(SR3) Sony A79 and A9x cameras in Store by early 2014?

Short break from NEX-9 and NEX-7r rumors to report a rumor about upcoming A-mount cameras. A source told me that a couple of new A-mount camera will be in Store by early 2014. This includes the A79 and the new A9x (final name not unveiled yet). Both cameras feature brand new Sony sensors (likely 36MP for the A9x) and 4 million dots OLED viewfinders. The major jump forward has been achieved on autofocus speed and accuracy.

The source didn’t unveil when these cameras will be announced but we heard of two Sony announcements to come. One in mid October (NEX-9, NEX-7R, RX10 and ILCE cameras) and on in January (likely for the new A-mount cameras?).

Sony strategy is likely the following: ILC-E-mount cameras like the A3000 will replace the low end A-mount cameras. And future A-mount cameras will focus on the semi pro and pro market.

 

A3000 with lens at Amazon, SonyStore, BHphoto, Adorama and Sony Canada. In Europe at Sony DE, Sony UK, Sony ES, Sony SE, Sony AT, Sony IT, Sony NL, Sony BE, Sony FI, Sony CH.

UPDATED: Image of a Pentax Full Frame DSLR (likely with Sony sensor)?

Pentax could be the second company after Nikon using Sony’s Full Frame sensor. The picture on top shows the FF mirror on a Pentax camera (Source: Xitek). The camera could be announced by End of October.

UPDATE: As I don’t have my own Pentax sources I cannot tell if the rumors is correct or not. although posted on many other site in these days (like Pentaxforums and Photorumors) it seems likely that this camera isn’t coming for now.

What is the new NEX-7R “color sensor”?

New York fashion Photographer Clayton Nelson removed all the content where he was talking and showing image samples of the new NEX-7R. But there is one sentence that makes me think quite a bit. Many months ago I heard about completely new kind of Sony sensors. I still think these kind of new tech is due for late 2014 early 2015 only. But this is the sentence that I cannot understand:

“I emailed Sony some of the images I took earlier in the week, explaining how delighted I was with the camera, especially the color sensor.”

He didn’t say he liked the color rendition, he sai he liked the “color sensor” which makes me think he specifically wanted to highlight a new kind of sensor tech. Hope sources can enlighten me about that! (I personally still think he meant color rendition).

To all readers: Keep your eyes open! You should be able to find more and more breadcrumbs of rumors from now on. About NEX-7r, NEX-9, ILCE-7, RX10 and maybe more. it’s going to be a hell of a busy rumor time :)

For German Readers: Gold Box deal on the RX100 at 18:00 (Click here).

(SR4) UPDATE: Are these the first image samples taken with the NEX-7r???

On Friday I told you how Sony could start leaking info on the new cameras. And this may be just the start:

New York fashion Photographer Clayton Nelson shared a couple of pictures he has taken “with the Sony NEX-7R, a new prototype APS sensor digital camera” (these are his own words). And he also writes:

“I emailed Sony some of the images I took earlier in the week, explaining how delighted I was with the camera, especially the color sensor.”

and

“These cameras are far beyond playthings. I believe that they can be utilized as substantial tools in an artistic format. They are certainly not toys…”

UPDATE: Clayton now removed the pics and text about the NEX-7r!

 

I really don’t think Clayton Nelsons is lying on the camera he is using. More likely he was allowed by Sony to create some “suspense”. Now imagine what Sony will do when they start to “leak” info on the NEX-FF!

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Message to sources: You can send me more info anonymously by using the contact form you see on the very right of your browser. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.

For readers: Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here) in order to not miss any news!

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Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!

 

(SR1-2) Xjrumo says NEX-7 successor coming too.

The Chinese rumor site Xjrumo claims to know via their sources that Sony will also announce the new NEX-7 successor in October. I cannot confirm or deny the rumors yet. And I don’t know how much we can trust this site yet.

Sony seems to be very focused on the NEX-FF launch. I really haven’t heard anything about a NEX-7n lately :(

———

Message to sources: You can send me more info anonymously by using the contact form you see on the very right of your browser. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.

For readers: Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here) in order to not miss any news!

——–

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!

 

Sony representatives now openly talk about the soon to be announced NEX-FF (and a hint on A-mount FF).


Yesterday I got a total of three messages from SAR readers that are in contacts with Sony representatives. In short, what they all told me is that Sony is no more hiding the NEX-FF announcement in October. Sony people are now free to talk about the fact that the NEX-FF is coming. Here are the three messages I got yesterday:

Message 1:

Apparently they are not even hiding the fact that’s new FF cameras are coming (NEX FF included). My source told me that apparently more details will be shared next week. He usually don’t share this kind of informations, but here it was so obvious that he couldn’t even hide it :)

Message 2:

I work in the bicycle industry and sony has a huge booth at the yearly trade show next to go pro. Sony representatives told me that I was going to get an action cam to demo soon and that I was going to be blown away by the new full frame mirror less that is on the way. He said that the FF mount will be announced but he thinks the ff a mount will make a mark.  

