According to some of our sources the A99 will be announced in early September. And the worldwide shipment of the A99 is scheduled for early October in Japan and for mid-late October in Europe-US. Of course we have to see how many preorders the A99 will get…
I repeat the A99. 24Mpx, 102 AF points, 50-25,600 ISO (with +2 stop option), Built-in GPS, AVCHD 2.0 support, no CF nor XQD support. Price will be somewhere between 2,500 and 2,800 Dollars.
131 Responses
For my birthday 😉
Ok it settled, so we’ll actually see the damn thing’ in March.
Along with 50/1.2?
+1
What is going on with that lens?
No news = bad news?
@admin
?
no news == nothing changed. It’ll be released along with A99.
Will have SLT 99 swivel display?
Atleast the samwe LCD hine as A77.
But now that you mention it, no flash means that the EVF could be tiltable as well, as on the Dimage A1/A2,
If so I can almost understand and accept not having an onboard flash.
/E
Now THAT would really get me excited (although I am already). A TILTABLE EVF would be very cool without having to add an eyepiece.
Great news if this is true!
Yes LCD is tiltable as A77
I’m ready to order it right now. I wonder if they will offer a new “kit” lens like they did with the a77 (well thought of 16-50).
Even though I plan on also ordering a CZ24-70 along with the a99, it’d be nice to have a lower cost option that was 80% as good as the Zeiss but half the cost.
Look at the Sigma 24-70/2.8 HSM. Seriously. Half the price, and as good in most places. Even slightly better in some.
Thanks, Richard. I am thinking about that one… I’m just a little scared off by some of the reported issues of Sigma lenses with alpha cameras (not being recognized, all Sigma’s having the same code for MF adjust)….
Definitely look at that before pulling the trigger on the CZ.
I own the CZ 24-70 and it’s a brilliant lens. It’s sharp and contrasty wide open and it produces images that have the Zeiss look that Sigma owners can only dream about. You won’t be sorry you bought it.
You can be sure your clients can tell the difference as well, right? 😉
If I’m happy with the results my clients will be. That’s all I need.
You might want to check on ebay… Saw some 24-70CZ lenses that were new in original boxes going for 1200-1600 which is a lot better than the regular price of $1999… Sold mine for $1550!.. Along with my a77… My go-to camera is now my NEX-7…
I would suggest the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 over the Sigma. The Tamron absolutely equals the CZ 24-70 in image quality throughout its range, and doesn’t have the Sigma’s problems at large aperture. You give up 4mm on the bottom end, but gain 5mm at the top end over the Zeiss, and the build quality of the lens falls well short of the CZ – but, the build quality of the Tamron is still not bad, by any means – it just falls short of the uber build quality of the CZ, which is built like a Sherman tank. Of course, it’s also a fair deal lighter and smaller than the CZ, which some Photogs like. And, the Tamron comes in at about a quarter of the price of the CZ.
The Sigma 24-70 is useless at f2.8, which renders the constant aperture pointless.
There’s a reason the Sigma is half the price of the Zeiss.
Completely untrue. What are you basing this on? Either you had a broken copy, or you’re repeating regurgitating something. Even the reviews show it’s performance is up there. Ive used both at 2.8 and detail is very good with both, which is why I recommended the Sigma to someone looking to save money, as on optical performance there is very little between them.
http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/474-sigma_ex_2470_28_hsm_fx?start=1
http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1236
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/sigma-24-70mm-f-2-8-ex-dg-hsm-interchangeable-lens-review-15086
http://www.dyxum.com/reviews/lenses/reviews.asp?IDLens=501
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hsm/discuss/72157628922634363/
Yes, it’s true.
Either there are a hell of a lot of bad copies out there, or this is a classic case of you get what you pay for. There are enough user reports and reviews out there to show that the Sigma can’t hold a candle to the OEM versions from Sony and Canikon when used wide open. I’m not saying it’s a bad lens – it’s just not as good as the others.
**I made a post before this one that has a load of links to reviews and user reports, but it hasn’t got past moderation yet. Hopefully it will appear soon.**
I see your point, not all of those reviews are very favourable at all. From first hand experience though, to say it’s useless at 2.8 is a bit much, unless of course your sample has been dropped or just put together by a monkey. Perhaps my conclusions are a combination of having a good sample and not being a pixel peeper, but even when processing (ie zoomed in) I found it faired well.
