What you see here is the first image of the new Sony A5100! And as expected there is no design change compared with the current Sony A5000. The camera will be announced on August 19 according to Sony Hong Kong. Specs are coming soon…
Thanks to the anonymous source who shared this!!!
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Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
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0 Responses
First image of a88 & a58 mk II please 🙂
Another stamped out mediocre camera, yawn.
Tell us more!
What minor update might we see? Improved WiFi control? With better manual control and video control? That would be a welcome improvement.
Well, this is a quick refresh so don’t expect much. Was the a5100 going to be mostly a rebundling with a new kit lens like its entry-level sibling the a3500?
I get entry-level cameras are volume leaders for Sony and get they introduce fresh blood to the ecosystem but marketing them at major trade shows would seem a waste of time. These cameras need to be mass marketed.
Photokina is a trade show, so it’s about launching the A5100 to distributors and stockists. You need to get it on shelves.
The only consumers who pay attention to any product launches are nerds like us. The rest window shop.
Who’s this “us”? I’m not a nerd……
…..I’m a geek.
They really seem to make money with those cams…
a5100 is a evf-less a6000
fast af
reduced burst
reduced buffer
bionz x
A5000 is already using the BionzX. Not sure what else they can offer to take it closer to an A6000 without them loosing the market differentiation.
The A6000 sensor with a fast AF. The rest can stay the same as the the older A5000.
The body material is different. The handling is different.
Wasn’t it just this year at CES that Sony marketing decided the only new camera they were going to announce was the a5000 yawner? No other new bodies were announced and they fed the ‘death of the a-mount’ frenzy by ignoring it entirely and dodging questions when directly asked. Net result? CES bombed and immediate a5000 price slashing.
Is Photokina going to be a rerun of a bad movie? I don’t expect it but the 1st SR5 announcement (I get rumor is pre-show presser) they feed SAR being a quickie refresh of the entry-level a5000 is a bad start. Why waste the Photokina stage on a camera noobs who don’t follow the hobby will impulse buy at Walmart?
That’s why the announcement comes before the bigger announcements? Always happens, the boring stuff gets announced for the real lead up, Canon and Ricoh already have a head start here, watch as all the dullard compacts get announced.
You feed the low end first because it builds. If you announce the best in the beginning, it will pale in comparison and will likely be ignored automatically. It will be anti-climactic. You want to reserve your best for last, not the first announcement.
I like the rate at which Sony push out NEX models, my NEXt purchase is an old E-mount model for playing around with and the eBay NEX-5 variants are dirt cheap. 🙂
Oh and where is the A58II? I’ve said it before here, are we ever going to see one or is the A77II the only APS-C model now?
Do you want an A58 replacement or just to feel safe knowing that they are still making them?
It is merely an interest in whether Sony are going to continue models below the A77II as they appear to be concentrating A-mount at “higher-end” users (not that E-mount is low-end of course).
It’s a migration strategy. You pull the plug from below, the entry level, so that there won’t be any new users entering the stream. You maintain the upper end because there folks still with glass from Minolta and the like. Then after the entry level, you also start pulling the plug on the mid end of the SLT. In time, only the top end product remains. They can gradually phase that out or they can introduce upgrades or new models sparingly (e.g. every 2-3 years).
In time, the E and FE lenses will have built itself up, and those still on the SLT side will diminish in numbers. They can moan and groan, but they no longer have the numbers and Sony is justified in pulling the plug.
Ever since the first NEX came out, I suspect the long term 7-10 goal is that if NEX or E mount succeeds, they’ll abandon the alpha mounts eventually. By the 3rd year of NEX, they already know it is the new platform they will migrate to. So, it is just a matter of time.
Sony have just spent a huge amount of cash on developing a dedicated PDAF system for the A77II. E-mount isn’t used for longer focal lengths. Mirrorless is useless for tracking and yes that includes the A6000 OSPDAF, it’s pants except for perfect conditions with supported lenses.
I can understand Sony dropping low-end APS-C bodies and pushing E-mount but semi-pro and pro A-mount is going “high-end” with prices to match, not disappearing.
No.. want them to replace the A58, so that they can keep selling entry level A-mount cameras. While one wouldn’t expect an A58ii to be a revolutionary upgrade over the A58, it could contain many incremental improvements, including some passed down from the defunct A77/65. For example, even the Nikon D3300 now has essentially the D7000 sensor — So why not stick the A77/65 sensor into the A58.. why not upgrade the LCD, increase the buffer and FPS a bit.
The Sony A5000 is only 8 months old, and already being replaced. The A58 is a year and a half old, with no replacement in sight.
Since the release of the A58, the only A-mount released has been the A77ii.
In that time, E-mount releases:
A7, A7r, A7s, A6000, A5000, A5100, A3000, A3500, NEX 5 T.
