Sony will soon announce their first smartphone with high quality and large sensor. And it will have to compete against the just announced Samsung S4 zoom. That hybrid camera and phone features a 1:2.3 inch sensor (same size as most compact cameras) and a 10x zoom. That marks the end of the compact camera business. The Samsung S4 zoom and the new Sony Cybershot Mobile will still be very expensive. But the price will go down in future with every new release. In 2-3 years form now almost nobody will buy a “pure” compact camera anymore.

More news at Engadget.

SAR reader Laszlo (Thanks!) noticed that the new 50F14Z is now shown on the carl zeiss website. As you may remember Sony Japan (Source DC.watch) delayed the launch of the new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 A-mount lens because of the “exceptional high demand of preorders“. The lens is set to ship in early July according to Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

UPDATE: Some brand new image samples can be seen at Klubkm.pl.

The Zeiss preorders can be taken at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and SonyStore USA (via AlphaCameraDeals). In Europe at Wex UK, Amazon DE and Technikdirekt DE.

Reminder: The brand new Zeiss Touit for NEX are in Stock and shipping at BHphoto (Click here). You can get both! The 12mm lens (Click here) and the 32mm lens (Click here).

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Adobe just launched the new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5. You can pre order it at BHphoto, Adobe US, Adobe DE, Adobe UK and so on…US pricing is $149 for new customers and $79 for the upgrade. A preview can be read at Dpreview.

P.S.: My personal opinion on the new Adobe Cloud Strategy? Sucks :(  But is there any equal alternative? Not that I know…

Sony HX50V vs NEX-3N

The State of the Mirrorless Camera Industry – May 2013 by AdmiringLight.
Sony Alpha 58 review by Photoclubalpha.
Sony NEX-3N CSC Review at ePhotozine.
The Old Minolta 35 mm F/1.4 tested at Gubsphotologue.
Speed Booster vs. Les Turbo test using Makro Planar 50/2 at Dpreview Forum.
Super sensible sensor made of graphene at Mashable.
Sony NEX and HDR at Hdrone.

Anonymous: “A friend bought a Sony RX100 a month ago in a Sony store in San Diego and after two weeks using it, a problem showed up. The camera started to randomly turn itself on, showing the last shot taken on the LCD but without actually extending the lens. That happens with the camera in or out of its storage pouch, leading to to a total battery drain if not noticed and turned off! I did a quick research on the internet and found that this problem has been reported in some Forums ( including Sony’s ). Please check:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCp1m4vz4Oc
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3391660
http://community.sony.com/t5/Cybershot-Cameras/RX100-Battery-Drain/td-p/44245/page/1
I’m sending you this because it seems Sony has not officially acknowledged the issue and it may be a good opportunity for them to improve customer credibility by either issuing a Firmware fixing the problem ( if that’s feasible ) or ultimately performing a recall!
One can always dream.
Regards!”

Cezar: “Hello Andrea, i’ve been using my nex-7 with the zeiss 24 and the sony 50 1.8 for more than a year now. i just want to say that the nex-7 coupled with some really good glass is simply a gem for me. Here’s a link to my work (all photos shot with the nex-7): http://www.behance.net/cezararon. P.S: also a new review on the touit line-up i just found (it’s in romanian but still good for samples) http://www.f64.ro/blog/2013/05/30/carl-zeiss-touit-2-812-si-1-832-un-nou-inceput/”

Galen: “Sharing some photos taken with the a99 with the Sony Zeiss 135mm and 24-70mm. Absolutely loving the lenses as well as the dynamic range and accuracy of the a99. Such a pleasure to take photos with. http://500px.com/GalenScorer”

Eddy: “last week I received the 70-400 G II, just in time for an interesting event: a re-enactment of a battle in 1447. I have posted a selection on dyxum:
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=98813&PID=1178518&title=what-a-fight-70400g-ii#1178518. The full set of pictures is posted on my photo blog: http://www.thelightpoet.be/2013/06/de-quaeye-werelt-june-2013/ And I have to say the 70-400 G II performed very well on my A900. Excellent sharpness and contrast. Really nice stuff.”

The recently announced Samyang 16mm f/2.0 lens will ship for $449 on July 8th. Preorders are being accepted by BHphoto (Click here). There is no pricing yet for Europe or Asia. Keep in mind that this lens sells under different brands: In USA as Rokinon, Samyang, Opteka, Bower and in Europe: Samyang, Rokinon, Walimex, Falcon, Vivitar.

You can download the full “Corporate Strategy Meeting” PDF file at http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/info/strategy2013/pdf/presenE.pdf. No big surprise here. Focus goes on Image Sensor Development, on Mirrorless and High End photography market.

SAR reader Andrea sent me his Lens Turbo first impression:

“First of all congrats for your great blog, I usually follow your updates every day.
I bought a lensturbo for canon fd lenses by the Shanghai eBay seller you posted  the link.
I received it two days ago. I tested it with my 50mm and it is fantastic to see the larger frame and, it seems, a better contrast and sharpness. The weak point is the already known issue of the blue spot when facing a light or the sun, but is not such a big issue.

The real problem came when I tested the lens turbo with the canon fd 20mm. I almost risked to ruin the rear/back lens of the 20mm! The fact is that when you are trying to reach the infinity focus the rear lens of the 20mm protrusion hit the front lens of the lens turbo!!

That problem is not mentioned by the seller and also by the reviewer (the martist, you linked in a post). I wrote to both. The reviewer only write to me he doesn’t have this problem. This is strange because the lensturbo seller just wrote to me:

Hi Andrea,
Thanks for the message…
Indeed the FD 20/2.8 can not use… the rear lens protrusion will hit the lens… sorry… I think you can only focus up to 3 meter, right ?
except for the 20, the other lenss 28, 35, 50, 85 all can use..
best,
R.J.
– jinfinance

Therefore I’m writing this to you because I want to avoid that the same thing happens to others.

I’d also like to know if other lensturbo buyers had the same problem as I did.

Thx for your time.
Best regards“