Alpha 580 review at Photoclubalpha!

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David Kilpatrick from Photoclubalpha posted a nine page long and very accurate Sony A580 review: “there is no better APS-C DSLR available from Sony.”

P.S: On page eight he writes about the flash delay issue: “Whatever the reason, the new generation suffers from flash exposure delays all round, and this one is set to cause Sony a problem. No matter what the explanation, if other makers can provide near real-time flash and all the other required features, Sony should be able to do so too.” Hope Sony is listening…

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Sony NEX rules in Japan (+ Amazon rankings)

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Watch out Canon and Nikon! Sony is coming! The latest weekly BCNranking report shows how two Sony NEX-5 cameras made it into the top 4 of the most sold system cameras. A wonder where the [shoplink 3003]NEX-5[/shoplink] would be if we would sum the black and white model sales numbers!

But how is the rest of the world doing? There are no such reliable rankings. But we can take a look at Amazon rankings:
In US Canon and Nikon are dominating the scene (Click here to see the US ranking). You can find the NEX and Translucent camera only one the second page. But please keep in mind the [shoplink 3617]A55[/shoplink] is not in Stock right now. That could explain the low sales.
In UK the Sony A290 is selling well (Click here to see the UK rankings). But for the rest we have the same US scenario….Canon and Nikon are dominating.
In Germany we have the same story. Canon and Nikon are on top (Click here to see the Amazon Germany ranking).
Also in France the Sony A290 is the best sold camera (Click here to see the Amazon France ranking).
Where Sony is doing very well is in Italy (Click hee to see the Amazon Italy rankings).

As you see the European and American market is less “mirrorless” oriented and very conservative. Classic DSLR cameras are still dominating the camera world.

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Sony Tidbits

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Sony DSLR and David Bittner

Nikonos underwater lens adapter for Sony NEX ([shoplink 4931]eBay[/shoplink]).

Using the Sony NEX-5 with Leica Lenses by Paul Barclay (Steve Huff).

Sony DT 50mm f/1.8 SAM Interchangeable Lens Review (ePhotozine).

Nikon D3100 vs Sony NEX-5 at Dpreview.

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(Patent) Sony is playing with the idea to make a compact translucent camera! + new type of translucent mirror

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Sony just filed a new patent which discloses a new translucent camera design. It looks like Sony wants to create a sort of [shoplink 3003]NEX[/shoplink]-Translucent hybrid camera ;)
UPDATE: The patent clearly shows a A-mount camera (not a NEX E-mount).
Sony wants to get rid of the electronic viewfinder to reduce the size of the new SLT camera. The new camera looks like a NEX camera although it will be certainly be much thicker because of the semitransparent mirror.

Let’s read the official patent description:

“In recent single-lens reflex digital cameras, a display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel is disposed on the back of a camera body such that an image inputted to an image pickup device can be viewed using the display. For example, there has been proposed a single-lens reflex digital camera, having no optical viewfinder, that allows a user to take photographs while the user checks an image using a display disposed on the back of a camera body. In such a structure, an autofocus detecting device is disposed at an upper position in the camera body and light reflected by a light-beam splitting mirror can be guided to the autofocus detecting device. However, when light-beam splitting mirrors disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 4 are used, the light quantity of transmitted light guided to an image sensor is increased compared with that of reflected light to improve the quality of photographed images. As a result, the light quantity of photographing light guided to an autofocus detecting device becomes insufficient.“….”The present invention can provide a light-weight small-size digital camera.”

And there is one more interesting news. Depending on the light wavelength the mirror reflects more or less light: “A sufficient quantity of subject light can be guided to an autofocus detecting device by adjusting the reflectivity to light with a wavelength to which the autofocus detecting device has high sensitivity to 25% or more and 35% or less, which can solve a problem in that light quantity becomes insufficient for autofocus detecting“…”When autofocus auxiliary light is used to perform photographing on a subject having a low contrast or in a dark place, the returned light out of the autofocus auxiliary light can be reflected at a reflectivity higher than that of light having a different wavelength and guided to the autofocus detecting device“.

As usual keep in mind that patents are not real products (for now)!

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Sony A580 review by Cgarrard (part two)

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Cgarrard from Alphamountworld published the second part of the Sony A580 review: “Sony’s A580 is the most fun to use DSLR that Sony has produced to date. I’ve used every Sony DSLR they have manufactured, owned most of them, but this one has yet to leave my side.” And how does the A580 compare with the Translucent A55? “In comparison to the SLT series I believe that less video and a couple other mentionables, the A580 is a superior value to an Alpha photographer.”

As you know Cgarrard lately critized Sony products strategy. So the fact he likes the A580 a lot is good news for us and for Sony ;)

And the good news is that unlike the A55 the A580 is in Stock almost everywhere:
Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon DE, Amazon FR, Pixmania DE, Pixmania BE, Pixmania AT, Pixmania UK, Pixmania NL, Pixmania PL, Pixmania IT.


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Is the Fuji X100 using a Sony CMOS sensor?

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Image courtesy: Quesabesde

One of the most popular cameras on the world wide web is the Fuji X100 prototype (yes it’s not on market now!). And I just read an interesting Interview on Quesabesde where Hiroshi Kawahara, Operations Manager at Fujifilm Electronic Imaging Products Division talks about the FinePix X100:

“Question: It has been said that the sensor used is similar to that seen in some Nikon SLR cameras, and therefore manufactured by Sony. Can this information be confirmed?
Answer: The sensor of the FinePixX100 is customized to match its lens. We should point out that the most important thing is not who produces the technology but the technology in itself, and in this sense Fujifilm optimizes its technologies depending on the photographic result being pursued at any given time.”

So after Nikon and Pentax now even Fuji is using Sony sensors? It would be nice if Fuji could give us something back, would love to see a NEX camera with that cool Hybrid Viewfinder!

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