(SR5) Sony A57 for $699 and available in April. A37 coming later…


On March 13th Sony will announce the A57 and it will cost $699 (body only). The camera will ship in April. That’s $200 less than the Sony A65 ($899 on Amazon). The only major differences withe the A65 are the lower resolution viewfinder and 16 Megapixel sensor. The design is 99% the same of the A65 pictured here on top.

One more thing: With the new splitting-up announcement strategy Sony decided to introduce the A37 some times after the A57. NEX and camcorders are also coming within the next two months.

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!

(SR5) 70-400mm G II and 70-200mm GII will arrive in late 2012 early 2013 only

To protect my sources I can’t tell you the full story but I have been told that the Alpha Lens roadmap contained an error and the 70-400mm and 70-200mm G II lenses will arrive in late 2012 early 2013 and not in early 2012. Again, it wasn’t my or the sources error. I should get some details about the definitive roadmap soon. Also about the NEX lenses.

Sorry guys, I know this are news you don’t like to hear from me :(

(SR5) Sony A57 with 1,44 million dot viewfinder. NEX in April.

[shoplink 8459][/shoplink] I already told you in previous posts that the A57 is almost equal with the [shoplink 8459]Sony A65[/shoplink] in terms of features and design. The main difference is that it uses the same superb 16 Megapixels [shoplink 8452]Sony NEX-5n[/shoplink] sensor. But there are also other differences. I have been told that one of them is that the A57 will uses a 1,44 million dot viewfinder instead of the 2,4 million dot OLED EVF of the A65. My sources said you don’t really notice a major difference. On paper the A55 had a 1,44m dot viewfinder too but only 1m were actually used. The A57 will “use” them all.

The biggest plus of the camera is the lower resolution sensor that in theory should give you less noisier images at High ISO. But we will see if that hope becomes true when the camera gets announced on March 13th.

One more reminder: The NEX-F3 and the new Sony camcorders will be announced in April. And I have been told that there will e an announcement in May too!

(SR3) New A850/A900 firmware update coming soon?


According to new sources Sony will release a new firmware update for the A850 and A900. But we shouldn’t expect anything spectacular. The only new feature of the update will be the support for the one lens that none of us will probably ever buy…the super expensive 500mm f/4.0 SSM lens (Click here to see it on BH). I have been told the new SSM motor is too fast for the current firmware to handle. That’s why an upgrade is needed.

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Sony A900 at [shopcountry 3032].
Sony A850 at [shopcountry 3028].

(SR5) New “splitting-up” Sony announcement strategy…


The first SLT/NEX related announcement of the year is the 500mm lens in February.

You may remember the huge day back in August when Sony announced the new [shoplink 8461]Sony A77[/shoplink], [shoplink 8459]A65[/shoplink], [shoplink 8454]NEX-7[/shoplink], [shoplink 8452]NEX-5n[/shoplink] and the new [shoplink 8457]16-50mm[/shoplink], [shoplink 8450]24mm[/shoplink] and [shoplink 8448]50mm[/shoplink] lenses. Sony learned the lesson and will not repeat the mistake to announce too much stuff in one single day. You may have noticed that Sony already had three compact camera announcements this year, one in January, one in February and one in March. The same thing will now happen with SLT and NEX stuff. Sony announced the release of that huge 500mm lens in early February. On March 13th Sony will announce the new A57 and a couple of weeks later Sony will announce the new camcorder for the NAB show and sometimes in April the new NEX stuff (like the [shoplink 7207]NEX-C3 successor[/shoplink]).

I think this is a very correct move. It gives us more time to learn more about a single camera or lens. From now to September I expect new Sony stuff to be announced almost every month, like the 70-400mm and 70-200mm G II lenses, the new NEX cameras, and of course all firmware upgrades.

Stay tuned on SAR, firmware and A57 news are next ;)

(SR5) Also a new 70-200mm II G lens is on the new roadmap!

[shoplink 11712 ebay][/shoplink]

Image on top: The current [shoplink 11712 ebay]70-200mm f/2.8 lens[/shoplink].

Yesterday I told you about Sony’s plan to create a new line of lenses that will be weather sealed and have new improved lens design. The first of the new “II G” line up will be the 70-400mm zoom. Today a couple of sources confirmed that Sony will also update the current [shoplink 11712 ebay]70-200mm f/2.8 lens[/shoplink]. While I am pretty sure the 70-400mm II G lens will arrive soon I have no info yet WHEN the 70-200mm II G will be released.

P.S.: Links to the current 70-200mm lens at [shoplist 11712].

Reminder: There is a Sony announcement on March 13th. Stay tuned here on SAR!

(SR5) More bits about the new 70-400mm II G lens (and hints about a surprise)

The new 70-400mm will be white like the just announced 500mm lens you see here on top

My (awesome!) sources contacted me to share some more details about the new lens. First I can safely put an SR5 value on that rumor. And this is actually a very new version of the older [shoplink 11687]Sony 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM lens[/shoplink] lens. It has following new features:
1) The new II version is weather sealed!
2) It has new coatings.
3) It comes in white like the current super expensive 500mm f/4.0 lens (over $12.000 on BH).

But the changes are deeper than you think. The 70-400mm II G lens will actually be the first lens of a complete new Alpha lens line up! And that includes ONE single surprise I cannot unveil yet because I am  still trying to get some more info. But it is a surprise many of you will like. So please stay tuned on SAR. And if you can help me to find out more about the upcoming announcement sent me an email at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com or use the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar.

Thanks!

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!