Sony Japan announced that it will postpone the RX1RII shipment start in Japan. And I got word from US and other Asian stores that also they will have to wait to get a new Stock of RX1rII cameras. The reason for the stop is unknown. And Sony also does not tell when they will resume sales.
UPDATE: An anonymous source (thanks!) told me: “The production of the RX1R2 is halted because of AF inconsistencies”
US stores also do not show the RX1RII in Stock anymore (Amazon US, Bhphoto and Adorama).
150 Responses
Well, that’s not good
RX1RIII is on the way!
probably they had a breaktrough in the rx2 (very compact with curved sensor with 35/1.8) production. so they will start selling the rx2 soon.
The most probable reason for this is obvious
The rumor that Sony is mass producing curved sensors must be true.
The long rumored curved sensor RX camera with 35mm 1.8 4 element lens is actually about to happen.
I could not understand what Sony would use a curved sensor for after releasing a flat sensor camera with 35mm lens, now it makes sense, they will not release the flat sensor model.
the production is on hold, not canceled. And a company certainly won’t invest in a new product/production line if the do not intend to release a model…
The term I see in this headline is HALTED..not on hold.
When the camera re-appears it is likely to have curved sensor and matching new lens.
Which would make for a different camera. Why not having both on the market, then? Once again: it makes no sense
It makes no sense to sell both a flat sensor model and a superior curved sensor model at the same time.
Sony should not have produced the flat sensor model and is correcting thier mistake.
This is of course speculation, but it is what I think best fits current rumors.
“Sony should not have produced the flat sensor model and is correcting thier mistake.”
No it isn’t! Sony has simply postponed production for a while.
Except the current ‘flat’ one is a 42MP ‘R’ model, Sony is likely still planning to produce a ‘non-R’ RX1 II, which may or may not have a curved sensor.
Fun speculation – LOL
You must be kidding me. Sony is selling the A7 line with FOUR different sensors, at the moment. You really are throwing out sentences randomly. BTW: AF issues, they say. See? Easy, obvious, as expected.
You shouldn’t believe headlines. Sony has said production is “postponed”.
No. If and when a curved sensor RX camera appears, it will be a different model. Sony is not going to suddenly change the RX1R II to a curved sensor.
It could simply be that they are allocating the capacity elsewhere
Halted, on hold – same thing.
Halting a production line does not have to be permanent.
What you say would make sense if all this had happened behind the curtains. But no, you do not plan, project, build, prototype, test, market, and finally release a product, if you have other plans for launching other competing products. All camera makers have competing products they choose from, but the competition happens in the plan/prototype phase, maybe (maybe) in the testing phase, but never after you market the product. Otherwise not only you throw money in the sink, but you give a very bad impression to your stockholders, and also to the potential buyers of all other products in your line-up.
More simply: they may have found some problem, and want to solve it before restarting production.
Most camera companies have a definite road plan/dirctio, Sony does not, they keep changing directions.
The RX1RII was probably developed as a back up plan because Sony has been having difficulty getting an acceptable yield on curved sensor production.
They have apparrently solved those chronic production problems and have gone back to thier original plans.
there is no way they would stop production for a camera that only just came out. be reasonable. even Sony with their new directions wouldn’t do this… it is on hold to likely investigate some thing with the production that is a potential issue
” be reasonable”
Just what do you expect Sony is going to do with the 1200 curved ff sensors they have repordedly been producind for months now.
And what do you think Sony is going to do with the the special matched 4 element 35mm f1.8 compact curved sensor specific lens they have patented.
It makes no sense to produce the RX1RII if Sony can now produce the long awaited, highly anticipated RX curved sensor camera instead.
This makes no sense. If the sensor could already been installed into a working camera, they would have done it before launching the RX1RII. If they just managed to solve some issues with the new sensor, it will require months before they have a working RX1RIII with the new sensor ready for mass production. At that point better leave the RII on the market for 6-12 months more, refine the RIII, and launch it in the second half of 2016.
