Alpha A900 flagship competition, and more.
Posted on: Tue, 07/01/2008 - 9:24am
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Alpha A900 flagship competition, and more.
After tonight, I think I have a very good idea on where the Flagship is going to compete.
I agree that Nikon seems to be going after Canon aggressively. The $2999.00 D700 will compete mainly against Canon, but after now knowing specifics of this camera (price mainly) I now think it will compete with the A900 as well. Yes I am calling it an A900 now. Seems the folks at the Sony counter at PMA were only protecting the name of the Flagship at that time (even though I was assured it would NOT be called the A900).
No official word from Sony but I am now just about positive it will be called the A900 afterall, but I will wait for an official announcement THIS time :).
The "A900" will compete with the D700 and the new Canon 5DMkII (whenever that is announced, possibly photokina). Pricing remains vague but most likely be close to the D700's price of about $2,999.00.
I met up with Rick Clancy this evening at the Sony Style store in Costa Mesa, CA and will be posting a story tomorrow so stay tuned for more from that :).
Looks like there will be room above and below the flagship for other cameras, and between the A350 and A700 as well, if the market dictates the demand. A clearer picture is forming for the lineup of the DSLR division y'all.
Hitting the hay now so see you all here tomorrow night.
Carl
__________________
-AlphaMountWorld Chef-
"You can't legislate morality or common sense."
Hi Carl,
That sounds pretty cool, as you say a clearer picture is emerging! As for other models I guess there will be a demand for a lower RES FF cam to compete with the d3 at high ISO, lower down an A500 could be good, adding back features like mirror lock up and DOF preview. If they don't cook the RAW then you never know, Barry may even buy one ;-)
Cheers
Andrew
Andrew
Head Waiter: AlphaMountWorld.com
seems that Sony will introduce mid-grade FF D-SLR to compete with Nikon D700 or Canon EOS 5D.
For the price, that is where it will compete.
Hmmm an A900 Kit with a 24-70 Zeiss lens for 4999.00?
Body only about 3k?
:)
-AlphaMountWorld Chef-
"You can't legislate morality or common sense."
They better price it more competitively than that, that would be more expensive than selling the two individually :) I'm thinking the combo should come in around $4400, if not a tad lower. Now, when they "kit" it with the 16-35/2.8 CZ, then that may be a bit more like $4600 - new lens will have a bit of a premium I suspect, and fewer kits with this lens will be sold, even though the combo would make a pretty killer body for the avid landscape photographer looking to move from MF.
After seeing the price/features of the D700, I'd think Sony will come in at $2899. It will have more MP, less FPS (unless they pull a stunner), AS, less or equal sealing, similar LCD, less AF points/crosses...basically, different feature sets, but right about the same level of camera. I now I'll be happy with mine :)
Interested in trying out a lens or using some G glass?
Now Available - a900, 24-70/2.8 CZ, 70-300G; Coming Soon - 70-400G, 16-35/2.8 CZ
http://www.AlphaLensRental.com
I think Sony will launch more than one camera (a900) and I hope the other camera (a800?) be more than 12MPx, maybe 14 or 16MPx.
This a900 will have 5fps and 24MPx is very good. Sony will use the crop factor 1.5X for DT lenses and more fastter shot.
I have not doubt this a900 will be better than D700 and the ISO level is not all.
But another camera is very doubtful. Something would have sneaked out by now :)
Look to next year for Sony to have caught it's wind and really dive into the product line ...
I am almost more excited for 2009 than 2008.
Carl
-AlphaMountWorld Chef-
"You can't legislate morality or common sense."
Anyone hear anything about lenses? Sony has some work to do there as well.
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fjbyrne