Two months ago our friends over at Photorumors got the news that on April 1st Sony will increase the price on all Sony lenses. Sadly this wasn’t an April joke. And the bad news is that i have been told more price increases will arrive soon in other countries too :(
The worse financial results and fee scandal forced Olympus to seek for a new partnership. And according to the new Olympus president Sasa Sony (along other) made an official offer (Source Der Spiegel).
My guess is that Sony is interested in the medical business from Olympus, which is very healthy and profitable. What I don’t know if it’s good for Sony to join another new business. Sony is already facing a hard time in many sectors (like for example the TV business).
From a digital camera strategy point of view Sony could force Olympus to jump out of the Micro Four Thirds ship and join the NEX system. I don’t know if that is just a forced speculation or a real plan. Would be good for the NEX system, bad for Panasonic. I think it would be a good new for NEX users havng Olympus on board!
Sony 36 megapixel sensor got a lot of praise from reviewers and the Nikon D800 is the most sold digital camera for over three weeks now (Click here)!
I am surprised how many (Nikon?) readers sent me (not so nice) messages to say that the Nikon D800 doesn’t use a Sony 36 Megapixel sensor. As you know Nikon itself always claims that they are using their own sensor technology and this lead someone to believe I am talking bullxxxx :) While I certainly think Nikon is putting some of his own tech knowledge on the sensor development I am pretty convinced the basic sensor technology has been developed and fabricated by Sony. Here I am writing a post to tell you why I “think” it is so:
Second story: It’s actually pretty ease to see that Nikon and Sony are almost always sharing the same resolution on APS-C and FF cameras:
24 Megapixel Full Frame sensor on the Nikon D3X and Sony A900
16 Megapixel APS-C sensor on Nikon D7000 and Sony A55
14 Megapixel APS-C sensor on Nikon D3100 and Sony A560
12 Megapixel APS-C sensor on Nikon D300 and Sony A500
10 Megapixel APS-C sensor on Nikon D3000 and Sony A330
Third story: So why do I “believe” the Nikon D800 uses a Sony sensor? The same trusted sources that shared to me the correct [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] sensor info also sent me the 36 Megapixel Full Frame info back in June 2011 (Click here to read the original post). They also told me the sensor would be used first in a Nikon camera. So was is just luck that Nikon came out with the D800 having a 36 Megapixel Full frame sensor? :)
In summary: Of course this is a rumors site and you absolutely have to take the news I write for what they are…just rumors. Sometimes I can be wrong, no question! But it’s common use to share technologies between companies even if it looks like they are strong enemies (see Samsung Apple patent battle story). I strongly “believe” Sony is behind that 36 Megapixel sensor and that’s why I will post some D800 test hee on SAR. I “suspect” Sony will come out with a Full Frame camera with exactly the same sensor and with at least a 99% similar RAW performance. Now let’s hope Sony will not wait too long before to release the new FF cameras!
And the next NEX camera has been finally announced. It is the FS700 camcorder! The full press release can be found here at Sony Europe. Specs and images:
4K Super35mm CMOS sensor
3G SDI Out
Internal ND filters (clear, 1/4, 1/16 and 1/64),
Super Slow motion (120-240 fps Full HD or 480 up to 960 fps with reduced resolution),
2xXLR,
108024p and 1080/50p AVCHD 2.0
MemoryStick or SDXC Cards or on external HXR-FMU128 recorder
Price is yet unknown. The camera will be available in June!
Kenko announced two new 10mm and 16mm extension tube that fit in between the lens and the camera mount. It will transform any E-Mount lens in a macro lens! You can also use both extensions at the same time. The probably bigger news here is that it has electronic contacts to allow autofocusing and aperture control. The tubes will be available some time within April and cost around 216 Euro each.
I don’t know where you can buy Kenko stuff in local stores. I found some of their lenses and adapters on [shoplink 12067 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Here is the official improvement list:
• Adding an automatic lens correction support: [shoplink 4419]24/2 ZA[/shoplink], [shoplink 6052]85/1.4 ZA[/shoplink], [shoplink 10337]135/1.8 ZA[/shoplink], [shoplink 11583]70-300/4.5-5.6 G[/shoplink], [shoplink 6422]DT35/1.8[/shoplink], [shoplink 11584]DT50/1.8[/shoplink]
• Improve the response until the power turns off and then actually from “OFF” the power switch
• Improved response
• Improved response before dialing until you see the two improved auto reviews. Response, the dial after
• Improve response of AF (SAL500F40G) 3. 500mm F4 G SSM
• Improve the accuracy of auto focus in the scene, including the four bright spots. (Only SLT-A77)
• Five other improvement.
The firmware is not available or mentioned on Sony Europe and US sites. I am continually updating this post. Please let our readers know how the new firmware works on your camera!
Here are the first User reports: Michael: “This time the performance improvements are actually noticeable. Auto-review is now usable, and turning off the camera is as fast as with earlier models. I recommend 1.05 for everybody!” Lifeispixels: “Speed of both control dials is now greatly improved. The number no longer lags behind when turning the dial quickly. Turning off time is also swift. No longer had to wait a few seconds before the AF motor turns the lens to infinity. Now just switch off and the motor turns the AF to infinity immediately.” Shaokee: “holy shit, the camera’s response towards both dial turns is amazing. and switching the camera off is very quick. highly recommend this update!” Rui: “Installed! start and shut down is instant. dials very responsive. Thanks Sony!” Cody: “Update applied and it is definitely a big improvement in responsiveness, much more than 1.04 was. If I’m being picky, the lag isn’t completely gone but much improved. The usable auto-review is very nice. Startup is faster (and consequently waking up from sleep is faster). I never cared about the shutdown time, but it is fast now. Overall, it now feels like I’m not beta testing this camera anymore” Fotowolf: “On/Off-delay is now a fraction of a second (not 5 seconds any more). Looks like they removed the debugging-flag while compiling the source code. Overall performance is excellent. Even AV speed has improved. The only issue that I have noticed: microAF adjustments do not work anymore” Cheong: “1. the dials are VERY responsive now. it feels like the a850 and my old a230 now.
2. the switch off time is def better, just a tad slower than the a850 (from my impression of using it in occasions)
3. the auto review now will not have the ‘now loading’ screen popping out and will immediately display your pic. even when i use single shot and take a few continuous photos, it will just display immediately. the minus though is that you are effectively doing blind shooting when you do that. However, when you take e shot, see your review, and immediately release and half press the shutter, it will go back to the EVF live view very very very quickly. so now its just a lame excuse if you say the EVF is making you miss shots!” (video on facebook)
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In Stock status and price check links:
Sony A77 at [shopcountry 8461].
Sony A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
