Some additional thoughts about the adapter….
As I told you the adapter rumor would be a relatively “small rumor”. Nothing one can really get excited about when you read the article for the very first time. But I strongly believe the rumor is revolutionary because of one main reason: I do believe that in a couple of years Sony will make mirrorless cameras only. And I do believe that’s the reason why Sony will announce that adapter. If I am right than in a few yours you will look back at that rumor and recognize that the adapter was the first step of the merging of the two systems Mirrorless and DSLR/SLT.
Going further I do also believe Sony is working on modular cameras. Camera you can transform in size and aspect, cameras where you can change the sensor, cameras you can upgrade not only via software but also via hardware. It will definitely take some time before those ideas will get in production and some time before they become “mature”.
I bet this is what’s coming from Sony, and the adapter is the very first small anticiaption of that future!
P.S.: Sorry for my usual baby-english language 
Related Posts
Share
Recent comments
Comment from longrun: I bet the same thing was said when digit...
Comment from Sahaja: Admin
Have Sony filed a patent applic...
Comment from Anonymous: Great idea. But I believe there will alw...Comment from admin: Don't think to much on the adapter itsel...
Wishmaster
11 months ago |Would love to know what you meant when you said that you could attach viewfinder to the adapter. Wouldn’t that require additional connection?
Besides if this rumour is true, than with this adapter and external EVF our NEX’s would become either a33 or a55 but without IBIS and external controls, unless there would be some controls on the adapter.
Interesting concept nevertheless.
Dulaney Ward
11 months ago |I don’t think this adapter is intended primarily for the current cameras.
I think it will be many years, very likely ten or more, before SLTs / SLRs diasappear, even at Sony. And I don’t think any of us has a clue what form the successor cameras will take. But changes are afoot, that;s for sure.
lifeispixels
11 months ago |“the first step of the merging of the two systems Mirrorless and DSLR/SLT.”
I don’t agree with this because it’s going to be a big mess up how Sony is going to deal with the current and future lens for MA and NEX. In my opinion, this adapter is just another expensive add-on for current Alpha users that also owns NEX.
ssl
11 months ago |maybe its just me, but I dont see this as anything revolutionary. I dont get it at all. to me, it seems just another way for sony to justify not making any new native e-mount lenses.
El Aura
11 months ago |A native E-mount 85 mm f/1.4 lens will focus pretty slow with CD-AF on a NEX. But if you prefer very slow AF to spending money on such an adaptor, go ahead and try live-view AF with such a lens on any APS-C sensored camera.
Adi
11 months ago |I think you are right on this one.Temporary solution for missing emount lenses. As for the modular stuff not realy enthusiastic about it. I build my PCs so I can chose what parts I use, but as for upgrades I allways end up replacing almost all parts, as in a few years everything becomes obsolete.Will be the same with cameras.A modular camera will end up bigger, morer expensive, less weatherproof then a classic camera with very few advantages.
I’m sure it there will be mirrorless Alfa cameras in the future when we have in sensor PDAF, but they will still look more or less as the current cameras.
Sky_walker
11 months ago |Yep. It’s just to help FS100 market strength.
Let me quote myself in replay to older Andrea post:
“I think this is the very first and concrete step that will make DSLR cameras obsolete.” – hehehe, no way it’d ever happen. You know the history of cameras? You know the history of these adapters, their purpose?
They didn’t made anything to big cameras in past, even though at the time small cameras used same size of sensor as their big brothers. Now the small cameras are lagging even more behind the big one than just ergonomics – these days they are limited to the small sensor.
Many people here foreseeing the immediate death of traditional cameras have no slightest idea on what’s going on.
I have first-hand info that Sony doesn’t plan to remove Alpha mount nor change it’s role in regard to E-mount, and your recent confirmation that the NEX-7 will be “X100 alike” only reassured me in that. NEX will remain as system in-between compact cameras and SLRs (whatever they would be SLT or DSLR) offering DSLR sensors in small package and smaller lenses. Adapter you see will help the A-mount photographers when they cannot take large camera (weight limitations) but need to use A-mount lenses, as well as – most importantly – it’ll be a solution for FS100 & VG10 shooters to the huge lack in lenses offer. (simple: It’s easier to make adapter than new lenses)
It’s in now way a product with the “big future behind“. It’s a solution for huge lacks in Sony offer currently.
