According to The Verge Sony USA COO Phil Molyneux said that the NEX-7 will arrive in January. And Financial Times reports another statement from Phil M.: “We’re furiously working to transfer production back to Japan and into China, so I think we’ll see better availability going into January“. Currently Sony is having a reserve of NEX-C3 and NEX-5n cameras but the NEX-5n stocks could be empty soon!

The last info I got from my top sources said that the A77 will be back in Stock in January and the NEX-7 in February. And yes, Sony underestimated the A77 and NEX-7 production. The cameras got more preorders than they thought and in some countries the A77 and NEX-7 request has been four times higher than expected. I hope that Sony will be able to catch up again the momentum. Really pity for them that they miss the Christmas sales. The A65 and A77 are out of Stock in most countries. Only the new NEX-5n and the lenses will be available by Christmas time. Check out the links to find out what’s available and what not:

A77 at [shopcountry 8461]
A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
Sony NEX-7 [shopcountry 8454].
Sony NEX-5n [shopcountry 8452].
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8450].
Sony 50mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8448].
Sony 55-210mm [shopcountry 8444].
NEX-5n viewfinder [shopcountry 9110].

P.S.: Sony A77 and A65 firmware donwloads are now available at all local Sony websites. Example:
Germany: http://www.sony.de/support/de/product/SLT-A77V/downloads/FW_A77_V104_WIN#benefits
Netherland: http://www.sony.nl/support/nl/product/SLT-A77V

The firmware has been released by Sony Asia (Click here).

SLT-A65 Firmware Upgrade
Ver.1.04 (Microsoft Windows)
http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/478855
Ver.1.04 (Apple Macintosh)
http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/478884

SLT-A77V Firmware Upgrade
Ver.1.04 (Microsoft Windows)
http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/478891
Ver.1.04 (Apple Macintosh)
http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/478893

Here is the improvement list:
1) Added support for auto-correction lens: Vario-Sonnar T * DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA (SAL1680Z) and DT 16-105mm F3.5-5.6 (SAL16105)
2) Improved usability
3) Improved Quality
4) Improvement Response

If you have some time to test the new firmware let us know if you see some some REAL improvement! Thanks!

If you are on the waiting list for a new A77 or NEX-7 camera than we have some good news folks! Bloomberg reports: “After floods in Thailand halted image-sensor output at factories in the country, production will be shifted to a plant in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, in the beginning of next year, spokesman Hiroshi Okubo said. The effect of the floods “wasn’t as bad” as the company estimated three weeks ago, Yoshioka said.”

I hope this is not only a too optimistic statement to assure the markets and shareholders. Anyway I have been told that Sony will soon release a new press release. Let’s hope they can now give us a more precise idea of when the new cameras will be in Stock. My latest info I got days ago said that the A77 will be back in Stock in January and the NEX-7 will start worldwide shipment in February.

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P.S.: I made a quick shop checks and it looks like our UK readers are the luckiest guys out there. They have the A77 body in Stock at Warehouseexpress (Click here) and the 16-50 kit version in Stock at Jessops (Click here). And there are also two refurbished A77 bodies in Stock at [shoplink 10311 ebay]Cameracenter on eBay UK (Click here)[/shoplink].

UPDATE: Sony China removed the A77/65 firmware upgrade 1.04 page! But the download links still work. Be aware that this upgrade firmware has yet not been officially released. Download and install at your own risk! And we don’t know if you can replace that firmware with the firmware that Sony will possibly release next week. So do NOT install if you don’t know what you are doing!!!

Windows:
A77: http://ids.update.sony.net/DSLR/rourmNHbYZ/Update_SLTA77V104.exe
A65: http://ids.update.sony.net/DSLR/rourmNHbYZ/Update_SLTA65V104.exe

Mac:
A77: http://ids.update.sony.net/DSLR/rourmNHbYZ/Update_SLTA77V104.dmg
A65: http://ids.update.sony.net/DSLR/rourmNHbYZ/Update_SLTA65V104.dmg

I guess the rumor we posted yesterday is true. Sony planed the release for today but than postponed it to next week. Sony China made a mistake an posted it today and than removed it after a couple of hours. Read our readers comments to check out what has been improved!

