Sony RX1, NEX-6, NEX-5R and A99 Previews and samples the week of the 8th!

Sony RX1, NEX-6, NEX-5R and A99 Previews and samples the week of the 8th!

Hello everyone! Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great day wherever you may be at this moment..work, home, school, travel, hotel..wherever! I am EXCITED and the reason why is that the week the 8th-12th I will be posting LIVE updates from San Francisco and Carmel, CA at the Sony Media Event where I will be shooting with a Sony RX1, NEX-5, NEX-5R and A99. Even the new Action Cam and other new Sony products will be there for me to shoot all week. Upon checking into my hotel on Monday the 8th I will be handed a camera bag full of cameras and goodies so THIS is a big deal for me. I am thrilled to be shooting the RX1 especially..to see how it is in real use. Of course I will be posting updates and samples here from all of the cameras as I shoot them.

We will be going to some amazing scenic locations that week to put these new products through their paces and you guys get to read about all of it HERE. I will not be the only web guy there so I am sure there will be floods of samples available that week from many of the other photo bloggers and websites.

Sony seems to be on top of their game this year because if I was running things at ANY camera company I would do the same thing they are doing. Getting these new products in the hands of some of the top websites so they can report on them show they not only have confidence in what they are putting out but that they know how to promote these products as well. They have had media events before but this one is going to be HUGE and pretty special. Race cars, helicopter rides, Big Sur…I can not wait!

So stay tuned here the week of the 8th-12th and you will see all of my updates on the new Sony gear.ย 

Oh…The Leica M RV Tour and Review

BTW, I have been toying with an idea to rent an RV that will hold up to 4-5 people to trek across route 66 testing the new Leica M and Monochrom. Would be myself and 3-4 others who would want to join in and share costs involved with the main goal of shooting the hell out of the new cameras along the Route for a week or two. At the end of the trip we would all combine our words and photos in to a massive review to be posted here. If this happens I would like to find 3-4 others who have experience with Leica and know how to use them. Having some great lenses would also help ๐Ÿ™‚

This would be great press for Leica so now let us see if they agree to send me a camera or two for 2 weeks to see if it can happen. If not I will wait until my orders come in which would be sometime in 2013. Either way it will most likely happen..but stay tuned for details ๐Ÿ™‚

40 Comments

  1. Hi Steve,

    Really enjoying the first batch of RX1 images, I’m really hoping you will be able to provide some details about performance on the NEX5r and NEX6 and any improvements to AF in challenging light. Either of those 2 cameras really hit the sweet spot for me, so hearing how they’ve improved things will really help drive my purchase decision. Thanks!

  2. Which set up would give fastest and most accurate auto focus:

    NEX-6 Hybrid AF (PD 99 pts, CD 25pts)

    or the LA-EA2 adapter (PD 15pts. +3 cross) on the NEX-6?

  3. Iam itching to hear about these new Sony products Steve.
    Especially this new full frame sensor and what it eludes to for next year…
    My dream camera, a full frame NEX!
    As a manual lens shooter on Nex with over 100 lenses, that would be the camera that changed the world for me, just as my Nex5 and Nex5n are currently…but just imagine, full frame, no crop… I would be in heaven. I wait with bated breath.

  4. I’m looking forward to the NEX-6 review. I have pre-ordered mine and will decide to continue with my pre- order after your review.

    Is the Polycarbonate body on the NEX-6 durable enough? Do we have to worry about it at all?

  5. Gumbo, the RX1 is indeed expensive, but I reckon a full-frame sensor is most of the cost of a camera body, and a Zeiss 35/2 lens for a DSLR is not inexpensive, either. Sony has experience making sensors for Nikon. I am not a Sony fanboy; my only Sony camera is a P&S, which I have used very, very little; it was a waste of money. I use Canon DSLRs at work, and for most of my own shooting, but would appreciate something lighter and smaller that will provide good images. The form factor and specifications of the RX1 are what has captured my attention. I will patiently wait for reviewers, such as Steve, to reveal whether the RX1 fulfills its promise.