Definitely it won’t “break the camel’s back” – maybe it will hurt the sales of Canon and Nikon mirrorless system a bit, but in now way gonna do any harm to them beyond that.
–
Also note that from economical reasons a removal of A-mount is against all Sony interests. Now people buy 2 cameras in 2 different systems spending money on 2 sets of lenses. So why would Sony remove one system? It wouldn’t benefit them in any way. Only cause losses – both: in income and more conservative shooters (meaning: almost all remaining Pros in Alpha system).
What’s possible is slight demise of very-entry-level reflex cameras, like A290 or C. 1100D – but that already happens with or without mirrorless systems (see Canon as example: no updates for years, and when update comes it’s a pure joke), simply because most of these entry-level buyers don’t need SLR, they need SLR picture quality, that’s all, and that’s what NEX system delivers.
Think ppl, think before judging death of anything. If all the death-wishes would come to real we wouldn’t have PCs now, PB98 fuel cars. and probably: the entire world just because some bishop in US once again predicted an end of the world.
Eric
11 months ago |I don’t think DSLR’s will ever die, just like range finders never died, however I do think the DSLR may end up being a very small niche. It won’t surprise me a bit to look at Sony’s camera line up in 10 years and see multiple E-Mount bodies to choose from in all shapes and sizes (there’s no rule saying a NEX can’t be large) including a hybrid/modular body for those people transitioning from DSLR’s. Then, just a single full frame DSLR as the only pure DSLR offering (APSC lenses could just be used in crop mode).
It won’t be the first time companies have had to transition; Nikon used to be a rangefinder company until the advent of the SLR.
GH
11 months ago |Sony will still need to produce two lens lines, because one is for PDAF, and the other is for CDAF. This adapter simply eliminates the need for two separate camera lines.
Imagine this: Sony could make a NEX camera that has exactly the same form factor as the A55, but without a mirror box. With the new adapter, the camera would behave identically to the A55. Without it, the camera would accept NEX lenses. Combining the two lines would be great for both Sony users and Sony’s bottom line. Brilliant.
LGO
11 months ago |The adapter would allow owners of A-mount lenses to use their lenses on NEX bodies. It would also provide a stop gap solution to the lack of E-mount lenses by allowing the use of A-mount lenses on NEX bodies.
Beyond this, I do not see how the introduction of the adapter can be seen as Sony’s abandoning the A-mount bodies (and thus A-mount lenses) anytime soon.
Sony is finally getting enough A-mount lenses in the market. To marginalize the A-mount lenses by discontinuing the A-mount bodies would be akin to market suicide at a time when the NEX does not even have enough E-mount lenses. Sony would be shooting off both its feet and arms off if it does this.
I do not think that the adapter indicates that Sony is about to abandon the A-mount bodies in the near future. Claiming otherwise will only cause confusion in the market, specially for those who are invested in A-mount lenses.
Dulaney Ward
11 months ago |of course, they ARE making new native emount lenses.
Pablo
11 months ago |All I want is better sensor and IBIS. I don’t want to wiggle between m4/3 and the nex. I just want to end up with one system. If sony would put these two attributes into one body, not one single brand could top them. I was shooting a wedding this weekend and, gosh, how usefull that IBIS in my EP1 was at some shots… I really had to put the NEX away and had to use the EP1. SONY, please, IBIS is great, put it into the NEX7! PLEEEAAASE !O
Rc.d
11 months ago |This rumor is a bit difficult to understand what impact this will have in the future. Is Sony going to cease the a-mount in the long run? And why did the NEX introduce their own mount in the first place?
admin
11 months ago |Hmmm, probably I am more “into” that rumor because I know more than I can write on SAR. And that’s why people doesn’t feel that the rumor is improtant as I do!
Sky_walker
11 months ago |With all respect – I really hope you have something rock-solid there, cause for now all that’s done is spreading FUD amongst A-mount users, which is very wrong, especially when all signs on haeven and sky show something different than what you suggest through recent posts.
