During the past weeks I had long discussions with many of my sources. I didn’t post anything about the Sony A700
Now remember, we are a rumors site and we are still building our solid sources basis. But in this case I received the same kind of rumor from completely different sources located in different parts of the world. I hate it to give you bad news but to me it seems that Sony wants to push their upcoming mirrorless system more than they push the current Alpha system.
Anyway, tomorrow Sony will do a press conference. I hope the Sony manager will tell us “Yeah the A7xx is here” and I hope to give you the damn cool link to amazon to buy the camera. I really hope that I and my sources are wrong!
But my guts tells that the news might be bad, and I wanted to share it with you.
14 Responses
Most of the Alpha forums have already said that the A7xx will not launch until Photokina. Not sure why this post has such a doom
and gloom title?
Like people have been saying for months now, just wait until photokina.
I can’t understand why waiting is such a bad thing. Look at Windows Vista. It was delayed because of numberous reasons, but it was pushed to the marked because of that and because the competition were taking users. And it was in lack of better words terrible. Sure, it worked well for many users espesially after a couple of service packs. But by general opinion it was a new Window ME. Windows 7 came soon after, fixing what was wrong with vista. Still, the wrong have been done.
So, better to wait for them to have a product they are proud to lauch instead of trowing out what they have now hoping it’ll be ok in a firmware update or two. Because in the meantime it’ll be badly receved and reviewed, and you’ll have trown users onto the competition.
Make the 7xx worthwile, if it comes out today or in the fall I don’t care. It’s not until the fall we need better low light abilities either. the a700 will suffice until then 😉
Beeing hurry is never good. But when they presented the A7xx on PMA everyone was hoping for a releqse within months. If it will take until Photokina or more than this is not a good news. And the competiton is not sleeping…
A700 & a900 mock was shown at pma and a700 at photokina, a900 year later
If sony do minor fw update and assure a700 availability until release all is fine
I’m reasonably sure my own a700 will last until autumn, and I wouldn’t be able to purchase its replacement any sooner even if it didn’t. There’s always the K7 just in case…
For many Alpha A700 users, their cameras will suffice until the new release, but the problem is for people like me who are in the market for a DSLR camera. Waiting until June is no problem but fall is way far off for me. I think waiting until Fall to release the product will make many people who are new to the DSLR market opt for Canon or Nikon. I’ve always used Sony cameras and camcorders and I must say that I love their products. I just hope they revamp their A700 camera otherwise I may have to opt for another brand. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope SONY releases the A7X tomorrow.
“Waiting until June is no problem but fall is way far off for me.”
I waited until June last year, and in the end a Nikon D300 ended up winning out. Though I’m still looking forward to see if they can pull off a competent a700-replacement. I have my doubts. :/
It is sad to see that Sony wasted a well timed and marketed opportunity to release a new camera (A700 successor).
I agree that It is not about rushing the product but timing is essential and giving what the consumers want at this moment is crucial for making and impact into the DSLR market. (Seeing how it already is so far behind to the leading brands) Especially when competing in a technology field where products become obsolete in no time.
The A700 was a highly anticipated black horse for the year 2010 but it appeared to be such a let down with all the delays and futile promises.
Canon on the other hand, were smart enough to release the 7D to compete along the semi professional line of cameras, whereas Sony targeted at the 4/3, compact digital market by aiming to create niche spot with its mirrorless camera.
As for the DSLR market, only the A850’s price caught some attention.
Sony released even more sub entry level DSLR during late 2009 and those cameras have quick depreciation and low resale value, leaving sony photographers finding themselves looking for a “successor” within a short period.
I have been using a minolta 5D, 7D, and a sony A350. and I believe there are alot more photographers out there that are stuck in this range of cameras with me.
I would wait till photokina and decide if the the A700 successor is really worth the wait.
