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One of my favorite websites Photographyblog (Click here) reviewed the NEX-7. Is it a surprise that they like they camera? Certainly not but you don’t see often a camera getting the “Essential” mark like it happened today with the NEX-7: “The combination of an excellent built-in viewfinder, handy pop-up flash, tiltable LCD screen and a high-resolution APS-C sensor, all in a light and compact body, simply can’t be beaten“. And I agree with them when they say that the real only flaw of the NEX-7 are the….missing good quality NEX lenses :)

More testes:
Soundimagesplus (Click here) red-did the NEX-7 vs A77 comparison using exactly the same lens on both cameras. The: “NEX-7 files are slightly softer, slightly less noisy and also slightly darker.”
Some field test images by Outbackphoto (Click here).
And the German magazine Colorfoto (Click here) compared the NEX-7 with the GX1 and NX200. Easy to guess who won :)

In Stock….sorry…out of Stock status :)
I think most of you are now almost tired to read all those fantastic (for Sony) reviews. Most of you will still have to wait a couple of weeks or even months until you can get your NEX-7 camera. I am working behind the scenes to convince different online shops in Europe and USA to notify me in advance when they will receive the a stock of new cameras. As I said a couple of days ago preorder the body only and buy the lens separately to have more chances to grab one. The only problem is that if you want the all Black 18-55mm lens ships with the NEX-7 kit only (you cannot buy it separately).
Right now I didn’t find any store having the camera in Stock. There are some auctions on ebay but you have to perform two different kind of searches to find them all:
[shoplink 8454 ebay]Ebay search for “NEX-7” (Click here)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 10976 ebay]Ebay search for “Sony α (alpha) NEX-7” (Click here)[/shoplink]. Yeah you will find more cameras here :)
Preorder search links: [shopcountry 8454].

I finally got a Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens for testing purpose only (don’t know if I will buy it at the end). I will soon post my first impression review on SAR. Meanwhile check these other news to learn more about the NEX-7:

Echenique (Click here) posted a NEX-7 first impression: “The Sony NEX-7 is a strange beast. As a Percy Jackson fan (and general mythology buff), I would call this a chimera rather than a camera. Its image size, image qualities, and file malleability encroach well into the low-end of medium format. Its sensor size, interchangeable lenses and bokeh characteristics plant it squarely in DSLR territory. Its body size and handling is definitely in the compact camera arena. So what is it? Well like the mythical chimera, its all of the above.”

Canadianreviewer (Click here) also tested the NEX-7: “A true object of desire for photographers and the pinnacle of camera technology today, the NEX-7 is simply a game changer and the one device that might entice DLSR users to consider smaller bodies with similar features.”

Really Right Stuff (Click here) announced new plates for the A77, NEX-5N, NEX-7.

NEX-7 in Stock status:
As I already told you it’s better to preorder the NEX-7 body only and by the Zeiss lens separately. The NEX-7+18-55mm or Zeiss kit will be shipped in late February only.
The NEX-7 is in Stock at Parkcameras UK (Click here) and on eBay sold by owners from [shoplink 10974 ebay]Sweden (Click here)[/shoplink], [shoplink 10973 ebay]England (Click here)[/shoplink] and [shoplink 10976 ebay]Germany (Click here)[/shoplink].
In USA you can find three cameras for sale on eBay (Click here). And that’s it :) Preorder the NEX-7 body at Adorama (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here) if you want to get the camera as soon as possible (Amazon doesn’t accept preorders).

The Zeiss 24mm lens is in Stock in some stores. Click these search links to check for yourself: [shopcountry 8450].

Soundimagesplus (Click here) compared the A77 versus NEX-7 image quality: “Interestingly it seems the NEX-7 files are slightly less noisy and slightly less sharp. Indicating possibly a slightly stronger Anti-Aliasing / Low Pass filter.”

Whatdigitalcamera (Click here) reviewed the Sony A65: “There’s no doubt that the A65 faces some stiff, established competition, but it’s the A65 that delivers the best all-round blend of features, performance and image quality. It’s a great camera that deserves real consideration.”

Sony A77 ISO test at Pconline (Click here).

Nine reasons to buy the Sony A580 at Photographytalk (Click here). They are writing a couple of articles criticizing the Sony electronic viewfinder technology. Hmmm, I have the NEX-7 and I am getting in love with that amazing electronic viewfinder. Wait for my review ;)

In Stock status:
A77 check: [shopcountry 8461].
A65 check: [shopcountry 8459].
Adrian sent me the following text: “I noticed that the London Camera Exchange chain of stores in the UK actually have both the A65 and A77 in stock and on the shelves.“

The video you see here on top has been posted by Sonyblog (Click here / via noisy). It shows you the full naked and ripped A77 camera. To bad they toke it apart, there is now one less camera that can be delivered to a customer. The A77 is so difficult to find in Stock I found only three stores having them: SonyStore USA and Amazon Germany and of course on [shoplink 8461 ebay]eBay[/shoplink] where you find them for a crazy price only).

