Sony rumors roundup: RX0II, new E-mount camera, 100mm f/1.4, 135mm f/1.8, 500mm and 600mm lenses

The upcoming weeks we expect multiple E-mount related announcements from both Sony and third party manufacturers. I made a list of Facts, Patents and Rumors about the future Sony and other third party gear:

Sony Cameras:
FACT: Sony registered a new RX0 camera model which should be announced within the next few months (article here)
FACT: Sony confirms professional APS-C cameras are on their roadmap (article here).
RUMOR: One more E-mount camera will be announced in Q1-Q2 (90% reliable – article here)
RUMOR: Sony A7sIII not going to hit the market in first half 2019 (70% reliable)
RUMOR: Sony 8k sensors and new codes specification (90% reliable – article here).

Sony Lenses:
PATENT: Sony patented new 100mm f/1.4, 135mm f/1.8, 500mm f/4.0 and 600mm f/4.0 FE lenses (article here and article here).
RUMOR: Next Sony E-mount lens announcement before the WPPI show in February (80% reliable – article here).
RUMOR: 135mm f/1.8 to be announced within Q1-Q2 (70% reliable)
RUMOR: New APS-C lens to be announced within Q1-Q2 (70% reliable)
RUMOR: New 35mm f/1.8 FE lens is on the roadmap (70% reliable – article here)
RUMOR: New 200-600mm FE lens is on the roadmap (50% reliable)

Third party lenses:
RUMOR: Tamron might announce a new 70-200mm f/2.8 FE lens within Q1-Q2 (50% reliable – article here)
RUMOR: Samyang FE autofocus lens announcement within the next weeks (90% reliable)
RUMOR: Sigma will soon be ready to launch their first FE zoom lenses (70% reliable)
RUMOR: Sigma will launch the first proper mirrorless designed FE lenses in 2019 (70% reliable)
RUMOR: Yongnou is working on the first FE autofocus lenses and some info might be spilled out in March (90% reliable – article here)
RUMOR: New 50mm f/1.0 FE lens being developed by a chinese manufacturer (90% reliable – article here)

One more thing:
PATENT: Sony patented a new drone camera (article here).

Competition news: Canon will launch five RF lenses on Feb 14. Including a new 85mm f/1.2


On February 14 Canon will launch five new RF lenses:

RF15-35mm F2.8L IS USM
RF24-70mm F2.8L IS USM
RF70-200mm F2.8L IS USM
RF24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM
RF85mm F1.2L USM

Canon is rapidly trying to catch up with the Sony FE lens lineup. All five lenses are spot on and highly desirable. And I do think Sony has to launch a f/1.2 autofocus lens lineup too. Just recently Sony stated that while f/1.0 or faster lenses would not make sense they are considering making f/1.2 af lenses.

Sony is rumored ot have an E-mount lens announcement before the start of the WPPI and CP+ shows in late February!

Here are the images of the other four lenses:

via MirrorlessRumors via Nokishita

Canon will launch a new $1600 FF mirrorless on Feb 14. And Sony answers with a $200 price drop on the Sony A7III

On February 14 Canon will launch a new $1599 entry level Canon EOS-RP Full Frame mirrorless. Sony seems to have learned about that and tomorrow they will launch the first ever discount on the Sony A7III. The camera will get a $200 price drop as you can see from the BHphoto image shared on top.

One more thing: The Panasonic S1-S1R is creating some disappointment on the web. And I agree with this funny guy when he says that all we need is a Sony A7III with a flippy screen :)

Sony RX0II registration confirmed at FCCID

The FCCID registered a new Sony camera and as you can see from the image on top it has the exact same dimension as the current RX0. We have no specs for this camera but it confirms the validity of Nokishita rumors. Which means Sony will at least announce two new cameras within June:

– Sony RX0II
– New E-Mount mirrorless

No info about the specs of any of the two. But what’s also dead sure is that Sony will announce new E-mount lenses within June. So let’s recap:

SR5: New RXoII
SR5: New E-mount mirrorless camera within June
SR5: New E-mount lenses around February

The info on top should be 99% reliable. Some 75% reliable rumors follow as next:

SR4: No A7sIII launch within June. New E-mount camera could be a new APS-C E-mount or something else…
SR4: New 135mm f/1.8 GM and new APS-C lenses to be launched soon (probably first of them will be announced in 2-3 weeks)

Yongnuo confirms they are working on a new FE autofocus lens that might be announced in March!

