Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Looks like somebody showed up at the Nikon press conference on Thursday with one of the new Sony Alpha cameras. Here’s the pictures that showed up online:
You can follow the discussion regarding this sighting over at DPReview.com. I expect we’ll be hearing something from Sony on the new Alphas rather soon.
[tags]sony, alpha, a100, a200, a300, a400, a500, dslr, new[/tags]
PRESS RELEASE: SAN DIEGO, Aug. 21, 2007 – For parents looking to capture and re-live their children’s back-to-school memories, Sony is introducing a super-zoom digital camera small enough to carry to any school activity.
The new 8-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-H3 camera has a powerful 10x optical zoom lens for those close-up shots you don’t want to miss, and yet features a super compact form so you can take the camera along anywhere. [Read more…]
PRESS RELEASE: SAN DIEGO, Aug. 21, 2007 –Memorable photos are at your fingertips with two new slim, yet powerful Sony Cyber-shot® T-series cameras. Both offer an intuitive touch screen that allows you to instantly select the subject you want to focus on (in shooting mode) and what you want to view or where you want to zoom (in playback mode).
The cameras also feature a new smile shutter function, which helps capture the most important part of a photo – the smile.
The ultra-thin, 8-megapixel DSC-T200 model raises the bar with a 3.5-inch wide LCD touch-panel that controls all of the camera’s settings and a 5x Carl Zeiss® optical zoom lens. This model will be available in silver, black and red.
The 8-megapixel DSC-T70 camera features a 3-inch wide LCD touch panel and a 3x Carl Zeiss optical zoom lens. It will be offered in silver, black, white and pink. [Read more…]
Sony Commercializes APS-C size CMOS Image Sensor with Industry-leading 12.47 Effective Megapixel Resolution for use in Digital SLR Cameras
Lookout Canon, here comes Sony with a 12+MP response to the new Canon 40D. Look for this bad boy to appear in the Sony A300 that should be just around the corner now.
Unique Column-Parallel A/D Converter Technology Realizes 10 frames/second Ultrahigh-Speed, Enhanced Image Quality and Noise Reduction [Read more…]
Check out the latest rumored specs from the Chasseur d’Images forum on the Sony Alpha A300 prosumer model:
. . . along with this little tidbit from the dyxum forums:
I already told you that my brother-in-law works for Sony on the Alpha project. Here is some more info, some is repeated from my previous posts. The advanced model will be 14.* MP and close to FF. It will have 1.25x factor and a switch for lenses with 1.5 factor. It will be called A300. Because of the pixel pattern similar to Sony ClearVid CMOS sensors, Sony will claim up to 2x effective pixel resolution. The flagship model will be called A500 and will be 100% full frame. Nikon is supplying Sony new steppers to create FF sensors in one shot. Sony first joined forces with Konica Minolta, now with Nikon. This gives to both Sony and Nikon advantage over Canon, which Sony believes will eventually drop to a 3rd place; Sony will move up to 2nd place in overall volume of DSLR’s sales. The least expensive Sony DSLR will not have optical viewfinder and will be called A50. The flagship model will be 20 MP, 40 effective. That is the reason why Sony concentrates on top quality glass. Sony’s advantage will be fact that they are the foremost sensor maker; their output is several times higher than Matsushita, which is second largest CCD maker.”
The 2 DSLR prototypes that were shown at different shows by Sony were no wooden mock ups, but the actual cameras that will be produced. The same goes for the lenses. All these were pretty much final prototypes, but Sony could not disclose this due to its competition. The main thing that is holding these projects up is development of SSS which has to work harder with larger sensors; the insides of the cameras may be a little different than on the prototypes shown, not the outsides. That was finalized before showing them to the public.
“Sony was originally going to buy the Contax brand from Kyocera, but then used this infomation in its negotiations with KM, from whom they managed to get the DSLR division with all its expertise for pennies on the dollar. KM really wanted the DSLR division to be in the best hands; they cared about it more than about anything else; the Minolta portion of the KM team wanted to see the legacy of the system to continue and to improve as much as possible. The decision to sell to Sony was rather emotional.