UPDATE: The administrator from Digicam-info contacted me to say that he got a news form a trusted sources to say that Sony originally planed to release the firmware tomorrow (Nov 24) but they postponed the release to next week! It’s form one of his trusted sources and I upgraded the rumor value from SR3 to SR4.

As I told you last week this will be a major upgrade because we expect improvements in JPEG image quality too! Here is the list of new features/improvements:

1) expanded the number of automatic compensation of compliant lenses
2) Improvement of Responses
3) Improvement of IQ
4) Improvement of Usability

And here are the links to check the price and availability of the two cameras:
Sony A77: [shopcountry 8461]
Sony A65: [shopcountry 8459]

Two weeks ago I posted that fullframe poll (Click here) to ask you what kind of lens you need for the full frame Alpha mount system. We had 3.900 voters from all over the worls. The poll gives us a general idea of what our readers want from Sony. I ask you to share your evaluation about the results. These are mine:

1) The most requested lens is actually a surprise because I would have never expected to see so many votes for it. The 12-24mm f/2.8 got a 28% share (1,094 Votes).
2) The most requested focal length is the 50mm standard prime. The 50mm f/1.4 Zeiss (24%, 927 Votes), the 50mm f/1.0 Zeiss (19%, 734 Votes) and the 50mm f/1.2 (13%, 503 Votes). Close behind we find the 35mm wide angle prime lens. The 35mm f/1.4 Zeiss collected 25% of your votes (978 Votes). And the more compact 35mm f/2.0 had 461 votes (12%). Very close behind the 35mm lenses we find the 85mm lenses.
3) There is no surprise when it comes to standard zoom lenses. The 24-105mm f/4.0 (25%, 974 Votes) is the third most requested lens. The 70-200mm f/2.8 Zeiss (23%, 882 Votes) is the fifth most requested lens.
4) Another surprise has been the high request for Tilt shift lenses. The 24mm TS earned a 16% share (641 Votes).
Overall It’s obvious that readers ask for classic good quality prime and zoom lenses. It’s a call for Sony to complete the “backbone” of the lens system. And I am sure Sony is already working on it.

Here are the detailed results of the poll and feel free to add your analysis of the results! Thanks!

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These are the links to the current Sony Full Frame lenses (without the older Minolta lenses). You can check the price to get an idea of how much the suggested poll lenses could cost!
SAL-16F28 Fisheye 16mm f/2.8 Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9774]
SAL-1635Z 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA SSM Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* AF SLR Lens [shopcountry 9773]
SAL-20F28 20mm f/2.8 AF Lens for Alpha & Minolta Maxxum Series [shopcountry 9775]
Distagon T* 24mm f/2 SSM Wide Angle Lens [shopcountry 9769]
SAL-2470Z 24-70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9776]
SAL-2875 28-75mm f/2.8 SAM Constant Aperture Zoom Lens [shopcountry 9777]
SAL-35F14G Wide Angle 35mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9779]
SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9780]
SAL-50M28 Normal AF D 50mm f/2.8 Macro Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9781]
SAL-85F14Z Telephoto 85mm f/1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T* Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9782]
85mm f/2.8 SAM Mid-range Telephoto Lens [shopcountry 9768]
SAL-100M28 100mm f/2.8 AF Macro Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9770]
SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* Autofocus SLR Lens [shopcountry 9771]
SAL-135F28 135mm f/2.8 Manual Focus SLR Lens [shopcountry 9772]
SAL-70200G Zoom AF 70-200mm f/2.8 APO G(D) SSM Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9782]
SAL-70300G 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G SSM Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9783]
SAL-70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9784]
SAL-75300 AF D 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9785]
SAL-300F28G 300mm f/2.8 APO G SSM Autofocus Lens [shopcountry 9778]

A dozen of our USA readers sent us the same message received via Sonystore US. Thanks! Here is the original text sent by Sony:

“We would like to update you that Sony has restarted production of NEX7 in our Chonburi Thailand factory which was not impacted by the flooding.
Since we are just beginning to ramp up production in these new lines, we have just begun restart of production at this early stage; however this is positive news that Sony is getting back on track and recovering from flood impact. Although there are no details to share on production schedule today, we expect within the next 2 weeks to have a clearer idea for you.
Again, thank you very much for your continued patience.
Sincerely,
Sony Customer Care“