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Sony has started shipping the Alpha A350. I took delivery of one of the big orange boxes last week and have started putting the A350 through it’s paces. So far, I am fairly pleased with the 14m dSLR — I will post a review with samples shortly.

I had hoped to update my copy of Adobe Lightroom to version 1.4, which is required to read the RAW files from the Sony Alpha A350, A300 and the A200 as well as several other new cameras. Unfortunately, Adobe posted the update for only a few hours. If you click on the link to update to 1.4, you get the message:

Adobe hasn’t said when the revised 1.4 updater will be available, but until they get their act together, I won’t be able to process my A350 RAW files in Lightroom. This limitation also applies to Adobe Camera Raw, meaning at this point there is no way to edit A350 RAW files with an Adobe product.

Sony has started shipping the A350 model, with the similar A300 to come shortly. Don’t expect to edit RAW files in Lightroom/ACR until Adobe perfects the latest update to ACR.

My fall back has been Sony’s Image Data Converter and Lightbox SR which shipped with the A350. The two programs do a credible job, but I know exactly what to expect from LR. It will take some time to become comfortable with editing in with the Sony software. In addition, the Sony software does not recognize my older Minolta RAW files, so I require two different sets of software to work with my image collection. Grrr. I hope Adobe fixes the bugs in 1.4 soon.

Of course there is another solution: Apples’ Aperture. Frequent Alphatracks contributor Bert Pasquale has been playing with Aperture 2.0 and he seems more than happy with it. He writes:

Let me think about this. Aperture and iPhoto are more or less niche products in Apple’s product line. They help with the bottom line, of course, but they are far from Apple’s main bread and butter. On the other hand, Photoshop is Adobe’s crown jewel. They make a lot of cash from other sources, but Photoshop is their premier product.

So how is it that Apple appears to effortlessly produce an update that supports the latest cameras well in advance of their release date, while Adobe’s can’t ship it’s famed Camera Raw software until after the new models hit the street? For that matter, why did Adobe release an ACR/Lightroom update that was so filled with bugs that almost a week afterwards they still haven’t been able to fix it?

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What a difference a year makes. At the 2007 PMA show Sony Alpha dSLR line was shunned by most of the press. There were no great announcements, although Sony did show off two mockups of yet unnamed dSLRs. The “Advanced Amateur” model eventually came to pass as the A700, while the tantalizing “flagship” is still waiting to be released. Other than the concept cameras, which Sony refused to elaborate on, there wasn’t much to see. The press lavished tons of coverage to other major and minor dSLR offerings, but except for the few A-mount sites and forums, Sony was just a postscript at PMA 2007.

Sony was not about to let that happen again. The 2008 PMA show was packed with Sony and Sony Alpha dLSR news. Of course everyone is still talking about the incredible 24mp, full-frame sensor that Sony announced, and the introduction of not one but two new live view dSLR bodies caught a lot of people by surprise. The A300 and A350 are a huge shot in the arm to the Alpha line, and should go a long way to convince potential customers that Sony is serious about playing in the dSLR arena.

In the excitement of the huge sensor and live-view SLR announcements, many observers may have overlooked Sony’s release of several new dSLR accessories.

Sony will add a new flash unit to their existing Alpha flashes.

The first totally new Sony Alpha Flash unit, the HVL-F42AM, will be available in the near future. The other Flashes in Sony’s line up appear to be re-badged versions of Minolta flash units. That isn’t a bad thing, Minolta’s wireless flash system was considered by many to be excellent.

The new HVL-F42AM might appear to be a middle of the road unit, filling the gap between the the HVL-F36AM (GN 36) and the big HVL-F56AM (GN 56). While the new flash’s guide number of 42 does place between the current two Sony shoe mount flash units, the HVL-F42AM has an zoom range of 24-105mm. You can cover up to a 16mm lens with wide angle adapter. The current flashes in the Sony catalog offer a range of 24-85mm and the adapter covers 17mm.

As usual, Mike Hohner seems to have an inside track on Sony’s latest products. Here is Hohner’s “Flash tech data for Sony Alpha HVL-F42AM” page.