Dammit, waiting for the camera is one thing. What if my minolta lens can not be used any more on the new system. If they offer the converter, does it work well? No backfocus, front focus and automatic af still working? I believed sony just need 1 type of APS-C camera and some variety on FF. Period. Walter I’m stuck with you. If sony answer this question earlier like tomorrow, I can wait. But if not, maybe i need to sell my minolta stuff before the price really down to drain.
Wait for what ?
We have :
– canon 7d
– nikon d300s
– pentax K7
The longer we should wait, the bigger our expectations.
I think the disappointment comes not so much because people mind waiting a few extra months for an A700 replacement (it’s been long enough already) but because it means Sony will miss the opportunity to use the World Cup, of which they’re a major corporate sponsor, to promote the new camera.
I was actually rereading some old material, and a possible explanation of why Sony is not rushing to release a replacement APS-C flagship model is because of the A850. I am sure most people will have read the September 2009 Salmon-Legagneur interview already (http://goo.gl/75Uf). The interesting part is in the quote “our target was to launch the Alpha 850 quickly to satisfy the Alpha 700 user that has been waiting for full-frame at a reasonable price”.
Therein lies a possible reason for Sony to drag their feet. Anyone using the discontinued A700, according to this scenario, should have upgraded to full-frame already. The other grade of users, those who started the cycle with A100/200/350, should have upgraded to A500/550 (which I use, and am actually pretty happy with). That would leave approximately no one waiting for an A700 replacement.
Obviously, this has not happened, and things have not played out as Sony officials planned.
I am actually more looking forward to seeing a new flagship full-frame (fat chance, but therein lies the tenacity of hope), but a nice A700 replacement would definitely help reaffirm in our minds Sony’s commitment to the DSLR market.
I have been waiting for the A7xx for a long time. More than a year actually.
I had the A300 with shitty ISO capability.
Sold that and got the A550 in november. I think the imagequality is good and good high ISO capabilities.
The only reason for buying the A550 was that I had spent a lot (compared to the A300) on lenses.
If not for the lenses I would have bought a Nikon D300 or a Canon 40/50D instead.
I think that many A2xx and A3xx users wants to upgrade now (or soon) and if they don’t have a A7xx to buy, chances are that they will swap to either Canon or Nikon unless they have lots of equipmet that will stop them from converting.
Personally I don’t consider the A850/A900 as an upgrade for the following reasons:
FullFormat (FF) is too expensive to justify for many users (me included).
The FF camera is big and bulky to carry around and often also the lenses.
FF will often tend to scare the subjects more than an APS-C will do. (people not liking to be photograped offcourse.)
Lenses needs to be both FF compatible (meaning bulkier), and of higher quality to match the FF sensors resolution.
All this means that I’m feeling “left out” by Sony.
The best I can buy (A550) is a very good camera in a plastic body.
I feel that I’m only getting half a camera with no possible way of upgrading.
Without anything to compete with Canon and Nikons semi-pros we might soon se many people selling complete systems second hand to migrate to CaNikon. I myself will have to sell the following to swap brand:
Sigma 18-50 F2.8
Sigma 70-300 APO
Sony 50 F1,4
Sony DT16-105
Sony 18-55 SAM
Sony HVL-F42 flash
Sony A550 housing and cabled remote
Sony original bag
Most of this list was purchased brand new so swapping system will be a considerable loss of money.
Not willing to go the FF way means that I’m stuck with a plastic camera as A700 is not an option.
I do however like the imagequality of the camera, I just feel that it’s too fragile to use it other than indoors.
This means that I’m still waiting for the A7xx upgrade after soon to be 1.5 years of waiting and that is bad from Sony.
And last but not least, I hope Sony and Sigma/Tamron will start using SSM (or at least SAM) on more lenses and stop “screwing around” with the screw-drive autofocus-system but of course leaving it in the body for backward compatibility unlike what Nikon did with D40 a few years ago.
I also want a 70-300 type lens with F4. This is not available from Sony, Sigma or Tamron.
On my wishlist is three separate “wheels” on the handgrip for ISO, shutter and apperture settings. Now there is only one wheel like that, and I usually use it for apperture settings with shutter on auto.