If there is enough room for 9 E-mount cameras in a year and a half, surely there must be room for a couple more A-mounts.
What he said!
lt’s because the long term plan really is to abandon the A-mount. There is no future in it. They won’t openly say this, but the releases of bodies, lenses, accessories, says it all.
Well I think that an a6000 sensor in the a5000 would not go astray. Especially of we are going to see a FE NEX-5T replacement.
I can’t see a FF camera as a successor of an APS camera. It may have the same body form, but it a different class of cameras.
Looks more like the 3N than the 5T. The power zoom lever and popup flash instead of the accessory port. I think a 5-style camera with the A6000 sensor and the 5N capacitive touchscreen would have a great market.
In fact the A5000 is the replacement of the Nex 3x series, so it makes sense that the A5100 as the successor of the A5000 is the same looking as the Nex 3x series.
it’s not a 5T replacement, it’s a NEX-3N replacement. It also looks exactly the freakin same as the A5000, have you been under a rock?
YAWN
Is that a double knob/lever around the shutter release button?
it’s on/off switch and zoom toggle, just like the previous cameras.
What??? I’m quite sure the a5000 only has like 8months in the market…WHAT THE HELL
while Canon may announce medium format, 11-24 f/2.8, etc.. sony keeps creating toys.
Sony has medium format already its called hasselblad, pentax, phase one.
Canon may announce it, but Sony is already there.
Until then, everything you have mentioned is just a rumor.
Its cause they’re grasping at straws trying to figure out how to get out of their slump while innovative companies like Sony keep kicking their already red rump.
Agree, there is a big difference between ‘may’ and ‘keep creatng’!
Now run off to the store and try to buy some may-have-been-built stuff.
let’s discuss about the lenses, bodies again in 1 month.
anyway, also there is a big difference between toycameras with dozens of specs while actually each and every model suffers from issues and real ones which works actually.
All toy cameras take better pictures then maybe cameras.
If we wait a bit more, then maybe Nikon also have released a FF MLC.
– Let’s wait for the maybes!
I downloaded a bunch of A7R files today. You know, it’s cool no doubt, but I really don’t think it’s that massive of a step up from 24MP. That is to say, I think I could live without it. Still think I may end up with the A99 rather then the A99II to replace my A900.
If I REALLY want crazy resolution I’m going large format and use a mutistitch adaptor with an A7R. 100MP files for ultimate landscape resolution. But, I don’t really need that for day to day- 16MP is more than enough IMO. Rant out…..
I’m pretty much with you on that. I do like 24M, and would not like to go down to 16M, but I don’t need 36M. It’d rather have a cleaner 24. If you take the DxO ISO numbers as A99 (1555) and A7R (2746), assume no mirror lockup, and allow for 15% to be lost in SLT (ie A77 vs NEX7 example says that equates to 801/1016 ~21% loss, and it sounds like they have improved this to nearer 15% in the A77II), that means A99II with 36M, and no further improvements should be ~2334. I’m guessing they’ll have also tweaked the sensor and it’ll be nearer 2500, but higher should be possible at 24M, which would be brilliant.
I’ll almost certainly be buying it either way though…
i have to say the a7r isnt necessarily for everyday shooting due to file size. its very nice though to have the option. i use the a6000 more often now for every day around the house and yard and nonspecific trips out on the town and timelapse and whatever else is going to be a good lump of files..and reserve the a7r for specific projects based on absolute detail and quality.. to me it does make a huge difference having the additional mp just for a personal satisfaction of documentation of whatever i was trying to capture..and marveling at the detail..i suppose pixel peeping..but in an enjoyable way…also i have to admit having a lot more AF lenses to choose from on the shelf to take out with me sways towards the A6000 sometimes too.. i have nothing fast and wide for my a7R 🙁
the new names of Sony’s mirror less series are really confusing. The A5100 is actually the replacement of the NEX-3 series,not NEX-5. I prefer the old NEX3,5,6,7 names.
Just treat aXXXX is the new range and forget about the NEX range. 🙂
The NEX-3/A5000 series mirror less cameras don’t have the EVF shoe. You can only see through LCD screen. Once I got used to the EVF I can no longer shoot without it. That excluded me from the A5100 market.
ops the old NEX-3 like 3N which I own does have the EVF mount.
3N does not, only the F3 did.
change great name to ugly bland one and nobody cares about the product line anymore. good work, Sony.
The vast majority of people buying these will never have heard of “NEX”.
will this have the same AF speed and coverage as a6000? if so, I will take one 🙂
It would be nice if they would do a full-frame camera with this kind of size. There are people (like me) who do not care about viewfinders or advanced options but they only want the highest image quality in a very small package.
