Sony NEX-5R and NEX-6 leaked through Chinese agency!

This very first images of the new Sony NEX-5R and NEX-6 cameras have been very likely found by chinese.vr-zone.com through a public Chinese agency that registered the new WiFi capable cameras. Click on the pictures to see the full size version!

Reminder:
Sony may announce the new cameras and lenses on August 28th. This is what we will likely see soon in stores:
NEX-5R: Looks almost exactly like the NEX-5n and has the flip screen from the NEX-F3. It has a completely newly designed 16 Megapixel APS-C sensor with Phase Detection AF pixels. It has WiFi connectivity and APP support. You can surf on Internet with it. Price around $700 with kit lens.
NEX-6: It’s a mini [shoplink ”]NEX-7[/shoplink] with integrated viewfinder. Compared to the NEX’7 it has an EVF with less resolution and same newly designed 16 Megapixel APS-C sensor. It has WiFi connectivity and APP support. Price between the NEX-5R and NEX-7 (NEX-7 is currently priced at $1200 at Amazon so my guess is around $950 and $1000).
Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6: It is a pancake zoom with OSS and power zoom.
Sony 11-18 f/4.0: Normal (non pancake) zoom.
Sony 35mm f/1.8: Fast non expensive prime lens as big as the Sigma 30mm lens.

 

The next two product announcements: Olympus on August 22th and Sony on August 28th.

Getting closer to Photokina and next mirrorless stuff is coming. Olympus will announce the 60mm macro (with ring flash adapter) on August 22th (yes on Wednesday London time). The new PEN cameras will follow in a second announcement in September. A more “spectacular” announcement could be made by Sony on August 28th. New NEX5-R and NEX-6 cameras with Application support, WiFi, Phase detection on sensor will be announced. Along a 16-50mm pancake zoom, a normal 11-18mm wide angle zoom and a fast 35mm f/1.8 prime.

Oh the spectacular part may be that sort of “hybrid” E-A mount Full Frame mirrorless camera from Sony. I really want to see that monstrous thing for real :)

Leica Monochrome shipping and cool video by CamerastoreTV :)

The nice team from CamerastorTV made that new Leica Monochrome video review I embedded here on top. These guys are so nice I am going to link to their store a couple of times: www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com, www.thecamerastore.com,  …and I am not going paid for this joke :)

That said I heard first preorders have now been shipped by BHphoto (Click here). But I really don’t know how few of my readers had the money to preorder this jewel. We may better wait for Sony to launch their NEX-FF hybrid system. On SonyAlphaRumors we just learned that this system works in a different way then we thought (Click here ot read the newest rumor on SAR).

Impossible made Possible? Sony NEX goes Full Frame!

According to latest rumors posted by Andrea on SonyAlphaRumors Sony is about to launch a new NEX Full Frame system. I am trying to figure out if it means that it will use the same E-mount or some kind of other mysterious trick to make it work on an E-mount. No idea yet, but I think Sony is going to surprise quite many of us at Photokina if they bring it for real! It would probably the first cheap “Leica” alternative of the history :)

More info at SonyAlphaRumors.

Leica M10 to be unveiled on September 17th.


Usually companies try to hide their announcement day but Leica is not. Leicarumors got the hands on this invitation for a September 17th event: “The expectations are for a new Leica M10, S3, D-Lux 6, V-Lux 4 and maybe even a redesigned Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH and a new 28mm Summilux-M f/1.4.“

The M10 is “rumored” to be the first Leica M camera with Cmos sensor and live view. About time I would say! Question is again…who will make that sensor?

Another Canon Patent For Improved Phase-Detection Autofocus (next mirrorless sensor?)

Conventional approach (left) and patented approach (right)

Egami (machine translated) spotted another patent filed by Canon and related to methods that aim to improve the performance and accuracy of the phase-detection AF. This is the second patent in a few days – the first one can be seen here. Such an AF method is featured on the Rebel T4i/650D and on Canon’s recently announced mirrorless camera, the EOS M. Note that such an AF method is particularly useful on a mirrorless camera, given that such cameras, since they are missing the mirror, can not focus in the “traditional way”.

As far as I can tell, the patent details methods to increase AF performance by eliminating problems caused by the angle of incidence of the light: “[…] reduce the diffraction limit by a high refractive index layer“. Another discussed issue is the reduction of the pixel size (higher resolution??). I am more and more confident that both patents are related to an upcoming sensor which, I guess, will be at the heart of the more pro-oriented mirrorless camera most of us are expecting to be announced in September at Photokina.

  • Patent Publication No. 2012-151367

    • 2012.8.9 Release Date

    • 2011.1.20 filing date

  • The diameter of the spot light focusing of the micro lens

    • Determined by the numerical aperture and ? the wavelength of the incident light

    • By the wave nature of light, not smaller than the diffraction limit

    • When the pixel size below the diffraction limit, pupil division is impossible

    • ? = 1.22 * (? / n * sin?) diffraction limit

    • ? This angle ? is half the chance of lens optical system was synthesized in the micro-lenses and layers

  • Related art

    • There is a light flux can not reach into the openings of the light-shielding layer of the phase difference AF pixel for the image plane, the light-receiving efficiency is reduced

    • Although the distance can be shortened and the photoelectric conversion unit if microlens back-illuminated (BSI), if the pixel consists of a low refractive index layer in the layer lens +, for total internal reflection occurs, can not be expected to increase the angle

  • Canon’s patented

    • To reduce the diffraction limit by a high refractive index layer

    • Structure of the pixel

      • Within a layer lens, and light shielding layer formed between the microlens

      • The high refractive index layer, filled between the lens and the light-shielding layer in the layer

      • The low refractive index layer, a light shielding layer filled between the microlens and

      • Optical system consisting of micro-lens and lens in the layer, connecting the focal point in the PD

      • A case

        • ? = 540nm wavelength of the incident light

        • 1.6 refractive index of the microlens

        • 1.45 refractive index of the low refractive index layer

        • Layer of high refractive index lens and in the layer refractive index n = 2.3 (silica Sio 2 of the prior art is n = 1.46)

[egami, via canonwatch]