Tomorrow Sony will have a press conference in a few countries. The official invitation sent to bloggers says this is for a “Sony A7sII” touch and try event. And reviewers and bloggers will then be allowed to publish A7sII reviews and image samples. But I have been told major Japan managers will be present at the event and I don’t know if they make all the big fuzz to show the new A7sII only.
For sure Sony will announce new FE lenses before the PhotoPlus show. But I don’t know if that’s going to happen tomorrow or next week.
In summary: Tomorrow at 10:00 London time Zeiss will announce the new Otus 28mm f/1.4 lens. And we will see for sure first Sony A7sII reviews and image samples. But there is a small chance to get some FE lens news too.
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89 Responses
Oh god, I wish Zeiss would re-enter the camera biz with the Contax marque and bring back the 645 too
Who wouldn’t like a digital Ikon or an s2? Made out of titanium!
If Contax is back I might just about lose my s%!t
I would sell everything I own.
I remember you beeing more sophisticated with your wording and still hoping for a revival.
LOOOOL. The new Sontax. Same ingredients as Hasselblad used. An obsolete camera body. An new silver top plate. A new name. Double the price. (Maybe the last one is different from Hasselblad. They quadrupled the price.)
Zeiss Ikon E-Mount rangefinder for Loxia lenses (and M and AF FE lenses) please.
Contax is owned by Kyocera no?
That silver mod of the A7 actually looks pretty decent.
Kyocera licensed the Contax brand from Zeiss.
That license came to an end in 2012.
They’ll announce some more FF lenses for $1500, in time for Christmas, and read the script about how FF is the future. For the APS-C and A-mount people, it will be another round of “Charlie Brown and the football”.
$1500 plus VAT.
I’d rather have one good $1500 lens than a bag full of mediocre $400 lenses.
I see the post has been edited to say that the topic will be A7sII. So, the deafening silence regarding APS-C continues.
If they say it’s for A7SII then it’s for A7SII.
If the digital G2 comes to town… I go to town.
I’m sorry to say, but I think if there is something even more dead than A-Mount, then it’s Contax.
That’s because you’re an insufferable individual. Look at your avatar.
Kyocera’s license to Contax expired in 2012. Zeiss can do whatever it wants with it.
Partnering with Sony to revive the brand is a great idea. Contax was one of the most innovative camera makers for more than 30 years. It brought the first FF digital camera, the G2 and G1 AF rangefinders, the AX (AF with MF lenses) and the RTS bodies were outstanding. That’s not even mentioning the other compact cameras like the TVS or T series and the 645 which was an outstanding system on its own.
If the Kyocera/Yashica engineers end up working for Contax/Sony/Zeiss then it would be amazing. Top end internals with great UX externals.
I dig it. I should have bought a contax G2 and a few lenses. I still might do that.
Contax were great because of the materials, knowledgeable people, and engineering of the products. Even if the name was revived, there is absolutely no guarantee such a camera would have the remotest semblance to the original quality because eveything has changed.
Indeed, uness they pulled off something spectacular it would probably be a deep disappointment to all. Perhaps best to just remember the greatness that was.
You may be right. But if it did come back in spades…oh man.
That brand is really close to my heart.
I built my career with those cameras!
“… you’re an insufferable individual….”
Why do people get personal when there is absolutely no reason. I don’t get it.
You took it personal. That’s different. I was just referencing your avatar.
Maybe I should have put the “;)” to make it look all casual and sh..
A9 or A99II ?
Might be just the same kind of event that Lok filmed on DRTV.
Trying to reply to Thinkingpictures but someone removed his comment:
My advise on getting a G2: do it if you won’t feel too bad if it
breaks. The reason why I sold all of my Contax gear (645, G2, RTS III,
RTSII, N1, NX) was because any camera after the RTS I had electronics
that if broken, could not be fixed unless you cannibalized another
camera after 2012.
Kyocera stopped supporting Contax in 2012 or until parts ran out and all repairs had to be done in Japan at your expense.
So, do it if you really want the experience but be careful when you buy so you don’t buy a defective body.
The 35mm G was a massively underrated lens.
Thanks. I was going to adapt over to an A7II but I do film and found a few reviews online concerning the G2. All say it is massively under rated and build quality is top notch. Sounds like a real win for me and the bodies aren’t expensive at all. Thanks for the info.