But this is, of course, just speculation. Truth is much more trivial: issues with the RII to be solved asap
Assuming it’s going in the the rx and not a separate product line…
Sure. Point being: this can’t be connected to the RxrII being recalled.
as Lorenzo Amato said “If the sensor could already been installed into a working camera, they would have done it before launching the RX1RII” as such the halt on the production line is likely to address an issue or to reflect a lower than expected demand. not to build a new RX3 with a curved sensor to be released tomorrow.
Yes – I’m getting my RX1RII replaced … 😉 LOL
This is a nice fantasy – no no no – they probably have a shortage of sensors because of the unexpected demand for the A7rM2.
Wow. This is a stretch, even for you Barry.
Temporary sensor re-alocation.
The model has already been released. I bought it and it is great and makes sense… – also means that you’re jumping to conclusions.
I know the reason: the Leica leprechauns managed to escape !
Mayby Sony will also discontinue production of the A68…????
Rumors are surfacing around the internet that the A99 replacement is ready to be released very soon, but will be an A9…NOT an A mount replacement but an E mount replacement.
Rumors have also surfaced that a “TALLER” A9 body exists…so perhaps this will finally be the proffesional level mirrorless Sony camera that we have been waiting for for so long.
That’s what some of us (me) here in SAR expected. Where do you find additional rumors?
What rumours?
Please provide links.
IMHO it will not be an A mount but rather FE with a DSLR like body. The specs I have no idea, who knows, maybe it will fly, lol.
Pop-up drone capability, instead of a pop up EVF. Well, that would be something!
Rumors have surfaced that the world is going to end on December 29, 2015.
2012…. Nostrodamus.
No links, Barry?
Was this another Barry invention?
*>@)~~~~~~~~”~~~~<<<
Link doesn’t work.
Where did you read the rumours?
>>>==========(@<*
You were lying then.
Maybe they are running out Sensor… Rather supply the a7rii…
This sounds likely for me . I’ve got one already – so postponing the launch sounds a bit odd…..
Hmmm… very curious. Could it be that initial sales/pre-orders aren’t as high as expected? If so, what would they do? A limited run only? Tweak it with a minor update (weather sealing, touch screen?)
This is very strange news.
No, they’re unable to keep up with demand on the RX1Rll.
what would they do?
learn and attach E-mount to body
That would be interesting – an RX1 with interchangeable lenses… keeping the small form factor and small lenses.
I don’t think it could be e-mount though (it would be too large).
I envision an RX series of lenses… primes only… 16mm 24mm 35mm & 50mm – each lens with a built-in, curved sensor (lens/sensor combined) that recesses into the RX1 body.
Well… I can dream, can’t I? 🙂
Dream on!
In sony Japan official site, the link provided above, sony didn’t mentioned the production is halt. They just said due to some issues in production, the delivery date will be changed from Mid-Dec to Unconfirmed. They did mentioned their estimation will be Mid-Jan.
Since RX1 is one of very few camera still Made in Japan. I can guess the productivity of this line is rather low and easily affected by shortage of any parts or manpower.
Updated my post with more specific info. Thanks!
You are doing a great job !
So, your theory is that production is halted by a bad case of man-flu in the Japanese factory?
Personally, I think the camera malfunctions mentioned above are more likely 😉
I sense a great disturbance in the Force…..
Press release says “delayed” initial sale from mid Dec to unknown, not “halted”. Headline here is very misleading.
Ah – that’s a bit different. ‘Production Delays’ are par for the course.
Does not mean that production isn’t halted.
Production halts don’t have to be permanent. We’ve had production holds at work numerous times – it’s a big deal when that happens but also usually gets resolved in 1-2 weeks. It could easily (and very likely is):
“Yield is insanely low due to problem X. Halt the production lines until the engineers find a solution/workaround.”
“AF inconsistencies” is vague – could be problems with the lens focusing mechanisms that are intermittent/difficult to manufacture. Could be a software problem, although in that case they’d likely keep the production line going but not ship anything.
I updated my post to make it clear that store owners told me production has halted. I am sure they will fix the issue very soon. Nothing to worry about.
“Dear Customer
Notice of the digital still camera “DSC-RX1RM2” Release Date postponed
Regard a digital still camera that gave a new product announcement on November 6, 2015 “DSC-RX1RM2″, became a thing where I am allowed to postpone the launch by the convenience of on production.
