I bet many of you are tired to wait for the [shoplink 3228]A700[/shoplink] successor. We saw many prototypes on many shows during the last year. And Sony didn’t unveil any specs or details about the camera and final release. But finally I have some very reliable info about the Sony A77 release. Exclusive on SonyAlphaRumors of course ;)

According to our trusted sources the new Sony A77 will hit the market in October. One source claims to know the exact worldwide shipment date: October 6th! And when is Sony going to announce the camera? I am not 100% certain yet but a few of our sources said that it should be announced in July at a luxury event (probably in Montecarlo).

I can also confirm that the specs we posted here during the past few months are correct:
1) The A77 has a newly designed 24 Megapixel sensor.
2) I have been told that Sony and Zeiss worked very close and very hard to develop lenses that can deliver the necessary resolution for the 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor. The first lens to be announced should be the 16-50mm zoom. Compared to the [shoplink 5586]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].
3) The combination of the new sensor+new Zeiss lens delivers 62% more resolution than the [shoplink 3617]A55 16 Megapixel sensor[/shoplink].
4) Sony officially said at Amateur Photographer the A77 price will be on the level of the Canon 60D. But according to our sources it will be a little bit more expensive than the 60D. Canon 60D price check at [shopcountry 5117]
5) We already got a few detailed specs but we need some time to double check the info we received. I hope to post them soon on SAR. The only thing I can say is that the electronic viewfinder is much better (But no hybrid viewfinder a la [shoplink 6075]Fuji X100[/shoplink]), autofocus very accurate, It records FullHD, robust body compared to current SLT cameras, no flip-up mode to allow shooting without this extra sheet of glass in place, it will take CF+SD+MS cards, of which you can use two at the same time, 1.000 pictures with one battery.

I am working to get more info about the A77 and the products that are going to be announce don ealry April (4th?). There will be so many new cameras and lenses you cannot even imagine ;)
If you have some rumor to share contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar. And invite your friends to follow us! Join us at Facebook, Twitter and follow our RSS-feed!

Stay tuned!
Andrea (SonyAlphaRumors editor)

P.S.: To support this website make us earn a little commission through our affiliate links. Click on the shop links on our website (like [shopcountry 3003]) and buy whatever product you want. You don’t pay any penny more and we will earn the money necessary to keep thiw website running and independent! 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!

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!

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.

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 :)