Image on top shows the Sony 4K mockup camera (Source: Engadget).
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A-mount camera owners are not happy in these days to see me post many E-mount (A7-A7r) related news. But really shouldn’t be worried! Your time is coming and in a couple of months E-mount camera owners will complain on SAR that I post too many A-mount news 🙂
According to multiple sources Sony will have multiple announcement the first half of 2014. And most of them concern new APS-C and FF A-mount camera releases. From what I heard most innovations regard the autofocus and viewfinder tech. Sensors should be the based on the A7-A7r. And one of the FF A-mount cameras will DEFINITELY have 4K recording.
To sum up I heard about:
– Two FF A-mount cameras (one certainly with 4K).
– One new APS-C A-mount camera to replace the A77.
– There will be a new NEX-7 successor too (E-Mount)
2014 showdown:
As I told you before there will be many new cameras in 2014. Actually more than we had in 2013! There is plenty of room for real surprises and I am working to get reliable info about them right now.
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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!
199 Responses
Nothing good other than a few freak shows that raised eyebrows ever came out in the A mount. Sony should abandon that failure and focus on the very successful E mount. Throw in an adapter for A mount users and they won’t know the difference any way.
We WILL know the difference because E Mount does not have in body IS, so you’re not fooling anyone pal.
ALL of my lenses on A mount are stabilised in body, you can’t get that on E mount only lens IS. MAJOR issue and the reason why I’m not touching E mount with a barge pole
+1
-1
Really, in-body IS isn’t really a reason to keep an entire line of products alive, particularly when future E mount cameras will end up with IS. I never understood why IS is such a powerful crutch for people.
Maybe it’s the kind of middling high-ISO performance?
Anyhow, we’ll probably see Sony start to position A-mount more for video… but a long term phase-out isn’t a crazy concept.
It’s not a crutch it’s a “tool” and a useful one.
I gain one stop less DOF with a move to full frame. I have to buy an adaptor for £300 to AF my lenses, I lose IS..which gives me 2-3 stops or maybe a touch more.
Is a FF sensor 2-3 stops better at high ISO than a decent APS-C one?
So basically bar more DOF control, and more convenience with some legacy FF 35mm lenses (ie focal length) there is no reason to even bother looking at FF
FF is a big rip off, it’s simply not worth the asking price and it’s NOT a mantra to good photography. You call in body IS a crutch, I call it more “bang per buck” Feel free to buy as much E mount stuff as you want, some of us just are not that interested in it.
The a99 looks to be two stops better at high ISO than the a77. Is it worth, 2.5 times the price for the higher ISO performance and shallower DoF? For some it is. Nikon and Canon have lower priced FF bodies for less than 2.5x the price, unlike Sony currently lacks in the dSLT line (a FF option priced between the a77 & a99).
Would a proposed full frame a88 body at $1500 be worth 1.5 times the price versus the a77 for the full frame option for those that prefer the ability to obtain shallower DoF, do not want a crop factor and want less noise? Absolutely.
Those are my thoughts, too, Denis. Image stabilization is an incredible tool. In many situations, it’s better to have an APS-C sensor camera with IS than a full-frame camera without IS.
A long term phase out is actually quite a logical concept. But it simply means nothing today. There’s a good reason to keep A-mount alive fro the time being, not only because of existing lenses and IS, but also bigger grips and some more features.
I think it depends entirely on sales. If people go on buying A-mount cameras, Sony will go on making them.
If sales fall, a phase out is more likely.
Agreed. And these sales depend on the appeal of A-mount. At some point this appeal will disappear, no way around that.
Wrong E mount can never yield the lens sales that A mount can. We can lay our hands on some superb Minolta/Tamron glass with free IBIS for a very decent cost.
E mount offers either mostly mediocre optics (for APS-C), or expensive slow lenses for full frame (currently)E mount’s only appeal is legacy glass with an adaptor.
The lack of IBIS in any E mount body is a serious disadvantage to many users. And IBIS remains one of the most important developments in the camera industry for over a decade thanks to Minolta. Only E mount users here are “sour grapes” because I can assure you, a lot of E mount users want IBIS and they don’t have it.
Never is a long time. At some point e-mount will have lenses and bigger cameras with IBIS.
Nothing good other than a few freak shows that raised eyebrows ever came out in the E mount. Sony should abandon that failure and focus on the very successful A mount. Throw in a random adapter for E mount users and they won’t know the difference any way.
Some of the best cameras on the market came in A-mount.
You’re an ignorant idiot, Future-Looker, and nasty to boot.
I need A-mount bodies for the following things: IBIS, big grip for handling, my legacy Minolta glass, my big ZA and G glass collection, more features and buttons for quick access, more ports for flash sync, pro audio and more. Before you say something, make sure E mount bodies can deliver these items above.
Every car maker needs a high performance model to be their flagship, same for Nikon, Canon and Sony, and I do think Sony still have to keep the DSLR-like body for their flagship.
Don’t be baited by the trolls, commenters. Future-looker doesn’t make money shooting in the present so it doesn’t matter to him.
It’s kind of funny to see the desperation. Not sure why e-mount buyers feel so,,,, small compared to A mount? Just deal with it, E mount is consumer/traveller grade (and really excellent consumer grade at that), and A mount is for pros and semi pros. It’s not hard to comprehend. Trolling this forum just trying to get first post isn’t going to change common logic. A mount holds some of the best SLR’s in the world and Best SRL lenses in the world. It has no where to go except up. Be happy with your E-mount purchase it’s great too.
Some of the best DSLR cameras ever produced belong to the A-mount (Sony a700). If Sony abandons A-mount will never be able to compete with Canon & Nikon since people who own cameras from these manufacturers will never change them in order to buy an E-mount Sony DSLR camera. Finally, the people who buy DSLR cameras have nothing in common with the people who use compact cameras. DSLR owners are really interested in what they buy since they aren’t interested in buying just a camera body and one or two lenses but they see the camera purchase as part of an investment in building a system. A-mount owners are much more likely to invest in several bodies and lenses in order to build a complete system for reasons which have to do with both legacy equipment availability (Minolta lens owners / Minolta 35mm film SLR cameras) and camera capability in systems such as autofocus, in built image stabilization e.t.c. In addition, the design of the A-mount cameras is much more user friendly for heavy usage (a lot of hours of handheld shooting) in comparison to any E-mount camera.
