(SR3) A NEX-7 one minute hands-on report…(Zeiss with leaf shutter?)

I got a hands-on report made by one of my new sources. He saw the NEX-7 and Zeiss prototypes. The rumor is ranked with SR3 only because what he tested where prorotypes and might be a little bit different. For example I don’t knwo if what he saw was the final Zeiss version. My guess is that he tested a different version of the lens. Anyway, this is his text:

I can tell you though that the NEX-7 feels good in the hand. I only got to use the camera for about a minute but the EVF is superb. It reminds me of what it’s like looking at an iPhone retina display. You simply can’t see the pixels because they are so small. I didn’t see any rainbow effects and the refresh rate was super fast. There is still a tiny bit of lag when panning but it’s much improved. I tested it inside a somewhat dark restaurant, performance may be better in good lighting. Autofocus with the 24mm is very fast. It seems its almost as fast as the m43rd’s cameras. Maybe just a tiny bit slower but the important thing is that for single autofocus is as fast as anybody would practically need it to be.

About the Zeiss lens: I’m told Sony spent a lot of time and effort trying to not make the lens too big without compromising quality. I haven’t seen image quality first hand but I’m told its typical zeiss quality. Beautiful colors and a high amount of natural contrast.

The Nex-7 is also going to be expensive because it has a customized sensor. Sony, I’m told, has struggled a bit with getting good corners because of the short registration distance. Sony originally planned for the NEX to be marketed at consumers and didn’t realize it would be a hit with enthusiast too. To combat the short registration distance, they put in some micro offset lenses. All lenses will benefit from this, including legacy glass so people will see improved performance with their rangefinder lenses.

The one real surprising news I can share with you is that the 24mm zeiss has a leaf shutter! I was very surprised to find this out but Sony is going to market this as the modern day rangefinder for street photography. I was told they are filming a commercial showing the evolution of the rangefinder into the NEX-7. It will be posted online in the coming months. It won’t be on tv because Sony doesn’t expect the average consumer to buy this camera, they believe the 3 and 5 series is for them.
I was told that the 3million dot evf will make manual focusing a bit better as well.

I had my [shoplink 6075 ebay]X100[/shoplink] with me and I can tell you that the X100 vs NEX-7+24mm Zeiss is going to be a tremendous fight. The NEX is quieter than the X100 because you can hear the servo motor on the X100 while the Zeiss motor is dead silent.

You should tell your readers to hold off on buying the X100. I’m seriously contemplating selling my X100. I still prefer the OVF to the NEX EVF but overallt he NEX seems super impressive. The NEX-7 still has the same tilt screen which is useful for shooting from the hip.

 

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources (60-80% the rumor is correct)
SR5=almost certainly correct!

(SR5) A77 with ISO 50 to 16.000. A65 can do almost the same as the A77.

I now have been told the A77 can go from 100 to 16.000 ISO and has the ability to shot even at 50 ISO if you need it. As you know the new sensor will feature a 24,3 Megapixel sensor. If you wonder about the A77 and A65 differences than I can tell you that:
1) A77 has 19 point AF system with 11 cross sensors while the A65 has only 3 cross sensors.
2) A77 can do 12 fps while the A65 can do 10fps.
3) A77 has new 3 way tilting LCD, A65 has “classic” tilting LCD
4) A77 can do 50 ISO while A65 can not.
5) The A77 has a magnesium body while the A65 has not.
6) The A77 has 1/8000 shutter while A65 has a 1/4000 shutter
7) The A77 has a top LCD screen while the A65 has it not.
8 ) The A77 is Dust and Moisture proof while the A65 is not

There are also other small differences but those are the most important ones. As you already know the A77 and A65 (and the NEX-7) do share the same 24 Megapixel sensor, same 3 million dot OLED viewfinder. Price is:

  • Sony Alpha 77 + 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM = 1800€
  • Sony Alpha 77 body only = 1050€
  • Sony Alpha 65 + 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM = 1000€
  • Sony Alpha 65 body only = 900€

And that’s the competition price:
Check Canon 7D price at [shopcountry 6954].
Check Nikon D7000 price at price at [shopcountry 6952].

If Sony would make a 28mm f/1.4 FE lens

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Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources (60-80% the rumor is correct)
SR5=almost certainly correct!

(SR5) The video revolution is coming: A77/NEX-7/VG20 with FullHD 60p and full manual controls!


On August 24 Sony will make an amazing announcement. There is no doubt! And one of the thing you will like most is the new video features! I just learned from my sources that the new A77, Nex-7 and VG20 will support the new AVCHD 2.0 standard. This means that all those camera (!) will be able to record FullHD videos in 1080 60/50/25/24p at 28Mbit/s! Do you like that? Wait…there is even more! All camera will support full manual controls while recording video. And you can shoot video in P or A or S or M mode! All three cameras were development having video recording in mind. That means that the new sensor and the new BIOZ processor have been optimized to avoid artifacts like the weird jello effect. And as I already told you the new 3 million dot OLED viewfinder will have a high refresh rate! Can’t wait to see the first video samples! Keep following us on Facebook, Twitter and follow our RSS-feed! And be sure to be here at SAR on August 24th!

