The offset microlens design from the A7r (the A7 has no such design).

There are still many questions regarding the A7 and A7r features and performance. For example we just learned that only the Sony A7r (36MP) has the offset microlens design. This is very important to know if you plan to use third-party manual rangefinder lenses on your cameras (for example [shoplink 15491 ebay]M-mount lenses[/shoplink]). And most of you likely didn’t know that the A7 has front curtain electronic shutter. So if you still don’t know if you should get the A7r or A7 here is a list that mya be helpful:

Pros for A7R
1) A7R is 36 MP while the A7 has 24 MP. Also an advantage if you want to use current E-mount lenses (you get 16MP on the A7r and 10MP on the A7)
2) A7r has missing AA filter which should give you a kick more per pixel sharpness
3) A7R’s sensor has off set micro-lenses designed to better capture light hitting edges/corners (might work better with Leica M lenses) — A7 sensor does not.
4) On A7R micro-lenses have gapless design. A7’s sensor doesn’t
5) Front panel on A7R is magnesium alloy. It’s plastic on A7.
6) Top two dials (exposure compensation and mode dial) on A7R are made from solid aluminium billets. On A7 the dials have rubberized exterior.

Pros for A7
1) Costs $600 less (and best price quality goes to the A7 with 28-70mm kit lens option)
2) A7 has AA filter which avoids major moiree issues and is also great to have if you shoot videos (it’s harder to get rid of moire on videos).
3) A7 has front curtain electronic shutter — A7R does not
4) Flash sync on A7 is 1/250. It’s 1/160 on A7R
5) A7 has on sensor PDAF. A7R doesn’t.
6) Continuous shooting: A7 — 5 fps. A7R 4 fps

Thanks “OneGuy” for completing the list!

Preorders in US:
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Preorders in EU:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,

Image courtesy: Quesabesde.

Obviously we don’t have real preorder sales info yet. But at least Amazon in some way shows us what’s hot and what’s not. And According to their overall mirrorless ranking (Click here to see) the Sony A7r is the most preordered of the two new Full Frame cameras. It’s followed by the A7 body and on third place we have the A7 with lens kit option. Have to say that I actually expected the kit version to sell more than the A7 body only. Anyway, looks like the Megapixel factor is still very important. UPDATED: I checked SonyAlphaRumors outgoing links and the A7r got 30% more clicks than the A7 and A7kit sum.

The A7r is also the second most sold overall camera at Amazon (ranking here) and the Zeiss 35mm lens sells more than the other FE lenses when you look at the lens ranking (click here).

Still, these rankings not telling us anything about the popularity of the cameras. We have to see if the A7-A7r will be still be within the top list the next coming weeks. My bet is they will remain there for a long time :)

–

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE.
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE.

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The video on top has been posted by Oscar and shows the AF performance of the A7 with the Zeiss 55mm lens. Quite snappy and fast! Better than I actually expected. Would have been nice to see how big the difference is between the A/ (with Phase detection) and A7r (with contrast AF only).

And Sony answered many of your questions at blog.sony.com. These are some of the most important answers:
1) Asked about the Minolta 7000 and A7 design similarities they answer: “There is a bit of a retro design in this camera which was purposeful”
2) About A-mount future: “Sony Alpha owners can rest assured that we fully support the A-mount system of cameras and lenses”
3) About the NEX-7 successor: “The α7 and α7R Full Frame cameras represent a new level of performance for the E-mount system and are therefore not direct successors to NEX-7.”
4) “Our new model naming prefix strives to unify the model names.  “ILC” indicates “Interchangeable Lens Camera” followed by an indicator of A-mount “A” or E-mount “E”.”

More A7-A7r news:
A7-A7r first impression at Trustedreviews.
Sony A7 preview at Camerahoarders.
Image samples at Heise.de
A7 and A7r hands-on at Chip.de (German).

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE.
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE.

For some yet not known reasons the WordPress software on which SonyAlphaRumors runs is having issued with filtering spam and comments. If the problem can’t be solved the next couple of hours at noon (12:00 CET) we will make a complete new installation of WordPress. This means:
1) for now no comments go through
2) The site may be offline for 1-2 hours this afternoon

As long as I can I will post news on SAR. Thanks for your understanding.

UPDATE: There is indeed a worldwide issue with wordpress: https://twitter.com/DoRoyalHost/status/390699640233795584

[shoplink 21147 ebay]

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[shoplink 21147 ebay]The Full Frame 85mm T1.5 Cine Lens for NEX[/shoplink]

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We all like the A7-A7r but the biggest problem is the limited and expensive lens range. But Samyang announced that they will release five prime lenses for the new FF E-mount system within…two months! Here are the primes that will be released:

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC
Samyang 24mm f/1.4 ED AS IF UMC
Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC
Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC
Samyang 85mm f/1.4 AS IF UMC

These lenses will be manual focusing, cheap and deliver a high quality performance. Right what we need! The only issue…these lenses are actually designed for DSLR cameras and what they will do is just to make them E-mount. It means lenses will be big. A proper E-mount designed lens would have been smaller and more likeable.