The reason why it was massively under rated was because Contax (one of those things they really failed at) was that they marketed the G2 as a rangefinder, so people expected it to behave like an M or a Hexxar. So there were a lot of disappointed customers because they wanted a camera that the G2 was not. Similar to how people see Sony cameras and menus today. They are used to something and the new stuff is too alien to accept it with a different approach.
Almost every Contax camera was seen like that. The things they did were the same as other cameras, but how they did it was pure Contax.
One last thing: look online for a “focusing with your thumb” on the G2. It will show you hot to acquire perfect focus with the camera.
Hi. So I”m looking more at these Contax G’s. I contacted this guy from Zeisscamera.com since the website seemed fairly knowledgeable. My thing is repairability. I’m willing to take a risk on a G1 with the green label but the G2’s- do you know if anyone still repairs these things? I’d just sell my medium format film gear because I do like the small factor and Zeiss glass is just a bonus. Thanks.
Ah!
So, there were two Contax-es in history.
The original Contax, when the company was part of Zeiss and was run by Zeiss. That’s the Contax that website refers to.
Then there is the Yashica/Kyocera era Contax. After Zeiss shut down Contax, they licensed the brand to Yashica. Yashica was then acquired by Kyocera. That Contax is the Contax which made the G2.
G2 or G1, repair-ability factor is same. Electrics all around. My advise, skip the G1. You pay a bit more, but it will be worth it. Also, don’t bother with the black versions. They will cost a lot more for just having the black paint.
Actually there was a company in NJ that bought the rights and parts to Contax and was doing repairs up until a couple months ago. They repaired my Contax T3 for fairly cheap.
Hmm, so basically no repairs now? Bodies are pretty cheap so I’d still be willing to roll that dice.
SR3 A mount news…
Maybe Sony will ffinally officially announce that A mount is dead so we can move on to what Sony actually plans to make.
Facepalm. Not going to happen- no way, no how. There is no way after releasing two SSMII updates they’ll make that announcement anytime soon. There is no way it’ll happen in the next year. 24-70, 70-200, 16-35…they probably have shelves worth of inventory just sitting there. Nope, they’ll bleed it dry or drop a few more bodies but certainly not this or next year.
I still think that Sony will produce updated lenses and a few more bodies for A Mount. I disagree that they have shelves full of inventory. We live in a world where everything is made JIT. Just in Time. When a product gets down to it’s last few hundred on the shelf, they ramp up another batch at the manufacturing level. In the case of lenses I can not see them making more than 1000 per run, unless of course it is a brand new lens, and they expect (from past sales data) that they will sell 13,000 in the first 6 months, then they would make that amount of units in the first run. Just in Time manufacturing is quite common throughout the world nowadays, and most products are made that way. That is why when factories are disrupted due to floods or earthquakes, products become unavailable very quickly.
Statement about the future of the mount will have quite minimal impact on the sales. They are somewhat attractive to be adapted on A7rII via LA-EA3, where they work pretty well and there are no native fast zooms available. Also, due to the released lens updates and A-mount uncertainty, there are gazillion of first generation second hand lenses available, often for quite incredible prices. I doubt there are many buying brand new second generation A-mount F2.8 zooms at this point.
“There are gazillion of first generation second hand lenses available, often for quite incredible prices” Where?
I have been following second hand price trends for 24-70/2.8 and 70-200/2.8 for past three or four months. In that time I have seen bunch of them, in decent condition, go for under 1keur. For now I am holding onto mine, they work great on A7rII+LAEA3, and there still is a slight chance of A99II.
I have had a demo FE 70-200/4 for 3 weeks and to be honest, I like it a lot. At F4 it seems to be sharper than A-mount F2.8 one, OSS on it works very well. If someone offered me to swap my A-mount 70-200/2.8G (first gen) for their FE 70-200/4G, I might be tempted actually.
A mount trends I’ve seen:
A99: Still 1200 to 1300 used.
A900: Slight decline to around 750-800.
A77II: 750
85 Zeiss: 750-850. Most right now around 1k.
50mm Zeiss: 750-900.
135mm Zeiss: Still around 1k-1300..but closer to about 1200 on average.
I mean, all the A mount 2.8’s you mentioned- first gen maaaybe a few hundred less than a year or more ago. I see the same trend with Nikon though. They’ve all been releasing updated models of their most popular zooms. Some of the best Minolta glass hasn’t budged at all- zero movement in used prices.
I really don’t see any massive declines I would attribute to lack of interest.
Here in the US, there are A-mount lenses are available in the used market but not a lot of them and the prices are still quite high. For instance a 70-200 F2.8 original version in excellent condition sells for about $1600, the Zeiss 24-70 F2.8 for about $1200. A Minolta 80-200 F2.8 APO for around $1000. They seem to be holding their value quite well.
For example:
I think- given the success of FE mount- it will undoubtedly prop up the value of A mount lenses moving forward. Even if they discontinue the mount any further advances in adapters essentially makes them quite a bargain at the price they’re at.
It is probably about time that Sony need to define their strategy whatever it is. Best statement will be A9 or A99ii camera. However they should be ready to stand fully behind this choice for 5 years at least.
If they do A99ii people would also expect A mount lenses like 300/4, new 35/1.4, 70-200/4, new 135 and 85 SSM, new 100/2.8 macro, 100/2, 24-105/4, 16-35/4, 24-70/4 etc. etc. i.e. at least 2 or 3 mid and high grade lenses per year. Even if A mount stays only full frame. Accessories like radio controlled flashes, view finder add-ons etc. will too be required.
If they do A9 that will mean similar commitment to E mount and a lot of improvement on A9 that people miss on A7 series – battery, full articulating screen, pro-body size, new menu system seem to top the list but there are many other things Sony need to catch up with e.g. bracketing with interval delay.
If Sony continue to be silent that simply means they are not ready to go to pro market and A7 should be taken for what they are i.e. by far the best amateur level camera. Pro users should use those A7 cameras in conjunction with pro grade camera like D4, D810, 5D mk3, 1Dx, H5d etc.
Accessories are the same for both systems but the f60 flash and radio controls are definitely needed by both. A high performing successor to the a99 (be it native a or e mount) is needed though. It is time for Sony to define heir strategy.
Kill that cameras already, It’s just a matter of offering the same experience (aka fat body) on e-mount cameras, and match the specs/lens compatibility with A99, and it’s done.
Bundle it with an advanced A-mount adapter that can be bolted on to the camera chassi.
Come on…. A99 II !
You can do it Sony!
:¬)
Surprise the RX2….
Mega Surprise the Curved Sensor Camera
Ultra Surprise the APCS Sensor Camera
Hyper surprise: A new curved sensor A99 Mark II camera!!!
Epic Surprise the a9, a9r and a9s Premium FF Camera Serie
Times are tough..
If Zeiss Made Titanium Contax G2 Rangefinder with A7S or A7RII Inside and combo with the Zeiss Loxia lens all in Champagne Titanium Colour that is such a nice camera such a Lightweight combo (No need IBIS for Lightweight as possible)
if that have hybrid viewfinder like X100 Series it wii make me crazy
i will sell A7R and move to that combo o.O
Hmm, maybe a champagne knock off of the original with limited edition matching Loxia lenses..or Batis I guess. Now what about a Safari Edition in dark olive green…now we’re talking.
Nope. No adapter will do the trick, they’ll have to release a whole new range of native FE glass.
The adapter would stop the A-mount widows around, and can work around while they fill the E-mount line-up.
Sony will sooner make a medium format rangefinder smartphone, than A99II / A9. No touchscreen, of course.
The high-ranking Sony managers will announce the end of the A-mount, will apologize excessively Japanese-style for their failure, and a few of them might actually commit hara-kiri.
Sony will announce true internal 10bit codec and recording for A7RII and A7SII…
That’d be nice, but the current crop of SD cards won’t handle internal 10bit 4K…….
All that efforts about cameras that goes to large public, it’s cool.
But being PRO, I need A99m2, normal size camera (7 series too small for my hands, clients look strange at so small camera too when they pay big money for their wedding shootings – yes stupid as it is, that is the reality)
Next: fully articulated screen, full weather resistant body not just dust proof, 3batteries like for A99!, silent shooter, new A-mount lenses, better focusing capabilities.
As pro I want to be sure that A-mount continue on its way. 7 series as backup cameras, why not, BUT I NEED FULLY PRO BODY! MR SONY can you make it, or say clearly your never going to do so, then I can switch back to Canon, or Nikon. Why to make us so frustrated?
Cheers
Pro user that starts to go nuts about Sony real PRO new body.
So far happy with my excellent A99
Have you actually had a client complain about the size of your camera?