But as I say: time will show how things develop. So far I haven’t seen anything even slightest convincting to your current theory.
longrun
11 months ago |I share your excitement. Sony have shown that cameras do not have to be ‘traditional’ and also shown that once they have moved in a direction they believe in they commit to it! The A55 is a great example of this and I for one look forward to doing without mirrors completely – bring it on!
HS
11 months ago |The questions is: why do they need a translucent mirror?
As we know they use it for fast autofocus in phase detection. And we know that the current LA-EA1 doesn´t work well in this field. I don´t know but believe that PDAF is good for Video, too? OK, than there are two reasons why we need it now if we want to work with MA-compatible lenses. Otherwise Videoists have to look for the Birgler adapter f.e..
If you look at the price for VG-10 or FS-100 there is enough space for an additional fast focus adapter and no need for an additional viewfinder, but on a 3C there is.
And again I miss image-stabilization in the NEX to replace the actual Sony-DSLR-concept with a modular one.
aaa
11 months ago |The mirror is for the viewfinder, no? Wouldn’t there be some conflict if there was a PDAF setup in this adapter? I don’t see the use for a mirror as well but people seem to like viewfinders. God only knows why. I’m sure Sony is scratching their heads about it too. IMO, live-view is perfect…especially for people with glasses and big noses like me
Steve Jones
11 months ago |The mirror is not for the viewfinder (which is fed off the main sensor). It’s for the PAF sensors. There is no reason why an NEX camera couldn’t have an EVF – in fact it should. There are circumstances, such as bright sunlight, where you need such a thing.
JOSÉ MARIA
11 months ago |I keep thinking about what Sony does with its users. Will announce the A77 and A99, with great specs (?), And in less than two years will stop everything and create a new series of detachable cameras …
The cameras A33, A55, Nex 3 and Nex5 become obsolete in less than 1 year!
Because Sony wants us to continue to believe in the brand if each year it launched a novelty that was discontinued the following year?
Sony DSLR user I am and was planning to acquire the A77, but I worry about the future. With so many changes, I am afraid that my team to lose its value because who will buy used equipment without a guarantee of future brand in the market.
Sony: Define what you want and pass it on! We deserve to know which way you offer us to decide if it’s worth.
GH
11 months ago |What, so Sony should quit innovating in order to protect your investment in a few years?
Anon
11 months ago |Only if Sony wants Jose’s business (mine, too). Or, if they can make the lenses and bodies cheap enough, I could rebuy every couple of years (like a Sony TV), but it would all have to be MUCH cheaper than current pricing.
JOSÉ MARIA
11 months ago |I agree. If Sony wants to speed the evolution of their equipment, have to keep a line with lower costs, allowing for frequent updating.
JOSÉ MARIA
11 months ago |No. The Sony could tell if it will launch the line (A77 and A99, for example) will be continued or not. Launch products like these and then give up to continue it is not about the consumer. The investments are heavy and just change the route for convenience is unfair.
Creating new lines of equipment is right for Sony. And I love new technologies. And Sony is great in this regard. I just want to have the right to know what the future will be the path that will follow.
If the pathways become obsolete my Sony CZ24-70, HVL 58, G 100-300, I have to start from scratch another line of equipment?
GH
11 months ago |Oh, I don’t see your lenses becoming obsolete anytime soon. What this adapter does is combine camera lines, but not lens lines, and PDAF lenses will still be viable for a long time, I’d imagine.
JOSÉ MARIA
11 months ago |That’s what I hope. I do not see as something bad ideas being presented. I hope that Sony does not forget this: photographers want cameras to take pictures and not to show the other parts that have high technological level.
We want high iso, fast AF, great burst, and more … If possible, a low cost.
Kenneth
11 months ago |I don’t see A or E mount going away. What I see is the beginnings of a modular camera design. You can upgrade/replace the parts that you want to when you want to. Nothing really wrong with the A900 except I’d like one of the newer sesnors that handles higher iso better. So I go buy a new sensor module.
