Preorders:
In USA at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Sony 24-240mm FE at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Sony Fisheye Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here).
Sony Ultra-Wide Conversion Lens for FE 28mm F/2 Adorama (Click here).
Sony Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F/2.8 and E 20mm F/2.8 Adorama (Click here).
Sony Ultra-Wide Fisheye Converter for E 16mm F2.8 and E 20mm F2.8 Adorama (Click here).

In Europe at:
Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 FE at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony IT, Sony ES, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony AT, Sony CH, Sony SE, Sony FI, Sony NO, Sony PT.
Sony 90mm f/2.8 FE at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony IT, Sony ES, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony AT, Sony CH, Sony SE, Sony FI, Sony NO, Sony PT.
Sony 24-240mm FE at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony IT, Sony ES, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony AT, Sony CH, Sony SE, Sony FI, Sony NO, Sony PT.
Sony 28mm f/2.0 FE at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony IT, Sony ES, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony AT, Sony CH, Sony SE, Sony FI, Sony NO, Sony PT.

And we also have the graphs showing the optical lens design. The 90mm macro and Zeiss 35mm obviously have the more high quality design. The 90mm lens has a unique Super ED glass while the 35mm Zeiss has an Advanced Aspherical lens. Both also have Direct Drive SSM super fast focusing.

And this is the Direct Drive SSM super fast focusing module on use on the new 90mm macro and Zeiss 35mm.

German photo market: DSLR sales in RED. Mirrorless sales in Grey (Unit sold in tausend).

The last few years Sony launched an impressive amount of cameras. But something changed lately. The last six months Soy did announce only one new camera, the Sony A7II. No other E-mount or A-mount or RX camera got announced. I guess Sony just like all other companies is now aware that the camera market is shrinking and it’s time to refocus the strategy.

An interesting and extremely detailed analysis of the German market has been posted on MirrorlessRumors. In very short it shows that:
– The DSLR market is shrinking
– Lens sales are dropping too
– Mirrorless system camera market is slowly growing
– Action camera market is booming

It’s not that people is stopping to take pictures..actually quite the opposite! It’s just that the tools used to take pictures and videos are becoming different and more differentiated. People nowadays uses Smartphones, Actioncameras and Wearables too. And most of the times the new tools are very user-friendly (APP support) and made to fulfill very special needs. According to the German GFK organisation the “classic” System Camera market is expected to shrink further in 2015. Sony just like all other companies now have to try to understand what’s needed to attract new buyers with their A and E-mount system.

David Safier‎
A6000 24-70 2.8 za

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3) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

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Say goodby to the “old” CCD sensor tech. Sony now officially switched all their effort on CMOS sensor development and production only. The news comes via Allied Vision:

“Many in the industry had expected this to happen sooner or later. As you know, CMOS sensors have become more and more popular in the last couple of years. With greatly improved image quality, sensitivity, dynamic range and speeds, they have outpaced CCD technology of late. Sony’s decision is a logical step in that context to provide further capacity for CMOS growth.”

Found via Image Sensor World.

If you want to know how Sony describes the Sony QX concept you can read their full patent here: freepatentsonline.com/8947589.pdf. A small curiosity: They also have the idea to make a square QX camera (image on top).

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QX1-QX30 store links
E-mount QX1 in USA at Amazon (Click here), SonyStore US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), FocusCamera (Click here).
E-mount QX1 in Europe at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony FR, Sony ES, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony NO, Sony BE, Sony PT, Sony SE, Sony FI.
E-mount QX1 in Asia at Digitalrev (Click here).
QX30 in USA at Amazon (Click here), SonyStore US (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), FocusCamera (Click here).
QX30 in Asia at Digitalrev (Click here).

QX10-QX100 store links
QX100: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyCA (Click here).
Black QX10: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyCA (Click here).
White QX10: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Black QX100 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
Black QX10 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
White QX10 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.

The Germany company Meyer-Optik-Görlitz took the Chinese Zy Optics f/0.95 lenses and “upgraded” them. UPDATE: Meyer-Optik-Görlitz contacted me to share the following info:

“Components for Meyer-Optik-Görtlitz lenses are :
*   sourced internationally
*   assembled, adjusted, tested and therefore made in Germany
*   shipped with a 5 year guarantee from a German manufacturer”
*   Our lenses are improved in terms of material characteristic and mechanical quality
*   To name a few: We use alternative components, eg. use materials supplied by a supplier of the German Avionic industry to guarantee precision
*   we apply high-tech oils to improve slide ways and adjusting ranges
*   special focus is assigned to quality assurance and minimization of the serial spread. Thus our QA testing and adjustment for each lens takes up to 3,5 h and 2 h on average.
*   Our close quality tolerances currently lead to a  reject rate of 50% for core components

This means they add a serious quality control on the Zy Optics lenses.

Their Nocturnus 35mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2-3 times cheaper [shoplink 33793 ebay]Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The same lens also can be found under the [shoplink 33798 ebay]Mitakon brand name (Click here)[/shoplink].
Their Nocturnus 50mm f/0.95 E-mount lens is priced at 1.999 Euro and has the exact specs of the 2 times cheaper [shoplink 33795 ebay]Zy Optics 35mm f/0.95 lens you can find on eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. The same lens also can be found under the [shoplink 33799 ebay]Mitakon brand name (Click here)[/shoplink].