–
ThePhoBlographer received that Sony invitation for a September 4th press event. according to our sources this event is very likely for the new Honami i1 smartphone (with G lens and 1/2.3 inch sensor) and for the QX “lens-cameras” series. The new NEX-5t and 16-70mm Zeiss E-mount lens will be announced earlier (probably August 29). While I expect the NEX-FF (and A-mount stuff?) to be announced in late September.
28 Responses
Lets hope to all that’s good in this world of ours that he announces the promised firmware update for the A65/77 cameras (to include at least a decent Jpeg engine). Come on Sony, we have been patient for a long time, show us at long last that you really can support your existing cameras rather than putting out updates in the form of new cameras.
I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. It’s all about lens cameras now!
I think that you are right. I dont own the A77 or A99 (I have an A900), but I’m still really curious about this because it speaks to the mindset of Sony and how they view their customers.
I am, too, looking forward to this because a new jpeg engine could change perception of Sony camera’s image quality to many people who believe Sony sensor’s are crap thanks to the sub-par jpeg engine. Any way to check this with sources, admin?
I wonder if they’ll briefly talk about A-Mount; on one hand, if they don’t, people will still be clamoring for info. But, if they do talk about A-Mount, then people will leave the keynote screaming “A-MOUNT” instead of “HONAMI”, and I have a feeling Sony wants to push Honami. If I had to bet, I’d say Sony won’t be talking about A-Mount, and they’ll leave it for NEX FF.
What if they talk about both?
“Ladies and Gentleman, I am here to share with you the most exciting news to come from Sony in years. First off, I would like to offer my most sincere thanks to the dedicated Alpha A-mount userbase that has come to rely on Sony DSLR and SLT cameras since 2006. But now it is time for a revolution that will forever change the way we take pictures! Meet HONAMI and the QX lens cameras! The QX lens camera system is designed to be a direct replacement for the Sony Alpha system, and we plan to phase the system out over the course of the next two years.”
So there will be no firmware update mid of August for A77 & A99 🙁
It shouldn’t surprise you and even if there was it would only be lens profiles.
Can you share any rumors about the aony nex nex 7 successor? Whats going on? Is it coming or not?
No SR4-SR5 info yet. Within 2 weeks you will know everything 🙂
Sony probably dropped the 7 series in favor of NEX FF, due to constrained resources and the news that mirrorless APS-C and smaller is experiencing precipitous market decline. Now NEX 5 will be top of the line for APS-C.
Those NEX FF bodies have to be in stores for X-mas, so Sony has a lot of manufacturing to do.
“Precipitous market decline”? Let’s not get overly dramatic.
Based on a rough stat analysis of the Japanese Worldwide Camera Shipments posted here in SAR: (a)for every increase of 10 DSLR shipped, 2 mirrorless cameras are also shipped (they’re co-elastic), (b)these two categories appear to decline by 12k DSLRs and 2k mirrorless every month but the data does statistically not support the decline.
This sounds like a general overview of the Sony systems. Likely only one or two camera announcements and like was said probably limited to the new phone and linked lens/camera. Last year they did a similar thing and I think announced on of the NEX cameras, the other cameras followed a few weeks later.
Firmware updates will not be announced, just released. Although I would have expected specific rumors by now if it was going to be soon.
ANDREA…can you tell us anything (even if its not confirmed) about the firmware upgrade rumored?
I’m not over anxious, I’m just curious.
Sony are concentrating on the next big thing, they don’t care about existing users who have already added to last years profits.
You need to buy a Canon 7D if you want a firmware update that brings something new, but then Canon know how to keep their users relatively happy and willing to buy the next Canon dSLR that comes along. 🙂
LOL. I do own a Canon 7D and was quite pleased when the update came. But I fear you are 100% correct. Its still ALL about money to Sony.
Sure, because Canon is all about good feelings.
They are about giving us legitmate reasons to decide to stick with them. I WANT to spend more money on my Canon system because they’ve proven they continue to support the cameras YEARS down the line with updates. I dont want to spend more money on my Sony system, hence, the last thing I bought was my A900 in 2009. Well…I take that back, I bought a larger compact flash card for it about a week ago. Still like the camera and use it more than my 7D (which I inherited). But I dont have any plans to continue with the Sony system, because it gets devalued so quickly when Sony acts like each new $1000+ product is simply disposable. Canon IS all about good feelings. Good feelings make customers spend money on Canon. Canon gets rich. Sony still makes great innovative products, but when the focus is ALWAYS on the next best thing, it makes it REALLY hard to want to spend money on that.
Check my comment below. Not everyone is happy using the same camera for 4 years.
True. And a good point. But I didnt say ‘dont come out with new cameras’ but, support the existing ones as well as come out with new ones. Canon is doing that. Sony isnt.
Yep, Sony could do better. Actually, the lack of pro support is what made excellent cameras like the A900/850 enter oblivion, imho. But canon with their endless iterations and some lousy products lately, they could definitely step it up too.
The V2 update that people are always bringing up is the exception, not the rule. Most fw updates from Canon are as boring as Sony’s (and SOny does make updates, mind you). That’s point one. Point two, the update came 3 years after the 7D was released and an actual successor came 1 year later. The A77 and NEX-7 are 2 years old and we are already expecting successors in the next 6 monts (according to the rumors).
Canon has obviously a better overall support, but let’s not make it a fairy tale.
What’s a Canon 7d? Oh I remember Notre that four year Old ancient dinosaur. The Casio that hasn’t been updated for four years
Trying owning a vg20… The new lenses report the wrong focus distance & sony refuses to give a firmware update to fix this glaring problem. In my view this show sony doesn’t support new lens compatibility with older cameras & camcorders. It is very disheartening to say the least.
Seems the RX10 is still far away ..
Admin, were you invited? If you cannot attend, I can cover it in your stead (I’m in NY).
Can’t wait for honami. And i wish that the device will available around the world at the same time.