Yongnuo confirmed they are working on making new Sony FE autofocus lenses. The issue they are having now is to improve the autofocus accuracy. Here is the accurate translated text from our reader Jay Sun (Thanks!):

“Yongnuo will release new E/FE mount lenses before the Chinese New Year.”
“Sure, but why? Working out all the kinks is far more important than early release. Thanks all for your patience. Just give us a little more time and we will certainly release E/FE lenses soon.”

In a second message hidden within the comments they made a hint about a possible announcement in March when answering a question about the possible release time:

But it’s unclear if they will only shows some prototypes or if the lens development will be finished by March.

Yongnuo currently has a bunch of autofocus lenses for Canon and Nikon on sale here on Amazon US and BHphoto.

Competition: Panasonic S camera and lens specs leaked

Tomorrow (Feb 1) at 11:00am you should follow L-rumors.com live-blogging if you are interested to learn everything there is to know about the new Panasonic S Full Frame mirrorless competition. Below you can find the specs and images leaked so far. But here are my quick considerations:

PROS in  (base on pure leaked tech specs)
– Dual IS seems to be more effective than the Sony IS
– Has 4k60p
– superb 5.76 million dot EVF (actually made by Sony!)
– three way LCD
– better weatherproofing and solid build quality

CONS in  (base on pure leaked tech specs)
– Expensive!!!
– no fast zooms at start
– Big lenses!
– heavy cameras compared to Sony
– no phase detection autofocus doesn’t promise Sony alike performance
– did I say it’s damn expensive? :)

Specs:

LUMIX S1R

  • 47.3 million pixels Full size sensor · Low pass filter less
  • 5-axis hand vibration reduction within the body with 5.5 steps of effect
  • Dual IS 2 with 6 stages of effect
  • 4K 60p / 50p video
  • Sequential shooting performance: 9 frames / second (AFS), 6 frames / second (AFC)
  • 6K photo at 30 frames per second and 4K photo mode at 60 frames / sec
  • 5.76 million dot EVF
  • The finder magnification can be adjusted from 0.78 times to 0.74 times or 0.7 times
  • Movable rear liquid crystal with 2.1 million dots
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Picture of 187 million pixels (16,736 x 11, 168) can be created using high resolution mode
  • Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology Detecting Humans, Cats, Dogs and Birds
  • Size: 148.9 x 110.0 x 96.7 mm
  • Weight: 898 g
  • Overseas price: Body 3, 399 GBP, lens kit 4, 199 GBP  (rough conversion of the body price in Dollars is $4500. But keep in mind US price is usually much lower due to different taxation. SO it’s probablt $3999 in the USA)

LUMIX S1

  • 24.2 Million Pixels Full Size Sensor
  • Maximum standard ISO 51.200
  • It can create 96 million pixels (12,000 x 8,000) images using high resolution mode
  • Size: 148.9 x 110.0 x 96.7 mm
  • Weight: 899 g
  • Overseas price: Body 2, £ 199 GBP, lens kit 2, 999 GBP (converted it’s $2800 but more likely to be “$2499”)

LUMIX S PRO 50 mm F 1.4

  • Lens construction: 13 groups of 11 lenses (2 aspheric lenses and 3 ED lenses included)
  • Minimum shooting distance: 0.44 m
  • Number of diaphragm blades: 11
  • Filter diameter: 77 mm
  • Size: φ 90 x 130 mm
  • Weight: 955 g
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Overseas price: 2,299 GBP (around $3,000 but real US price will be lower due to different tax system)

LUMIX S 24 – 105 mm F4 Macro OIS

  • Lens construction: 13 groups 16 pieces (including 2 aspheric lenses and 2 ED lenses)
  • Minimum shooting distance: 0.3 m
  • Maximum shooting magnification: 0.5 times
  • Filter diameter: 77 mm
  • Size: φ 84 x 118 mm
  • Weight: 680 g
  • Dual IS 2 compatible
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Overseas price: 1,299 pounds (around $1,700 but real US price will be lower due to different tax system)

LUMIX S PRO 70-200 mm F4 OIS

  • Lens construction: 23 groups in 17 groups (1 aspherical lens and 3 ED lenses included)
  • Minimum shooting distance: 0.92 m
  • Number of diaphragm blades: 9
  • Filter diameter: 77 mm
  • Size: φ 84.4 x 179 mm
  • Weight: 985 g
  • Dual IS 2 compatible
  • Dustproof · Drip-proof · Low temperature-10 °
  • Overseas price: 1,749 GBP (around $2,300 but real US price will be lower due to different tax system)

Click on images to enlarge: