What's Sony Up To?

[Canon Rumors]

It looks like Sony may be busy developing a lot of new flagship products. <a href="http://www.++++++++rumors.com/new-set-of-low-ranked-rumors-sony-a9-a9r/">According to SAR</a>, we could see a Sony branded medium format camera, an a9 and a9r as well as an A99II.</p>
<p><em><strong>a9:</strong></em></p>
<ul>
<li><em>24 mp (new sensor)</em></li>
<li><em>400 AF points on the entire frame</em></li>
<li><em>14 fps</em></li>
<li><em>ISO 50-204800</em></li>
<li><em>Shutter speed: 30″-32000</em></li>
<li><em>dual XQD slot</em></li>
</ul>
<p><em><strong>a9r:</strong></em></p>
<ul>
<li><em>42mp BSI</em></li>
<li><em>400 AF points on the entire frame</em></li>
<li><em>8 fps Buffer 40 RAW</em></li>
<li><em>ISO: 50 – 102400</em></li>
<li><em>Shutter speed: 30″-32000</em></li>
<li><em>dual XQD slot</em></li>
<li><em>weather sealed</em></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Sony Medium Format:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><em>IMX161 Image sensor.</em></li>
<li><em>50mp 44x33mm</em></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Sony A99II:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Faster AF</li>
<li>36mp BSI</li>
<li>4K</li>
<li>5 axis in body stabilization</li>
<li>Dual card slot</li>
<li>Dual core bionz processor</li>
<li>Weatherproof</li>
</ul>
<span id="pty_trigger"></span>

 

[sanj]

We expanding to "Sony Rumours"? Good good. One stop shop.

 

[3kramd5]

Assuming all is true:

I wonder if that 1/32000 shutter is electronic and, if so, if they'll stop throttling the bit depth in that mode.

 

[KiagiJ]

Is it worth sharing something that starts with 'Time for our roundup of rumors from completely unknown sources and therefore unlikely to be true'

?

 

[justsomedude]

RIP Canon.

 

[Loswr]

It would seem that the A9/A9R are being positioned as competitors for the 1D series.

Sony implements the use of their 'innovative' technology so effectively, it should be quite the 'competition'. :

 

[3kramd5]

It would seem that the A9/A9R are being positioned as competitors for the 1D series.

Sony implements the use of their 'innovative' technology so effectively, it should be quite the 'competition'. :

lol!

He must be using the A9R for that wildlife shot since the high framerate A9 isn't weather sealed or weatherproof.

 

[Sator]

The problem is that of all of the photography rumour sites SAR is the least judicious in screening out dodgy rumours, and instead shamelessly publishes any abject drivel they are fed as click-bait for the gullible masses. Take a look at this:

http://petapixel.com/2014/11/19/rumor-sony-a9a7ii-pro-full-frame-e-mount-will-first-new-higher-end-line/

It is given a SR5 and a vote of complete confidence. Yet it dates from 2014. If it were correct, the a9 should have come out some 18 months ago.

The specs reported this time for the a9 and a9R are just someone's elaboration of Tony Northrup's speculations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDvul84wues

They just added the bit about "due to the earthquakes" and altered it a bit before sending it off to SAR for instant publication on-line. You could probably try making up your own set of rumours and sending them off to SAR to test their gullibility.

There is a problem with the idea of a 24MP mirrorless camera that shoots at 14fps. The phrase "mirrorless" is a bit of a misnomer in that people think that the mirror is a pointless decorative accessory which flaps around doing nothing. It would be more accurate to call them "autofocus sensorless" cameras in that they are missing an entire additional dedicated PDAF autofocus sensor to which information is transmitted via the mirror. The missing autofocus module necessarily limits the speed of autofocus. A 24MP a9 would go up against the 24MP Leica SL, which can manage 11fps, and an a9 would manage about the same frame rate. And it will probably start to rival the Leica in price too...thus matching the Leica like prices on the FE mount lenses coming out. Given the fact that mirrorless cameras perform poorly with longer focal length telephoto lenses, and there are issues with corner IQ at focal lengths less than about 18mm, I wonder if the market would accept this. We will wait and see.

As for an a9R, that is pure speculation. Would you really pay thousands more over the a7RII just to get a faster frame rate and dual card slots? The larger DSLR like body would also negate the size advantage of mirrorless cameras.

The more credible rumours are the ones related to the successor to the a99, which came out at the same time as the 5DIII, and which is also on a four year development cycle. The 5DIII slaughtered the a99. You see 5DIIIs everywhere, but a99s are as rare in the wild as hen's teeth. This time around Sony will want to avoid a repeat of the a99 debacle and they are rumoured to have lost a lot of money on it. I expect Sony to come out better prepared this time after spending four years licking its wounds, and the a99II will be much more impressive (whether with a 36 or 42MP BSI sensor).

