I saw that quite a few readers didn’t understand how rumors do work on SAR. A few also started to discredit us. That’s why I wanted to explain once again how this websites works and how YOU SHOULD READ rumors. Please read it very carefully ok?
1) Rumor classification! Rumors rated with SR1 are almost certainly fake. SR2=from new sources (very low chance this could be true). SR3=rumors from new sources or external websites that do have a 50% chance to be true. The difference between SR2 and SR3 is that in SR3 case I did receive the same rumor from a higher number of new or external sources. SR4= rumor from a trusted source. SR5=rumor confirmed by many trusted sources.
2) One of SAR goals is to collect rumors from external websites too! In that case we don’t have a chance to verify their sources. But by keeping track of the rumors from those websites we can learn if they are reliable or not. Example: A month ago a well known forum administrator said that the A77 would be announced in April. We re-posted the rumor reminding all of you that we can’t confirm that rumor and that you should take it with a grain of salt. The day after trusted sources contacted us to say that the rumor was untrue and we posted the new message on SAR. Two days ago I reminded you that there will be no A77 and some commented that I was WRONG again because I said that it would come in April. As you see quite a few people didn’t understand what are the rumors from our sources and what are the rumors from external sources. So please. Don’t make SAR accountable for wrong rumors from external websites or low rated rumors from new sources!
3) SR1-SR2-SR3 rumors are form external or new sources!
I often do receive rumors from new sources. I usually do post that rumors only if a) other new sources told me similar things b) if I need to verify it with trusted sources.
The only way for me to verify if rumors from new sources are correct is to post them on SAR (with low value only!). That’s the only way our anonymous trusted sources can read it and confirm or deny the rumor. I do not have the mail adress from trusted sources and they usually contact me using the contact form on the right sidebar. So the only way for me to check if rumors are true or untrue is to post them! Example: I received two messages from two new sources that do say they are testing the A77. I did post that rumor two days ago on SAR with low SR2 value. Some commenter said that this was certainly fake, that I am cheating them and so on. Good for you that trusted sources did contact me to confirm that YES there are people testing those cameras. And I also did receive some more info about the A77 I will post soon on SAR. So SR2-SR3 rumors can be useful for me and you to get more news and to get closer to the real specs of a camera or lens!
4) IMPORTANT:
The message should be clear now. SR4 and SR5 rumors are the ones you have to take into account to see if SonyAlphaRumors is a reliable rumor website or not. Of course also SR4 and SR5 rumors could be wrong, because also trusted sources can receive partial incorrect info and also because Sony itself often changes roadmap and specs. Please remind people that low rated rumors are here to help me to understand what new/external sources is reliable or not. Help me to remind them that they should look at SR4 and SR5 rumors only if they want to get a more realistic view about Sony strategy.
5) Future rumors regarding the A77. We were the first to tell you with SR5 value that the camera would be announced in mid 2011, and that it will have a 24 Megapixel sensor. Keep that in mind when the A77 will be finally here. We were also the first to tell you that the new NEX camera will be announced next month (in April). Those are the REAL good rumors!
6) The reason why you are here on SonyAlphaRumors is that we did post incredible good rumors in the past when no one else ever suspected that Sony would make Translucent cameras or that the new mirrorless cameras would be named “NEX”. Here is a list to some of our biggest rumors (very small selection):
On December 2009 almost a year before the A33/A55 camera release we were the first to publish the”translucent” rumor! (Click here to read that article)
On february 10 2010 we were the first to unveil the NEX specs and name! (Click here to read that article).
We were the first to post pictures of the NEX cameras two weeks before their announcement (Click here ot read that article).
We were the first to tell you that the A55 and A33 would be announced before Photokina (Click here to read that)
At the end: I am not a professional blogger, I even don’t speak English (My native languages are german and italian) and I work on SAR early int he morning before I go to work and late at night when I am back at home. I do this because I enjoy it and because I met a lot of interesting people through this website. I don’t get paid by big companies, I cover all costs with your help (when you buy stuff through the shop links). This is not a professional website and never will become it. But this will allow me to remain a “free writer” that writes on a bit chaotic platform meant for all real Sony fans 😉
If there is anything else you need to know from me feel free to comment this post. I will answer you. Thanks!
Andrea
66 Responses
I‘m very moved when I see your native language is not English(me too), strongly support you！
Thanks for all your effort.
you have all my solidarity
Some brainless readers just don’t understand enough what a rumor is.
just ignore those people… if they don’t like this site, they can just scram.
at least you’re trying to get more information out to people, and we all appreciate it.
Just to add my support, love the site.
+1 =)
I think you’re doing a great job here, I think the way you handle the dynamics of this site are very well explained and easy to understand, you have all of us informed on what’s happening or what may or may not happen with the sony imaging line products. As the name of the site itself implies (sony alpha RUMORS) it’s all about “rumors”, and rumors sometimes are true, sometimes are not… I think it’s a very simple concept to understand so, if some people don’t get it, it’s not your fault they’re not capable of getting it… I live in a third world country and I don’t speak english natively neither, yet I’m capable of understanding all this… Don’t mind about them, I really love what you’re doing here and you’re doing it right!
