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Lesnumeriques (translation here) interviewed Mr. Takashi Yasuda from Sony. The main talk was about the [shoplink 14165]new Sony A99[/shoplink] and when asked about the competition and their price he said that “we believe that the Alpha 99 is well positioned and have no intention of facing competitors in the field of 24×36 reflex at discounted prices.“. But he also adds to the end that it is the market that will decide if the price is correct.
As you know Nikon/Canon recently announced their first low price FF cameras, the [shoplink 14524 ebay]Nikon D600 (here on eBay)[/shoplink] and the Canon 6D. While the A99 has manu unique features there may be a need to make a cheaper A95 version to compete against the mentioned FF cameras.
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Sony preorder list:
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, Amazon, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, BHphoto, Sonystore DE–UK–FR–IT–ES–NL–SE–FI–CH.
156 Responses
Let hope so that price will go down.
And yes, i was first 😉
Cock
You can try next time, dont worry.
Frank you wants some?
I think Frank want’s his cock, that’s what he is trying to say no?!!
Maybe Frank is trying to share with us what is his favourite photographic topic?
🙂
i want to shoot some roosters!
So, if all of us don’t buy this camera, they will lower the price…
Right? 😉
If nobody buys it then Sony will stop producing it. If exactly enough people wait for a reduction then you’ll get a reduction. The problem is who should wait and who should buy.
Well in Australia, the a99 is only $200-400 more than the d600. Doesn’t seem like too much considering all the extra features you get.
And a good $800 cheaper than the D800 and 5D III. Here the A99 is a bargain.
Absolutely right! All depends on the IQ now for me.
Interesting. Because here on the opposite side of the globe (northern Europe) the advertised price of the not yet in stock A99 is $ 100 MORE than what the standard Nikon D800 is selling for!
And the Nikon D600 is selling for $ 1100 LESS than A99!
So I therefore wonder if A99 looks like a bargain only because Nikon gear is much more exepensive in Australia?
Here in the US, I can get a D600 w/ 24-85VR lens for $2700. Or, I can pre-order the A99, body only, for $2800.
For the D600, I have to buy dongles if I want Wi-Fi or GPS.
For the A99, I have to buy an expensive new flash that’s not compatible with my other bodies, as it has no pop-up.
Sony is deluding themselves if they think this is a winner.
Dusty
Your existing flashes will work through an adapter. It will either be bundled with the box or available to buy around $20.
If your other flashes are standard hot shoe, they will fit perfectly on the A99. If you have older Sony flashes with Sony’s proprietary hot shoe, they will provide an adapter.
I have phoned Sony Canada and they told me that you can NOT put other flashes with the standard hotshoe on the A99!
Stef.
I’m certain you can put, otherwise what’s the reason for changing to standard hotshoe if u can’t mount one.
Everybody must learn not to believe everything sales/service reps said. Just google or wait for trusted reviews to come out after Sony start shipping. At this point, it’s silly to complain when nobody has a chance to test about that yet.
Well, then we differ in our opinion.
Here is an endless thread about exactly this question:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1037&thread=42569585
Page 5 onwards might be worth your attention?
Stef.
“extra unique features” … what a marketing jargon!!!
Can someone please list these “extra unique features” that we’re supposed to get with extra $800? ‘cuz I seem to have forgotten those already.
DEAR SONY!
SO i do not buy ut because it is a 1600 euro BODY.
Not more…
You can hope, that i take the Alpha 57 body but first…
when it is down to 599 euro.
Tghis will be a nice 2013…
YOU DO NOT GET MY MONEY….
only silli sheeps run now….moooooo mahhhhhhh..
omd-5?? mh???
Also read as … “we want people to shoot videos” not photos. That is for the others.
Sad … but true. They have decided an SLT should be the MPV among cameras: a jack of all trades, but master of none.
A77 1000$/€<А99 2000$/€ ! Normal 🙂
A *1* 3000$/€
The market has already decided for me. I have an A850. I’m going to sell it and buy a Nikon D600 and keep my 700 euros of difference. The story could have been different if the the A99 was at least 2500 euros instead of 2800.
This seems to be quite senseless… The body alone is worth nothing, so you also have to buy a Nikon FF lens (unless you already have one that is). And that for $300 (the price difference you would have considered the A99)? Seems like a strange kind of “saving” you make there…
In your case, if $2800 is really too much, I would wait for the A850 successor. The A850 is still a fantastic camera, and I doubt Sony will wait a whole year for its successor, a A87 or A88.
Your comment makes no sense. You’ll pay a LOT more to buy quality Nikon glass to go with that slightly cheaper D600 body.
Sounds to me that you have wanted to swap to Nikon for a while and are trying to justify it to yourself. I mean, you don’t need to convince us, just go and do it.
