An unknown source of the Chinese forum Xitek (Click here) posted a full Sony A99 and some other rumors:
The A99 has 24 MPX sensor and 102 AF point (I already posted this months ago)
It has touch screen and a 3 million EVF
Announced in September at Photokina and price $2.800 (I already posted this last month)
The body is larger than the A77 (I already posted this last month)
Basically the only news which I didn’t post before on SAR and the source added is the 3 Million dot EVF.
The source also said the [shoplink 8454]NEX-7[/shoplink] and [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] will be updated next year. There will be also an updated 50mm f/1.4 SSM, 70-200mm f/2.8 SSM and a 135 Zeiss lens. The new 50mm Zeiss will be f/1.2.
As usual take these “sources” with a grain of salt. They often mix existing rumors with some “inventet” stuff. Anyway, I once found the exact NEX-7 specs on a forum like that and they were right. That’s why I am posting this, you never know it can be true!
132 Responses
50/1.2 would be nice, but it’s probably just wishful thinking.
I don’t see what point another Zeiss 135 would serve, unless it’s for NEX. Or just the current one redesigned for SSM.
I have suspicion they’re tempted to go SSM for a 135 update. Wish they’d spend efforts elsewhere… like porting over the new 15Zeiss to A mount.
i can buy 2 nikon d600 for 1 a99? Same exact sensor, so i am paying 200% for the shell?
No one paid anything. Sony will have to be careful about the competition. As such, the Alpha A base is quite small. If they do not want lose that base and in fact add new users, they will have to be innovative and competitive. It is that simple.
i can buy 2 nikon d3200 for 1 a77? Same exact sensor, so i am paying 200% for the shell?
LOL
Equally stupid comment.
hahahha its only funny because its true! why sony? 2% image quality gaines for 200% price?
EOS 7D has the same sensor with 550D, but it costs more. Why would anybody buy 7D instead of 550D? Think about it.
@matagay
Because of 102 point AF with some number of double crosses, weather sealed body and 8/12fps like A77 have.
No, you will pay more for much better ability to take a good shot. Camera is not just a sensor.
*glares at Nikonian glorified D3200*
obviously for some people it is.
A wise man told me once: Most important thing in a camera is handling.
Another told: Picture quality evolves, and your DLSR will be sub-standard in more-or-less 2 years. Good handling however never gets old.
+1
maybe weathersealed. I do recall a discussion here on SAR about sony updating all the full frame lenses to be weathersealed (probably). Maybe it’s just wishful thinking but nothing that sounds out of the realm of possibility
Yes weather sealing will be needed to shed the raining tears of loyalist togs who waited for naught.
weather sealed/nano coated/SSM
Why would they make a 135mm for NEX!? That would be a 200mm equivialent…
why did they make an 18-200 for nex? is that bigger than 135? duh!
And someone tried to argue that nobody wants 1.2
Most would want to see one, but few can afford.
Zeiss 50/1.2 would get my next $2.5G immediately. I hope it’s a screw drive lens.
Screw drive is going the way of the dodo, for better or for worse.
The way of the dodo? You mean like the original Photodo web site? Now it’s Photododo?
I may be on the same path my friend.
We’ll all end up like that eventually.
No doubt…
btw… just kidding about the screw drive.
Kidding or not, I’ll take a screw drive over those atrocious SAM motors any day!
This. SAM is crap.
But Zeiss glass should be SSM. It doesn’t deserve any less. 🙂 😉
+1. It blows my mind that they even came out with SAM for the A-mount in the first place.
If I had a time machine, I would go back to change the 135 Zeiss to a SSM, rather than buying a lotto ticket…
It seems that the D600 will have this same sensor but it will be priced around $2000, which will make it harder for Sony or even for the Canon 5D MKIII.
But that said, if Sony can really pull off all this feats and if it gets priced around $2500, it may have a chance because the D600 most certainly won’t have so many feats, even more on the video side which Nikon still trails behind their competitors.
With Canon’s decision of not addressing the 5D MKIII with any significant move towards Video performance to not hurt their cinema camera market, here is a chance to Sony take their share, even more with the upcoming BlackMagic RAW recording cinema camera. This can become what people actually expected from the 5D MKII successor.