Really?
Even at launch, the a700 was dated because it didn’t have live view which was standard with Canon (40D), Nikon (D300) and Fuji (S5 Pro) DSLRs. It never even got AF micro adjust, which the D300 had in addition to the 51 point AF over the a700’s 11 point AF. So you were mostly screwed, if by chance things were a bit off between the lens and the camera.
Also, during most of its out-dated lifetime, the a700’s raw files were cooked and noise reduction was forced on the raw files. Only in firmware version 4, which came over 1 year later, Sony finally supported proper raw files. By then Canon and Nikon had improved on the 40D and the D300 and had newer bodies. After that Sony killed off the a700 DSLR line and replaced it with the APS-C SLT line.
Since then Sony has come a long way… but saying that the a700 was one of the best DSLR ever produced is a complete joke, unless you’re talking only about Sony.
…in the photo, behind the 24-70 zeiss lens… is that the hybrid A/E mount?
imho, at this point the TOP PRO A-mount needs to be FAST (of course), two(2) SD cards, USB3 (I hope), Wifi/NFC (of course), Zebra, a99 LCD … Oh, did I say SPEED? AF in Low Light , and improved CAF Tracking, and Quick/Solid FIRST AF Lock on moving target, then track.
but it also has to have some version of the three wheel set up the A7r has (and of course 36mp non-AA and a 24mp version). AND just as important the COMP Dial (all of them METAL)
Having two wheels , and the back wheel that can be programmed to ISO .. * PLUS a COMP wheel and then having them all Metal at this point is a MUST … I am Spoiled ! 🙂
It’s hard to see SONY making there TOP A-Mount without “those” Features.
ZEBRA? …can we feed it hay and not worry about batteries
THREE WHEELS? ….can we ride it to location like a tricycle
SPEED…so we can get to location faster
LOW LIGHT…excellent for driving in the fog.
If any of the three wheels gets a flat we can put a saddle on the zebra.
You know Zebra is a video function right?
Zebra is good but 2 SD card is useless (perhaps good if you can use mirroring RAID to avoid data loss). With a 64 Gbyte SDXC you can record > 5hours of 1080/50p 28Mbps video.
Two cards are useless? Maybe to you but many pros rely on a dual card setup – particularly when wirelessly transmitting or if out in the field on a very long shoot. Having the option to utilize a feature and not using it is better than not having the option at all.
dear admin, any news on more FF E-Mount bodies?
yes, working on it. Definitely coming! But you shouldn’t wait for them, Get the A7-A7r now 🙂
boh lui…
I’m curious, the A7 is already a really cheap full frame camera, how much are you expecting a “cheap” FF E mount camera should be?
Cheaper or more expensive than A7/R?
Admin,
mirrorless A mounts? what are your sources telling you?
thnx
Very curious as to why you would say that… I’m exceptionally close to clicking the order button on an A7R, the only worry I have is an IBIS version coming out in the next few months… Should I be concerned, or are we still a long way off?
Ibis is not coming to full frame e-mount so don’t let that stop you. It isn’t technically possible due to the small opening of the e-mount and as you can AE from the roadmap – the FE lenses have OSS for this reason.
Admin, can you expand upon this a bit, to give us some guidance about WHEN FF e-mount bodies might become reality. Last week’s post suggested maybe early in 2014. Your comment now, about getting the A7r now suggests otherwise. If it’s a year off, I’m perfectly happy (thrilled)to get A7r, but if it is a matter of a few months, I’m also perfectly happy sticking with my NEX-7 and new 16-70 Zeiss Vario Tessar–which is excellent, by the way. (Just make sure you get a good one and send it back if it’s not.)
Thanks.
Isn’t the A7/r FF bodies?
Sensors are as good as they will be till 2015… so if you like it buy it now or else wait 2 years.
All 1.5 owners of A-mount cameras will be happy. LOL.
There are a lot more A-mount users than you might think.
I’m sure your 2 E-mount users got something better to do than troll here.
That camera has two flash hotshoes!
Yeh, and some antenna on the right side! It will be an interesting camera!
Hot damn!!
no that’s the emergency shutter release
That’s not an antenna. That post (which is aligned with the sensor plane) is widely used in cinema for measuring exact focusing distances when setting up a shot.
On the mockup body in the photo, the center shoe is a cold shoe (probably to accommodate the XLR adaptor which requires two shoes or a bracket and a hotshoe).
One hotshoe for external mic an one for the flash/video lamp? I wonder how all E-mount adapters will fit on a double mount Sony camera? I do like the option to have the E mount 70-200 F4 on my camera.
If they are using the same sensors as the A7/A7r, this seems to back up Barry’s view that development of CMOS sensor technology is nearing it’s end….
Not necessarily – Sony tends to use the same/derived sensors in multiple models. Personally I don’t think there’s enough demand for Sony to be able to justify going much over 36mp on ff, especially if noise ends up similar to the a77 given the density.
There would absolutely be demand for higher resolution sensor (say 54MP?). Noise would not be a significant concern for many, because a bulk of the people buying such a camera would likely be using it on a tripod and at low sensitivities.
The performance of the a7 versus the a7r clearly indicates that higher resolution does not necesarrily require performance compromises.
The higher sales of a7r versus a7 clearly indicte that consumers definitely do want higher resolution.
We high resolution fans are just not as vocal about it as the sar..no more pixel…fans are….except for me…Im pretty vocal about it.
Looking forward to the A77 successor so I can move up from my A57 without sacrificing noise at high ISO.
who cares..looks damn heavy…NoMoreHeavyCameras.com
Sony A7 all the way.
A7= No IBIS = Not interested
Are E mount users dumb or something? they just don’t get it
No reason Sony can’t make a smaller FF body or a smaller new A77
E-mount could have IBIS. Q: why Sony doesn’t implement it?
Because ibis is for folks who are too lazy to use a tripod or select appropriate settings on their cameras.
+1
Spoken like a true noob!
You’re joking. Tripod is not an option in 99% of cases mainly if you make videos.
However IBIS is not very good for videos because of the heat it produces and
the electronic sensor crop based SteadyShot is useless above 100-150mm focal length.
Sony should invent something better. (I have an A65 and tried several times).
Many of us bought sony because they had ibis and the competition did not.
If sony never had ibis it would not be an issue…but they do and it is!