There is also a Sony Europe press release covering the PMA announcement floating about. Here’s what the release has to say:

With wireless, ADI and manual modes, plus a full range of tilt and swivel possibilities, the new flash unit sounds like it might be an excellent addition to any A-mount user’s camera bag.

Then there are the lenses. Although technically not a PMA announced product, Sony’s latest two lenses were introduced on the eve of the show, so they might as well be considered new PM products. Both of the new lenses use SSM technology for quicker auto focusing.

Say hello to the Carl Zeiss® 24-70mm f/2.8 lens

Coming this spring, the $1,700 Vario Sonnar T* 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA is a very-fast, wide to mid range zoom lens. According to the Sony release:

The second new lens, also available this spring, is the $800 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G-series zoom.

The SAL70300G lens incorporates the optical performance of Sony’s G series in a compact and flexible telephoto zoom lens ideal for sports and portrait photography. Constructed of 16 elements in 11 groups, with one extra-low dispersion element, this lens offers superb contrast and sharpness across its wide focal length range.

The use of extra-low dispersion glass compensates for chromatic aberrations which challenge long telephoto zoom lens design, maintaining excellent optical characteristics from center to periphery. Internal focus construction not only realizes compact size, but also a close focusing capability of just 47 inches (1.2m), unusual for a lens of this focal length range.

New 70-300 G-series SSM Alpha mount lens

Like the SAL2470Z, focus drive is provided by Sony’s Super Sonic wave Motor (SSM) technology. Silent and highly accurate, the SSM system is ideal for providing larger lenses with the speed and rotational precision often required by telephoto shooting. To match auto focus operation to the situation, a focus range limiter can be set to a minimum distance of three meters. A lens barrel mounted focus hold button locks focus if desired.

These lenses are good ammunition to use against those who imply that Sony doesn’t offer sufficient quality glass to complete against the “established camera makers.” We will have to wait to see how these lenses perform in the real world, but it sounds like they could hold their own against anything similar from other manufacturers.

Next up, the new vertical grip. Again this isn’t technically a PMA product, as it was announced along with the A200. The grip is available now at a lest price of $249.00 (less batteries). The PM news is that it is compatible with the A300 and the A350, as well as the original A200. This provides a great deal of flexibility if you trade up or add second body in the A200-A350 family. It does not fit the A700, which has it’s own specific vertical grip, and will not fit the A100 style bodies.

With the PMA announcements, Sony has taken a major step forward in it’s quest to become a major player in the dSLR realm. Many observers have relegated the Sony Alpha as niche product, offering some nice features but unable to compete against the big name dSLR makers. Sony continues to add luster to its brand, unhurriedly creating a dSLR system that can compete against the best of the best. As these products begin to gain momentum in the marketplace, watch for Sony to assume a dominate role as a dSLR maker.

Read the complete Sony Alpha Europe Press release

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A300, Alphatracks, Photography, Sony Alpha, Tom Bonner

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Sony’s first dSLR. the Alpha A100, was a great effort, but it did fall short in a few areas. From the e-mail and comments i get at Alphatracks, the biggest complaint about the A100 is that it didn’t offer a vertical grip option.

As I’ve pointed out before, this wasn’t Sony’s oversight. The A100 was based to a large degree on the very successful Konica-Minolta Maxxum 5D. For some unexplained reason, Minolta and friends crippled the 5D by not designing it to use a vertical grip. The 5D’s big sibling, the Maxxum 7D, did offer an optional battery grip, but the 5D was a different design and couldn’t use the 7D grip.

New grip adds 3.5 inches and a pound of weight to the A700

When Sony built the A100 on the chassis of the 5D, there was no provision for a grip. Sony would have had to heavily massage the 5D components to add grip connections and controls, making the camera more expense and most likely delaying the launch. So Sony wisely brought the A100 to market without an accessory battery grip.

Aftermarket vertical grips for the A100 selling briskly

This hasn’t stopped some aftermarket accessory makers from developing grip fro the A100. We’ve discussed the DeCain and Ownuser accessory grips on these pages in the past.

• Aftermarket Vertical Grips for the Sony Alpha and Minolta dSLRs
• The Sony A100 vertical grip saga continues
• Vertical grip options for the Sony A100 and Minolta 5D

Many photographers have had good experience with the aftermarket units, but since there are no internal contacts to allow a grip to communicate withe the camera, users have to put up with external cables to get the job done While it’s mice to have an aftermarket alternative, it’s obvious that a factory designed grip with internal connections would be a preferable solution..

