I am working on a triple front. The NEX cameras and lens rumors, the SLT cameras and lens rumors and the new Full Frame Mirrorless system. I already shared you some info about the first two fronts. The NEX-7m, the new Zeiss premium zoom and on the SLT front I told you about the four new A mount lenses and new entry level SLT that will arrive within the next few months.

And now the NEX FF: There is no news yet. I have been told Sony still has not decided the exact time frame for the official release. It all depends from the ongoing testing work. They are now testing two prototypes, one with 24Megapixel and one with 30-32 Megapixel sensor. Both sensors have new features and phase detection pixels on sensor. The AF performance is one of the key technologies Sony want to improve. The tested sensors are part of  a new generation of Sony sensors. I have no info yet if the 30-32 Megapixel sensor will be used by Sony exclusively or shared with Nikon. Also the viewfinder tech is being elaborated and will be different from what we have seen until now. Anyway, not much news yet but I guess that soon Sony will decide how the final NEX FF should be. And by than I hope I can share you some bits about it!

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[/shoplink] Image on top shows the A-mount (not E-mount!) [shoplink 5586]Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 lens[/shoplink]. A similar version is coming for E-mount.

Very well known sources confirmed that Sony will launch a premium quality standard zoom lens in 2013. I don’t have the exact specs and release date yet but I have been told it’s a ZEISS! I have been told it will be similar to the current Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 A-mount lens (Price and specs of the lens at [shopcountry 5586]).

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I kindly invite you to join the very active and growing Facebook community! And s ubscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream. You really will not miss all the news and rumors that will come from now on!

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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!

An anonymous source just sent me a small rumor about the NEX-7 successor. The name of the camera will be “NEX-7m” and it will feature several improvements like increased max shutter speed, enhanced NR and ISO range, etc.

I hope trusted sources can confirm or deny that rumor. Meantime keep your feet on ground!

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P.S.: The Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens is in Stock for $999 on [shoplink 16295 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink]. Found and notified via Slidoo.

The following post is a mix of rumors and speculations about the possible new cameras and lenses from Sony. This is not an SR5 rumor :)

RX Cybershot:
Sony is quite happy with the success of their RX100 and RX1 cameras. And they definitely will keep going on with new camera release. It’s pretty obvious that there is plenty of room for an RX10 camera with ASP-C sensor. The question is how will they make it? My guess is that it will have a fixed prime lens to make the camera very compact.
Another question is, will there be a variations within the same series? For example an RX2 with a 50mm f/1.7 equivalent lens. Or an RX101 with a wider (and slower) zoom range.

Sony NEX:
There will be plenty of of new cameras and lenses. I expect a new NEX-3 model and probably a NEX-7 successor too. Unlike previous years there will be finally more new lens than new camera announcements :)
We know three new Zeiss primes with full electronic support are going to be launched in Spring 2013. There will be a new 85mm f/1.8 lens and a 3-4 more new Sony E-mount lenses. But let’s not forget that we can pretty much be sure that also Tamron, Sigma and other manufacturers will announce new lenses too.

Sony FF NEX:
As I told you last week Sony is working on the camera development and an exact time release hasn’t been set yet. It all depends from how things will work out. They want the camera to be damn good, like a Pro DSLR from Nikon and Canon. My guess is that the camera will hit the stores in early 2014 only. There may be some announcement or prototype shown in late 2013.

Sony SLT:
I already told you about four new A-mount lenses that will be launched within the next six months and the most interesting one is the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 lens. We will have both, new entry level and new semi pro SLT APS-C cameras. It will be highly unlikely that Sony will launch a new SLT FF cameras in 2013.

Surprises:
Unlike Canon and Nikon Sony is always good for a surprise! Never be sure what’s in the engineers head. So how could a surprise look like? A 50+ Megapixel A1x SLT camera, a new 3 layer sensor (foveon similar), or the come back of optical viewfinders. But those are just dreams for now…or not? :)

And now, what is your Sony camera wish for 2013?

