Sony drops the A900 bombshell

[chrisk]

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08090 ... pha900.asp
24mp FF sensor, built in IS and like the d700 before it, based on the aps-c body of its little brother...all for wait for it....$2999 USD. now thats bang for buck !

say what you will about SOny, and i'm sure many will, but this is great news for every photographer using any format imo. this is the sort of camera that will force the market to drop prices again. this is a heck of alot of camera for its price. Well done Sony and thank you for being here.

[Grev]

Thing is, you can use a D3 and buy the A900 (and a 50mm f1.4) for high res things.

[sirhc55]

I had a good look at the DPReview summary late last night. My first impression of the camera (i.e. visual) was that it looked much like the early Kodak DSLR, chunky and quite ugly especially with the power grip attached. I read the specs and was impressed and then finally I had a look at the sample pics and was totally blown away with the excellent quality. In particular the silver lady.

At the rrp pricepoint of $2,999 this camera will shake up the other manufacturers. As most know I’m not a Sony fan but I have to admit that if this camera proves to be as good as it appears (not looks) it will be a winner.

[PiroStitch]

holy cow...135mm f1.8. Nice

Will be interesting to see the pricing wars now

[MATT]

What lens mount do Sony use? Obviously not Nikon or Canon, but is it he old Konica-Minola mount??? Just wondering about old school primes that may be available for this beast.

Let the price wars begin..

MATT

[Antsl]

Sony sent me a press release on the A900 and the have announced that the Australian price is going to be $4,499, body only......... damn!
I don't think I will be selling the Nikon kit to go there but at the same time, imagine the impact this should have on the rest of the market.... bring it on.

[chrisk]

MATT, yes it is the old KM mount. so any KM lens will be stabilised. handy huh ?
antsl...how does that $4499 work out ?? they must be dreaming. it'll come in much lower than that street price i'd imagine ?!?.

[Antsl]

antsl...how does that $4499 work out ?? they must be dreaming. it'll come in much lower than that street price i'd imagine ?!?.

Not sure how they derive the price but that was what was on the bottom of the press release. Sure the price will come down but I think it is still an amazing price for a 24MP FF camera.

[chrisk]

not when its $3k in the US its not. lol
$1500 is shipping and taxes ? has eric rooooozendal already started lifting all the rates ?? lol

[gstark]

antsl...how does that $4499 work out ?? they must be dreaming. it'll come in much lower than that street price i'd imagine ?!?.

Not sure how they derive the price but that was what was on the bottom of the press release. Sure the price will come down but I think it is still an amazing price for a 24MP FF camera.

That's the Sony premium.

The reality is that street prices will be lower, but they need to be: this camera will be up against the 5D and D700. While the MP puts this into a somewhat different class in one way, Sony needs to be more competitive price wise if they truly want to be taken seriously: they need more than MP to win the hearts of the target market in this realm.

And as an aside, I love the comments made by the DPR reviewer regarding the provision of the capability this camera has for using Sony's proprietary Memory Stick.

[chrisk]

they need more than MP to win the hearts of the target market in this realm.

it is more than MP. they have in-body IS and some pretty sweet glass aswell. 135/1.8 fully stabilised...now thats pretty darn nice.

[Matt. K]

See that little top thumbwheel? Everytime it rains where do you think the water is gonna run? Crap design and the first thing I spotted.

[Nnnnsic]

I should be getting one of these in for review in a week or so. Interested to see how it actually feels, performs, etc.

[Photoaction]

At $4500 its abit steep in comparision to overseas prices, I am Sony user , legacy from my Minolta days and Sony took over the Minolta A mount and I have to much invested in Minolta 'G' Glass to switch not that I would as I dont have a problem with the range of DSLR Sony are making, dont Sony supply Nikon with all there sensors. As mentioned Sony should be given an award as this is surly going to make Canikon product cheaper not that I think they have anyhing to worry about sales or ppl jumping ship wise . This camera IMO is directed soley to the owners of the 20million minolta lens around the world, all now can be used at the designed focal length and we get image stabilization (super steady shot). Again my disapointment is rrp I have a 600mm f4 that I use on my a700 and with the crop factor 900mm is to much for most arenas so its going on ice till I get the a900 and that wont be until I get some satisfaction with the cost and not made to feel like a shmuck by paying over inflated cost , which seems to be the trend in this country............cheers...Im done

[chrisk]

no way it will be $4500. they are talking out of their asses.
$4k tops, more like high 3's.

[feldy]

Am sure it will sell at a lot cheaper street, but if you consider that list on D700 is around $4K [for a 12 MP], Idon't think $4.5K is over the top at all for list price on a 24MP unit!

F

[chrisk]

feldy, the d700 is $3.5k.

[feldy]

Where? It's showing on our 'Current Specials' as $3892!

[gstark]

Where? It's showing on our 'Current Specials' as $3892!

Ashley,

Please review this post. Our prices here are being affected by the slide in the Pacific Peso, whereas local stock, currently, does not yet seem to have been so affected. Since I made that post, the PP has dropped another couple of cents, which doesn't help matters at all.

[chrisk]

Where? It's showing on our 'Current Specials' as $3892!

