POLL: Vote the future fullframe lenses!

So here we are! I collected and summed your full frame lens suggestion made two weeks ago. As you can imagine I had to simplify the list (otherwise we would have something like 300 lenses in the poll!). Here are the things you have to know before you vote:

1) Please think before to vote and be honest! Be aware that Zeiss lenses and fast lenses will be sometimes very expensive! So vote only if you really would buy it!
2) The poll is not scientific and has a general value only. The goal is to give Sony an overview of what focal length and what aperture future full frame lenses should have.
3) The sum of all percentages you see after any lens option is higher than 100%. This happens because every voters can vote many lenses. Example: If a lens has an overall score of 34% this means that of all voters 34% voted that lens.
4) All lenses are SSM and full frame!
5) Don’t be angry with me if you don’t find the exact lens you wanted as option in this poll. What matters is the general impression. So please vote lenses that are as close as it gets to your preferred choice.

Let’s vote!!!

Select the three lenses that hope will be announced in 2018

View Results

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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]

Sony trying to push factory restore in January.

I keep getting news about Sony’s factory situation. As you know the situation is much worse than it was back in march after the Tsunami in Japan. The good news is that floodwaters is receding from the industrial area of Ayutthaya where Sony factories are located. Sony is now pushing to restore full production within two month. If all works best and if also suppliers will manage to restore their full production capability than Sony could restart the NEX-7 and A77 production in January. This means new Stock of cameras could arrive in February.

But this is the best case scenario. You will definitely not find any new stock of A77 and NEX-7 cameras this year :(

Sony has some reserves of A65 and NEX-5n cameras that can be sold during the Christmas time. That’s it.

All new Sony cameras and lenses links:
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].

Sony A77 almost sold out? Thai flood consequences worse than Japanese Tusnami.

[shoplink 8461][/shoplink]
I talked with a couple of my top sources. They told me that the Sony A77 stocks are almost gone. Overall in some big countries the request of A77 cameras has been 4 times higher than the available amount of cameras. That’s why you should expect the Sony A77 to be not in Stock anymore. And the bad news is that the Thai flood had a much worse consequence on the Sony production than the Japanese Tsunami from March. The problem is that Sony has to rebuild a complete new plant. But also third party suppliers have been affected. The sources do not expect new stocks of A77 cameras and of course NEX-7 cameras before March! Also other camera manufacturers like Canon and Nikon will have similar problems.

I am telling you all that because if you plan to buy the A77 I would seriously not wait to much. In most stores certain A77 kits are our of Stock. At the moment there are only six cameras sold by third party resellers at Amazon US (Click here),  two cameras in Stock at Amazon DE (Click here), body only in Stock at Warehouseexpress (Click here) and some kits in Stock at Jessops (Click here). It’s out of Stock in other Amazon stores, at almost in all Sony online stores. The only cameras you can find regularly in Stock right now are the [shoplink 8459]Sony A65[/shoplink] and [shoplink 8452]Sony NEX-5n[/shoplink].

As I said, I do expect new Stocks of A77 and NEX-7 in 4 months only. That’s a lot of time. I am also checking if that will affect the new product release (like the A9x). I suspect the answer is yes. It makes no sense to announce the A9x when you actually cannot produce it!

All new Sony cameras and lenses links:
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].

Official at Sonystores: NEX-7 delayed in USA


Our reader John sent us the following message sent him by Sonystore USA:

Hello XXX,
Thank you for your recent Sony purchase.
We would like to inform you we are experiencing a delay with your Sony order.
Due to the flood in Thailand and the direct damage to Sony’s manufacturing facilities resulting from the flood, Sony is not able to meet the original delivery schedule that we shared with you when you ordered the NEX-7 camera.  It is our highest priority to launch the NEX-7 as soon as possible and we would like to update you bi-weekly beginning Monday, November 21st until we can confirm the new intended shipping date.  As a reminder, pursuant to your pre-order terms, your charge will not place until the order is shipped.
We apologize for this unforeseeable situation and thank you for your continued support.  You are going to love your NEX-7 camera!

Sincerely,
Sony Customer Care
store.sony.com

What worries me is that “bi-weekly” notification service. It really gives you the idea of how long you have to wait to get the [shoplink 8454]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink]! I looked at the status on other websites. Amazon JP still says “usually ships within 2 to 3 weeks”. It is temporarily out of Stock at Amazon UK and “noch nicht verfügbar” at Amazon DE. Only Amazon US doesn’t accept preorders anymore. Days ago I told you that I got the info from sources that full production will be back in February only.

Private message. I am back :)

Dear readers!

I am finally back from my one week work trip to NYC. I can finally be fully “operative” on SonyAlphaRumors again. I will also spend a couple of hours to check all the emails I received and try to answer you all. The main thing I will do in these days is to understand how the Thai flood will impact on the financial results, camera availability and on the future camera roadmap. As you know the A99 should have been announced within the next 5-6 months but I guess that it will take a lot of time for Sony to resume the production. Let’s see.

P.S.: There has been one incomplete article that has been scheduled accidentally and have been online for a couple of hours. Sorry, have been flying overseas and had no Internet connection to remove it earlier.

Sony press release coming soon? NEX-7 coming in March only?

Image on top. The bad news reported by Amazon US (Click here).

Bad news guys! I just got this via one of my readers (Thanks!): “Warehouse express UK say they will not be filling the pre-order lsit and have been told by Sony they will not be getting NEX-7 until begining March 2012. I spoke to Sony UK today and politley pushed for any information they could tell me. What I got was that there are no NEX-7’s in the UK. Sony hoping to make a statement ‘at some point soon’ and customers on their pre-order list are to be contacted and offered a refund.
It appears that companies differ some take the money upfront some do not until item ships. Does not really clear up the information some people in the USA are being given that early pre-orders are still likely to be shipped soon??

Another reader sent me this: “I spoke with a US Sony rep who told me they have received the NEX-7 body & NEX-7 w/18-55mm lens into their warehouse. They said they have enough to fulfill current preorders on them but can no longer take preorders for the NEX-7 body option. They said there are still able to add more preorders for the one with the lens. Their website seems to suggest this also as the NEX-7 now says coming soon instead an availability date: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666375235

Damn, it is so bad that Sony will miss the Christmas sales. They made a very nice camera almost everybody likes and they cannot be awarded for that. And the competition will now have more time to copy the NEX-7.

NEX cameras and lens preorder links (Click on shopname to check price and availability):
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].

A77 still climbing the Amazon chart (now inside the top 10).

Since yesterday the A77 is in Stock at Amazon (Click here). And it is climbing the Amazon rankings (Click here to it). It now is on Position 9! Why is that interesting? For years now Canon or Nikon cameras are holding the first position. Only the [shoplink 8454]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink] came close to the first position (on Pos. 3). I am really curious to see how close the A77 will come on top. To bad the NEX-7 will be delayed (until February?). That was that camera that could have reached position one!

More rankings: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon JP.