Canon is fighting a two front war against stills and pro vid challengers. Two front wars are difficult to win. But if anyone can… Canon can.
Now as for cheap Nikon FF cams… well, along with cheap comes QC issues. It will be interesting to see how Nikon handles those. Not even the D800 escaped that fateful freckle.
It’s not really so much of a two fronts, it’s more like two different things. The way Canon is thinking is way too conservative and they will end up paying for that. A person that buys a normal DSLR is not the same person that will look for a Canon C camera, it’s more than $15000 in price difference. You should not omit feats from a DSLR hoping to push people towards the C line up or thinking that it will spoil the C line up sales. I would understand if their price point were closer, but they are not so why be so conservative? Sony FS700 is a step forward, it has a lot more feats and it cost much less than the C300 from Canon – which doesn’t even shoot 1080p60. BlackMagic 2.5K RAW camera will cost less than a 5D MKIII, for the same price as a D800.
Look at this, with their conservative moves Canon may pay a lot for this. If the D600 is said to cost around $2000 and the A99 around $2500, they are significantly cheaper than the 5D MKIII, if you want a hybrid you will go for A99 – which was what the 5D MKIII was expected to be – and if you want a cheaper FF camera with a good ISO performance you will go for the D600, if you want more MP and still decent performance, you can go for D800. If you want something towards video you can go for the BlackMagic Cinema camera.
There is not so much advantage to buy a 5D MKIII, it doesn’t have an edge in any particular area and it cost more than all this options. Unless there is some serious issues, it’s not so bothersome Canon also had their share of problem with the 5D MKIII.
As for the Canon C cameras, Sony is going aggressively at them, Panasonic should announce something soon and BlackMagic said that they are planning cameras above this first camera – and you still have RED in the same range. Unless Canon can come up with something through firmware update, their cameras will have some hard time with better priced cameras with more feats
Sound logical to me Sony 50mm f1.4 & Zeiss 50mm f1.2, no point repeating a Zeiss 50mm f1.4
The A99 sounds too expensive and less tempting, I will stick with my A850 and A77.
What made you buy a 77 after having the pretty awesome 850 FF. I thought you would wait for the FF SLT which we thought was going to be around the corner from the 77. I know it turned out to be around the corner and down the street a few blocks. I almost bought the 77 but was told to wait for the FF. I ended up with a 5n in the mean time which satisfies my compact interest. How do you like the 77? Do you find the SLT to be negative in any way or is blown out of proportion by a few so called technical pundits? In other words are the images you getting from the 77 excellent?
I really do hope the new Sony’s gonna come out in september: I’m so curious about it.
Looking forward for a camera that can satisfy me as much as my beloved (and still heavily used) Minolta 7D!
If not, well, my wallet’s gonna open for an A900 fairly soon.
I hope that the update f1.4 is as good as the Sigma version. And the touchscreen is kind of worthless. Especially since your nose is touching the screen most of the time.
well..some people will be glad to have this option if they’re going to use this camera for videos as you can select follow focus where you want it more faster and in photography for example in low level or above the head positions where you’re not going to have the nose touching the screen most of the time… with more features, the better options you have.
One A99 with 1000AF points and 200 fp/s for $2,800 will not be of much use to many.
They need to come up with lower priced with lesser AF, fp/s cams. Not everyone needs a fast focusing, fast shooting FF camera.
NEX-7 replacement is very welcome.
They should also consider a FF NEX and a monochrome NEX.
Nor do they need video.
I guess the a900 fits nicely then…
>Not everyone needs a fast focusing, fast shooting FF camera.
Ah, yes! I believe they call it large format. You can easily make monochromatic image in lr or ps.
If Sony intend to price a99 $2800, they should make it extremely perfect no mistakes, bad ISO control (high ISO from 6400 to 102000), & so on.
I would normally think a balanced approach to usability vs picture quality was a good thing for the A77.
However for the A99, I would focus upon picture quality. Color, exposure, megapixel, sensitivity and speed.