Swade
Please note thats I.B.I.S….not O.R.G.A.N.I.C
Its a myth that IBIS is useless on long lenses. I get steady 1/50 sec shots on my Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 @ 200mm so thats approx 3 shots of stabilization. My cousin has more steady hands than me and can shoot at lower shutter speeds too. I get max 1/125 seconds without IS and thats not 100% of the time.
Because, Sony has chosen to implement stabilization in lenses, not bodies.
Yep. That’s the reason. Plus: It’s easier to suck money out of E-mount users this way (eg. release regular lens first, and than OSS version for 25% more).
Not really it’s a new idea for Sony.
Originally they used the IBIS invented by Minolta
and inherited by Sony. But is doesn’t work well
with the videos which is important for Sony and
the Sony folks.
Only noobs who think ibis would stop the subject from moving use ibis. I guess there’s alot of noobs who like to shoot rocks at night on iso 100.
@Fanta: You have no idea what you’re talking about. Just because you don’t use image stabilization for much doesn’t mean that others don’t. Sometimes, you’re out and about (not on some professional shoot) and you want to take a picture of buildings at night. Or let’s say you’re taking a cruise around Manhattan Island. You will either get a blurry photo or a grainy one. I’ll get a crisp and clean one with image stabilization. How about this?…You’re at a night race and you want to get a picture of a car with a blurry track whizzing by. IS (especially newer ones that know you’re panning) will get you a clean shot of that car whizzing by. You’ll get a blurry one because you’ll be moving your camera while zoomed in at night. If you do somehow get a crisp shot of the car, the track won’t be blurry (in a smooth, flowing way) because you’ll have to use a much higher shutter speed. Use your mind (or what you have of one) and try to find some other situations.
@ Charrick Er…right. And I guess you know more about shooting cars than all the sports pros out there who are NOT using ibis. Sounds like you don’t know how to shoot without photographic useless crutches. But i guess you’re right cause you said so and you know more here than all the pros who shoot cars and sports without using ibis.
You should also shout at all those loosers who buy Canon stabilized lenses when non stabilized lenses are available for much lower amount.
I mean why use crutches like auto focus, metering, auto aperture etc. I mean when you can buy an old Pentax spotmatic and use a 50mm its all someone ever needs right ?
@ ” brendon” And all those “looser pros” before is was invented couldnt shoot pics too, right? LOL. Oh, but photography was invented when ibis came into play, as no other photographer could shoot before then. So how many galleries are your ibis photos hung in?
I am a wedding photographer and so my photos grace a lot of peoples homes. And yes none were taken with a tripod but with using IBIS.
And while you are at it. Stop using cars and public transportation. Your two feet work just fine I suppose.
Technology is here for us to use and IBIS/IS/VR is very useful to many people and if you don’t like you are free to turn it off rather than spewing venom over here which serves zero purpose but to aggravate and inflame people.
The greatest photos are all shot without ibis “brendon”. Try that some time,.it’s called SKILL. But then, you can’t shoot without ibis, right? You need a crutch, right? Do you also need your camera to be mirrorless and to have it look like a “rangefinder” before you can take a photo? Cause god knows how cameras without a mirror and made by Sony can take photos so much better than any other brand, right? LMFAO
the greatest photos are also mostly done with old manual film cameras (SLR or rangefinder). with monochromatic film.
@ “Brendon” You’re a professional photographer whos photos have graced peoples homes? What a COINCIDENCE! SO AM I! Geez, nice to see someone who is as successful as I’am just because we say so on the net.
Speaking of cars, you shouldn’t drive when your car doesn’t have power windows, god knows how hard it is to drive without those. Wai..are you a professional driver who’s driven many races too?
Yes we are both photographers but the difference is that most people will label you are a troll while few will label me the same. 🙂
Oh the ” you’re a troll” argument. LOL. That is a tired and old, brendon. But because you say so, then it must be true.
@Fanta: For what it’s worth, I second Brendon. You are being a troll. I and a lot of people enjoy image stabilization. You can drive without power steering and call all who use it losers. You can claim that real drivers don’t use power steering…that it’s just a crutch. Feel free to manual focus (without the crutches of peaking or magnification), develop your own film, etc, etc. Also, feel free to turn off IBIS. Just stop complaining when others at least have the OPTION to use it.
Jesus, E-mount trolls behind every corner!
He who screams ” troll” first is always the real troll.
If YOU say so it MUST be true!
No, you’re the king of said so, brendon, profesional photographer who’s pictures have GRACED walls. LOL
Small cameras with small buttons are of no use to people with large hands or with gloves in winter. Not everybody does indoor photography. The same when I couldn’t use a small phone to text because of small buttons. Think about usefulness, not just portability.
Those A-mount in 2014 will still adopt translucent mirror?
is this the interchangeable mount camera that was rumored? the “riffled” silver ring around the bajonet looks like it could be detatched. hopefully there will be some new lenses too. I’m still hoping for a cheap 85mm f2.0 full frame lens.
I think that ring looks very much like a PL mount.
Sony put h.265 in your camera please, so we can record 10bit into memory card instead of 8bit..and dun limit video quality and give mushy look again, i can see rx10 really having good video quality than all other sony camera! Be the leader again this time! H.265!
I have a feeling that HEVC v1 will be just like AVCHD in that it will be aimed at playback only (and not as useful for editing, without some hacks to produce flat footage) and as cpu intensive as AVCHD was on release…. and not supported on all the editing platforms for a while (just like AVCHD).
The camera would need to support HEVC extensions before we get something suitable for pro editing, and I don’t believe that will happen in the timescale as its all still under development…. better to support existing intermediate codecs, as then all the software will be compatible off the bat.
Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening either (bandwidth requirements within the camera for 4k intermediate codec would be horrific!!).
It will be increasingly better to buy a dedicated video device as video gets better (and diverges more and more from stills) IMO, or accept ‘good stills and fair video’ in a DSLR.
There is no problem with editing AVCHD it’s an old mantra from the last year.
However h.265 would be a problem yet.
Great news, I can’t wait.
Lol, the first positive comment for these positive news.
+1
I don’t get all these E-Mount trolls. You got your E-Mount FF and not a single A-mount user was saying that its useless crap. Now we get something and you’re trolling your *** off.
