Not only the NEX-7 but there is more to come from Sony…the Sony NEX-C3! It has 16 Megapixels but records still HD video only. The design also changed a bit and it looks more elaborated/rugged and in my opinion it’s a very nice camera. I still have no idea when the camera will be announced…

That’s probably a coincidence only but according to sources from Nikonrumors and SonyAlphaRumors both companies will announce their new mirrorless cameras on April 4th. Channelnews reported that “Nikon is set to re-launch their brand in Australia, with a major multimillion dollar marketing campaign, featuring Robbie Williams. The Japanese Company is also introducing several new digital cameras’ ranging in price from $99 to $2,000.” The first ad will air in the UK on April 11th, 2011.

According to our sources the system should be named “Nikon Coolpix PRO“.

Sony will announce the new NEX-C3 mirrorless camera. It should be a minor update of the current NEX-3 with small design changes and same NEX-5 sensor. There is also a good chance that Sigma and Zeiss will announce the new NEX lenses. The Zeiss E-mount lens should be a 24mm f/1.7 lens.

What about the other companies?

Panasonic should have a press release on late April and Pentax will announce their NC mirrorless system in May. If all those rumors are correct by the end of May Canon will be the only company not having a mirrorless system. Let’s see when they are coming…

Bloomberg reports that “Sony may control about 15 percent of the global market for single-lens-reflex cameras by the end of March, Masashi Imamura, president of the Personal Imaging & Sound Business Group, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. ” UPDATE: (Does Sony sum mirrorless and DSLR to reach the 15%?)

And Sony is certain to grow further with the help of new products that will be introduced soon. The next camera should be the NEX-C3 (Source: SonyAlphaRumors). The rumor is backed up by the fact that Sony Japan officially discontinued the NEX-3!

Micro Four Thirds gained a lot of attention with the latest entry of Zeiss and Schneider. That’s why the Sony “counter attack” is certainly not casual! With an official press release (Source: Sony.net) Sony announced that “it will disclose the basic specifications of its “E-mount” for interchangeable single lens cameras, without fee, to manufacturers of lenses and mount adaptors, starting April 1st, 2011“. But that alone wouldn’t be enough to gain the headlines that’s why Sony also announced a nice list of manufactures that will join the E-mount system! That includes Zeiss, Cosina-Voigtländer, Sigma and Tamron!

My guess is that we will see some of those companies showing their new lenses at the CP+ show that starts tomorrow in Yokohama. And according to rumors floating around the web Zeiss should be the first…

Stay tuned!

Andrew from the SLRmagic company sent us an email with the presentation of the new lens:

“There are not much lenses in the NEX E-mount so far. We have a 35mm f1.7 lens that sell pretty well in m4/3 mount. We occasionally receive emails requesting for e-mount version of the lens. It is now available for pre-order and ships by Sept 10th. We will have 100pcs initially and offer free shipping as well. Cost just under $100. Hope there will be others interested in this lens. Our lens is optimized for NEX so there is no vignette in the photos and does not need cropping. Click here to check the lens auction on eBay”

Some image samples (click on those thumbnails to enlarge the image):

More images on eBay!