Thanks guys for your support messages. It’s nice to know that the work is appreciated! I will do my best to make even better in future!
andrea, please post those visitor/member names here. who did you not happy, scold you, rude with you…we are glad to help you bang on ‘these ppl’ 🙂
keep the good job done! so far i like it! its helps me to make decision which camera to go to wait 😀
This is a great site. Thanks for your effort!!!
I LOVE this site, I read it every morning and evening and follow all the twitters. Please keep up the good work!
Again…Thanks for all your effort. I love this site.
I recommend a graphic mark for every rumor level. That way it will be much easier for reader to identify how probable a rumor is. Mark can be anything, for example something like emoticons:
SR1 🙁 very unhappy
SR2 🙁 sligtly unhappy
SR3 😐
SR4 🙂 slihtly happy
SR5 🙂 very happy
Put the smile in boxes with different colors and that’s it.
Hi Roman! That’s anice idea. Probably the whole rumor rating is to complicated to udnerstand. Maybe I should only create two categories of rumors. RUmors from unkown/untrusted soruces and rumors from known sources. That would probably make it easier…
I wouldn’t change rumors categories but it is fully up to you.
I prepare a quick sketch for my idea (in MS Paint 😉 ):
http://stedronsky.cz/downloads/archive/sony_alpha_rumors_icons.gif
Nah, that would be too simple. I think current 1-5 system is very good for it’s purpose. If someone can’t understand this than it won’t make any difference for him if you’ll simplify it to 2 points, while it’d make a difference for people who can read and understand what’s up.
only one think in your language
“Bravo”
p.s. the idea of “smile-rumors” is great
🙂
Does this have something to do with our conversation? 😉
No. But with some other commenters 🙂
Andrea
Keep up with the good work on this blog, I think that the frustrations of Sony delays are wrongly directed at your blog/rumours rather than Sony.
Your English is very good, sometimes more well written than my English friends!
+1
Hi Andrea,
Thank you for all this stuff and don’t care about criticisms. I think SONY Alpha fans are very lucky to have SAR to inform them every day about rumors and so much more. There will always be people who have made criticism a way of life. Hey, remember this guy share his hard work for free with the community !
So, congratulations to Andrea and long life to SAR !
Keep up the great work Andrea! … I’m sure that we all love you in the end for bringing the news earlier than anyone on the net!! ..Some people are just getting too frustrated with Sony, I guess, and their delays…. Like you said, we are all Sony fans here… and all these hysteria are part of the same fanaticism. 🙂
You english is perfect! …and we love your every post.
Hi Andrea, thanks for the great work you do here! It is a very valuable site as it gives us a peek at what’s going on at Sony. This is in particular important, when you are about to invest a considerable amount of money in Sony. 😉 And I think it is also valuable for Sony, as they can get early feedback on their (perhaps SR1-SR3) ideas…
By the way: I’m just curious about what is your relation with the advertised “43rumors”, “k-rumors”, “mirrorlessrumors”, and “mirrorlessforum”?
Very close! We share the same platform. But my dream is to become independent from the 43rumors website. But to do that I would have to redesign everything and that’s a lot of work to do.
Don’t get low by some criticisms. People usually are not aware about the big hidden work necessary to rule a website like this.
Keep your nice work, and have all my support from Barcelona, Spain.
Thanks for your effort, Keep up the good work …
Keep up the good work, you do an excellent job especially as you do it in your free time 🙂
Great work!!!
Keeping going and here already became one of the most important website for us Alpha fans!
Keep up the good work! I check this site out every day 🙂
Andrea, first let me say: you are doing a great work. Given your current post I would say that you are letting those people affect you too much. You shouldn’t. There will always be people like that. Are you going to write an explanation post every time? Ignore them, especially when you see that most of the visitors are in fact pretty happy with what you are doing.
See, the people you are talking about they are not even providing an argument, just bashing. You can’t defend yourself by arguing. You will waste your time, energy and it will ruin your day. Another thing is that I never see you censor here. Censorship can be a dangerous tool, but when you see some really brainless comments, just delete them.
So, unless you see some constructive critic, just continue doing what you already are doing.
Great site and love it. Thanks for your great effort.
You are doing a very good job of keeping us abreast of SR4 and SR5 stuff that no one else will dare say or admit to. The folks that don’t understand how to read these rumors have no business being here. For the most part I use this as an entertainment site to satisfy my a77 thirst. Please continue publishing these teasers, without them I would have nowhere to turn. A few days back I said that I believed 1/2 of what I read and only repeated 1/4 of that. The reason I said that is because of the nature of this site. That said, I have it on my favorites and click on it first thing in the morning and in the early afternoon. That is just me.
Once again, thank you for what you do.
Andrea,
Have you considered using WordPress instead?
http://wordpress.org/
He is using it.
Oh…just badly designed them…whoops!
Thank You Andrea for your hard work on the website!
I know how much time and effort it takes to make everything well working and interesting from my own small Alpha website, many people don’t realize that behind each minute they spent on reading text there are dozens of minutes in gathering materials, verifying everything, writing, testing, and so on.