I’m with you on that! There isn’t a week goes by that I don’t place the 24-70 or more recently, the ZA 16-35 into the web ‘shopping cart’ only to yank it out at the last second. (see below as to why)
Well, I don’t know about spying on them from afar ;-). I can recommend both of those lenses first hand though. 70-200za would have next to no interest from me, not might sort of lens. Quite happy at 85mm.
I understand completely. Currently, my only ZA glass in the 135/1,8 and I love it! Just a tad too specialized for general use but its one hell of a good ‘nocturnal’ portrait lens.
I really should go for the 16-35 to close the bottom end for my trips to Italy and more.
Saber, I have the 16-35mm and it is an outstanding lens, on par with the 24-70mm. My favourite lens is my 135mm ZA closely followed by the 16-35 and 24-70mm ZA. They are quality without question and give 99% of the rest a beating for sure, especially the 135mm.
Buy, buy, buy.
Si
Let’s hope there will be no floods this year.
I’m much more interested in the new Carl Zeiss glass! If they actually come out with a ZA 70-200 I’m all over it like a cheap suit. It would take a lot to get me into the A99 until the first firmware update. My guess is that prices will be much higher than retail, just like NEX7 and A77 were last Christmas.
Zeiss got only one 70-200 and it’s a gigantic lens made for video. I hardly can see them releasing telephoto for A-mount.
Our high-end telephoto lenses are monopolized by Sony G-series.
Oh well. Summer shooting will be done by then. Wait until next year for air shows and summer festivals for the AXX.
Not everyone is a fair weather shooter.
been waiting for this for 4 years now………..Maybe I should preorder soon.
That is about what Andrea reported some time ago. I was hoping for an earlier release but when has anything like this been early. Usually shows up later. Too bad about the XQD. I don’t quite understand that but not a deal breaker for me. I know I cannot wait for the 36 because I am having a difficult time waiting until October. I would love to add a new CZ50mm to boot. The 70-200CZ sounds great and would be a must have but since I already have the 70-200G my resources will go to the 50. I can’t wait for Halloween this year!
+1
Come on High Iso. Sony don’t let us down. If there is no XQD, then at least match the high Iso of the D700.
Hopefully even better than the 700.
Not expecting higher than that due to the SLT design.
The A900 is already better than the D700. Of course its going to be better.
What are the latest rumors on a new 70-200 ? I’m about to pull the trigger on one, but if I know a new lens is coming this year, I could wait. Anybody knows anything ? Thanks.
Well that sucks. 2-3 more months to go.
Hey! You know what I’m amazed at? It’s been 48 minutes since the original post and NO ONE has bad-mouthed the non-existent camera!!!!
YEAH!!! Think POSITIVE!
oh, well. spoke too soon.
Alrighty then! It’s likely to be a true POS for the prosumer or socker-mom’s with no XQD of CF support. Still, I WILL buy it as soon as I can justify it! Besides, who doesn’t like young Socker Mom’s…
fuck man its SOCCER.
Nope, it’s FOOTBALL. Only the yanks call a sport where people hold and run with the ball, football…
Well DJ, it was intended as a play on words but I guess it went over about as well as your sophisticated vocabulary.
Just in time for the Olympics Sony… Well Done!
Sounds like a great camera for sports action photography!
/golfclap
What’s the obsession with the Olympics? You do know that you can’t take long lenses into the venues, right?
Surely there will be professional photographers there…
There will, but no Sony ones, so it’s pointless. Sony would not gain any advertising from having a couple of A99s at the Olympics.
/facepalm
2013??
What kind of professional Camera using SD cards? NO-ONE except SONY!
Maybe the AXX is not even Pro level. Mid or High end consumer level.
Well, the Pentax 645 medium format digital camera uses SD cards only.
Well, uh, the 5D MkIII has an SD slot, and the D800 . . .
Why does the media matter? As long as it is fast enough, who cares? What matters is the BUFFER SIZE.
SD cards are not FAST enough for me, that’s my concern.
You should see a doctor. He will give you some meds for this.
95MB/s UHS-1 SDHC isn’t fast enough for you? Are you shooting a phantom high speed camera?
You completely miss the point, if the BUFFER is large enough then it doesn’t matter about the type of media.
The A77 has a BUFFER size problem, not a MEDIA speed problem.
Mostly true, but a fast card will help to clear the buffer more quickly.
However, modern SD cards are perfectly well suited for modern cameras. The obsession with CF is getting old, just like the format.