Or I’m happy with the A700 just do wish it had better tracking capabilities so no I go out and grab the new A-Mount adapter so I can upgrade the AF & maybe metering system.
greeboerianer
11 months ago |in my opinion the mirror will be dead in future, its just a question of time.
The mirror is needed to get a good view through the lens and on modern cameras for phase AF. That’s it. If this two issues are solved well then the mirror wont be needed any more. And this has advantages!
But I think the main motivation for Sony, to produce such a adaptor, are video applications. Fast AF with Zeis prime lenses on VG20 for example.
Edgars
11 months ago |+++
sleekdraft
11 months ago |so where will the VG-10 and its upcoming line fit into this then? will it be part of this “adapter” NEX/SLT revolution?
Almond
11 months ago |I suppose this means that the future of NEX (and Sony cameras) is APS-C.
I doubt that they can fit a FF translucent mirror inside this adapter. And if the FF Alpha lenses cannot be fully utilized with the adapter then there’s no incentive to make a NEX with a FF sensor because I doubt there are any plans for FF E-mount lenses…
Too bad.
Edgars
11 months ago |This adapter for Sony it is just another way to increase AF lens number for NEX cameras. I couldn’t see there any revolution. Sony promised working adapter, but it seems even with SSM lenses CDAF not working, therefore will be new adapter.
But again NEX with any lens longer than 100mm is wrong combination looking from ergonomics point of view.
Walt
11 months ago |Note that such an adapter is very unlikely to be able to connect to any current NEX cameras. The electronic interface between camera and adapter would have to be quite different as well as the firmware. Sony will hit everyone at once with having to buy a new camera body, as well as what’s likely to be quite an expensive adapter.
And then when it needs improving, new body/new adapter to buy. And NEX in the current adapter cuts off most A mount lenses for full functionality.
Each time you cut off the function of all equipment you encourage people to move to another brand. The stability of canon and nikon equipment gets more and more attractive.
JOSÉ MARIA
11 months ago |+1
Rc.d
11 months ago |Agree, the stability of the other brands is quite tempting. More so if you think of the desaster with the A700 successor or the lack of it.
alfie
11 months ago |SONY PLEASE JUST MAKE AN A700 SUCCESSOR WITH AN OVF! This NEX and SLT stuff is neat and all, but it’s a waste to get rid of the viewfinder they implemented in the A900. That thing is a masterpiece!
saiman
11 months ago |Come to think of another “revolution” here…. Pluggable AF system.
Think what if these adapters come in several varieties… ranging from a basic AF system to highly sophosticated AF system.. again… it’s more and more options!
HS
11 months ago |Hi Andrea,
you might have brought a lot of confusion to your readers.
In my oppinion it is just a working replacement for the existin LA-EA1. Let´s name it LA-EA2 or EA10 or EA20 or what ever. It will be a Lens Adapter Nex Alpha.
No new product line, no danger for existing Sony users and no reason for crying.
I have been Nikon user and still I am too and I know what was going on: Since D60 Nikon placed screw-driven AF only in “professional versions” like D200, D300, D90 and D7000.
There was and is still no cheap or lowcost DSLR for using all the AF and AF-D lenses I bought.
And as far as I can see Sony did a lot to let you use the old stuff with new features like steady shot.
So please stop crying!
Frosti7
11 months ago |Admin, first of all thank you for all your hard work!
second – When someone says “Going further I do also believe” it makes a difference if that person is just a random user or an admin of a rumor site, so its abit confusing to know if you heard something or just cognitive guess
admin
11 months ago |I heard something. I want to tell you more but I am not allowed to do that for now
FullFrame NEX (24x36)!
11 months ago |Stick it out Andrea. I don’t see Sony dropping the A or E mount or the respective cameras. I find the adapter a good idea to bridge the two systems. I’m an NEX user who is more likely to buy Alpha lenses now. Especially the upcoming 50mm’s!
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/hot-patent-discloses-a-new-sony-50mm-f1-2-and-f1-4-fast-lens/
I’m sure you’ll be allowed to spill the beans more in the future. Just get good pictures!
