Sony Steps It Up With the A900
Big news today for all the Minolta/Sony fans in the crowd. They've announced their “Flagship” dSLR model, the A900. Similar in appearance to their semi-pro model, the A700, the A900 sports some fancy upgrades. The big hype has been around the 24MP full frame sensor, but the new model also has dual processors, improvements on the viewfinder, autofocus, user controls, and some shiny new lenses to go with that full-frame sensor.
Geared to compete with Canon's 5D and Nikon's D700, the price is also set in the same arena at $3000 for the camera body. I'm a Sony user, but I won't personally be upgrading from the A700 to the A900 anytime soon. If I were a professional who relied on my equipment to make a living, I certainly would.
What do you guys think of this new camera from Sony? What did they get right? What did they miss?
SONY UNVEILS FIRST FULL-FRAME ALPHA DSLR MODEL
NEW PREMIUM LENSES SUPPORT FULL-FRAME ALPHA DSLR CAMERA
Preview at Digital Photography Review
Preview at Photography Bay
Preview at Imaging Resource
Preview at CNET
Wilson Bell
September 9, 2008Be sure to check out these sites, too:
1001 Noisy Cameras (www.1001noisycameras.com)
Imaging Insider (www.imaginginsider.com)
ePhotozine (www.ePhotozine.com)
DPReview (www.dpreview.com)
Tommy
September 10, 2008From the tests I saw here: https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA900/AA900HI_ISO_NR.HTM, by comparison, noise on the a900 is a big issue. It performs poorly against Canon’s 1Ds Mark III. If Sony meant this to be a professional level camera, they should’ve set their sites higher than the prosumer 5D and D700. Greater MPs are no substitute for imaging quality and these early tests are disappointing at this price range.
Personally, I was waiting to see the specs on this camera before jumping ship (Minolta user for 15+ years), and now I see a D3 or 1Ds in my future.
matt haines
September 10, 2008I’ve just gone and read the link Tommy posted, and I come away with a different conclusion. The A900 doesn’t handle high-ISO noise as well as the 1Ds III. However it has more megapixels and costs half the price. I think I could live with sub-MkIII noise levels at high ISOs for the money. I’m not sure I’d call the 5D and D700 “prosumer”. Lots of professionals don’t need something like the MkIII or D3, and are still “pro”. I’d consider perhaps the D300 a prosumer camera, but even then it’s a slippery definition.
So I’m still intrigued by this camera. Will have to read more.
Jim
October 23, 2008Sony has announced a Pro Program. You can find out more here.
https://www.photodailynews.com