Pros buy Hasselblad for that very reason (color, exposure and pixels). They choose the D800 for the above reasons.
So Sony… You stick a touch screen on the back of the camera…
I hope they aren’t removing the physical controls… I still like to change things through the EVF….
Look Sony… If I wanted a camera that does a lot of things that doesn’t take high quality photos, I would have bought an iPhone…
There needs to be something special about the sensor or the image quality that would make this camera a game changer.
This is going to be Sonys redefining professional camera…. If they screw this up, no matter what they pull out in 2013, it won’t matter…….
But since when Sony delivers bad IQ cameras? And they should not go for more MP, it would not make sense, nonetheless they will use the 36MP sensor in a future camera anyway. If you want to compare a FF to a Medium format, FF will lose, it’s a completely different market, different prices, different purposes, I don’t think this comparison makes sense. The DR in a medium format is much better, but they sacrifice the ISO for that and I don’t think that it would be good for Sony to go for that, getting the MP up certainly won’t make a case for neither of ISO and DR. I think that a 24MP FF is enough for very good IQ, high-ISO and decent DR. Sony’s sensors have been very good and I think that this one can even top the 5D MKIII. Sony’s problems have not been their cameras, it’s not like they are producing poor cameras and your complains address to that, what you said feels a bit out of place.
+1
I am just going to say one thing to you…
NIKON D800
Do you Komprehend?
Actually No… I am not going to let this go…
This is what shits me to tears….
How the hell does a Sony sensor used in the D800 which is known to be one of the very best FF sensor out there, NOT GET USED IN A SONY CAMERA?????
Instead we get a lower MP sensor placed into the newest flagship FF camera…. Of all things which is going to probably end up on the D600… Which is probably going to be sold cheaper and will most likely produce better images….
If you arn’t in the WTF boat with me…. I would like to know what you are smoking…
Actually… Do you work for Sony Marketing Team?
Man you need stfu and relax. If you were a pro, then we didn’t saw you here. Why the hell you need 36mp anyway? Because you print on billboards? Personally i think that you are another whiny. Many people who bought a77 with 24 mp make conversion to 12 mp if they want ultra low noise. And btw a900 weakness was a lot of noise on hi iso, not bad iq. And if a77 is comparable with a900 in terms of iq and hi iso performance in a77 is better then a99 already must be a lot better than a900. Bottom line stfu and wait for the raw images before complain.
Stewe – you don’t need 36MPx camera to shoot for billboards. I made photos for billboard with 10 MPx camera and they were just fine.
Billboards are printed in very low DPI.
there good billboard, and bad billboard.
skywalker = bad billboard
Noone complained 🙂 And image was as sharp as it gets while you were looking at it from the road.
Unless you mean this kind of billboards that you watch from 30 centimetres looking for any issues with the picture… although for them 36MPx isn’t good either. Too low res this time. 😉 😛
I’m amazed and disappointed in the ferocious hostility, dare I say cannibalism, of my fellow Minolta/Sony users…
I agree that Sony needs a true flagship, but while some are crying out for a megapixel king, some of us simply want a mid resolution (who would have guess 24pm to be classed as “mid”?!) FF camera that does higher ISOs with ease and handles exceptionally well.
Lets split the product line just like the D4/D800 and have one hi-MP and one hi-ISO. Everyone is happy.
One thing to note in all of this: Maybe there are more “pros” in the Nikon camp, because I don’t see $6000 D4 users clamoring that the $700 D3200 has a higher MP count!
I’ll gladly wait for a 24MP FF from Sony if it is going to compete with the D3s/D4 cams.
@Stewe
“Why the hell you need 36mp anyway?”
– Nikon D800 pre-orders frozen in US. “High demand” stops sales.
http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/nikon-d800-pre-orders-frozen-in-us-1062150
– Temporarily out of stock.
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D800-FX-Format-Digital-Camera/dp/B0076AYNXM
Sure… noooooooooooobody needs a 36mp
If what Renato is suggesting, the D800 wouldn’t be selling… Pros don’t need megapixels…
Plus if you were educated enough, you would have known that there are software out there that can upscale images without introducing artifacts, eg. Perfect Resize.
However people are buying the D800 because it offers them the flexibility to crop images aggresively.
Bottom line… The sales figures tells a different story from what you are rambling on about.
@theZAE
I hear ya. This was originally a whinge about Sony introducing a touch screen to their flagship camera while handing Nikon the best sensor in the FF market on a silver platter.
“I’ll gladly wait for a 24MP FF from Sony if it is going to compete with the D3s/D4 cams”
I can only hope… however I don’t have my hopes placed on this given that it is going to be sub $3K camera.
If they don’t add tethering to this camera….. ohhh lord, lets not even go there…
@ Sky Walker,
They have billboards advertising pictures of cats and mailboxes shot at ISO 6400?
Bahahaha
@yeah
every day you have a new name why is that?
I hear when you by a D800 Nikon throws in a free cat.
With two you get egg roll.
Bahahaha
end of line
I didn’t suggest anything like that.
I could explain everything so you could try to understand, but stupid trolls are the worst. They end up trolling not because they want to play with you, but because they are dumb and they can’t understand whatever you say and as a stupid person they always think they know it all and they fail miserably to read anything else that what they want to read. To can write something with one meaning, but they will always read that as they want, independently of what you meant.
bottom line, you lose your time… hahahaha…
@ wth
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3owpjm/
Cute, but I don’t own a Nikon…
Thanks for sharing.
The only thing that I don’t want to believe and hope is only a grain of salt is the $2800 price point.
“Look Sony… If I wanted a camera that does a lot of things that doesn’t take high quality photos, I would have bought an iPhone…”
True..Indeed..
I hope that the A99 will have better AF tracking. It is no use to have high frame per second but not accurate AF tracking for sport. I am using A850 now, and I am totally not satisfy with the AF tracking. Theoretically, one of the benefit of SLT is to have continuous phase detection AF and logically that can yield to more accurate AF tracking. I hope Sony spend more effort and maximize SLT potential, then it can differentiate itself from other traditional DSLR.
2800$ is too expensive to fight against competitors .
I hope around 2500 or so.
yes, $300 or 10% will definitely make me switch from the #1 brand to the distant #3 brand.
Or even make you straight.
instead of updating the nex why not just make better FW? all the problems with it can be fixed with a FW update
How many more menu options we need to change a setting? LOL!
B/c they cannot sell FW …
They have gotten rid of the expense of the pentaprism. They are fabricating FF sensors in numbers that will bring the overall cost to manufacture those way down. There are no more excuses for paying a premium and at $2800 it has to be a “game changer”. It has to be revolutionary and do something the D800 and Canon 5DMarkIII cannot. Anything less and it will not sell. $2800 seems way too much, IMHO.
1080/60P recording + phase detection AF …..I know A33 could do that too 🙂
The A33 had 30p output with every frame doubled to 60i.
The game-changer would be to shoot video in RAW like the Blackmagic Cinema Camera… but that would just be me dreaming.
I will just switch to nikon… at 2800 i would buy a d800 any day of the week and I am a sony user!!! I just don’t see Sony competing with that. And now with a d600 at 1800.. Sony will not sell this camera. It has to be priced close to the d600 – maybe $2200 with better features.. I really need to replace my a850…..
I am glad that people are acknowledging this…
Nikon is moving very aggressively to take #1 in the camera market. Canon kinda screwed up for not noticing both the mirror-less market and the potential for the D800 high Megapixel, high ISO shooter.
Sony doesn’t seem to understand that it is in the race as well…
So the a99 is supposedly equipped with a touch screen? I can’t wait to see what my nose grease has to say about that.
Seriously Sony… pah-lease… no gimmicks on a top shelf camera. Just give us a serious working tool that is pleasurable to use. We’d rather have remote video triggering ability and tethering for existing cameras instead of touch screen for the new low resolution 24mp camera which loses its OVF.
I swear if it has “auto portrait mode” I’m leaving Alpha and buying my Uncle’s rusty Topcon.
how can it have auto portrait mode unless its a square sensor??? does it mean in landsape, it wil crop to portrait orientation, losing 66% of its sensor real estate? the only demands for autoportrait are along with square sensor demands.
surely you cant mean portrait effects, because that would only matter to jpegs. and as a “pro” model, dont we all shoot in RAW, and post in a more powerful desktop computer?
