About those rumors: I have no idea who sent them and 90% of the times they turn out to be wrong. But, it happened in the past that a couple of those were right. So I will post them today, and we all together can eventually keep track of this. If one of the sources turns out to be right than we will know we can trust it a bit more!

Source 1:

A7SIv – new stacked 24 sensor dual layer – 4000 dollars

Source 2:

Fx9 – same A7SIv sensor – 14000 dollars  

Source 3:

Request for A7sIV improvements were:

• variable stabilization like GoPro, not the crappy active stab (like dynamic stab from a9iii)
• more high dynamic range, possibly an hdr mode which you could even tweak in post in catalyst prepare software.
• exposure meter that measures only parts of the image (for example you can choose face to only measure exposure of the face)
• internal Timecode, over sdi or with QR code scan via app and image sensor
• hyperlapse mode, works with Gyrodata and automatically crops the image for perfect hyperlapses

Source 4:

I was at my local Sony store in NZ, all the physical stores are closing here and in Australia, due to sales being down 15%, economy isn’t doing the greatest at the moment. All sales will be done online after March when the stores close.
But one of the staff at the store told me the A7V will be 51 mp?! That can’t be true, but you never know.

Sony 400-800mm f/6-3-8.0 G lens preorders:
BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK.
Sony 16mm f/1.8 G lens preorders:
BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK, Amazon UK.

Field Testing the New Sony 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G in Namibia (PetaPixel).
400-80mm lens test by Mobile01

Why I was WRONG about the Sony ZV-E1

Today deals at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, FotoErhardt DE, FotoKoch DE.
SanDisk Expands Storage Solutions for Creative Professionals (Explora).
Feathering Light: What Does it Mean? (42West)
Good Street Settings For All Cameras –I Use These Settings Every Day (Matti Sulanto).
Is it just me, or has the cost of cameras and lenses gotten out of control? (DigitalCameraWorld).
Sigma C 16-300 mm f/3.5-6.7 DC OS – sample shots (Lenstip).
Adapt Canon FD Lenses to Sony E-mount Camera with Built-in Tilt-Shift – TLT ROKR (Fotodiox).
Curiosity: New α33 and DT 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 image samples by Kitamura
The Challenges of Shooting Photography and Videography (42West)
A Guide to On-Camera Flash (Explora).

Follow our new Youtube channel.
Join our SonyAlphaForum.
I kindly invite you all to follow our Discord channel, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Twitter to not miss news and rumors

We have our own Facebook camera groups you can join to discuss the upcoming new cameras in detail:
Sony Alpha group. Sony A1 group. Sony A9 series group. Sony A7r series group. Sony A7s series group. Sony A7 series group.

The Otus 1.4/55 (ZF2. mount) is next to the Otus 1.4/50 (E mount) on the right. There is a huge difference in size, and the weight also differs by about 300g (via DC.watch)

PetaPixel had a chat with Zeiss manager and he said this about the lens design:

“With the Otus way, we are not relying on any of those. That’s part of the design goal. Of course, the modern cameras nowadays, they do some kind of in-camera correction for distortion and colors. Sometimes they also make the lens appear sharper than it actually is.
In one way, it’s fair. If it makes the job of the photographer easier, that’s fine. But when we design the design intention and also the goal we want to achieve, what we want to preserve with Otus and the new Otus ML family is that we do not need to rely on those corrections.”

Also the lens has no focus-by-wire like most lenses produced in these days. according to Zeiss this has been done to provide photographers witc onsistent, precise control over their images.

Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 at BHphoto. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.
Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 at BHphoto. Adorama. FotoErhardt. Fotokoch. Calumet. WexUK.

As you can see from the screengrab above used Sony A1II cameras are currently being sold for nearly $10,000 on Amazon (Click here). No US or European store has any A1II in Stock right now: BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama, BestBuy, FotoErhardt, FotoKoch, Calumet, WexUK, Clifton, CameraPro. Sony Australia. And according to latest Adorama info the camera will ship out in May only if you reorder it today.

PetaPixel had a chat with Sony manager Masaaki Oshima at the CP+ show. He said:

Professional photographers love our evolution from the original Alpha 1 to the Alpha 1 Mark II. We can’t deliver enough of them.

Sony told PetaPixel that much of the camera’s popularity comes down to its reliability, and that means not only reliability in terms of its build quality and operability, but its performance. “That’s why we think the a1 II is a hit to the right creators,” Oshima explained. The “right creators,” in this case, are photographers for whom a series of relatively minor improvements add up to a massive change. The sum is greater than the parts. Even though Sony thinks highly of its flagship camera, as the company should, it was surprised by how much photographers valued the a1 II’s upgrades. Demand was “a lot more” than expected.

My take on the A1II and future A7V:

First of all, I am surprised that the demand is so high. When the camera was launched in November, many people complained that it was only a small improvement on the original Sony A1. But apparently the professionals are interested in the many small improvements that have been made to this generation. Perhaps this will convince Sony to do the same with the future Sony A7V: Keep the same sensor and incorporate the same improvements as the Sony A1II: New body, new AI chip and so on. Will that be good enough for the market?

Also, the fact that the Sony A1II is in high demand is another reason why Sony will wait to introduce the new A7V. Until they can make enough Sony A1IIs, it makes no sense to make things worse and launch a new A7V, which will probably be in even higher demand than the A1II.

What do you think about it? Did you expect the Sony A1II to be such a great sales success?