So, here we are with now two cheap Full Frame models from the competition that need to be fought with a future A95 model! Today Canon announced the new 6D (Specs and price here). Along the Nikon D600 (specs and price here) this is the second entry level FF camera priced at $2100. This is just to say that Sony may not only have to bring a High pixel camera like the D800, but maybe also a new entry level FF. At least according to SAR readers vote this should be done by Sony:

 Loading ...

I am 90% sure we will have a High End model with High Resolution (30+ Mega-pixel) sensor in 2013. I am not so sure about the cheap FF entry level model. Hope sources are reading this and may send me some info about it.

—

A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.

Sony Japan (Translation here) posted an interview with the Sony A99 engineers. There isn’t really interesting stuff to read. They just repeat how the goal was ultimately to have a high image quality and a “three-dimensional sense of resolution”

And you remember Paul Genge from Sony UK? He doens’t work for Sony anymore and started a new website called CameraDiner.com. I wish him good luck!!!

Some more Sony news:
Sony A99 ISO test by ThePictureDesk. On Picasaweb you can find a new A99 versus A900 image comparison. Many testing videos on Mobile01. RX1 at Quesabesde. Sony Declines to Comment on Report of Tie-Up Talks With Olympus (Bloomberg). Sony NEX-6 vs Olympus OM-D E-M5 Comparison (ePhotozine).

And here are two new manual focusing but fast E-mount lenses from SLRmagic. Read the press release to learn more about it:

PRESS RELEASE:

Hong Kong, September 15th, 2012.
During Photokina 2012 in Cologne, Germany (September 18-23), SLR Magic will present attractive new CINE products as well as its Toy Lenses, all of the highest technical quality. Among them, will be a new SLR Magic CINE 35mm T1.4 lens in stores by the end of 2012. SLR Magic would like to invite all participants of Photokina fair held in Cologne to visit our stand in Hall 3.1 B059. SLR Magic will present its entire range of camera lenses, cine lenses, spotting scopes, and camera accessories during Photokina.

A major attraction is a high-performance mirrorless format cine lens with manual focus. With a focal length of 35mm and aperture of T1.4, this lens joins the family of cine lenses designed for demanding users. The reason why the 35mm T1.4 lens is not in the HyperPrime series is because T1.4 is not the fastest speed we can design for this 35mm lens.
Ever since the release of the HyperPrime CINE 12mm T1.6 lens, cinematographers have been requesting for a set of HyperPrime CINE lenses. In addition to our new CINE 35mm T1.4 lens, we will also showcase our 25mm T0.95 (MSRP: US $649) in mFT and 35mm T0.95 (MSRP: US $1,249) in mFT, X-mount and E-mount concept lenses that are based on the optical design of the HyperPrime CINE 50mm T0.95 lens.

Due to difficulty to source a particular material to manufacture the HyperPrime 23mm F1.7 for E-mount announced on December 8th 2011 it was discontinued within 3 months of launch. During this time, we have re-designed the lens, increasing image quality across the frame yet keeping the lens size and price similar to the original. The new design also supports mFT and X mount cameras.

All details concerning the optical type and physical size of the lens will be published at a later date. The SLR Magic CINE 35mm T1.4 lens in mFT, X-mount and E-mount (MSRP: US $279) will be introduced for sale in December 2012. The SLR Magic HyperPrime 23mm F1.7 (MSRP: US $399) in mFT, X-mount and E-mount will be introduced for sale in February 2013.