    • Man, I love to needle Sony fanboys or camera fanboys of any type as they are all so predictable. It’s easy to poke them because they always have no comon sense and they have memory no further than they’re willing to recount. One of the big things Sony fanboys love to say is “who copying Sony?” as if everything ever made was made orignally by sony. LOL. I’m sure sony fanboys believe that Sony was the inventor of the camera, sensor and lenses. Another argument Sony fanboys love to make is ” if it’s not better than a Sony , than it’s not worth using.” well, if we go by that argument then no one can use alot of Sony stuff, cause lots of toehr stuff are better than theirs, but of ourse, no sony fanboy wants to admit to that…the fanboys always have …TWO faces. But yeah, you gotta needle Sony fanboys or else they’ll take over any site like a bunch of roaches…you gtota make them eat their own hipocrite pie. LOL

  6. Sonys RX-! is about 3 grand. How do they come up that kind of price when the 6d and d600 is just grand, and they have to put in a mirrobox as well. How is their a99 going to sell when it’s also a grand over as well? It’s pretty obvious that Canon and Nikon are working in tandum to make it dificult for those who want FF to choose Sony. The RX1 can be a good camera but it’s pricing is out of line with what is smart to do…given that a product is no good if not enough people buy it. For 2 grand, Im sure many will settle for the bigger 6d and d600 but will have a well established lens lineup and support to go along with it, not to mention a ovf, so no extra few hundred for a EVF. Seems like Sony thinks they can charge market leader prices when they are not the market leader. They are going to make the same mistakes Minolta used to make until the brand died…oh wait here comes the sarcasm..Sony bought Minolta’s camera division! LOL. here come the Sony fanboys.

    • Forget your “Sony fanboy” comment. It’s pretty obvious you don’t understand the engineering challenges in making a full frame camera of the RX1 size. Let alone the very expensive Carl Zeiss F2.0 full frame prime. The other “cheaper” cameras you mentioned are at prices that don’t even include a lens. Here’s Sony giving you a full frame state of the art brand new sensor with a well renowned brand prime.

      • Pleeasseee, get over the things that’s already been done. FF sensors, been done. Next years sensors will be better than this year, been done. But lets look at your explanantion, this lens is expensive..so how much is a carl zeiss 35 f2 lens? 2 k? maybe 2 and half k? Well, by that standard then the body has to be worth just 1k or 500 or less. Hardly great if a camera costs one third the lens eh? Oh wait, maybe the camera is 2.5 k and the lens is only worth 500. That’s a pretty cheap Zeiss sint it? So which one is it? You make it sound like the RX-! gies you a 3 k body with a free Zeiss lens on it. Wooopy doo. No one in their right mind would buy the RX-1 over the d600. And heres osmething else to think of, what do you do when dust internal dust and paint and speks land on the sensor? Oh wait, you can’t clean the sensor cause the lens is attached. You cant sell the Zeiss lens if the body dies cause its stuck to it. You cant sell the body if the lens dies, can you?

        Engineering challenges? You never seen PS film cameras have you? You’ve never seen fixed lens film cameras have you? So you stick a FF sensor into a camera body and that’s a challenge? You make it sound like this camera is the first digital ccamera ever made. “here’s Sony giving you a FF camera and state of the art brand new sensor with a well renowned brand prime.”? Where is the “GIVING” part? I don’t see Sony driving up to my driveway with the camera in a box that says free. If that’s GIVING then no thanks, Sony can keep that 3k dead end mess to themselves. Oh by the way, that’s not the only Zeiss lens available, so there goes the exclusive argument. That thing costs as much as 3 large screen TV’s and no way your going to get any market traction with that price. Sonyminolta doesnt want to compete in the pro market and then they come up with this? Since when did mainstream buyers spend 3 k on cameras? I thought there was a recession going on.I used to berate Minolta for being a camera wimp against Canon and Nikon but now that their at Sony, they don’t even know to compete for scraps anymore. CSC cameras may be 50% of the market in Japan, but that’s an exception, not the rule. The Canon 6d is a better camera in every way excpet size and you still got 1k left over to buy a lens of your choosing. Just look at the leather ont he RX1 bro, they can’t even get that right, a 3 k camera and the leather looks like someone stuck one of those leather kit things on it. I’m sure it won’t peel off…yeah, right.

  7. Steve, I’ve pre-ordered my Leica M on day 1 so if I’m lucky I’ll be getting mine in the 1st batch. Would love to join you on this trip if it ends up being feasable for me. We’ll see…

    Plan on having 50 Summilux ASPH by then and will bring along my 40mm f/2 Rokkor-M which would be interesting on the Leica M with LiveView mode (and on the M Monochrom too)

  8. Steve, I know you’re not a DSLR guy per se, but I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the A99, hopefully you’ll have enough time to get the camera set up properly. Unfortunately I need the larger form factor as I shoot event videos along with stills and the Nex doesn’t “look” professional. So I’m considering the A99 as the pro camera with my Nex5n. I’m also considering the RX1 as a compliment to the A99 since there isn’t a good Sony 35mm lens and my X100 video is bunk. The 8th can’t get here soon enough. Thanks for the site and your tests!

