But there is one more good news. Early Sony US preorders will be shipped this months! Here is the official text from Sony USA: “Sony USA is happy to announce that limited quantities of the new NEX-7 camera will begin shipping to pre-order customers this month. Overall production capacity remains restrained as a result of the recent floods in Thailand, but we’ve made significant progress recovering our manufacturing capabilities and supply chain. We’re continuing to aggressively pursue all efforts to restore full production capability of the NEX-7 and other affected models.”
Sony Japan also announced new NEX-7 accessories you can see as screenshot here on top!
Good news guys or not? We can wait 6 weeks or not?
The spanish DSLRmagazine (Click here) just posted a super news! Tamron launched the first E-mount lens, the 18-200 mm f/3,5-6,3 Di III VC. Yeah there is already an [shoplink 10533 ebay]Alpha lens version[/shoplink] of it but this lens has been specifically designed for NEX and the main feature is the “step-motor” which is designed to align 100% with the contrast AF system of the NEX, particularly good for video! In addition, the “DMF” (Direct Manual Focus) allows focusing by hand if necessary, even in AF mode.
There is no info about the price and availabiliy yet. Here are the specs:
The until today unknown website dearsusans.wordpress.com (Click here) tested plenty of exotic lenses on the Sony NEX-5n. It’s a review full of details and image samples. And he tested some really nice lens you might be interested to buy for your NEX. Here is the list of all reviewed lenses:
[shoplink 10330 ebay]1) Leica Elmarit-R 19mm/2.8 II (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “This is a glorious lens for landscapes” but huge and suffers from flare.
[shoplink 10331 ebay]2) Zeiss ZM Biogon 25/2.8 (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “On the NEX-5N it looks at home. The size is perfect. Ergonomics are perfect, build quality is fantastic”
[shoplink 10332 ebay]3) Leica Summicron-M 28mm/2 (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “This lens is perfection. It combines the refinement and naturalness of my Elmarit-R 19 with the sharpness of the Biogon 25.”
[shoplink 10333 ebay]4) Voigtlander Colour-Skopar 35mm/2.5 PII (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “In daylight, it’s a street shooter’s dream come true. Tiny, unobstrusive and unassuming.”
[shoplink 10334 ebay]5) Leica Summicron-R 50mm/2 (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “It’s sharp a plenty, has good colour and reasonably nice bokeh. Build is to Leica standards, except for the aperture ring that feels a bit plastic and cheap”
[shoplink 10335 ebay]6) Zeiss Contact Planar T* 50/1.7 (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “Pretty convincing (read excellent) and so cheap.”
[shoplink 10336 ebay]7) Leica Summarit-M 75mm/2.5 (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “I really liked that lens! My only criticism would be the polygonal bokeh.”
[shoplink 10337 ebay]8) Zeiss Contax T* Sonnar 135/2.8 (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “The only real trouble with this lens is that it weighs a ton! Laaarge and heaaavy.”
[shoplink 10338 ebay]9) Panasonic 14mm (Click here to see lens specs and price on eBay)[/shoplink]: “Perfect if you’re into weight lifting and like creamy bokeh.”
Before to start. Evey day you can find plenty of new deals at Amazon (Click here). I am only reporting the most important deals but you can find many other interesting products. So take a look!
NEX-3
I know you all want the NEX-7 or NEX-5n but if you want to spend as less as possible for a NEX camera (maybe as present for your wife or son) than you might get the NEX-3 :)
The red NEX-3 with 16mm pancake lens sells for $399 at Amazon (Click here).
The black NEX-3 with 18-5mm kit lens price dropped down to $449 at Amazon (Click here).
Flash, converters, adapter, and external monitor deals
There is a super rebate on many Sony accessories at Amazon (Click here).
Compact cameras are also discounted at Amazon (Click here).
Popular photography magazine named the [shoplink 8454]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink] camera of the year in their January 2012 issue. And they posted the full review online at Popphoto (Click here): “Sony’s NEX-7 is currently our pick for the best ILC on the market. It combines outstanding image quality with solid ergonomics and, in addition to the normal array of preset shooting modes, plenty of useful options. When we tested Sony’s first NEX cameras, we weren’t very impressed. Now, we definitely are, and we’re eagerly awaiting whatever Sony has up its sleeve next.”
The french website Clubic (Click here to read the google translation) tested the NEX-7. The NEX-7 is a superb cameras but the reviewer would have preferred the same NEX-5n sensor inside the camera. The real weakness is the kit lens that is not good enough for the high resolution 24 Megapxiel sensor.
