A dozen (yes a dozen!) of European stores just sent me messages to tell me that they got an important invitation from Sony. These are big and very small store owners. They told me that Sony invited them for a very important meeting where Sony will show them something “BIG” in the digital camera market (that’s the word used by Sony). Every store got different meeting days. But these are all days in the week between the 14 and 18 of October.
I am going to share one of the mail I received from a small store owner (Thanks to the anonymous sender). This is what he wrote:
“I work at a small camera retail store in a small country in Europe. Yesterday we got mail from Sony. There will be a meeting on October 18.
And the fact, that we get an invitation, means it must be something big. Every other announcement Sony makes, we get via mail. On the next day…
It didn’t say, what will be announced. But… Last time our Sony representative told us, that there will come a “Full Frame NEX 7” soon.“
I repeat the public announcement date isn’t known yet. These are only a sort of “private meeting”. But the NEX-9 Full Frame camera will be definitely official for the PhotoPlus show in NYC!
Note: This is the first time even small store owners got an invitation. It shows you how “BIG” an important the announcement is. New RX, NEX-FF, ILCE cameras and many Zeiss and Sony lenses will be announced. I am very excited…and you?
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Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
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SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!
126 Responses
Yay… and I still hope for A-mount stuff, or ILCE-7 with IBIS,… and A77 FW…
But nice to see this Sony revolution 🙂
A mount stuff will come out next year. Only a lens or two in this year.
That’s right, folks. The upcoming release is going to be really big! Not as big as my massive cock, but it will be somewhat big none the less.
SUCK MY BALLLZZZZZ!
Admin,
Do you happen to know if IBIS and weather sealing are present in the camera?
thanks 🙂
hope to get an answer soon…
Hope there is, then I’l be converting…
[2]
Right on, won’t be buying any of these early models but it’s still exciting time! Hope they release that 1.8/85 – I sure could use that already on my NEX-6.
thanks for the info admin, are there any further rumours on the sensor based AF , if this was to become a reality in could be huge for Sony.
If only they would release their FF Foveon-lookalike sensor at the same time! Or should we go on waiting?
A pro model MUST have a viewfinder. And then Zeiss 21mm, 100mm lenses, and zooms 16-40, 24-105, 60-180, fixed F4 ?
Well, we should be getting more leaks soon.
I just hope that this will kick Fuji to release some FF X-Pro, NEX will be probably based on tri-navi I’m not big fan of.
Ha, interesting, I’m not a fan of that shutter dial. But it would be better to have more than only Sony’s option for a FF mirrorless.
yep, it would (I hope) push prices down. who else apart from Sony, Fuji and Samsung has mirrorless APS-C cameras, I guess only Canon. So I hope that others will follow Sony with their FF versions so competition can become fierce once again 🙂
It depends on NEX-9 success, I think. Nobody followed VG900 example.
not many companies are in that business though
Let them follow, but not too quick 🙂 So Sony have time to figure out their mess of a lineup and support.
Of course it would be nice to have more FF compact cameras being developed. It all depends on sourcing, however, and how much the ‘source’ of this tech is going to bank on your company for essential parts (like the sensor).
Who makes the Fuji sensor? I believe I read a few times that it was sourced from Sony and Fuji only made the CFA for it. Am I wrong?
Olympus and Panasonic are unlikely to develop anything outside the 4/3 format.
So that leaves us with Fuji, Ricoh, Sigma, Canon, Nikon.
Of the above, I imagine Fuji may or may not have the resources (personnel and financial) to pursue a FF camera R&D. We know how difficult it is for a company to think of a new camera, simply because the camera must come with lenses to make it a system. Their X system is so far doing well, so, would they have the motivation to pursue a new project altogether?
Ricoh and Sigma…only time will tell. A FF M Mount module? I read somewhere the GR modules went out of production not long ago. Is this true?
Canon and Nikon do have the resources to get into this game. Nikon has so far either been complacent or they really believe in the 1 system so much they are unwilling to compete with the already established (and very fluid) APS-C competition. Maybe its difficult for them to see a FF mirrorless with the Nikon badge in the near future.