Be released shortly before assistance, deeply apologize that you apologize for any inconvenience to customers.
Regarding the release date, we will guide you on again our website to prospect the mid-January 2016.”
Key word: Postponed.
Not halted forever, not cancelled, not redesigned with some exotic tweaks, improvements or new paint jobs. Postponed.
It could be as simple as the unavailability of a single part or component, these things do happen in production.
Nope. I got three mails from different stores saying they will nto get
any new RX1rIi shipment because of a production issue. This means they
will halt production for a short time until issue is fixed.
Nope to what?
I noticed two users over at the DPReview forums received RX1RII’s that didn’t work at delivery. Maybe that could be the reason.
I believe they are running out of sensors. A7rii I’d a bigger hit than expected.
OMG! The sky is falling.
I wouldn’t buy a camera without a good grip. I’m done with friction grips- don’t try passing that stuff off on me. With that said, I ran into this Sony Cybershot at Walmart yesterday. It’s sad when a 179.00 dollar P&S has better ergonomics than most of Sony’s FF cameras.
Facepalm.
True!
WTF !
Good. I loved my RX1R and sold it and got the RX1RII but returned it because the lens was crap! It was de-centered or something because it couldn’t take a sharp picture across the frame at any aperture on manual focus or autofocus. It was very disappointing!
My RX1RII has no such problem.
Thank you for the unsupported anecdote carefully timed with this production hold. My BS detector is registering off the scale.
No BS, I spent a solid day with tripod trying to figure out what was going on. The right side of the frame was always weak, and then there was weird zones throughout the frame that were soft?? I wish I new what was going on and maybe I got a bad sample. Too bad as I was hoping this to be my main camera. I may just wait a few more months and then pick another up. I’m wondering if these production hold was due to the issues I was having?
Perhaps you can post some samples…
I can send you a DropBox link that would be the easiest. I deleted most of the images but I still have a few that show the weakness in the lens that was frustrating. Even though it is a stop slower the A7RII w/35 f2.8 is much stronger. I did some side by side comparisons with the two and if I can find them I could get you those as well.
Yes please.
Just post the link in a reply. Thanks.
ok, later this afternoon I’ll post the link with unedited raw files. Hopefully by 4pm mountain time
https://www.dropbox.com/home/RX1RII
A bunch of files are uploading right now. Unfortunately I deleted my side by side comparisons with the A7RII and 35mm f2.8. But each one of these shots shows weird inconsistencies in focus across the frame, generally weaker on the right side in certain zones??? Generally by F8 things are looking better but still not great and definitely not worthy of the price tag. I am very picky and some may not see much error, but the performance of the lens and camera was not as good as I had hoped.
file 5234 shows it the best. I focused on the ivy plant right by the water meter. Nice and sharp in the center then move to the right and you’ll see by the time you get to the adobe bricks it is out of focus and then keep scrolling to the right and then things pop beck into focus. Wavy field curvature? Downsample the image to 24mp and this is hardly noticeable. But image after image I shot had these same characteristics especially if I shot below f8. One of the draws for me with this camera was the ability to shoot wide open or at least close to wide open and get great IQ, like the Original RX1. I may just buy another RX1
Thanks for that.
Do I need a Dropbox account? The link just takes me to a login screen.
you do and it is free
samples plz
Current a7 series + FE35 f2.8 is quite close to rx1 body size. It’s quite amazing to see what Sony has done with FF mirrorless so far. RX1 II with pop-up EVF is a beautiful design.
Has anyone read or heard anything about AF inconsistency?
Also note the wording from the translations below which say: delay or postponed and not “halted” or “stopped”
NO – AF seems to work fine (at least for me)!
I think this post is full of BS because of the wording.
Typical.
Maybe they halted it to get a firmware update out for the RX1
It’s not the end of the world. But it’s still serious enough to halt production and shipment this late. Clearly, there’s an unexpected and unresolved problem. Obviously, testing and quality control missed the problem.
It reinforces the view of Sony as an over-stretched company due to it’s own business plan.
To their credit they took the uncomfortable decision to halt shipment. Some other companies would’t have.
