The image on top has been sent to me by a SAR reader. it has been taken with the Sony A7r and the superb 55mm Zeiss. You like the “Buddha” bokeh? I like it a lot :)

Today a couple of friends attended different Sony events:

Mike Kobal (Click here) had the chance to test the A7r camera displayed at the PDN show in New York City. And he writes:

AF speed with the new 55mm 1.8 Zeiss lens is VERY fast, FASTER then my Nikkor 50mm 1.4 on the D800E. If you happen to have a Nex 7 and the orig 16mm pancake, the FF 55mm Zeiss will focus just as fast, which, frankly, is quite amazing. As you probably know a 55mm requires a much higher level of accuracy and has a longer focus throw. I am impressed. This at regular indoor light levels. One has to wait and see how it performs in low light.

And Andrew from EosHD (Click here) had a hands-on in Berlin:

The A7R is Sony’s best handling camera to date. Excellent physical control layout and a unique rear card slot with angled door. Both headphone and mic jacks, unusual to find on a small camera like this.
The sensor is the best in the stills world, and second best in the video world just behind the 5D Mark III. If you’re shooting raw video with the Magic Lantern firmware on the 5D Mark III of course the A7R won’t improve on that for image quality, but if you need the convenience of a compressed codec and don’t mind a bit of occasional moire and aliasing then the A7R does a great job.

And a third report from a SAR reader that attended another Asian Sony hands-on event writes:

1. SEL1018 can be used at Focal Length 13-15mm but at it is optimal at 14mm with very subtle vignette at all aperture. At 10-12mm & 16-18mm you will need to crop the very heavy vignette off (actually it requires the crop or turn on the auto crop)
2. AWB for underwater (not sure if you already have this info)
3. A7 + FE lens, AF is very good comparable to DSLR
4. A7R AF is like NEX-7 a bit faster but still hunt
5. At low light, all lens with A7R hunts while A7 is ok
6. NTSC/PAL switchable so you can just buy from a cheaper place even though the TV system is not the same as your country with NTSC you get 24p/60p/60i, with PAL 25p/50p/50i (AVCHD 2.0 specs)
7. Pre-AF is quite battery intensive
8. B&W rendering is so nice

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT.

Asia:
A7r at Digitalrev
A7 at Digitalrev.
A7 with 28-70mm lens at Digitalrev.

Image courtesy: Meng Keat.

SAR reader Meng Keat was able to test the Sony 10-18mm f/4.0 OSS E-mount lens on the A7r. And surprise…it works fine in Full Frame mode. There is some Vignetting in the corner but absolutely acceptable and easy to mitigate in pos production. The important thing is that the resolution is there! The image on top has been shot at 13mm 1/60 | f/4 | ISO 800 | FL 13. It means current lens owners can happily upgrade to the FF mode and future A7-A7r camera owners can easily buy that lens if they need a wide angle zoom!

You can grab the lens at [shopcountry 22165].

One more test: Popescu tested the Zeiss Touit and the Sony 35mm G lens on the A7 (dpreview forum). These lenses work well in crop mode only.

Image courtesy: ijsvogel at Dyxum

If you click on the image on top to enlarge the image you can see the amazing sharpness of the Sony A7r with Zeiss 35mm FE combination. And now the surprise…this is a 100% crop! Here is the original image:

Image courtesy: ijsvogel at Dyxum

And more images can be seen at Dyxum. Thanks ijsvogel for sharing these amazing pictures! Can’t wait to see some 55m Zeiss FE samples too!

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Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,

Sony a7R – First Look Review from Charles Michel on Vimeo.

You cna finally download the full A7-A7r brochure here: WeTransfer pdf file (Thanks Stephen for sending the link).

Latest A7-A7r news and tests:
Picture`s taken with the A7R 35mm Zeiss and with the adapter LA-EA4 and A-mount 70-200 SSM G (Dyxum)
Full A7r review at Fengniao (google translation here).
Image samples at Mobile01 (Click on green links to see the images)
A7r images by Will Cho on FB.
A dozen photos of preproduction A7, including the Soviet manual industar and Minolta Rokkor 45/2 at Picasaweb.