    • Also if you need someone to help carry your gear, I happen to be available from the 8th to the 12th.

  9. Hi Steve, besides testing the new camera bodies, will you also be given the three new NEX lenses to test? I’m curious to see how they perform.

  10. This is good news indeed. Putting this new gear in the hands of a real-world reviewer is a great move. I’m really interested to see how the RX1 lens performs across the frame at various apertures. So far, Sony have only published mostly close-ups of coloured balls and the like. I have yet to see a single landscape imagee showing how well distant detail is rendered across the frame.

  11. Since I have an RX-1 on order I am anxious to see how the images compare to the DP2M for sharpness and detail and how fast the AF is in a variety of conditions. Also, how fast the general feel is in comparison to the OMD which has a very quick feel to it. Lastly, how is the new EVF, is it worth purchasing or just go with an OVF from a third party to cut costs? Another nice crazy comparison would be to M9 images. It’s too bad the DP2M is such a poor implementation as the images look very good.

  12. I don’t always agree with everything you say or feel about a product Steve, but I do very highly value your opinion and am really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these latest cameras from Sony – Which I think would have to be one of the biggest camera product launches and brand ‘makeovers’ in recent memory, can’t wait!

  13. Hey Steve, I know a lot of people will look forward to you posting photos form the cameras, but will you please please please test out the RX1’s autofocus system, with and without viewfinders (OVF usability), in dark places (just let is know the iso, arpeture and shutter speed when talking about the AF in low light – then we can figure how dark it was) and so on? Reviewers tend to forget these things often, and only think of the outcome from the camera and not so much how it is to use. Or maybe it’s just me. I am just so curious about this camera’s AF.
    Best regards, and thanks.

    • Grand Canyon Caverns would be a fun place to stop. Really put the low light performance to the test, though you’d probably need a private tour. Meteor Crater, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, and Walnut Canyon (cliff dwellings) , and that is just the bit in Arizona right near the road, and leaving out a bunch. Hard to come up with any road with more photographic variety than Route 66. Any of you thinking of doing the trip, you will see places you’ll never forget.

  14. I’m sure many csc folks are looking forward the nex6 and 5r, now that the minolta hotshoe has finally been given the boot like a free-loading friend. I’m also pleased that I don’t have to look for an adapter to fit an optical viewfinder on them as well. Finally, someone at Sony had the balls and told the ex pats from Minolta who pays the bills and signs their cheques.

  15. I would love to see a comparison between the AF capabilities of the NEX-6 versus the NEX-5N. How great is the improvement? And is it true that the on-sensor AF only works with newer lenses? I personally find the AF of the NEX-5N to be its achilles heel, especially with the sony 50mm E mount… slow and inaccurate. This has me considering an upgrade to the NEX-6. Thanks in advance!

    • I can’t find the darn link, but I read somewhere that the Zeiss 24 is the only currently available e-mount prime that can take advantage of the new on-sensor PDAF. You might want to search around and try and confirm that, though.

        • I think they said the current zooms would also be compatible after a firmware update. If the cdaf is fast enough, the pdaf isn’t vital to me. It’s mostly of benefit for video. Sigma might be able to update their firmware, too, but I wouldn’t count on it.

    • Hi Paddy, I totally agree the only thing that bugs me with the 50mm 1.8 is the slow and inaccurate autofocus (on my NEX5), especially wide open. I was hoping the hybrid AF would alleviate these issues. Lets hope it is supported.

    • I don’t see why not, it’s got all the insides and lens mount of the XP1 plus possibly faster AF. I know the XP1 can be used professionally ergo…

    • What is “professional?” By definition, anyone who makes money off photography is a professional photographer…whether it’s sports, fashion,art gallery or the guy who does Santa portraits of your kids at the mall. If you can make money using a disposable camera than you are a professional.

  16. hi Steve
    Looking forward to your hands-on! I just realized why I love your site so much, compared to some of the more established sites (think DPreview): your genuine enthusiasm playing around with these lovely new toys! I’m sure many of the other journalists also look forward to these experiences, but feel they need to maintain their “professionalism”. Likewise why I also frequent sites like the Online Photographer and Luminous Landscape…

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