Luminous Landscape (Click here) posted a new Legacy Wide Angle Lenses NEX-7 / NEX-5n Comparison: “There is significant lens cast visible with the NEX-7 and some legacy lenses, and it isn’t minor. The reason for it is that the 24 Megapixel sensor has smaller photo sites, and oblique light rays, especially those from wide angle lens (more on this in a moment), show a magenta colour shift. The 5n has larger sensels and also a different microlens layout than the 7, making it much less problematic with some legacy lenses.”
They tested three lenses:
1) Voigtländer Ultra Wide-Heliar 12mm f/5.6 ([shoplink 10507 ebay]Click here to see the lens specs and price on eBay[/shoplink]).
2) Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5–f/5.6 DC HSM ([shoplink 10508 ebay]Click here to see the lens specs and price on eBay[/shoplink]).
3) Leica Wide Tri-Elmar 16-18-21mm ([shoplink 10509 ebay]Click here to see the lens specs and price on eBay[/shoplink]).
There is still no official news about when the camera will be in Stock. The last info I got said it’s coming in February. You can look for NEX-7 preorders at [shopcountry 8454]. What is in Stock (or will be this week) is the amazing Zeiss 24mm lens: [shopcountry 8450].
I got some emails from SAR readers with ongoing Sony deals in USA and Europe. Feel free to send me more of them! It’s Christmas time and our readers may can find the right present :)
Europe deals: 1) There is a£100 Cashback available on the SAL-70200G at Sony UK 2) For those living in Germany and Austria, the shop xp-tron.de is selling the NEX-5N body for 484 Euro ONLY: There is also a 5 Euro discount coupon code, so the price drops to 479 Euro. The coupon code is: “MGSCDXP-TRON”. This is the lowest price I’ve seen anywhere for a brand-new camera. 3) Kamerahuset.dk have these deals:
NEX-5 body only 1995 DKK ~268 €
NEX-5 with 18-200mm 5995 DKK ~805 €
NEX-VG20EH with 18-200mm and a NEX-5 body included: 15295 DKK ~2055 €
P.S.: You can also comment this post to add your deals!
The video on top is part of the full A77 review from David Dugdale (Click here to read it). He tested the camera with the old 1.03 firmware! So some of the issues he found have been fixed (like responsiveness and lagging). He likes the Canon more than the Sony, and I am curious to hear what you reader think about the review. I bet there will be a huge discussion! :)
David Kilpatrick from Photoclubalpha (Click here) says about the new 1.04 firmware: “No significant improvement can be detected so far in image quality despite the claims, at least with the 100 or so test shots we’ve taken at different ISOs using a Color Checker, and other spot checks for Low/Normal/High NR. But there are so many modes on the A77 including panoramas, multishot, DRO, that the improvement may well be specific functions which Sony will explain in more detail.”
There is a new spanish A77 review at pixel-depot (Click here to read the translation): “The image quality is, after upgrading the firmware of the camera, excellent, superior to that offered by other APS sensor DSLR models, but Sony can still improve the response to high ISO as ISO 4000 from the noise signal is appreciable.”
In Stock status:
There is not a lot to say. The A77 is out of Stock almost everywhere. You can still find som cameras on eBay. In USA at [shoplink 10487 ebay]Willoughbyscamera (but you pay $400 extra)[/shoplink], In Europe at Amazon Germany, [shoplink 10485 ebay]Foto Neuber Germany[/shoplink], in Italy at [shoplink 10486 ebay]Aggiudicato[/shoplink] and at Digitalrev (PAL version!). Check for more (pre-)orders at [shopcountry 8461].
SAR reader mails: Tony: “Hi Andrea: I have just don a long 3-part review of the 5n vs. A77 vs. NEX 7 on my website. You can access it here: http://www.thistonybridge.com/newsletter” Matt: “just wanted to share this video I made with the A77 w/ stock lens… I’m using it to film college basketball (VCU Rams) and this video really shows off its autofocus capabilities, which I think a lot of sports photographers are curious about… share if you wish! http://www.vcuramnation.com/2011/12/video-vcu-defeats-south-florida/” Ricky: “Hello Andrea, I took a lot of shots a couple of weeks ago at the Edgewood Texas Heritage Festival with my A77 and Tamron 18-250 and they came out great. Thought you might put a link to the page where I have them. There are three boxes on the page. The top box is from 2010 and was taken with my now sold SLT-A33 and 18-55 kit lens. The next two lower boxes are slideshows from two weeks ago with the A77. It was cloudy a lot of the day and many are shot with the ISO multishot feature that shoots up to six shot and puts them into one to reduce noise. All were shot JPEG and I reduced them down in FastStone Photo Resizer: http://razzledazzleart.com/EdgewoodFestival2010.aspx“