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Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,

DCfever posted many new full size images samples:
Sony A7 28-70mm samples: http://www.dcfever.com/cameras/viewsamples.php?set=923&picture=9793
Sony A7r with 35mm Zeiss samples: http://www.dcfever.com/cameras/viewsamples.php?set=925

As usual keep in mind that these are shots taken with a preproduction camera. That said let us know what you think about the image samples you have seen so far. You like them?

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Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,

The well know korean site SLRclub (Click here and scroll down to see pics) posted the full Sony A7r and Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 FE lens review. As usual they do post their articles as JPG (event the text) and that’s why we cannot use google translation tool to understand the text. But you really have to check out the site anyway because it shows full ISO tests and some really amazing image samples. While I was no big fan of the new 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss FE lens I have to say the lens performance is superb and the images I posted here below convinced me to get the lens. It means my preorder list is now: A7r, 35mm FE and 55mm FE :)

I hope we can see soon more review like the one posted by SLRclub. It really makes you want to get that camera and lens now! Well done SLRclub guys!

Watch these images:

On top the original image and below the 100% crop.

On top the original image and below the 100% crop.

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, SE, PT,  WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, SE, PT, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon FR.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT,

It’s Sunday but the A7-A73 news storm still isn’t over. Here is a roundup of more tests and samples:

1) National Geographic photographer Michale Yamashita posted a set of Landscape pictures on Facebook.
2) DearSusans writes:  “I noticed quite a few negative comments about the pricing of the news Zeiss lenses for Sony. I think that’s ridiculous. Have you read Brian Smith’s preview ? Have you seen the pixel peeper 100% enlargement of the eye ? The lens is sharp but what really stunned me is that this doesn’t look like a CMOS image. To me it looks like a CCD. I *know* it’s a CMOS, but it *feels* like a CCD. It is so clean and free of digital artifacts such as demosaicing and noise. I’ve never seen such quality outside an M9. Even the M240 doesn’t have it ! I wrote to Brian about it and he tells me it’s probably the BIONX Z engine. I can’t wait to see this for myself !”
3) AAron: “youtube a73 -> Well this is a Korean photographer reviewing Sony A7/R. I don’t think you should post this since it is in Korean.. but you should note that he was AMAZED by A7R’s detail, almost similar to medium format camera. Also he mentions the new microlens technology vastly improves sharpness in the corner I am not sure you knew about this but Sony implemented new diffraction correction technology (also mentioned in dpreview). He shot some images at f22 at night with 55mm f1.8 and images are still sharp. You can probably post this video that he made with the camera :)”
4) Nasim posted an article comparing A7 and A7r on Photographylife.
5) Hands-on video, many new photos – also size compared to nex6, rx1 and omd at Fotopolis.
6) Article with pictures taken with a7 at Dutch press-event at Photofacts.
7) Sony Alpha 7 & 7R: Vollformat-DSLM im Praxis-Test at Chip.de (German)
8) A7-A7r ISO comparison at ZOL.
9) Sony A7/A7R-samples on Flickr.
10) Sony A7 video samples and RX10 video sample by Camerahoarders.
11) Sony A7(R) — Optical Options by Tim Ashley
12) Hands-on report by Photoscala (German).

Support SonyAlphaRumors: After months of FF mirrorless rumor work I would be glad if you can support my work by making your A7-A7r purchase by using these links below. I will earn a small commission and you don’t pay one single penny more! Thanks!

Specs and Preorders in US and Canada (Click on store name to see direct preorder page):
Dedicated Sony announcement page at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony A7r body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 body at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 24-70mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 35mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Zeiss 55mm at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
70-200mm A-mount at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony A-Mount to E-Mount Lens Adapter at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
Sony A to E adapter with mirror at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto.
A7/A7r leather case at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
A7/A7r vertical grip at Amazon, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony W Series Battery Charger at Amazon, BHphoto.
Sony FA-CS1M Off-Camera Shoe at BHphoto.
Semi-Hard LCD Screen Protector for A7-A7r at Amazon, BHphoto.

Specs and Preorders in Europe:
Sony A7r body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 body at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony A7 with 28-70mm kit Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, FI, FR, WexUK, WexDE.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, WexUK, WexDE.
Zeiss 35mm at Sony DE.
Zeiss 55mm at Sony DE.