Canon probably the sleeping giant here. But I can never tell whether they believe they can keep on sucking the EF mount SLRs cinema credentials thanks to the 5D2 success and the market it generated instead of truly innovating and bringing compelling offerings beyond SLRs. EOS M, as per their estimate, has not sold as well as they thought although the camera is, essentially, a 60D/7D in miniature form without the PDAF. The 70D may provide a glimpse into a possible new EOS M camera (apparently coming out very soon) that may prove more compelling. EOS M also has a glaring lack of lenses only reminiscent of Sony’s early NEX line up.
Because of the small shops invites Admin speaks about, I can imagine the following:
– Sony needs bigger front line push for the type of customer who does not go beyond amazon, BH, calumet. To attract these individuals with “Are you interested in a Full Frame camera but don’t like the SLR size and can’t see yourself using a MF rangefinder? Sony developed this…” is a very important marketing strategy.
– Sony also needs more products “in store” for people to try. I know a small vendor that has two shops in the country. Because of the price and niche appeal of the RX1, they only had one on show alternating between the shops every week.
– FF NEX will have a broader appeal, but Sony also needs to tell the shop owners that they ought to pass the important info towards the customer: “small, FF, compact, adaptable lenses, prime AF lens, compact, IQ, sensor X, blah blah” so the main message comes across right.
I’d love to see FF Foveon 🙂 well, if you could use it at ISO3200. My DP2M is the only digital camera I own which produces photographs which are somewhere else when it comes to IQ than current APS-C/FF but only up to ISO800.
What I don’t like is the current trend of stuffing lenses with more and more electronics which makes them almost impossible to use on other bodies. I wish that era of mechanical lenses come back.
I know what you mean. I used to have a DP1 (the original with the f4 lens) and loved it but found it very limiting. Not just the f4 lens, but the ISO performance.
I know the merrills are a step forward (faster lens and better higher ISO) but still, too limiting compared to the conventional tech.
Because I need high ISO performance, I couldn’t see myself getting another Sigma DP. If I did landscapes, however, I would be working exclusively with them.
Fuji would have the resources if they wanted to commit them – they are a bigger and more profitable company than Nikon – but cameras are only a small part of their business. They also have a long history of making specialized cameras for niche markets and long experience in designing lenses and cameras for all sorts of formats. I read somewhere that some of the X-lenses already cover a FF imaging circle and that the X-mount was designed from the begining to allow for a FF sensor.
I expect Canon and Nikon have all kinds of cameras on the drawing boards – maybe even early prototypes of cameras we never see – If a clear matket for pro/enthusiast full frame mirrorless cameras develops which would significantly eat into their full frame DSLR sales – how long do you think it would take them to step in with competing models?
I forgot to add to the above.
I believe that Fuji is the most likely contender to bring a FF competing product. However, not in the near future.
The reason why I don’t think Canon and Nikon are likely to do is because I bet their execs boards think: “Well, how much more money can we really make out of mirrorless? Do we really need to do that now? Are we comfortable as we are going?”
Whereas for Fuji, when they brought the X100 was: “We’ve got nothing out there. Here goes something and however it goes, its still a winner in our books” As it won, then the X cameras came in with: “Well, we appear to be going in the right direction and there is momentum in this ‘mirrorless market’ where only Sony with their immature NEX system has APS-C sensors. Let’s have a go at it. However it goes, it’s still a winner in our books”
Sony with FF is thinking similarly to Fuji. They got little to loose. R&D money spent is still full of patents for them to sell or license down the line if any of their products fails. However, seeing that only Leica has a piece of the compact FF pie, they must have thought: “Well, let’s have a go at it. Maybe Focus Peaking alone will be the reason to buy a FF NEX and help others adapt their lenses”
“Maybe Focus Peaking alone” – Leica has focus peaking
Leica’s peaking implementation in the 240 is the worst of the bunch. You can’t even select or move the zoom location around.
@ John Maverick – that’s true, but it’s there 😉
@Hexx
Yes, but…what John said. I wonder why, though, the implementation is not at least as good as that of the Ricoh cams. I don’t know about the implementation on Fuji, but I imagine its at least very competent.
@ Hendrick – to be honest I don’t use focus peaking on my X-Pro1, I use good old magnification when needed because:
1. find it distracting
2. works only on contrast areas
So, after some time spent playing with it I went back to magnification. I can imagine benefits for somebody who needs to have fast MF assist feedback, then focus peaking is definitely beneficial but i’m a slow/deliberate shooter.
I’m hoping that Sony brings out something better than the current focus peaking. Something that uses the data from the PDAF array to enhance visualization. Fuji’s split view focusing aid is really cool but like their cameras it is hamstrung by its own retro-cool-ness.