I don’t believe that you’ve spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty or Doubt) on this blog.
Keep up the good work!
PhotoNut
11 months ago |I don’t believe that! Who tells an official rumor monger (SAR) a story and then tells that rumor monger that they are not allowed to talk? Come on… who are you kidding?
If you had any real information you would publish it as soon as you could before another Internet rumor site got it and published it before you.
Bruce Ramage
11 months ago |Any person who trusted SAR to keep her promises would. To paraphrase “If you had any real information and didn’t keep your promises, you would publish [right away]“.
pancanikonpus
11 months ago |“real information” is real after officially announcement. otherwise it is NOT REAL
Rushmore
11 months ago |Nothing beats a good Optical Viewfinder!
If Sony drop OVF there are plenty of other companies to choose from.
longrun
11 months ago |I bet the same thing was said when digital was replacing film – see ya later!
Lluis
11 months ago |One thing is for sure: cameras won’t be the same in a not so far future as we knew them. The tendency is to minimize mechanical parts in favour of electronics. So, mirror is the first thing is already disapearing. Second will be shutter. And modularity can be another. But we don’t have to be afraid. This is good for us. Offering adapters means we can still use A-mount whatever the changes.
Rob
11 months ago |Here’s something you can tell them Andrea. A recent test of the new Sigma with a Foveon chip that was promoted as being equivalent to a 45 megapixel sensor has been run by two blokes at LuLa. What I get out of this article is that the Sigma body is WAY overpriced in terms of performance (although there is some significant micro contrast/detail) and that the A900 produces some darn fine images in comparison to cameras costing 2x or more. One word of warning is to not confuse the colour noise test with sharpenss in a pair of photos as the DOF of the A900 was less because of its larger chip. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/sigma_sd1_review.shtml
Al
11 months ago |My two pence worth, maybe this is not a revolution, but for me wanting to use my minolta lenses it kills two/three birds with one stone. there is a lot of noise about people wanting an EVF accessory for NEX. This would allow me to have an EVF, use old lenses and get much better AF.
It sounds amazing, am in a dilemma between an A55 and NEX 5 and this pushes me more into the NEX camp, (as long as its not £300)
What i would really love tho is more manual control of video and a bit more info on the A65!! (Andrea?)
mugen
11 months ago |Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Andrea, is there screw-driven AF in the adapter ?
Sky_walker
11 months ago |That’s a good question… if not than half of my lenses won’t work with it, lol.
Vagabondos
11 months ago |it is good in a sense that you will be able to use a-mount lenses without giving up the Focusing capabilities. I would prefer a future proof mount system with adapters to use older mounts. so when you invest on your new hardware you will feel more confident.
and now if we look at the wider picture. i think it is great that you can have hard-wares in modules. This will give more expandability to any system. Think about it exhangeable mount on a camera will let me use let say canikon specific lens? see future in this.
But this adapter just defeats the purpose of having a smaller mirrorless system.
Dr. Tom
11 months ago |Does this adapter mean we can use ALL A-mount lens with AF including the legacy Minolta lens or will the adapter continue to limit the use of only newer Sony lenses?
PhotoNut
11 months ago |Rubbish “Rumor” article.
#1. The adapter would still have a mirror — simply transparent. So it would not in any way change the need for mirrors for fast autofocus in Sony digital cameras.
#2. Traditional A-mount lenses still need a screw drive. Phase detect autofocus is not sufficient. So Andrea, where is the screw-drive motor? What will power it?
#3. For phase detect AF to work, the distance from the adapter mirror to the adapter AF sensors must be the same as the distance between the SLT mirror to the SLT AF sensors. Pickup your favorite SLT and look at how large that distance is. Now tell me how atrocious such an adapter would look like on a NEX camera. Basically it would protrude above the NEX to turn it’s height exactly into the same height of the SLT cameras.
#4. This bogus rumor and talk of revolution is just to distract the readers from the fake NEX7 pictures posted here that came from an Italian Sony Alpha web site without attribution.
