I guess some of you are still having some doubts if you should buy the [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] or not. Some of you will wait for the new firmware update which fixes the first A77 firmware issues, or because of the new rumored A7x(?) camera. But looking at how impressed the reviewers are you really shouldn’t have big doubts anymore. Days ago Popphoto (Click here) wrote that “The [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] now reigns supreme over APS-C format DSLRs. Neither Canon’s EOS 7D nor Nikon’s D300s can match the A77’s AF speed or resolution. While the Canon 7D does beat the A77 in its noise performance and holds more resolution at the highest ISOs, the A77 ultimately beats it for the overall package, including the video-shooting experience and the versatility of the articulated LCD.”

Now one of my readers sent me a copy of the latest Amateur Magazine which rated the A77 with an “Excellent” score of 90/100. The verdict says that “Sony has set the bar in several areas” and beats the Canon 7D and Pentax K5.

And now even the german reviewers from Photoscala (Click here to read the google translation) posted a full (and very positive) A77 review. The camera gets “highly recommended!”.

As you see reviewers are quite enthusuastic about the A77. THis is really the new king of the APS-C camera world! Get the A77 at [shopcountry 8461]!

All other new Sony cameras and lenses links:
A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
Sony NEX-7 [shopcountry 8454].
Sony NEX-5n [shopcountry 8452].
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8450].
Sony 50mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8448].
Sony 55-210mm [shopcountry 8444].
NEX-5n viewfinder [shopcountry 9110].

Sony A77 Movie Test from lraphael on Vimeo.

Our reader Simon read an interesting [shoplink 8461]Sony A77[/shoplink] 1.02 versus 1.03 firmware comparison test on one of the HK popular magazine PC Magazine. And here is the list of the improvements:
1. Response time
Turn on 3.2s 2.8s
Turn off 7.3s 6.3s
EVF/LCD 0.8s 0.6s
Format SD 11.4s 7.6s
2. Continuous shot, no. of photos record within 10 seconds
Sandisk SDHC Extreme Pro 8G
# of pic 30 46
3. Noise
Although the magazine comments the noise level is the same, but from their print out, I found that v1.03 preserve much more details, especially starting from ISO 6400.

Our reader Mark found the new A77 review published on the latest Amateur Photographer magazine (it is not online, it is on paper only):”Just thought you might be interested that the A77 scored 90 out of 100 in this weeks AP. Some text from the Verdict:
The specification is backed up by solid performance in colour rendition, resolution detail at lower sensitives, a wide dynamic range and a responsive and accurate AF system. The only real downside to speak of regarding the use of a fixed translucent mirror is that doing so comprises the camera’s ability to handle noise levels in low light.
Hope this is of use to you and keep up the good work!”

A77 firmware 1.03 image samples are on Flickr (Click here).

All new Sony cameras and lenses links:
A77 at [shopcountry 8461].
A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
Sony NEX-7 [shopcountry 8454].
Sony NEX-5n [shopcountry 8452].
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8450].
Sony 50mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8448].
Sony 55-210mm [shopcountry 8444].
NEX-5n viewfinder [shopcountry 9110].

Zach Daniels shot this very first NEX-5n anamorphic test: “I love the Sony NEX-5n so I decided to throw on my old Nikon mount 135mm f2.8 with a [shoplink 9487 ebay]Schneider 2X anamorphic lens….(one of the cheap ones from eBay)[/shoplink]”.

Joseph Eckert Photography (Click here) posted a new NEX-5n review: “If Sony can fix the video clicking issues, and can start putting out more NEX lenses (including some higher quality prime pancakes [at a reasonable price please]), this will be a tremendous camera.”

Gravity Shots Takes the NEX-5N Flying (SonyAlphaNex).

And now see this:

It is a 5D Mark II & NEX-5N Comparison from Marlon Torres. He writes: “Conclusion: 5D has better overall image quality but Cinestyle preset is much noisier and much more susceptible to banding. 5N is a bit more saturated and a tad sharper. Both cameras produce a nice image.”

Sony NEX-5n shop links: [shopcountry 8452].

[shoplink 9083 ebay][/shoplink]Sony, it’s possible! The picture on top shows you the [shoplink 9083 ebay]Pentax DA limited 40mm[/shoplink] full frame lens (!) for the Pentax DSLR system(!) with top notch quality and relatively fast aperture (f/2.8). Why I am writing this? I am a proud owner of the [shoplink 8452]Sony NEX-5n[/shoplink] but I need very tiny lenses for the camera. And I want to debunk the myth saying that unlike MicroFourThirds Sony cannot make ultra-small lenses on the larger APS-C sensor. The pancake from Pentax covers a fullframe sensor and it’s small although it is designed for a DSLR system! In theory such a lens could be even smaller if designed for a mirrorless system! I would be very happy if Sony would make some sort of special edition of pancakes with manual focusing only. So why am I NOT going to buy the Pentax lens for my NEX? Easy, because the [shoplink 9085 ebay]K to NEX mount adapter[/shoplink] alone is twice as large as the lens itself and as a result the pancake size advantage disappears. I didn’t find any picture of that lens mounted on the NEX. I only found one single image samples of the NEX-5 with the Pentax lens on Flickr (Click here).