Get a life! All who are trolling, you sound like butthurt Apple/Samsung fanboys, who still live in mommy’s basement!
ah, the trolls and the troll accusers. There’s nothing like the net, full of liars, sociopaths and hypocrites.
Did you read all the comments? Bet you didnt either…V-lad.
So what will Sony be holding back for Photokina?
2014 will be a year of CAMERA inovations. Sensors will undergo nothing more than minor improvementd.
C size wiill not exceed 24mp and ff will not exceed 36mp.
Prices will drop and good values will be available.
All this is driven by what will happen in 2015.
Thats when the next new sensor technology will finally be revealed.
Since sony will jave been onnovating camera bodies on 2014 these new cameras will be ready to put the new sensors into…and consumers will have demonstrated which bodied they like.
Prices will probably go up agaain if you want the latest greatest sensors.
Sensor changes such as gapless microlens and new mirrorless focus solutions that will appear in 2014 will be limited to improvements that can be incorporated into the new senspr tech.
I am anxious for these new higher res sensors and so am reluctant to purchase in 2014 even thogh I expect the price and features to be very tempting.
“C size wiill not exceed 24mp and ff will not exceed 36mp.”
Which, for conventional sensors, is already at (or beyond) the pixel size/density where various compromises set in.
For ultimate resolution, LF film still rules.
Ha ha, funny joke!
Sarcasm or otherwise, it’s true… click on my alias for a sample. 43mm f/0.8 that can easily do 300 megapixels wide open? Yeah let’s all collectively hold our breaths lol
Don’t talk about stuff you never learned 😉
So, LF = Large format. Well, it´s no secret that you can have greater resolution on a larger sensor/film. You can´t compare apples and oranges. For example Hubble is better than your LF camera. Does it make sense to compare them? No! Does it make sense to compare your F2.8 lens with a F0.8 in terms of sharpness? No!
Statement: My digital camera(FF) is better than any analog spy camera! Anyone surprised? No…
Easily less than 65MP usable resolution, as per your example.
@Magnus: you hate film like film hates you. It doesn’t. There’s no need to go ape and compare photographic cameras to the Hubble because it’s like comparing a FF camera to a smartphone. They all have their unique strengths. This is also why large format cameras are still made today and used by people who can use them.
@Zoohee35: it’s a crop… read the description ROFL
@Genotypewriter: Sorry I don’t hate film and I even do like your picture. But comparing so different sensor sizes is like apples and oranges as I told you before. And honest, your pictures resolution is not 743,6 Mpix , not even near. Not even the downsized crop is “perfectly” sharp. But if you use a larger aperture I,m sure you can reach quite high resolutions, double up from Sony A7r I think. With larger sensor areas it´s not the film grain that limits the resolution, it’s the lens.
@Magnus: interesting tangent you have gone of on, but you are chasing your own tail. I was essentially agreeing with barry that conventional (Bayer) sensors would not see appreciable increases in MP – BECAUSE, we have bumped up against the limits of optical/electrical physics. Just one practical example: there are numerous instances of legacy lenses that worked well on NEX 16MP sensors but not on NEX7. Many available articles deal with the issue of pixel size/density. My research into this subject leads me to believe the a7 will be better than a7r – for my purposes (others may differ). However, I will still rely on 4×5 film for printing larger that 60×90.
@Magnus: There’s a lot of details that you’ve mixed up and these things happen when you talk about stuff you’ve never done. I never said the photo has 743MP, now did I? The scanned crop is from a frame that is scanned to _an image with 743MP_. It is limited by the effective _scanning resolution_ of the scanner, a standard Epson V700 but with custom/calibrated film holders. Again, if you’ve learned the subject, you’d know what that means and what it doesn’t. Same goes for your comment about lens resolution.
And it does make complete sense to compare various types of cameras as long as we’re talking about taking the same types of photos. If you were comparing an x-ray machine to a DSLR, now that’s not an apples to apples comparison. I’m sure in your next reply you will talk about how you can shoot at ISO 102400 with a digital camera… missing the point again completely.
LF film is obviously vastly superior for “resolution” vs digital 35mm – for a single exposure. Multiple exposures and stitching can equal or vastly exceed LF however. The inconvenience factor of shooting multiples and stitching is no greater than setting up. Large format camera and having the film processed & scanned.
Plus using a tool like a gigapan leaves even large format in the resolution dust.
Inconvenience = lazy or pro… which is the same thing, I say 🙂
I completely agree that for static subjects, a Gigapan with a long lens will do the job nicely and quickly. Way before lazy people started doing this with automated Gigapans, I’ve tried this technique with a manual Manfrotto 303-SPH head.
The issue in your assumption is that LF is used for anything that can be done with a Gigapan. Quite a lot of the photos below were done with 4×5 and 8×10 and require instantaneous captures… some were handheld:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/genotypewriter/tags/4×5
http://www.flickr.com/photos/genotypewriter/tags/8×10
Don’t let bearded old fools tell you that LF is about shooting mountains or portraits of people sitting down in studios 😉
Thanks Andrea! Any idea if they’ll be priced similar to the a7/r? Improved evf and af are ticking all the boxes for me…
i hoped in better ISO performance. 1 o 2 stops more…
I recommned you reading something about quantum effiency of CMOS sensors.
i don’t know and i will. i’d like to see something next to 5d markiii for low light photo.
Hey look, Sheldon is here!
OMFG, the hotshoe is now on the right next to the shutter. this is what the fanboys called innovation. Sony loves its design so much they change it every six months…talk about being wishy washy.
What exactly do you shoot with? Bet you have a sony a33 with a kit lens lol
The a33 is obsolete, thanks to Sony. Soon your sony product will be obsolete too..thanks to Sony. LOL
Isn’t that the same mockup we already saw as the hybrid E/A mount camera?
Now it’s also the 4K mockup?
Same mockup (think it’s the same photo actually)
No, it’s the 4K capable mockup that was displayed some time ago, with PL mount plus A mount adapter.
Dear admin, any news about new firmware for A77?
+1
FW Update for A77 and A99 would be a nice gesture from Sony?
Maybe they can support the Sony Wifi-Adapter for the miMultiInterface-Hotshoe on A99?
A77 firmware…LOL. A77 has long been forgotten by Sony.
Actually that’s very good news, Admin. 🙂
Due to my expensive lens assortments in A-Mount FF and E-Mount APSC I do not jump on the EFF train.
