In two-three weeks Sony will announce the new high end APS-C E-mount camera. And a Sony rep shared some info with a Dpreview forum user. He writes:

1- Yes, the “NEX” name is gone, 100% guaranteed.
2- “Alpha” will be the new names for the APS-C mirrorless cameras.
3- APS-C Mirrorless cameras will have model numbers in the thousands….just like the Alpha 3000 and Alpha 5000.
4- NEX-7 has been discontinued. The NEX-6 will also be discontinued in the future, probably about a month before the replacement is announced. Reason why it has not been discontinued and the NEX-7 has, is because it has sold very well due to its low price.
5- NEX-7 successor will be announced in the first quarter this year. Rumored model name of “Alpha 7000” is not confirmed as of now, simply a rumor. Not even the Sony rep could tell him what the final model name will be, but he did say it will be the flagship APS-C mirrorless camera without a doubt.
6- Sony is working on a F2.8 fixed zoom lens (probably a 16-50 or 17-55). They plan to release a new APS-C lens road map when they announce the NEX-7 successor.

I am pretty confident that the information he shared is correct. A f/2.8 would be certainly a welcome addition to the ASP-C E-mount world.

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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!

[shoplink 23961 ebay]

[/shoplink]

This is the [shoplink 23961 ebay]Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0[/shoplink]. Sony will launch a similar (in terms of aperture) lens soon?

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One path Sony has to convince us about their A-mount commitment is to launch great A-mount lenses. And well, according to one new source Sony will soon announce the new A-mount SAL 70-200mm f/2.0 (!) lens! This is going to be the fastest Full Frame tele zoom ever made!!! The only “similar” lens to date is the [shoplink 23961 ebay]Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0 (here one Bay)[/shoplink]. But this one is designed for the smaller Four Thirds sensor.

The lens will be announced soon and be priced at around 3.000 Euro!

Well, this is what one source says, I still have to get a confirmation via other sources. For now take it with a grain of salt. But I certainly think this is the kind of lenses that can bring us back the confidence and love for the A-mount system. What a beast of a lens!!!

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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!

A SAR reader got the following mail from Sigma when asking about the definitve 18-35mm f/1.8 lens release. This is Sigma’s answer:

Hello xxx,

No set date but it should be available for shipment by the end of February.
Yours Truly,

xxx xxx
Sigma Corporation of America

Bad news! Still, the lens can be preordered at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).

The FF B&W sensor description by Leica.

Sony is once more challenging Leica! According to one source Sony is developing a new Full Frame Black and White sensor for a camera to be launched within one year! This will be the second FF camera after the $8,000 Leica Monochrom (here at Amazon). On paper the advantages of such a sensor are amazing:
– Greater sharpness
– Cleaner Higher ISO results
– Increased Dynamic range

I don’t have any info about the sensor specs yet so we have to read some Leica Monochrom tests to learn how good a B&W sensor works:
Luminous Landscape reports that “the technology is not without ot flaws. Among these is that since the luminance information is only being sampled from the green cells, there is actually less resolution available than one might think. About 2/3rds in fact.”
Two great reviews and nice image samples can be read/seen at Thorsten Overgaard and Ming Thein.

Now you tell me…

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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!

According to two new sources Sony has scheduled an announcement in three weeks. The NEX-7 successor will be announced for sure and likely be named A7000. And also the new A79 could be announced on the same day.

I also know a Full Frame A-mount camera will come for sure but I don’t know if it’s in February already or in March.

I am also working on rumors about two camera surprises. Sorry if I don’t share them now but I am using what I know to double check the info. But I cannot hide my excitement, Sony will deliver quite some surprises if what I got turns out to be true!

That said the new name strategy for Sony seems to be:
Axxx (like A5000, A3000 or A7000) for the APS-C E-mount series
Axx (like A79 or A99) for APS-C or FF A-mount cameras
Ax (like the A7-A7r) for the FF E-mount series.

Pretty confusing :)

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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!

The High End E-mount and A-mount APS-C camera will be announced in late January or early February. But Sony wants to give us a small present today (or tomorrow for EU and Asia). They will announce the new Sony NEX-3 successor!

Sony will stream the announcement live and I will embed the live stream video on SAR. The press conference will start at January 1am tonight (London time). This means it will be 8pm this evening in New York, or 5pm in Las Vegas or 2 o clock in the night in Berlin or 11 in the morning in Tokyo.

Stay tuned on SAR tonight and the following days! The NEX-7 successor, A77 successor and some surprise coming the next weeks and months!!!

New E-mount cameras will be split in two versions just like the RX.

A new source just notified me that Sony will actually launch two High End APS-C E-mount cameras. The second camera will be an “R” version which means a camera without Anti Aliasing filter. Just like the Sony RX1 and RX1R. He said the cameras will be announced soon and that matches with the timing I got from my trusted sources. The new E-mount and A-mount cameras are going to be announced in late January or early February right before the Japanese CP+ show. There will be some new lenses too!

Stay tuned on SAR! Exciting time ahead and I finally have some time to work more on grabbing rumors for you.

OK, just to tease you a bit: There will be surprises I didn’t tell you about ;)