I’ll go further. Your comment is complete and utter rubbish!
You’ll save 300 on the body and unless you have a full set of Sony Zeiss lenses to sell how are you going to afford a decent range of Nikon FF lenses? They are 2 grand EACH!!
I have only one sony lens because I don’t need more. I will probably have only one nikon lens because I don’t need more and I am not trying to cinvince anyone here. If 700 euros is not a difference for you then it is for me. As simple as that.
But you will still be 1000 euros worse off. Your argument makes no sense! And why buy an expensive ILC DSLR and then use only one lens?
I love this website and follow it regularly. But I really don’t like the immature and disrespectful people who feel a need to bash anyone who has a different opinion that their own. Why can’t you just get along and respect the fact that others can have different opinions than you and still be right. There are too many factors that you may not know about why someone may like or dislike a Sony camera and they are entitled to their opinion. I know I will get bashed myself because I’m not agreeing with someone’s opinion, but I have learned to respect other opinions even if they are different than my own. Just my 2 cents. Now you can cut me down ,I’m not worried because I understand you don’t respect others opinion, which you are entitled to do, at least here in the U.S. we can. Maybe it’s because some of these people are from countries where they can’t publicly disagree so they vent online where they can hide behind a computer.
Fair enough Tom, I understand and agree (to a large extent) with your point but how else do you get your point across when people use false data in arguments. The guy is comparing the Sonystore price of the A99 with a discount retailer price of a D600. If you want fair and reasoned debate then at least compare apples with apples!!
Just because someone acts like a child it doesn’t mean acting like a child in return is the answer. Point out the person’s errors and be done with it. But thanks for being respectful in your reply. You have shown me that there are some respectful people on here. I love Sony Alpha too and they irritate me and make me want to change sometimes too. But just because I disagree with anyone that doesn’t give me the right pout and call them names unless I want to viewed as a immature little child.
14-16MP Full Frame for the cheaper A95 version please..
Why is everybody talking of a “A95” model, the number makes no sense, that would be an early version of the A99, if you use Sonys numbering terminology. There should really be an A87/A88 as a successor to the A850. And my guess is: that model is going to come.
There is a need for an enthusiast priced camera!!!
A99 right priced pro! Wifi must be added!
A95 well priced at 2000€ with less extras
A85 well priced at 1500€ for me:-)
In Australia, the a99 is only $200-400 more than the d600. That doesn’t seem to bad to me given all of the extra features it offers.
They will not be getting my money, even though I want one, until the price comes well down. I could buy the D600 or 6D PLUS a lens for the same price.
Then go buy a D600 or a 6D. It’s obvious you only need a neutered, weak, low-feature camera, and not a full-featured model like the A99.
In the UK, Sony Style have the a99 for £2,699. That’s $4,355. Forget the D600/6D, thats more than the D800 and 5D Mk3.
No it isn’t. You can’t make a straight conversion between GBP and USD like that due to most things being much more expensive in the UK than the US.
Look at current prices of the D600 on Amazon. 1700GBP vs. 2000USD.
But the point is that I can buy a D600 plus lens for less than the body of the A99. Anyway, I expect the DXO noise mark to be less favourable than the D600 as well because of the loss of light through the mirror.
The D600 with lens is 1850 or $3000. The Body for the A99 is $4000. The price difference in the UK is exorbitant. So forget about the US prices. There is a good grey/black market opportunity here for someone.
I wish they would bundle it with the 50mm prime as a kit lens. So, I can save a little more.
Axx Fullframe with
– 20mpx
– Flash pop up
– Wifi
– Applications: edit and retouch picture built-in
– 30-1/4000s
– No Weather sealed
– No GPS
– Price: $1899
Fullframe to everyone, I hope that will be soon 🙂
applications? LOL. good that you haven’t included Angry Birds.
Actually, if you connect any Android phone to any recent Sony via usb, (I have the A77), all the camera’s JPEG images come up in the Android Gallery, and its *very* quick. I use this feature all the time to check my images on a larger screen than the camera-back LCD. You can also pinch zoom and finger-scroll to look at detail.
Oh, and yes, you can import a 24MP image straight into Photoshop for android and do basic retouch in the field (or just review your images and back the keepers up to the tablet, which is cool in itself). I wrote a post about it here: http://www.dynaxdigital.com/digital-darkroom/using-android-tablet-to-review-in-camera-images-and-upload-directly-to-web/
Even if you dont use apps, the ability to review your images on the field and then back up the keepers to the tablet (or upload them to a server) is a godsend if you are travelling.
he was talking about apps in camera, not on a smartphone/tablet.
If you’re on a topic of using tablet with camera – Eyefi with iPad offers great set as well – possibly even better as you don’t have to bother with cables (although bit slower, yet more then bearable unless you’re fun of continuous shooting mode)
Yup.