David from Photoclubalpha (Click here) posted a new full Zeiss Distagon 24mm f/2.0 review (A-mount): “The [shoplink 7497]Sony Zeiss 24mm f/2 SSM Distagon ZA T*[/shoplink] is probably the best, or equal to the best, in its class. It may perhaps be the best ever 84° angle fast lens ever made for the general SLR system market, and I would happy to pitch it against any of the current equivalent offerings for medium format digital“. And when David talks about the A77 and the future fullframe sensors he writes: “If Sony’s 24 megapixel APS-C sensor formed the basis for a full-framer, it would be a 60 megapixel monster and match all but the most expensive medium format image sizes. I believe the 24mm CZ could go there if Sony chose to.” Dear David, it’s going to be 24 and 36 Megapixel only for now, but with 100 Megapixel sensor coming within 2-3 years ;)
Check the Zeiss 24mm lens price and availability at [shopcountry 7497].

Sony Nex7 Test on the Cinestar 6 from Quadrocopter on Vimeo.

Cnet Japan (Click here) tested the Sony NEX-7. (It’s in japanese and gogole translation tool isn’t really helping a lot if you need to read it in english).

Pchome (Click here) is the first website to review the new Tamron 18-200mm for NEX lens. Again this is an original chinese review. Have fun with google translation tool :)

Ricoh GXR A12-M and Sony NEX-5N Comparison at Ricoh Diary (Click here).

Occupy Wall Street Protests and Arrests from Steve Turnham on Vimeo.

Time to make a new A77 recap!

Buy-n-Shoot (Click here) wrote a short A77 review. It earns the Platinum award…this means it doesn’t get any better! The reviewer says: “No matter which way you look at this camera it takes the cake!”
Our friend Mike Kobal (Click here) is spending his time in the slum of Kibera (Nairobi) and is using the A77 for his work: “My first time in Africa and I am totally blown away by what I have seen so far. I am pleased to let you know, so far, the A77hasn’t let me down in this hot and dusty environment (approx 3K shots). I will try to update this post, however internet access is limited and very slow.”
A77 versus Canon 5DmarkII in low light at SonyAlphaLab (Click here).
A77 memory card write speed (Dpreview forum).
A77 autofocusing test at SonyAlphaLab (Click here).
Sony SLT-A77, Cámara de Fotos del Año por tuexperto.com :)

You will still have a hard time to find the A77 in Stock. I found some at Amazon Germany (Click here), Amazon Japan (Click here) and with January 2 shipment at SonyStore USA (Click here).

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P.S.: Sigma announced the APO macro 150mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM for Sony. Read the press release at Sigma Japan (Click here).

DPReview (Click here) posted a mirrorless cameras roundup. And for each category you can see that NEX cameras are having the highest scores:
Highest score beginner mirroless camera: Sony NEX C3 (Price check: [shopcountry 7207])
Highest score intermediate camera: SONY NEX 5n (Price check: [shopcountry 8452])
Highest score advanced camera: SONY NEX 7 (Price check: [shopcountry 8454])

DigitalPhotographySchool (Click here) posted the full NEX-5n review: “Image quality is superbly sharp and fully colour saturated. But attaching the lens make the combo a largish proposition.
I was also a little startled to see the PDF manual erroneously claim the CMOS sensor carried 14.2 megapixels, when it actually has a 16.1 million pixel population. Makes a reviewer’s life tough!“.

The Sony NEX-5n and the [shoplink 8725 ebay]Voigtlander Nokton 35 1.4[/shoplink] by Terence Jones at Steve Huff (Click here).

Craig: “I was wondering if you’d be interested in viewing and possibly sharing a gallery of images shot with my Sony NEX 5N with a [shoplink 10786 ebay]Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4[/shoplink] Pancake lens to help your readers ‘see’ what this wonderful camera and lens can do in ALL KINDS of situations. I’ve owned the camera and lens now for just under two months.
You can see the gallery on my website here:
http://craiglitten.com/p579867731#h396e7c43”

Metthew Belcher (Click here) posted a Zeiss 24mm DOF test made with the NEX-5n.

Sony NEX-5n test with M mount lenses at Spiegel.de (Click here).

The black Sony NEX-5 with 18-55mm kit lens sells for $499 only at Amazon (Click here). And I noticed that the camera is the most sold camera for a very long time now at Amazon (Click here to see the ranking).