Message 3 (translated by me):

Sony representative told me two FF E-mount cameras are coming. One like the NEX-7 and one like the RX1.

In short dear SAR readers…keep your eyes open! If you find something interesting to share to the SAR community drop me a message! Thanks!

———

Message to sources: You can send me more info anonymously by using the contact form you see on the very right of your browser. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.

For readers: Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here) in order to not miss any news!

——–

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!

New QX10 reviews. New 360 APP for QX.


QX10 video review at Popphoto:

Currently websites are reviewing the QX10 lensCamera which is also the less interetsing module (The QX100 is based on the RX100MII). I expect much more positive feedbacks as soon as they test the higher quality LensCamera.

QX10 review at Photographyblog:

Ultimately the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-QX10 just falls a little short, regardless of whether you’re a smartphone or compact shooter. It doesn’t quite come up to scratch in terms of performance, feature-set or image quality, and is also a little over-priced too, perhaps inevitable given that it’s a first-generation product. At the moment we’d choose a smartphone and wi-fi enabled compact to quickly share images, though that solution has its own challenges. Still, hats off to Sony for trying something new as smartphones cannabilise the entry-level compact camera market – it may well be that we’ll all be using something like the Cyber-shot DSC-QX10 sooner rather than later…

QX10 test at heise (German).

Lachlan Tsang sent me the following text:
In the current pairing arrangement, the phone connects to a WiFi network set up by the lens camera. I do not know how this works in Android, but this has a few consequences which I know from using similar setups on Sony NEX and Actioncam cameras. The default behaviour of iOS is to attempt to use any WiFi network to get mobile data. Obviously the lens camera does not connect to the internet, so that means that an iPhone will not be able to connect to the internet while connected to the lens camera. This means that it will NOT be possible to take a photo on iOS and immediately upload it without first switching off the lens camera. It will not be possible to use the QX lens camera to do any live streaming. It also means that all incoming data and notifications will be unavailable while the lens is connected.

UPDATE: Our reader Tobi (Thanks!) noted that the “fix” is allready here: ios7. Apple implemented multipath tcp connections into ios7 allowing wifi and cellular network connections at the same time (Source: 9to5mac).

And Kerry Sun sent me the official press release of the first APP supporting the new QX cameras:
Camera360, one of the world’s most popular smartphone photography apps, has teamed up with multinational technology giant Sony to include their range of photography software on both the Sony DSC-QX10 and DSC-QX100 lens-style camera when they launch later this month.
Camera360 will become the first photography software to be customised especially for the new smartphones that look to significantly improve the mobile photography experience without the need to incorporate a giant lens into a smartphone. The DSC-QX100 has a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* f/1.8 lens that is able to capture images at 20.2MP while the DSC-QX10 has a Sony G Lens and 1/2.3″-inch CMOS sensor that allows the smartphone to capture images at 18.9MP and also has a 10x optical zoom.
The lenses connect to a smartphone via Wi-Fi or NFC, and Camera360 has incorporated this into the updated app via the “Sony Camera” mode. This feature will allow smartphone users to search and connect to a Sony Wi-Fi network manually so that users can save their images on a microSD card in the lens-style camera.
“Through working with Sony DSC-QX100 and DSC-QX10 cameras, we’re making it easier for mobile photographers to capture high quality pictures with the most popular and professional filters. We’re making continuous improvements to provide a better photography experience for global smartphone users,” said Gary Gu, Marketing Director of Camera360.
The new Sony lens-style cameras are expected to go on sale worldwide later this month and the V4.8 update for Camera360 apps including the “Sony Camera” mode will be available to download at around the same time.
More news at Prnewswire.com.

 

Here are all direct links to preorders in USA/Canada:
QX100: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyCA (Click here).
Soft Carrying Case for DSC-QX100 at Amazon (Click here).
Black QX10: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), SonyCA (Click here).
White QX10: Amazon (Click here), SonyUS (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here).
Soft Carrying Case for DSC-QX10 Amazon (Click here).
Xperia Z case with QX mount on Amazon (Click here).

Here are all direct links to preorders in Europe:
Black QX100 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
Black QX10 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
White QX10 at SonyDE, Amazon.de (via DealsRunner), Amazon France (via DL), SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.
Xperia Z1 at SonyDE, SonyUK, SonyES, SonyIT, SonyNL, SonyBE, SonyAT, SonyCH, SonySE, SonyFI, SonyNo.