Next, medium format rumours. Sigh. Just as you get Nikon and Canon medium format rumours, these mushroom intermittently in the Sony world too. Here the logic goes: because Sony semiconductors makes a full frame medium format sensor, therefore Sony cameras (now a separate company) will make a full frame medium format camera. Or: because Sony semiconductors makes a 4433 medium format sensor, therefore Sony cameras will make a 4433 medium format camera. To which you could add: because Sony semiconductors makes a M4/3 sensor, therefore Sony cameras will make a M4/3 format camera. Sony have their hands full developing lenses for their FE mount and A mount in both FF and APS-C format. It would make precious little sense for a company with no medium format experience to start making a whole new range of lenses. Sony have also officially denied the medium format rumours. So I am calling BS on this rumour.

 

[Canon Rumors]

We expanding to "Sony Rumours"? Good good. One stop shop.

haha, no. I've been reading a lot of Sony love since the 5D4 announcement, so I figured I'd help those folks out a bit.

 

[Jopa]

The problem is that of all of the photography rumour sites SAR is the least judicious in screening out dodgy rumours, and instead shamelessly publishes any abject drivel they are fed as click-bait for the gullible masses.

SAR is 99.999% clickbait for the affiliate links, the dude that runs it is a total jerk. All the real rumors he gets a day before the official announcement, and it's actually very hard to call them rumors at that point. Everything else is pure nonsense, but fanboys and trolls love it. SR5 is a synonym for "last night I had a dream about ... so it can't be wrong". If I knew this particular article is based on the "rumors" coming from SAR I wouldn't even bother to read it, but I guess it's too late

I'm really happy this site is NOT like SAR garbage thanks to CR guy keeping it professional.

 

[Sator]

CR is unusually critical and thoughtful in screening out fake rumours. You also see things that have the potential to become wildly delusory rumours hosed down before they are allowed to get out of hand. SAR encourages wanton rumours to explode totally out of hand in order to whip up as much of a frenzy as possible.

Rumour sites get revenue through links, so it is fair that there are some commercial links in the mix, especially where these are potentially of interest to readers. But the SAR guy would seem to have no other day job and spends all his time feeding wild clickbait with a vast proliferation of endless commercial links for the credulous masses.

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention the bit about Olympus starting to make mirrorless FE mount lenses for Sony. I quote:

Olympus 35mm FE lens: Olympus Zuiko 35mm lens f/2.0. It WILL be branded as Zuiko and not Sony or Sony/Zuiko.

My hope is that there is some truth behind the Olympus folks joining the E-mount system….

What a load of utter nonsense!!!! There is a long patent trail on the Egami blog that points to Olympus developing their own full frame mirrorless system:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/116458677975033889029/posts/BM21G8ewuE7

https://plus.google.com/u/0/116458677975033889029/posts/EraoieBa5kM

They already have patents for a quite a large number of lens designs, much of which overlap with what is in the Sony FE mount lens range already...which can only mean that Olympus are not designing for Sony but for themselves.

I can only laugh when I think of all of the Sony fanboys and trolls awaiting in deluded rapture at the arrival of an Olympus FE mount lens only to see the birth of a rival sibling instead. Instead of enjoying and admiring what other makers have on offer, the Sony fanboys are pathologically jealous and bitchy when it comes to deriding anything from rivals.

 

[3kramd5]

^^ anyone's guess. But since Sony owns about 40% of the imaging sensor market, it's a decent bet.

 

[Jopa]

The problem is that of all of the photography rumour sites SAR is the least judicious in screening out dodgy rumours, and instead shamelessly publishes any abject drivel they are fed as click-bait for the gullible masses.

SAR is 99.999% clickbait for the affiliate links, the dude that runs it is a total jerk.
...

To me it feels like nikonrumors is run by the same guy.

But sometimes this website feels similar in that the stories are about "What's on sale today".

I think nikonrumors just copies SAR marketing, but the owner is different.

If you look at any of those web sites "Sony Alpha Rumors" "43 Rumors" "Mirrorless Rumors" "Fuji Rumors" they refer each other in the header. The last 3 also are in the same subnet / same location (US). The first one is somewhere in Europe, but it doesn't matter much - you can get a web hosting anywhere these days. So I think the sar guy runs those 4 sites for sure

 

[Eldar]

Sony news includes medium format

http://thenewcamera.com/sony-medium-format-sony-a9-and-sony-a9r/

 

[tcmatthews]

Re: Sony news includes medium format

Regurgitated Sony Alpha Rumors that are all low ranked. I do not think Sony is going to release their own Medium format anytime soon. Also the rumor had the A9 and A9r priced at $5000. I would expect a premium over the A7rII but that is a bit excessive.

 

[Dylan777]

Re: Sony news includes medium format

If true, I'm interest in a9 with 14fps and will keep close eyes on medium as well.

 

[IglooEater]

The problem is that of all of the photography rumour sites SAR is the least judicious in screening out dodgy rumours, and instead shamelessly publishes any abject drivel they are fed as click-bait for the gullible masses.

SAR is 99.999% clickbait for the affiliate links, the dude that runs it is a total jerk.
...

To me it feels like nikonrumors is run by the same guy.

But sometimes this website feels similar in that the stories are about "What's on sale today".

Am I allowed to sing my little Coleridge somg here? pretty please?