My point is that anyone who wants retouch applications (Photoshop touch/Pixlr/Instagram) on a camera probably doesnt know
– how seamless connecting a current camera to a tablet is,
– that a direct connection to a camera makes viewing images on the tablet as fast as viewing them on the camera LCD (even on a 24MP camera).
– how fast using the tablet apps directly on the camera images is.
I think Sony doesnt want you to know, because they are trying to sell camera apps as a ‘new feature’, when its actually already available on all alphas for the cost of a 2 dollar standard micro-usb to usb connector!
Very valid point. And to make it even more striking – modern smartphones and tablets usually offer higher resolution (and in many cases even color accuracy) then the rear LCD of a camera.
You are saying that if I connect my Nex-7 with my Android tablet via USB, I will be able to immediately see in the tablet the pictures I am taking with the Nex-7?. That would be great!
Please post a video or a link so others could see how good this “very* quick” is.
No cost benefit to design a new 20mp sensor and slower shutter.
@daniel
Not immediately: as soon as you connect your camera to the tablet, it goes into mass storage mode, so you can either take pictures OR connect it to your tablet, not both at the same time (i.e its not tethering).
People are missing the point… if you are a photographer that needs a FF body for work, then the cost really shouldnt be that much of an issue. Lets be honest. You could pay for that camera in one shoot or for some could take a 3-4. But to say you are going to jump ship to get a D600 and a lens because you dont want to pay the extra $400 for a much superior camera in so many ways is baffling!
Also guys these are corporate pricing. We know that if we go to our local stores, we can find these cameras and other bits for cheaper. We got to haggle!! The stores want to sell them. They dont make a huge profit on them, but they can still reduce the prices. I remember buying my NEX 7 for 835 GBP from a sony store in London. Im hoping to do the same kind of discounts with the A99! haha
Or find a friend in the US or canada and buy it there. You save over £1000.
^^ This.
All those bitching about price can’t be making money from their photography.
A lot of us do this for a hobby in retirement.
Then stick to APS-C
Aside from portraiture/landscape which I don’t shoot why all the sudden craze to go FF?
They are bigger heavier more expensive as are the lenses
Does everybody think their pictures will turn out better?
Because after 4 yrs NIKON ALMOST had the cheapest FF record?
Reminds me of all people driving SUV’s in North America with only one passenger….the driver! Its image mainly.
Why should I do as you tell me? If there is a choice then it is up to the paying customer to choose. If I wanted to live in a Dictatorship I would have gone to Russia. For the UK the camera is overpriced. If I could buy it in the US or Australia for $2800 I would, and save $1000. That would buy me another lens.
Then buy one from other region! There’s loads of companies importing cameras from overseas. Man, it’s not 18th century. Ships go between continents constantly.
Full frame is compositionally different from APS, that’s why. If you want the rendering of a larger format for your photos, then the only option is to buy a larger format camera.
Wah… I don’t find the price obscene. This camera is going to be a beast. Well worth every cent. What bothers me is that there is no new glass that is video optimized. So I have to buy the older zeiss glass. how does it work?? Who knows?
A99 is really for amateurs, not professionals. Face it.
@Shamb
Got it, thank you for the info
Local D600 is priced very competitively. Apart from the original 500 usd price difference, 10% more discount together with a free flash gunsb700. Nikon has never telling their staff to have the risk of being pushed off the market.
In Finland the prices are now:
A99 2600-3000 EUR
D600 2000-2300 EUR
D800 2600-3200 EUR…
“But he also adds to the end that it is the market that will decide if the price is correct”
So if sales go poorly the price will drop. I’d love to go FF but I can’t see the benefit over my A77 for double the price so I won’t be buying.
That is because as a hobbyist, there is no advantage in going full frame. If you like your A77, as I like mine, stick with it and save your money.
As a pro there’s no advantage going FF either unless you do one of specific disciplines requiring FF. There’s no advantage even more when A77 offers 12 FPS and A99 offers what… 6 without crazy crop-tele-zoom?
The legend that every pro requires FF is just that: a legend.
I am sorry but you are wrong, there are some very good reasons to go FF, they are called Sony Ziess and G lenses. I have their 16-35, 24-70 and 135mm and the results are amazing on my a850.
Si
+1
You are most probably right but strictly speaking there is no connection made in his remark between being right and the price they will ask. So the market may decide the price is wrong but Sony may stick to it nevertheless. We will see what happens (I hope you are right of course).
Prices in the UK are way to much, I wouldn’t consider upgrading my A77 until the A99 body was £1999. Even then it would be hard to justify as its price would be double that of the A77 and is it really twice the camera?????
OK so there is no need to buy the A99 either.
