What to expect from Sony in 2012. A rumor-speculation mix.

An AE mount rendering from Jay (SonyAlphaLab.com)

Year 2011 has been a difficult year for many manufacturer. In March a Tsunami hit Japan and for months after the Fukushima nuclear plant limited the energy access of factories in the area. Even worse the Thailand flood from October stopped the sensor and camera production for months. Full production capacity will be reached in late February early march only. That’s why the roadmap of almost all companies changed and some of the cameras and lenses I would have expected in 2011 haven’t been announced.

So what’s going to happen in 2012?

First, it’s very likely that also the original 2012 roadmap shifted for a couple of months. So it’s not easy to guess when exactly the enw cameras will eb announced. Let me take the chance and propose you a possible general roadmap of what to expect in 2012:

January: New Sony compact cameras
February-March: New NEX camera ad lenses. As you know the original Sony roadmap showed three new lenses for 2012. I can guarantee you that the roadmap changed…in better! There will be more lenses than expected and one-two new pancakes too.
April-Mai-June: More new NEX camera and lenses + high end compact camera + new NEX camcorder + the new A99 camera. If the roadmap didn’t change because of the Thai flood the A99 with 24 Megapixel should be announced around that time. And it will come with a bunch of new lenses (high-end wide angle zoom, high end tele zoom, new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 and the 500mm f/4.0).
August-September: It’s Photokina time and the biggest news could be the new high end FF camera with 36 Megapixel and the sort of hybrid AE mount NEX-7 alike fullframe camera. There will be again new NEX and Alpha lenses.

In general the big new technologies in 2012 will be the Fuji organic sensor, Sony new 36 Megapixel sensor, Olympus new viewfinder and Global shutter (Sony/Panasonic). I haven’t heard anything revolutionary coming from Nikon and Canon.

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