DPReview just issued the 2015 Awards. And the best product of the year is the Sony A7rII:

The Sony’s combination of image quality, video capability and autofocus performance come together to make it our camera of the year. The camera’s sheer capability: a 42MP sensor that performs well in high contrast or low light situations, built-in image stabilization, 4K video with internal recording, is hugely impressive. But add to this the ability to sensibly use other brands’ lenses and the a7R II becomes a significant camera far beyond the market for this particular high-end model: it could be the sign of things to come.

And the best zoom compact camera is the RX100m4:

The RX100 series has redefined what’s possible with a pocket camera and the Mark IV has pushed that capability even further. Sony’s latest Stacked CMOS sensor adds high speed capabilities (plus improved autofocus) and, when combined with the higher-res viewfinder, results in the best RX100 yet. Which is to say, the best pocket compact yet.

Well done Sony!

A7rII store list:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

RX100m4 cameras store links:
In USA at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

Sony announced that it will split off its semiconductors operations and create a separate company. This will help them give autonomy to accelerate decision-making and make them more accountable for their profitability.

Engadget. writes:

The move means that Sony’s core businesses are now mobile, gaming, imaging (cameras), movies, music and financial services. Those businesses — especially mobile — will now have to stand on their own without sensors to prop them up.

As we know from previous reports the camera division is doing fine. And todays Sony decision will not change anything for the future.

Not only we hobbyist on SAR purchased the new Sony A7rII :) The White House is using the Sony for their official pictures! Check out the EXIF on Flickr.

And here are two more A7rII news:

Dpreview published the A7rII Dynamic range test and writes:

When comparing against the Nikon D810, the differences between the two cameras are subtle. The difference between the Sony and the Canon EOS 5DS is much easier to illustrate.

ThePhoBlographer posted a High megapixel camera comparison between the Canon 5Ds, Nikon D810 and Sony A7rII:

Sony is very close to catching up with all that Canon and Nikon can do; but it’s still not totally there. In many ways, they’re far ahead of what Canon and Nikon are capable of–and those ways appeal most to the non-professional photographers. For working pros in the wedding and photojournalism world that need TTL flash and more lens selections; we’re going to need to wait.

A7rII store list:
In USA: at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore US, FocusCamera, Uniquephoto.
In Europe at Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Wex UK and ParkCameras.
In Asia at Digitalrev, CameraPro.

Adobe just updated Lightroom which now added full support for the new Sony A7sII. The A7sII is the first Sony camera with 14 Bit uncompressed RAW and will ship starting from next week.

Another good Adobe news is that they added Lens Profiles for many third party lenses many SAR readers here do own:

– Canon FD 28 mm f/2.8
– Canon FD 50 mm f/1.4
– Canon FD 135 mm f/2.5 S.C.
– Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 45 mm f/2.8 (Contax 645)
– Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35 mm f/3.5 (Contax 645)
– Asahi Pentax Super-Takumar 55 mm f/1.8 (M42)
– Fujifilm Fujinon 50 mm f/1.4 (M42)
– Fujifilm Fujinon 55 mm f/1.8 (M42)
– Minolta MC Rokkor 58 mm f/1.2
– Minolta MC Rokkor -PF 55 mm f/1.7
– Minolta MC Rokkor -X PG 50 mm f/1.4
– Minolta MC Tele Rokkor -PE 200 mm f/4.5
– Minolta MC W.Rokkor -HG 35 mm f/2.8
– Minolta MD 50 mm f/2
– Minolta MD Celtic 135 mm f/3.5
– Minolta MD Rokkor -X 45 mm f/2
– Minolta MD Rokkor -X 50 mm f/1.7
– Minolta MD W.Rokkor -X 28 mm f/2.8
– Minolta MD W.Rokkor -X 28 mm f/2.8
– Nikon Nikkor 24 mm f/2.8 AI
– Nikon Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4 AIS
– Nikon Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 AI
– Nikon Nikkor-H Auto 50 mm f/2
– Nikon Nikkor-P.C Auto 105 mm f/2.5 AI
– Nikon Nikkor-S.C Auto 50 mm f/1.4
– Nikon Nikkor-UD Auto 20 mm f/3.5 AI

Cool!

Lightroom CC at Adobe (Click here).
Lightroom 6 at Adobe (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).

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found via Mirrorlessrumors.com

FDtimes published a PDF document containing an interview with Zeiss Vicepresident Winfried Scherle. Here are a couple of interesting tidbits:

1) Full Frame is the future:
“I’m convinced that in the near future the relevant innovations and improvements will be made with Full Frame sensors. With the huge number of FF still picture cameras being sold, these sensors will be available for attractive prices. Canon started with the 5D MKII and was, according to my understanding, surprised that the community used the still camera for motion pictures. Sony has the a7RII and a7S which is dedicated for motion pictures. I’m convinced we’ll see more and more cine cameras with Full Format sensors.”

2) About the lens strategy with Sony:
“We have regular strategy meetings with Sony where we discuss roadmaps and so on but please understand that we can’t disclose further details.”

3) About E-mount:
“I think they were surprised about the success when they introduced the first mirrorless cameras in an environment that was dominated by DSLRs. So the E-mount market and mirrorless cameras have been a really disruptive technology. It started to be very popular in Japan but now it’s spreading around the world. And it’s getting even more relevant with the a7 series Full Format cameras. We are convinced that this will also drive the motion picture industry.”

It’s very clear how Zeiss is focused on Full Frame E-mount lens development. I don’t think we will ever see a new [shoplink 41087 ebay]Zeiss Touit APSC lens[/shoplink] launch anymore!

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For European readers: Gold Box deal on the Sony RX1R at Amazon Germany (Click here).

Minas on SonyAlphaForum.
Tornado Tower in Doha, shot with a6000 and Sony 10-18mm f/4 OSS Alpha E-mount lens at 18mm
Please visit my flickr page for more images: https://www.flickr.c…hotos/stratigm/

1) Submit your picture with a message and picture here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors or on the SonyAlphaForum image section.
2) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: facebook.com/sonyalpharumors/photos_stream?tab=photos and on SonyAlphaForum.
3) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Note: When sending a pic feel free to also add a link to your site to promote yourself!

Low Key single light portraits AT MIDDAY by Matt Granger.

A set of great A7 with Helios-44-2 2/58 lens images by Phillip Reeve (SonyAlphaForum).
Sony A7R II vs Olympus E-M10 II: 5-Axis Stabilization Head-to-head (Digitalrev).
Street style photos with the A7 II and 55mm f/1.8 (Mike On The Street).
Sony PXW FS5 Camera Review (Cinescopophilia).
This is the Zeiss FE 16-35mm patent (Freepatentsonline PDF).
X-T10 vs E-M5 II vs a6000: Mirrorless Shootout! (Tony Northup).
Sony a7S II vs Panasonic GH4 (Digitalrev).

Bastian Kratzketo‎: “Real time footage of the northern lights in iceland.Shot on Sony A7s + Nikon 14-24mm 2.8Ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPYkeVh941Q“