Sony should do something that ONLY an EVF could do. Make all the in focus areas in color and the rest of the image black-and-white. Or vice-versa. THAT would be killer feature that would have all but the most hard core dentists … errr… Leicaphiles running to the Sony camp. Oh, and it would be useful.
Funny how tastes vary, TriNavi is the one reason I have 7 over 6 (besides looks and build). I actually prefer the 6’s sensor, but the TriNavi is affictive like crack cocaine !
I found this particularly interesting, especially that we are sharing the same activity. I wonder where these tastes stem from. Is it old vs new or is it related to the way people want to shoot or smth else?
Same as you, I went for the NEX-7, I need two proper dials. The NEX-6 didn’t even enter the equation as it was almost the same price and I am landscape shooter.
@ Claire, Vlad – I guess it’s all down to personal preference. I still shoot film and I always found it logical to have aperture on the lens and shutter speed on a dial. With ISO setting this is simply trio which directly affects exposure so I want to see my settings without looking at LCD/EVF and prefer to have them on some sort of knobs/dials. I feel somehow more connected with camera when I have physical and visual feedback to my settings and I mostly shoot in manual mode even though cameras offer fully automated operation (P, A, S). It makes me think, it forces me to get most out of the shots and if something fails I know it was me and I know where I need to improve, I have full understanding of what’s being captured and how and can easily pre-select settings with camera being off for given conditions.
I’m with you here, except that with habit I can shoot my 7 without taking it off my eye and modify ISO, aperture or shutter at the turn of a knob/wheel. When I tried the XE-1 I found the aperture ring on the 35/1.4 to be too easily knocked off, and the shutter dial to go only full “stops”, if you need intermediary setting it still depends on pushing buttons…
But I totally understand user interface is a totally personal things, many people can’t live with the NEX’s, but give me Oly menus and I’ll shoot myself dead, lol.
Or Leica. Competition is good. Here’s hoping they don’t forget about A-mount.
I was playing with the Fugi X Pro (whatever the top of line camera is) at the Digital Show camera expo on the weekend. I really liked the hybrid view finder but all the Fugi cameras are so laggy
in comparison with?
Other cameras.
dSLR? NEX7 definitely doesn’t feel snappier than X-Pro1, EM-5 maybe, but that one feels almost as fast as dSLR
I see that a price of US$ 3000 has been mentioned, and that a Nikon D800E can be had for around 2600. Surely sony must keep their price down around 2000, despite all the hype! (For Rip-Off Britain, read $ = £!) The rival will almost certainly be Fuji FF, if we can wail until 2014.
The D800 was $3000 at launch – and it is a lot bigger camera. While a D800 is perfect for some kinds of photography, a full frame camera the size of a NEX will be better for others.
Has there been any info regarding the new a77 and video specs? I currently shoot with a BMCC + adapted Sony and Nikkor lenses (solely Sony once the A > MFT Speed Booster is released) and need a B-cam (the clear choice is obviously the BMPCC) but I am huge Sony fan and am waiting for the announcements in the hopes that one of the cameras has good video specs.
I’m hoping for a a7000, I’m like the body of the a3000 but the IQ isn’t really doing for me.
Wooo cant wait for the ff nex to come… n with olympus 5axis stabilizer… and removed aa filter.. that will be heavenly match
@Admin: Is the name “NEX-9” also already SR5?
That name wouldn’t do justice to the camera. I am proposing NEX-FFF (Full Fing Frame).
Subtitle for the NEX FFF?
“For Those Who Do The Shafting” (?)
Sony should hire us, we’ll make this thing sell, the blockbuster way.
I want my private jet. At least.
I also want every prototype they have in store.
Consider this possibility- they are selling a few cams inspite of you 2 crapping about!
Yeah, I’ll show up with a short skirt 😉 We’d be a cracking selling team !
Based on the fact that Vlad and Claire appear to be a SAR couple, I think it’s a good idea. Hendrick (the real Hendrick) plus those two would be a hell of a team. Hendrick will be knighted as Sir Hendrick, the Almighty Sales Manager and Director of All Things Sony, then you’ve got Vlad the Canikon Impaler, and Claire will be Claire the Closer; the energizing force and cheerleader with her short skirt.
And explosions! The whole background is explosions! Done.