ECS and D-D both at around the $3.5k mark.
as gary mentioned, the prices here are pretty much "real time" cos they are by order. these other places still have stock from when they bought at $0.92XR

[moz]

The flip side is that "our" prices also drop immediately when the peso rises.

I regard the Sony more as an incentive for the other manufacturers. Hopefully Nikon will have access to the sensor and can come up with something more usable based on it.

[gstark]

The flip side is that "our" prices also drop immediately when the peso rises.

Exactly.

And when was the last time you saw a retailer rush to put their prices down?

and just look at how well that works with your local gas station.

I regard the Sony more as an incentive for the other manufacturers. Hopefully Nikon will have access to the sensor and can come up with something more usable based on it.

Yep. Sensor wise, it has what's needed as a starting point, but I don't get the feeling that this is going to be a raging success. The D3x will use the same (or a somewhat similar) sensor, and I think that's where we'll really see what that is capable of.

In terms of price, I think this camera is too expensive. Sony do not have a record in the professional arena, and even Minolta, as good as they were, were but a bit player in the pro market. You'd have to go back to the late 60's and early 70's to see any significant Minolta presence in, for instance, the press corps.

The images presented thus far do not have the IQ of a D300, but this is going up against the 5D and the D700. Apart from non-critical purchasers, those working with cameras will want a good business case to buy into Sony. I do not see the feature set as putting that business case, so the camera needs to break its own glass ceiling and really be something special.

It has a memory stick slot, and that tells me that the marketing division have had significant input to the design, and that, in turn, tells me much about how good the design will probably be, from the standpoint of a photographer.

As Leigh mentioned, he's hopeful of getting one within the next week, and after a few days, we will be in a better position to talk about it.

[chrisk]

even sony's marketing has been describing this as a camera for the "serious enthusiast" so i doubt they will take anything away from the pro market cos its not even aimed at that. $3k USD seems to me to be a very aggressive price cos of what it offers over the d700.

what concerns me is that the images above iso800 look average. even at 400 there appears to be some grain and noise. we took a number of years to reach the aps-c saturation point for MP's. sony reached it in their first model. canons new 50d upped the MP ante and the new 5d seems to be headed towards 21 or 24MP aswell, i hope this hasnt started a new MP war. btw: there has been building rumours about nikon entering medium format and creating a high-res "MX" camera, like 48mp or something. the whole "BIG" campaign which has been advertised in medium format mags and websites, kinda points to that direction. http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/n ... dying.html

[gstark]

i hope this hasnt started a new MP war.

Only in the miniscule minds of marketing dweebs.

And the gullible.

btw: there has been building rumours about nikon entering medium format and creating a high-res "MX" camera, like 48mp or something.

Yep. That's been the subject of a couple of threads here already.

[zafra52]

A couple of moths ago I did a day course on lighting and I was very impressed by the tutor’s Sony camera with its anti-shake mechanism built in the body. The tutor has a bad case of Parkinsons so he used a tripod as well, especially in low light conditions. His second hand and much cheaper camera was able to produce beautiful pictures with rich colour and a sharpness that hurt your eyes.

This man did not think that Nikon or Canon offered value for money with their products and left me wishing I had met him before I started expending hard earned cash on my photographic equipment. Now when I am almost over it and thinking of an upgrade to Canon’s forthcoming 50D, you tell me about the Sony A900 24 megapixel release for under AUD3000. Let’s hope that the Sony’s A900 forces Nikon and Canon to think hard about their customers. I will look forward to read the reviews.

Matt the tutor I referred above was able to use cheaper but good quality lenses. Cheaper in the sense that they did not have to have anti-shake mechanism. I think he liked Tamron better than Sigma and other brands and because he used the manual program of his camera he was able to use non-digital lenses.

[gstark]

the Sony A900 24 megapixel release for under AUD3000.

Er, no. That's not been said anywhere within this thread, to my knowledge. That is certainly where its price should be, but the US price will be around US$3K, and the suggested Oz RRP is apparently around PP4500.

[zafra52]

Sorry, you are correct. The price mentioned is around the USD3000.

[feldy]

Bottom line is, we'd all love a 24MP DSLR to be as cheap as possible - who wouldn't? However, I would argue it doesn't make any sense for Sony to drop their price - from a marketing point-of-view, it's all about perceptions, and if you go too low, you will be perceived as a 'cheap' brand.

As it happens, I have no idea about the quality/performance of their Alpha series, but the point is, from a Sony point-of-view, it doesn't make any sense for them to position themselves as a cheap brand.

And from a consumer point-of-view, I still think $4,500 is amazing for a 24MP DSLR!

-F

Looking forward to Leigh's comments, once he's seen the unit.

[gstark]

I still think $4,500 is amazing for a 24MP DSLR!

Only if they're 24 Mega-Good-Pixels. There's already heaps of Mega-Crap-Pixels around, and little need to add to that pile. Still, my mind is open until I get my hands on one; I'm open to be convinced.

[feldy]

Absolutely Gary - I agree; look forward to catching up for that mexican tonight!

[gstark]

Me too, Ashley.

Should be fun.