By the way…also the A-mount mirrorless prototype got off the roadmap…
Sony’s concept of an A-mount mirrorless was similar to the K-01 from Pentax (but with a different design).
As I told you before Sony changed the camera roadmap. And from the three FF camera prototypes that I heard off two were taken off the roadmap. One is the A1X FF SLT and the second is the A-mount Full Frame mirrorless camera (without SLT mirror). That was the most compact A-mount camera ever made (in Sony lab). It would have become a sort of entry-level and cheap Full Frame camera. I now have been told by two sources that Sony dropped the idea to release a camera like that. You may let me know if you would ever have considered to buy a camera like that 
By the way, Sony wouldn’t have been the first to use the same classic DSLR mount for a mirrorless camera. Pentax did it with the futuristic (or horrible) designed K-01 (available in different colors on eBay).
Denis
6 months ago |OMG
Drop this crap SLR mount (A).
fola
6 months ago |Better drop crap comments.
timon
6 months ago |The A mount is not a crap mount.
But, Pentax K-01 is already an extremely failing product. Could Sony also want to try an identical failing?
A-Mount and e-mount can obviously co-exist,
Sony NEX-6 is a very good E-mount camera. The E-mount is still needed, small size and good performance, it is an alone type.
Sony ought to put a turn switch on the A-mount SLT camera:
The mode-A, working with the SLT manner and a traditional PD-AF sensor.
But the mode-B, can switch the translucent mirror to be locked up, and on-image-sensor method to perform the CD-AF and PD-AF.
( That makes the SLT camera can also be switched to work with a large mirrorless camera manner. Just is like the newest NEX-6 manner is capable with on-image-sensor PD-AF and CD-AF. Makes an A-mount camera can be a SLT camera mode, but is also capable an A-mount mirrorless mode to run).
Maybe a technical problem is here,
When locked the translucent mirror upward, what a way makes curtained off the backside of the translucent mirror, that prevents the stray light in the translucent mirror.
Everlast66
6 months ago |If Sony could only produce 3 new adapters for the E-mount similar to their active E-to-A mount SLT PDAF adapter, but respectively to Pentax PK, Nikon F and Canon EF mounts, to allow full AF, aperture and optical stabilization control. This would bring shock and horror to the industry.
Adam Maas
6 months ago |The K-01 has more than a few design issues aside from it using a DSLR mount. It’s widely considered ugly, the handling is lousy, there’s no EVF and its APS-C.
A super-compact FF mirrorless in A mount would be very interesting to many shooters if it had a good EVF and handling. I’d be among those shooters. The advantage to A mount with a FF mirrorless is the lack of wide-angle issues that are so prevalent with large-sensor mirrorless cameras and symetrical and near-symetrical wide-angle designs, requiring software correction, serious voodoo on the microlens setup or both (a la M9).
klw10
6 months ago |The A mount is not a crap mount.
Don Cox
6 months ago |Obviously it is not a “crap mount” in itself, but compared to E mount, it accepts far fewer lenses.
An E mount camera can use all A mount lenses, plus Canon, Nikon, Leica, Pentax, etc etc. An A mount camera cannot use E mount lenses.
The Sigma SD1 has the same limitation.
The one thing that is missing at present is an adapter for E-mount to give auto-focus with recent Nikon lenses. This will surely come.
SonyCyberPuni
6 months ago |Wrong. E can be used on A… it would be cropped.
Joel Richards
6 months ago |It wouldn’t be cropped it, it would not focus to infinity–unless you add a complicated optical converter which, like a teleconverter, reduces image quality and light transmission. In other words, you cannot put an E-mount on an A-mount. The reverse is true and the VG900 has proved that you will not even crop the image. You will lose IBIS and (with the current adapters) PDAF because the LA-E2 is designed for an APS-C sensor.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |George, Geroge… you silly goose. You have no clue what you’re talking about. Why do I waste my time trying to explain things to people like you. Show me anything that backs up what you’re saying and I’ll bite.
Otherwise, you’re just a troll.
Oh, and mathematically, you’re wrong, too. Oh, and you might want to take a course or two on optical physics.
Kevin
6 months ago |E-mount (NEX) doesn’t have In-body stabilization. Alpha’s IBIS makes every a-mount lens that much better. Especially with video, a-mount lenses are godly especially with SSM compared to Canikon’s technology. A-mount lens mounted on NEX is ‘meh….’ for photo and craptastic with video.
Sky_walker
6 months ago |How about dropping NEXes instead and starting to make real DSLRs and proper, portable, large-sensor compacts?
hanugro
6 months ago |Agree, NEX system with small flange distance make it very difficult (and expensive) to make top of the line lens unlike A mount.
mkln
6 months ago |you are missing one word: “small”. it makes it difficult to make small lenses.
but if you make the lens larger (longer) you overcome the difficulties.
The Lotus Eater
6 months ago |Hanugro, that’s not true at all. It allows a huge amount of flexibilty. They can make both compact lenses (albeit with compromised image quality in some cases), and they can make lenses every bit as good as A-mount. There is nothing to stop Sony designing lenses with the rear element further away from the sensor if it is benficial to image quality.
John Maverick
6 months ago |Long flange actually compromises lenses by forcing the use of retro-focus design to make way for the mirror in lenses of focal length around 35mm or less. It’s the reason why Leica and Zeiss IQ are superior to Canikon on IQ for wides, since they get to employ natural symmetrical designs that don’t need as much correction for aberration (chromatic, spherical, astigmatism, coma, etc).
Carl
6 months ago |Sony’s sensor toppings force the use of retro-focus designs as symmetric designs suffer from severe corner smearing, so it’s a moot point.