DOA=A99 THE PRICE STINKS $2500 to $2800
Sony is Always overpricing offerings
a D800 36MP Nikon = $3000 = Stable & Tested
Sony will only have real shipments JAN 2013
The Bugs will not be out of the firmware till Next Summer
Don’t risk you work on Sony. track record is Terrible
Sony Killed off Minolta’s Great innovation and Glass
er, the D800, D4 and 5D MKIII have problems mate, just shows how much you know.
The D800 locks-up, you have to disable the histogram displays. There’s a view finder bug and an AF problem too.
Next time do some research on CaNikon problems before spouting crap about Sony.
hogwash
I thought the announcement was to be August?
I know this is a CR5 but I’d still be very surprised if the A99 had the same MP count as the A77.
It has been speculated that a 36mpix will arrive next year.
Sometimes, I am wondering why Sony’s time-to-market a product is always so flicking far behind the Big 2 ?!!!
Only if the A99 has been released half a year ago, it will be a smashing hit .. and seriously put the Canon 5DmkIII to a complete shame … champing every aspect of the features and quite possibly in I.Q. as well .. with Sony’s latest generation of sensors class-leading in DR and noise!
However, with Sony half a year behind the competition, the Big 2 have already combed the market … most of those who have the pocket (mainly the Professionals and Hi-End enthusiasts) from both camps have already brought an upgrade … what are left behind are mostly those anxious Sony Alpha up-graders and the budget conscious segment.
with Nikon soon releasing the D600 (probably using the same sensor as Sony A99) with a rumored price of $1500 and Canon releasing an entry-level FF soon … to capture the rest of the budget segment and potential crop-frame to FF up-graders, what are Sony’s top marketing executives thinking of … just targeting this product for its existing Alpha up-graders only or coming out a product just to show that Sony is a technology company who has the capability to come out some sexy technologies? I am beginning to understand why Sony’s annual revenge report is not doing great … it is not without a reason!
Don’t get me wrong, I am not an anti-Sony guy! In fact, I wanted Sony’s success so badly so that the world has better FF alternative than just only the Big 2 … so that we consumers have better choices and be the final winner!!!!
Agree
These FF-cameras will have a life span of at least three years.
The fact that Sony release their camera half a year after Canon and Nikon, it does not mean they are behind, they are AHEAD! In fact they get 6 month more developing time and a chance to release a better camera and this will continue during the life time of the cameras.
I think it is wise that Sony follow their own schedule and release the cameras whenever they are ready for it and when it is ready and works the way intended rather than forcing a pre-mature release because of the competition.
This camera, that we know very little about, could be something truly amazing and I expect to become (positively) surprised in several ways!
I read some other post that there will be no built-ni flash. What does that info come from? I expect it to be one.
Also, any more news about new and updated lenses?
My guess is that the camera will have astonishing ISO-performance ant that there will be a new FF kit-lens, like 24-105/3,5-4,5 or so that is much better than the now discontinued old Minolta-design.
For me personally the timing is absolutely perfect with this new camera available in beginning of November!
/Mats
I agree completely. I am a professional user of Sony – been shooting assignments for a good two years and eight months now with Sony A900s. My work can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/rareview
Here’s the deal: I just jumped ship to Canon since I was tired of waiting for the A99 and both my A900s were dying. I did not want to invest more in a system whose response times are slower than some Indian public services organisations which takes f’ing years to complete anything. 😐
As of now, here’s my stand on Sony: if you are a serious professional, stick to Canon/Nikon for now. Wait for 2 years till Sony TRULY settles down and competes in completeness of lenses, speed-to-market, firmware upgrades, and the plethora of accessories/third-party support that the others have.
PS: If you think am randomly ranting, I’ve shot 100+ assignments with a team of 3 of us shooting with 2 A900s, 2 A850s, all CZ glass that Sony ever made, and a LOT of Minolta glass. For me to jump ship was a analytical decision made from the head and not from the heart. 😐
When this camera gets here, it may not look like it is behind the so-called “big two” at all.
+1
Have you heard about Thai flood and Sony problems? Nex 7 and A77 were introduced just before that…
$2500-2800 is $500-800 over where it will need to be in order to compete.
+10
some of you are so damn cheap.
