Alphatracks

Noticed that the photographic website Cameratown.com has announced it will be awarding a Sony A100 as the top prize in in its 13 week give away program. Seems like an attractive site, with reviews, tutorials, manuals and firmware updates for many digital cameras. That includes numerous Minolta updates. (Great to know that old Minolta firmware updates will be available from other sources besides Minolta and Sony!)

An excerpt from the announcement follows:

Cameratown to Giveaway Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Digital SLR

During 2nd Annual Birthday CelebrationTo celebrate their 2nd annual birthday celebration Cameratown.com will be giving away over $2100 in prizes from Sony, Kingston, Lenbabies, SanDisk, Zap-Shot, Magix, and Digital FOCI.Boston, MA (PRWEB) July 7, 2006 — Cameratown is proud to announce that they are now entering their third year as the fastest growing digital photography and imaging portal. To help say thank you to all of our readers who have helped us grow so quickly, Cameratown along with our many sponsors, will be giving away over $2100 in prizes during our 2nd Annual Birthday Summer giveaway.

Each week, for 13 weeks, Cameratown will randomly draw one prize winner from subscribers of their Free Deals & Newsletter. “This year our total prize giveaway will top $2100, with the Grand Prize winner receiving the all new Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Digital SLR with 18-70mm Lens.” says founder Ron Risman.

Cameratown to Giveaway Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Digital SLR During 2nd Annual Birthday Celebation

The Cameratown site is at (where else) Cameratown.com

Stop by the site and look around. While you there, register for that A100, because you never know…

Until next time — stay focused — Tom

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One of the complaints leveled against the new Sony Alpha 100 is there is no vertical grip available. Minolta did offer a nice vertical grip for the Maxxum 7D, but there is no official VG for owners of the Maxxum 5D and Sony’s new A100.

Not having used the A100 yet, I can’t say whether that is a real problem or not. On one hand, I have shot thousands of vertical images with film and digital SLRs — and never used an auxiliary grip. On the other-hand, I can see where having a little something to hold onto below the lens might come make things easier. I usually just hold the regular side grip in my left-hand and allow the camera to rotate 90 degrees so it is hanging downward from my left-hand. I use my right-hand to steady the camera and trigger with my left index-finger.

It works fine for me, but many people say they have trouble shooting vertical images because they he big hands. Others feel that adding a grip on the camera bottom makes the SKR handle better.

Of course, most vertical grips also provide additional battery power. I’m not sure how relevant that is to the A100, as Sony claims that the camera can shoot around 750 shots on a fully-charged battery pack. Even if they are pushing the numbers to a best-case scenario, it seems that a single battery pack should allow most photographers to shoot for a full day. Buy a second battery pack and you would have the capacity to shoot 1200 - 1500 shots without recharging.

Still it seems like a lot of people want a vertical grip — it looks like Sony failed to anticipate this.

Never fear, if you want a VG for the Sony A100, there are options.

A Korean Company named DeCain is in the process of selling hand-made grips for the Minolta Maxxum 5D. It looks like they are just in the process of ramping up production, so its a case of ordering and waiting. Haven’t read any reviews yet, so I can’t say how well this grip works on the 5D.

Information on the DeCain Grip for the Minolta 5D

Will the DeCain grip work on the Sony A100? Since the A100 was derived from the 5D and uses the same power and remote connectors, it seems that it just might. If not, it would seem that only a few changes would be required to make it work. Since this is essentially a hand-built piece, I’m guessing that DeCain could easily make changes and offer a grip that would fit the Alpha.

Of course, if you can’t wait, or you want to hack up something of your own, I’ve run across several home-built VGs for the 5D.

This post in the Digital Photography Review site shows off a vertical grip made of wood.
Wooden grip for Maxxum 5D

It looks pretty good — and it isn’t any special exotic or hardwood, either. It is painted black, but if you scroll down to the construction section, you can see he started with what appears to be an ordinary 2 X 4.

If wood-working isn’t your forte, there are also numerous people who have adapted the Canon BP-200 grip to the Maxxum 5D. This will require some hacking and soldering, but it looks fairly simple. The hardest part — assuming you have or can find an used BP-200 unit — is to find a connector to fit the 5D’s remote port. (As I said earlier, the A100 uses the same port.)

Industrious hackers have found modifying removable contacts from old electronics gear to be the simplest option here, as the connectors to fit the Minolta remote port are not readily available. It seems audio cables from old CD-ROMs can be made to work, as will as some internal cables from junked VCRs. In most cases, the plug will need to be reshaped with various tools to get it to fit right — but it can be done.