When the Sony started to design the Alpha A700 dSLR, they started from scratch. Sony went to a lot of effort to make sure the Alpha A700 corrected any weaknesses inherent in the A100. One of the first things they did was add internal connections for a battery grip. The grip, known as the VG-C70AM is due to start shipping this month.

The two biggest demands for a vertical grip center around better handling when shooting in a vertical mode and the addition of extra battery power. Sony nailed both of these objectives with the VG-C70AM grip.

Vertical grip enhances the Alpha A700’s ability to shoot in the portrait orientation.

Everything the horizontal grip can do, the vertical grip can do as well

The new A700 vertical grip looks like someone took an A700, cut the standard grip off and glued it to a battery container. Every control and button that appears on the camera’s built-in grip is mirrored on the accessory grip — in virtually the same location. Anything you can do with the standard grip you can accomplish with the accessory grip as well. Since the A700 automatically rotates the menus on the camera’s big LCD screen, this results in an excellent vertical image making machine.

Two batteries are better than one

As far as extra power goes, the grip has provision for two NP-FM500H batteries, which Sony claims will produce twice the battery life. (Well, duh!) . You have to remove the camera’s standard battery to attach the grip, so you only have two batteries available — but that is still a major improvement.

Two batteries power the removable grip.

The question of weight naturally arises. The VG-C70AM weighs in at 10.1 ounces without batteries. Add two NP-FM500H power cells at 2.75 ounces each and the whole works is still slightly under 1 pound. The grip also adds about 3.5 inches (87.2mm) to the height of the A700 — a nice bonus if you have large hands.

Like he A700 itself, the VG-C70AM battery grip is constructed with an internal Magnesium-Alloy. Sony also says the unit has rubber gaskets to seal out dust and moisture.

Vertical grip should be forward compatible

Now there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the VG-C70AM cannot be retrofitted to the A100, The A100 and A700 have completely different camera bodies and as we’ve already discussed, there are no internal provisions for a grip on the Alpha 100. So if you were hoping to bolt one of these bad boys to your A100, you’ll have to be content with on of the aftermarket solutions.

Ah, but there is a very good chance that the VG-C70AM will be fully compatible with Sony’s next dSLR; the famous Sony Alpha flagship. Based on the mockups shown last March, the A700 and the flagship share a common body. Thus the flagship (which many observers are calling the A900, although Sony hasn’t confirmed the name) will most likely be able to use the VG-C70AM. It makes sense, as it will save tooling and design costs if Sony can create a single grip for both models.

Rear side of the grip shows the thoughtful control layout.

Of course the standard disclaimers apply. Sony has only revealed a mockup of the flagship, so there is no guarantee that the A700 grip will be compatible. Don’t base your buying decisions on the mockup, as things could very well change. If I was a betting man, however, I would give you pretty good odds that the VG-C70AM will fit the flagship when it appears..

Sony Alpha
Vertical Grip
Alpha A700
VG-C70AM
digital SLR
photography
Tom Bonner
Alphatracks

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Very interesting article on the hardwarezone.com website. Timothy Fernandez interviews Mr. Keiichi Ishizuka, Deputy Senior General Manager - AMC (Alpha Mount Camera) Division at Sony.

The article is well worth a read, if only for an insight into Sony’s plans for the near term and the future. It also provides an insider’s look into the design process behind the A700.

Although Mr. Ishizuka is somewhat careful not to reveal too much info about what is in the Sony pipeline, he does say that the flagship model ( the rumor sites are calling it the A900, but Ishizuka gives no confirmation of this ) is on track for next year. He also says that Sony is indeed developing a replacement for the A100 and hints that Sony may offer other new models — without saying when such models might be announced.

The bulk of the article discusses the new A700 and the design considerations behind it. Mr. Ishizuka cites picture quality as the top feature of the A700, and also mentions the engineering behind the Alpha A700 dSLR’s shutter and vertical grip. Ishizuka also takes Fernandez on an in-depth look at the A700’s new DRO option.