John Maverick
6 months ago |@Carl
It’s not a moot point at all. SONY just need to remove the AA filter that leads to refraction and smearing. Just like they did for the D800e and Pentax K5ii sensors. And what they most likely did for Ricoh’s GXR with its excellent performing M-mount sensor. The new fullframe 24Mp colour is already excellent.
Carl
6 months ago |My understanding is that it’s the IR/UV component of the filter causing most of the smearing, so removing the AA section will not solve the problem.
By the way, the D800E does have an AA filter, it’s just tuned to have no (or at least very little) filtering effect.
John Maverick
6 months ago |@Carl. The IR filter is sandwiched together with the AA filter above the microlenses. My reading suggests that detail smearing is due to refraction and other aberrations caused by excessive thickness (eg >1mm) in the combination of these layers. Eg. The AA filter will have a different refractive index than the IR filter and this causes issues in high incidence rays that are converging from different points of the rear lens element.
Kodak and CMOSIS and the GXR-M sensor maker handle wides well and they all employ (thin) IR filters. Even the 5n/r/6 is pretty good. The M8 is the only camera wihout a IR filter to my knowledge.
Carl
6 months ago |The original M8 (not the 8.2) still had an IR/UV filter, but it was as thin as it possibly could be, as most Leica M lenses at the time were semi-symmetrical. That resulted in so much IR contamination that Leica felt it necessary to give out screw-on filters to their customers for next to nothing for a while. Aside from the IR, it was and is a lovely camera (to my eyes, made with a lot more thought and love than the M9), but goes to show that conventional off the shelf CCD and CMOS designs do not play nicely with symmetrical lenses, no matter how secret a sauce they use for the filter and lens array.
Hopefully the mirrorless revolution will force CMOS manufacturers make more of an effort to accommodate oblique ray angles, even if they’re dragged into doing so kicking and screaming. Either way, we’ll still have use for programs like CornerFix for a long while yet.
Denis
6 months ago |Tell this to my Summilux 35 ASPH FLE
Don Cox
6 months ago |The opposite is the case. The shorter the registration distance, the easier it is to design lenses, especially wide angle lenses.
The factors limiting NEX lens quality are the pressure to keep prices down, and the problems sensors have with light arriving at shallow angles. (Not a problem with film.)
I think price pressure is the main problem.
LifeStoryImages.com
6 months ago |Again, (still speaking as an optical designer) short flange distance does NOT make inferior optical designs. I would be GLAD to have the long bfl (back focal length) constraint removed in a design problem.
I believe the source of this reoccurring misconception is the thought of a small last lens element being close to the sensor – which would result in steep incident angles in the corners of the field. But the last lens element does not need to be small, and in fact can be very useful in controlling field curvature.
The Lotus Eater
6 months ago |A-Mount and e-mount can obviously co-exist, but if Sony were forced to ditch one, I reckon they’d keep e-mount bodies over A-mount bodies.
Carl
6 months ago |I would have loved an ultracompact full frame personally, though with a viewfinder of course, none of that focusing off the rear LCD insanity.
I guess a full frame NEX is going to be the only path towards that now. I just hope they redesign the LA-EA adaptor to be less misshapen and large.
tokyojerry
6 months ago |Carl, I have posted elsewhere on a recent blog posting in SAR about this point…. your wishes (and mine for that matter) may eventually become true. It’s a matter of time. I also want a NEX-ish sized, full frame. It also must have EVF like the NEX-6, necessary in particular for framing, tracking, when shooting video. Here is my post:
QUOTE
A few days ago, I visited one of the major electronic chain store operations I go to regularly in Tokyo. I visit there regularly and this time had an opportunity to talk with a Sony representative in the store. Two items of interest he answered to my inquiry:
1. NEX Full frame. I asked him about when can I expect to see the Sony full frame NEX appear on the market. (I asked in such a way displaying a degree of confidence as if I already had some sort of insight on this happening). He commented that it will still be about a year or two still before that happens. So, it seems that development will still be pretty much ASP-C for the Sony roadmap in 2013 in consistent with what is mentioned in Andrea’s comment here. Perhaps by the end of 2013, we can start seeing things happening in that direction. So, are full frame NEX cameras forthcoming? Probably yes. Are they going to come any time soon? Probably not. So, patient is a virtue. Be content with APS-C for the interim. And besides, APS-C is far better then the little tiny sensor-equipped mom-and-pop type P&S cameras. From those to APS-C is s big jump. From APS-C to full frame, it is not so spectular. Many try to make full frame as some sort of holy grail that you should pay big money for. Well, for now, the APS-C is the best cost performance until full frame becomes more of a common denominator. Then, once that happens, people will be looking forward to medium format as the next holy grail. Fact of the matter is, both of these format sizes easily existed from long time ago in the film era.
2. Tamron and Sony lenses: I was inquiring to him which is the better to go with, Tamron or Sony for the 18-200mm telephoto for the NEX E-mount. He told me that fundamentally all lenses are Tamron. Yes, even the Sony 18-200mm. Fundamentally Tamron OEMs to Sony and of course, sells under their own brand name, Tamron as well. So, in terms of quality, you basically are purchasing Tamron technology regardless which one you buy. Their might be some modifications to accommodate Sony, but, that is what OEMing is all about.
Oh, one more point, the rep hinted to me a new full frame Sony NEX most likely will be pretty much close to the same size we know the current NEX cameras. It may have to be just slightly larger to accommodate mount flange for the FF sensor.