Currently Samyang already offers four Cine E-mount FF lenses:
14mm T3.1 Cine Lens for Sony E sold as [shoplink 21135 ebay]Samyang (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21136 ebay]Rokinon (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21137 ebay]Bower (eBay)[/shoplink].
24mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E sold as [shoplink 21138 ebay]Samyang (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21141 ebay]Rokinon (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21142 ebay]Bower (eBay)[/shoplink].
35mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E sold as [shoplink 21143 ebay]Samyang (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21144 ebay]Rokinon (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21145 ebay]Bower (eBay)[/shoplink].
85mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E sold as [shoplink 21147 ebay]Samyang (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21146 ebay]Rokinon (eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 21148 ebay]Bower (eBay)[/shoplink].

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PRESS TEXT:

Note: Please reload this page from time to time to see new updates and links!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page / some links via Dealsrunner):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Samys, SonystoreUS, SonystoreCA.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, FI, NO, SE, PT, Amazon DE, UK, WexUK, WexDE.
Please send me the links you find at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com

Australia:
A7r at Camerapro.
A7 at Camerapro.
A7 with lens at Camerapro.
RX10 at Camerapro.

Previews and reviews:
A7-A7r: Dpreview, TheCameraStoreTV, Imaging Resource, Hands.on at TheVerge, Luminous Landscape, Photoclubalpha, Brian Smith
RX10: DPreview, Imaging Resource,

Image samples:
A7 samples at Cnet Australia, Blog Sina, Luminous Landscape, Brian Smith

Hot details:
Sony is not quitting A-mount (Amateur Photographer).

Videos:
A7/A7r first look (german), TheCameraStoreTV, SonyBlog, A7r commercial, RX10 at Sonyblog, BHphoto video, First Look by NatCam.

Press release text in different languages:
A7-A73 at Dpreview, ThePhoBlographer, Ming Thein (quick thoughts), Cameras.reviewed, Amateur Photographer, PB (A7r), PB (A7), SystemKameraBlog (German) ePhotozine,  Focus Numerique (French), LeMondeDeLaPhoto (french), Photographylife, Steve Huff, Photoscala (German), DSLR (Spanish), Digitalcamerareview, Engadget, Photoreview, Stuckincustoms, Pocket-Lint.
FE lenses at Dpreview, ThePhoBlographer, Photographyblog, ePhotozine, Focus Numerique (French), LeMondeDeLaPhoto (french), DSLR (Spanish)
RX10 at Dpreview, ThePhoBlographer, Photographyblog, ePhotozine, Focus Numerique (French), LeMondeDeLaPhoto (french), Photoscala (German), DSLR (Spanish), Digitalcamerareview, Engadget, Photoreview, Photographic Central, Digitalversus.

Poll:
Before to vote read the previews, take some time, take a break and drink a coffea…and only after that tell us:

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Product images (Click on image to enlarge):

[shoplink 21796 ebay]

[/shoplink]
Note: I posted a list for 21mm and 24mm manual focusing lenses you can buy for your A7-A7r. After long thinking and searching the one lens I will buy for the A7 is definitely the Voigtländer Ultron 21mm f/1,8 [shoplink 21602 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] or here at BHphoto. Fantastic lens! And unlike the Leica 21mm lenses close focusing distance is 0.5 meter instead of 0.7 meter.

35mm lenses: I guess street photography will be one of the main use for the A7 and A7r. This means a 35mm lens is a must have! As you know on Wednesday Sony will also launch a compact Zeiss FE 35mm f/2.8 prime lens. If you don’t care about the missing AF and you want a faster lens here are some options with ny thoughts based on what I saw and read on Internet:

Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.2 Aspherical II LEICA M ([shoplink 21793 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] / here at BHphoto):
This is one of the few lenses that even Leica purist do like. It’s sharp in the center straight from f/1.2. Bokeh is nice and it’s rare to find lenses that offer a nice bokeh at 35mm! If you need speed this is the lens you should buy! SOme greta image smaples taken on the VG900 can be seen at DChome.
Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ([shoplink 21794 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] / here at BHphoto):
One of the most loved lenses of the Leica community. It’s a tiny bit better than the Voigtlander but costs many times more.
Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.4 CLassic ([shoplink 21795 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] / here at BHphoto):
Image quality is soso and it has that “Old” Lens look (which means unsharp corners and no top image quality. The real greta thing about the lens is the size. It’s as small as it gets for a f/1.4 aperture lens.
Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2.0 ([shoplink 21796 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] / here at BHphoto):
If you need a high quality compact lens this is the one for you.
Canon FD 35mm f/2.0 ([shoplink 21798 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink]):
One of the cheapest 35mm f/2.0 you can get.
Zeiss Biogon T* 35mm f/2.0 ZM ([shoplink 21797 ebay]here on eBay[/shoplink] / here at BHphoto):
Very good quality lens. But not as small as the Nokton 1.4 and Leica 2.0.