I used to like reading this site but everyday I see more and more rubbish published as SR4/5 “totally authentic rumor”. These rubbish rumors wouldn’t be so bad if the admin actually has bothered to educate himself/herself about cameras and (D)SLRs in particular so that he wouldn’t
fall for and republish ridiculous fantasy stories like an “A-mount NEX camera”
I know running a site like this that requires information from confidential sources is not easy… but you reduce your long term credibility by promising things you cannot deliver and in writing things that show that you have no clue how the cameras you’re covering work.
Sorry for the frankness, but I’m being brutal to shake you up for the best.
GH
11 months ago |#2) this may very well only work for SSM/SAM lenses, or they could build it into the adapter.
#3) I’m not sure that Sony couldn’t tune the AF sensor to work at any distance they wish, but, even if that was the case, the AF sensor in the A55 is at the bottom of the prism hump, and the hump on the NEX could be much smaller than on the A55. http://photographyaeterna.com/wordpress/wp-content/gallery/general_media/pelliclemirror.jpg
Sky_walker
11 months ago |GH is right. PDAF sensors are better from CDAF because you can configure them to work with different distance from back of the lens than the sensor itself is. Ofq. within reason (much too close distance will make accuracy of edge points suffer – especially with UWA lenses). But it’s perfectly doable.
pancanikonpus
11 months ago |“I used to like reading this site but everyday I see more and more rubbish”
if i understand correctly you mean you are used to be rubbish and now everyday totally is purely a rubbishman… weird! you know the rumor is rubbish as you call out, but you still read it!, and you damm like to read it!
Sky_walker
11 months ago |How did you figured this out? lol
Jerome
11 months ago |“But I strongly believe the rumor is revolutionary [...] If I am right than in a few yours you will look back at that rumor and recognize that the adapter was the first step [...]”
I think that in the future, looking back at all those “years of rumors” but especially all those years of engineering, the pioneering moments wont be about adapters, but more-so about important innovations like “digital sensors” and “mirrorless designs”. This is just a rumor about an adapter, and in future years it will still only be a simple adapter.
admin
11 months ago |Don’t think to much on the adapter itself. Think on the fact that may DSLR cameras will be dead!
Andrea
11 months ago |All I want to see is a full frame that can handle high ISO better like the Canon Mark 2 can. That’s it – that’s all. I shall be a VERY happy camper when that day comes.
hanugro
11 months ago |Have talked about modular design when Sony first buy Minolta and ppl dismiss it as too expensive. I would love to be able to change sensor in dSLT. After all if you have interchangeable lens then why not interchangeable sensor?
yurilee
11 months ago |I think what would be revolutionary is Sony or other makers making a “Universal Mount Adapter” (or at least adapters for EF Nikon mounts)! That would be fantastic! The move involves some extend of selflessness, yet it would really make a difference the Admin is talking about.
Imagine the possibility of Sony making super pro 10+ FPS Nex bodies to match Canon super telephoto lens=> just like what has happened in the TV industry, it’s almost “industrial standard” to match a Cannon video lens with a Sony video cam body.
Zstan
11 months ago |Well Andrea maybe to make your life easier, can you tell us when will a77 be announced? July is gonna end soon….
pancanikonpus
11 months ago |I hope a77 nex7 delay again
lalalalala cause now i lacking bullet
Don'z
11 months ago |hmph… some like RED camera from Sony?
rUY
11 months ago |If i wanna smoke Cigar, I smoke a cigar. If I want an EVIL camera, why do I need and translucent mirror? I would rather wish to have a faster autofocus on Alpha.
Bill
11 months ago |ADMIN,
Your English is better than mine. I went to public school in Texas so I am at a disadvantage. (:-{)}
Stop apologizing. You are golden my friend!
Peace,
Bill Burton
Anonymous
11 months ago |Great idea. But I believe there will always be DSLR cameras for at least another 10 years, so there’s no need to worry. This NEX/Adapter combo will only replace the lower tier of Sony. This will eventually kill off the entry level (a33/a55) line, but leave the enthusiast (a700/????) and the professional (a900/a850/????) lines.
Sahaja
11 months ago |Admin
Have Sony filed a patent application for a adapter + viewfinder like this?
I’ll believe this rumor when I see one.