The QX100 Lens Camera Comes to Life – A New Look at the Smart Lens

Sony Global Ambassadors programme presentation at Photoclubalpha:

A new global initiative sees Sony working closely with some of the world’s top photographers and industry leaders to celebrate the beauty of photography. Inaugural participants in the Global Imaging Ambassadors programme include William Klein and photographers from the leading international photo agency, Panos Pictures.

Year of the Alpha – 365 days of Sony Alpha Photography’ at Yearofthealpha.com.
Sony RX10 review at Trustedreviews.

Taran: “I recently went to rajastan, new york, and london over the holidays… All my recent shots are NEX in my photostream…http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistwithlight”

Tommy: “I would like to share my joy of being a early adopter of SEL2470Z in China.
Sony China Online Store sent out an email to who registered their A7 purchase to Sony Club, saying only 50 SEL2470Z was available. It looks like to be a nice holiday companion with my A7. Hence I phoned them and set the order immediately.
It arrived last night with a special golden-style gift wrap, a Sony USB2.0 8G thumb driver, a Zeiss lens clean set. The package of the lens is very similar to SEL5518Z As photo below shows:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovenemesis/12116615065/
It comes with a lens hood and case, too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovenemesis/12117254115/
Its main purpose is to replace my A-mount APS-C SAL1680Z because it has very difficulty to find a LA-EA4 adopter in China for at least a month.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovenemesis/12118060276/
You can see it’s a bit taller than SAL1680Z.

Since I’m busying packaging, I don’t have time to extensively test this lens. But here’s a few things I would like to share:
1. It’s probably the heaviest FE lens for A7 now. I feel more comfortable by holding it zoom rings in one hand, rather than area close to the body.
2. Its zoom and focus rings feels just right. After playing for a while, I can zoom to the exact number I want completely blindly. :)
3. Lens hood seems to be uneasy to mount. At least not as fluent as SEL55F18Z.
4. The minimum focus distance is 40mm. 5mm larger than SEL2870.

At the very end, I hope European will see this zooming lens very soon on shelf. It could be a very attractive option for A7/A7r users.”

BBC reports that “Sony, has had its credit rating cut to junk status by ratings agency Moody’s.“. The current critical financial situation has little to do with the camera business. Their weak point is the TV and PC business. And:

The ratings agency said that while Sony had taken steps to cut costs and improve profitability, the benefits of those steps were emerging “slowly” and its key segments “seem unlikely to soon regain the robust profit levels seen historically”.

As usual with rating systems, take them with a grain of salt. Sony’s difficult situation is not a real news yet and I am pretty confident they will recover from that situation. Just to say that I am not worried at all :)

A rumored possible FE mount roadmap.

AP reports that Sony will cut jobs in five Japanese factories. One of them makes compact cameras and some interchangeable lenses.

I read some comments on forums saying that this could affect or reduce the interchangeable lens production. I can tell you what I heard from my trusted sources is quite the opposite! Sony is trying to increase their lens production capability. The job cut news has nothing to do with their future lens strategy.

I hope Sony can find a way to increase their lens production without compromising the production quality. We really need so many lenses for the new FE system and obviously also the A-mount system lacks of some important lenses (primes for example). I am pretty sure Sony doesn’t make a lot of money on the cameras itself. They make more money on lenses and accessories. Less cameras and more lenses…that should be their motto :)

α5000 from Sony: Official Video Release (Feature)

With a couple of weeks of delay the A5000 has now be officially announced in Japan too (Source: Sony Japan). In the meantime reviewers already tested the camera:

First imrpessions at Trustedreviews.
Sony Alpha ILCE-5000 Hands-On Preview (ePhotozine).
Sony A5000 Hands-on Photos (Photographyblog).
A5000 first impressions at Polish Optyczne.
Polish A5000 test at Fotopolis (google translated).

Mike Kobal: Sony A7, working impressions

As you know you can post your best shots and vote the pictures you like most on the SAR Facebook readers wall (Click here). Some of the most liked pictures will be posted on SAR once in a week. Here are this weeks best:

Diglloyd launched a new call for action for Sony to acknowledge and eventually solve or mitigate (if possible) the A7r Shutter Vibration Issue. This is the original text written by Lloyd Chambers:

Prelude: The following is expressed with a constructive intent: for Sony to take the issue seriously. The “public” request is merely that: acknowledging the issue is necessarily the first step to addressing it. In no way are the signatories implying any legal implications, rather, we simply all hope to see the issue addressed in a satisfactory manner, a sentiment that the first paragraph captures. There is a big win/win possible here; that’s up to Sony to make it happen.

–

The Sony A7R represents a seminal technical achievement in image quality in a compact and portable package, a development which we applaud. And yet, we are also frustrated by the shutter vibration issue:

1. The Sony A7R shutter vibration issue causes loss of image quality (blur) in shooting. This loss varies, but can be quantified as reducing image resolution to as low as the 12-18-24 megapixel range (or even lower), varying depending on the lens, lens focal length, lens support, tripod stability under varying field conditions, and the shutter speeds involved. Most affected are telephoto lenses and close range (macro) shooting, but the issue is not confined to those areas.

2. We ask that Sony publicly acknowledge the issue as real, and to publicly acknowledge the issue as a current limitation of the camera.

3. We ask Sony to issue a public statement on what *if any* action Sony intends to take to mitigate or eliminate the issue, and on what timeline.

4. We ask Sony to investigate ways to mitigate or eliminate the vibration, including firmware updates implementing a “shutter delay mode”, or ideally, solutions such as an electronic first curtain shutter (EFC) which would eliminate the issue entirely.

5. As professional or serious amateur photographers, we expect a major vendor to stand behind the products it sells, and to detail and to respond to the issues in a forthright and honest manner.

In support and agreement:

see signature list at diglloyd.com

Obviously SonyAlphaRumors editor Andrea fully supports this request. Thanks Lloyd and all Photographers for launching that call for action!