Four Sony cameras in the top 20 of the most sold cameras this year in Japan.

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In Japan (and in Japan only) you can get detailed reports about the camera sales. Bcnranking (via 1001noisyc) posted the top 20 of the most sold cameras between January 1st and December 20th. Four cameras are listed on it. The Sony NEX-5 (Pos 6), the Sony A55 (Pos 13), the Sony NEX-C3 (Pos 17) and the Sony NEX-3 (Pos 17). A wonder how that ranking would have looked if the NEX-7 and A77 wouldn’t have been stopped by the terrible Thai flood.

It’s still a mystery for me why we cannot have such detailed sales reports in other countries too. As you already know the only place I can check to see if a camera is popular or not is the very fluctuating Amazon ranking:
Amazon US ranking (Click here), Amazon DE ranking (Click here), Amazon UK ranking (Click here), Amazon FR ranking (Click here), Amazon IT ranking (Click here), Amazon ES ranking (Click here).

Overall it looks like European and American markets are more “conservative” and less subject to adopt new technologies. The mirrorless and SLT cameras aren’t popular as in Japan. But I think cameras like the NEX-7 and the future A99 can slowly change this in “western” countries too. It’s time to get rid of that Canon-Nikon duopoly!

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Got my NEX-7: Send me your M-mount lens experience stories!

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Hurray! I got my NEX-7! As you see I got the body only and I am still figuring out what kind of lens I should use on it. And I have a request to you readers. I want to spend my money on lenses I can use on different systems. That’s why I am looking to get M-mount lenses that can fit via adapter on any current ASP-C NEX or future full frame NEX (or hybrid mount) camera. I usually don’t spend a lot of money on digital cameras, but I am willing to invest in good lenses because a good lens lasts forever!

But it’s not an easy task as you might think. Some lenses do have rear nodal points that do not match perfectly on cameras. If that happens then you get huge vignetting and what’s worse color shifting on the corners. Most M-mount lenses have been designed for film cameras like the [shoplink 10898 ebay]Leica M7[/shoplink] or [shoplink 10899 ebay]Zeiss Ikon[/shoplink]. That’s why I would like to collect your stories with those lenses to see which one fits better on NEX cameras. There are many Leica M-mount lens which are very beautiful but far to expensive for me. As I often shot for work in “dangerous” situation I am not willing to risk to get robbed of a $6.000 lens! Here is the list of M-mount lenses I am looking for:

Zeiss ZM
[shoplink 10875 ebay]Distagon T* 2,8/15 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9803 ebay]Distagon T* 4/18 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9804 ebay]Biogon T* 2,8/21 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9804 ebay]C Biogon T* 4,5/21 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9805 ebay]Biogon T* 2,8/25 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9806 ebay]Biogon T* 2,8/28 ZM  (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9808 ebay]Biogon T* 2/35 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9808 ebay]C Biogon T* 2,8/35 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9809 ebay]C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM  (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9809 ebay]Planar T* 2/50 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9810 ebay]Sonnar T* 2/85 ZM  (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 9810 ebay]Tele-Tessar T* 4/85 ZM (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].

Minolta
[shoplink 10876 ebay]28mm f/2.8 M-Rokkor (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10877 ebay]40mm f/2 M-Rokkor (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10878 ebay]90mm f/4 M-Rokkor (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].

Konica
[shoplink 10879 ebay]21mm f/3.4 Hexanon (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10880 ebay]28mm f/2.8 Hexanon (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10881 ebay]35mm f/2.0 Hexanon (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10882 ebay]50mm f/2.0 Hexanon (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10883 ebay]50mm f/1.2 Hexanon (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 10884 ebay]90mm f/2.8 Hexanon (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink].

Voigtländer
[shoplink 10885 ebay]12mm f/5.6 Ultra Wide Heliar Aspherical II (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10886 ebay]15mm f/4.5 Super Wide Heliar II (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10887 ebay]21mm f/4 Color-Skopar P type (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10888 ebay]25mm f/4 Color-Skopar P type (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10889 ebay]28mm f/2.0 Ultron (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10890 ebay]35mm f/1.2 Aspherical Nokton (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10891 ebay]35mm f/1.4 Nokton classic (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10892 ebay]35mm f/2.5 Color-Skopar P type II (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10893 ebay]40mm f/1.4 Nokton classic (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10894 ebay]50mm f/2.0 collapsible Heliar (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10895 ebay]50mm f/1.1 Nokton (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10896 ebay]75mm f/1.8 Heliar (Click here to see price on eBay)[/shoplink]

Send me your stories at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com and I will post them! Thanks!

A note for all current “classic” Alpha camera user. I am not going to buy the A77 for one simple reason, because I want the A99 ;)

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Zeiss 24mm for NEX in Stock! Buy the lens and NEX-7 separately to get them first.

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To date some NEX-7 bodies has been shipped but it will take much longer if you are waiting to get the kit option (camera+lens). I have been told all kit options (with Zeiss or with the black 18-55mm lens) will be available much later. If you preordered the NEX-7 plus Zeiss 24mm lens kit I suggest you to buy the single camera and lens separately like I did!

The Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 is now in Stock at Amazon (Click here), Sonystore US (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here), Amazon France (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Amazon Italy (Click here),

The NEX-7 isn’t in Stock right now but it keeps appearing in Stock sometimes at Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and of course on [shoplink 10857 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. I got mine at Fotomundus but they haven’t any camera yet.

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What to expect from Sony in 2012. A rumor-speculation mix.

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An AE mount rendering from Jay (SonyAlphaLab.com)

Year 2011 has been a difficult year for many manufacturer. In March a Tsunami hit Japan and for months after the Fukushima nuclear plant limited the energy access of factories in the area. Even worse the Thailand flood from October stopped the sensor and camera production for months. Full production capacity will be reached in late February early march only. That’s why the roadmap of almost all companies changed and some of the cameras and lenses I would have expected in 2011 haven’t been announced.

