Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 for NEX tested at SLRgear.

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Andrew Alexander from SLRgear (Click here) tested what should be the best available NEX lens to date. I invite you to read his full review that includes some graphs to show the lens performance. As expected this is a wonderful lens! Andrew says: “Considering the price, you would hope that the Sony 24mm ƒ/1.8 Sonnar T* ZA didn’t disappoint – and happily, it doesn’t. Sharpness is excellent even wide open, and other factors such as chromatic aberration, distortion and corner shading are well-controlled. The 24mm ƒ/1.8 proves to be an able companion to the NEX camera.”
What can I say? Well done Sony! Now we want more of this kind of lenses!

Reminder: The lens will be in Stock early/mid December. There are only a few stores accepting preorders right now:
US: Sony, Adorama.
UK: Amazon.co.uk, Jessops, Sony.
Germany: Sony.
France: Amazon.fr, Sony.
Italy: Sony.
Netherland: Sony.

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Time for Sony deals in USA. And A65 back in Stock!

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We are getting closer to the Christmas time and camera manufacturers are now offering the first deals. It’s easy to get an overview about those deals in USA, and far more complicated in Europe where I live. But first let’s say that the Sony A65 is back in Stock via Cameta at Amazon (Click here). And here are the US deals:

You can get the NEX-3 with double lens kit (18-55mm and 16mm) for $483 at Amazon (Click here).

There is a Sony A900 superkit for $2699 at Amazon via Cameta (Click here). The body alone usually costs $2699!

The Sony VG-10 is available (with lens) for $1300 at Adorama (Click here). You have to login to see the discounted price!

The A77 is almost sold out in USA. But you can still find A77 kits via Brooklyn camera and Yibum on [shoplink 8461 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. You can also buy that Superkit on Amazon (Click here) and than sell the huge Monitor :)

Curiosity: You know which is the most sold Sony camera at Amazon? It is the super cheap Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W530 compact camera (Click here to see the full Amazon ranking).

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Canon shooter likes the A77: “the best video camera I’ve used in years.”

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A nice video made with the A77: “Light and Wind” by Sony.

Jefferson Graham from USAtoday (Click here) tested the A77. He is a known Canon shooter but I guess he will become soon a Sony user: “If you’re serious about photography and video, spend what it takes. I know I will. I liked the camera so much, I plan on buying it once it is back in stock.” :)
There is one more review at Digital-photography-school (Click here) tested the Sony A77: “If you can afford the top glass available for it, this is a phenomenal camera. Deserves to do well in the market. Good news Sony!”

The A77 is almost sold out everywhere. It’s so bad for Sony will have nothing to offer for the big Christmas sales time!
In USA you can find the A77 as part of mega-kits only. Via Brooklyn camera and Yibum on [shoplink 8461 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. And as super-kit on Amazon (Click here) -> sell the huge Monitor :) UDPARE: The Sony A65 is back in Stock via Cameta at Amazon (Click here).
In Europe there are only a few in Stock at Jessops, Warehousexpress, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, and of course on eBay (Click here).

P.S.: More A77 tests:
Test à hauts ISO des Raw de l’Alpha 77 développés avec Lightroom 3 (Alpha-numerique).
Sony A77 test at Itmedia.

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Sony 36 Megapixel sensor for Nikon and Sony (Nikon leaked). Is it too much?

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Our friends over at Nikonrumors leaked the first picture of the Nikon D800. And why should we care about it? Because it uses the new 36 megapixel Sony sensor that we first reported here on SAR almost a year ago. The leaked picture confirm that the rumor is 99% true. Before to talk about the megapixel madness(?) I want to remind you that unlike Nikon Sony will first release a 24 megapixel FF camera in early Spring and a couple of months later the much more expensive 36 Megapixel FF camera which will probably have a built-in vertical grip. Both camera will be SLT (no optical viewfinder).

The good news here is that unlike Nikon Sony will offer us both, a low resolution and high resolution choice. But the question is, do we really need so many megapixels? Carl Garrard writes on Photographic Central: “I think the average consumer is starting to realize that megapixels isn’t all that important anymore, and the term itself at least in the US is becoming increasingly less popular in conversations I have with everyone. In other words, most people don’t give a crap about megapixels as much as they used too.”

I believe there is no problem if Sony is going to release a camera with 36 megapixels as long as we they also offer the low resolution option (24 Megapixels). Carl also hopes that Sony will offer an optical viewfinder version. But I already know that this is not going to happen. There will be a new generation of OLED viewfinders which is even better than the currently very good [shoplink 8461]Sony A77[/shoplink] viewfinder.

Now let’s hope Sony will release the Sony A9x sooner than expected. I know many are pushing to announce the camera before the planned Spring release!