SLR Magic CINE 35mm f/1.4

Mount : mFT mount / E mount / X mount /
Black Magic Cinema Camera mFT mount
Focal Length (35mm equivalent)    : 70mm[mFT]   52mm[E]   52mm[X]
80mm[Black Magic mFT]
Minimum Focus Distance    : 0.3m
Maximum Aperture    : T1.4
Minimum Aperture:     :T16
Optical Design            : 8 elements, 8 groups (4 x Tantalum)
Lens Length           : 70.3mm
Lens Weight            : 370g
Filter Thread Diameter: 52mm

SLR Magic HyperPrime 23mm F1.7

Mount : mFT mount / E mount / X mount /
Black Magic Cinema Camera mFT mount
Focal Length (35mm equivalent)    : 46mm[mFT]   35mm[E]   35mm[X]
52mm[Black Magic mFT]
Maximum Aperture    : F1.7
Minimum Aperture     : F22
Optical Design            : 9 elements, 8 groups (4 x Tantalum)
Lens Length            : 61.3 mm
Lens Weight           : 265g
Filter Thread Diameter: 49mm

P.S. Current SLRmagic lenses for the E-mount system:
[shoplink 11187 ebay]SLR Magic 35mm f/1.7 MC (here on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 11186 ebay]SLR Magic Toy Lens 28mm Bokehmorphic lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 11185 ebay]SLR Magic HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].
[shoplink 11186 ebay]SLR Magic 28mm f/2.8 lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

So, the Sony A99 is out but as usual we always want to know what Sony will (or has to do) as next. Nikon and Canon are now fighting on a new terrain…the entry level FF cameras! The Nikon D600 is leading the Amazon ranking (Click here to check out). And the Canon 6D is about to be announced soon (specs here). Both cameras are priced at around $2100. Question for you is…

 Loading ...

By the way, I think the RX1 ($2800 here at Amazon) as a NEX-FF camera would cost even less than the D600 and Canon 6D. The Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 may be worth $1000…if you count that the Zeiss 24mmf /1.8 lens costs $1100! That would make the NEX-FF the first sub-$2000 FF camera. But you know, that’s just my baby math. Things may would not be that simple in the real world…

Meantime if you need to see an A99 versus D600 spec comaprison check out that page on Dpreview. And here are some more A99 image samples at Rob Skeoch, Chip.de and Fotoskoda.

—

A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.

The friends of Alphaniacs posted that nice picture of the  Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 SSM prototype lens attached on the new Sony A99. You notice that nice “00000000” mark on the lens! That would sell for a hell of a price on eBay :)

We don’t knwo the price of the lens but we have many Zeiss 50mm lenses for different mounts and I thought it would be nice to give you an overview:
[shoplink 14186 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Canon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14187 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Nikon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14188 ebay]Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 50mm f/1.4 50/1.4 LTM (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14190 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 for Contax (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14189 ebay]Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZF 50mm F1.4 Nikon Ai-S (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]

As you see the price range is soemwhere between $500 and $800. Of course these are all manual focusing lenses and do have a different design. But I hope the price will be a bit below the $1.000 mark.

P.S.: Thanks again to the SAR facebook comunity for finding this picture!

I don’t often talk about the competition but the Nikon D600 was one of this rumors that created a lot of buzz because it was said that the FF camera would cost 1500 Euro&Dollars only. Now that the camera has been announced we know that the rumor was wrong and the camera sells for $2100 right now at Amazon (Click here to see). So not really a deal-breaker. The Sony A99 specs are much higher and in terms of price the RX1 (Click here) might be to consider to be even cheaper if you would take away the price of the superb Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 lens -> of course we can only guess the price of such a lens if it would be sold separately.

While this is not a scientific measure it’s always interesting to look at the overall digital camera popularity ranking (Click here). On top you can find the Sony NEX-6 with 16-50mm kit lens. And that is not a surprise (at least for me). It’s agreta camera for the price and it takes good pictures too (Just look at the ISO samples posted right now on ePhotozine).

The real surprise is that the RX1 FF compact camera seems to outsell the Sony A99 body! Again, those are very fluctuating results and they may change soon. But could it be that the RX1 will sell more than the A99? May this is one of those unique cameras that will convince hard core Canon and Nikon owners to switch over and buy for the first time a Sony camera. Le’ts hope this will happen :)

One more thing: There is also a lens ranking (Click here). The most sold single lens is the 16-50mm pancake. Right behind we have the 35mm lens and on position 21 the 10-18mm zoom.

—

A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.