Introduction and Preview Continued:
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When it comes to new features, the A900 isn't overloaded with them. Rather, the new features added to the A900 seem to be every bit of what you will use, and need. The A900 overall seems to be a pretty simplistic design actually, a real shooters camera that I liked immediately. It really doesn't overwhelm you. Lets look over some more of the features of the A900.

A handy feature is the viewfinder shutter lever located on the left side of the eyepiece. This is a carry over design from the Maxxum 9 film camera that was basically designed into the A300 and A350, but for live view purposes instead. When you shut this lever, an internal two piece shutter closes to block out stray light coming into the viewfinder for long exposure shots. When in the closed position, a horizontal white mark shows up so you have a visual marker when the eyepiece is closed (it does not glow in the dark). The Maxxum 9 had a bright orange marker, but I find the white marker a bit more visible.

Another welcome feature will be the user interchangeable focusing screens (seen below), with 3 different types to choose from. Finally, you can change your own focusing screen instead of having to send it to a certified service center. A real plus.

The Alpha A900 uses a diamond pattern 9 point focusing system with a dual cross center sensor, but now adds 10 focus assist points for increased sensitivity and improved tracking results around all 9 points. The additional 10 assist points are not visible with a red cue like the 9 main focus points are, but they are indeed there helping matters along. The philosophy here seems to be that a less cluttered array of focus points (yet more sensitive) gives an overall advantage. Sony also states that the overall accuracy of the focusing system is improved with new and faster focusing processing algorithms.

From my experience with it during the day however, I can say that locking on any of the 9 points was fast, and precise with no troubles indoor or outdoors, a good initial indication. I will go into the autofocusing performance more in the final review.

Intelligent Preview is a very interesting feature that is activated via pressing the Depth of Field preview button. While not totally live view, Intelligent Preview basically takes a sample shot of your scene holding it in a memory cue, allowing you to make adjustments to white balance (as shown on the right), DRO, and your exposure using the Quick Navi user interface. All the while you preview the live changes made on the LCD next to a 3 color histogram. Then all you do is take a final exposure to capture the adjusted image. Pretty simple to use. You have the option of choosing priority of Intelligent Preview or standard Optical Depth of Field preview via the menu system. So it seems very useful, and differentiates itself from the Live View found on other DSLR brands. Note, you cannot do any additional auto-focusing when viewing the stored image, so you do need to check focus prior to the preview process. Overall though, I think this function gets a thumbs up.

Notes on Advanced DRO+and Intelligent Preview-

Obviously it is different than the Live View systems on the A300/350, and definitely isn't intended to be confused with those systems at all. It is more of an aid designed to get your white balance, exposure, and DRO correct, and helps to save storage space on your recording medium. I will get more into Intelligent Preview in the final review. What I will say so far is that it is definitely a tool that will not get lost in the menu system, it will be used frequently by A900 owners.

Advanced DRO+ has changed a bit. You still have the 5 full settings and bracketing options as before on the A700, however each +1 or -1 step has been reduced a bit in amplitude. I did find each step of the A700's DRO+ a bit strong but it never occurred to me that it was a real issue. After using the A900 however, I do appreciate the changes quite a bit. Overall each step is just a bit more subtle in effect but still retains quite a wide and useful range between 1 and 5. I cannot comment on auto DRO, and auto DRO+ at this time as I did not give them a test run.

Using Intelligent Preview with DRO+ seems to really enhance its overall effectiveness. Those who do not use DRO+ often may have found themselves "guessing" on what setting to apply. With Intelligent Preview, the guesswork is basically taken out as you can see the total effect on screen and adjust it accordingly. I found myself trying some manual bracketing in a couple of shots just to see how accurate the LCD image would be to the final outcome. I found the LCD to be pretty much spot on when I reviewed the images on screen. Using these two items together is a must in my play book and gives Alpha that extra overall competitive edge.

That said, now lets move on further.

The newly developed 36x24mm "Exmor" 24.6 megapixel full frame CMOS sensor is designed very much like the A700's sensor continuing with the On-chip column A/D conversion Dual noise reduction technology. The pixel pitch is slightly larger than the A700's at 5.9 microns vs. 5.5 microns, which should help it to be a bit more sensitive to light gathering.

However it should please those to know that with the A900, you can turn off High ISO noise reduction in the menu (unlike the A700). I know this is a welcome menu choice some really wanted to have. The new sensor has been given the same anti-static coating as the A700's sensor to help ward off dust adhesion.

The massive amounts of data being transfered from the new CMOS chip couldn't efficiently be transferred without the aid of the dual Bionz processors working in parallel together. The Alpha A900 is a fast machine with these dual processors, able to record huge amounts of data in Raw image capture up to 5 frames per second. In effect, the A900 could quite possibly be the fastest processing DSLR to date. In use, I was able to get 5 frames per second with the same Sandisk Extreme IV card I used in my A700 with any file type (up to 10-12 frames).

