(SR5) Sony US to launch a new A99 superkit deal tomorrow (March 30)!

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According to multiple sources from different US stores Sony will launch a new A99 superkit deal with a very(!) considerable saving. This will be the first time Sony answers the aggressive price reduction from Canon and Nikon DSLR. Currently we have plenty of “cheap” FF:
– The Canon 6D sells for $1,770 on Amazon (Click here).
– The Nikon D600 sells for $1,996 on Amazon (Click here).
– The Nikon D800 sells for $2,796 on Amazon (Click here).
– The Canon 5D MarkIII sells for $2,996 on Amazon (Click here).

Something had to be done to make the A99 more competitive. Of course the A99 is radically different camera. But this isn’t simply enough to make it a hotseller. I never saw the A99 within the top 100 of the most sold DSLR camera rankings at Amazon (Click here to see the list). So let’s see tomorrow if Sony US new offer will be good enough! As longs as I know there is no plan yet to lower the price in other countries too. But there have been some smaller price drops in EU stores during the last week and that may be the reason why they will not offer a bigger deal in Europe (see price at Amazon DE).

P.S.: Don’t forget that Gary Friedmann released his new A99 book: http://friedmanarchives.com/alpha99/

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New Sony NEX-6 review. New APPs for the NEX-5r and NEX-6

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There is a new Sony NEX-6 tests at DigitalCameraReview (Click here). And like Dpreview also the DCR conclusions mentions as only drawback the “sometimes confusing menu system“. Otherwise the reviewer likes the camera: “The Sony NEX-6 is a great little camera and, one of my personal favorites“.

And if you are a lucky owner of the NEX-6 or NEX-5r you can download two new APPS for your camera at Playmemoriescameraapps.com.

NEX deals:
Three Open Box NEX-6 kits with $130 discount at [shoplink 17622 ebay]Samys (Click here)[/shoplink].
NEX-5r body for $486 at [shoplink 17623 ebay]6ave (Click here)[/shoplink].
Three Open Box NEX-7 kits with $100 discount at [shoplink 17626 ebay]Samys (Click here)[/shoplink].
Last two days of the NEX deals on Amazon Deals Page (Click here).

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Don’t get crazy. A-mount will remain alive!

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It’s three months now that I am waiting and working to get news about the new Sony roadmap. I told you that the SLT-FF cameras planed for 2013 have been taken off the map. Now, I am administrator of a rumor site and I have to remind you that we are not talking about official news.

That said… trust my words, the A-mount system is well alive and it will be so in future. Sony didn’t take off the SLT-FF cameras from the roadmap because they don’t believe in the A-mount system. The reason is another one. And that reason will be explained soon on SAR (as soon as I get an SR5 confirmation).

One more thing: When I write the A-mount is alive..I also mean that it will not rely on A to E mount adapters1 There will be 100% pure A-mount cameras in future. APS-C and Full Frame.

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Luminous Landscape still doesn’t really like the Electronic Viewfinders…

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There will be always discussions between people about the advantages or disadvantages of Electronic Viewfinder against Optical Viewfinders. In a recent short article Luminous Landscape admin describes “Why I Hate Electronic Viewfinders“. He says: “The reason why is that they are at best tiny TV sets, and as such have very low contrast ratios compared to the ability of the naked eye or a good optical or large DSLR viewfinder. In bright situations, where there is also deep shade, it can make visibility into the shadows when shooting highly compromised.”

It’s ture that current Sony EVF can’t give you the clarity of an Optical Viewfinder but I think that in time EVF will get very close to OVF. Plus you don’t have to forget that EVF gives you some inherent features that are simply non available on OVF. So let’s wait and see what the new generation EVF from Sony will be. 3+ Million dots for the NEX-7n sounds like a good improvement!

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First video of the Leica M Summicron lens with Autofocus on NEX.

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A couple of weeks ago I told you that Camera MX transformed a [shoplink 17307 ebay]Leica Summicron 35mm f/2.0[/shoplink] in a fully autofocus lens for NEX cameras. The video on top shows the working sample.

The Leica lens uses the [shoplink 17308 ebay]Contax G Biogon 28mm f/2.8[/shoplink] chassis to add AF on the lens.

Camera MX plans to release modifiy and sell five Leica M lenses: The [shoplink 17310 ebay]35mm f/3.5 (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 17307 ebay]Summicron 35mm f/2 (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 17309 ebay]Summicron 50mm f/2 (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 17311 ebay]Elmar 90mm f/4 (here on eBay)[/shoplink].

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The “old” Sony 2013 roadmap!

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I got an email from a very trusted source that show the now no more valid 2013 roadmap for the new Sony A-mount cameras and lenses. I repeat, it’s likely that the roadmap changed and the new SLT and the new SLT high resolution camera may not come at all:

A-mount Lenses
50mm f/1.4 Zeiss. Announced and available at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and SonyStore USA (via AlphaCameraDeals). In Europe at Wex UK and Amazon DE.
SAL 70-400F4-5.6G SSMII (announced and preorders up at Amazon and BHphoto).
SAL 400f28G SSM
SAL 70-200f28 ZA SSM
SAL 300F28G

All weather/dust sealed A-mount Cameras
SLT a88
FF-SLT a95
FF 36-38MP with integrated battery grip (on market 2014)

Why did the roadmap change? Usually companies plan years in advance and so did Sony. But the financial crisis now forced them to get rid of some camera developments and to focus on more sustainable investments. Two things has to be said clearly:

1) This is a roadmap posted on a rumor site and not an official Sony news. So don’t blame Sony for changing a roadmap they didn’t officially share. Always keep in mind that we are talking about rumors.

2) The A-mount will be kept alive fo a very long time.

Personal note: It’s very difficult to write reliable rumors when things are changing that quickly. I hope Sony will soon have the clear roadmap. That would be good for them and for us rumor fanatics :)

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