Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Sony A900 and Zeiss Lens Updates

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The Sony A900 has been officially unveiled. See Photography Bay’s Sony A900 Announcement and Sony A900 Reviews and Resources for more info.

We all know that Sony’s flagship, the A900, will be announced at or around Photokina in August. Other than the announcement time frame, info has been hard to come by. Sony has been short on further details about the A900 since it announced the 24 megapixel sensor at PMA in January of this year. A big question that photographers seem to have surrounding the announcement of new, cutting edge cameras relates to their actual release date. Sometimes it can take quite a while for the camera to actually hit store shelves, which can be quite frustrating.

With that in mind, I recently received some info from a source, who wishes to remain anonymous, regarding the availability of the upcoming A900 and new Zeiss lenses.

First, the A900 will be available for purchase around the end of September or first of October.

In addition to the A900, we can expect at least 2 new Zeiss lenses:

  1. Zeiss 16-35mm f/2.8
  2. Zeiss 35mm f/1.4

Many Sony Alpha users have been begging for more high quality primes, so the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 should fit the bill just fine. Additionally, it’s nice to see the 16-35mm zoom in Zeiss glass for those wide angles on the new full frame 24 MP sensor. At 24 megapixels, the A900 is going to need some high quality glass to make full use of all those pixels.

Finally, the price should be very competitive compared to the other DSLRs in the range of the A900. This adds a little more credibility to the previous rumors regarding the A900’s sub-$2000 price point.

For more on the Sony A900 flagship DSLR, stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Sony A900 page.

 

Sony A900 at Sub-$2000 Price Point

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Sony A900The latest and greatest rumors on the Sony A900 put the price point below $2000.  This info comes third-hand through the DP Review forums from a Sony Rep:

He told me that the company had sent out preliminary pricing on the a900 about a month ago to the reps. He said its not nailed down yet but that they are aiming at the sub-$2000 market.

(via)  For more on the coming A900, be sure to check out Photography Bay’s Sony A900 page.

Sony A900 at Photo Imaging Expo

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Sony’s new flagship A900 showed up at Photo Imaging Expo 2008 in Japan this week. (Coverage from masterchong.com) Significantly, this looks like a more polished sample than the previous mockups that we’ve seen.

There are several other features that are accessible from buttons and switches on the camera body. Some of these cool features include:

  • two scroll wheels (one for the thumb, one for the index finger)
  • dedicated ISO button
  • dedicate White Balance button
  • metering mode selection switch
  • slow sync button
  • no articulating LCD screen

It looks like Sony has really packed in quick customization for photographers without having to dig through menus. I’m looking forward to see how all these features work together in real world application. However, I’ll have to say I’m rather disappointed that the screen doesn’t articulate after getting hooked on the Sony A350 a couple of weeks ago.

According to a Sony representative at PIE, the A900 will be released in August or September at Photokina or IFA.