Here is a site showing step-by-step how to modify a BP-200 work on a Maxxum 5D. I’m fairly sure that most of this information would apply to the A100 as well.

Modifying a BP-200 for the Maxxum 5D

This is the kind of hack I really enjoy. There is no need to modify the camera. All the hacking is in the grip itself. As long as you careful not to short anything in the electronic circuitry, you don’t’ have to worry about modifying or damaging you expensive digital SLR.

So let the hacking begin!

Until nest time, stay focused.

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Sony of Japan has an interesting Flash presentation entitled Tahiti meets α (Alpha A100). Most of the Flash info is in Japanese, but there is enough English that you can tell which lenses were used, although I don’t know who the photographer is.

You’ll have to click around a bit until you find the right combination of buttons to start the slide show. There is also a gallery page that will show you all 21 images, so you can pick and choose which image you want to view.

This being Tahiti, you might expect that the images would be stunning — and many of them are. The scenery and tropical colors are wonderful.

In some of the photography forums I’ve lurked about in, I’ve been annoyed by several know-it-alls who complain about the lack of image quality of the A100 — even though they haven’t seen or used the camera and haven’t had an opportunity to judge the A100’s images in a real-world setting. I am very impressed with the quality of images in this presentation.

Of course you cannot use images in a Flash presentation to judge final image quality. In the first place the images must be PNG or compressed JPEGS. Secondly, because each monitor is different, the Flash file will look different on each computer. When I viewed the Flash movie on a client’s PC, many of the images looked like they were dark, with poor shadow detail. The colors looked a little muted as well. When I looked at the same file on my Mac, the very same images looked glorious. There was great shadow detail and the colors were so vibrant they looked ready to pop off the page.

That doesn’t mean that every Mac will show the movie better than every PC, although Windows PC typically display images more darkly than Macs. If you doubt that, open any RGB image in Photoshop and change the “Proof Colors” option between Windows and Mac. If you can get the image looking very good in the Windows setting, it typically will look washed out on the Mac. Adjust the image so it looks great on the Mac and it will look slightly too dark on the PC. That’s just the nature of the two platforms, and each person’s monitor will differ as well.

So enjoy the presentation, but don’t try to judge the images too closely, because your monitor and computer settings will make a huge difference. If you really want to judge images from an A100, do a web search and find a site that offers downloadable, high-res images from an A100. I’ve stumbled across several such sites where you can obtain images for personal evaluation. But don’t try to judge color and exposure from the Flash presentation.

What the Flash file can do, however is show you the Alpha 100’s dynamic range. There is one evening scene showing a glowing, lighted swimming pool in the background, surrounded by decking, palm trees and lounge chairs. The image manages to show the pool perfectly exposed, with plenty of detail in the decking and walkways. There are several ocean images shot at dusk that show off the α 100’s dynamic range as well.

Most of the images are shot with the 11 - 18mm, F4.5l-5.6 lens although several other lenses were used, including the 500mm mirror lens — which if you consider the A100’s 1.5 crop factor equates to 750mm.

I think it is a great sampler, and I will be happy if I can achieve similar results when I get my hands on a A100.

What do you think? Does this presentation get you excited about the α?

Until next time, stay focused!

_ Tom

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Last time we looked at all the reasons why a 6MP dSLR makes no sense for Sony in 2007. The ringer in this scenario, however, is that Sony isn’t producing dSLRs in a vacuum. Any Alpha dSLR that Sony produces will face heavy competition, not only from Nikon and Canon, but from a host of smaller brands anxious to carve a slice of the digital SLR market for themselves. Because of this, Sony can’t ignore the marketplace and do what makes the most sense. They will have to position camera models to capture market-share.

Pentax has just introduced some new 6MP digital SLRs and Nikon is slated to replace their D50 with a new model either in late 2006 or early 2007. Canon is also said to laying aside the Digital Rebel for a new introductory model.

If Nikon is planning a new 6MP model for 2007, then maybe Sony will offer something to counter it and the new Pentax offerings. Once again, the question is will Nikon actually offer a low-priced 6MP replacement for the D50? Think about it. The 6MP D50 has a list price of 999.00 — the same as the 10MP Alpha A100, although the D50 lacks the A100’s anti-shake and dust-resistance. It doesn’t seem that the replacement for the D50 could be priced higher than the old model, not if it keeps the 6MP sensor — it would look very overpriced compared to the A100. So the replacement for the D50 either needs to have a higher pixel-count or have a lower list price than the current D50.