I am liking the knighthood there.
Let’s please not forget the intercontinental private jet.
I mean, I’m pretty sure our combined skills are worth it.
After advocating for anything Sony (by the way, I’m looking at that walkman that can play FLAC files now) I want to jet-set to Harrods and then KaDeWe.
Damn. I’ll even queue like those Xbox kids outside camera shops waiting for the latest Canon/Nikon release…then go outside (where the queue is) and smash the cameras to bits in front of everybody and shout “SONY!” and run half naked down the street.
All of that…for the private jet and the ultra-platinum-diamond corporate expense card.
well, not a real life couple, but I admit I find the name Vlad dangerously seductive, lol
My paragraph was not very clear. Game console fans wait outside game shops to get their mitts on the newest consoles every release. I haven’t seen that happen for a camera launch before…but if it did ever happen for any of the big two, I would queue for it and leave a crowd of photographers in shock.
That is only possible with that credit card I’m talking about because no way I would spend $$$$ from my own wallet to shatter a D4 or 1Dx.
Think of that as a marketing tactic; Sony gives you a credit card to go into a popular Canon or Nikon launch and come outside and smash cameras. I think they’d go for it. After you smash it, then you put one foot up on the smashed camera, rip your shirt off to reveal a Sony shirt, and whip out the mirrorless Sony and get killer photos of the stunned Canikonites.
I guess on a A100R (R = Reprise)
just words … no important action by Sony since a lot of months, no important firmware updates for sold products … still annoying. I hope Sony’s new expensive cameras reach the build quality as the new E-M1 from Oly.
that’s a hell of a camera, been reading through reports last weekend (was raining here) and it looks really really good, also the price seems to be perfect for what it is
Is there any technical reason to explain how sony can produce FF lenses smaller than DSLR FF lenses? Nex lenses are a touch smaller than APSC DSLR lenses, but I wouldn’t call it significant. I wonder how many people are going to complain when lenses for any FF mirrorless are almost as big and heave as FF DSLR lenses.
lack of mirrorbox in mirrorless camera could be one of them
The absence of the mirror box allows wide angle lens designs to be smaller and simpler. It doesn’t make much difference, if any, with longer lenses.
then i have ran out of ideas why 🙂
They can make smaller lenses, simply by using smaller apertures. An f2.8 set of 21, 28, 35 primes is good enough for street shooting, especially if they can make high ISO performance good enough.
The only other option is to take out the motor – I’d probably use m lenses for the FF nex if compactness is the goal.
traditionally the lack of mirror slap (part of having a mirror box) meant that you could shoot at a lower shutter speed (.5-1stop perhaps) and still get acceptably sharp photos. So you could therefore get the same shot with a slightly slower/smaller lens.
I still think of it as an advantage but I feel its hard to quantify in this age of stabilization and high megapixel sensors.
great – I really hope they don’t remove the AA filter, unless they will use micro lenses and go the Leica path. The RX1R is not much sharper than the RX1. Same story goes with D800 and the D800E. Even the Fuji XE1 gets owned by an 18 megapixel APS-C Canon with kit lens on sharpness.
NEX-9 with IBIS and RX1 menu system = instant buy!
even with an astronomical price and 2 lenses?
The E mount works with 200 Million lenses.
Where have you been in last year? People around here don’t care about amount of native lenses, nor price, nor things like “system”.
Well, huge Canikon FF lenses and huge FF bodies doesn’t rock my boat. I prefer bokeh on Sony and Zeiss lenses over Canon or Nikon.
Then to me it’s fun to use both legacy and native glass.
“Same story goes with D800 and the D800E” – from what i’ve read, it sounds like D800E still does have AA filter but cancelled out (whatever that means)
It always fascinates me how subjective even seemingly objective things are in photography! While I hope there isn’t an AA filter on the FF NEX I almost agree with you that the difference is subtle in most instances. However, the idea that Canon’s 18mpx APS-C sensor with a kit lens owns the Fuji’s is crazy to me from what I’ve seen of both. Never seen a 1:1 shoot off but seem plenty of samples of both. I think at this point the NEX system is a bit more flexible and polished than the Fuji but I can’t fault their lens/sensor combos in the least. I’d be fascinated to see pictures to back up your claim.
Have a read here, interesting article: http://www.martin-doppelbauer.de/foto/tippstricks/aliasfilter/index.html
Surprising outcome.