A high res A-Mount is a nice to have option (but I will definetly going for it), but a worthy successor of the NEX7 would be more appreeciated.
Btw, the A7 (I blamed it for its appearance) is in reality much nicer than on pictures.
My pro retailer had some A7 Kits available on Saturday and I had a chance to play with it for some minutes. Built quality is really fantastic. Only thing what I disliked right from the first second is the position of the shutter button – a little bit to much on the top, so I found it unergonomic for the forefinger when not pulling back the hand from the grip a little bit.
My retailer said, this time he’s for the first time on the Sony train. He’s waiting for his A7R – the first 20 he got were serving the pre-orders, so will the 30 do!!. Amazing, 50 Dusseldorfers pre-ordered an A7R. 🙂
I played with one. Looks as bad as on the photographs. And handling is sub-pair to most of APS-C A-mount cameras, not to mention Full Frames (it’s horrific comparing to A99 or A900).
DiBok: “Only thing what I disliked right from the first second is the position of the shutter button – a little bit to much on the top, so I found it unergonomic for the forefinger when not pulling back the hand from the grip a little bit.”
I agree, and I find many camera bodies to be this way.
I really dont care about a new A-Mount camera. My A77 is still good to go, what I care about is lenses. Just Sony does not want my money.
Why do people like you talk about lenses/cameras as if its one or the other.
What good are lenses without cameras?
What good are cameras without leense?
Why do you make the same comment about new organic sensors on each post?
Lenses are more important to most people. Lenses span multiple camera body generations and are a better investment.
I think we all know that you need a camera and a lens to take a picture, but most of us know that lenses are the better invest. As proven by your constant “CMOS sensors are obsolete” comments on every post.
If you dont like my posts thats too £μck1&€ bad.
You dont have to read them…which you obviously dont or you would see that I talk about many differrent subjects.
Where does this statement say ORGANIC SENSORS that you claim i mention in every post?
Furthermore where does any post i have made today say ORGANIC SENSOR?
So, what kind of sensors are coming in 2015? Regular sensors?
Barry, your comments more incessant nagging. You really don’t talk about multiple subjects, and if you do, you bring up all of then: new organic (or not if you want semantics), IBIS, and Z-Shift. You bring up terrible analogies (really, a rifle as a composer shape? Ever held a rifle for any extended amount of time?), that very constructive Zerbra comment above, a very insightful comment about lenses needing cameras, and telling people to not buy these cameras with obsolete sensors. None of your comments are about any actual camera, it’s always about tech that every sony camera doesn’t, and should have.
We get it. You don’t want the new A-Mount because it doesn’t have these new (organic) sensors you keep harping about. You don’t want the A7 because it doesn’t have IBIS, and now you don’t want it because it should have Z-Shift.
If I haven’t covered everything you’ve talked about for a month, then no, you’re right, I don’t read all your posts. Granted, it’s hard to miss then when there are no capitals, no periods, tons of ellipses, and is ridden with spelling mistakes. And we know your phone is tough to type and your fingers are too big (all written on a phone).
Apparently you now have a longer list of subjects I should not talk about because it annoys you..
I plan to continue talking about those subjects that concern me with or without your approval.
In consideration of your feelings however I will indicate each of my comments with a small picture and my name so you can avoid reading them.
In consideration of everone elses feelings I will not say what I think about your comment.
If the A77 replacement is not mirror less I’ll just stay put with what I have.
Any news on new lenses for A-mount? Dedicated video lens as a kit for 4k Alpha?
Let them dive sub 1000 they will find me and I believe most of us
Its hard to deny them, we dont need 4k nor kit lens
Let the other 36 no aa and other innovation pack at 3000+ tag
Cmon Sony be the first 999 FF
Viewfinder updates sounds good to me.
I really hope the viewfinder in next year’s APS-C camera(s) will be (at least) as good as the viewfinder in the a7, that is the best viewfinder I have seen. It is a big upgrade from the EVF’s in current APS-C cameras. Especially it gives a very stable image, not flickering like the EVF in the a77 and a65 (the NEX-6 and NEX-7 flickers even more).
I also hope we will see a replacement for a57 and a66. I.e. an a60 rather than that a58 which is more like an a38.
EVF, AF and speed (fps and buffer depth) are the keywords for next year’s SLT cameras. I hope.
Yes, I think so too. They can build excellent cameras from the available parts already–great VF, new compact shutter, proven sensors and new fast processors. Combining SLT with parallel computing they can make a very potent AF module finally.
That’ll be the mock up of the Sony alpha with FM radio pmsl 😉
Guess antenna will be for wireless flash but what if it was a way to do wireless tethered capture and/or shooting????? Out of the box??? Now that would be something rather nice 😉
John
What about video camera news? I’m getting ready to buy the NEX-FS700R. Would hate if there was a new model coming out shortly that did 4K internally…
I’ve just seen some amazing deals on 4k tvs online, and suspect demand won’t increase significantly until content increases. Getting 4k cameras into peoples’ hands is one way to increase content – so I imagine all manufacturers will be hoping camera makers will get some decent models to market ASAP.
Unlike Barry, I’m not totally jacked on the rumored stacked sensor.
Current sensor tech is mature, and is actually robust. As far as sensors go, significant improvements–and I’m talking about improvements that would normally be observable on reproductions, whether analog or digital, and improvements that result in dramatic changes to other parts of the system like lenses–will come from, I think, 2 things: 1) dramatically increased sensor area, which we all know means big lenses, etc…., and 2) curved sensor/adjustable shape sensor, which is and has been worked on, but which is currently only a wish.
I have seen images from the 36MP sensor, and the technical quality can be excellent. At this point, even for a guy like Barry, I don’t think that the weakest link is the sensor tech…IMHO it is the useability/durability/serviceability/upgradeability of the system, including the lens, body, camera firmware and potentially other software, the connectivity, and the outboard processing engine and software.
I would love it if Sony came up with a great FF native A-mount system based on the 24 and 36mp sensors. Using the best of available lenses, there is one heck of a lot of information that can be had from that system. True artistry can benefit from a great variety of available tools, and I have seen people do excellent things in PP.
IMO the important thing about the camera system right now is to be able to GET the image in the first place–not necessarily a perfect version of the image, but a version good enough to be amenable to PP. If you are doing landscape or studio portraiture, sure, you have the ability to try to get it as good as possible before any PP, but that’s not all of photography. And even at that, that is only one way to produce images…one portrait pro might want to work that way, and another might want to minimize studio time and do more on the PP end of things.
