Megapixel class.

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What is the best 12Megapixel APS-C sensor in the world? Drumming…….it’s a Sony sensor on a Fuji camera :)
The new [shoplink 6075]Fuji X100[/shoplink] got tested by DxOmark and received an Overall Score of 73 points. No current 12 Megapixel APS-C camera can beat it. By the way, did you knwo the Fuji uses the same [shoplink 3228]Sony A700[/shoplink] sensor? Let’s hope the A77 and all other future cameras will be optimized to squeeze out the full Sony sensor potential!

P.S.: The Fuji X100 with the hybrid viewfinder concepts sells for almost the double original price on [shoplink 6075 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. Sony should take a look into that technology…

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Sony stock shortage? (A390 end of line)

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[shoplink 6426][/shoplink]
Image on top: The [shoplink 6426]Sony A390[/shoplink]

I received one more confimration about the possible future camera and lens shortages:

“I’m a buyer for my company’s photo retail division, and was talking to my area Sony rep. He wanted me to be prepared for shortages in the Sony lineup. He mentioned that I should place orders in soon for my busy summer season. The Sony ordering system we use is quite accurate and lets me know what stock is currently available, and when any backordered stock will be shipped to us. My last order of 8 different compact digitals showed almost all are listed TBD. Which means they have no idea when they will be available. Due to this shortage, they have sped up the EOL (end of line) period for the [shoplink 6426]A390[/shoplink] to immediate. All backorders for the a390 have been cancelled.”

If you do plan to buy a camera or lens than it might be the right time to start shopping! Here are quick links to tour affiliate stores: [shopcountry 3003].

A deal reminder for our US readers:
When you buy a NEX-5 or NEX-3  you get an $150 instant rebate when you buy it with both the 16mm and the 18-55mmm lenses. Check at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

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Sony TidBits (NEX-FS100 presentation video)

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Video on top: Juan Martinez (Sony Product Manager) shows the new Sony NEX-FS100 camera. He also talks a bit about the upcoming E-mount lenses.

According to Macworld the Sony A55 is the best DSLR in the sub $1,000 category.
Chipworks: Sony Switches to Bulk BSI in 1.1um Pixel (Image Sensor World).
iSuppli on Japan Image Sensor Industry Hit by Disaster (Image Sensor World)
Sony mulls two-week summer break to save energy (Breitbart.com).
Sony NEX Viewfinder with Magnifier (SonyAlphaNex)

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New Sigma 70-200mm OS review by Kurtmunger (+ new 15mm lens speculation…)

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[shoplink 6455][/shoplink]

Kurtmunger (Click here) posted a new Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens review: “I used three lenses for this review, and all three seemed about the same in image quality, so I’m thinking the quality control for this lens is ok.“…”The Sigma 70-200mm OS build quality is good, (but not as good as the Sony), and it offers the same type of fast, almost silent focusing system that Sony uses (SSM). Unfortunately, there are a couple of things missing on the lens that should be included at this price range; like some focus hold buttons and a focus limiter option to speed up focusing in certain situations.”…”Overall, I think the Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 HSM telephoto zoom lens with optical stabilization is not all that impressive considering the price tag is in the neighborhood of the excellent Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 G.”

Direct Links to the Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 EX lens: [shopcountry 6455]
Direct Links to the Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 lens: [shopcountry 6369]

Kurt also sent me the following info: “Just thought I’d relay some info on the new flash (HVL-F43AM) from Sony. I noticed it has a 15mm diffuser, which means Sony may be coming out with a 15mm lens at some point in the future, or it could be just a typo.  I put a specs chart on my homepage, and my thoughts on it.”

Let’s hope he is right ;)

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