Nope… Just aware of what the rest of the market is offering and how time and time again Sony seems to be 1 step behind the others in product introductions and pricing. This is chance for them to really hit a home run with a $1999 FF body before the D600 comes out. The door is wide open for them right now. Timing is perfect but all indications are that they are going to overprice themselves again. And that’s unfortunate. Let’s be clear… I have a lot of money tied up in A-Mount glass and accessories. I want nothing more than to see them come out with innovative technology. But it must be priced in accordance with the market and the current state of the economy. At $2800 (body only) I am not a buyer nor do I suspect that many others are. At $1999 I am all in.
So, there won’t be a 36mpx A99 version? Exactly for my birthday 😀 hahaha.
SONY IS SLEEPING AT THE WHEEL – DOA new products are Dead.
Whoever at SONY in camera product management should be fired immediately.
We’re dedicated Minolta glass user, SONY drives more users away more each day.
We will begin testing of FF Adapters on Canon Nikon Bodies.
We have to. What choice is Sony photo product management allowing us.
QUESTION – WHAT adapters are you finding positive results with?
Sony Rumors Admin – Help us make a full updated list and reviews of
adapters so we can move our Minolta Lens and Flash units to
either the Canon and or Nikon platforms.
This would be of very high valuue to us long time
Sony Minolta Users – Thank You.
Missed your medication today?
bizarre
eh?
Admin,
Any idea when the new nex5 and the pancake G zoom will be announced ?
Keep up the great work 🙂
Any news yet on the A99 will support tethered shooting or has an increase in memory buffer size as the A77 was lacking in these areas.
if this thing costs $2800 and has October ship date, plus firmware bug fixes and tests, I assume it should be “really” mature enough for be used around summer or fall 2013, then my choice will be either buying one more A900 body or keep my current A900 (because I love it) and buy the D800.
Or it could be the best full frame ever made, why so negative?
I find it a tad hard to believe.
We havent seen anything about this camera, not even a transparent prototype to make us drool. Is there an announcement due soon?
/Shrugs
Does it perform is low light? Based on these specs, it looks like a $2800 A77 with more AF points and a bigger buffer…
Shoot in the dark much?
And what about the EVF? Is it going to be a new one (higher resolution? DR? Refresh rate?) or is it going to be the same as the A65/A77/NEX7?
Shit… Need to wait till October… That make me sad…
This is good news. My fear was that it was delayed even more, but now with a presentation just before Photokina and availability very soon after that it is great!
What had you expected?
I don’t see how a release could have come any quicker than this.
At least it is not anything like Canon 1D X that was “released” over a year ago and not until now becomes available for purchase…
/Mats
True. Sony actually releases stuff when it says. Canon says “released” and then forces you to wait for god-knows-how-long for a camera of unknown performance.
Maybe the preorder should starts now, available in sept right afterhe announcement …
> no CF nor XQD support
Too bad …. I love CF card a lot …. Even no CF SUPPORT , Why don’t support the XQD card…..I think it will be much better than MS….
Why do people seem to imply that Sony is going to MAKE us use Memory stick on the a99…?????
By policy, Sony has had both MS and SD cards in virtually every single product for at least three years.
I don’t understand why people are having kittens over no QXD…. Who gives a flying f**k? I’ve for a 95Mbs u1 SD and its just great and it only cost about $100 for 32GB. QXD is only at the very beginning of its evolution and is crazy expensive and only gives a small increase at this moment.
For crying out loud…. Everyone pissed and moaned when Sony “forced” memory stick on the world. Sony created QXD and people are upset because they’re NOT using it?
Geeze….
Several of my SD cards died suddenly. In most cases I even couldn’t recover parts of the data, they were not recognized any more. Different sizes, different brands, different speed classes.
I never had any problem with any kind of CF card…
They all died at once? Were you in the middle of a magnetic storm or something?
LMFAO
Haha…
I didn’t say they died all at once – or?
You would stop laughing when you want to copy your images from SD to your PC and can’t read the SD card anymore…
That makes more sense.
To counter your experience, I have had several SD cards that have worked forever. I tend to buy the reliable brands though.
If this is to sell for 2500, than what will fill the gap left by A850?
Too little, too late.
Well if this a99 is more of a hybrid camera that takes decent pictures and also at the same time can take great videos with the inbody Is, tilting screen, and sony sensor technology it might be worth the price. After all Sony beats all the competitors for high end video, with their 8k f65, 4k FS700, and multiple full hd camecorders. If only sony could could concentrate a bit more on the video aspect of dslr cameras instead of the photographic aspect…
You guys remember these are Rumors!! Now let me tell you how it is going to be !!!! The camera will use the xqd cards ! It will have 48 Mega Pixels !! And still be at that same price point !! The SECOND Body will be 80 Mega Pixels. !! Both NEW Cameras are un touchable by canit or Nikon.!!