There are still a great many things that can profitably be developed to be done in PP, like distortion correction or application (all kinds of distortion), and user-adjustable bokeh.
My entire position rests on the assumption that information is captured in the first instance, and a particular weak point IMO is dynamic range…I don’t think there could ever be sufficient DR. In any case, people are working on DR, and on filtering and localized sensitivity adjustment on existing sensor types.
In any event, I could see systems built around the “last flat CMOS Bayer sensors” being excellent photographic tools, as long as the entire industry, including camera manufacturers, computing, and coding, all keep pace.
And I see lots of lower-hanging fruit than stacked sensors and large-format sensors.
Ultimately, I think that guys like Barry are very “photographerly”, in that they prefer to “get it right”, or as close to right as possible, in the initial capture.
Fair enough, and if he operates that way, I can understand his quest for infinite resolution, or at least the potentially superior resolution available using a stacked sensor implementation.
But that’s only one way to operate, and I would suggest without any good evidence that it is not only in the minority, but decreasing daily.
I would ask Barry why, if this is how he operates, he doesn’t just shoot 4×5 or 8×10?
More people want A7R than A7 so the desire for higher resolution is increasing not decreasing..and we are the majority, not the minority..the silent majority.
See below for why i no longer shoot my 4X5
“I have seen images from the 36MP sensor, and the technical quality can be excellent. At this point, even for a guy like Barry, I don’t think that the weakest link is the sensor tech…”
I think it is. His point is that if your image size is fixed, a higher pixel density (as on the NEX-7 compared to the lower density of the A7r) allows better cropping. For instance, if you use a 500mm lens and a bird comes out 4mm wide on the sensor, it will be 4mm wide on both sensors. In such cases the NEX-7 gives you more pixels per mm, or per bird, than the A7r.
The same applies to some macro setups. If you use the same lens and bellows on both cameras, set to the same magnification (because you don’t want to reduce depth of field), the NEX-7 will give more pixels over the same image area.
It’s quite different in general photography where you would put different lenses on the two cameras, to get the same angle of view.
Yes Dan, but cropping is only one very small aspect of photography in general.
Already, 36mp images can be significantly cropped. Then with a bicubic resize, a reasonable size is still available for display.
Again, crop-zooming is only one small part of photography…and if it’s the most important thing to Barry, he should shoot 4×5 or 8×10.
I did mention sensor size and curvature as being significant, but farther off and more expensive than improved processing.
“bicubic” LOL
I see the current “megapixel race” as akin to the “watts” race that occurred in audio.
Bayer vs Foveon sensors are like different amplifier topologies, like class AB vs class A, in that even with a vastly lower “watts” rating, a class A amplifier can sound better and be more powerful than a much higher-wattage class AB amplifier, given the operating conditions.
Fair enough, there is room for all amplifier topologies, and all sensor designs, given the intended application and market segment. We even now have high-power DAC’s, or digital amplifiers, operating in another class entirely.
The power race started in the pro audio ranks already in the 1970’s, and continued, with ever-increasing “wattage” specifications. Already in the 1970’s there was the Phase Linear Model 700, with 360 wpc into 8 ohms and able to crank out something like 40 amps. Around the same time, there were massive class A amplifiers specified at only 25 watts, but able to crank out 80 amps and more, and also “flea-powered” SET amplifiers, that sounded great depending on what they were driving and playing.
So, by the mid-1980’s, there were all sorts of analog amplifier topologies available. The really significant revolution in audio came not from new amplifier design, but from digital signal processing, with the first consumer product being the Yamaha DSP-1 “Digital Soundfield Processor”, which ushered in the era of digital “surround sound”.
“Surround sound” has been the only significant development in audio for a long time, and has continued to evolve to this day. It is now commonplace, and some even claim it is almost impossible to sell a “system” without it. There are even ultra-high-end surround systems at this point.
That’s where the real revolution occurred–not in capturing source material (yes, digital capture made things easier), but in the processing thereof. As opposed to early analog attempts at soundfield manipulation like quadraphonic, digital manipulation was infinitely more variable, was user-adjustable, was sufficiently economic to bring to the masses, and did not require a substantially more complex capture of source material.
Take a well-designed high-end audio system from the mid-80’s, and try to improve upon it by any means other than surround. I’m talking about something like a Koetsu cartridge on an Oracle turntable, a pair of Classe DR-3 amps driving a pair of Apogee Scintilla’s, with a great phono stage and wiring thrown in. How would you improve on it? Maybe by going to a CD with an advanced DAC? Maybe–but even then, not by much, and in any case, excellent systems were available already in the early 90’s. You almost certainly couldn’t improve on the amplification by adding any “newer” amplifier, with a different topology. There was plenty of great solid-state stuff around, Classe, Levinson, Pass, etc., that have not been bested to anywhere near the extent that surround processing has revolutionized the audio experience.
I think the same thing goes for sensor tech, and image processing. There are huge processing vistas to be explored given the existing source material possible from an existing 36mp or 24mp sensor, and I think that they might have much greater practical effect than will implementation of new sensor technologies, as long as the required processing equipment can keep pace, both inside and outside the camera.
Just my opinion. Like in audio, if you want huge resolution, go scanback if you can, it has been around a long time…or go 4×5 or 8×10, they have been around even longer, and offer resolution that has not yet been bested digitally.
I think Sony’s next offerings with their mature sensor tech should be interesting to try.
Nice read….
Several of you have made intersting points so i hope i dont leave anyone out.
30 years ago I carried both 4×5″ and 35 mm in the field doing wildlife stock photography
One of my 35mm duck photos filled Grand Central Terminal in New York as one of the now famous Kodak Photo Wall photos…over 100 feet across from a 35mm slide..
Today I use my photos strictly as referrence material for my paintings.
Many things that are important to other photographers are not important to me because I only paint the parts I like.
Resolution is absolutely critical to me however.
I need to see enough detail to understand the patterns that make the details.
I cant paint every feather in a painting unless I can see how the feathers are put together.
Animals do not usually pose or wait for me and I now carry Less than 100lbs of equipment on my back ..unlike when i was younger.