I had the chance to try it at photokina.
The EV sucks compared to OV.
Definitely I’ll prefer D800.
Bye, and please close the door on your way out.
I agree with EiTaro:
The samples shown at Photokina were very disappointing in the EVF. Lack of definition and not smooth with moving objects compared to the A900 OVF !
Surprising enough as Sony installed a 2.36 Mp display in the EVF. Wonder if the refresh rate is too low ? ( Not specified in the prospectus)
Koest31
Ok, then get Nikon or Canon.
Personally, I love the NEX-7 EVF, it is not perfect, but I have only heard that the contrast is even better in the latest iteration seen in A99.
Using full manual mode is a breeze on the EVF cameras. I can never go back to the OVF work flow unless I wanna take old school film pictures with my inherited Konica T3.
wierd, why people is asking for a99 price to be similar with d600/6d consider the specs compete with d800/5d3… and much cheaper on those two. when Sony release the first 2k par price FF in the body of a850… others envy us ^_^
anyway knowing Sony and what they did with a900 to a850 to make it more affordable, i am pretty sure they will release an a88 for this market..
that’s the point, the specs of A99 compete with D600/6D, not D800/5DM3
Last time I checked they quite clearly compete with 5D mk3, not 6D.
huh?
I do not agree with your premise that the 99 does not compete with 5dm3. In what regards does it not compete with this camera?
Typical Sony, we are so good that people will flock to buy our premium products, Well Takashi Yasuda that was then and this is now, we are no longer in the 70’s when Sony was a buyword for quality, no longer! you have to be competative, and that means a 20% cut which with taxes puts Europe on a par with the US.
You forgot that Sony STARTED the full frame DSLR for USD 2.000 a few years ago. Long before Canon and Nikon even considered that. And I am pretty sure, the lower model A87/A88 will come out with A99 holding the premium line just with A850/A900. The A99 *IS* premium after all.
The price is fine if you want a high end video hybrid camera.
I just don’t!
Here in the UK I can pre-order the A99 for £2499, or for £2073.98 I can have an even better stills camera delivered tomorrow in the D800.
If I’d wanted video, I wouldn’t have bought an A900 in the first place: the A99 is £1000 more than I paid for the A900 and only seems remotely worth the extra for someone planning to shoot video too 🙁
The price is fine if you’re a Sony shooter, want FF, want to get the best out of Your Zeiss lenses, want fast focusing, want pro-level features, GPS, weather sealing etc.
The price is not right if you just want FF without all the pro-level features. Maybe a D600/D6 Sony-variant is needed for this.
In my country, A99 is announced with very expensive price,and at the this price, I can buy D600 with decent Nikon lens.
With the D600 & 6D Being £700 cheaper here in the UK, Lack of sales after the inital beta testers purchases should force the price down!
I think the A900 was 2699 and the a99 is 2799… Seems to me that the price is perfect considering the competition… Many of you think that just cause it shares the same sensor with the D600 that Sony will be in competition with it… I spoke to a Nikon User and he firmly said the D600 SPEC wise was NOT worth the upgrade from his D300… It may share the same Sensor but that is about as far as it goes… I am sure Sony will develop a camera to compete with the D600 for 200-300 cheaper perhaps right in the 1999 price mark… We may call it the A85 or A88
I am certainly going to get the A99 and use all of its NEW features to make it pay for itself. I am looking forward to it!
When the A900 was released, how many months passed until Sony released the A850?
Would like to see a 16MP FF sensor, Weathersealed, 6-8fps continous AF, if they want video, then 1080p30 or 1080p24(p60 not required), cheaper alternative to the current A99. Offer This SLT-A85 for 1800-1900USD body only and if they launch this hypothetical camera at the same time as the Carl Zeiss ZA 50mm f/1.4 SSM in spring 2013, then bundle it for 2500-2600USD 😉 and use this 16MP FF sensor for future NEX-series cameras with FF sensors.
Nice idea.
You do realize of course that the 16Mp sensor is probably exclusive to Nikon?
Even if Sony were to use it, they’d probably use it to compete using it in a Sports/Action camera which means it’ll cost an arm and a leg.
But of course if they’re half clever they’d do as you suggest – and make a pile of money selling LOTS of cameras. I really, really wish they would do it.
Nikon 16MPFF is not an Exmor anyway
In between A900 and A850 there was nearly a year.
9 Sep 2008 – A900
27 Aug 2009 – A850
Why limit yourself to this resolution on a FF camera? To show off your gazzilion-ISO pictures? It’s pointless waste of potential.
I’ve got a sizeable investment into Sony lenses so it makes sense to simply wait. For me the SLT cameras have the following benefits:
1. Full time fast live view focusing. Which enables –
2. Waist level shooting with the fold-out LCD screen with no hunting and slow focusing nonsense as with CaNikons. I’ve seen people with that problem trying to take photos using live view. Not for me.