What kind of savage would allow a Topcon to go rusty?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/casualcameracollector/5608131287/
Nose you say?
So when you used any touch-screen smartphone last years, your ear was constantly sending lewd sms to your boss every time you tried to talk?
Do you think that if lcd turns off automatically if you put you eye to evf, touch screen will not?
Only if they do it right…
Just look at the problems with the A77 and the time it took to switch between the screens.
Hmmm 3 million dot EVF? I’m guessing either a 1280×800 16:10 or 1366×768 16:9 to get to that figure. 25% more dots isn’t a huge increase and only really corresponds to those wide aspect standard resolutions. Hopefully they actually use all that real estate unlike the a33/55.
+1
I hope it doesn’t chew up more power as well…
I for one likes the EVF technology. I hope the improvements will one day make the rear screen an attachable optional purchase.
CZ 50/1.2 for $750 it can not be true even $1000. This will may weather sealed or not? the body obviously will weather sealed. I’m sure there are many user want to go any where without caring about the weather condition. So one kit camera will cost $3800. Very expensive, what about AF accuracy. Is it really important to have a FF body with screen touch ( For screen touch=cancel the bottoms)!!
As others said what the benefits of so many AF point without accuracy!!??
How many shots in one charge? (1350 shots per charge= wishful).
Sony 50/1.4 updated with G SSM weather sealed Wow, my path here ^^.
seriously a nex-7n? :-O
hope that 2800USD price tag is a joke. One of the main reasons told press and customers about why sony pushed the SLT format was a decrease in production cost by getting rid of the pentaprism (again..I said pentaprism, not pentamirror for some people if they were about to reply about the a77 or other APS-C models within SLT line…) Sony better get things right and don’t push the price too high if one of the main reasons to use Translucent mirror was to decrease prices.
but sony figured out there was not so much difference in image quality with a translucent mirroe, but on the other hand, you gain 4 times the frame rates, and no mirror slap vibration. not even going to mention video advantages. so why not charge it accordingly to performance and profit?
Who needs AF for video?
Those who can’t stage and plan action shots 3 days ahead and repeat them until they have the perfect focus pull with a giant not so mobile focusing rig. Just to name something.
+1 … well said. 🙂
I will buy the Zeiss 50mm f1.2. I will not buy another 50mm f1.4 to replace the one I already have, the f1.2 and Zeiss optics will be a good reason.
i would love to show off my zeiss 1.4 versus ur sigma 1.4 that you refuse to update.
I have a Sony 50mm f1.4. I would love the Zeiss 50mm f1.2
Unless this thing has some surprise sensor tech inside I see no way this could sell for 2800 USD. Seriously, who in the world would buy this kind of camera if the D800 can be had for the same amount of money? This is very close to the D600 in specifications and that camera will be apparently sold way lower than 2000 USD (rumored as low as 1600 USD). If Sony wants to charge 2800 USD it simply has to come up with something which will make the D800 look like a toy.
“This is very close to the D600 in specifications” – care to enlighten me in what exactly it’s close to D600? Especially when there are no D600 specifications as same as there are no A99 specifications.
Unless you are talking about rumored specs – but than: these two ain’t close anyway.
It is going to a long summer waiting for A99 and lens. 🙁
It’s a good job that the D600 is rumored to have no screw drive AF because other than that it’s looking like a great A850 replacement and would sit alongside my D700 so nicely. Thing is, the only Nikkor optics I really like are the older MIJ, have the 35mm f/2 and 85mm 1.8 which are wonderful, good value lenses. I think they will intentionally criple the D600 sensor though as if it is based on the 36MP tech, it will have better high ISO than D800, I dont think Nikon will let the D600 beat the D4 at high ISO….Shame! Right where’s my Zeiss 35mm 1.4 and new 135mm SSM?!
