The following post is a mix of rumors and speculations about the possible new cameras and lenses from Sony. This is not an SR5 rumor :)

RX Cybershot:
Sony is quite happy with the success of their RX100 and RX1 cameras. And they definitely will keep going on with new camera release. It’s pretty obvious that there is plenty of room for an RX10 camera with ASP-C sensor. The question is how will they make it? My guess is that it will have a fixed prime lens to make the camera very compact.
Another question is, will there be a variations within the same series? For example an RX2 with a 50mm f/1.7 equivalent lens. Or an RX101 with a wider (and slower) zoom range.

Sony NEX:
There will be plenty of of new cameras and lenses. I expect a new NEX-3 model and probably a NEX-7 successor too. Unlike previous years there will be finally more new lens than new camera announcements :)
We know three new Zeiss primes with full electronic support are going to be launched in Spring 2013. There will be a new 85mm f/1.8 lens and a 3-4 more new Sony E-mount lenses. But let’s not forget that we can pretty much be sure that also Tamron, Sigma and other manufacturers will announce new lenses too.

Sony FF NEX:
As I told you last week Sony is working on the camera development and an exact time release hasn’t been set yet. It all depends from how things will work out. They want the camera to be damn good, like a Pro DSLR from Nikon and Canon. My guess is that the camera will hit the stores in early 2014 only. There may be some announcement or prototype shown in late 2013.

Sony SLT:
I already told you about four new A-mount lenses that will be launched within the next six months and the most interesting one is the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 lens. We will have both, new entry level and new semi pro SLT APS-C cameras. It will be highly unlikely that Sony will launch a new SLT FF cameras in 2013.

Surprises:
Unlike Canon and Nikon Sony is always good for a surprise! Never be sure what’s in the engineers head. So how could a surprise look like? A 50+ Megapixel A1x SLT camera, a new 3 layer sensor (foveon similar), or the come back of optical viewfinders. But those are just dreams for now…or not? :)

And now, what is your Sony camera wish for 2013?

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Never get excited about a patent. It’s not a prove at all that the described product may be produced for real. That said Egami (translation here) spotted a new Tamron lens design and it is a 300mm f/2.8 lens for a Full Frame mirrorless camera system. There is no info about the mount that the lens is going to use. But Sony Corporation maintains an 11% share hold in Tamron (Source: Wikipedia). So it may could be a lens made for the NEX system.

That said Tamron wouldn’t be the first to make a Full Frame compatible E-mount lens. Samyang/Rokinon already sells such lenses for the VG-900! Here they are:
Rokinon 14mm T3.1 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16228 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].
24mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16229 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].
Rokinon 35mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16230 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].
Rokinon 85mm T1.5 Cine Lens for Sony E at BHphoto (Click here) and on [shoplink 16231 ebay]eBay (as Rokinon)[/shoplink].

via Mirrorlessrumors.

Yesterdays rumor about the Full Frame NEX created some buzz about the A-mount future. Some do believe that this may be the end of the A-mount. So let’s get through that:

1) First, this is a rumor site, so never I repeat NEVER(!) accept my info as 100% sure facts.
2) I never wrote A-mount is dead. The only thing I wrote is that Sony is speeding up the NEX FF project and that there will be no SLT FF in 2013. Again, this is a rumor. It may be that Sony will release an SLT FF in 2014. But I have no info about the 2014 strategy.
3) Focus on my A-mount rumors: As I told you there will be at least four new A-mount lenses within the next 6 months, there will be 2 or even three new A-mount ASP-C SLT cameras. That sounds damn good to me! :)
4) The NEX FF I heard about has 100% support for all A-mount lenses. Which means that AF speed will be as fast as it gets, like on current A-mount cameras. I would have no doubt buying A-mount lenses. Especially an upcoming lens like the superb 50mm f/1.4 Zeiss!

So again, we are a rumor site and it’s obvious that people discusses what could happen in one year from now. But keep your feet on ground. Don’t go too far with extreme speculations :)

P.S.: I would buy the A99 right now if I would need a FF hybrid stills and video camera.