The cameras will be sold for free as well.
There have never been any such rumors published by SAR.
I’m watching the olympics looking for Sony cameras and found 2 people with what I think was the SAL500F4G and another with the SAL300F28G…but still looking If I can find somebody with a suspicious looking possible prototype camera with a high end Sony or Minolta G lens 😀
What you saw was an optical illusion….
Sony does not exist in the Olympics.
Lol, I was doing the same thing, and I did saw a few cameras that had AF-aid lights (IR, red looking) in the body, and the shape looks more like an A77. I won’t be surprised if beta shooters of the A99 are in the Olympics. I mean there was even a pro that was going to use a Panasonic.
Haha wow some of these hypotheses made by posters are so far off the mark.
And you know where the mark is at?
Nothing I have seen or heard about this so-called a99 has me even slightly interested in it… I’ve sold my a77 in anticipation of buying a Sony FF but this just looks like a FF a77… I’m sticking with my NEX-7 until such time as Sony comes out with a real FF SLT…
What continues to amaze me is that a MONTH before the announcement we only know for certain that the new FF camera is BLACK, SLT, has an EVF and an LCD screen… That’s it!!!!… Nobody knows for certain what it is called! a99, a88, a95, a85!!!… MP?… 24? 36? ISO?… AF?… Built-in flash?… It’s pathetic really…
I think too many leaks last year about A77 made many people expecting a real wonder which is obviously not happend. I think the new no-leaks-politics is just to prevent the discontented moaning this time.
You don’t know about it because it hasn’t been ANNOUNCED yet. When will people get it into their heads that right up to the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT manufacturers generally keep quiet.
Every time rumours are posted somebody pisses and whines that there isn’t enough information about a product. Well duh!
Why is it “pathetic” that we know so little? Why does Sony not have the right to keep their product plans secret until a time of their choosing?
@voyager42
“I’m sticking with my NEX-7 until such time as Sony comes out with a real FF SLT…”
And what would a REAL FF SLT be…..to you???
As I have already mentioned before I am really thinking about leaving Sony and joining the group of the “Big 2 Users” … and still I haven’t decided yet.
All I want is more professionality … a perfectly accurate AF (maybe something new with programmable area of interest focussing,…) , real ISO 50, good low Light performance (up to ISO 2000 for sport photography), a big buffer to shoot at least 3 seconds with 12 images per second in RAW, … that’s what concerns me personally.
So currently this camera can still beat the hell out of me and make me happy again! maybe add some funky features like STF (like in the Dynax 7), tethering, … would make many people happy. But as a matter of fact, professionality is the key!
But Sony should really start the competition (’cause it’s always a competition). Nikon’s D800 start’s a competition agains Entry-Level-Medium-Format Cameras… Canon’s 1dx is the perfect sports camera … my question: where are you going? Building SLT cameras to be “different” or “special” isn’t enough for most users!
You are not “most” users, so can’t really comment on what “most” users want.
If Sony isn’t the right fit for you, then buy something that is. Sony will be the right fit for plenty of other people.
you’re right … I am sorry for my “most users” statement.
All I wanted to say, that I wish sony produce more professional, because there are users like me who have rised from amateurs or semi’s to pro’s … switching to another brand would lead to a huge loss of money and therefore this is a quite hard decision.
2.800$ No built in Flash???
No Deal !!!
Please try the Canon 1Dx; 6800$ and no built-in flash. 😐 Really, what gives?!
Pros don’t use pop up flash/articulated screen/EVF and are willing to pay more for less features.
😉
I am willing to pay less for more features…!!
And IMHO, thats the only way for sony to stay
next to canikon.
would be nice to see some leaked images
Whatever they release Sony has to stop Pre-releasing Betas/unfinished product to be “Previewed” to sites like DPreview and Webloggers who bash them because its unfinished (and they don’t know its unfinished )and doesn’t work 100%. When its 100% and ready to shine then show it off. Just like Apple does. Once the other CN Fanboys run with the bad review they don’t bother follow up and just keep spewing the bad points..The other CN fanboys read those crap reviews and run with the bad/incorrect info and it makes Sony look bad.
I hope that simultaneous still images + videography feature is still on the list of innovative features of A99. If true, this feature will be a jackpot for every photographer who works without assistant.
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