Sony A450 released

[Garbz]

And some innovation maybe pretty good that others follow.

Actually I can kind of get behind this but not from the consumer perspective. Sony and Philips have my heart inside the cases. Their simply astounding sensors have powered many successful Nikon products. Their wonderfully built pickups are still the centrepiece of many audiophile CD players.

I guess from the consumer perspective throwing every product into the market and seeing what sticks allows Nikon and Canon to fire the market research department and spend the money on R&D

If only...

 

[FrankLamont]

What, the Ar1?

There were a few of those types of rumours, but never saw an images. Besides, for all the good English, there is 'image no available'.

If I can remember, there were four, none ever came up -- all named, like a730. However... I think one may have hit right on the a450. Unsure.

'Alpha r1' doesn't really sound like anything from Sony's roadmap - but of course, if it's a new, pro line up, perhaps...

 

[FrankLamont]

Sony's SuperHAD CCD II here.

Derrel, that's not Sony's own webpage, it's from Flickr. Quite possibly, fake.

 

[Derrel]

Yes, I know it's from Flickr--but that doesn't mean it's a fake. Quite the contrary: both Nikon and Sony have begun to reply upon "accidental-but-on-purpose" posting to their official web sites around the world as the way to leak upcoming products. As I said, both Nikon,and Sony, have been relying upon this method of leaking future products, as a way to compete in a sort of passive-aggressive way. Typically these accidental-but-on-purpose leaks are hosted on official web sites for about 12 to 18 hours--long enough for those who troll the interwebs for such things to get new stock numbers, new specifications, and product shots, and then to disseminate that information all over the web. Sony did this same, exact post-it-to-Sony-Europe maneuver less than a year ago. It's part of the new viral marketing idea.

The SuperHAD II sensor has been patented, and discussed in an on-line technical forum I read occasionally. The sensor itself is for real, I think. And I expect that Sony can easily drop it in to a camera body; 34.8 MP on FF is lower a pixel density than the Canon 7D, which would be about 46MP if it were expanded to a FF size.

Speaking of Sony and products: they announced 12 new digicams yesterday, for the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES. Some on dPreview were comparing it to the SPAM company, with their 13 products all named SPAM, of one variety or another.

 

[FrankLamont]

Yep, I linked to the official Sony website about the SuperHAD CCD II above, it's here.

That is true. A new Sony flagship camera... hmm. The high pixel count is expected from Sony - also, I think Canon might be releasing a 1Ds Mk IV soon, from the look of it.

 

[MrLogic]

It seems almost impossible to keep track of Sony's DX-body choices. And yet, at the top of the line, the A900 AND A850 are easily defined, and all alone. No morass of confusing model numbers and names, just 850 and 900. Very simple.

And yet... they still don't sell if Flickr's stats are any indication.



Canon 5D Mk II 2,410 users yesterday
Nikon D700: 1,287
Sony Alpha 900: 80
Sony Alpha 850: 28

 

[Derrel]

And yet... they still don't sell if Flickr's stats are any indication.

Well, I'm not sure that Flickr is a good indication of camera distribution, except among a certain sub-set of the photographic hobbyist and enthusiast population. Quite a few people find Flickr a bit too populist, and a bit too much of a display mess to post their photos to it. I would guess, just from looking at the pictures, that Flickr appeals much more to people who are in their teens and twenties and early thirties than it does to older, more-seasoned shooters. Older shooters are the ones who tend to buy the FF bodies.

Actual sales figures say, like those out of Japan, reveal that THE most-popular d-slrs are the low-end Canon Kiss X_ series bodies, ie the cheapest Digital Rebel bodies. Nikon's best sellers are the D40 bodies. In short, the best-selling cameras for all the manufacturers are the low-end bodies.

I looked at the Sony lineup last night in the new B&H catalog. The full-frame A850 at $1999 looks like a good price for a 24.6 MP full frame body, but the lens choices are still rather,well, limited. And the lens prices go from consumer to high-end and pretty expensive rather quickly. I think Sony needs a better more choice-filled lens lineup to make their system seem attractive; they have cut the body prices really,really low! But as soon as a customer starts looking at the lens models, the choices quickly show as simply not being nearly as broad as with Canon,or Nikon, or Pentax.

 

[jensgt]

While I agree with some of the things said here, I have loved both of the Sony cameras I have owned. My A300 is really user friendly. That being said I would sell it and switch to a Nikon if it werent for the fact that I have been out of work a while and just about to start going to school. Lucky to have what I have!

 

[MrLogic]

Actual sales figures say, like those out of Japan, reveal that THE most-popular d-slrs are the low-end Canon Kiss X_ series bodies, ie the cheapest Digital Rebel bodies. Nikon's best sellers are the D40 bodies. In short, the best-selling cameras for all the manufacturers are the low-end bodies.

Yeah, I was aware of that. Too bad it was only a top-20 or so. What I'd really like to see is sales figures for the 4 "affordable" FF bodies. The only full-frame DSLR that even made the list was the 5D II -- not surprisingly... as it dominates that market segment.

 

[Josh66]

Yep, true...

Although surprise, surprise - Sony's making SD cards.

That's odd, considering that they don't make a single thing that can use them...