P.S.: Share the news to your Canonikan friends ;)

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

 

 

 

(SR4) Possible price of the three new NEX lenses! Zeiss has 16cm minimum focusing distance

As you know three NEX lenses will be announced on 23/24 August! One of my trusted sources (Thanks!) sent me the pricing list. I still didn’t manage to get a confirmation so it’s not SR5 for now. But the source is good!

Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 = $999 (Minimum focusing distance of 16cm!). It costs less than the Zeiss 24mm f/2.0 for A-mount ([shoplink 3037 ebay]Click here to see that lens[/shoplink])
Sony 55-210mm f/4-6.3 OSS = $299
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS = $349. It has double the price of the A-mount equivalent ([shoplink 7932 ebay]Click here to see that lens[/shoplink]) but it has OSS.

What lens will you buy?

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UPDATE: A litte explanation about the poll percentages. The summary is not 100% for the simple reason that every voter can vote one, two or all three lenses. SO when you read that Zeiss has for example 64% of all voting this means that from all people who voted the poll 64% voted that lens.

One more background news: Until the very last moment there were some slightly different prototypes. That’s why for example they were rumors about a Zeiss f/2.0 version.

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources (60-80% the rumor is correct)
SR5=almost certainly correct!

 

(SR5) Huge Sony leak!!!


The image on top shows some of the new items. Click on the image to enlarge!

According to our sources that is the list of new products Sony will announce on August 24:
A77 -> 24 megapixels
Vertical Grip VG-C77AM
16-50mm f/2.8 SSM
A65 -> Has the same 24 Megapixel sensor but less fps
NEX-7 -> I have beent told that this camera is a very serious [shoplink 6075 ebay]Fuji X100 (Click here to se it)[/shoplink] competitor!
NEX-5N -> An updated [shoplink 3003]Sony NEX-5[/shoplink] with new sensor
LA-EA2 with built-in Translucent mirror -> A revivial of the [shoplink 7642 ebay]Leica Visoflex (Click here to se it)[/shoplink] ;)
XGA external OLED viewfinder (works on NEX-5N only)
Zeiss 24mm f/1.8
Sony 55-210mm f/4-6.3 OSS
Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS
VG-20 -> successor of the [shoplink 3058]Sony NEX-VG10[/shoplink].

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

(SR5) New external OLED viewfinder for NEX-5N coming.

UPDATE: We just learned (Thanks sources for the correction) that the upcoming new external viewfinder will NOT (!) be compatible with the current NEX cameras! It only works with the NEX-5N which will be announced on August 23/24! It has 2,4 million dots and intelligent eye sensor. I don’t know the price yet…but it’s a bad news that it will not work on our current NEX-3/5 and NEX-C3!

P.S.: Once again I do invite you to stay tuned on SAR. Sony will really make an impressive announcement on August 23/24!!! Join us on Facebook, Twitter and follow our RSS-feed!

(SR5) More Tidbits about the A77 (definitely coming in early October, NEX-7 late October)

I received a couple of mini-rumors from different sources. I summed them up and here they are:

Source_1: A77 accuracy and video performance with new the auto focus is superb. OLED display is amazing. The A77 would be around $1200-1300 US and $1500-1600 with kit lens (16-50).
Source_2: A77 will have 11 cross type AF (UPDATE: This part has been corrected…was a typo)
Source_3: A77 auto-focus is indeed insanely fast.
Source_4: A77 will have fixed problem with x/sync when sss is turn on :) they will be no limit like now 1/160 sync when sss is on.
Source_5: Just a confirmation the A77 will start shipment in early October (in Asian countries first!). NEX-7 will start shipment 2 weeks after.

I am working on a bunch of new rumors. So stay tuned! As you know Sony will announce a huge amount of products on August 23/24!!! Join us on Facebook, Twitter and follow our RSS-feed!

If you have some more rumors to share contact me by using the anonymous contact form on the right sidebar. Name and email-address are NOT required and no hidden data (like IP-address) gets stored. You can also contact me (Andrea) at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

Support this site: I am having a lot of fun to work on SAR. I don’t use dozens of banners and I don’t get paid by any company to do what I do. All the work you see here is made by me during my free time. If you want to help me to cover the monthly server costs there is an easy way: Click on affiliate links you see on that website like [shopcountry 3028] to buy whatever product you want (it doesn’t have to be a camera) and I will earn a small commission from it. You don’t pay any penny more on the items you buy and at the same time you support SonyAlphaRumors without me having to put 100 banners on my website. Cool or not? Thanks :)

Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources (60-80% the rumor is correct)
SR5=almost certainly correct!