Surprising, but the Fuji hardly gets “owned” here.
What do you mean? Fuji has been hyping about the lack of AA filter and sharpness rivalling higher Mpix FF sensors, and then it turns out a 18Mpix Canon with kit lens sharper, how is that not getting owned?
It just gets worse for Fuji with the pseudo random color array that makes life difficult for RAW file convertors.
In conclusion, I don’t see significant advantage in omitting the AA filter. Perhaps in some situations, but I would like to see a good test proving that.
Well, yes, if you are comparing with Fuji’s marketing, sure. Otherwise it performs like a very nice APS-C sensor, no more, no less.
Agreed, a very good APS-C like the other 16 Mpix Sony sensors but with suboptimal RAW support (unless LR support at last is as it should be), no more no less 😉
The results are surprising but I agree with Vlad it hardly gets owned.
Also using anything coming from a Fuji X-Trans sensor as proof that all AA filterless designs are invalid/”only hype” is suspect because the X-Trans design itself is a confounding variable in testing. It requires different and (at this time) more difficult processing. From my cursory research/reading the quality/resolution of the RAW files depends heavily on the developer. Irident Developer is supposed to be the current best for the X-Trans. Capture One is a great developer but may not have been the best choice for this test.
If this test had been done with say an M Typ 240 shooting through the same adapted Canon glass and gotten the same results then it would be more convincing. Or, even better, between a D800 and D800E. That said the author does make some good points and given me things to think about. At the end of the day when seeing real world comparisons I see a different (albeit a slight one) between the D800 and D800E and between the RX1 and RX1R.
Also a thinner or absent AA filter seems to help with incident light angles which is a bigger concern that I have than a tiny increase in resolution. I don’t think it is just marketing hype that has kept Leica from having those on its M cameras.
The difference between filter or no filter for telecentric lenses is pretty small – eg. RX1 versus RX1r or any slr lens on a d800 versus d800e.
But this story changes for high-incidence lenses, and is the reason Leica have never used them. Leica even eliminated the IR cut filter on their first digital m8 to try and limit refraction effects in the sensor layers.
+1 reading a bit more about this today. I think that may be the reason (well I hope that may be reason) why Sony is playing with AA-less cameras like the RX1R. If the FF NEX lacks an AA filter I think it will go a long way towards working better with symmetrical or near symmetrical designs. I don’t expect perfection–after all some symmetrical designs like the hologon vignette heavily even on film–but something significantly better than the VG900.
Perhaps reaching out to the shop is the beginning of a new support/sales initiative for Sony? At this point any small shop staying a live is doing something right. Support them and maybe they will help you sell more cameras? Make them part of your support network (if nothing else a place to drop off repairs and get basic service) and the local shops will feel more apart of a team.
Really nothing to be happy or alarmed at, we already knew it was coming, youve posted like 5 times in the past 2 weeks its coming in late september-october, so nothing new here. We need rumors, not dates 2 times a week for something we yet dont know how it is, only that its full frame and we´ve known that for quite some time
😀 hehehe, nice.
omg what’s wrong with you Joe?! who forced you to come here in the first place? unbelievable.
man, ive been coming here long before you did (and Im sure about that) for quite some years, and I really appreciate Andrea´s work (search my posts), but what I stated is true, you know it, everyone knows it, there is NOTHING NEW IN THIS NEWS
This is just a confirmation that the camera is going to be annoucned for the PDN show. No other website gave you that news before. It’s only thanks to SAR that it’s known. Juts be patient a bit and specs will leak out soon!
right. stating the obvious and complaining for the sake of it. nice.
Not much has been said of the moving sensor to focus. For me this would be outstanding.
I think the perfect camera would be a rangefinder style camera with an inbuilt evf on the left hand side. Having a moving sensor (18mm) would beef up the camera in size (I find the NEX’s a bit on the small side for my taste/hands.
So imagine the impact on lenses for a camera with IBIS and sensor focusing. The lenses could be made extremely compact. They wouldn’t need in lens stabilizing, focusing motors and most incredibly of all no focusing helicoid. Imagine a range of those lenses. And then of course being able to autofocus your old favourite classics.
Hope the NEX-9 is WEATHER SEALED. and maybe with the OLY IS/VR?
Faster low light AF and CAF.
