The Japanese blog Egami found a new Sony patent that describes the characteristics for two new standard lenses. A new 50mm f/1.2 and a new 50mm f/1.4 fullframe lens. Those are the specs:

• Patent Publication No. 2011-107450
  • Published 2011.6.2
  • Filled 2009.11.18
• Embodiment 1
  • Focal distance f=49.98mm
  • Fno=1.442
  • Half angle of view 23.73 deg.
  • Asph. 1
• Embodiment 2
  • Focal distance f=51.54mm
  • Fno=1.443
  • Half angle of view 23.17 deg.
  • Asph. 0
• Embodiment 4
  • Focal distance f=51.55mm
  • Fno=1.233
  • Half angle of view 23.02 deg.
  • Asph. 1

I guess that those would be welcomed updated of the current 50mm f/1.4 from Sony. Check the specs and price of that lens by clicking those direct links: [shopcountry 7134]. A new and well praised alternative is the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 which you can get at [shopcountry 6765].

No announcement today? It doesn’t matter because I just got an even better “rumor” from a veeeeeery good source. He told me that Sony will not only launch the A35 next Wednesday and the A77 in July. There will be one more translucent camera to come!!! I am trying to get some more info about that. That’s a huge surprise!

The same source told me the A35 will replace the current A290/A390 cameras and become the new entry level DSLR camera from Sony. P.S.: The A35 price with 18-55mm kit lens will be around $699 (to high for an entry level camera?).

I am trying to get more info about the third SLT cameras. I am glad that I could at least give you one small good news after telling you about the announcement delay of the NEX-C3 and A35 :)

Links to the A290: [shopcountry 7126]
Links to the A390: [shopcountry 7127]

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!

Sorry guys! The A35 and NEX-C3 will be announced next week on Wednesday June 8th!!!

UPDATE: It sounds like there was a miscommunication between dealers and Sony. I have been told that one huge Sony dealer in UK had already NEX-C3 advertising displayed inside the store. He had to remove them :)

Really sorry for that, but I don’t know yet why that miscommunication happened. My two cent guess on that is that after the April delays caused by the Tsunami desaster the announcement roadmap had been quickly rescheduled and that might caused a comunication mistake. During the last couple of hours many sources contact me to tell me that June 8th is the definitive announcement date. So don’t worry, the new stuff is coming for real!

As you know tomorrow Sony will announce the NEX-C3 and A35 cameras. As usual I will keep you updated with links to press release, reviews, image samples adn so on. If you find some last minute leak or if you find news/reviews you can help me by sending the links to them. Thanks!

P.S.: There is not much to explain on the image above.

Today a source told me the Sony 500mm f/4.0 lens which was supposed to be announced on July 7 will be probably delayed…AGAIN! I don’t know the reason for that. It could depend from the recent power shortage problems and maybe other lenses will be prioritized. Don’t know :(

One more thing: While I got so many confirmations about the imminent A77 release I didn’t get any confirmation about the NEX-7 announcement. The last info I got over one month ago was that the NEX-7 will be announced along the A77. But since than I didn’t receive anything. Some of my sources may help me to figure out if something changed? Thanks!

For our readers: Be sure to be online on Friday Morning. Sony will announce the new A35 and NEX-C3 cameras. I don’t know the exact time but should be sometime between 7:00 and 9:00 (London time). You can join me on Facebook as I am often there to answer your questions. And on Twitter too of course!

Yesterday I posted the rumor about the A77 directional side-hinged LCD. The source that shared the info sent me a “rumor correction”. He said the side-hinge design was not chosen for the final production camera (it was here for one of the prototypes only). The final A77 camera will have a “wishbone hinge with a centre pivot”

The source apologizes for the mistake, it was not meant to mislead. He also added his thoughts about the A77: “I can confirm as others have noted to you that this model has a serious potential to be a Canon/Nikon killer. It is incredibly fast, precise and simply a dream to shoot with.”

The rumor has been upgraded from SR2 to SR4 because other sources confirmed the center pivot of the A77!

P.S.:Another trusted sources told me that High-ISO is surprisingly good for a camera having a 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor.

P.P.S.: The main competitors of the A77 are the..
Nikon 7000. Check [shopcountry 6952].
The Canon 7D. Check [shopcountry 6954].
Pentax. Check [shopcountry 6953].

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!