I go through a lot of effort to combine multiple less than acceptable images onto images of high enough resolution for me to work with.
My working images are typically 200-300mp. Or I visually combine details prom many images as I paint.
I strongly desire to carry 2 or 3 cameras…point it at my subject… and take a picture I can use without days of stitching unstitchable pictures together.
I am not comfortable with the fact that I apparrently still have to wait another 2 years for that camera.
If that makes me obsessive than so be it..ive earned it.
Thats where I am coming from…Hope that makes my comments a little easier to understand.
Incedently..each of my avatars…which I change fairly often…are detals of one of my paintings.
Have you ever stacked your cameras to shoot them in sync for stitching / double resolution?
I have not…nor does that sound practical.
I generally take a single safety picture then try to rapid-shoot the whole picture before the animal moves.
Needless to say any method short of a better camera has severe limitations.
That could be a pretty neat setup if you’re shooting on a tripod. The key would be determining the minimum overlap you would need to achieve a clean stitch. Maybe you could get away with 25% overlap.
I seldom use a tipod..i made a device that allows me to handhold my 500 …mayby soon to be replaced with tamron 150-600?…as rigidly as a tripod….the dotline dl-v9 yilds similar results to my device but you dont have to build it. A tandom camera would be too awkward for what I do…besides i usually combine at least 4 exposured usually more.
Often I cannot do this then I will utilize multiple seperate pictures and combine them visually as I paint.
Ha! I knew there was something else going on with you, Barry.
Hats off, that is a great use of photography.
As things would have it, I happen to know the hyper-realist who did the Lunar Earthrise painting in the Smithsonian from the original Apollo Hasselblad images, and own several of his works (interestingly, none of them are hyper-realist or even realist). Also, my wife’s great aunt does realist animal and natural scene renditions in scratchboard, most recently for the National Zoo. Great stuff!
I also want increased native resolution, for somewhat the same reason that you do…however, I still believe that as a whole, the low-hanging-fruit is in PP.
Good for you Barry, I love hearing about different uses of photographic source material.
If you want you can view some of my stuff at http://www.animalsbybarry.com. easy to remember . I havent updated the pix in a while but there is contact info if you want to see newer stuff.
Also you can see some of my stuff at http://www.siemiemaryles.com a gallery in Provinctown that recently took on some of my work or http://www.gearygallery.com.
Correction..
http://www.simiemaryles.com
Links dont work unless i spell them correctly.
I tried to send you links to some of my art but it went to moderation. Im not sure if we are allowed to do that or not.
I tried the links i would have sent you and only the one to my own website works so its just as well if they do not leave moderation.
You can probably figure out my website name from my screen name however.
FYI, large format doesn’t have to be heavy… not anymore at least. There are lots of modern field cameras built with very light materials like carbon fiber and titanium and modern LF telephoto lenses are very high in quality, so you don’t need non-telephoto lenses that need you to flip your tent over to use as bellows.
My 4×5″ weighs 3.1lbs/1.4Kg and has ~400mm of extension and has plenty of movements. It’s lighter than a Canon 1D X. If I want, I can add a carbon fiber extension rack to add another ~100mm of extension. A big LF telephoto lens in a shutter might be 2kgs tops. A top quality DSLR tele lens wouldn’t be much lighter, if at all. Sure, with the LF you need to carry a few holders but I carry only 3 and a changing bag. Even a 6×12 roll film back will give you frames that can be scanned to 100 megapixels without oversampling. Modern colour film’s very good too:
http://www.flickriver.com/groups/large_format_color/pool/interesting/
Not saying one can do everything the other can do… there’s no such thing. Even mobile phone cameras have a place. Just saying that shooting LF maybe isn’t that bad like it used to be… 🙂
OK I’m hooked…how much for a lightweight 8×10 setup?
Sony should implement eye-tracking focus with the EVF. That’d be a great feature for inclusion on its next A-mount body (A79). The photographer would just need to look at a certain part of the image in the EVF, press a button and focus will lock on that point. That would be really cool. I get lazy having to select the AF point with the joystick on the A77. Eye-tracking can already be done with computer monitors, so why not with an EVF?
Eye tracking focus would sure be limiting of composition or shooting anything that moves. Focus is actually a minor part of viewfinder usage. I would hope it could be turned off and never turned on again, it’s that bad an idea.
Something you don’t like Walt is usually a good idea. You’re a Luddite.
Definitely happy to hear rumors and see evidence of new a-mount cameras….
… But… We are constantly seeing things pushed back. The a79 was expected this year. Then “very early 2014” to quote this website. Now “Feb to April”.. April not exactly being early.
At this rate, by January we will be hearing, “spring or summer”
Alright, this camera is a video camera in an SLR body–like a Canon’s C100 or C300 but a bit more compact. The top shoe is a “cold” shoe for adding a support or Sony’s XLR adapter. The shoe on the side is the new multi-function shoe (you can tell by the front cover over the additional contacts). The “antenna” is just a mark for the sensor plane. The FS100 & 700 have one (and I believe the F series have as well). You use it to measure precise distance and calculate focusing instead of just “eye-balling it” because in controlled video/film shoots all focusing is manual and heavily orchestrated. Notice the ring around the shutter is not marked “on/off” but “w/t” for a power zoom. This is the ergonomic successor to the FS series many pro’s have been pining after for years.
However is this current rumor is true it means at least one of the A7 series sensors is capable of 4K video (and probably not line skipped) which is disappointing considering how mediocre the video quality of those cameras is. This new cinema/still cameras (whether or not it looks like the mock up in the picture) will shoot XAVC and not H.265. XAVC is advanced H.264 encoding and basically matches H.265 but uses a higher bit-rate and takes less processing power.
Clearly even more so Sony is thinking that still cameras are only for video. Don’t pay attention to most folks who buy a still camera for shooting stills. If that’s what they are going to, a camcorder, then A mount is truly gone. And with only the poor E mount system Sony is going too.
Note most better cameras have a line and circle marking on them that indicates the exact location of the focal plane of the sensor, look at your camera. One does not need a crude peg to do that. What’s next? Wire frame viewfinders? Maybe flashbulbs 😉
I’m confident that you realize the above image is of an early prototype mock-up. You just love living the Sony troll life.
It’s more like the 1D-C. If it is as capable and at a price point around $5000 then it could be a big winner for Sony.
