Good and Bad news in Sony financial report: Substantial slowdown in demand in camera

Sony released the full 2020 financial report. And Sony reports a 57% drop in fourth-quarter profit (Jan-March 2020) because of the Covd19 outbreak. And In Q4 the still and video camera/lens sales dropped by 25% compared to last year

There is also a good and bad news. Bad news first:

Sales and profit from digital cameras are being significantly impacted by a substantial slowdown in demand around the world.

Good news:

In China and Thailand, the factories owned by Sony that make digital cameras and smartphones are currently operating as usual.

Also the imaging sensor production is back to normal.

Overall nothing is getting in the way to announce new products from now on :)

Sony PRO Support extended by six months for customers due to global conditions

Press text:

Sony PRO Support extended by six months for customers due to global conditions

As a PRO Support member, you are among our most loyal customers and we want you to know how much we value you being part of Sony’s Imaging family.

With the current global situation, we are taking steps to ensure we are supporting all of our customers during these difficult times. For all Pro Support members like yourself, we are automatically extending membership for an additional 6 months, free of charge.
As a refresher, your ProSupport membership includes:
– Dedicate US Phone Support Experts
– Expedited Repair Turnaround Time
– Repair Loaners
– Evaluation Loaner
– Camera Maintenance
– Terms & Conditions for the program applies to
o US members
o Canada members
We are here to support you via phone or email:
M-F 7AM PST to 5PM PST. Saturday 7AM PST to 2PM PST.
Phone: 866-470-7669
Email: ImagingProSupport@sony.com.
Thank you again for your loyalty and support.
All the best,
Sony Imaging PRO Support

This week SAR readers photos selection


Gareth Llewellyn
Sony a7iii 70200GM 1/500 2.8 100

1) You can submit one single picture per week only.
2) To submit your picture for the weekly readers roundup post you can choose one of the following three options:
Instagram: Follow @sonyalphagallery and tag us on your picture to give us the permission to repost your image on the instagram gallery and on SAR (we will credit you)
Facebook: Submit your picture on our group: facebook.com/groups/sonyalphacamera. Please add the hashtag “#sonyalphagallery ” to grant the permission for reposting on SAR. Without the hashtag we will not add your picture!
Forum: Submit your picture on the SonyAlphaForum image section and add the hashtag “#sonyalphagallery
3) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: instagram.com/sonyalphagallery, facebook.com/groups/sonyalphacamera and on SonyAlphaForum.
4) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Note: When sending a pic feel free to also add a link to your site to promote yourself! And please do share one single picture per week only. Do not spam :)

 

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Sony’s new Leaf Shutter mechanism patent

This is quite unexpected: Sony is working on a leaf shutter system for interchangeable lenses. In this patent Sony writes:

A camera system, including: an interchangeable lens; an internal shutter configured to open and close; and a lens detector coupled to the internal shutter and capable of accepting the interchangeable lens, the lens detector configured to detect the presence of a leaf shutter within the interchangeable lens, wherein the lens detector generates a shutter signal to keep the internal shutter open when the presence of the leaf shutter within the interchangeable lens is detected.

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Image of a Leaf shutter via Camera-wiki.

The Sony RX1 line does use leaf shutter mechanism but the patent in question said that the new mechanism has been developed for interchangeable lenses. Maybe Sony will launch a new series of “silent” lens line for the E-mount or maybe this is for a new Sony medium format system camera. Don’t know if that is something SAR readers will really buy into…

These are the Pros and Cons listed by CameraPedia:

Pros
1) Leaf shutters can synchronize a flash at any available shutter speed.[1]

2) They are generally more compact and less noisy than focal plane shutters.
3) They do not distort the image of moving objects.

Cons
1) Leaf shutters are typically not capable of shutter speeds as high as modern focal plane shutters

2) Cameras using leaf shutters must either have a shutter in each lens, like the Hasselblad 500, or have the shutter in the camera body, which limits the range of possible focal lengths and the maximum aperture, like the Paxette.

 

New Video Enhance AI update released ($169 instead of $299 with checkout code “RUMOR”)

Today Topaz released a new update for their Video Enhance AI software ($169 instead of $299 with checkout code “RUMOR“):

Improved speed on Mac and Windows
Increased hardware support
Upgraded AI Models with improved motion stability

Use our checkout code “RUMOR” to get an additional 15% discount on all TOPAZ products (Click here). This is what you can do with the Topaz  Video Enhance AI software: