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E just got enlightened about the future Sony 2011 fullframe strategy. The [shoplink 3028]Sony A850[/shoplink] will be slowly get discontinued and the price of the [shoplink 3032]Sony A900[/shoplink] lowered. And the next Sony FF camera will probably shown as a mockup/prototype at PMA 2011.
There are a few indirect signs that the rumor is correct:
1) An official Austria Sony retailer wrote that Sony will not ship any new [shoplink 3028]Sony A850[/shoplink] models anymore (Source: Sonyuserforum.de).
2) In US there is already a never ending instant rebate on the Sony A900 (Click here to check that on Amazon).
It’s impossible for me to check if there are rebates in all stores in all countries so feel free to check for yourself clicking on those links:
Sony A900 direct links to [shopcountry 3032].
Sony A850 direct links to [shopcountry 3028].
39 Responses
It will be interesting to see the gap in time between mock-up and production.
spec & price please
I wonder if they’ll give a detail whatever new camera will be SLT or not. Judging from PMA interviews it shouldn’t, but… who knows? It’ll be out of my reach anyway, but I’m curious what direction Sony decides to go with it’s pro solutions.
Basically I like the advantages of SLT, but I don’t like what I’ve seen at the a55. And then there is this fundamental experience looking though a piece of glass and to see a bright brilliant image. So, I’m quite nervous to see the a77 — whether it will keep Sony’s promise / exaggerated claims or not, whether I would be able to live with an EVF or not. If yes, I would feel much more comfortable for any a900 successor. If not, I will order a second a900 the very same day…
I feel the same way…
so, they should be announcing it at PMA 2013, no?
You can trust me for this one, this is not true…there are certain differences between the demmand for Sony FF cameras around the world. There are several european countries which don’t have some cameras listed anymore on the official Sony site(regional), not only Austria.
This is mainly becouse the sales figures do not sustain the need to offer that camera anymore. There is just a very low demand for it.
This doesn’t mean that it is discontinued, there are private sellers that have the a850 in their offer. In Europe, Sony’s official stores do not have the best prices on the market…for the best price one should look elsewhere.
On the other hand it would be about time that Sony started developing a new FF camera, just hope that they won’t put an EVF in it. I’m not sure how long should this take, I really hope that they’ve learned their leeson with the a77 complaints(such a long perioud for developing it). Many forner Sony users have bought Nikon or Canon meanwhile..
There are countries in Europe where Sony means to little to proffesional photographers or very advanced amateurs…although it is very much appreciated by the conumer lavel customers looking for innovation served with a lot of features also.
I feel like this OVF/EVF discussion should be taken out. There’s been enough complaints about Sony not using EVF for their upper lines. Yet there are people recently who’re like “EVF is for n00bs”. Yeah, you can go on the technical details. Point is, the market’s gotta evolve, and one or two people, ten or twenty people, are not going to move the market like shifting a pebble.
And your point is? There’s a huge difference between the OVF on the a900/850 and the EVF on the SLTs. I use a FX 1000E for video and I end up using the EVF quite a lot, but when it comes to photography…
To me it seems that the EVF feels much more apropiate when shooting video.
There’s no need to engage in neverending discussions about this, just read the reviews recently posted… all of them criticize the unnatural feeling of the EVF and…the loss of light on the main sensor due to the use of PD autofocus.
Until further development, icluding this technology will be questionable regarding FF cameras…
Your comparison is pointless to begin with. A high end OVF compared with an entry level EVF to try and make a point about the technologies is nonsense.
And as for the light loss, that’s hardly been criticized in reviews.
The EVF would look the same…unnatural, regardless of it’s size…I said this in my former posts, I have used EVF with video and seemed to be ok. Shooting video is one thing and photography is another.
Mixing them in a consumer camera would be ok…but when you’re talking about a high-end DSLR, of which the user has great expectations regarding it’s photo capabilities.. With a FF camera you do not relly on any auto settings. Good pictures come from creativity…exposure changes, DOF changes(aperture), white balance, which should be accurately present in the viewfinder. The way you aceive focus and shift it, tracking fast moving subjects without a trace of lag.
There is no entry level EVF…that’s a big nonsense. Is that dimension you are speaking of or resolution!? Trust me, I can comment on both and I have used both EVF ond OVF on higher end products…it’s just my personal opinion, nobody should agree.
We all have different needs, taste upon the gear we are working with and how well it suits us.
But as my outloud spoken thought was…I still see no comparison between them, no mather what.
I agree with something, my comparison is pointless…I was comparing a great optical device with a LCD(magnified with a glass on top).
So high-end EVF would mean higher magnification&resolution of that tiny LCD inside!?
Still agree..nope, no…no comparison here..none!!!
