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.

A99 Sample Video; Making-Sony Korea from sonystyleblog on Vimeo.

Sony Korea already made superb A77 videos last year and they now did it again with the new A99. That is the way to give us some “A99-emotions“! Great work guys! The first video can be seen here on top. The second video is here. UPDATE: As noticed by other readers it seems to be some sort of problems with the video compression or (that would be worse) with bandin (see minute 1:57 from the video below).

A99 Sample Video; Nature-Sony Korea (No Lighting) from sonystyleblog on Vimeo.

I hope this video will help to push the Sony A99 preorders because right now the rankings are looking bad for the A99. Try to check out the Amazon DSLR ranking (Click here and scroll down forever). One more thing, don’t forget that there is a 2% back in reward at Amazon (Click here to read). You basically get $56 back on the purchase of the A99 (and 2% on any other camera or lens you buy).

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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.

Matthew Durr posted that youtube video to show you three of the neww five features of the NEX-7 firmware update. Thanks Matt!

SAR reader Mohammed created that nice video with the new Sony NEX-5R. The camera is now shipping in Asia and Europe and according to Amazon US it will ship on October 21th in US. But I also found one camera in Stock and shipping on [shoplink 14788 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].

And here are some more new NEX-5R videos:
Sony NEX-5R Unboxing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56D8b62UseQ
Sony NEX-5R/6L hands on: Smart Remote Control app http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QScdvAJqUF8
Sony NEX-5R Movie Sample http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcD560ufaW0&hd=1

Sony NEX-5R in Stock status check: [shopcountry 14168].

Image courtesy: ThePhoBlographer

Frank Doorhof is testing the A99 and has a lot of good things to say about the A99: “Especially with the images you see above (SAR note: Check his website) this text I was very happy, they are shot while it was very dark outside and when you see the recovery in the highlights of the very bright billboards and the reflections in the dark stones and railtracks you can imagine this put a big fat smile on my face.”
Frank is a Canon 5DmarkIII shooter so it’s interesting to read his view of the A99. There are some quirks he mentions and Sony even forgot him to send the battery charger :)
But at the end he really likes the A99 a lot: “As mentioned before I would love to see a bit more speed with starting up the cameras EVF, but the dynamic range, the glass and the handling of the camera MORE than makes up for it.”

ThePhoBlographer is the first website making a short comparison between the two new “rangefinder” alike cameras with built-in EVF, the Sony NEX-6 and the Fuji X-E1. Both cameras have the same sensor size and Megapixel number. The Fuji is a tack sharper, and the Sony has warmer colors and captures more detail in the shadows. Note that the Fuji has no AA filter which helps to get more “per pixel sharpness“.

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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.
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.