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New Phottix wireless flash trigger

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Phottix (Click here) announced the Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Flash Trigger for Sony. Here is the press release:

—————————————————————

Quick Overview

Making a classic trigger better! The Phottix Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Trigger System gives photographers incredible control over their flashes and studio lights. Four channels and four groups provide unparalleled control in the studio or on location.

Product Description

Making a classic trigger better! The Phottix Strato II Multi 5-in-1 Wireless Trigger System gives
photographers incredible control over their flashes and studio lights. Four channels and four groups
provide unparalleled control in the studio or on location. The Strato II Multi can be used as a wired or
wireless shutter release. The 2.4 GHz. transmitter and receivers offer ranges of more than 150 meters
and sync at speeds of 1/250 second .*
Transmitters feature an innovative TTL pass-through hot shoe – allowing full TTL mode to be used with a
camera mounted flash. Receivers offer flash wake-up functions.*
It’s fast, sexy, and powerful – perfect for your studio or location work.

Features:

– 4 groups: A,B,C,D
– 4 Channels
– 150+ m range
– 1/250 sec. sync speed*
– Flash wake-up functions*
– Hot shoe / PC Flash triggering
– Studio strobe triggering
– Wired and wireless shutter release functions
– Pass-through hot shoe on transmitter allows on camera flash to use TTL functions
– 2.4 GHz. frequency
– uses AAA batteries
– Compatible with Phottix Strato 4-in-1 Wireless Triggers

Sony Version includes shutter cables for:
S6: α900/ α700/ α580/ α560/ α550/ α500/ α450/ α350/ α300/ α200/ α100/ α55/ α35

* On compatible flashes and cameras

—————————————————————

I don’t know yet when the product (and where) will be available. Some Phottix first generation remote controllers for Sony are avaialble on [shoplink 10160 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

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Sony NEX-7 review by Pocket Lint

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I guess you already know what’s to like or not to like on the new Sony NEX-7. So this is not a review that will reveal something new. The British Pocket-Lint website (Click here) like other reviewers fell in love with the NEX-7. While the “electronic viewfinder isn’t going to be to everyone’s tastes” but “Sony’s 2.4m-dot OLED viewfinder blows those out the water“. Nerveless it’s still not perfect and there is still some “ghosting“. And than there is that huge 24 million Megapixel resolution squeezed on the APS-C sensor: “It’s testament to the Sony engineering team that this doesn’t become an issue, however, as the NEX-7’s image quality is superb.”

The only real limit of the camera is the auto focus speed and precision. It’s not on par with the competition. The only two “downsides” are the high price and the limited NEX lens range. That’s why the camera doesn’t receive the full score and gets 4 of 5 stars.

Most stores are not accepting NEX-7 preorders yet. Check for yourself: [shopcountry 8454].

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Sony A77 news roundup (+ ebay availability)

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Foggy And Hazy – Sony a77 Extreme Low Light from Heikki Kivijärvi on Vimeo.

There is a new A77 review at DC.watch (google translated), at Slashcam.de (google translated) and at Colorfoto.de (google translated).
Sony A700 versus Sony A77 at jimmartinphotoblog (Click here)
Sony Alpha 77, test complet #2 : bruit numérique et erreurs de protocole (Alpha Numerique).
A new A77 Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/alpha77/pool/with/6223530148/
My new A77 with my old Minolta 75-300mm lens (dpreview forum)
Popular Photography magazine wrote a full A77 review (you can buy it here).
Sony A77 RAW samples thoughts (SonyAlphaLab).
One more A65 test at Colorfoto (german).

USA:
A77 body with 18-55mm lens and 29 accessories at [shoplink 2097 ebay]Arphotovideo (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with 18-55mm and 75-300mm and 36 accessories at [shoplink 2098 ebay]Arphotovideo (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with Secret Handshake Minolta 28-135mm [shoplink 2099 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with 16-105mm lens at [shoplink 2100 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with Carl Zeiss 16-80mm[shoplink 2101 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]
A77 body with 8 lenses(!) for $5999 at [shoplink 2102 ebay]Yibum (Click here)[/shoplink]

Europe:
A77 body at [shoplink 2103 ebay]fotoheibel (Click here)[/shoplink] – Germany
A77 body at [shoplink 2104 ebay]qf-foto (Click here)[/shoplink] – Germany
A77 body at [shoplink 2105 ebay]cameracentre1315 (Click here)[/shoplink] – UK
A77 body at [shoplink 2106 ebay]0123aggiudicato (Click here)[/shoplink] – Italy
A77 body at [shoplink 2106 ebay]0123aggiudicato (Click here)[/shoplink] – Italy
A77 body with 18-55mm lens at [shoplink 2107 ebay]badblock_group (Click here)[/shoplink] – Estland

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