So what’s going to happen in 2012?

First, it’s very likely that also the original 2012 roadmap shifted for a couple of months. So it’s not easy to guess when exactly the enw cameras will eb announced. Let me take the chance and propose you a possible general roadmap of what to expect in 2012:

January: New Sony compact cameras
February-March: New NEX camera ad lenses. As you know the original Sony roadmap showed three new lenses for 2012. I can guarantee you that the roadmap changed…in better! There will be more lenses than expected and one-two new pancakes too.
April-Mai-June: More new NEX camera and lenses + high end compact camera + new NEX camcorder + the new A99 camera. If the roadmap didn’t change because of the Thai flood the A99 with 24 Megapixel should be announced around that time. And it will come with a bunch of new lenses (high-end wide angle zoom, high end tele zoom, new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 and the 500mm f/4.0).
August-September: It’s Photokina time and the biggest news could be the new high end FF camera with 36 Megapixel and the sort of hybrid AE mount NEX-7 alike fullframe camera. There will be again new NEX and Alpha lenses.

In general the big new technologies in 2012 will be the Fuji organic sensor, Sony new 36 Megapixel sensor, Olympus new viewfinder and Global shutter (Sony/Panasonic). I haven’t heard anything revolutionary coming from Nikon and Canon.

Which lens are you considering to buy?

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No!!! See how you can replace a damaged semitransparent mirror! :)

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Dario just sent me this incredible story:

“Hi, I just want to let you know that yesterday after accidentally damaging the mirror of my A55 with the Eclipse cleaning fluid, I took out the mirror and tried other materials to replace it while I’m waiting for a new mirror. Long story short, food wrap (!) works just almost like the Sony’s mirror: sometimes the AF guesses a little, but most of the time is perfect, and It’s a lot more transparent, so I really don’t get what sony tries to sell us with their 70€ Hi-Tech mirror…
However, food wrap it’s a bit opaque, so the pictures have a slightly soft-focus effect when a bright light hits it. In the next days I’ll try other transparent films: expecially I want to try the plastic protective film for cellphones, I think it’s gonna be a perfect alternative for those who don’t need 100% AF accuracy (although I think it’s almost the same) and improved ISO performance.
Here you can see some pictures of the conversion.

damaged mirror: http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6361/dsc4616l.jpg

removed mirror: http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/7586/dsc4619z.jpg

food wrap: http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/8836/dsc4621l.jpg (this picture was taken with AF, with the “wrap mirror” already in place, notice the glowing effect on the reflections)

the wrapped mirror: http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7899/dsc4654.jpg

and: http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1484/dsc4655m.jpg

mirror mounted: http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/8425/1003321v.jpg

Tell me if you are interested, so I will continue to inform you about this experiment.”

Damn, that sounds interesting!

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New NEX-7 news and reviews roundup (to ship in late January)

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Sony Japan (Click here) released a new Android application for the NEX-7. The text is in japanese and as usual google translation tool isn’t really helping me out. I guess it’s a sort of NEX-7 guide. I hope our japanese readers can explain us a bit more. Thanks!

NEX-7 with Voigtländer 35mm f/1.4 lens at Getdpi (Click here).

The NEX-7 is the mostdesirable camera on the planet according to TheOnlinePhotographer (Click here): “A small camera, with a potentially outstanding sensor (again, we really have to wait and see), and a potentially outstanding made-for-the-camera lens of perfect specification? This won’t get the pull from the hoi polloi, the mass market, or the mainstream media that some cameras-of-the-moment get, but for real camera buffs, there’s just nothing we desire right now more than this little beauty”

Sonystore USA informed that they will sip the next stock of NEX-7 cameras in mid-late January.

NEX-7 store search links to preorder the camera: [shopcountry 8454].

And here is a list of Sony NEX-7 cameras available on eBay:
[shoplink 10855 ebay]eBay Austria (Linz)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10856 ebay]eBay Germany (Ingbert)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10857 ebay]eBay USA (four bodies)[/shoplink]

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Sony patent discloses global shutter technology and foveon like sensor.

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Sony fulfilled a new patent describing a sensor with global shutter (Click here to see the original patent). This is Sony’s description:
“In the CMOS type image sensor, the photoelectric conversion unit reads out the signal charges for each pixel or for each row where a plurality of pixels is arranged. In this case, exposure time for accumulating the signal charges is difficult to match in all the pixels, and thus in some cases, a captured image is distorted. Particularly, if the motion of a subject is great, this defect is noticeably generated. In order to prevent this defect from being generated, a “global exposure” is performed in which all the pixels start exposure at the same time and finish the exposure at the same time. The “global exposure” is performed by simultaneously driving all the pixels through an electrical control without using the mechanical shutter”

The same patent describes also how Sony wants to increase the number of Megapixels without to lose image quality. It’s the “foveon” alike approach. It’s not the first time we see such a patent:
“In order to realize the high sensitivity, there has been proposed one where a chalcopyrite based compound semiconductor film such as a CuInGaSe2 film with high light absorption coefficient is used in the photoelectric conversion unit (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 2007-123720).
In addition, there has been proposed a “lamination type” where photoelectric conversion units for respective colors are laminated and disposed in a depth direction perpendicular to an imaging surface, instead of disposing the photoelectric conversion units which selectively sense light beams of respective colors in a direction along the imaging surface. In the “lamination type,” each pixel senses not only light of one color but also light of plural colors. For this reason, a light sensing surface is extensively formed and thus use efficiency of light can be improved, thereby improving sensitivity (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 2006-245088).”

 

Can’t wait to see such a sensor coming soon!!!

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