Nikon’s competitors would love see the D600 without AF motor as the camera then would have just a handful (barely) afforable (but more expensive than AF D) lenses with AF-S, a new kit zoom, 70-300 VR and 50/1.8 and 1.4, 85/1.8, Micro 60 and 28/1.8 (more than twice expensive than 28/2.8 AF D).
Compare that to Canon with all their EF lenses, new and used being compatible with a coming budget full frame body.
The same can be said about Sony and Pentax (Full frame camera, propably using the same Sony 24 MP sensor is rumored!) unless they also decides to cripple out the AF motor.
Therefore I don’t beleive the no AF motor in D600 rumor. It would be stupid from a competition standpoint!
Also the price doesn’t seem right. A new DX “D7100” will cost $ 1200-1300 at introduction. I expect the D600 will be $ 500 more expensive because of the larger mirror box and prism and of course full frame sensor, otherwise using the same body, that is $ 1700-1800.
Price for A99 depend on size and pro grade of body. Like D800 then $ 2800 seem a good price. Like A77 with full frame sensor then it should not be far off the price of D600. Though having more fps maybe Sony want claim it is a better camera and charge a bit higher price?
I think a cheap 24 MP full frame camera now and next year a 36 MP pro camera in same class as D800 would be Sony’s best choice. Doing like Canon (5DIII, 22 MP) and have a 24 MP camera for about same price as D800 doesn’t seem the right strategy.
+1
“A77 and nex 7 updated next year”?
I wonder if that’s a firmware update or a traditional Sony new-but-nearly-the-same body replacement…. The a77 is just a few tweaks away from being my perfect aps-c camera but I reckon we’ll see an a78 instead of a77 firmware v2.0
Yea… probably… it saddens me though. Nikon haven’t updated D7000 for 2 and a half year already. Same with Canon 7D. Neither of these seem to be in a rush to throw new stuff on a market. Meanwhile A77 was released less than a one year ago and we already hear rumours about the replacement?!
Looks like Sony is playing some odd game with us.
If that’s true – I have a high hopes that Sony won’t just abandon A77 in a first day of A78(!?) release. This camera really needs a firmware update. Still.
D7000 was announced September 15 2010, almost exactly 1 year and 8 months ago! An update is beleived to arrive at Photokina in September this year.
Maybe you should check your memory banks? 😉
7D is more than a year older than D7000,
and 3 months younger than D300s.
Maybe it was D300s you were thinking of? It is the same class of camera as 7D.
A77 replacement is not expected this year but next, so after about 2 years, just like D90 (2008), D7000 (2010 and “D7100” (2012?).
Sony, just release full frame hybrid mount NEX and many will buy it as backup. Soon they’ll use it more often than the main body.
50/1.2 SR3 or ?
Perhaps a new 135 would be a macro of sorts, hard to say. If they were going to SSM it, be it an entirely new design or not, then they might as well SSM the 85ZA as well and get the whole set done. They’d still need the 35ZA of course ;-).
24Mpx A9X rumored spec seems like perfect sports and reportage camera. D600 will no way be in this category. Complaints about high price tag will be largely irrelevant if A9X proves to work great in this area. SONY should not compete on price in pro segment. I can understand A850 users not being happy about it. They probably want more camera like D600 – simple and cheap FF body.
2800 USD probably around 250,000 Yen in Jpn
and I’m sure it will drop to 200,000 in 6 months and to 175,000-180,000 in 1 year
I think everyone is thinking of this camera in terms of the 5d3 and D800. What if it is the competitor to the 1dx and d4? $2800 sounds like a bargain compared to those two. I’m thinking the 24MP A95 and the 36MP A85.
Would be nice, especially with a noise performance within 1/2- 2/3 of a stop of the D4 at a fraction of the price. A few possible downsides of the EVF, but a boatload of benefits of the EVF and SLT design. All lenses stabilized.
On that last note, I would like to see a second IS mode introduced, similar to what Panasonic has used for quite some time. The current IS mode that only activates during exposures and a second IS mode that already becomes active during framing, with the flip of a button and/or when half pressing. With a limited duration (say 30 sec/2 min/5min) if necessary, due to possible overheating and/or battery drain. The former mentioned quick access button to toggle modes will then allow the user to have a stabilized viewfinder too during framing, handy when tracking fast moving objects (sports, birds, planes etc.) with long focal lengths. It would again capitalize on the benefits of the EVF in the A mount system, as OVF’s could not offer this with in body IS.
