One of our sources was so kind (Thanks!) to send us his first impression about the upcoming new 16-50mm SSM lens! He tested a prototype which is close to production model. Apparently the 16-50mm lens is suffering from slightly corner vignetting and corner softness at f/2.8. It is not too bad at all but just not perfect. The very good news is that at 17mm the lens is is perfect!

As you know the lens is a Sony (not a Zeiss) and it will have a price of 750 Euro ($799 dollars).

Some other source did test the lens and can confirm the quality report made by that source?

UPDATE: The source also said that Sony was (or is?) considering to make it 17-50mm (instead to start with 16mm) to increase the image quality. But the problem could be the fact that there is alreayd an excellent [shoplink 7824]Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR[/shoplink] for Sony! P.S: Click those links to see the Tamron for Sony: [shopcountry 7824].

Finally I got some NEX-7 specs to share with you!
1) The NEX-7 has a metal body
2) A new super fast contrast autofocus
3) Built-in 3 million dot OLED viewfinder
4) 24 Megapixel
5) ISO 100-25.600
6) 24p HD-video
7) Pop-up flash

I hope my sources can confirm if the the camera really has no FullHD recording! That would b a huge surprise! I hope this is just a typo from the rumor sender!

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources (60-80% the rumor is correct)
SR5=almost certainly correct!

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

Before to go bed I can share a little rumor with you :)

After posting the 16-50mm lens rumor today I got some feedback from known and new sources. They all said the upcoming new 16-50mm f/2.8 lens will be SSM! And it is not a Zeiss lens!

Good Night folks!

Andreas (veeery tired)

As you know Sony will also announce a new 16-50mm f/2.8 kit lens along the Sony A77. A trusted source just told me that the 16-50 will have a new actuation motor designed for video use. It may carries the SAM tag but is a new design intended to be on par with SSM. Very likely that the filter diameter of the 16-50 will be 67, as with the [shoplink 7804]28-75[/shoplink]… 72 is a bit of a stretch for an APS model. Another new source told me that “it is definitely an SSM lens, but what’s up in the air is whether it is a G or ZA lens, or neither. Even the lens hood code declares it to be an SSM lens“. I hope to get a 100% confirmation from other sources if the lens will be SAM or SSM. Thanks!

Reminder: As you know the price should be around 750 Euro (or $800 Dollars). The lens itself costs much less than the counterpart lenses:
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS costs around around $300 more at [shopcountry 7556].
Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 $ is twice more expensive! Check at [shopcountry 7555].

Here is a small update about the A77. We have been told by a couple of sources that the A77 can record 12 frames per second. That’s two more frames per second than the [shoplink 3617]Sony A55[/shoplink]. That’s an impressive result if you do consider that the A77 has a 24 Megapixel sensor (the A55 has 16 MP).

REMINDER: Those are the detailed  REAL(!) A77 specs (some minor aspects could be subject to change until the final announcement):
The A77 announcement on late August.
Shipment start early October
Coming with new kit lens (A Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom. Compared to the [shoplink 5586 ebay]Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5[/shoplink] it will have a constant aperture and probably have a bit higher price. Zeiss 16-80mm price check at [shopcountry 5586].)
24 Megapixels (The combination of the new sensor+new Sony lens delivers 62% more resolution than the [shoplink 3617 ebay]A55 16 Megapixel sensor[/shoplink].)
1080p/30fps, 720p/60fps and 720p/30fps high-definition video
AF fine-tuning capabilities. A source told us that it has an improved focusing system (quite fast and accurate).
11 cross points
12fps
3 Million dot OLED viewfinder (more than double of the resolution fo the current [shoplink 3617]Sony A55/33[/shoplink] viewfinder.)
magnesium alloy
It will take CF+SD+MS cards
No flip-up mode to allow shooting without this extra sheet of glass in place
1.000 pictures with one battery
Price:
Sony Alpha 77 + 16-50mm f/2.8 SAM = 1800€
Sony Alpha 77 body only = 1050€
Sony Alpha 65 + 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM = 1000€
Sony Alpha 65 body only = 900€

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)