Sony do it! And if you can’t…buy Pentax :)

Links:
Review at Photozone.
Pentax DA 40mm limited lens on [shoplink 9083 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].
K to E-mount adapter on [shoplink 9085 ebay]eBay[/shoplink].

SAR readers sent me more useful info. As you know Sony Europe and Sony US are no more accepting preorders. Some of our readers told us that most Asian countries like Malaysia (Click here to see a shop full of A77), Hong Kong and Singapore are shipping the camera with the new 1.03 firmware. I can’t wait to see first user reports with that firmware! Let me know if you find something! Sony Korea confirmed at inews24 that the 1.03 firmware will solve the current A77 issues. And here are some more things to read:

Sony A77
Dpreview (Click here) updated the Sony SLT-A77 studio comparison samples with ACR 6.5. And Carl Garrard now had plenty enough time to test the A77 and wrote on Alphamountworld: “In the end I think the A77 is a great camera up to ISO 4000, after that, things get dicey on raw files unless you shoot in optimal circumstances and want to take a lot more time fine tuning them in post processing. I’ve seen some 14mp sensors perform much more poorly than the 24mp sensor of the A77, so with all that added resolution and smaller pixels of the sensor, that’s a good achievement.”
And the first four user reviews are now up on Amazon (Click here to read them). The only negative review has been written bu a user that doesn’t actually own the camera :)

Sony A65
Sony A65 image samples on Flickr (Click here) by Yannick and first impression by Paul at Dpreview forum.

All new Sony cameras and lenses links:
A77 at [shopcountry 8461].
A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
Sony NEX-7 [shopcountry 8454].
Sony NEX-5n [shopcountry 8452].
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8450].
Sony 50mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8448].
Sony 55-210mm [shopcountry 8444].
NEX-5n viewfinder [shopcountry 9110].

DxOmark (Click here) just posted the full NEX-5n sensor review. The test measures the RAW sensor performance without to take into the account the actual resolution. What’s the result? The Sony NEX-5n results to have the best available sensor in the whole mirrorless camera world. With an overall score of 77 points it beats the rest of the world. Click the links below to see the comparisons:
NEX-5n versus NEX-C3 versus Fuji X100.
The NEX-5n also easily beats the new Nikon V1 and Nikon J1 camera sensor.
And it’s only one single point behind the A77.
No way for the Olympus E-P3 and Samsung NX11 to get close to the NEX-5n.

Really an amazing result. And that the NEX-5n is a hot-seller can be easily seen at the Amazon mirrorless camera/lens rankings (Click here). Guess who is on first place? :) Now let’s hope there will be no more “click” issues on the new stock of cameras. I am sending my NEX-5n to Sony service to make it repair.

Check the NEX-5n price and availability by clicking those links: [shopcountry 8452]. Also the external viewfinder is available in most stores: [shopcountry 9110].

Sony A65 commercial

Sony announced that the new [shoplink 8459]Sony A65[/shoplink] will start to be shipped on November 11 (instead of October 14). Interesting, it looks like the A65 is not having the issues of the [shoplink 8461]Sony A77[/shoplink] so I don’t knwo why it has been postponed. ANyway, I collected some A65 related news from around the web:

Photoreview (Click here) posted a full A65 review: “Some performance differences between the SLT-A65 and the SLT-A77 were revealed in our Imatest and response time tests. For the former, the drop in resolution with the A65 can be largely attributed to the kit lens. Had we used the 16-50mm lens that was used for testing the A77, the resolution figures would probably have been much closer.”

There is also a Sony A65 hands-on at Dpreview Forum and some new image samples at Lowyat.

German Sony A65 review at Chip.de (The A65 is the best APS-C camera you can get for less than 1000 Euro!). And there is also a new test of the A65, A77 and Nex 5n in the German magazine Colorfoto 11/2011 (there is no online version). Interesting: The A65 compared to the A77 had better results throughout all ISOs.

All new Sony cameras and lenses links:
A77 at [shopcountry 8461].
A65 at [shopcountry 8459].
Sony NEX-7 [shopcountry 8454].
Sony NEX-5n [shopcountry 8452].
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8450].
Sony 50mm f/1.8 [shopcountry 8448].
Sony 55-210mm [shopcountry 8444].
NEX-5n viewfinder [shopcountry 9110].