Even for 4k, if it is using the 36mp a7r sensor there will be line skipping to get it down to 8mp. The Sony down sampling could use some improvement. The a7r sensor should be capable of 4k – it is more of a processor & memory speed issue to encode and write the 4k video files. RAW video file output (even if it requires an external attachment) would be hot.
Replace that Stupid A58. Its a bad vibe for someone trying to enter sony entrylevel segment .
Sony are clearly pushing new users onto E-mount. I doubt we will ever see a new entry level A-mount camera from Sony. It would not surprise me to see Sony drop A-mount for APS-C bodies completely after the A77 replacement.
But will the A77 (and its successor) get a 2nd lens or will we be left with the (excellent) 16-50 as the only lens actually made for the camera. Instead of the A7 with more lens in first year than a77 will ever get.
If Sony is really going Canikon route, selling IS lenses for more money, and abandon IBIS, I know it’s time to jump ship.
It won’t work for Sony as very few Canikon users will move to E Mount. Some might pick up a spare body for playing around, it’s about the “system”
Canikon have a much better flash system that alone will wipe out any “I’m dumping my Canikon DSLR” talk.
Don’t panic, A mount is here to stay…period.
Only jealous E mount fanboys who post here are the ones who try to sell no IBIS, no AF unless you buy an adaptor and it’s not going to work.
Had the A7’s had IBIS it might have been a revolution. As it is Sony picked the wrong route with in lens IS, they will never be able to compete with Canikon on this platform.
I totally agree. NO IBIS in FE cameras is a big mistake Sony made. Otherwise they can sell more A7/r bodies and also sell more A lenses.
Your view if IBIS and how important it is to the general photography population may be overblown. I’m sure there’s some people for whom it’s THE KEY feature for a camera. This is more common in the Sony world because it’s one of few real system “advantages.”
In the Canon worldor the Leica world, most of us kind of laughed at the worship of this feature a little.
Meanwhile, Sony blew sales pre-order estimates off the roof with their “huge mistake.” Actually, Id’ say that by delaying production, complicating manufacturing and raising the prices by adding IBIS, they would have lose momentum and opportunity.
Why is it always the “pre order sales” with you fanboys? Sony cameras DONT move off the shelves. ?Go ask any deaer isntead of making thing up in your pretend world. Sheesh. Pre order sales dont mean squat. It’s what sells the most over a period of time that counts, not the ten cameras sold in the first weeks and then it stops. Jesus man, have you ever heard of MINOLTA? they were so good they couldn’t compete anymore and bought them at a japan garage sale. Sony. LOL
So, you asked a dealer? I bet you didn’t.
Really? Jump ship to what? Sony is currently the only manufacturer of a FF camera with IBIS. Yeah, it isn’t E-mount, but you know what: IBIS isn’t going to happen with E-mount, except maybe pixel shift in the future.
Jeez…what is with the photog crowd?
Its either “I’m gonna jump ship!” or “I’m gonna pull the trigger on…”
Stop jumping ship and pulling triggers. The most overused phrases of all time.
Say you’re gonna jump mounts. Or pull the shutter on…etc
I’m gonna pull the trigger on jumping ship.
I hope they make an A mount 36 MP but I don’t need 4K .
E-mount trolls be like…
I switched to Sony because of the A-mount and all of the awesome Minolta glass you can get for half the cost of Canikon. Most of us are not ready to pay thousands of dollars for new E-mount glass (as nice as SOME of them look) or buy an adapter for hundreds of dollars to have slower focusing or added mirror to make it JUST like an A-mount. Perhaps you are some rich kid that can spend his daddy’s money on a whole new system and lenses but I’m not. There is nothing wrong with A-mount and each mount has it’s benefits but one is not better than the other or “the future” of Sony.
I agree.
I want 4K with 60fps and in raw. I will just need a stronger computer and a 100″ 4K tv. Wooooow!
It’s tragicomical to see Sony users fighting among themselves…
This year was a great year for NEX. If the A7 wasn’t what you wanted (lack of IBIS, mostly), myself included, fine. There will be more NEXes on the way.
Now it’s about time for Sony to refresh the Alpha line-up. It’s just obvious.
My only curiosity is whether Sony will keep the SLT technology or not. I think they should drop it already. It was a nice and valid try but it didn’t go as planned. Time to move on to something else.
“something else” isn’t available though, a mirror is required at this time.
Very stoked. Sony- go big or go home.
i’m only waitin for an a99 firmware upgrade…need better video…and better video files “handling” 🙁
You’re going to have a l-o-n-g wait for something that is not going to happen!
If Sony is not giving a mirrorless FF A mount body with decent ergonomics and handling in 2014 with which I can build a System (flashes, triggers, A-mount lenses I have, new A-mount lenses in future), I am leaving Sony and going to Nikon. I am a portrait photographer working with multiple flashes, triggers and want to have a good backup from a company I can rely upon building a System for years to come, not just a camera.
Leave now. Sony are NEVER going to do what you require of them so don’t make the huge mistake of waiting another year only to be disappointed. Ditch your Sony gear while it still retains value on eBay and do the swap to Nikon immediately.
If my livelihood depended on my gear, I would be a Canon/Nikon user.
Hi Andrea, thank you for your efforts, my questions are
1. are we getting A mount mirrorless with IBIS?
2. It is going to be good APSC/FF/ both?
(and I’m looking to buy new body)
Regards, P
The ugliest cameras award goes to Sony! So ugly they change it yer after year.
Funny!
SAR Admin posts rumor about A-mount…
SAR readers start E vs A mounts fight 🙂
Improved (same level as competition) AF for stills (coverage and tracking) is more than welcome…
andrea, I think it might be a good idea to turn off the comments. And also cut down slightly on the not-so-important news. Maybe not to the extent canonrumors have, but maybe somewhere in between what you have now and what CR are doing.
Turning off comments would be an end to this site. Like Ken Rockwell’s site, controversy generates income for the site owner.
Why would you turn off comments or cut down on the news you dont want to read.
Just dont read what you dont want to read!!
Perhaps you also want us to burn all our books and purge all our hardrives.
We could ban the internet while we are at it but that would leave 8000 government agents with top secret clearence and nothing to listen too…
Dont worry secret agents…Im not a spy!
Andrea,
are there any news about The a Mount cams?
Could you comment on:
Price-range?
Mirror or not?
New Video Codec?