Either way, Sony has the distinct advantage of knowing just what Nikon is planning. They don’t need to guess or hire industrial spies. All they have to do is check what sensors Nikon has ordered for 2007. As long as Nikon continues to purchase sensors from Sony, then Sony will know far in advance what Nikon is planning –at least as far as the sensor and pixel count is concerned.

Once again, I know next to nothing about camera manufacturing, but it seems inconceivable that any camera company would plan a new model without first ensuring that the sensor they intend to use will be available. Thus, Nikon has to be sure that Sony can produce the sensors they need before they announce a new camera. If they wait until the last minute, there might be a shortage of sensors — or worse, Sony might discontinue making the desired sensor. It would be fool hardy for Nikon or Pentax to design and plan a new model unless they have confirmed that Sony can make the desired sensors in the quantity they need. These makers may even have to place a firm order to make sure the sensors will be produced when the need them. So Sony knows what Nikon and Pentax are planning well in advance of the release of new hardware.

If Nikon does produce a new 6MP model, Sony may have to counter with their own. If Nikon goes with a higher pixel-count sensor in their introductory model, there is s a good chance Sony may retain the A100 as their intro model.

Canon, of course, doesn’t buy dSLR size sensors from Sony, so they could have a few surprises when they replace the Rebel. But the Rebel is already an 8MP camera. Would Canon really replace that with a lower pixel-count unit?

Any way you slice it, it looks like 2007 might be a very interesting year for dSLR offerings. It is a great time to be a digital photographer!

Until next time, stay focused. — Tom

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As promised, I want to continue exploring the the notion that A100 just might be Sony’s low-end dSLR, rather than the mid-range digital SLR many people expect it to be. In an earlier post I tossed around the idea that the A100 might be Sony’s low-end model. My contention was that introducing a new 6MP dSLR in 2007 makes no sense and an 8MP model would be too close to the A100 to set it apart as a low-end, introductory model.

Could Sony really save a couple hundred bucks on a 6MP sensor versus the 10.2MP unit in the A100? I doubt it, although I’m not in a position to know for sure. I think that most of the costs of producing an APS size sensor would be the same. Naturally the 10.2 sensor would cost more, but $200 more? I maintain that a low-end digital SLR would have to sell for at least 200 bucks less than the A100 to be effective. If your “low-end” camera is only a hundred bucks cheaper than your mid-range model, you really don’t have a low-end model.

Or course Sony could simply price the A50 a couple hundred dollars less and eat the cost. (Sony has never said there will be an A50, but several pundits have christened the yet unnamed model with that handle.) If so, Sony’s profit margin would be far less on the A50, on a camera that just might cannibalize sales of the A100.

The only other way to reduce the A50’s price without competing against the A100 would be to reduce the feature set as well as the pixel count. Where could Sony cut features? The most obvious would be the dust-reduction feature or the anti-shake mechanism. (I know Sony calls their version “Super Steady Shot” — but that handle is just too silly to be taken seriously. I will continue to call it anti-shake.)

So as an exercise, let us envision that Sony will introduce an A50 model with 6MP and no anti-dust system. Hello! Haven’t we seen this camera somewhere before? Of course we have. It is the 2005 Maxxum 5D re-badged as the Sony A50 for 2007. Never going to happen. If Sony intended to re-badge either of Minolta’s digital SLR offerings, they would have done it right out of the gate. They could be selling them now, and they would have an inexpensive dSLR to sell at Christmas. Waiting over a year to introduce a Sony version of the Maxxum 5D makes no sense.

So maybe an even lower-end version of the Maxxum 5D with no anti-dust and no anti-shake? That model could certainly sell for $200 less than the A100 and it would truly be a low-end model. It would also be a huge embarrassment. Loyal Minolta fans wait almost two years for an inexpensive dSLR with the Minolta mount and they get 2005 era technology with a lack of a features? A camera with no image stabilization in the body and no available IS lenses? I can hear the Nikon and Canon fanboys laughing their heads off.

So is there really room for the A50 in 2007? I don’t really see it, unless Sony is developing something unexpected. By the time the A50 would come on the scene, the street price of the A100 with standard lens will probably be less than $800. If the A50 is to be 200 dollars less — how would Sony price it? If the list price for the A100 is $999.00 then list on the A50 would have to be $799.00 maximum. That would mean they would be introducing a new low-end camera whose list price is higher than the current street price of their mid-range model. Obviously they would sell almost no A50 cameras at list — deep discounts would have to kick in immediately.

Of course there are several wild cards in this scenario. Next time around we’ll discuss the competition and their impact on Sony’s future models. Until next time, stay focused. — Tom

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