Image on top: The OLED electronic viewfinder from Sony

Good Morning dear SAR readers!

Let’s start the new week with a smaller info I found at Dyxum (Click here). I am pretty sure Sony has no plan yet to make any new DSLR camera with optical viewfinder. But a Sony source(?) shared some details about the internal Sony discussion about the OVF and EVF theme. The source said “hat right now there is a significant division of opinion within Sony. The higher ranks want to leave OVF behind and press on with EVF only. But the staff who are closer to that actual market are strongly objecting to complete abandonment. And I was told that in the coming months Sony will release two top tier, Nine level cameras, one with an OVF and the other with an EVF.”

As I said, my sources told me the next A99 is 100% an SLT camera. And that there is no plan yet to release a sister model with optical viewfinder So take the rumor with a grain of salt. What’s interesting is that there is a debate ongoing here and on many other forums about Sony’s decision to push the SLT technology. Something else. I had the chance to quickly compare the [shoplink 8454]NEX-7 EVF with the Fuji X PRO 1 hybrid viewfinder. I have to say that on first look the NEX-7 EVF is far more advanced and usable. As you know I am not saying this because I am a fanboy. At first I liked the idea of the hybrid viewfinder and it ma can be improved further by Fuji. But for now the NEX-7 kicks the ass with the OLED technology. Another story is the amazing Fuji sensor. I wish Sony could bring that kind of improvement in future cameras. Let’s get rid of that Anti aliasing filter!

Price and specs comparison:
NEX-7 at [shoplist 8454].
Fuji X PRO 1 at Amazon (Click here).

The Sony Europe Press center just leaked the image of the new 18-135mm SAM lens! They now removed the image from the page but our japanese friends from DigicamInfo copied the image. A trusted source confirmed that the image is real.

As I told you weeks ago Sony is splitting up their new product announcements. New SLT and NEX stuff is coming in a series of small announcements! I think that’s a nice move from Sony and keeps me busy at SAR ;)  The A37, new NEX-F3 and new lenses are coming!

For US readers: Keep on eye on the NEX-7 at Amazon (Click here). It keeps comign and going in Stock for the normal price.

Sony is back to full camera and lens production and as you can see from the screenshot here on top both the NEX-7 kits and the 50mm lens are being shipped by Adorama. Sonystore says they will ship the 50mm lens on March 26th. And the Zeiss 24mm for NEX is in Stock at Amazon (Click here).

That’s all good news because Sony had to delay some of the product announcements to focus on the current camera and lens production. More in detail the A99 for example was originally scheduled for Spring release but will now arrive in September.

P.S.: The NEX-7 still remains the hottest mirrorless camera of the moment being on top of all Amazon US (Click here), Amazon UK (Click here), Amazon Deutschland (Click here) and Amazon France (Click here) mirrorless rankings.

It’s not a big secret that the next SLT camera is the A37. We told you some bits about it yesterday. But what is coming after the A37? A trusted sources confirmed that the next two SLT cameras are all positioned on top of the [shoplink 8461]Sony A77[/shoplink]! One is almost certainly the 24 Megapixel FF camera. I don’t know yet if the second model the source refers too is the FF camera with 36 megapixel or another higher end APS-C model.

UPDATE: All two higher end mdoels will arrive within 1 year!

I hope trusted sources can share me some more info as soon as they read the post :)  Thanks!

A900:
The A900 has been discontinued (as marked here by BH). The A900 has a superb viewfinder and buidl quaility and if you want it you can find them for a good price (new!) on eBay: For $2,100.00 at [shoplink 11861 ebay]Cammers (Click here)[/shoplink] or a total of 10 cameras for $2,351.61 each at [shoplink 11862 ebay]800photovideo (Click here)[/shoplink].

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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!

So, the A57 is out and we are already epecting a new SLT model to be announced soon. The A37! A source just sent me that little info: “The A37 is not compatible with Minolta lenses, only with SAM and SSM lenses!“. Yeah I know, very disappointing :(

The same source also told me that Sony will in future implement Wi-Fi in NEX and SLT cameras. About time!

Reminder: New camcorders and a new NEX are also coming within the next 1-2 months! Full Frame is due for September.

[shoplink 11763 ebay][/shoplink]

DSLRnewsshooter reports that on March 22th Sony will announce a new [shoplink 11763 ebay]NEX-FS100[/shoplink] firmware update. It will bring the following new features:

1. Added 50Hz recording system (PAL): 1920×1080 50p, 50i, 25p and 1280×720 50p.
2. Camera Profile (camera settings can be saved to and loaded from a memory card).
3. Additional 4x and 8x Expanded Focus magnification: (with user selectable focus area).
4. Selectable ISO or GAIN sensitivity display.
5. Selectable Focus indication in FEET or METERS (E-mount lens only).
6. Selectable Shutter indication as EXPOSURE TIME or SHUTTER ANGLE.
7. Added the following Aspect-Ratio markers: 2.35:1, 1.85:1 and 1.66:1.
8. Display ON/OFF button enables Zebra and/or Histogram overlay onto video output.
9. Compatible with the new A-Mount to E-Mount adaptor, model LA-EA2. One push Auto-IRIS and continuous 15-point, Phase-Detection Auto-Focus operation with most Alpha A-Mount lenses is available. Lens metadata is displayed onscreen and stored real-time to image file.

In Summary: On March 22th the new FS100 firmware and on March 29th the new A77/A65 firmware.