For me a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 would ROCK! 35mm is covered very well for me by the RX1.
imho, a High RES AA LESS sensor and some great lens would move UP the DXO scores. That would be Critical in helping SELL a us$3,000 compact.
It’s GOT to have scores like the RX1r. to Keep the Ball Rolling.
Then throw in PDAF/CDAF on sensor and good CAF, EVF , flip LCD to solve the issues of the RX1.
Notice RX1r is #9 on the lens list. Top Sony before that is way down at #80
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/en/Lenses/Camera-Lens-Ratings
If you think that is ok, think about how well the a99 worked out. Seriously. Sales wise. vs the D800 or D600 with the same sensor. (and in Nikon terms the D600 was not as great sales wise as it should have been , soooo D610 quickly)
BUT, imho it’s GOT TO review well (Hard Core Numbers) … and with PROS. as did the RX1. RX1r is #9 on the DXO lens list. Imagine if it was 36mp? it would be higher. How much in Advertising cost is that worth?
Because that is giving SONY credibility.
At this pricepoint, you need a TON of that. It’s going head to head with the D800! (price wise)
D610 is a quick rehash fixing the oil splatter issue of the D600. It’s not dictated by low sales
Did you see that the RX1R got lower score than the RX1 on DXOMark?
could this nex-ff be a zeiss digital ikon? avialable with m-mount?
Doubt that very much, but a digital Ikon would be great.
+ 1
Would be great. Especially with features for manual focusing, improved over the standard of the Sony Nex: focusing balance in addition to focus peaking.
Zeiss! Somebody listening? Your M-mount lenses would fly….
Why does it need a built-in M-mount? I talk about this in my blog but Sony could borrow a page from Fuji’s playbook and create a custom adapter that adds functionality like correct EXIF data and the like.
http://camerablog.joelrichards.com/2013/08/full-frame-sony-nex-new-digital-zeiss-ikon/
Ha, interesting. That post “NEX Full-Frame Already Obsolete?”. A bit too technical, but very nice.
And I see you are also waiting for Aperture X!
Yeah, I’m always rooting for the under dogs. Although in the 90’s when I was primarily Mac & Linux based everyone thought I was crazy!
Seriously though I almost made the jump to Lightroom and then Adobe moved everything to the cloud. In the end I’m just a bit of a value-whore. There are few features I wish I had in Lightroom but I can legally install Aperture on ALL my Macs (well, up to 5) and without paying “rent” to Adobe. That’s a pretty amazing value.
Tell me about it, I am a long time Mac user too. I simply can’t get used to that Lightroom interface.
What about the ILCE? Any news about the sensor shift tech?
My bet: just a nex7-like full frame camera with on chip PDAF, IBIS and adaptor for the alpha mount lenses (so we can directly start with a great set of lenses). Sounds quite good already 🙂
I still wonder what’s the BIG event Sony is talking about? Big for Sony and big for retailers. Definitely not the release of a niche product capable of running legacy glass…
IMHO:
NEX-FF (NEX-7 like): A competent inception of the NEX-FF series, reasonable price: $2000
NEX-FF w/t IBIS: A Leica killer, reasonable price:$2000-3000
NEX-FF w/t IBIS+sensor shift autofocus: One camera to rule them all! reasonable price: $3000+
PS: Given that the film-shift-range of CONTAX AX is only 10mm, incorporation of such a mechanism might be difficult but not impossible. The 20% volume increase of NEX-FF than NEX-FF could be all in its thickness, who knows!
The last sentence should be:
The 20% volume increase of NEX-FF than NEX-7 could be all in its thickness, who knows!
Sorry for the typo.
Exciting! Looking forward to seeing if this will help Sony’s “universe”.
The price is way out of my range, tho’. I’ll consider it if it comes down to $1600-2000 some day.
When one is no longer paying for the (“Nikon Chorus”) mirror slap, with associated mechanism and prism, there can be no justification for charging anything over 2000 £/$, except for image stabilisation. The rest would be a rip-off premium, that Sony might hope some will pay in their eagerness — until the competition catches up. An ‘honest’ firm (such as ? Fuji) would set the right price from the start. Likewise with lenses.
You have an interesting view. Justification? Honest firm? Are you serious?
Need I remind you that the Fuji X-pro1 was selling initially for 1700US? The right price from the start!
considering that they brought camera with unique sensor and hybrid VF they asked $500 on top of NEX-7 which was the only available competitor at that time – justified? I guess so as Fuji sold many of them. I bought mine when there was a promo where if you bought body and one lens you could claim another lens for free.