END QUOTE
Dee
6 months ago |Have we seen the last Sony FF camera(A99) with A mount?
If the purpose of this change in roadmap was to challenge Canikon and steal their customers Then A-lenses would have been the only way. It would take years to build a new FF E-mount or a new mount lens system.
Or maybe Sony wants to use all their arsenal with Adapters, in which case who’s to say Nikon or Canon adapters can’t be used.
samdman
6 months ago |I guess they had too much tricks up their sleeves that needs dropping…:D
Joking aside, I guess mirrorless FF system is still has its drawbacks rather than advantages. Sony badly need to manage their resources in order to stay innovative as well as sells product. That’s way they re-adjusted the roadmap.
mkln
6 months ago |It makes perfect sense not to sell a Full Frame mirrorless A-mount.
it has no flexibility for legacy lenses, A-mount lenses are too large. Sony would have needed to develop a whole new line of small A-mount lenses to go with the camera.
At least with E-mount they can use smaller E-mount lenses in crop mode (16mp assuming 36mp for FF), and legacy lenses in full frame. totally different story.
mkln
6 months ago |and by they I mean we
derrick s
6 months ago |bye bye sony
Frank
6 months ago |Good, one less whiner.
Derrick
6 months ago |no whining, just facing the facts
but i really enjoyed sony, a shame the have nothing to offer for me
Frank
6 months ago |Yet you had to come here and say it. You’ve made your choice, just move on. There is no need to come here and say it, that’s just whining.
WhiteDesertSun
6 months ago |As legitimate curiosity, what is it exactly that Sony can’t offer you? I consider myself an advanced amateur and find Sony’s selection of high end optics quite acceptable.
derrick s
6 months ago |optics are great for shure but can sony give us 36mp FF camera für 2300 €?
Rooru S.
6 months ago |derrick just went full retard…tell us about another FF 36MP at 2300euros in the market to make you go away from Sony and go to another manufacturer. Your argument is useless, you’re just whining.
Tom L.
6 months ago |+1
Vladimir
6 months ago |100% !!!!!!
derrick
6 months ago |its about offer and demand not whining
klw10
6 months ago |Any reason given as to why Sony dropped the mirror less A mount camera? I would imagine that maybe the AF system is not up to par for one yet?
Don Cox
6 months ago |I can’t see that a mirrorless camera with a fixed A mount would have any advantage to the user compared to a NEX with A mount adapter. It might be a bit bigger.
It would be slightly cheaper to manufacture, but this would be offset by much smaller sales.
Mike
6 months ago |This can mean two things:
- they had no clear vision of their overall camera strategy before they fully changed the roadmap
- they have no clue about their strategy right now
Hopefully, it is the former.
Dee
6 months ago |I am an amateur but I’ve been around professionals. Those people want something sturdy, a camera body with heft, an NEX body won’t do it for them. So now I’m really wondering What is it that Sony is trying to do?? using NEX bodies with adapters is not going to make combination that it attractive to the Pros.
mkln
6 months ago |so what? we’re not pros, yet we salivate at the idea of a FF NEX
Dee
6 months ago |Well the rumor was the new roadmap is to challenge Canikon. You can’t do that with small fancy cameras.
Sky_walker
6 months ago |Maybe they got it off the roadmap as well and plan to challenge Fuji & m4/3 instead? (not that they don’t do this already, but… seeing all these crazy things going on I wouldn’t be surprised)
mkln
6 months ago |the DSLR market is mature, the mirrorless market has just born. the E-mount is much more flexible than old A-mount. you can always go larger with camera size with E-mount, nobody forces you to make 5R-sized bodies.
I could think of a professional E-mount camera that has a detachable grip, for example. the grip would include the adaptor with translucent mirror (or no mirror at all, if technology is efficient enough for AF)
at the moment there is simply no compelling reason for people to switch from nikon to sony. canon users would weight their options carefully. new DSLR users are going to be attracted to one of the most mature systems (and marketing depts).
just look at what Apple did with Microsoft. instead of competing on the OS side (Mac vs Windows), make the computer market less relevant and less important, so that nobody will eventually care about Microsoft’s OS monopoly. how to make it irrelevant? introduce iphone and ipad. (I’m not saying their intentions were specifically to go against Microsoft, but certainly they had that as a byproduct)
Joe
6 months ago |Are you kidding me? Apple’s most damaging advertising campaign was the Mac vs. PC where the cool skinny guy and the dorky fat guy threw passive-aggressive comments at each other in the Windows Vista timeframe. The problem was, it painted Windows Vista in a terrible light and Vista really wasn’t as bad as the public perception. So Microsoft had released it’s #1 product and the perception killed it from the start. Apple then had a billion people on XP as potential iTunes users, sold a billion iPods and started remodeling them to look like PDA’s and then phones. iTunes never worked quite right on Vista and Apple knew it. So they had to attack Vista to keep the people who weren’t going to convert all the way on XP.
john
6 months ago |@DEE
So Sony needs to make HUGE/HEAVY/PLAIN cameras to challenge CaNikon.
Sky_walker
6 months ago |No, they need a camera with excellent ergonomics, beleeding-edge image quality, great AF system, excellent viewfinder and features oriented for pro-photographers. This, all by itself, rules out every single NEX that they might build. But at the same time we don’t even know if they are capable of doing it, as so far – they haven’t bothered to come even close to that. Canon, Nikon, even Pentax did it, but Sony somehow didn’t bother.
Most of these features Sony had at this or other point of time, but they never combined them all into one “ultimate” photography camera.
Sky_walker
6 months ago |So… a return to the DSLRs then?
