Like everybody else, I was tremendously excited to see the new prototype Sony DSLRs shown at the recent PMA show. Sony isn’t giving much in the way of details — all they have said is one of the cameras will be aimed at advanced amaturers and will offer features not available in the current A100. The other, of course, is aimed at the Professional market.
This answers the question that everyone wondered about when Sony first announced they were entering the DSLR market. They won’t be content to just cater to weekend shooters. They appear ready to take the battle directly to Nikon and Canon pro models. Bring it on!
What about that wild looking pentaprism?
The prototype of the unnamed professional model features a very distinctive pentaprism that sets it apart from any other DSLR on the market. When Sony uses the slogan “like no other” it looks like they mean it!
That strange looking prism might just be a major clue as to Sony’s plans for the pro model.
That pentaprism can only indicate a very high quality optical glass focusing system. Now, lets consider the implications of that.
Mirror and ground glass versus a EVF
While most photographers (including myself) prefer the superior focusing capability of a ground-glass and mirror system, there are a lot of very vocal proponents of the Electronic View Finder. They want to do away with the whole mirror and ground glass system and replace it with an EVF. Why keep all that legacy film camera claptrap – just put an EVF in and be done with it. I don’t like that idea very much – from my perspective, the ground glass system on even the cheapest SLR I’ve ever used is far, far superior to any EVF I’ve looked through.
Now the EVF hopefuls concede that the ground glass on a 35mm film SLR is superior to most EVFs. How could they not? The difference is unmistakable. But, they fire back, most digital SLRs use a small APS type C sensor. Because the sensor and the mirror size have to be matched in size, they argue that the smaller mirror doesn’t really provide much improvement over an EVF. The image is just too small to focus on fine details.
You probably can see where I’m going with this.
(1): Sony has apparently gone to a lot of trouble to design their new Pro model around a high quality optical glass prism.
(2): APS-C sensors (like those used in the Sony Alpha A100 and all current Nikon DSLRs) are too small to provide the focusing ability of a full frame 35mm SLR.
(3): The only details Sony has provided about the new pro DSLR is that it will have an all new sensor that Sony is designing expressly for the new camera.
It all adds up…
OK, add it all up and see if you math doesn’t indicate that the new top of the line Sony will feature a full frame sensor. Why design an expensive, intricate focusing system if you only going to be looking at a tiny ASP-C size mirror? It doesn’t make much sense.
Want more evidence? Sony has yet to offer any new lenses designed expressly for the APS-C sensor. Nikon and Canon offer smaller, lighter lenses designed expressly for the APS-C sensors, as well as larger glass that can cover the bigger full-frame sensors and 35mm film. True, most of Sony’s lens line has descended from Minolta’s film SLR lens catalog. They have announced some of their own lenses, however. AFAIK, all of them are full-frame lenses.
Of course the Sony DSLRs shown at the PMA show were merely concepts ñ they are not the final shipping product. Much could change before they finally are available for purchase. But Sony has indicated they intend to manufacture both cameras ñ that just won’t say when. It appears that one of them might ship this year ñ but the other will probably wait until 2008.
That’s timetable is fine with me. While I would love to get my hands a full frame Sony DSLR, today, I would rather that Sony take their time and get everything right, instead of shipping a camera with flaws.
In the meantime, we can all start saving our pennies!
13 Comments
I agree with your conclusion that Sony has full-frame plans. But I think you missed the most important indicator — which isn’t the F-117 prism on the new flagship model or mention of an all new sensor. The REAL indicator was out a year ago.
The Alpha A100 was announced with a number of all new Zeiss lenses. Other than the 16-80, they were ALL non-APSC specific. That is there is, there was a 135/1.8 Sonnar and an 85/1.4 Planar. It does not make ANY sense to introduce full frame premium, all new lenses if Sony is committed to stick to APS-C (like Olympus or Nikon is). Sony would not have introduced these all new, big dollar lenses simply to cater to Minolta Film and Digital users. That market has no significant value or future. It makes even less sense to saddle Sony DSLR users with extra periphery glass which is completely unused in those fat and heavy 1.8 and 1.4s. If the intent was to stick exclusively to 1.5x crop factor, these new lenses could have been made faster for the same size & weight, or made smaller and lighter at the same speed. If Sony was commited to 1.5x crop, all the new lenses that wasn’t rebranded minoltas would have been 1.5x crop specific.