3. All prime lenses are stabilized – all those wonderful 35mm[soon to be Sigma f/1.4] , 50mm [f/1.4], 85mm[f/1.4] and 100mm[f/2.8] lenses. Stabilized.
The wonderful Zeiss 24-70mm – stabilized.
4. The shutter in electronic first curtain with no mirror slap is really, really QUIET. Did I mention QUIET??? OK, just to say it once more: very, very QUIET.
I was sorely tempted to jump to Nikon after getting a very good offer on the 24-70mm lens on the web. But it’s just not worth it if only for the image quality. I reckon I can shoot comfortably at ISO 4000 to get more or less the same IQ of the Nikon at 6400. So that’s a moot point.
Now since I have the idea of changing from the A700 to the A57 whilst waiting for the price of the A99 to drop or for a A88 to appear, I can have fun in the meantime. I can WAIT. The A700 can become a dedicated IR machine.
+1
Waist level shooting is something that really appeals to me as well. I have an FS100 and Nex5n, I shoot from the waist all the time – focus peaking makes is to easy and its a great way to get candid shots in both stills and video. I’m not buying another camera that DOESN’T have an articulating LCD, peaking and 60p video.
The A99 has all three. I’ve pre-ordered. Can’t wait till it ships.
I don’t know where camera makers got the idea that an articulated LCD was not professional enough. Both Fuji and Nikon do not make the adjustable LCD for their most advanced models. The sealed LCD on the D600 and Canon D6 is a travesty. Why must someone buy a cheaper APS-C camera to get better features? Fuji has articulation on their cheaper midline cameras, but not on their top-of-the line. How can the ability to shoot above a crowd or low, angling the camera upwards be anything but a helpful feature ? Am I to put my face on the ground to see thru the viewfinder ? One can even turn many Sony LCD’s inward so that you have a protective plastic backing plate facing outward to minimise harm to the LCD.
While pop-up flash is not a professional feature, Sony could have added it like Nikon did with the D600. It’s a nice feature to have when carrying a 2+lb. flash is not a realistic option. It’s just Sony’s reverse snobbery to leave pop-up flash off the A99 in the hopes of appearing more ‘professional.
Ever walked through a city with your A77 and tried to frame your shot ??
If it is a sunny day you can’t see the shadows… so how do you decide what is on the picture and what not..
If this is Pro Style shooting … oh my god :/
Sony moves more and more in the direction of video guys.. good for them.
Bad for all the poor guys having all their old Minolta lenses and not getting a proper camera for stills :/
Yea, I tried, no problem with seeing shadows. Even in midday sunny day.
What a load of bollocks! Try opening your eyes when shooting or get some glasses. If you prefer OVF that is fine but do not denigrate EVF because you cannot use it.
The problem is video requested from the market. Sony is a little (very little) slice in the pro photo market and A99 isn’t a pro photo camera. We have very good lenses (Minolta, Sony and Sony-Zeiss) and only one body to use: A900 in RAW setting. We are waiting for a real pro and photo oriented body like (for example) A9, 24MP, 50-25600 ISO, ovf, 14/20 fps, vg integrated, no built-in flash and NO VIDEO PLEASE, NO VIDEO!!!
Get real. Starting this year, there will *never* be any camera manufactered that has no video possibility.
Not with Sony, not with Nikon, not with Canon.
Be real. Sony has SLT=EVF. Stop complaining about EVF. Its silly.
Maybe you were overexposed? I like the WYSIWYG view. In poor light I cannot see as well through my OVF v my EVF when properly exposed. But that does not mean the OVF is bad it is just different and has some limitations.
I read an article recently about Getty’s setup for the Olympics – they did some very impressive stuff remotely using Canons. Considering Sony sells on its technological strengths, it’s disappointing that the a99’s pretty weak on this front. (No tethering, no wifi, no remote live-view, no wireless hdmi…).
If they’re serious about targeting the pro market they need to be able to go toe to toe with Canikon. At the moment they’re just targeting video (which is still a secondary reading for buying an slr).
Last time I checked A99 had tethering support!?
No Wifi Tethering is what he meant… if you get the drift by reading his entire post…
Sony has the neck for adding the most innovative things into their products….HOWEVER sometimes they forget to add the most common sense items that every other competitor has…
Think of it like a car with power steering, auto parking, heated seats, electronic windows, climate control…. but they failed to add air conditioning….
If a car has climate control, then it has air conditioning. It is just better than plain aircon.
Tethering IS supported, life view not, but you can have life view if you connect the camera to a separate screen with the HDMI cable.
Stef.
