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Image courtesy: Photozone.

Last year Photozone tested the Zeiss 24-70mm on the APS-C A700 camera and the results were impressive. Today Photozone (Click here) tested the same lens on the Fullframe A900 camera and results are by far LESS impressive! The conclusion: “The Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA SSM produced outstanding performance figures in our APS-C test but it’s not quite as good when used within its native full format scope. It is, of course, still able of delivering an outstanding center resolution but the corner quality disappoints at 24mm when using large to medium aperture settings. You may argue that the quality is fine at mainstream settings here (f/8-f/11) but for this amount of money you simply expect better results here. The lens is certainly very sharp at 40mm and still pretty good at 70mm. Lateral CAs may be visible at times in wide-angle images but it’s a non-issue in the middle to upper zoom range. A rather sour aspect of the lens is the quality of the bokeh (character of the out-of-focus blur) which could be better @ 70mm f/2.8 – this may cause headaches for some users. Bokeh fringing is very well controlled though. The lens is somewhat prone to flare.”

I am a bit surprised and you?

Check out the current price of the Zeiss lens at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
The fullframe A900 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.

I bet many of you are tired to wait for the A700 successor. We saw many prototypes on many shows during the last year. And Sony didn’t unveil any specs or details about the camera and final release. But finally I have some very reliable info about the Sony A77 release. Exclusive on SonyAlphaRumors of course

According to our trusted sources the new Sony A77 will hit the market in October. One source claims to know the exact worldwide shipment date: October 6th! And when is Sony going to announce the camera? I am not 100% certain yet but a few of our sources said that it should be announced in July at a luxury event (probably in Montecarlo).

I can also confirm that the specs we posted here during the past few months are correct:
1) The A77 has a newly designed 24 Megapixel sensor.
2) I have been told that Sony and Zeiss worked very close and very hard to develop lenses that can deliver the necessary resolution for the 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor. The first lens to be announced should be the 16-50mm zoom. Compared to the Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 it will have a constant aperture and probably have a bit higher price. Zeiss 16-80mm price check at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
3) The combination of the new sensor+new Zeiss lens delivers 62% more resolution than the A55 16 Megapixel sensor.
4) Sony officially said at Amateur Photographer the A77 price will be on the level of the Canon 60D. But according to our sources it will be a little bit more expensive than the 60D. Canon 60D price check at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay
5) We already got a few detailed specs but we need some time to double check the info we received. I hope to post them soon on SAR. The only thing I can say is that the electronic viewfinder is much better (But no hybrid viewfinder a la Fuji X100), autofocus very accurate, It records FullHD, robust body compared to current SLT cameras, no flip-up mode to allow shooting without this extra sheet of glass in place, it will take CF+SD+MS cards, of which you can use two at the same time, 1.000 pictures with one battery.

I am working to get more info about the A77 and the products that are going to be announce don ealry April (4th?). There will be so many new cameras and lenses you cannot even imagine
If you have some rumor to share contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar. And invite your friends to follow us! Join us at Facebook, Twitter and follow our RSS-feed!

Stay tuned!
Andrea (SonyAlphaRumors editor)

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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!

The NYC (Click here) interviewed Howard Stringer CEO of Sony: “Two of the company’s sites in that area, a Blu-ray disc factory and a research and development lab, were badly damaged by flooding; about 1,100 employees were trapped on upper floors. Eight more factories, dedicated to making things like lithium-ion batteries and semiconductor lasers, were also thrown off line, in some cases because of direct damage from the natural disasters, in most cases because of electric failures.”

In an official press release Sony Japan announced that they are slowly reopening their plants. The major problem right now is the power supply which has to be reestablished in a few plants.

I am now 99% sure there will be no new Fullframe camera from Sony this year. That is was my trusted sources told to me. And honestly they were never wrong. But they also told me the FF camera will be amazing and a “perfect tool for Photographers“. I know those are “just words” but my sources are not fan-boys and when they say that I have to believe them   It’s very likely that the prototype will be shown at the Cliq show in September (Las Vegas).

But this is pretty much the last bad news I will give you. So don’t get frustrated! The A77 is coming soon (I will write more about that tomorrow!), new NEX camera and lenses too. I am veeeery busy working on rumors. If you have some to share contact me at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar.

So please stay tuned on SAR!

If you are satisfied with my work and want to help me to cover server costs and the beer I need while working feel free to purchase products through those links Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay. it doesn’t matter what you buy once you click on that link (cameras or books or whatever). I will get a small commission for everything you buy and you don’ pay any penny more! I really appreciate your help Thanks!

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!

What’s so special in the image shown above? There is no optical viewfinder and no mirror at all! Sony fulfilled a patent for a camera that has a new sensor which contains pairs of phase detection pixels. (Click here to see the original patent on freepatentsonline). There is no need for any mirror (translucent or classic mirror) that reflects light on a dedicated AF sensor. The advantage of such technology is that you can have phase detection on mirrorless systems and unlike the translucent technology you have no light loss because of the semitransparent mirror. Phase detection autofocus is much faster than contrast autofocus. See the image below to see how Sony includes the AF pixels on the sensor:

The only “problem” with the described solution is that you need more pixels on a sensor and you will probably have to use less or smaller RGB pixels compared to classic RGB Bayer sensors.

Fuji is already using it on the Finepix Z800EXR! See the Fuji camera specs at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay. There is also a nice article on Dpreview (Click here) that describes the Fuji technology.

My two cent on that. It will not take very long to see the technology to be used on real Sony cameras. Simply because that IS the right technology for all mirrorless cameras that want to focus as fast as professional DSLR cameras.