Just curious, as I’ve never had a client comment on any of my gear, regardless of size.
hi, yeah pretty much often.
Some clients have their own DSLR “pro” cameras, so they know how “bulky” it looks in comparison to Sony 7 series. But I use 7 series only as backup camera. Main camera is A99. So we are talking gear only. We perfectly know that a good photographer will make good photos even with his smartphone 😉
Yet, Sony 7 series are not good at all for their batteries life, that is a real deal breaker.
When I cover the whole wedding day morning-to-morning, I change eventually 1 time the battery set in my A99 (3 of them), as for 7 series batteries are empty few times a day – that s*%*…….!
7r2 has only 1 slot SD card, and while shooting important events I need(!) to backup on the field right away to a second SD card. Even SD cards are rare to fail, if that happens once in your lifetime, what do you say to your wedding clients if their one in a lifetime wedding is lost because you just had a corrupted SD card?
No way I use 7r2 for wedding as main camera (or even worst the only camera)
Let’s just be honest, the fact that Sony is surprised by the success of their e-mount, it does not mean every Pro photographer should now work with this camera. I agree it can deliver perfect shots, pro like shots. But, in terms of gear reliability on the field, sorry but 7 series are for amateurs only.
Part of my routine is to chuck the camera at the groom right at the end of the processional. Of course, a big bulky SLT helps ramp on the theatrics.
Yeah, I don’t get a lot of paid work as you can imagine.
I’ve had people come up to me and my A7 + 55/1.8 asking me why I don’t use a better camera for a professional shoot. They tell me they have a better camera, and that I could borrow it if they wanted. The first guy was talking about his Canon 60D, the second guy actually came to hand me his Canon 30D, insisting that I should use a professional camera like his.
The trick is to show them one shot on the screen to shut them up.
Rx2 please
It’ll be called RX1 II.
Please Sony…if just for me….shiiiit out an a99II before the end of the year. That’s all I ask.
Me too.
Waiting for the A99II & RX2.
RX2 (or rx1 II, whatever) not with a curved sensor but with the Sony 50 mp MF sensor in a tight package.
With weather sealing and a built in EVF
Sony will pre-actively announce the decontinuation of the FE line-up so it won’t seem like a reaction to Leica’s SL announcement on Tuesday. But we all know it is…
A compact f.1,2 lens is needed. Don`t has to be razor sharp, but need to have a lot of character
A compact f/1.2? Keep dreaming.
I heard they are going to announce the a99II…..in a parallel universe
Hoping for a 300mm+ native E-mount lens.
Steve Huff, on his blog last week, said something about a camera that will be introduced this week that no one has an idea that the camera even exists. I wonder what he’s talking about. Is it a Sony camera?
Ah, but which astral plane will be receiving it?
http://huffparanormal.com
Link?
Did you mean where he said “next week I will have a world exclusive review of something new from a major brand ;)” ? I don’t think he ever mentioned it’s a camera though, other than it not being a Leica SL. http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2015/10/06/taking-the-week-off-for-some-rr/
Yeah, he did tested the Leica Q 6 months earlier than the announcement.
I’m pretty sure that there’s some Leicas around being tested now.
Might be the Contax A7.
http://i.imgur.com/AfKygpy.png
didn’t find the post but he said he got a review of something and he posted a review of loxia 21 yesterday
Spoiler Alert:
It’s a medium format lens camera with dual card slots that you clip on your phablet
Dual playing card slots…
8u
Hope you sitting down…
A7-series are fantastic for weddings for one single reason: the Mitakon 50/0.95. Other than the Leica Noctilux, there is no lens like it.
That said it is irresponsible to shoot a wedding with a single card slot. Sony needs to bring out the A9. It needs to drop the A7R/A7S shenanigans (most people don’t really need that resolution or low light), and make a pro mirrorless that focuses on: speed, AF, card slots, battery, and just a very decent 16-24 megapixel sensor.
They are probably waiting to get their AF on point before releasing such camera.
Dear Santa, i wish A99II……
That does nothing for new customers who need fast glass, or looking to upgrade from an APS-C A-Mount.
I guess the old saying “A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing” is apt here 🙂
I haven’t shot a wedding for many years (back in the days of film). You’ve just given me another reason to never go back 😉
Man, I’m bad with time zones. So like, this happened right? This was the RX1RII suprise correct?
A now ? What was announced on the event ?