[tags]sony, alpha, a200, a300, a400, a500, rumor, news, specs[/tags]
You heard me. Check it out:
At the last Photo Marketing Association industry conference, we offered a glimpse of what’s cooking in the Sony D-SLR kitchen. Here are a few of those highlights:
· We have developed two camera prototypes targeting amateur enthusiasts and professional users.
· Both prototypes feature:
o High overall picture quality due to the development of a new image sensor;
o A Bionz image processing engine; and
o Sony’s Super Steady Shot image stabilization inside the cameras.
· Eight interchangeable lenses were also unveiled which feature:
o Large aperture standard zoom
o Telephoto zoom
o Large aperture wide angle zoom ?
o Super telephoto zoom
o Super telephoto fixed
o Telephoto fixed
o Wide angle fixed
o Large aperture wide angle fixed
Be on the lookout for more specific Alpha product announcements later in the year.
By the way, you can post your comments too . . . for now. Be nice.
[tags]sony, alpha, dslr, new, pro, amateur, prosumer, digital, camera, news[/tags]
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A rather thorough article on imminent launch of one of the new Sony Alpha cameras can be read over at Photoclub Alpha:
THE appearance of press-release resolution (14Mb) images of the new Alpha – un-named but thought to be the Alpha 200 or 300 because of the product code earlier assigned to shots of prototypes at PMA – combines with reports on various forums from European Sony executives visiting Japan to suggest that the launch announcement for the new model and a range of full-frame lenses is imminent. Read more . . . .
[tags]sony, alpha, a100, a10, a1, dslr, lens, lineup, launch, news, rumors, release, announcement[/tags]
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This image appeared in the Sony SLR forum over at DPReview.com and is purported to be one of the next generation Sony Alphas. These photos are rumored to have been taken by Sony employees in Japan.
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Some other details also mentioned from the same source but can not be confirmed.
– APS-C
– CMOS sensor
– 12 Megapixel minimum resolution.
– New AF sensors and algorithm
– 5,5 fps
– 3 inch LCD
[tags]sony, alpha, a10, a1, new, dslr, rumor, news, digital camera[/tags]
UPDATE 8/27/07: A big announcement is expected from Sony on September 4th at a press conference in Italy.
UPDATE 8/26/07: The latest images of the newest Sony Alpha in the wild.
UPDATE 7/18/07: Check out the story on the new Sony blog and the latest Alpha talk here.
UPDATE 7/13/07: Some new news on both new models:
Sony was confirmed to be working on a FF-DSLR (Alpha 300) including a high-end APS-C counterpart (Alpha 200). Information released from Japan revealed that the Alpha 200 will not be much larger in size than the current model 100, confirming Sony’s acknowledgement of female users as a major DSLR growth segment in ways identical to what Olympus had long been saying.
Allegedly, the Alpha 200 will feature a 12.8 megapixel CMOS sensor derived from Sony’s technology, which means you’re very likely to get LiveView. (Read more here . . . )
UPDATE 7/12/07: There’s some good reasons why the launch of a new Sony Alpha DSLR is imminent.
UPDATE 7/6/07: The DPReview.com forums brought us some more photos of the purportedly new Sony Alpha camera. Read more about it and see the photos here.
UPDATE 7/1/07: A forum poster over at dyxum.com says that we can expect a press release from Sony on July 9:
A big press release will be sent out the 9th dealing with the new DSLR’s coming out this year from Sony. I just spoke to the East Coast Sony Rep. here at the bike shop I work at. He wouldnt give me any details, but he said he can talk about stuff after the 9th…thats all I know right now. I want my full frame chip!!!!
It’s about time! They’ve been stringing us along for long enough. Keep your eyes on this page for an official announcement.
ORIGINAL POST: Looks like Sony will be mixing it up with the big boys soon. Sony has announced a couple of new cameras in their DSLR lineup. There will be a pro version (think Nikon D2X or D3 and the Canon 1Ds Mk II or 1D Mk III) and a prosumer version (think Nikon D200 and Canon 30D or 40D). There’s some mock-up model photos over at gizmodo (more photos). DPNow has some better angles. Keep in mind though that these models are just for show and will likely be substantially different once the production models are released. [Read more…]