If not mirrorless, and not SLT, then that’s the only remaining alternative. I’m quite sure it’ll make A LOT of people extremely happy, but then what the heck Sony has been doing all the time denying any option for DSLRs ever since the release of SLTs.
Another question it brings is why this project won’t happen? Camera like that could got down to ~1750$ level and eat competition for landscape photography or anything that doesn’t require fast AF. It’d make perfect sense and could become really popular, no idea why dropping it.
mkln
6 months ago |who said anything about DSLRs? the post says no mirrorless a-mount. it’s a very specific (bad) idea that got tossed out.
The Lotus Eater
6 months ago |“So… a return to the DSLRs then?” Eh? You got that from this rumour?
It is very specific – no high end A1X FF SLT and no A-mount FF mirrorless camera. That does not rule out any other level of FF SLT or e-mount FF mirrorless in the future.
Sky_walker
6 months ago |I don’t care about E-mount, and what I said wasn’t a new rumor, just looking for what’s left. Here we were said that there won’t be a new mirrorless FF, none of the SLT full frames will be released (not a cheap one nor expensive one, not even D800 competitor),
so the only option that doesn’t involve mirrorless A-mount nor SLT is a return back to DSLRs (or 3CMOS design similar to Minolta RD-175, but that’s extremely unlikely).
hanugro
6 months ago |Wow, It take less time than I predicted before for Sony to bring A-mount to mirrorless. Are the AF system ready?
Vivek
6 months ago |This is good news!
Sony ought to concentrate on making good cameras instead worrying about size shrinking and weight reduction. Do some justice to your own sensors!
Frank
6 months ago |A cheap mirror-less A-mount FF would have been a great studio camera.
Oskar
6 months ago |but if you can afford a studio you can afford a proper dslr. and size is not an issue either.
Frank
6 months ago |You’ve made the rather large assumption that people are earning money from it, many of us are hobbyists.
My studio lighting costed less than a second-hand budget dSLR, a studio obviously isn’t as expensive as you think.
oskar
6 months ago |right, but do you think budget studio owners is a big enough market segment? maybe. landscape is different though.
Frank
6 months ago |It’s irrelevant to the point I made. It would make a great studio camera, that’s all I said.
Oskar
6 months ago |hey, i didn’t mean to offend anyone, just participating in the discussion.
GreenLens
6 months ago |> A cheap mirror-less A-mount FF would have been a great studio camera.
Or landscape. A small, weather sealed full frame budget camera with nominal AF.
Frank
6 months ago |Indeed, most of my shooting doesn’t require fast AF. I have the A77 for everything else.
I’m actually keeping an eye on A850 prices, there has been a steady fall lately, but some way to go before I can justify a second body just for fun. Using the OVF will be a step-back too.
Carl
6 months ago |Or street photography. Compact, with stabilised 1.4 lenses and a large sensor, with a tilt LCD. Throw in a tiltable EVF like Minolta used to make and it’d be even better.
John Maverick
6 months ago |I agree. But such a thing can be simply done with E-mount and then a full-protocol A to E adaptor. Granted we haven’t seen this done in a fully robust manner yet, but the extended flexibility should be a real advantage. Also, the ergonomics of a larger camera can be replicated with battery grips etc.
Don Cox
6 months ago |A mirrorless FF with E-mount will make an even better studio camera.
You can stick it on the back of a Novoflex or Nikon bellows to get movements with a long lens. You can use it with a shift adapter and a short lens.
It would need tethering software, ideally; but the LCD is already much easier to use than the ground glass on a traditional 5×4 studio camera or the waist level finder on a Hasselblad.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |What in the world are you photographing that requires that insane amount of Frankensteinian camera abuse?
Troll.
John Maverick
6 months ago |T/S is pretty useful for product photography. Think watches and jewellery rather than fashion models. Being able to adapt regular SLR lens in this way, instead of needing a specialist expensive lens has price and quality advantages.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Really? THink about this…
I’ve shot product for Bulova with a simple lens and the quality (DOF included) is probably better than anything you can dream up with a crazy bellows.
Again, what planet did you come from. Poser Trollia?
Bosse
6 months ago |If we skip the real professional photographers (who doesn’t buy that much cameras) I think the fast increase in image quality and dynamic range of the APS-C sensors should make the full-frame senors less prone to be the future for the large range of customers that really buy lot of cameras!
In my perspective are the yearning for full-frame sensors a bit outdated and belong to a time when there were only full-frame sensor cameras that gave full image quality and good light sensitivity.
The advantages of the APS-C format is multiple, including the lenses designed for APS-C will be smaller, lighter and thus cheaper, which must be a great advantage for a large portion of the customer base for SLR cameras.
Maybe Sony has thoughts in that direction too and by that invests more in APS-C segment of cameras.
John Maverick
6 months ago |Dynamic range is an incredibly useful thing to have – not just for pros. In a landscape it allows one to exposure for colour in the sky, but then pull out the details from shadows in post. Modern SONY APS-C sensors are great at this, but full-frame is better.
Bosse
6 months ago |I fully agree, the dynamic range is a really useful thing to have, for all of us who are interested in photo! But even if the full-frame sensor are a little bit better in dynamic range, are the modern Sony APS-C sensor that good that for the great mass of people who buy SLR cameras, it is not worth so much more money which full-frame cameras with lenses still cost, is my opinion!
It’s rare the dynamic range in my “old” Sony A55 doesn’t handle the dynamic range of the lighting situation in the subjects I photograph. And if I then limit myself to jpg images so can I shoot HDR images directly into my Sony camera and thus gain access to a huge dynamic range when shooting landscapes.
