Wish You all a great new Year! As usual I try to express my wishlist for 2014 and this is what I plan to do:

SAR:
– Redo the full website and make it more community driven
– Just have again a fun time with you with all these great stuff Sony will launch in 2014

Personally:
– Have more free time for me an my family.
– Climb more mountains, swim more seas, drink more red wine at Sunset.
– Train my mind to not waste energy on minor problems.
– Read and study more (Physics and German Literature are high on my list).

Yep, that’s it. What do you plan to do? :)

I was used with Kai ranting against Sony products (he didn’t do it with the A7-A7r). But he now killed the Nikon DF myth with this video. Just watch it!

This is interesting because it also supports the SAR poll. Only 19% want Sony to make a “retro styled” SLT/DSLR camera (Source: SAR POLL). And as far as I know from my sources the soon to be announced new A-mount cameras will keep the modern design (with some smaller improvements).

Credit Suisse imaging analyst Yu Yoshida shared some quite extreme forecast about the future of the digital camera market (Source: Reuters/New York Times):

– Mirrorless cameras are not selling as well as expected because 1) buyers put connectivity above picture quality 2) in USA and Europe consumers tend to equate image quality with size and heft

– “Only those who have a strong brand and are competitive on price will last – and only Canon, Nikon and Sony fulfil that criteria,” said Credit Suisse analyst Yoshida.

– Consumers don’t want to connect cameras to phones, analysts say; they want a single interface that can instantly upload photographs to social networking sites such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc.

– For the analyst the real future could be the Sony QX lenscameras: Sony appears to have connected with consumers as demand soon outstripped production. Some are even using the lenses in a way Sony didn’t intend: placed at a distance while they press the shutter on their smartphone to take self-portraits, or selfies.

As usual take these analysts forecasts with care. The sometimes have the same reliability as Nostradamus predictions :)

Last week gariz announced their A7-A7r case which you can find in  [shoplink 23521 ebay]Black (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 23522 ebay]Brown (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 23523 ebay]Orange (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 23524 ebay]Red (Click here)[/shoplink].

Today also Angelo Pelle announced a new A7-A7r leather case. Here is the press text:

—

Angelo Pelle, a handcraft company based in Florence is proud to announce the new hand made half case for Sony A7/A7r

Angelo Pelle cases are fully hand made in Italy by some of the most skilled Italian artisans with more then 30 years of experience in this field, with the best Tuscan naturally tanned leather and high quality suede leather for inner finishing (our leather is the same used by Italian and French high fashion brands).
The case includes also a deluxe neck strap (adjustable in length) with the same leather used for the half case. The case is adjusted to fit like a glove to the camera body.
The leather case if perfectly matched to the unique properties of the SONY A7 and A7r, it is built around the camera to protect all the body from scratches and blows.
The case will be produced in a limited quantity each month.

Price: 149 euro (inclusive neck strap).The cases can be bought directly from the producer on the site: www.angelo-pelle.com

Sony can do some great cameras but their firmware updates are somewhat disappointing. A77, A99 camera owners are still waiting for major improvements. I just read an article at MirrorlessRumors with an interview with Fuji manager Mr.Kawahara. He mentioned as one of the companies main goals is to support and improve its cameras via firmware update. He literally said: “We want you to use our camera longer and longer in your life.”

It’s high on my 2014 wishlist that Sony not only will keep making good new cameras but also to keep releasing good firmwares. I think this would help to create confidence around Sony and motivate more people to join in Sony’s A and E-mount system. I know that developing new firmwares is costly, but it’s also a good long-term investment!

So please Sony, in 2014 try to make current Sony camera owners happy too!

Sony Japan confirms that the Zeiss FE zoom will ship from January 24 while the Sony 28-70mm FE will ship from February 7.

Zeiss 24-70mm preorders:
EUROPE at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, SE, PT
USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.

Sony G 28-70mm lens preorders:
EUROPE at Sony DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO.
USA at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.

Today is Christmas and I wish you and your family all the best for these days of rest and for the coming year. I Thank You all for the company on this site. It’s a real fun (and sometime it’s a terrific busy fun) to be here with you every day!

And as promised, it’s going to be again a very busy A and E-mount rumors time on SAR. So try to recover soon from the party to be ready for some exciting time ;)