Egami (translation here) spotted the next Sony sensor patent describing a Foveon alike sensor. With Foveon alike I mean a RGB 3-layer image sensor that in case of the Sony patent also includes tilted(!) pixels. As you know the advantage of such a 3 layer sensor is the color accuracy, sharpness and larger pixels (or possibility to have more pixels on the same sensor size). Now, it’s hard to understand from the google translation why these pixels have been titled. But if you saw some test of the latest generation Sigma Foveon sensor cameras than you will easily notice that at Low ISO the sensor really rocks! (while there are still massive noise problems on High ISO images).
Here are some test to check out:  DP2 ISO test at Focus Numerique. A full camera review has been posted at Photographyblog, Luminous Landscape and ePhotozine.

I hope Sony will be able to overcome some of the Sigma Foveon technology limits and release a camera with a 3 layer sensor. Would push the image quality to a new level!

P.S.: There are two 46 Megapixel Merrill compact cameras from Sigma:
DP1 with 28mm lens at Amazon, BHphoto and of course on [shoplink 15083 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].
DP2 with 45mm lens at BHphoto and on [shoplink 15084 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

More info: Foveon X3 sensor (Source: Wikipedia)

Peter Crithary from Sony twitted the info about the new F55 and F5 Cine Alte cameras. While these are not A or E mount cameras they have some very intriguing feature that we have to talk about. The full specs can be seen at ProSony. And the pdf files are here:
F5 http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/show/highend/pdf/F5_Camera.pdf
F55 http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/assets/files/show/highend/pdf/F55_Camera.pdf
(Thanks OneGuy for finding the links).

Here are the key features:
1) These are modular cameras
2) The F55 has a Global shutter
3) Super wide color gamut that surpass printed film(!)
4) Super long choice of recording formats
5) Long-life Olivine Battery
6) 16 bit 4K RAW recording and 180 fps in 2K without line skipping or sensor windowing
7) 14 stop dynamic range (film has 16)

Imagine if some of these features would be implemented in future High End A or E mount cameras! For example global shutter on an photo camera would allow to take instant pictures with no lag (there is no mechanical shutter) and with no “click clack” noise. Modularity is also an aspect Sony could bring in a sort of hybrid A and E-mount cameras. And of course having a super wide color gamut and 14 stop dynamic range would be appreciated too! Today’s announcement shows us how far Sony sensor and camera technology can go today. And what we more “mass-camera” oriented camera can expect from the near future.

P.S.: Andrew from EosHD analyzed the single specs.

And here are the images of the color performance and the new f/2.0 PL mount lenses (damn would I have loved to see them in A-mount!):

Focus Numerique (translation here) published the detailed A99 ISO test. You can compare the A99 vs Nikon D600 comparison images here:
ISO 100: A99 vs D600
ISO 200: A99 vs D600
ISO 400: A99 vs D600
ISO 800: A99 vs D600
ISO 1600: A99 vs D600
ISO 3200: A99 vs D600
ISO 6400: A99 vs D600
ISO 12800: A99 vs D600
ISO 25600: A99 vs D600

As we learned from other tests take those comparisons with a grain of salt. But there looks to be a different noise handling between the two cameras. The A99 is a bit more aggressive while the Nikon seems to retain a tiny bit more of detail. What are your thoughts?

More reviews:
RX1 hands.on pics by Photographybay.
First day with sony alpha slt-a99v at RodKar.
16-50mm pancake test by John on Flickr.
Rokinon 8mm for NEX review at SonyAlphaLab.

In case you alreayd own the A99 and a MAC than try out this little trick to make tethering work: Source: Pasmworkshop. Meantime as usual A99 keeps getting in and out of Stock. Check the links to see what’s the current situation: Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.

And today Amazon launched a $100 rebate action on the NEX-7 (Click here). You save another additional $100 when purchasing it along the 55-210mm lens and another 2% on the overall total price. That deal is part of the many Golg Box deals launched today (Click here to see them all).

No one reported about this lens at Photokina! We have a new 12mm f/7.4 fisheye lens for the NEX system. The makers of the lens contacted me to guarantee that this is a high quality lens built in Japan. It will go on sale in 2013 for 189€ or 149 pounds. This is not the first fisheye lens for the NEX system We also have the [shoplink 14941 ebay]Rokinon (Click here)[/shoplink] or also called [shoplink 14940 ebay]Samyang (Click here)[/shoplink] fisheye.

Here are the specs:

• Focal distance: 12mm
• Coating: 7 layers multi coating to reduce aberrations to a minimum
• Lens construction: 4 elements in 4 groups
• Focusing distance: 0.5m to infinitive
• Aperture: f/7.4
• Weight: 220g
• Dimensions: 65.00 x 58.5mm

Here are some image samples (Click on it to see a larger sized pic):

Capture One Pro 7 has been released today – and supports most Sony Camera’s, specifically, it has the ICC Profile for the SLT-A77 as well as the SLT-A99 (Thanks Lewis for the link).

Apple Camera Raw now supports Sony Alpha NEX-F3 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100.