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I praised many times Sigma for the quality of their lately announced ART lenses. But I also have to express my disappointment for this: Back in June 2013(!) Sigma released the 18-35mm f/1.8 A-mount lens accepting preorders at Amazon US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here) and expected availability in late July 2013 (see screenshot on top). Since then Sigma never shipped any A-mount lens and also didn’t release any official note. That’s quite a let down

Lately one of our SAR readers got an official response from Sigma France saying the lens would ship in May. Now let’s hope this promise will be fulfilled! Here is the original french message:

“Message de votre service clients Miss Numerique
Bonjour,
Nous vous remercions d’avoir commandé chez Miss Numerique.
Le constructeur du produit SIGMA objectif photo ART 18-35 mm f/1.8 DC HSM monture SONY éprouve malheureusement des difficultés à produire cette référence en quantité suffisante, ceci se traduit par des difficultés d’approvisionnement de leur réseau de distributeurs.
Devant notre insistance, notre fournisseur nous a annoncé un approvisionnement dans un délai de 4 semaines.
Votre commande sera alors expédiée dès réception.”

P.S.: And please do not repeat the story with your newly announced 50mm ART lens Neither Preorders are up at BHphoto (Click here) and Adorama (Click here).

Sony released a new firmware update for your QX10/100 camera:
QX10 firmware download page at Sony DE, UK, FR, ES, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, FI, SE, NO, PT.
QX100 firmware download page at Sony DE, UK, FR, ES, IT, NL, BE, AT, CH, FI, SE, NO, PT.

Benefits and improvements
- “Half-Press” function for the shutter button has been added*
- “NFC One-touch connection” has been improved (Requires PlayMemories Mobile app version 4.2 or later).
- ISO Setting has been added
- MP4 Movie Recording size changes from 1440 x 1080(30p) to 1920 x 1080 (30p)

Ulysses Japan announced a new A7/A7r/A7s leather case. It costs around 15,336 – 16,848 yen. Don’t know when this will go for sale outside Japan.

Here are the current worldwide available leather cases that will also work fine on your new A7s

Gariz leather case in Black (Click here), Brown (Click here), Orange (Click here) and Red (Click here).
Leather Explorer has A7-A7r leather cases in Black (Click here), Black-Metallic (Click here), Black (Click here).
Dignis has A7-A7r leather cases in Black-Red (Click here), Black (Click here), Red (Click here), Yellow (Click here), Brown (Click here), Dark Brown (Click here) and Khaki (Click here).
Ciesta leather case in Brown (Click here), Dark Brown (Click here), Black Red (Click here), Vegetable Leather (Click here).
Kaza has them in Vintage Brown (Click here) and Black (Click here).

Thew new Sony A7s is now listed at Amazon (Click here) with no pricing just like at BHphoto or Digitalrev. An US store is listing the A7s for $2,500 (Click here). But I am pretty sure that’s a “pure guess price”. Interesting to note is that WexUk removed the A7s preorder page after they said they got the price from Sony (2500 pounds which is around $4000).

A7s Preorder or pure notification store links:
USA: Sony US,  Amazon and BHphoto.
Europe:  Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL.
Asia: Digitalrev

Image on top shows the silhoutte of the current Sony A77.

I have been told that there is a possible Sony announcement on May 1-2. We can be 100% sure there will be a new A-mount A77II camera announcement. I am still not sure if there will be also new A and FE mount lenses. The A77II is expected to have an updated 24 Meagpixel sensor and the camera is trimmed for pseed (super fast AF, no EVF lag, increased fps and so on).

Stay tuned on SAR! The A7s is here but it isn’t over yet with rumors

A7s Preorder or pure notification store links:
USA: Sony US,  Amazon and BHphoto.
Europe:  Sony DE, UK, ES, FR, IT, NL, SE, FI, PL.
Asia: Digitalrev

Note for German readers: Sony RX100 is on Gold Box today: http://www.dealsrunner.com/deals/sony-rx100–20!

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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!