Don Cox
6 months ago |The advantage of a larger sensor for studio product photography is that you get a useful angle of view with a longer lens – such as 100mm.
This gives room for a bellows with movements between the camera and the lens.
The same applies to photography in museums and galleries, for medical and scientific work, etc.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Dan, seriously, nobody wants to stick a giant 3rd party bellows on a NEX. And as far as museums go, how many are out there using a Sony A or E slapped onto an overhead bellows. Troll.
Nodoka
6 months ago |Well, I’m a user of pentax K-01, and I also have a NEX-7 at the same time. Pentax has many pancake lens, they all have high quality and are interesting lens. All these lens make K-01 an interesting and useful camera. I also use these pentax pancake lens on NEX-7, I hope sony could build some great pancake lens like pentax one day, that will be fantastic.
John Maverick
6 months ago |The focus should be on a small fullframe mirrorless E-mount that can handle existing high-incidence lenses well (eg. no AA filter).
Think what a neat trick it would be to have a system camera similar to a NEX-6 that has higher IQ than every crop DSLR out there, but is covert like a P&S.
Early adopters will brag and send the message to the rest of the photography community via the internet. The classic small high IQ lenses already exist (Leica/Zeiss/Voigt). And 3rd party manufacturers such as zeiss, sigma and tamron would fill in AF options within a year or two. Look at how there are now three manufacturers of full functioning EF adaptors for E-mount!
SONY has the technology together, but are intent on developing a cogent marketing strategy. It doesn’t need to be so complicated. The NEX cameras basically sold themselves – and spread via word-of-mouth of early adopters. SONY should just release the thing and test the market.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |+1.
Tony D
6 months ago |I am ready to buy an APS-C A-mount body, without a mirror, that mirror, in the way, means a little less light so a slightly slower shutter which is usually bad. I shoot wildlife but most often birds, so an APS-C sensor helps get details at a distance. If one could be designed with reasonable ISO capabilities, a “Foveon type” sensor would be a plus.
By the way, if you want a small camera, like a NEX, with a FF sensor, wouldn’t that only makes sense for wide angle. The larger image circle needed for a FF sensor would usually mean a larger lens. Anything 85mm or larger with a wide aperture would seem unbalanced and you could question why the camera body is so small and why you have to get stabilization with every lens.
Sky_walker
6 months ago |You don’t get any slower shutter speeds with SLTs.
And “Foveon type” sensor would make camera only worse for wildlife shooting, because so far all the patents and designs struggle a lot with getting decent image quality above ISO400.
Frank
6 months ago |You should be buying the A580 then…
John Maverick
6 months ago |Contax G 90 on NEX is pretty respectable for size on NEX http://www.flickr.com/photos/yubokumin/5380619747/
Various Elmarit 90s also work nice.
Although it is true that for real tele-photo the lenses do get larger.
One point to note is that there’s no inherent advantage to APS-C at the long end, because it’s possible to achieve the same effect using FF and then simply cropping the result.
blabla
6 months ago |What is the longest lens on E-mount ? 250mm ? What a pleasure to shoot wildlife instead with A-mount and 500mm+2xTC ! haha !!!
Frank
6 months ago |1000mm hand-held
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |300mm is the FF equivalent in native NEX lenses right now. I shoot with the silver 18-200 3.5-6.3 (about 24-300 in classic 35mm thinking). Excellent lens, as good as my Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS.
john
6 months ago |I’m happy with the SLT design with it’s inherent light loss for now but wish Sony would get rid of the mechanical shutter.
We already see mirror less technology from every manufacturer butI would love to see global shutter from Sony.
Anon
6 months ago |Sure thing. The only question is when.
laval
6 months ago |I’ve been waiting for a FF mirrorless, interchangeable lens from Sony.
It wouldn’t have to be A mount, although there are excellent A mount lenses.
I don’t want an SLT or a standard DSLR.
I hope they are working on a FF mirrorless, interchangeable lens.
f/2.8
6 months ago |Yes, I love my A77. But an A77 without the mirror and an on-sensor phase detection-AF would be even better!!! All the other things (form factor, sensor, …) should/could be exactly the same.
Since I’m not so curious about AF-Speed, I would have no problem with an “slow” contrast-AF-System, too.
So it’s quite sad that it looks like Sony dropped the idea. In my opinion such an a-mount camera would be perfect …
Joe
6 months ago |I have an A900 and A99 and I still keep the A77 around for its sheer speed and power. Plus in ISO 50-200 it takes 2x magnification to see any difference. I have been tempted to sell one of the three and I have been leaning A900 just because the A99 doesn’t match the A77 speed yet.
aSn
6 months ago |the 3rd prototype would be the modular NEX, with the modular A/E mount, wouldn’t it? ..
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Very good guess.
ItIsMe
6 months ago |NEX + adapter kit would be a simpler and ready solution.
Jon
6 months ago |Sony currently have very good perhaps the best enthusiast type Camera’s, RX100, RX1 both the best in class then they have their very profitable and capable NEX line up which are fantastic platforms, then they have the A57, A65, A77 APS-C Line up and then the sublime A99 FF Sony will build on that, they need class leading but profitable camera series. They need now to concentrate on in country support across geography’s and if they do half as good a job as Nikon have then they will receive great support from the buying public.
GreenLens
6 months ago |This should also be explained to the buying public, it should be obvious where Sony is better. Currently Sony seem to save on ad campaigns.
