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Sony A7rII is coming and the refurbished A7r now sells for $1,299 only at Secondipity on eBay (Click here). Regular price is $1898 with free case at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.

And the new Sony FE 28mm lens is in Stock for the first time at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.

New Sony US rebates:
Price drop and lot of free stuff on the A7II at FocusCamera.
Price drop and lot of free stuff on the RX100 at Adorama.
Price drop and lot of free stuff on the A5000 at Adorama.
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for $1,498 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,798 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony Alpha a7 (Body Only) for $998 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony Alpha a7 with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,298 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
$100 off on the A6000 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Price drop and lot of free stuff on the HDRCX405 HD Handycam at FocusCamera.

The broken mirror teaser

The Sony X Australia group posted that curious teaser of a broken mirror. It’s for a special Sony event scheduled on May 15 (date info shared by a source). There is yet no other info a part of the text saying “stay tuned”. The broken mirror image could refer to a new mirrorless camera launch (rumored to be the A7rII and/or the A6100). But so far there is no 100% guarantee yet this is for the A7rII/A6100 launch. Note: Sony X is an official Sony affiliated group.

But this would fit with previous (SR3) rumors I got about a mid-May announcement. The new A7x and A6xxx camera May-June launch timeframe also got leaked on that Wikileaks document.

So far the A7rII will get the 5 axis IBIS and A7II body form. Not 100% clear if the A7rII will get the same 36MP sensor as the first model or an updated new 59MP sensor (See Zeiss leak). The A6100 will retain the current 24MP sensor and get XAVC-S recording.

Reminder:
Sony FE 28mm for the first time in Stock today at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.

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If you have some “rumor” to share just send me an anonymous messages here:
at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the contact form you see on the right top of this site.

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!

FOr the very first time the new Sony FE 28mm lens is in Stock at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US. Also the converters are in Stock. Here are the full links:

28mm FE:
US at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, FocusCamera, Sony US.
Europe at Sony Germany, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Asia at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

Converters:
Sony Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F/2.8 and E 20mm F/2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony Ultra-Wide Converter for E 16mm F2.8 and E 20mm F2.8 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, SE, FI, NO, PT.
Wide angle converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.
Fisheye converter for 16 and 20mm lenses at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

The reflection in the eye of the Zeiss 56MP image may show the photographer holding the new A7rII :)

The following rumor comes from a new source. As with any new source please take the info with a grain of salt and not read too much into it yet:

Sorry to be anonymous, but i think the rumors of the 50mp A7R II are true. we exhibit at NAB, and are good friends with a lot of the vendors including Zeiss, Sony, etc. We were told by one of our sources “three months for the A7R II 50MP sensor” and that was all they mentioned. Could be more stuff, but the guy who told me also works for a related manufacturer.

Thanks again for sharing the info Anonymous source!

So far the A7rII is rumored to be announced between mid May and early June. I have no 100% confirmed info yet but I believe (my speculation and not a rumor!) it will be the third or fourth week of May…

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If you have some “rumor” to share just send me an anonymous messages here:
at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the contact form you see on the right top of this site.

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!

Manual 35mm Lenses with Mirrorless Cameras

Sacrificing small size for quality – The Sony Distagon T* FE 35mm F1.4 ZA Review (Mirrorlessons).
Comparison test between the new Sony Zeiss FE 35/1.4, Sony FE 28/2, Zeiss Loxia 35/2 and the Sony Zeiss FE 35/2.8 (Backgroundblur).
The Zeiss Otus 55: is it the Holy Grail of lenses? (DearSusans).
Street photographty and transitioning to Sony system from big dslr’s (Jorge Torralba).
Choosing the Ideal Macro Lens focal length (Ilovehatephoto).
Old Vintage Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f 1.4 Still Shines! (SonyAlphaForum).

Joe: “Check out this beautiful Sony fs7 180 fps clip on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ri4sj__g_zM”

Toy: “Lots of photo samples of SEL24240 + Sony A7S shot around Los Angeles on Flickr”

Gerry: “All you E-Mount people might be interested in this focusing demonstration… http://youtu.be/QlBWL_UVUS8”

Fernando: “It is the first time in the world. We made a timelapse as roasting a chicken. You’ll see how a chicken is roasted in 30 seconds. For the more curious, I leave the question in the air: Why did the chicken turns in the opposite direction as you normally do? The shots are made with Sony A7II and Zeiss Loxia 50 F2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1S6k5lo3G8“

Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS on 5D III (left) and Sony 90mm f/2.8 on A7r (right). Lensrentals.com, 2015

Roger Cicala from Lensrentals tested the resolution performance of the new and yet non shipping Sony 90mm f/2.8 G OSS macro lens and compared it with the yet best macro lens on market (Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS on 5D III):

At both focusing distances the Sony system is clearly out resolving the Canon system. We would expect that, to some degree, given the higher resolution Sony sensor. But the difference was, quite frankly, surprising to me. It would seem to indicate the new Sony 90mm Macro lens performs at least as well as the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS L, from a resolution standpoint, anyway.

See the MTF chart comparison:

That sounds terrific! If you want to see a few image samples jump over at Gustavs images on SAR.

The 90mm lens will ship from July 7 at those stores:
In USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
In Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony IT, Sony ES, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony AT, Sony CH, Sony SE, Sony FI, Sony NO, Sony PT.
In Asia at Digitalrev, Sony Australia.

Zeiss Batis preorder in USA and Europe (UK/Germany)
Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens in US at Adorama, Bhphoto. In Eu at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2.0 lens at Adorama, Bhphoto. In EU at Amazon DE, WexUK. In Asia at Digitalrev.
Lens shade for 85mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.
Lens shade for 25mm at Adorama, Bhphoto.

The WSJ writes that Sony now owns 40% of the global sensor market:

“Unlike memory chips, making image sensors requires craftsmanship, and that’s not something competitors can copy in the short term,” says Hideaki Miwa, analyst at Techno Systems Research Co. According to the Tokyo research firm, Sony sold 40% of all image sensors last year, up from 35% in 2013. OmniVision’s market share was 16%, followed by 15% for Samsung. Total sales of image sensors grew to an estimated $8.65 billion last year, up more than 80% since 2009. Some analysts say keeping up with demand might be Sony’s biggest immediate challenge. In the long run, Sony could be vulnerable because of its dependence on Apple, which sometimes has shifted suppliers with little warning.  Satoru Oyama, a semiconductor analyst at research firmIHS Inc., says Apple likely would consider buying image sensors for iPhones elsewhere if another company could match Sony’s quality and price.”

via Image Sensor World.

Just a couple of consideration about the Sony sensor strategy on Digital Cameras (based on rumors, news and patents)
1) Sony plans to sell Four Thirds sensor to Olympus (See their new FT sensor at Sony.net).
2) Sony is now expanding their sensor sales to all manufactures. Mamiya/Pentax/Hasselbald use Sony’s 50MP CMOS medium format sensor. Canon uses Sony’s 1 inch sensor on the Canon G7x. Nikon on FF cameras and Pentax on APS-C DSLR.
3) Plenty of patents do disclose that Sony is working on Foveon alike sensor
4) Global Shutter will be mainstream in 2-3 years.

This means sensor in Alpha cameras will remain feature the best tech of the moment for the time being. There is little competition…for now.