The sensor table from Chipworks.

Chipworks (Click here) published a must read article with the title: “Nikon vs Sony“. They analyzed the sensor-relationship between the two camera makers. I hope people will now believe me when I say the Nikon D800 uses a Sony sensor. Of course Nikon may have tweaked the image quality with their Expeed processor and other tech details. But the RAW sensor is from Sony. As I told you before a new Sony FF SLT camera is expected to be launched in 2013. There are two prototypes now. One with 36MP (same D800s ensor) and one with 50+ MP sensor.

More A99 versus Nikon FF comparisons:
A99 versus Nikon D800 on dpreview forum. Another Nikon vs A99 comparison in China (actually very interesting). And Quesabesde updated their Nikon D600 and A99 comparison. The Nikon D600 still is a tiny bit sharper.

As you know the A99 is now shipping and here are some links to check the price and in Stock status:
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.

The Calling from SonyElectronics on Vimeo.

If you want to see a great work shot on the new Sony A99 than watch this! And there are two more backstage videos: First a video portrait of David McLain on Vimeo and than a Back Stage video again on Vimeo. Really a great work that shows you the huge potential of this camera. I don’t see any banding or any other issue on this videoclip. Colors and Dynamic Range are great. Of course we are looking at a compressed video on Vimeo and this doens’t show the maximum potential of the camera. On paper this camera beats any other FF camera when it comes to video quality and features. What do you think of the quality of this video?

And the second good news is that Sony started shipping the A99 in Europe and will ship it tomorrow in US too (according to BHhoto). Here are the links to check price and shipping date:
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.

And here are some more new tidbits about the new Sony cameras:
The Chinese website ZOL (translation here) posted a 14 page long A99 review.
A new wedding vidoe also shot on the A99 (vimeo).
A dutch NEX-6 preview on youtube.
NEX-5R test on Mobile01.

CameraLabs (Click here) posted the final RX100 review and writes: “The RX100 is not only a great achievement, it’s a cracking advanced compact that only the most curmudgeonly of photographers would be reluctant to acknowledge as such. Once again Sony has shown it’s got what it takes to identify the core requirement of a particular market and come up with an innovative and exciting camera to meet those needs. Which only leaves me to make some brief comparisons with the competition.”

The RX100 was announced back in June and since then it never went out of the top 20 of the most sold overall(!) digital camera popularity ranking at Amazon (Click here). We may can complain with Sony on many points but we can’t deny that the last three years Sony showed us an impressive cycle of innovations and I can’t wait to see what they have prepared for us for 2013!!!

One more RX100 related news. The super cool Magfilter is back in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

RX100 links roundup:
RX100 price search links: [shopcountry 13014].
Cases: [shoplink 13347 ebay]Official Sony LCJ-RXA case[/shoplink], [shoplink 13344 ebay]Gariz case[/shoplink], [shoplink 13345 ebay]more leather case[/shoplink].
Batteries: [shoplink 13346 ebay]NP-BX1 Battery[/shoplink].
Special stuff: [shoplink 13343 ebay]Multi-Coated LENS ARMOR UV[/shoplink]. Magfilter at Amazon (Click here). RX100 filter adapter on [shoplink 13486 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]

Image courtesy: Quesabesde (UPDATE: wrong focus point on the A99 picture?)

Although Nikon dind’t officially unveil the sensor manufacturer it’s easy to guess that Sony manufactured the D600 sensor. And it’s likely based (or exactly the same) sensor used by the Sony A99.
Quesabesde (Translation here) analyzed the RAW image quality of the  two cameras and came it looks like the Nikon D600 is a bit sharper although the A99 has a more harmonic balance between noise and details (so they say). But…

UDPATE: ….Our smart SAR readers had the patience to analyze the full size images and noticed that the in focus point is different for the two cameras. Our reader Ramire proved it by showing the focus point of the bill here:

Now the A99 looks to be sharper than the Nikon D600 :) As you see, always be careful on these reviews and tests.

UPDATE_2: Quesabesde assured me that the camera showed that the focus point was right. So these may be a problem of the A99 with Sigma lens. They will redo the test now.

A particular Thanks goes to all the SAR readers finding out the problem! Bravo!

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Sony preorder list:
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.

The A99 is now shipping in Asia (example of an owner report at Mobile01). And Fengniao (translation here) also posted a full A99 review. But let’s see the next great test:

Frank Doorhof (Click here) posted a set of A99  model shot pictures. He still has some mixed feelings using the EVF (sometimes he likes it and sometimes not). And after long testing he writes: “It’s no secret by now that I love the A99. It’s a great camera, with a cool EVF which opens new options and fits user needs we never knew we needed. The image quality is awesome (also related to the used glass of course). Dynamic range is impressive. Noise levels are more than adequate. Colors are nice.”

Sound good!!! Thanks Frank for your interesting article!

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Sony preorder list:
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.

We are getting closer to the A99 shipment and at in Asia the camera will ship next week according to Digitalrev (Click here to see) and at [shoplink 14872 ebay]Dzone eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. In US the camera will ship around November 6th according to BHphoto (Click here).

And here are some new A99, RX1 and NEX-6 tests:
The Imaging Resource comparometer now contains the A99 studio shots!
Lenstip posted many new tests shots: A99 image samples, NEX-6 and 10-18mm samples, NEX-5R and Zeiss samples, NEX-6 with 35mm samples.
ThePhoBlographer posted a first impression RX1 review: “For what it’s worth, the Sony Rx-1 is justified at its price. My only problems so far with the camera are that I believe it should have a built-in EVF, the autofocus is a bit sluggish, and I want a depth of field scale around the lens.”

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Sony preorder list:
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.