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As you know Sony will also announce a new 16-50mm f/2.8 kit lens along the Sony A77. A trusted source just told me that the 16-50 will have a new actuation motor designed for video use. It may carries the SAM tag but is a new design intended to be on par with SSM. Very likely that the filter diameter of the 16-50 will be 67, as with the 28-75… 72 is a bit of a stretch for an APS model. Another new source told me that “it is definitely an SSM lens, but what’s up in the air is whether it is a G or ZA lens, or neither. Even the lens hood code declares it to be an SSM lens“. I hope to get a 100% confirmation from other sources if the lens will be SAM or SSM. Thanks!

Reminder: As you know the price should be around 750 Euro (or $800 Dollars). The lens itself costs much less than the counterpart lenses:
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS costs around around $300 more at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 $ is twice more expensive! Check at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.

Oliviatech (Click here) compèared the Sigma and Samyang/Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lenses. They are both cheap but very good alternatives of the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 lens. If you don’t care about manual focusing only than get the Samyang lens! You can find it with different names:
Samyang 85mm f/1.4 auctions on eBay (Click here).
Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 auctions on eBay (Click here) and at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

And those are the links to the Sigma and Zeiss lenses:
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.
Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay.

Onemorelens (Click here) tested the Industar 69 – 28mm f/2.8 on a Sony NEX camera: “This thing is so small, it fits in the inner zipper pockets of my camera bag, usually reserved for cords & memory cards. So is it the perfect compact, manual focus lens for the NEX? Probably not, but it’s definitely fun to use!” You can find that lens on eBay (Click here).

Here is a small update about the A77. We have been told by a couple of sources that the A77 can record 12 frames per second. That’s two more frames per second than the Sony A55. That’s an impressive result if you do consider that the A77 has a 24 Megapixel sensor (the A55 has 16 MP).

REMINDER: Those are the detailed  REAL(!) A77 specs (some minor aspects could be subject to change until the final announcement):
The A77 announcement on late August.
Shipment start early October
Coming with new kit lens (A Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 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.)
24 Megapixels (The combination of the new sensor+new Sony lens delivers 62% more resolution than the A55 16 Megapixel sensor.)
1080p/30fps, 720p/60fps and 720p/30fps high-definition video
AF fine-tuning capabilities. A source told us that it has an improved focusing system (quite fast and accurate).
11 cross points
12fps
3 Million dot OLED viewfinder (more than double of the resolution fo the current Sony A55/33 viewfinder.)
magnesium alloy
It will take CF+SD+MS cards
No flip-up mode to allow shooting without this extra sheet of glass in place
1.000 pictures with one battery
Price:
Sony Alpha 77 + 16-50mm f/2.8 SAM = 1800€
Sony Alpha 77 body only = 1050€
Sony Alpha 65 + 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM = 1000€
Sony Alpha 65 body only = 900€

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Today Sony announced two new compact cameras, the TX55 and WX30. The TX55 is the most interesting camera which is the world’s thinnest camera in its class (among cameras with an optical anti-shake function). It has 16.2 Mp backside illuminated CMOS sensor and a 27-135mmlens. It records 1080i60 videos. It has a 3.3 inch OLED touch screen. The “coolest” new feature is the ‘Super Pixel Resolution’ digital zoom mode: “That boosts magnification without lowering the pixel count in the final image. Exclusive to Sony, ‘By Pixel Super Resolution’ processing further extends the camera’s 5x optical zoom range, allowing full-resolution 16.2 megapixel images with a maximum 10x zoom.”

You can already preorder that camera at Amazon US (Click here).

Sony α55 DSLR with Glidecam HD-2000 steadicam (Click here to get the Glidecam on eBay).

Full Sony NEX-C3 review at Photoreview Australia: “Although the NEX-C3′s grip is slightly better than on the NEX-3, it’s not nearly as comfortable as on the NEX-5. It forces you to pull your index finger back to trigger the shutter, instead of positioning it comfortably above the shutter button…We’re not sure why Sony has restricted the ISO range in this way when the sensor is clearly capable of covering a wider range. It’s most puzzling to see the lower end of the sensitivity scale not being fully exploited…Differences between JPEG and raw files were less than we’re accustomed to seeing, probably as a result of using the supplied raw file converter. Resolution remained high throughout the camera’s sensitivity range, with a gradual decline across the sensitivity range. ”

Also CNET US tested the NEX-C3: “Compact and attractive, with a tilting LCD and excellent photo quality, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 has some compelling aspects. But with the 18-55mm lens the camera becomes substantially less compact, there’s no EVF option, and the video capabilities are more limited than I’d expect for the price. A lot of people will like the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 for its excellent photo quality and a now more usable design, but it can get unexpectedly heavy with the zoom E-mount lenses, and it’s still a bit more expensive than many point-and-shoot upgraders will like.”

The NEX-C3 will be soon in Stock in non asian countries too. Preorder it at Amazon, B&H, Adorama, J&R, eBay (Click on the shop names to visit the search page).

That’s a cool accessory: Jtec announced a hotshoe converter for the NEX cameras (from the proprietary Sony hot shoe to the universal hot shoe). Check at DC.watch.

Some nice NEX images sent to me by one of our readers (http://www.fluidr.com/)