Sony slowly recovering from the earthquake/tsunami disaster

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The NYC (Click here) interviewed Howard Stringer CEO of Sony: “Two of the company’s sites in that area, a Blu-ray disc factory and a research and development lab, were badly damaged by flooding; about 1,100 employees were trapped on upper floors. Eight more factories, dedicated to making things like lithium-ion batteries and semiconductor lasers, were also thrown off line, in some cases because of direct damage from the natural disasters, in most cases because of electric failures.”

In an official press release Sony Japan announced that they are slowly reopening their plants. The major problem right now is the power supply which has to be reestablished in a few plants.

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(SR5) Fullframe Translucent camera coming in 2012 only (A77 info soon!!!)

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I am now 99% sure there will be no new Fullframe camera from Sony this year. That is was my trusted sources told to me. And honestly they were never wrong. But they also told me the FF camera will be amazing and a “perfect tool for Photographers“. I know those are “just words” but my sources are not fan-boys and when they say that I have to believe them :)  It’s very likely that the prototype will be shown at the Cliq show in September (Las Vegas).

But this is pretty much the last bad news I will give you. So don’t get frustrated! The A77 is coming soon (I will write more about that tomorrow!), new NEX camera and lenses too. I am veeeery busy working on rumors. If you have some to share contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar.

So please stay tuned on SAR!

If you are satisfied with my work and want to help me to cover server costs and the beer I need while working feel free to purchase products through those links [shopcountry 3003]. it doesn’t matter what you buy once you click on that link (cameras or books or whatever). I will get a small commission for everything you buy and you don’ pay any penny more! I really appreciate your help Thanks!

 

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!

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Sony discloses a camera with on sensor phase detecion.

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What’s so special in the image shown above? There is no optical viewfinder and no mirror at all! Sony fulfilled a patent for a camera that has a new sensor which contains pairs of phase detection pixels. (Click here to see the original patent on freepatentsonline). There is no need for any mirror (translucent or classic mirror) that reflects light on a dedicated AF sensor. The advantage of such technology is that you can have phase detection on mirrorless systems and unlike the translucent technology you have no light loss because of the semitransparent mirror. Phase detection autofocus is much faster than contrast autofocus. See the image below to see how Sony includes the AF pixels on the sensor:

The only “problem” with the described solution is that you need more pixels on a sensor and you will probably have to use less or smaller RGB pixels compared to classic RGB Bayer sensors.

Fuji is already using it on the [shoplink 6047]Finepix Z800EXR[/shoplink]! See the Fuji camera specs at [shopcountry 6047]. There is also a nice article on Dpreview (Click here) that describes the Fuji technology.

My two cent on that. It will not take very long to see the technology to be used on real Sony cameras. Simply because that IS the right technology for all mirrorless cameras that want to focus as fast as professional DSLR cameras.

 

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UPDATE: “9X” stays for “sales increase 9 times”

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Our friend Colamango (Click here) was present at the Sony convention in Malaysia. For a short while we questioned if the image above could refer to the translucent A9x fullframe camera. Our sources told us that this should be a mistake because there will be no A9x in 2011. Finally we got an update from a few participant at that event. Sony Malaysia only said that they were able to increase their sales by “9x” in About Half a Year. SO there were no talk about the “A9X” fullframe camera! Buh, what a hoax :)

 

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Vivitar 7mm fisheye review at Kurtmunger

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And there it is the next review at Kurtmunger. Kurt never rests :)
That time he tested a third party lens, the Vivitar 7mm F/3.5 fisheye lens on the Sony A700: “Optically, this fisheye lens is quite good, and I’d recommend it for people that have APS-C cameras. It’s pretty sharp stopped down, and control of color fringing, light fall-off and ghosting is above average. The Vivitar 7mm APS-C fisheye performs well stopped down, although it isn’t as sharp as the Sony 16mm fisheye in the centers with a wide aperture. However, the Vivitar corners seem to be sharper with more contrast at smaller apertures. Don’t use the Sony 16mm F/2.8 fish-eye (review) on an APS-C camera, as the distortive effects are diminished by the crop factor, that’s why it doesn’t make any sense to directly compare them.”

Check out price and availability of the Vivitar lens at [shopcountry 6025].
Check out price and availability of the Sony 16mm lens at [shopcountry 6026].

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JTec announces the introduction of three precision machined components for the Sony NEX-5.

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Press release:

“JTec announces the introduction of three precision machined components for the Sony NEX-5.

First, and foremost, is a cold shoe adapter for mounting an optical viewfinder of your choice. Now, you can use your favorite prime lens (with appropriate adapter) and an optical viewfinder, allowing the quick framing required in capturing event or street scenes. No longer do you have to hold the camera at arms length to frame a scene. The camera is at your eye, promoting a steadier and more accurately framed shot. The phrase “f8 and be there” is now a reality with our cold shoe adapter.

In order to take best advantage of the capabilities of the [shoplink 3003]NEX-5[/shoplink], especially the Sweep Panorama mode, JTec is also introducing two ways to to attach the camera to a tripod: a simple camera plate and an L-bracket.

The plate and L-bracket allow the camera to be mounted to any Arca Swiss style tripod head, and makes convenient landscape panoramas possible.

The L-bracket also allows the panorama to be taken in portrait orientation, and gives you the option to tripod mount your camera for taking high quality portraits. Enclosed is a Product Sheet. Full details are available at http://jtec-online.com/.

JTec is dedicated to producing high quality components to enhance your picture-taking experience. Our background in both photography and machining means we can translate real-world needs into superior parts for your use.”

 

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Sony will use electronic viewfinders only. But is there a Sony future for Hybrid viewfinders a là Fuji X100?

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Optical or electronic Viewfinder? It doesn’t matter anymore what you prefer! If you want to stick with Sony than electronic viewfinder is the only possible future. As you remember Sony officially announced they will drop the classic optical viewfinder technology. So is there really no other option?

Yes there is one…The hybrid Viewfinder! The new [shoplink 5969 ebay]Fuji X100[/shoplink] offers a dual EVF/OVF vision. The bad news is that such technology works with fixed lens only. I thought you might be curious to see how it works (see the video on top). The question now is, can the X100 technology be improved? In short yes. Sony should learn from the [shoplink 5968 ebay]Contax G2[/shoplink] that has the best viewfinder ever put in a rangefinder camera. It zooms as you change lenses, so it always has the perfect size! (Click here to read the review made by Ken Rockwell). Now the dreamers question:

Will you buy the A6500?

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I would love to get my hands on that camera!

You can preorder the Fuji X100 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon UK. There is also one single camera on auction at [shoplink 5969 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. It will not be cheap!
Check out the Contax G2 auctions on [shoplink 5968 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].

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