Very nice idea for second SS mode.
It’d be nice, helpful thing for people shooting Canikon who switched. They could get all the benefits of in-lens image stabilization without loosing anything.
Yep, excep battery life ofcourse, but in this price and size class, the difference between 1 and 2 or 3 spare batteries shouldn’t be all that important. Nor do I believe there’s a major difference between 1 and 2 or 3 battery changes in the field, especially since the InfoLithium indicators are very accurate and allow for good planning. 😉
I don’t mind SteadyShot, the biggest thing for me above the A77 is when I turn SS off when I am in a tripod, either I need to set it up for remote control or I need to set a 10 second timer because the shutter button is hard to not shake the setup. My problem with this is some of the settings don’t allow remote control. If I want to do a 3 or 5 shot EV difference, I can’t use a remote.
Very few people are going to buy into a Sony FF 24mpx camera if it is priced above $2500. And knowing SONY’s “SURE” program there will be no discounts anywhere.
EVFs were supposed to reduce one of the supposedly biggest costs to SLR manufacturing – the trusty old penta-prism box and flapping mirror. Therefore the A99 should be priced not more than $2,000 retail in order to have a chance against FF models from Nikon (the D600 and D800).
The 36mpx version of the SONY FF camera should also likely be priced significantly below the price of the Nikon D800. So you’re looking at maybe something like $2000 for 24mpx and $2600 for 36mpx.
Unfortunately SONY thinks of themselves (rather ignorantly) as a premium brand even in Photography gear and will probably not price under Nikon which will lead to further losses and erosion of market share for SONY Alpha.
exactly. if Nikon really release full frame D600 for $1500 then Sony will have difficulty in their value proposition of a99.
No OVF, entry level D600 is cheaper, D800 is superior at slightly more expensive price.
There will be a cheaper version, probably called A85.
It is not about EVF anymore I think. After using A77 for a while I rather enjoy EVF and related functions. It will not be about 1/3 light loss at the mirror if JPG quality is improved and megapixels are kept moderate. I wish A9X improves in several key areas which enhance ability to take a good shot:
1. Even better AF – intelligent AF selection and tracking
(much more AF points)
2. Less noise at higher ISO (close to competition)
3. Less JPG artefacts (more processing power)
4. Faster navigation in menu (using touch screen?)
5. Better connectivity (tethering over WIFI)
6. Even better video output (more processing power)
+ new lenses
“4. Faster navigation in menu (using touch screen?)”
Faster navigation comes from more / better placed / more customizable buttons. NOT from touch screens. Best menu is the menu you never seen while shooting cause all functions you need got direct access (and here note to Sony: Release finally a camera with ALL buttons customizable!)
With touch screen we would get many cutomizable buttons. I’d love to see menu tab with automatic most used functions or customizable menu tab.
“With touch screen we would get many cutomizable buttons” – we would? I hardly see how this works. Most likely these two will be unrelated. And if they gonna be related (which I’m afraid of) – the touch screen will reduce customization / amount of buttons. Not increase it.
Touch Screens bring crap into photography, sadly. Only good use for them I have seen was touch-focus, but… pro model doesn’t need it. It needs perfect viewfinder with perfect handling. Noone gives a crap about touchy-gimmicks in a camera.
(although I can’t say a bad word on any of your other points – all of them would increase the value of camera making it possible for it to fight with Nikons 🙂 )
Touchscreen is nice but I shoot manual using my a850 and use the shutter and aptitude dials with my face pressed up to the viewer so Sony please don’t replace controls used on the body like aptitude, shutter, ISO etc. and move them to a screen just because you can.
+1
Though Marek has many other points that makes sense… I am very despondent about the introduction of a touch screen.
If Sony doesn’t get the touch screen to work right… The nose is going to end up being a stylus when you use the EVF (eg. switching times).