Jon
6 months ago |Interesting point Greenlens, but you know in the past year or so Sony have had incredible coverage of the products I have mentioned through media and pro commentary, additionally when you search for reviews from pro’s etc they are certainly capturing the imagination of a lot of Pro’s and high end enthusiasts out there. The RX1 will do more for Sony with the professional and serious enthusiasts that use Canon or Nikon than perhaps any camera they have produced thus far. Perhaps that is true of the RX100 as well. Looking at the entire range mentioned is there another camera company today that has managed to do this across the range that Sony produce? I seriously doubt that.
GreenLens
6 months ago |I fully agree with you, Jon. I did notice last year’s Sony campaign. It was incredible effort which probably did not pay off. Now Sony almost completely disappeared from the screen, that’s why I suspect they save money or change their advertising strategy. This reminds me Minolta story but I’d rather keep mum.
What I mean is that it would be very beneficial for Sony (and us) if any potential customer coming to a camera shop would know answers to simple questions like “What is the best fixed-lens camera ever?”, “What is the best speed machine for money?”, “What is the most convenient system for a photo/video enthusiast?” and so on. A simple quiz, isn’t it?
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Wrong. The line will be fine tuned into one exceptionally elegant solution…
No impediments from the low end to the top, easily added to and legacy worthy.
agorabasta
6 months ago |I can live without mirrorless A-mount. I’d rather have a Nex like that – it should be a main body about the size of a57 or slightly smaller, should have enough direct control buttons/knobs, should have integrated IBIS, should come with an A-E adapter that doesn’t look or feel foreign when attached. Would be nice to have it use two batteries of existing types, instead of using some larger camcorder battery type; this way you could put in one or two batteries depending on expected usage.
Joseph Ferrari
6 months ago |The RX1 could be the disruptive technology that shakes the Canon-Nikon tree!
The unified sensor-body design could be the next generation of mirrorless systems.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Well, well… I’d have to agree (somewhat). I’d put my money on an RX10.
Almazar80
6 months ago |A full frame mirrorless A-mount camera is a great idea, espcially if it focuses well. Come on, Sony, Something like that would be as welcome as the RX1, except it will sell in HIGHER numbers. Much higher numbers.
Ian
6 months ago |Andrea
what was the third option that did not get dropped?
Ian
admin
6 months ago |Hehehe, that is the ONE camera coming. But let me work on the rumors because there is a lot of talk (within soruces) about it. And I have to straight out some info.
Ian
6 months ago |i thought i could casually slip that in there and get an answer!!! lol!
LifeStoryImages.com
6 months ago |Thanks Andrea, for your integrity in running your sites.
travelshots
6 months ago |Which mount will this camera have? A or E? If it could be E, A99 might have been the last A-mount VF camera, which also gives not the best prognosis for the future of the whole A-mount.
John Maverick
6 months ago |It really doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition.
SONY have a ready market of existing A-mount users and lens owners. They are not going to abandon that as an economic reality, although it is clearly difficult to expand that market given the domination of Canikon.
And putting a FF sensor in a NEX like ILS camera doesn’t really anything. The SLT cameras are probably going to have advantages in dedicated AF speed and IBIS and ergonomics for those that like/require larger cameras.
SONY have shown that they are adding to their lineup NEX 6, RX100, RX1 etc to cover the market, rather than substituting new products in place of old.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Man, you’re such a dichotomy that I’m not sure you’re bipolar or suffer from a new form of multiple personality disorder.
One minute I absolutely disagree with everything you post.
Next minute… it’s like you have this spark of genius that can only come from an inside source.
Let’s just disagree to agree, shall we?
commsbloke
6 months ago |If you crossed an RX1 with an A99 could you get something the size of an OM2
JoeNoName
6 months ago |Dammit Andrea, when I saw the picture I though Sony was gonna make a Compact size A-Mount camera
I really want it, please inform us not of what is taken off the road but what is ON it, seems you are just giving us bad reports instead of the juicy happy ones
Mart
6 months ago |Hoped the game changer is a NEX that comes with built in strong AF motor and AF, when purchase come with a simple small electronic Amount Adapter. So in future the nex is simply A-A-mountable or E-mountable. That would be a real game changer…
Andy Pandy
6 months ago |Andrea,
So is there another FF camera coming in late 2013 or is it going to be 2014 now?
I think its a shame Sony ditched the mirrorless A mount camera, but maybe they are working on a camera which will take both A & E mount lenses
Jacky
6 months ago |A-mount mirrorless with on-chip phase-detection sensors and hybrid contrast detection has always been my dream camera, Sony team is always reading my mind. Too bad if they decide to drop it. I have already invested into the top-quality A-mount Zeiss lenses, rather than waiting for another 5 years for the NEX series to come up with the same (16-35, 24-70, 70-200 F2.8). For all these big/heavy Zeiss lenses, NEX with adapter does not provide ergonomics to balance the weight. A99 with $2800 price point is too much investment to put down on a piece of hardware that gets out-dated in a few years. An affordable and ultra-compact FF with $1500 price point will be the ultimate market share stealer, while offering the top of the line series of Zeiss lenses. Of course, such camera shall retain the ergonomic and sleek design aka the A99.
Bosse
6 months ago |+1 on “A-mount mirrorless with on-chip phase-detection sensors and hybrid contrast detection has always been my dream camera,[...]“
GreenLens
6 months ago |Æ – mount camera. Or Ä-mount.