Turning my focus to the shutter unit, the top speed of the A900 is still at 1/8000th of a second, which is fast, but isn't any different than the A700. It is still rated at 100,000 cycles. Both feature a coreless high powered shutter motor drive. Sony does claim however that there is a faster shutter charge on the A900 vs. the A700, and that the coreless motor is newly adopted (might be a new motor, need to confirm with Sony). So while not the carbon fiber unit that fires at 1/12,000th of a second some might have been hoping for, it sounds a bit improved over the A700's. It could be Sony decided to use the 1/8000th second shutter because of reliability.

The A900's LCD display is the same beautiful 3 inch 921,600 dot display found on the A700. No complaints here, as a larger LCD might cramp the back panel too much. The image playback viewing options haven't changed either. You can still view multiple images in single delete mode at 4, 9, or 25 images at a time.

New features have also been added to the menu system as well over the A700. A new mirror lock up mode is accessible via the dedicated drive button on the top panel. You can also now change the recording media type by way of the Quick Navi user interface, as opposed to diving into the menu system to make the change. Bracketing is now also available up to a full 2 stops in range (limited to 3 shots) via Quick Navi. A new color space option has been added to the menu as well, making a change between Adobe RGB and standard RGB at little more convenient.

On the main dial of the A900, 3 custom settings options automatically populate when the dial is turned to one of the 3 stops. This effectively replaces the MR (Memory Recall) system in the A700, simplifying the experience a little bit and giving you faster access to stored settings. I know for one I will definitely be using these custom settings. There also is a green Auto, and the standard Manual, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Program Auto settings here. A bit more simplified and without all the scene settings that are prevalent on the A700.

Moving to the right side of the top panel resides the top plate LCD display (back-lit in cinnabar via the dedicated button), and a more organized dedicated button layout. I like that the drive button has been moved closer to the trigger finger, and the more organized layout is easier to remember overall enabling less visual checking for on the fly setting changes. The LCD will display the following- shutter speed, aperture, ISO, battery life, white balance, exposure compensation, and number of remaining recordable images on your set memory card.

On the rear of the camera there haven't been many changes over the A700. Noticeably the rubber thumb rest area has been increased in size some, with again a different texture than the A700. The CF card door on the pre-production model I used didn't have the extra sealing inside the door itself the A700 did, but that could be because the new design seals the edges better than the A700, or the older design may show up in a full production model. I do not know for sure. Either way, the card door hides two card slots, one for a CF card, and one for a Sony Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo/Pro HG Duo card.

I like the positioning of the Flash Sync terminal on the A900. I don't know about anyone else but I constantly snagged the A700's sync cover and pulled it open with my neck strap, a small irritant. So to me, this cleans up the left side of the camera better, and somehow seems to add to the professional look of the A900 from the front view. Maybe because this is a more standard layout for DSLR's, either way it was good that Sony moved it from the side. This was one of the few pet peeves I had about the A700 when I reviewed it back in 2007 and I recommended it should be changed on any future models. I'm assuming I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

New lenses and accessories being announced along with the A900

• Sony 70-400mm G f4-f5.6 SSM Lens $ 1,499.99 (available December)
• Sony Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8 Vario Sonnar Lens $ 1,799.99 (available November)
• Sony VG-C90AM Vertical Grip (exclusive for the A900) (pricing not yet available)
• Sony FA-HS1 Hot Shoe Adapter
• Sony FDA-FL1AM, FDA-FM1AM User changable focusing screens (Spherical, Super Spherical)
• Sony STP-SB2AM Shoulder strap (with quick release tabs and a neoprene neck strap)

Closing Thoughts and Comments

To be quite honest, when I first heard about the "Flagship" I didn't know if I would want to upgrade from the A700 or not. However, after using it and realizing the potential of its very useful features I am convinced the A900 will be a worthy addition to my set up. I find the A900 still very much easy to use like the A700 considering it is a full featured high-end camera. All of the new refinements are welcomed and all around are well thought out and useful. The depth of field and resolution advantage of full frame alone will come in very handy, along with Intelligent Preview matched with DRO+.

On our trip, I was able to take quite a few photographs with the A900 . Since I am under agreement not to display those images from the pre-production unit, I am unable to publish any of them in this preview. And I wouldn't really want to comment or post them either. The cameras we tested weren't the finished firmware product, so that would be a moot point to do an analysis on them anyways. The good is that I now have a production A900 (quite surprisingly) and should have a first shot image gallery up at the time this preview is launched, or shortly thereafter.

What I can say so far is that there is a lot of resolution coming out of this camera. Viewing the images this large on screen is an impressive presentation. To capture those images, I used several lenses during the day like the Sony Zeiss 24-70 2.8 SSM, Sony Zeiss 85mm 1.8, and even my Minolta 24mm 2.8 RS for a mixed bag of results. For the rest of the samples of the A900, I will post images from the 24-70 2.8 SSM and the 50mm 1.4 on a gallery page when I have my own personal A900 to spend much more time with.

At last the first generation of Alpha is complete, with a current lineup of 5 DSLR's, 26 Lenses, and many more accessories to choose from. 2008 has been pretty exciting for Sony so far. I am confident this saga will continue. Stay tuned for more, and a final review on the Alpha A900 from AlphaMountWorld.

-C.Garrard