Generally touch screens needs more physical space as well… I am wondering if Sony is going to remove some of the physical buttons for this…
Sony should have leverage the powers of the EVF and made the back screen an optional purchase like the battery grip. Lowering the cost of the camera even more… Then they can add whatever the hell they want on the screen…. 320dpi 4.5 inch capacitive touch articulated…. whatever.
Touch screen is not bad thing if implemented well. Introduction of touch screen should not mean less hardware buttons in pro level camera. Activation of touch screen can be done by pressing FN button for example. We could access menu items faster then. Going thru the main menu of A77 is slow now because it is large. I suspect A9X menu will be even larger. Yes, selecting AF point by touch screen would be also big plus although I prefer zone AF with automatic AF point selection using face detection when I need fast shot.
just a thought..
a99 (24mp)… ~$2800 — d4 (16mp)… $6000
sony’s 36mp… ?!?! — d8 (36mp)… $3000
maybe sony’s 36mp will be damn cheap^^
SONY MINOLTA DEDICATED Platform users
forced to wait for too long
Where is any of the Sony Value?
Sony delays will make A99 will not ship until 2013
SONY=DELAY
Well, I don’t my the 2800. As long as Sony can make a High ISO. I hope they can pass DXO mark of 2000 points. But Sony has no history of coming close to that score.
Crossing my fingers.
+1
+1
If it can get even close to the D4 (2965 points), that would be a good achievement given the price difference.
The D800 has an amazing 2853 ISO rating…
“The Nikon D4 spent only a few days in the top spot for DxOMark sensor results before being dethroned by the Nikon D800, which is a complete success in every sensor-related respect.”
– http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/News/DxOMark-news/The-Nikon-D800-is-the-new-king-of-DxOMark-with-a-score-of-95
If Sony is not going to compete in regards to Sensor tech (even though they make the sensor for Nikon)… Then they better put something great in the A99 to justify the pricing.
And no… not a touch screen…. I have one of those on my mobile phone. They can add it on… just please don’t advertise that as a reason to buy a professional grade camera…
The best you can expect without a flipping mirror, is between 1800-2100.
If I had to make a guess, I would say 1950.
2100 plz! Sony has to push the limit if they want to compete in this market.
Maybe Sony can buy back their own Sensors from Nikon after they tweak it….
/facepalm
nex9 iso???
Let me get this right… Up to this point Sony has shown little to no interest in the true PRO market for DSLR/SLT. They do not have the pro support infrastructure for still photography that Nikon and Canon have. They don’t have nearly the level of pro support for still that they have for their own high end video products. It’s widely recognized among these forums that that if you are shooting sports and or photo journalism for a living you are almost exclusively using Nikon and Canon (D3, D3s, D4, 1Dx, etc…) But now we are to believe that this A99 is going to go head to head with a D4 or 1Dx and be priced thousands cheaper? Where is the data to support this? Seems like wishful thinking. It seems like people are already trying to build a case for the camera not being able to go head to head with the D800 and 5DMarkIII so they are inventing marketing strategies based on little to no credible empirical evidence or historical data that goes back to Minolta.
Personally I want a camera that, once all the reviews are said and done, compares to the D800 and 5DMarkIII in nearly every qualitative measurement that a third party lab can perform. I want the conclusion section to say “The A99 scores are virtually equal to the D800 and 5DMarkIII and that it’s a coin-flip as to which is a better performing camera…”
We’ve waited too long for anything less…
You’re the one that will be disappointed, that’s for sure. They will not use such wordings for atleast half a stop difference.
At least a half? I thought someone posted it was 1/3 or less. So which is it?
Half a stop from the mirror, 30% of the light. Always has been (see DXOmark).
I don’t think this A99 will compete with the D4, but it will also not be less than 2000, although it will be around D600 specs. The A99 for march 2013 will come a year later first of all, compete with D800 and 5DIII, and will be priced at around 3200. And Sony will be left without a D4 kind of camera at all. I will copy-paste this comment on april 2013 and see if I was right or not, because I am quite sure that this will happen.
Now if you think touchscreen, EVF or 3D or such are e right tools for a FF work tool, then you must be willing to pay Sony premium for this super late A99 (yes premium, less price for a much worst product is still a premium).