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P.S.: I still don’t know the price of the lens but we have many Zeiss 50mm lenses for different mounts and I thought it would be nice to give you an overview:
[shoplink 14186 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Canon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14187 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* for Nikon (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14188 ebay]Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 50mm f/1.4 50/1.4 LTM (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14190 ebay]Zeiss Normal 50mm f/1.4 for Contax (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 14189 ebay]Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZF 50mm F1.4 Nikon Ai-S (see auctions on eBay)[/shoplink]

It’s Christmas time and what bad administrator would I be if I wouldn’t give you an SR5 rumor :)

1) These last two weeks I contacted all my best sources and they now all(!) confirmed that the next Sony Full Frame camera will not be a new SLT camera. It will be a Full Frame mirrorless camera!
2) Plan of a FF SLT release in 2013 have been dropped to fully focus the development resources on that FF mirrorless camera. Sony’s main priority is to create a real High End camera. A camera that can have all the functions and capabilities of a DSLR (that means for example fast AF). Sony sees that camera as the one that should bring back some significant interests on Sony FF system.
3) The camera is still in the final stage of development. We can expect the release of the cameras by end 2013 at earliest but early 2014 sounds more likely for now.
4) The camera has some key tech not seen on any Sony camera yet. I am still working on this rumor to get some detailed info. So stay tuned!
5) The camera is a bit bigger than the current [shoplink 8454]Sony NEX-7[/shoplink] and not that much different in terms of the design.
6) The camera has a native E-mount and both E-mount and A-mount lenses will be fully supported.
7) One of the trusted sources said that Sony is right now testing two different prototypes. One features a 24 megapixel and the other camera features a new 30-32 Megapixel sensor.

In summary, in about one year the NEX world will expand into the High End Pro market. And this may be a bad news for the [shoplink 16137 ebay]Leica M system[/shoplink]! I know you have many questions about lenses, specs and so on. I am working on that and as you imagine it’s not easy to get specs about a camera which features are being tested and changed every couple of weeks. So what can we expect in 2013? we will have plenty of new NEX and SLT (APS-C) cameras and lenses. And I hope Sony engeneers will manage it to announce that NEX FF by Christmas 2013! But as I said, it all depends from the development speed. As Sony stated a couple of times, E-mount FF is a “challenge”. A challenge that Sony has no worry to take!

Now a short question:

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Don’t miss any rumor about the Sony NEX and SLT world. Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here)!

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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!

Every year the Japanese magazine “Impress Japan” interviews company managers form the photographic industry and after that writes down their 2013 product forecast. These are the three main new things they expect from Sony:
1) Full Frame NEX
2) Further miniaturization of lenses (pancakes)
3) New improvements in hybrid AF performance

None of the three points is a real surprise for us. I am working on the NEX-FF rumor any day know. It’s difficult to share some SR5 news because Sony is righ know evaluating the product specs and release strategy. So please be patient. I am on this rumor every day!

I also got the image of the interview with a Sony manager. But it’s in Japanese and I will need the help of our Japanese SAR readers to know if there is some interesting info. Click on the image to see the large version:

Thanks for your help!

There are two big electronic shows to come. On January 8th the CES event in Las Vegas and on January 31st the CP+ show in Yokohama. And I have been told that Sony will split their product announcements in two. At the CES show Sony will introduce new Cybershot cameras and new Camcorders. While they will likely announce new NEX and SLT products at the CP+ show.

I have been told the new Cybershot cameras are not really exciting. And I am yet not 100% sure which of the rumored SLT and NEX camera/Lens is going to be announced at the CP+ show and what is coming  in April-May. As I told you the last few weeks we Sony is going to introduce:
1) four new A-mount lenses within the first half of the year (50mm Zeiss, 18-270mm DT, 70-200mm and 70-400mm). It’s very likely that the 18-270mm and the 50mm f/1.4 Zeiss will be introduced at the CP+ show (That’s SR4).
2) Two new SLT cameras will be announced within the first half of the year. Both APS-C, both with new sensor and features. The first SLT camera should be a low end model. it may be displayed at the CP+ show.
3) A couple of new NEX lenses are also coming. One could be the 85mm f/1.8 lens. Also likely to come at the CP+ show.
4) Still no 100% reliable news on the NEX front. But new I have been told a new entry level NEX is coming within the first half of 2013.
5) 100% sure, no FF NEX and no FF SLT within the first half of the year.

As I said, I am very confident that this is the NEX/SLT stuff that we will see the next few months. I am not yet sure about the exact timing also because sometimes I don’t know if sources actually send me the announcement period or the in Stock timing :)

What about the surprises? Yep, there is room for a new RX10 while major news should arrive the second half of the year. But that is still a rumor I have to investigate before I can be sure of that!

Feel free to spread the news! And to be sure to not miss any upcoming rumor join our Facebook community and s ubscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream. Thanks!

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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!

Sony Japan just marked the A37 as “Discontinued“. As I have told you lately there will be 2-3 new APS-C SLT cameras coming next year. The first one is scheduled for spring. From what I heard entry level SLT will be replaced and than new semi pro APS-C SLT will follow.

And as you know in US all current SLT APS-C models are heavily discounted at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and Bhphoto (Click here)!