Put a full frame lens on it and it is no longer small.
Put the Zeiss FE 35mm F2.8 on it and it’s still small. And you can replace it with the bigger zoom lens only when you need it.
Yeah because I’d just want one lens for my full frame….
Isn’t that where the 4th rumored FE body Admin was hinting at is headed?
I wouldn’t surprise me if Sony came out with an entry-level (relative term, I realize) FF without a EVF to possibly replace the a7. They’d offer an optional attachment for those who want it.
They do. It’s called the RX1. It has a fixed 35mm f/2 lens though and it’s $2800.
Fujifilm X100S for ~1000-1300$
While Sony is busy feeding us ever so exciting rumors (my heart be still) about the ‘hot’ new a5100 entry-level camera, Nikon is taking a slightly approach. They’re leaking like a sieve over rumors of a new “action” FF to complement their D6xx line.
Haven’t you switched already? You seem to focus a LOT of attention on what the competition is doing. If you find a certain brand offers what you are after, switch. You should buy into a brand that offers what you want, not what you hope they will bring out. Canon / Nikon don’t offer the system I want, but if they do for you then that is great!
My comment was directed at Sony’s ever feeble marketing attempts in comparison to others.
If I were starting from scratch, frankly, Sony would slip to my 2nd choice but I have a number of thousands of dollars invested in the system and like the old Minolta glass so I’m hoping it’s good for at least 1 more body if not more.
What marketing? Not sure it was to be honest, despite your claim. Do you mean Nikon’s ‘marketing’ of unreleased products through leaks? Personally I feel Nikon are lost, I know I will get blasted as a ‘fanboy’ blah blah. I used to shoot Nikon for years. But they are now the only brand I wouldn’t really touch (though if they had an inexpensive A7S sensored camera I ‘might’ consider them again, with just two small primes).
Leaking information *is* marketing and Sony would do well to learn lessons from those companies that intentionally do it.
*sigh*
Yeah, there are never any leaks on SAR or rumours of any kind.
Sweet. Now you’re accusing me of being a liar.
If I had a box of Crayolas handy I’d draw you a picture. You need more help. Maybe if I type slower you’ll grasp it…
Part of marketing is building product excitement. Too deep for you? Apple is the master of manipulating the fanboys and can even whip them into a frenzy over next to nothing. Sony is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Guess what excited fanboys do? They bug merchants to carry products giving them a massive stiffy.
Sony’s leading its controlled pre-Photokina leaks with its weakest (we hope) offering, the entry-level a5100. Sure, what they’re doing to it is nice. Sure, it’ll be a huge volume leader because it’s the body that’ll make it to the shelves of mass merchandisers. But it isn’t the stuff you want to leak to build brand excitement. Meanwhile Nikon is leaking about a FF and Canon opened with a new lens teaser ad and just began leaks of a 7D ‘built like a tank’.
This has nothing to do with building great products. It’s about selling them. I expect Sony has lot to show at Photokina and thinks starting with its weakest hand is a winning strategy. We don’t need another lame CES re-run.
I used to be a buyer for a very small store. Selling to merchants is a battle in the trenches. What Sony needs to do is drive consumer mindshare, brand awareness (which is crippling the a-mount, for example). A win for Sony would the mainstream media highlighting their products in news coverage. CES? Crickets here on anything Sony highlighted in CES pressers there.
So the rumours of curved sensor RX1’s, A99 MkII with 36MP and fast AF, small FF, FE and A-Mount lenses… and you have a cry about an A5100 (which by accounts seems to be a very very solid little upgrade and if it comes off one of the most capable small frame mirrorless ever assembled…) and what? not good enough? Sorry, but doesn’t wash, at all. But don’t worry, this negativity on tumour sites is not restricted to Sony, just about all of them have this ‘wake up x brand! Look what y brand are doing’.
Maybe you missed the A99mkII rumor then, “36MP sensor and the World’s Fastest AF!”
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr3-a99ii-with-36mp-and-fastest-af-of-the-world/
No, I didn’t at all. I’m quite hopeful that the a99II is a price/performance Nikon D810 killer. Sony could easily do it. I have my fingers crossed. I mentioned elsewhere if it’s available by October 1st and under $3,000 Sony can take my money.
You know other brands bring out cameras that don’t interest you too right? You can’t expect that every Sony product is ‘for your specific needs’, nor would you expect that every rumour that Nikon or Canon show up that Sony ‘match’ that rumour on the same day… A5100 and Dxxx are completely unrelated.
Hopefully the a5100 will have the XAVC S video format, which the a6000 does not have.
That would be interesting. I guess Sony are going to transition everything to XAVC-S at some point.
Can we just get a lossless 10-bit HDMI output already?
MEH
It’s funny, i though the camera on picture was an NEX-5.