Unlike Nikon, Sony is working the issue in the early stages of production rather than a mass recall after the fact (assuming it’s a quality control issue as opposed to a part shortage which is more likely). Reinforces the view that Sony is more proactive than most other camera manufacturers.
So you are trying to say Nikon opted intentionally for a mass recall scenario or that Nikon is just to stupid to foresee it?
I can’t see how this is anything special to Sony. “Sony is more proactive than most other camera manufacturers.” ??? Hmmmm….
The D600 oil spot issue was reported on early production samples, it took the better part of a year before Nikon admitted a problem and issued a recall. The D750 flare issue was handled better and faster, lessons learned. Since we don’t know the nature of the Sony production halt, we are just speculating as to the cause. Could be a quality assurance issue or a part shortage. Whichever the case it’s always more cost effective to correct the issue as early in the production process as possible. That’s being proactive by my definition.
Yeah, and Canon shipped loads of 5DMk3 with light leaks. Which they later fixed with sticky-tape.
So, yeah credit to Sony.
BTW if it were parts shortages, they would say so. Companies always do, as it deflects blame from them.
My RX1R has serious autofocus issues. Sony chooses to ignore the problem. I’d rather have a manufacturer that later admits and solves a problem.
No, no, no. If you want to pay respect and honor tradition of Sonyboys, the title must be “RX is dead”.
Just asked a Japanese friend to properly translate.
“Sales Postponed”
Sales…not production.
Postponed… not halted.
It also says that sales will begin in January 2016.
You’re welcome.
Typical “dramatization.”
Pwned.
The Truth Pwns!
Ah, but in Japanese, “sales” is the same word as “egg,” and “postponed” is the same as “on face.” So you don’t really know what they mean.
+10 for the joke of the day :p….
Too funny
RX1RII… Mount is dead. LOL
This makes all the “A-mount dead” family happy! 🙂
Lloyd Chambers has been testing RX1RII and he has had issues with the cameras unwillingness to focus, so if Sony have stopped production it looks like its a component issue.
Lloyd has too many issues to keep track of.
What do you mean by that?
He loathes any camera that doesn’t have a red dot, and goes way out of his way to find issues with cameras from other companies. He would say a Lamborghini is junk because the radio reception isn’t as good as a Ferrari’s.
He loathes any camera that doesn’t have a red dot, and goes way out of his way to find issues with cameras from other companies.
This is completely wrong. Are you really talking about Lloyd Chambers? He actually criticized all Leica cameras, some quite heavily (SL, M). His prefered cameras so far seem to be the Nikon D810, and the Sigma DP Merrill series and Sony A7RII from an image quality standpoint.
He would say a Lamborghini is junk because the radio reception isn’t as good as a Ferrari’s.
Yep but that pertains to lenses in his case (ie. Zeiss Otus vs Sigma Art), not cameras.
I know he is scrutinizing, but he’s not anti-Sony at all. He has a glowing review on the A7Rii. And for that matter, a scathing review of the Leica Q.
Hi Andy,
I read his full review of the RX1Rii (I subscribe to him) and he is extremely critical of the camera. I know I never would have purchased it if I had read his review first. Very concerning. I’m in the predicament of whether or not to return it to Amazon. Sure hope Sony comes clean about all of this soon.
I’ve seen mine sitting in the store with a ‘do not sell’ on it now for a few weeks. It’s looking more like a recall now I’d say….
That explains why I haven’t been able to find it or purchase at all. It could be better to purchase mid january. I think newegg had the availability date for January 8 and I thought that could be a long time. But maybe newegg was right…
Sounds like something new firmware could fix?
Got mine yesterday from Adorama. Ordered 10 days ago. AF seems to work fine, battery life is ridiculously short as expected from a tiny BX-1 battery.
OH well. I will continue to play with my RX100 IV in the meantime. Looks like it will have to be my ‘driver’ during the holidays. Q1 2016 it is.
Mine will receive today in Taiwan and will test it asap. Maybe Sony will explain officially in these few days, and will discuss if I need to return it or not. I extremely love this mark 2!!
Can anyone explain the best way to test a lens for “decentering”?
A7rii tends to front focus too.. don’t they share the same AF technology?