I expected the DRO to be a great feature. Having read Ishizuka’s comments, I am very excited about trying it out.

If you are a A-mount shooter (Mr. Ishizuka refers to it as the Alpha Mount), you should take the time to read the interview. Whether you are thinking of buying an A700, or you are concerned about Sony’s future plans in the dSLR arena, I think you find the interview very enlightening.

Check out the Keiichi Ishizuka interview at HardwareZone.com.

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Alpha A700 camera: the advanced amateur dSLR is announced

Finally! The news Alpha photographers hve been waiting for. Sony has announced their new Advanced Amateur dSLR, henceforth known as the A700, I like the name — it conjures up great Minoltas of the past, such as the X700, the Maxxum 7000 and the Maxxum 7D.

But the new model is a wide departure from those older SLR cameras. The feature set is very impressive, and if the picture quality lives up to Sony’s claims, Minolta A-mount shooters will be very happy indeed.

The A700 addresses almost all of the concerns I listed in my last post about Alpha A100 improvements. In addition to the vertical grip and PC sync we already knew was coming, the 12.2MP A700 feature set includes:

• Optical glass pentaprism with interchangeable focusing screens
• New 11 point enhanced auto focus system, claimed to be much faster than the A100.
• Individual compartments for both Compact Flash and Memory Stick memory cards
• Remote capture application offering tethered shooting via USB (yes!)
• Continuous 5 frames per second, limited only by memory card size in JEPG, a healthy 18 frames can be captured in one burst when shooting RAW.
• Sony claims the new dSLR is dust and moisture resistant. Is that the same as weather sealing?
• New Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) function that sounds similar to built-in HDR (High Dynamic Range).
• Ultra sharp 3″ LCD screen
• The press release stresses in great detail that the A700 has been optimized to significantly reduce noise.
• The initial Sony press release doesn’t mention ISO, but Engadget and several other sites claim the camera will offer 3200 ISO with some sort of extender mode to get the ISO to 6400

The new vertical grip will carry two InfoLithium(R) batteries and can automatically switch between cells when one battery is exhausted.

Body only price will be “about” $1,400. US. The A700K kit with a 18-70mm lens will set us back around 1,500, while the A700P kit will offer a 16-105 lens will go for $1,900. Sony is taking orders now. The body and A700k packages should be shipping in October, while the A700P will be on dealer’s shelves in November.

What’s missing? Live view. As I have said before, I’m not a fan of Live View so that isn’t a big disappointment for me.

That’s just the high-level overview. I’ll have more information and analysis after the dust clears and I can delve deeper into the A700’s features. in the meantime, A-mount shooters can take a deep breath and relax. If the press release is accurate, the A700 won’t be taking a back seat to anything else in it’s class. For the first time in a long, long while, we have a camera that boasts great features at an affordable price. Move over Nikon and Canon. There’s a new shooter in town!

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File this under “Be careful what you ask for…”

By far the most sought after information on Alphatracks has concerned Vertical grips for the Sony A100 and the KM Maxxum 5D. Neither Minolta or Sony offered a vertical grip for these dSLRS — a major oversight considering how many people are searching for one. I’ve linked to web stories on making your own grip as well as the DiCain and Ownuser aftermarket grips.

Until recently, however, to obtain one of these units you either needed to live or travel in the Orient — or take your chances trying to order through a non-english website without much in the way of firm details.

At last, however, there is an English language website that offers aftermarket grips for the Maxxum 7D, the Maxxum 5D and the Sony A100. You still have to order from Hong Kong, but this site has contact phone numbers, a return policy, detailed photos of the products and a secure online ordering method. Oh yeah, Gadget Infinity also sells on eBay, where they have a 100% positive feedback ranking of 31,380. That indicates to me the company is legit and I wouldn’t hesitate to order from them.

The information about the grips is fairly minimal, but I think Gadget Infinity is selling the Ownuser grips, although it doesn’t give any brand information for the hardware on the site.

I can’t speak for the quality or how well these grips work. Still they look impressive. If you’re looking for a Sony A100 battery grip or you can’t locate a genuine Minolta 7D vertical grip it looks like GadgetInfinity can hook you up.

Gadget Infinity Website (opens in a new window)

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