One month ago in many forums people started to say that Sony could release the long expected firmware for the A850 and the A900. We didn’t hear anything form our sources so we posted the “rumor” with a low value “SR2=from unkown sources”.
What we post now is a rumor from one of our trusted sources. The Sony A850 and the Sony A900 will be released in March!
I really hope Sony has been able to address all the critics we read in the forums during the last months!
UPDATE: I have no details about the new firmware. I was only told that it will be a “major update”.
Like you I have not been really happy to see mockups only at PMA. Normally when a company shows you something like that you get the feeling that you will have to wait a lot of time to wait before you can see the REAL cameras. But during the last days I received some surprising rumors! I am still waiting to get some confirmations from other source but I really believe Sony is going to surprise us…in a good way! No more mockups :)
So stay tuned, as soon as I can I will give you the good news!
P.S.: I hope the new layout is a step in the right direction. Now it should be easier for you to read our news..at least I hope so!
As you know since months SonyAlphaRumors is telling you that Sony is working on a Half-mirror (Pellix-mirror) camera. Click here to read the original rumor we posted on December 1 2009!
I remember many of you didn’t really believe in what we told you :)
Let’s start with the very interesting part:
“There is proposed a digital camera which is capable of simultaneously performing phase difference detecting AF by a phase difference detecting AF sensor and live view in which time-series images for determining a picture composition are electronically displayed on a display”
In fact Sony invented the Holy Grail of photography (and videorecording). You will be able to use the very fast Phase-Detection Autofocus during video recording. And no more mirror blackout during still photography. No noisy mirror movements! It will make less noise than a Leica rangefinder camera!
Or read the part below (copied from the patent text) which summarize everything very well:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
“However, in such a technology as described above, a half mirror is fixed to a camera body. Therefore, in actual photographing (in capturing a still image for record), light passing through the half mirror is used. That is, typically, an actual photographing image is generated using light passing through the half mirror at a predetermined transmittance to reach an image pickup device. As a result, a sufficient quantity of light may not be obtained in the image pickup device in actual photographing.
It is desirable to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of obtaining a sufficient quantity of light used in actual photographing in a configuration capable of simultaneously performing phase difference detecting AF and live view.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus including a half mirror, a phase difference detecting AF sensor, an image pickup device, and display means. The half mirror separates light from a photographing optical system into transmitted light and reflected light. The phase difference detecting AF sensor receives the reflected light reflected on the half mirror to detect a focusing state by a phase difference detecting method. The image pickup device receives the transmitted light passing through the half mirror to generate time-series images with respect to subject image light from the photographing optical system. The display means sequentially display the time-series images generated by the image pickup device. In the apparatus, the half mirror is provided so as to be movable between a first position on an optical path of the subject image light from the photographing optical system and a second position to which the half mirror is evacuated from the optical path of the subject image light, and when the half mirror is in the second position, the image pickup device generates an actual photographing image on the basis of the subject image light reaching the image pickup device from the photographing optical system without passing through the half mirror.”
P.S.: Sorry if I still didn’t manage to update the SonyAlphaRumors website design. I have been really busy at work. Will have time tomorrow to make everything :)
We don’t need to be a clairvoyant to see that Sony and Samsung will both play a big role in the future mirroless and interchangeable camera market. But what I really didn’t know until today is that both companies are working together with the Optrontec company which will produce the lenses for both mirrorless system..the one from Samsung and the one from Sony!
The Sony press release and mockups do not reveal anything about concrete specifications and release date. So we thought it would be nice to make a small summary of all the rumors we received from reliable sources.
Important note: What we post here are rumored specs, not official Sony specs! We collected the rumors from reliable sources (which gave me correct informations in the past) and added a probability percentage.
1) 50% chance this information could be true -> The System name will be “NEX”
2) 50% -> The first two cameras will be on market within June-July (The NEX3 and NEX5?)
3) 50% -> A more advanced mirrorless camera should be unveiled at Photokina and compete against the future Panasonic GH2
4) 80% -> In Lens stabilization (Sonys goal was ot make the mirrorless cameras as thin as possible)
5) 80% -> Built-in Flash
6) 80% -> Body price under 1000 USD
7) 80% -> First three lenses: 18-55/F3.5-5.6 / 16mm f/2.8 / 18-200mm (900-1000 USD)
50% = rumor comes from one trusted source only (the trusted soruce gave me correct informations in the past)
80% = rumor has been confirmed by one trusted sources + one or more new soruces