Wow, I’m surprised – but I’m not at the same time. And I agree with the last thing that you said – they shouldn’t rush it! I’ve seen too many jumped-the-gun-products before. When they brought out their first DSLR, I wondered what they were up to. Sounds potentially promising, though!
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Yeah, I concur with all of the above. It was on the cards. All of the Minolta and Zeill lenses are designed for 35mm. This really sets the cat amongst the pidgeons as the likes of Pentax may have to do the same to compete and Nikon too. Nikon should be scared because they could lose a lot of ground to Sony and Canon if the competiton really heats up. Sony can burn Canon really bad here as they have the money to push these cameras hard. The future is full 35mm sensor as the market constantly craves differentiation and lets be honest. It’s what we all want.
Solaris — I know that a good many photographers, including myself, want a full-frame dSLR. That said, there are a number who prefer the smaller APC-S sensor. I’m confident that Sony wll address both ends of the spectrum — hopefully sooner rather than later.
– Tom
Not a comment but a wish: that the professional Alpha100 will come with 1EV and 2EV bracketing capability in the continuous shooting device.
So it’s still not out? I’m an old Minolta 35mm fan from way back and loved it.
I was hoping to get to the next line and see the report, and it was just this empty box I ran into.
I’m currently with a Canon 30D, and a few L glass, and a collection of other gear of Contax.
I’ll check back, and thanks’
Phil
Mpls Mn
Hey Phil –
Thanks for checking in. The new 12mp, APS-C sensor, A700 (http://alphatracks.com/archives/category/sony-a700/) has just been released (October 2007), but we’re probably going to have to wait until 2008 to see the flagship model, which a lot of folks are already calling the Alpaha A900. Sony hasn’t revealed the name, so we’ll have to wait and see.
I’m expecting it in the early part of the year — probably around the time of the PMA show where we saw the original mockup. That’s just my guess — Sony hasn’t given us anything other than “next year.” See http://alphatracks.com/archives/80 for an off-site link to an interview with a Sony manager who tells us that the release of the flagship model and the A100 successor on on schedule.
Thanks for your input. Check back again soon! — Tom
Sony and Pentax (K20D) are presenting full frame DSLR’s in january 2008, Nikon has already presented the D3 full frame. Possible also Leica comes with a R10 full frame and Canon with the 6D.
The end of the APS-C is coming sooner then expect
Sony and Pentax (K20D) are presenting full frame DSLR’s in january 2008, Nikon has already presented the D3 full frame. Possible also Leica comes with a R10 full frame and Canon with the 6D.
The end of the APS-C is coming sooner then expect
Now that a Sony full frame DSLR is a certainty, I’m holding out and hoping that the price is impressively low. I currently own a Fujifilm S3 Pro with a couple of mid spec Nikon lenses, and my heart was set on the D300 until I heard about Alpha models’ backwards compatibility with Minolta lenses.
Everybody knows that a full frame DSLR with so-so lenses will outperform any small-sensor camera with even the clearest, most beautiful lens attached. And my bet is that with Sony’s history of dominating the market by offering staggering good value, their pro spec newie will have a more impressive pixel count than Nikon’s flagship D3, autofocus to rival and a street prices less than Canon’s tired old EOS 5D. Just watch.
For the cost of a D300 and and a couple of pro quality portrait lenses (say an 85mm f/1.4 and 135mm f/2), I’ll likely be able to buy a full frame camera and an exhaustive range of secondhand Minolta glass. As a former film user who hates using liveview to compose a shot, the full size viewfinder will be little short of a Godsend. Bravo Sony, the only electronics manufacturer who has the foresight to build a huge userbase by selling in the initial at a loss. It certainly worked for their PlayStation machines. I reckon Sony will quell the digital photography market when this launches.
Uh… searching through the numerous web articles, I’ve seen that Sony is offering a 24MP sensor. Maybe a little more pricey than the 5D then…
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[...] So unless you expect Sony to use this sensor in the Alpha Flagship SLR, the only logical camera is the still unnamed Advanced Amateur model. Since I’m betting the Flagship will be full frame (or at least nearly full-frame), the only camera this could be used in by Sony is the AA model. [...]
[...] Some months back, I wrote that I expected the so-called “flagship” Sony Alpha (possibly named the A900?) to carry a full-frame sensor. I still believe that to be true, however I’m hedging my bets a little. It will be “almost” full-frame or “close” to full-frame. It may not be the actual size of a 35mm negative, however, which is the definition of a full-frame dSLR to most photographers. [...]