TrollMan
6 months ago |Good naming. New mount without a real new mount.
pjpo
6 months ago |An A-mount mirrorless makes no sense to me. Make it a FF NEX with either the LA-EA3 adapter that shows how horribly slow the AF is a currently non-existent LA-EA4 SLT adapter for those that accept a bit less light for proper PDAF and focus motor for legacy glass. Perfection of the on sensor AF is needed before they consider dropping the mirror, and I’m sure they know that. SLT is just transitional technology. The bigger the sensor, the more important AF is BTW, why does the RX1 focus faster than NEX? Maybe they can get some CDAF help from Olympus while they keep working on the sensor PDAF.
With my 5R, LA-EA2, And EVF, I already have a great “modular” camera. I only need a battery grip from eBay to finish it out. The only other thing that would be great for modularity would be the ability to swap out sensor modules to have FF or APS-C and upgrade sensors as technology improves.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |but you dont have IBIS with that combo do you? and not to mention, no weathersealing, low battery life , no ISO 50 option,lack of external controls..just sayin.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |^ is not the real SonyCyberPunk. Troll.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |IBIS is no good. I’ve stated and explained this several times in the past.
ISO 50 is no good. It literally kills the quality in terms of dynamic range.
Lastly, anyone pretending to me, SonyCyberPunk, is a troll.
Troll.
pjpo
6 months ago |True, but I’m just saying that my kit shows how a NEX system can be modular and fit different needs. I only mentioned my kit for that, not that it is everything I want. You described an OM-D, and if it had a bigger sensor and Sony EVF/rear screen, I might have jumped on that instead. A FF Sony OM-D would be quite ideal.
As for battery life, that’s not so bad if you configure it like a DSLR. Turn off shot preview and turn off the back screen, and you are only powering the EVF when your eye is to the finder. Cuts down on needless chimping as well.
A FF NeX wouldn’t use the current E mount lenses though it would in crop mode, so their lens OSS is no big deal. Sigma lenses have OS for Sony even though there is IBIS. However, IBIS could be added to future NEX with no problem and should. For so much of touting that the NEX handles difference mounts as well as Sony’s video leanings, IBIS is a definite need.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |I plead for you to research IBIS vs. Lens Stabilization. ‘Nuff said. You can lead a blind horse to water, but you can’t make ‘em drink.
Please, drink…
Peter Korp
6 months ago |I would have loved to see such a mirrorless fullframe camera with a series lenses….
redfern
6 months ago |This is just not sounding much like the A mount is “alive and well.” I still hope that A-mount cameras will be further developed, but my gut tells me that Sony will finish out some of the cameras in development right now — consumer APS-C SLTs — and the lenses that were already on the roadmap, since there was a big ramp-up time on those and they don’t want to lose money by not releasing them.
But after that, what? I think we begin the transition to E-mount only products for 2014. The FF NEX will come, there will be adapters for existing A-mount lenses (the extent of functionality remains to be seen), and eventually native FF lenses will be made for E-mount.
Judging by the comments here, it doesn’t seem like too many people see that as a bad thing. And I would agree as long as I wasn’t giving up functionality in that move. But we already know the NEXs were designed without IBIS, and there is no incentive for Sony to make PDAF on sensor work with lenses that they didn’t sell you (i.e. no Minolta, Sigma, and possibly Tamron support). So at the moment, unless someone can confirm otherwise, my FF lenses would not have IBIS or AF on a FF NEX. That is a step backwards for me.
I’ll be watching this carefully to see which direction it goes. I really like Sony cameras — I find them far more intuitive to use, and the results are still excellent when compared to the competition — but I’m just worried about being in a technological dead-end for development in a year or two. Not to mention that the value of my current FF lenses could completely tank at that point.
BTW, I noticed there was not a lot of love for the a99 in the last week’s worth of comments. Have you all tried one yet? I rented one and didn’t expect to be impressed by it considering I already have two a850s. But honestly, I was blown away. It is SHARP, FAST, ACCURATE, and delivers simply stunning image quality more easily than with any Sony camera I’ve used to date. Despite what you may think, it is a huge improvement and made my classic lenses perform better than ever before. On paper it doesn’t seem like a big step up from an a900, but let me tell you that the numbers don’t tell the whole story. This is one hell of a camera, and you’ve got to use it to realize how all the little improvements they’ve made behind the scenes really add up.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |So in a nutshell, what you’re trying to say is…
Your not going to buy the A99, either.
Join the crowd.
redfern
6 months ago |On the contrary, I’m saving up for it right now. Wanna buy my backup a850 with only 12 clicks on the shutter?
Regardless of whether the A mount survives or not, the a99 is brilliant and after renting it I know I want it. It’s just sad to me that it seems Sony got this camera really sorted and yet no one’s paying attention. (Myself included, until I rented it and saw the results for myself.)
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Good for you! Enjoy it, just make sure you shoot it some versus your other camera. LOL
obican
6 months ago |If Canon had done a mirrorless EF mount camera, I’d be all over it. Sony, not so much. The reason is simple: With Canon, the existing flange distance allows me to use M42 lenses. With Sony A-Mount it’s impossible.
The real price of having a FF system is the lenses, not the body. If I’m going to pay for all the FF lenses, I’d just as well pay for the A99 which gives me a rapid AF, which the mirrorless A-Mount camera would never be able to deliver.
Also, how much would the price difference be? What are they taking out of the camera? PDAF sensor and the mirror? How much do they cost? 1200$? How much would that rumored(now cancelled) camera cost? 1600$? Better keep the mirror in and sell it for 2000$.
Impossible? A850 was sold for that price which had a VERY expensive optical viewfinder built in.
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |It’s called the EOS M. Troll.
Everlast66
6 months ago |… and is three years behind the NEX system …
obican
6 months ago |Since when is Eos-M a FF camera?
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Let me guess, you’re the kid who never paid attention to detail in school?