I’d argue that the Sony 24MP sensor is as special, the NEX-7 doesn’t have the multitude of issues the X-Pro had and it is also the better featured camera overall. 500US for the OVF? Anyway, my point isn’t to bash Fuji, but that every company is there for the money and that prices are not based simply on production costs.
Right so Sony will offer a camera with a unique sensor (new FF design) and better VF (3+million dots) and it will be ~$500 more than the X-Pro1. By your logic the Sony pricing makes sense!
Yes, Fuji got the price/value ratio right with their lenses (well better than most Sony designs) but their bodies are pricey, no way around that. Worth it? Maybe to you but then maybe to some people the advantages of this new FF NEX will be worth the premium too.
Joel, I’d actually say that Sony also got the price/value ratio for their lenses right, when looking at competing mirrorles offerings.
Vlad, I don’t think Sony is totally off the mark and I don’t think their lenses are terrible. I just think the Fuji lenses compare well against Sony’s premium lenses while being a bit cheaper. I do think they are bit over-hyped while Sony’s lenses get dogged on unjustifiably at times. (the industry never moved past the narrative that E-mount lacks lenses and that Fuji launched with three decent primes and so has had a more complete lineup ever since–despite that never really being the case)
I agree though that it is easy to forget how revolutionary the NEX-7 was when it came out. There was nothing else like it on the market. Also, mid-range/prosumer APS-C DSLRs were as expensive or more so.
I wasn’t arguing against your comment, just adding to it 🙂 Looking at lenses like the 35mm f1.4 and the NEX 1.8, they are priced in a very balanced way relative to each other.
Any news about LA-EA4?
you mean a motorized version of LA-EA3 to use lenses with the screw drive?
yea, i’m totally excited but my wallet is going to be ‘depressed’.
Any chance of a full frame 9000??
we have the 3000, and if they are pushing full frame NEX, why not throw a 9000 in there as well? I guess it could kill sales of a NEX9, but if you had 2 cameras with different formats/bodies, I would expect you would sell to a wider group?
It seems extremely likely that they will eventually. As far as I know no one is sure what the two first models will be like except that one will be similar to the NEX-7 and one will be more expensive.
Personally I think if this Z-shift sensor rumor is real it will be in an SLR shaped body like the A3000. That’s just an educated guess though.
I really hope they can bring out two models with different pixel count. Maybe a 36mp “landscape” body and a 18-24mp body with comparable hi iOS performance to the RX1.
Sony should also make their own NEX-M adapter, preferably with 6-bit reading or a switch to change lens profiles. An LA-EA4 will also be VERY welcome…
Same sensor in two coming models, so far.
Will this NEX-FF support Canon and Nikon lenses out of the box without the need for any adapters? I remember reading somewhere here in one of the rumors that there is something in store for Nikon and Canon users when the NEX-FF would be announced. So I’m just wondering if it is time to sell me Nikon DSLR body and my NEX-6.
Pretty well impossible without an asapter. Perhaps Dony will produce their own adapters for Canon and Nikon lenses the way Fuji does for Leica lenses.
sorry Dony = Sony / asapter = adapter. Unfamiliar keyboard.
I really hope that Sony has learned this important lesson:
Give the new cameras a fully articulated LCD screen that enables proper portrait mode viewing instead of the neck-breaking difficulty one has to go through currently.
What’s so difficult in doing what just about ALL other manufacturers are doing and making the thing swivel on the side?
They’ve done it forever already on their video machines; why are they so STUPID in persisting with the idiotic way of hinging it vertically for stills cameras?
Sony marketing has not in the past been too good.
If this indicates a new agressive promotion as a three prong approach it could be very good for sony
Part one..a new universal camera that works with non sony lenses..ibis and sensor shift focusing.
Part two….educate people sbout the new system…promote the heck out if it..and place it in non traditional locations to sell such as tourist shops convenient stored etc.
Part three…put a revolutionary sensor inside!..now that anyone CAN buy and use it they need a IRRESISTABLE REASON TO WANT IT..the sensor is the heart of the camera…offer one version with the sharpest highest res sensor there is so the pros will want it…the masses will follow the pros.
Hopefully we can get to see more confirmed specs soon, really excited about the NEX-FF!
When you quote “big” like that, it makes me flush.