May be it is worth for the stills . But definitely not for the video.
“Sony: There is no need to lower the price of the A99.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAAHA!
HOOOOO!HOOOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
WAAAAHHHH!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHA!
lower it by 300 USD, it will fly off the shelf
2500 – 2600 USD is the sweet spot for this camera against either up or low end cameras.
Really? $300 is the difference between success or flop? Maybe if this were in the RX100 price bracket, but your logic is laughable. FF shooters will be heavily invested in lenses like the ~$2000 Zeiss zooms, $300 is not going to impact sales in any way.
All this whining about price, four years goes by, Sony pulls out all the stops to improve the A99 compared to the A900 and despite inflation and the falling dollar the A99 is hitting the market at about the same price.
Amazing.
At the time of launch the A900 was the only cheap full frame option and considerably less than the A99 now.
I’m only quoting £ figures but Sep 2008:
Sony A900 retail: £2089, shops down around £1899
(and I bought mine Feb 2009 at £1500)
Sony A99 retail:£2699, shops around £2499
Yes, inflation needs to be factored in, but it’s technology where everything generally gets both cheaper and better and Sony always claimed the optical viewfinder was a large factor of the price and that the EVF was a lot cheaper to make.
So not whining about the price 😉 just stating the fact that the A99 is not following the cheap fullframe option that the A900 was
Well, I live in the U.S. and at intro the A900 was $2499, the A99 current price on Amazon is $2799. That’s no real difference after 4 years. The logic that technology should be cheaper as time goes on is largely flawed as well given the number of advances made from the A900 to the A99, its a much more advanced camera and Sony’s R&D and manufacturing is all in-house.
If it weren’t for the D600, IMHO there would be far less complaints about the A99’s price. For some reason there’s a thread of twisted logic floating around the web that people feel both cameras are based on the same sensor the price should be comparable. Ridiculous when you examine the featureset.
Nikon essentially just buys the sensors, it doesn’t pay Sony’s engineering costs, doesn’t pay for factory tooling and production and all the other costs associated with producing the sensor – and labor is not getting cheaper anywhere in the world.
If you don’t like the price simply tell Sony by not buying one. I think its a superior camera to the 5d3 – and far superior to the 6D/D600, so I look at my A99 purchase as how much I’m saving by not going CaNikon.
That was why I quoted UK prices, as I guessed it might be different elsewhere.
And over here, Nikon have odd pricing with the D600 too; who would buy a D600 when a D800 is only 10% more?
And I agree about the D600, but I would argue that the D800 is a better STILLS camera than the A99, and over here it’s also cheaper than the A99!
But I don’t want to vote with my feet, that helps no-one; I’d much prefer to tell Sony that I would pay that price for a D800 like camera without any of the video features.
(and I do hope you’re wrong about the research: that sounds like Nikon customers get all the benefits and Sony customers pay all the costs 😉 )
a little OFF-TOPIC: what about a new future A77 firmware update? 🙂
I’d like to upgrade to FF from my NEX-5N, but the D600 is too limited and the A99 is just a tad too pricey. So, I’ll be patient and look for a price break. I almost jumped on the Canon 5D Mark III when it was offered for $2,7xx recently by Adorama. Perhaps the A99 will drop in price later in the year or early next year if sales are not very good. But if the NEX-7 replacement arrives, perhaps I’ll shift to it instead???
I wonder if the FF NEX will be the low-cost FF option from Sony?
I’d love a FF NEX, but Emount lenses will only work in cropped mode (fine) and Sony Amount lenses currently work with camera body stabilization, which the FF NEX is surely not going to have. A whole line of zooms that aren’t stabilized is not very appealing to me. Sony needs a few new FF lenses to go along with the FF NEX. I think 2014, perhaps.
I doubt. Remember about “innovation tax”. I personally can’t see FF NEX going for less then RX1 goes.
Holy Cow! XPro1 fw reached v2.0, is a77 firmware is death?
Year by year I look at Nikon oder Canon and every year I´m only one step away from changing the system. I test some new Camera from Nikon or Canon and every Year I see the differenz between the body isn´t the reason for thinking about a change. Nikon, Canon or Sony aren´t so different and the A99 is cheap enought in competition to Nikon or Canon. You should compare the whole and not only a part of the camera.
My main reason is the stability of the Nikon or Canon system. You can count on it and do not wait for nearly a year from the end of the A900 to the availbility of the A99.
I decided to stay at Sony…because a change is not so cheap and the orther “world” is not that much better.
may “miss-understand”, sure have a new cheaper FF coming…
name something like A88, cost between A99 and A77,
Sony Make.Believe
I thought the new a77 firmware will arrive this month (october)!?
Sony is starting to sound like Canon when it comes to pricing!
All I ever see on here is a bunch of whingey little bitches.
