Sony RX10 gets Gold Award at Dpreview. Sony’s 1 inch sensor outclasses new Nikon V3 sensor!

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The RX10 outclasses the newly announced Nikon 1 V3!

The superb Sony RX10 just got the Gold Award at Dpreview.

While it takes quite a bit of head-scratching to figure out where the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 fits in the market, a few things are clear. First, in image quality terms, it’s the best big zoom camera on the market. Second, its video quality is top-notch, and Sony provides tools that work very well in most respects. Finally – and unfortunately – it’s very expensive, especially for a fixed lens camera.

And DxOmark tested the newly announced Nikon 1 V3 camera. Well, the 1 inch Aptina sensor used by the Nikon is quantum leaps behind the Sony 1 inch sensor used by the RX10 or RX100II.

RX10 store links:
Sony RX10 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, SonystoreUS.
Sony RX10 at Sony DE, UK, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, CH, AT, SE, FI, NO, PT, WexUK, WexDE.

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Up to $460 trade in credit on the A7 and A7r at BHphoto! A7r for $1,838.

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You almost can’t believe this: You can get up to $460 credit on the A7-A7r cameras when you trade in an old camera at BHphoto (Click here). And you can add the up to $650 lens and flash savings on top of that too!

Now I think the next FE camera isn’t really that far away from an announcement…

 

—Current Sony US deals:

Sony A99:
A99 with a free(!) grip for $2299 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Sony Store (Click bere).
Buy.com (now Rakuten) is selling the Sony A99 for $1,899.99 only. The offer runs out of time within the next couple of hours.

Sony A7 and A7r:
A7-A7r up to $650 savings are still running at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and Sony Store (Click bere).
You can trade it any camera you have (also a $10 cheap used compact) and get a $300 credit for the A7 or A7r purchase at Focuscamera (Click here) , Adorama (Click here) or BHphoto (Click here).

Sony RX10 and RX100II:
Save $240 on Select Accessories with the Purchase of the Sony RX10 Digital Camera at Amazon and SonyStore.
Save up to $550 on Select Sony Accessories with Sony RX1 Series Camera Purchase at Amazon.

“Old” NEX series:
Total of $398.90 free extras comes along the NEX-6 body at BHphoto (Click here).
Sony NEX-6 double lens kit for $869 via third party resellers at Amazon US (Click here).
Sony NEX-7 with two lenses and extras for $899 (substract the $100 gift card) at BHphoto (Click here).
NEX-3n with kit lens is again back in Stock for $299 only at Amazon US (Click here).

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(SR5 updated) Correction: Samyang will launch a fast 35mm Full Frame lens for Canon (and for Sony coming later). 10mm coming too.

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Image found by CanonWatch.

UPDATED: DicaHub (translated) clarified the rumors and said while they are sure there will be a fast 35mm lens they still don’t know if it’s an autofocus lens. The lens will be announced tomorrow morning (March 21). They will unveil a Canon mount version with a Nikon and Sony versions likely to follow later during the year. One more thing: I read on other rumor sites that this could be a f/1.2 fast 35mm lens!

There will be also a new Samyang 10mm f/2.8 ED AS NCS CS (manual focusing) lens and the picture can be seen here:

I still don’t know if the 35mm autofocus lens will come for both A and E-mounts!

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P.S.: Currently Samyang sells their lenses under different brands:
[shoplink 5759 ebay]Samyang[/shoplink]
[shoplink 5755 ebay]Walimex[/shoplink]
[shoplink 5756 ebay]Rokinon[/shoplink]
[shoplink 5757 ebay]Opteka[/shoplink]
[shoplink 5758 ebay]Falcon[/shoplink]
[shoplink 5760 ebay]Vivitar[/shoplink]
[shoplink 5761 ebay]Bower[/shoplink]

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Message to sources: You can send me more info anonymously by using the contact form you see on the very right of your browser. You can also contact me directly at sonyalpharumors@gmail.com.
For readers: Subscribe the RSS feed (Click here) and Twitter (Click here) stream and the Facebook fan page (Click here) in order to not miss any news!
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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!

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Sony Japan officially launches the PRO support service.

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Sony Japan officially launched the Sony PRO support. The admission fee is 5,000 YEN ($50) and the annual fee 100 Yen ($1). This is what you will receive in exchange:

  • 50% discounts on repairs
  • discount on Image sensor cleaning
  • you will receive rented equipment while your gets repaired
  • discount on product purchase
  • extra information (?)
  • dedicated support

Let me know if you can find the PRO support advertised in other countries! Thanks!

UPDATE: The same service is offered via Sony Hong Kong.

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First feedback on the A7-A7r firmware update improvements.

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A first menu and on/off speed test after the upgrade

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The A7 and A7r firmware update is finally available. Startup time, autofocus and the quality of high ISO JPG images improved. I would greatly appreciate if someone can share an image quality comparison to see the difference. I am at work now and have no time to do a proper testing yet. Anyway, here are a couple of feedbacks from SAR readers:

UPDATE: Here is a video from Jason Perry (Instagram) showing an increased AF performance.

Rowland: “I just updated my a7, it looks like sony did a great job this time. The camera do turn on quicker(not much but quicker is better :P ), and it seems the autofoucs speed is also incresed. And for the image quality, I think the greatest change is high ISO performance, especially form 1600 to 6400, the noise is reduced and maintain more details, and the false color is reduced dramatically.”

Minipixels: “Awesome! Definitely some improvements to AF and start up time but I’m still uncertain where the “image quality improvements” are….has anybody done any in-depth comparisons??”

Roy: “A7r: Startup is now 1 sec..Much faster. AF seems faster now as i tested it with the same lens on the NEX6 and it used to be slower now it’s faster!
NEX6: my 2470Z and 55Z are both now supported byt he camera with OSS (2470) and PDAF. Previously wasn’t.. Overall, it’s an update that actually improved something..Let’s hope Sony keeps this up.”

Arne “Startup time reduced from about 4 seconds to 1. AF in challenging low contrast against backlight seems to be improved too.”

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Firmware download links:

A7R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
A7
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
NEX5R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
NEX5T
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
NEX6
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia

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Sony A7-A7r, NEX-5T/R and NEX-6 firmware announced!!!!

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It’s here! The new Sony firmware has been announced and I kindly ask you to check the most important of the new additions: The Image quality improvement of the A7-A7r cameras. Let’s see if it’s a “real” noticeable improvement! Here are the download links:

A7R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia

A7
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia

NEX5R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia

NEX5T
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia

NEX6
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia

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Thanks Puggs for the links!

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