Just one thing in the end…there’s a difference between a pentaprism and a pentamirror of course, we all know what they mean…but the comment was about cameras which are supposed to have a pentaprism (of course upper lines)…
See my other reply below and this sentence was quite ironic too:
“Good pictures come from creativity…exposure changes, DOF changes(aperture), white balance, which should be accurately present in the viewfinder.”
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DOF changes are inaccurate and on many occasions even invisible (large apertures for example, there where DOF is extgra critical…) in an OVF. Same for whitebalance. EVF to the rescue.
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And ofcourse there’s an entry level EVF as the caemera you’re using for reference is in fact an entry level camera. There’s a price for EVF’s too and obviously the one chosen is a compromise in that sense aswell. Yes there are much more advanced (higher resolution, better DR, less lag etc.) EVF LCD’s available. Just check the offerings on the Epson website for example (already available long before introduction of the current SLT’s).
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Your experience with older and cheaper EVF’s thus has zero relevance.
Complains about Sony NOT using EVF in upper lines??? Now that’s a news – so far I only heard the opposite.
Why don’t we all just wait to see what they accomplish with the a77 before deciding what they should do with the a99/a980.
Sounds good. Though after spending 8 hours a day in front of PC + few additional after work I’m not very willing to put my eyes in front of another screen even when going shooting… well, looks like I’ll have to frame less using the VF and more using the imagination, hehe
Perhaps, Damigo, because that camera will have been designed before the A77 comes out. In fact, I suspect that they have been working on the next FF camera for years now, since well before they brought the a900 out.
These ones are older, like comparing to how the Canon Marks have EVFs.
Recently the trend shifted :s
Personally, I don’t bother.. Just like Damiga said, just want to see how would it do in a77^^
@ Danel above:
You haven’t seen a high end EVF, let alone with the latest technology (to be introduced still), so you have zero reference material for what a high end EVF in a FF camera would look like. Thus there is no comparison possible and any attempt makes zero sense.
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In 5 years, the majority of FF cameras sold will have an EVF, mark my words.
You are right, haven’t seen EVF on FF, but other than magnification, resolution, color reproduction(accuracy-sometimes in an EVF colors seem to saturated) right now I don’t see much difference possible.
I have worked with advanced videocameras(Sony) and have quite an experience with that kind of EVF. There is a magnification difference mainly.
On an SLT the main problems that occure are related to positioning the magnifier glass in relation with the display underneath. So the magnifier has to be rather compact and not to far away. But this is about enlargement of the actual displayed image.
There is more freedom with videocameras related to the magnifier working distance and size so the final output shows a larger image.
Still, no mather of size and resolution, refresh rate on the electronic display, it doesn’t look that natural, not to mee.
It might get much better in the near future, maybe 5 years is a lot to consider, sooner…but it won’t change the game entirely as you expect it to.
There are also practical considerations when we speak of high-end cameras. What happens in case of EVF failure, you have no optical device to relly on…
This is Sony’s game. We’ll see what happens in the future, maybe the majority of Sony’s FF cameras..I don’t see the others convincing their pro audience into chosing the EVF.
For now, this is Sony’s way of being different, not better, just different.
Spoon, I’m a little bit puzzled, what’s your experience with EVF, what cameras…what do you compare the present a33/a55 EVF to?
The EVF is not the advantage in these cameras. Do you remember that? The autofocus is!!!
Due to the construction principle the EVF is the only way to go, but it has some drawbacks.
I’m tired of explaining it to guys like you, the translucent technology is mainly about a better, faster autofocus….not about EVF.
It’s not EVF Sony is bringing, it’s better autofocus.
Others hace advanced autofocusing on higher end cameras and don’t need to change the technology, so they won’t use an EVF on D3(s..x..)
or 1D, they don’t have to.
I’ve told you, Sony’s taking a different aproach to make up for the lost ground.
the matter of OVF vs EVF is simply an issue of preference.
As a long time alpha shooter, I recently picked up the GH1. I know for a fact they tout it to have one of the best OVF’s on the market. Regardless, I was displeased by the way things appeared. That lends purely to preference!
I am always privy to the concept that my dream DSLR handles and acts like a classic SLR in every way aside from the fact that i wont have to deal with film reals and I’ll be able to preview the pictures right away. This makes my a850 the perfect photographic tool. If only it had nikon level iso performance…
Needless to say the GH1 back to panasonic land where it came from.
