Sony officially announces 4 new dSLRs, three new lenses

Roger

Roger

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http://blog.discover.sonystyle.com/new-sony-α-dslr-cameras-technology-and-lenses

As expected/leaked/etc Sony has introduced the first pellicle mirror dSLR(s) - the A55, and A33. ; Both will have phase detect AF with video. ; And an EVF rather than an optical one.

A55 - 16.2mp, 10fps, built in GPS
A33 - 14.2mp, 7fps

And updated the A550 to the:

A560 - 14.2mp, 7fps, video
A580 - 16.2mp, 7fps, video

These last two will have a max ISO of 25600, and are traditional dSLRs. ; The Axx tops out at 12800.


Now, I'm still reading a production camera review by Amazon.com's photo site, which seems to indicate that the A55's main LCD screen can't keep up with anything above 3fps...will have to read later.

New lenses:

Zeiss 24mm f/2
35mm 1.8 (for APS-C)
85mm 2.8



Honestly, this is the biggest thing to hit the dSLR market in a long time....and right now Canon is the only company that can go back and blow the dust off the old design and figure out how in the heck to do this themselves.....well maybe Olympus can too.
 
Reading the review makes it a little more clear now - the 10fps is kind of a gimmick - it is only available in a special mode that doesn't allow for manual adjustments - kind of like how the current A550 does 7fps rather than 5.

6 fps is the standard, and it has a decent buffer of 20-22 images...but apparently the write speeds aren't that great. ; I'm thinking that there will be some firmware updates in the near future - or we're seeing a problem with the SDXC standard (the new cameras are SDXC compatible). ; Is this a replacement for the 1DMkIV or D3s? ; No. ; But it is a warning that Sony is almost there....and considering that this is a high consumer/prosumer body.....
 
If you ask me, Sony got 'there' back in October 09. ; ;) ; But now they're starting to set up a permanent structure on 'there', and starting to explore farther up the road past 'there'.

As far as I'm concerned, there's parity in the DSLR business for most users and most classes of camera - brand simply isn't much of a factor anymore unless you've got a prior commitment to a particular lens mount...or are just a brand-snob. ; I don't much care if someone's got a Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, etc - I look at what lenses they are using, how they handle their camera, their skill, and their results. ; There are certain areas where certain brands are still the best choice - or only choice - but at least in the APS-C marketplace, it's all just down to what fits you best!

BTW - the 10fps mode isn't like a full-frame's 10fps with full focus tracking and such, but I wouldn't dismiss it as a gimmick either - I make tremendous use of the 7fps fixed focus mode on my A550 all the time - as long as the subject is either moving parallel, or in motion but keeping the same distance, you can fire off frames with perfect focus and exposure - and the extra frames can get a bird's wings or a child's facial expression just right, in a way the 3-5fps mode couldn't catch. ; Just consider it an additional mode for certain types of action shots.

I'd imagine, though Sony doesn't do a lot of firmware updates, that you might see something on the write speeds - might be some form of growing pains on the early release with so many new technologies and a new sensor. ; If really lucky, they might even squeeze something in before production models hit the streets.
 
Something else about the EVF: ; You can zoom into the center focus point to help manually focus....it's like having an on-demand focus screen (which it kind of does with the gridlines.....)
 
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