So I hope you enjoy making a site as much as we enjoy reading it, don’t get discouraged by few ppl who try to find a hole in everything, post some dumb things or are too brainless to read and understand what the rumor is or how you qualify them. You did amazing work so far, amazing to the level where some people consider SAR as semi-official Sony website used by company for controlled leaks – and that’s IMO one of the best gratifications one can get from making such site 🙂
Keep the things going!
~Sky
There is a saying in the UK,which is ‘don’t let the buggers get you down!’
People will always pick holes, just let them continue getting nowhere with it.
Keep up the good work, we appreciate it!!!
Trev
I have never posted a comment before. But I will now. This is a great site. Along with Facebook, Macrumors and my email this is my fourth most visited site, and I frequent it at least once a day. It’s freaking great. Forget the haters.
Peace from all the way in Australia
Tofa
I look at sonyAlphaRumors more than I look at the Sony site (or for that matter any other alpha related site) for news, so you must be doing something right 🙂
Thanks for your work!
Great site! I read it every day. Keep up the good work.
Reguards from Slovenija
Nice SEO text 🙂
Andrea, keep up with the great job you’re doing with this site, and don’t let the moaners get you down. This site is always the first place I visit to get an idea of what’s going on in the Alpha world.
Great website! First place I go in the morning! Keep up the great work!
Just wanted to drop in and share my support to your fantastic effort in keeping us abreast of the development on SONY DSLRs – don’t let those that are ignorant discredit or discourage your great effort – KEEP IT UP!!!!
I appreciate the work that you do for the Sony camera community, and the broader photography community. I think it says a lot that you apply a credibility label to your rumors. There are many large photography and tech sites that publish rumors without providing any guidance to the credibility of the rumors.
I’ve watched a number of discussions pertaining to the A77. Actually, I wish people would stop calling it that, because we don’t know if that will be the official name of the successor model. Back to the point, between it being an SLT, mention of it having an EVF, megapixels, sensor type, ISO, people have gotten entirely too carried away over the speculation. One would think that Sony is setting climate change policy with the reactions people are having.
An A700 successor is indeed long overdue. To be sure, not everyone is going to be pleased with it. In that case, it won’t be the end of the world. There are plenty of great options out there to transition to.
It amazes me how people can become so extreme in their attitudes and behavior over taking a photo. There are far more significant things in life to be concerned with.
Thanks SAR for your work. You’ve done a lot to keep us hopeful over the A700’s long awaited successor. We should all ask where we would be without you sharing with us.
Cheers!
i enjoy every single post, i love this site, it has all news that i nedd, keep up the good work 🙂 greetings from slovakia 🙂
I used to be a Minolta SLR camera user and holding more than 5 Minolta lenses. I started reading your site since last year, it gives me very good information in planning when and what sony camera to purchase. Now I visit your site nearly everyday and I love it very much.
The SR classification is great, keep up your good work. We are behind you!
Ben
If someone is not able to see the defference between a news/fact and a rumor, or rather if someone is not able to understand what it means to use the conditional verb in a sentence (because in school was a dummy), than for sure doesn’t deserve to be heard.
The WORST thing about ignorance is that it always comes with arrogance.
Great site, Andrea, great job! (last 2 moths my n. 1!!)
Greatings from “Svizzera italiana”! 😉
Grazie Tato!
keep it up! i login here every few hours 😀
I think you can attach an SR5 rating to the rumour you’re doing a great job. I like the rumour rating codes you use; it allows flights of fancy (which might be true!) to be put up, but rated appropriately, and allows almost certainty to be indicated too.
LOL 🙂
Andrea, you’re doing a great job as always. This site is part of my breakfast and lunch. Dinner is not because I do not want to spoil my breakfast. LOL. Don’t worry about your English, it’s better than some I know here in US. Don’t worry about your spelling either, a smart reader would know what you mean. An idiot reader would want himself to look good all the time and wants credit in the expense of others. ’nuff said.
Good luck!
I appreciate site format and I like that you publishing not only rumors but also news. However, some criticism usually is background for improvements.
Crtiticsm is always accepted s long as it is based on rational facts 🙂
I heard from a Sony employee that by the end of the month Sony will be announcing the NEX7 as well as a NEXpro… have you guys heard something about this? I want to hear it from different sources before I get excited 🙂
Everybody knows/should know what the R in SAR stands for.
But it’s great to read all the speculations and to share in the excitement for the new toy we’re all waiting for.
Thanks a lot for all you do!
I love your site, keep it up!!
Cheers, Josh
really appreciate all the effort put into this SAR site Andrea… dont mind the empty talkers out there.. keep up the great job! we’ll see what 2011 brings to us 🙂
I agree with everyone – great site. My favorite of all the rumor sites. Mostly because it has an overall fun feeling to it. Keep it up!
Love your work!
I very much like this site…it’s very valuable….keep up the good work…it’s much appreciated!!!
MANY THANKS!!!!!
Amazing that you even have to remind people of the points you make in this post. This is a great site, and always an interesting read about what might be happening, could happen, or is happening with Sony cameras. This site must be very valuable to Sony, too. Please keep it up!