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Never get excited about a patent. It’s not a prove at all that the described product may be produced for real. That said Egami (translation here) spotted a new Tamron lens design and it is a 300mm f/2.8 lens for a Full Frame mirrorless camera system. There is no info about the mount that the lens is going to use. But Sony Corporation maintains an 11% share hold in Tamron (Source: Wikipedia). So it may could be a lens made for the NEX system.

That said Tamron wouldn’t be the first to make a Full Frame compatible E-mount lens. Samyang/Rokinon already sells such lenses for the VG-900! Here they are:
Rokinon 14mm T3.1 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16228 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].
24mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16229 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].
Rokinon 35mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16230 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].
Rokinon 85mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16231 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].

via Mirrorlessrumors.

Yesterdays rumor about the Full Frame NEX created some buzz about the A-mount future. Some do believe that this may be the end of the A-mount. So let’s get through that:

1) First, this is a rumor site, so never I repeat NEVER(!) accept my info as 100% sure facts.
2) I never wrote A-mount is dead. The only thing I wrote is that Sony is speeding up the NEX FF project and that there will be no SLT FF in 2013. Again, this is a rumor. It may be that Sony will release an SLT FF in 2014. But I have no info about the 2014 strategy.
3) Focus on my A-mount rumors: As I told you there will be at least four new A-mount lenses within the next 6 months, there will be 2 or even three new A-mount ASP-C SLT cameras. That sounds damn good to me! :)
4) The NEX FF I heard about has 100% support for all A-mount lenses. Which means that AF speed will be as fast as it gets, like on current A-mount cameras. I would have no doubt buying A-mount lenses. Especially an upcoming lens like the superb 50mm f/1.4 Zeiss!

So again, we are a rumor site and it’s obvious that people discusses what could happen in one year from now. But keep your feet on ground. Don’t go too far with extreme speculations :)

P.S.: I would buy the A99 right now if I would need a FF hybrid stills and video camera.

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P.S.: I still don’t know the price of the lens but we have many Zeiss 50mm lenses for different mounts and I thought it would be nice to give you an overview:
[shoplink 14186 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Canon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 14187 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Nikon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 14188 ebay]Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 50mm f/1.4 50/1.4 LTM (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 14190 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 for Contax (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink] [shoplink 14189 ebay]Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZF 50mm F1.4 Nikon Ai-S (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]

It’s Christmas time and what bad administrator would I be if I wouldn’t give you an SR5 rumor :)

1) These last two weeks I contacted all my best sources and they now all(!) confirmed that the next Sony Full Frame camera will not be a new SLT camera. It will be a Full Frame mirrorless camera!
2) Plan of a FF SLT release in 2013 have been dropped to fully focus the development resources on that FF mirrorless camera. Sony’s main priority is to create a real High End camera. A camera that can have all the functions and capabilities of a DSLR (that means for example fast AF). Sony sees that camera as the one that should bring back some significant interests on Sony FF system.
3) The camera is still in the final stage of development. We can expect the release of the cameras by end 2013 at earliest but early 2014 sounds more likely for now.
4) The camera has some key tech not seen on any Sony camera yet. I am still working on this rumor to get some detailed info. So stay tuned!
5) The camera is a bit bigger than the current [shoplink 8454]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink] and not that much different in terms of the design.
6) The camera has a native E-mount and both E-mount and A-mount lenses will be fully supported.
7) One of the trusted sources said that Sony is right now testing two different prototypes. One features a 24 megapixel and the other camera features a new 30-32 Megapixel sensor.

In summary, in about one year the NEX world will expand into the High End Pro market. And this may be a bad news for the [shoplink 16137 ebay]Leica M system[/shoplink]! I know you have many questions about lenses, specs and so on. I am working on that and as you imagine it’s not easy to get specs about a camera which features are being tested and changed every couple of weeks. So what can we expect in 2013? we will have plenty of new NEX and SLT (APS-C) cameras and lenses. And I hope Sony engeneers will manage it to announce that NEX FF by Christmas 2013! But as I said, it all depends from the development speed. As Sony stated a couple of times, E-mount FF is a “challenge”. A challenge that Sony has no worry to take!

Now a short question:

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Don’t miss any rumor about the Sony NEX and SLT world. Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here)!

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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!