I’m not a pro. I would have paid $3000 USD for the A99. Oh wait, I did (or will when they process my order). I picked overnight shipping and they added sales tax. Value is all about who is willing to pay for it. Some guy took a picture of the Rhine river and got $4.3 Million for it. Let’s face it, at the end of the day, what is the $800 difference going to buy you? A cheap used lens? A memory card and a couple of filters? Get a grip, people! If you’re in the market for Full Frame already, $800 is negligible. If you’re pinching pennies, you need to pick a new hobby or profession.
And that photo could have been taken with a cell phone by anyone with no talent….go figure. 😉
+1
DSLR’s and all the associated accessories will never be cheap. Photography is an expensive hobby and always will be. Buy what you can afford, shoot lots and be happy.
For those complaining, if you can’t afford it or feel its overpriced simply be a part of the market that dictates whether or not Sony’s pricing strategy is correct – just don’t buy.
what a sap. a fool and his money is soon parted as the old saying goes. have an A850 and am trading for D600. Sorry, but i used the crappy slt camera and found the finder just awful.
enjoy your new cam, sucker
ANDREA!!!
We need to have some news about FF NEX!!!
We want to know if we have to buy A99 or better to wait for a smaller hybrid E-A-Mount
PLEASE!!!
Ya. Any news? Admin
I don’t see the big deal. If you make money from a camera then save up for the camera it will pay for it self. I learned that with the sony 24-70 when I got it. When your not rich everything cost too much. I am far from rich but I will get this camera even if I have to get two X-mas jobs because my a850 does not shoot video and thats whats hot at the moment plus I wanted to get in to video since video is nothing but many frames of pictures and I like it and can get paid extra money since everybody wants to be a star. I think most people complaining just want to take awesome pics of there cats and there kids and there is nothing wrong with that but if your good enough you can pay for this within a month easy with paid shoots. We wait and complain so much we forget to take pictures with what we have while we save for that upgrade you probably don’t even need.
Will just wait – see the iso performance and compare it to the d600 and weight that against slt adavantages and decide what to do.
Was planning to get into full frame and I am reasonably invested in the Eco system ($5k)
I have to decide at this point d600 or a99 with very little interest in video otherwise the loses of leaving the system are going to be huge.
Why people are upset? – think about it. This camera maybe nice but they tout features that the traditional sale users don’t use. And on top of it Ido performance may be hit because if slt.
Other than the price it is the feel of commitment to photography you get from CaNikon. Probably what videographers get from Sony.
Specs list is just one aspect. My a900 and a55 do not have a sharp autofocus specially when using 1.4 lens, even with micro adjustment. During the last 2 weeks, in order to decide if if stick with Sony, I made 1000 pictures in my garden or with my kids, to check the autofocus with prime lens only, and the result was often disappointing.
When I see the early release of a99 pictures, I am not confident in the a99. Even if I love the EVF and lots of nice features, at the end of the day, only damn good pictures count.
Another point is Sony support. My a900 mirror was faulty 3 times in 3 years… Each time, I had to use a spare camera to do the job. Now I am scared to travel with my a900. So the d600 / 3 prime lens 1.8 is very tempting, specially for low light and photo journalism when you don t have time to use manual focusing assist. In my opinion, a99 will worth the price if autofocus and reliability are there. But I am far from being convinced to invest again in Sony
The A99 is not for everybody even if you can afford the body, is not the price tag at $2900 is the glass with you must to use with it, i don’t think the A99 will be in good use with cheap lenses, no in my book at least, do you need Zeiss or G lens and this not are cheap options. So, $2900? i think is right if you do professional work with it, if don’t, is just a expensive hobby.
I think the A77 is the best mass market pro-consumer camera that Sony has released, sadly Sony haven’t exploited the hidden potential of the a77, and i’m sure they will never do.
My two cents.
The golden words here are “The market will decide…”.
This means the Sony users/fanboys/first adopters who just cant wait to get their hands on the new “baby” will pay a much steeper overprice than the first buyers of Nikon D600, which seem be the best bang for the bucks in the full-frame market.
Sure the added functions, especially IBIS, on A99 have some extra value. But not more than the difference between nikon D7000 and Sony A77 which here is $ 300. And anyone thinking A99 should compare to Nikon D800 are really fooling themselves.
as I said before, make a cheap high MP count camera using the 36MP sensor, it would be a nice counter to the D600 and 6D, even more because there is no such a camera in the market.
I can preorder the A99 for 2549 euro’s here in The Netherlands.
Jesus you people crying about the D600 being cheaper are stupid.
“Hey Sony, I can get a Nikon D5000 for $700, so I won’t be buying the A77 until you bring it down to that price.”