He was asking about a mirrorless for EF lenses, not FF lenses.
Troll award goes to you, troll.
obican
6 months ago |Have you noticed that my original comment WASN’T a reply to anyone, therefore noone asked for anything and I WAS talking about FF lenses.
Pay attention
Carl
6 months ago |You’re mistaken, M42 can be adapted to A mount. If the adaptor has a chip you get stabilisation with it, too, which is not something you’ll get on a Canon.
Canon’s can adapt Nikon, Pentax, Olympus OM and Contax/Yashica lenses that A mount cannot, however. But the option to get a Leitax replacement mount for the lens remains.
dieterson
6 months ago |I am a bit sad, that a mirrorless full-frame was dropped. Personally I prefer the A-mount over the E-mount, because they use the anti-shake-sensor. If a dual system like in the Nex-6 is used, and a nice designed body (like A77/65/57) and not something like the Pentax K-01 it could be a nice rival for Nikon D600 and Canon 6d. Up to now there is no native 2.8 Zoom (16-50 and 50-150 or 70-200) for the Nex-System. If you want to use such glases, you do not need any tiny bodies.
A good Pro-System-body can not be to small to hold the camera and a fast Tele. And to repeat myself – the anti-shake-system-sensor is a big plus compared to Nikon an Canon – and this one is not planed in the Nex-System.
I would prefer:
1) A fast (15 frames per second -until two SD-cards are filled- with 24MP) Fullframe-SLT-System with a real Fullframe-AF on nearly the whole area (not like the APS-C AF-System on a Fullframe, like the A99!) in a good Pro-Body (like Canon 1d-X) and a A-Mount.
2)As a second fullframe-cam: A Studio Pro-Cam (could be the same body) with a 48MP Sensor (8000×6000) or even better a 64MP square-sensor (8000×8000) also with A-Mount, but mirrorless and dual-hybrid AF (like Nex-6)
jeff
6 months ago |So guys~! No more FF from Sony?
admin
6 months ago |FF coming. Don’t worry!
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |Even though Andrea is basically a troll who likes trolling her own site, I’d have to agree with her. Additionally, the fact that she doesn’t delete this post proves something even more valuable.
She’s the real deal.
Even if she’s a troll!
OneTrackMind
6 months ago |haha!! @SonyCyberPunk – dude, you are a trip! But I gotta know something…are you this much of an ass in real life or just on these message boards?
SonyCyberPunk
6 months ago |No, I’m not an Axx in real life… nor on the boards.
Humor goes a long way when it’s recognized.
SonyCyberPunk – Politically incorrect, brutally honest, always joking.
Steve
6 months ago |Andrea is NOT a she
Andrea is a HE!
admin
6 months ago |Yep! At least, last time I checked I was a “He”
I know it’s confusing because I actually speak German and usually “Andrea” is female there. But I have an Italian parent that messed it up
bioocat
6 months ago |Andrea, can you tell us a bit more about the future of A-mount?
I think most people here are having serious concerns about whether the doomed end of life is coming to a-mount lenses, coz It’s a huge thing that holds back our investments in the A mount. you said both A and E will be further developed and also there will be no future plan for releasing a native A-mount camera, does that imply that A-mount will only live through use of an adapter which cuts off 30% of light?
davidlam
6 months ago |Wish it were a950 with a99 sensor on an updated A900 body, with IAS hotshoe, OVF default plus EVF as option. Just use Mirror-Lock Up, on-sensor PDAF and EVF/LiveView for video/high fps.
Price it between 6D and D600. With MLU/cropped mode at 12fps or higher, I think it will also attract Canikon APS-C DSLR users to go for higher image/video quality as well as faster AF/high FPS.
Maybe it wont bring too much profit to Sony, but it will help to retain the existing A-mount customers. Also, the development costs is very minimal, and it is a good interim solution until we see a full FF roadmap from Sony!
davidlam
6 months ago |And, don’t forget to put in Wifi and fast tethering (keep the RAW and just send the small size JPEG to check focus/composition) on computer.
If the image quality is good (without the SLT overhead) and AF is fast (mature multi-point PDAF system with double-cross points), it may attract Pro-shooters as well.
Nothing is new here and then I can wait for another 3-5 years until a truly revolutionary FF camera is born!
Calxn
6 months ago |This is a very smart move by Sony. A FF mirrorless that is not A mount have the potential to propel Sony into the leadership role by a mile. It would immediately scare canikon and send m43 into a tailspin. I’m glad the leadership at Sony was able to put internal politics aside and do the right thing. I’ve been in these situations before. It must have gotten very political between th A mount and E mount groups within Sony. It’s time to put hurt feelings away and redirect the A mount resources to FF Nex.
Rob
6 months ago |Andrea, is it true that the FF is supposed to be the major game-changer predicted here recently? If so,I hope it’s not just another slt with the 36 megapixel sensor, because as good as it is, it’s already been on the market for nearly a year and will be well over a year old by the time the new FF comes out. While that might be a nice cam, it’d certainly not be a game changer.
Esteban
6 months ago |It’s interesting how different the markets are in differents countries. Here in Chile the NEX series it’s a total failure and the a-mount cameras are by far the best selling sony products in the higher end camera market. Here the common sense is: If you want DSLR Quality, then you’ll want easy access with physical buttons to all the manual settings so big grip a-mount cameras it’s your choice. If you just want to take family photos, then the typcal compact it’s good enough. the nex series stands in between and it’s too expensive for the typical buyer and not very appealing to the one that want full control with easy to access buttons and control wheels. But that seems to happen only here, haha.