See what says Mark Weir in recent interview:
Weir: Full-frame represents a bit of a paradox. It is certainly a critical part of any SLR line-up. All one has to do is to look at the lens line-ups that are offered, and it’s easy to see that taking full advantage of many of the high performance lenses any manufacturer’s lens line-up really requires a very high performance, full-frame camera. Yet, at the same time, if you look at the market, the market has shifted increasingly toward the use of APS-C cameras, even in the enthusiast and semi-pro space. I think it comes as no surprise that many of the models that really are attracting the attention of many enthusiast, semi-pro and even professional users these days are no longer full-frame, but rather the very, very top-end of the APS-C line-ups that are being created. So, I think manufacturers are faced with sort of a challenge. They very much need to continue to offer high performance, full-frame models, but at the same time, that need is balanced against what photographers are actually using and purchasing. This has led to longer life cycles for full-frame cameras, and whereas a mainstream or enthusiast-class APS-C model might have a 12 or 18 month life cycle, we see the full-frame cameras having two and three-year model life cycles. It’s kind of a balance for the manufacturers.
The trend!??!!?! What about practicality&performance!? No one’s talking about shoes&clothing…you are right about the “let’s wait and see” part, but let’s be honest, in a more downtoearth and more conservative market such as the FF, Sony cannot “make (us) believe” that the EVF should be better. No way…if that happens I’ll sell all my Sony gear. I do not want to make such a decision, but I simply don’t like the EVF in such a camera. The OVF(pentaprism) on the a900/850 brought a great experience, it would be wrong to take a step back in order to ensure better video capabilities(continuous autofocus by phase detection).
This trend won’t convince any serious photographers…not at this stage of development.
In France the website still shows the 850+900 but only the 900 has a MSRP. In Luxemburg Sony webshop no sign anywhere of 850/900. Prices in Fr/Lux were down around xmas but are back up. I just bought the 850/28-75 for 2100e, on Amazon.fr, price is now over 2300e.
Glad I have got the 850, SLT can mature in the next few years and whenever the 850 would come close for renewal we will see then. For now, glad to be stuck with “old” technology.
How old are the 850/900, mid 2009/08.
I hope Sony moves fast because the Mark 5D Mark 3 is rumored to come out from March 2011 or Fall 2011.
Sony, we need more FF lens. Release more CZ lens!
I’d be perfectly happy with more full frame G lenses.
+1
yep, more g-lenses would be nice.. zeiss is topnotch ofcourse, but g-lenses are more than welcome for harsh conditions in the field..
I hope we do not have to wait so long for the new FF Models as for the A700 Successor!!!
Sony is very slow in bring new good cams for semi pro and pros. They only fast in procude new beginer dslrs? It is also important and nikon and canon are also not to fist at the upper end. But So long time without a APS-C Semi Pro Model!!! Thats a shame!!!
You have to somehow convince Sony that their FF and semi pros would make more money than their entry-levels, which is a tough case.
In 2011 the PMA fair is renaming on CliQ…
I concur on the “too much screen” notion in our life. When I work on photography Full frame optical experience is enjoyable, artistically beneficial and just plain healthier:) I find a580 tilt screen excellent for low angle composition and stealth shooting(people don’t realize that one may take pictures like that). So far I see thar EVF works best for DSLR video mostly and sticking it on a pure photography product may be asking too much. It’ll be best to make video focused DSLR with all these neat features – A77. The FF has to either stay a clear photography tool and may have a SLT twin.
I really would like to know if they plan on putting out something worthwhile.
I’m saving my duckets for whatever they produce in this class. If I think it isn’t worth it, I’m jumping ship for a Full-Frame Nikon. It’ll be looking pretty ripe with their D700 or its replacement. I’ll have the cash for either by then. Plus with selling the Sony lenses I have, I’ll come out a little ahead.
Nikon also has a fairly regular schedule, such that I have a reasonable idea when they will produce said camera.
Cheers
Boy, this “jumping ship to Nikon” blahblah gets annoying. Sure, Nikon will give you a new FF DSLR with the latest FF Sensor from…….Sony? Ooops, perhaps they have to postpone the presumed release until Sony releases a new/better FF sensor…? And, knowing all the technical details already before announcing it to its partners, maybe Sony will be even faster to put it in a new FF DSLR body…?
So, think twice!
No, I’m not a Nikon Fanboy, I truly look forward to a worthy replacement for the a900.
“And the next Sony FF camera will probably shown as a mockup/prototype at PMA 2011.”
to be shown on PMA 2012, 2013, and released in end of 2014
Naw, so far they run with ~1,5 year period between mockup and product so… 2013 would be the worst. 😉
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/gear/WPPI-2011-Show-Repor-1972.shtml
Is the the next FF beside it or the old a900 mock-up? If it is the replacement it looks to have the same prism as the a900.
..looks the same as the a900…interesting..never saw this before. I think the a900 is presented that way in order for everyone to see similarities and differences between the two. It’s part of a77 marketing, to be able to show how much has changed and improved. The size of the a77 looks close to that of the FF model.