“Hey BMW, I won’t be purchasing your M5 because the Toyota Camry only costs me $30k.”
Have you any concept of classes and abilities? Buy what you can afford, stop comparing apples to oranges. If you can’t afford it, don’t decry that fact and blame them when it’s clearly your inability to discern the differences between a fully featured pro-spec body [a99 for those of you who are clearly dense] and a stripped down welter-weight [D600, again for you morons].
A99 play def. in the 5DIII and D800 class. More over the product offers a leading technology. For that reason the camera is well priced. Everybody who waits for something like an A8x can not expect to get a similar product with just minor changes for an discount price.
If you want extra class you need to pay for it!
I Try the d600 for à week-end and nos EVF missed me a lot. OVF was dark compare to EVF. In dark environment i sas nothing in.
Last but not least the D600 liveview is so old techno and make a lot of noise with the mirror slapping all the time and finally the so slow AF in thé poor vidéo mode.
D99 is thé futur
D600 is à Good old fashion dslr with à very Good Sony sensor 🙂
Dr. there is no need for me to come to Brisbane when I have a great white shark right here.
Technically, the A99 will be fine, but it had the misfortune to be introduced the same time when Canon and Nikon entered the entry level FF market and RX1 debut.
Nikon D600 is available now unlike the 6D or A99 and it is sucking all the O2 for now. When the A99 comes out, so will the 6D, which will have a similar effect. Also, Sony shot themselves in the foot by not just focusing on the single product like A99. They introduce RX1 at the same time, which is really a niche product.
Sony just needed a good lens and an A99 and get it into peoples hands. The price will be market driven in the end.
This is a total Nikon victory with Canon and Sony losing. Seed the market with FF low cost lens that stays under radar. Create a new category body. Announce the product and ship kits within 5 days. Add discounts to existing lenses. Excellent execution.
A good lens that go with a99 is 24-70za or 16-35za or 24f2 or 85f1.4 or….
Your lens collection will drive the quality of your pictures far more than which body you choose. Bodies come and go, where great lenses can long outlive their counterparts. If the A99 seems too expensive for you, and you have no budget for high-end glass, then yes, it’s probably way too expensive for you. I’m on the A99 pre-order list, and very much looking forward to exploiting the several Sony-Zeiss FF primes and zooms I own.
If my budget only allowed an A99, but no real step into lens choice, I’d stick with APS-C in a heartbeat. The A77 is a great camera, but the same argument applies. An A37 or A57 with higher quality glass will produce FAR better images than an A65 or A77 with a slow entry level kit lens.
The A99 body is only one part of a larger system. Given its feature set, it’s priced pretty well. And given inflation plus added/improved tech & functionality, it’s doesn’t seem any more expensive than the A900, which was still around $2500 to $2600 back when it was still a stocked item.
Ok Sony, now please make a FF camera for photographers..I think many people don’t shoot much videos..and the primary objective when selling a camera is to dedicate it to photographers and not to video shooters.
at first it sounded great to buy a camera with video capabilities, but then camera makers wanted more speed for video, blabla ..Personally I don’t need video..if I want to shoot video i can still buy a video recorder..I hope Sony will be able to produce a great FF camera with great iq. Focus more on your firmwares, get help from Olympus and stop fooling your customers by producing new cameras every 6 months..(make great firmwares updates instead).
Too bad the SLT design will inevitably cause this to fail. The most important thing to a camera is light, but the SLT design results in a 1-3 stops less light. Furthermore, it seems to me that the processor tries to compensate for this by artificially boosting the sensitivity regardless of ISO – which causes all colors above 50% to be increased.
Excuse me for not reading through all the replies but;
I have read from a few different places that the EVF is supposed to be cheaper to produce then a OVF.
I would love to upgrade but I think I will wait for the market correction to take place before I buy.
Then there is no need to buy an A99
I dont wait for the price dropped. Just keep that high Sony, you’re right !
In the market, YOU needs customers, WE dont need you ! CaNikon will say thanks to you as you give them more customers.
Cheers.
—————————————–
Dear guys,
You’re smart customers, you pay then you are the BOSS !!! You can make decision and dont need to wait for anything !!! SONY must follow you ! Just run away, I bet that they will come to you !
Put a99 sensor in an a900 body, and sell it at USD1999.
OVF is made for still photographers, give us the choice please !
Put a D800 sensor into a Maxxum 9000 body… Yum… Manual wind digital. The wind lever could charge internal battery.
I can only imagine the shitstorm when the EVF starts bleeding.
lol thats clever
I’m a Nikon user but I do wish Sony would be more competitive in comparison to the other two. They really need to come out as the cheapest 24mp body on the market just to bring a few people over to the brand. Once you’ve got a loyal, sizeable following touting how awesome the gear is, then raise the price..