[shoplink 41647 ebay]
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A second trusted source added some more specs info about the new A68 A-mount camera that will be announced in early November and replace the [shoplink 41647 ebay]current A65 model (image on top)[/shoplink].
Those are a few specs of the new A68 camera:
SLT A-mount model (translucent mirror)
24 megapixel sensor
79 AF points
19 AF Cross points.
4D autofocus (seems to be the [shoplink 41697 ebay]same as the A77II[/shoplink])
LCD info display on top of the camera
Price around $600
Announcement in November
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217 Responses
Sorry to be offtopic, but: Is there really NOTHING on the new FE lenses? Not a single recent leak before releasing 8 (!) new lenses? How can that be?
Agreed, who cares about A-mount any more? It’s dead, deal with it. Give us some real news.
you will only know if sony wants you to know. They only tell a few insiders and often lie to there own reps so this new a-mount may be the a99II for all we know may even be the a6000 update.
Darn the A68 could have been a real kick ass camera at $600 if Sony had continued to support the A mount system. Now people will be reluctant to buy into a dead system.
79 AF points, good tracking, great EVF etc at just $600 would have really killed the competition in specs.
if just based on the spec above, it looks like only a cost-down version of a77II.
if BSI-cmos/5-axis IBIS will be implemented? if there is any other new tech to be implemented?
hope to see something new in a68
I don’t think that they will add 5 axis IBIS to any A-mount body, as they are larger than the E-mount bodies therefore are easier to keep steady, although it will be awesome to have this feature. As for this camera, i’m really happy that sony is showing sings to keep the A-mount alive. This A68 sounds like A77II but without the sealed body, and WIFI, hopefully they’ll keep the GPS as some people including me prefer that feature over WIFI, specially when the whole point of having WIFI was to get apps and extra features like creative styles through the playmemories, and sony has not released a single app for the A77II
🙂 maybe that kind of steady is not better enough.
And so far, new 5 axis IBIS has better effect, especially there is no OSS in a-mount tele-lens, so sony should better put it in.
I don’t think WIFI will be a problem.
Question becomes: is it just an a77ii in a cheaper body (which would still be a good camera), or does it actually have anything new or different?
No it doesn’t by the sounds of it, but just putting that into a $600 body is quite new and different.
Also can you imagine the crying on here when it has something the A77 II doesnt?
Can’t remember Olympus folks crying when OMD-EM5ii got 40mp high-res mode, which OMD-EM1 did not have.
You understand this is Sony though right?
There’s always plenty of crying either way here, you can count on that.
That always happens though… a lower but newer model has a few tidbits that aren’t even in the “higher” models yet. Even happened a bit with the A58.
It would get some A77ii owners to consider also buying an A68…
If the A68 is solely a scaled down A77ii, then it becomes a very very good mid-level camera, and a good backup camera for A77ii owners.
But here is the thing: The release of an A68 is a very very firm statement from Sony that the A-mount isn’t dead. But if it is only the A77ii stuck in the A65 body… That means the whole camera was engineered during a bathroom break by a Sony engineer while working on the A7.
It’s a camera that literally could have been released at any time, since the A77ii. So while it is a positive statement about A-mount, it’s also the minimal positive statement….. Just a…. “see.. we are still releasing A-mount… here is one”
I wish the Sony engineers weren’t distracted with having to deal with A-mount stuff like this. The activity excitement and future is mirrorless.
Why not just drop E-Mount altogether and concentrate all limited resources on A-Mount? Obviously it’s a far more advanced system, and this request is just as rediculous and irritating as yours.
Eventually almost everyone updated their cassette tape collection to newer media, but it is true there are a few who never did. Time will tell, but I believe in you to become one of the few very long term SLR/SLT tech holdouts, long after their production is discontinued.
What holdout? You mean his A65 and kit lenses?
Yes, the future is mirrorless no argument here and I’m not sure why Sony would waste time and resources into this camera. That being said an a99ii would be worthy and more than measure up to e-mount especially with all of the great native a-mount lenses. When CD’s came out they were vastly superior to cassette tapes. You cannot say that about mirrorless, yet.
With cassette tapes you could record the charts from the radio for free. With CDs you were bound to buy your music. (In the era before cheap CD-ROM-burners). Better compare CDs to Vinyl 🙂
Even if the future is mirrorless (assuming Sony manages a DSLR-quality mirrorless and lenses), it’s the FUTURE, which means ‘hasn’t arrived yet’. I’m ready to pronounce A-Mount dead as soon as Sony releases f/2.8 zooms for FE, doing away with the bogus ‘compactness’, but until they do, we need A-Mount.
Once all mid and high level E-mounts have 399 af points we can then say a-mount is dead. This and a adapter is all that is needed and of course a bigger dslr shaped body for larger lenses.
Most definitely not. Adapters are a temporary stop-gap solution at best and are no replacement for the proper native lenses. Not all focus modes supported, slow down changing of lenses, worse weather-sealing etc. make them bad for reportage photography.
Seriously? Because Sony is selling boatloads of mirrorless cameras–tops in mirrorless market share in many places–but was never really able to compete in DSLRs or quasi-DSLRs (the SLTs are of course not true SLRs, lacking the OVF). Sony, having a collective IQ (intelligence quotient, not image quality) above room temperature is putting most of resources into the products where it can make a profit.
I am glad that this is an incredibly lazy release. The Sony engineers are currently busy advancing some really cool stuff in mirrorless tech. But there’s still a ton of people screaming for Sony to do something with A-mount. So without diverting too many resources, Sony is putting out the A77ii in a cheaper body. I guess it’s a smart move if it didn’t require any real engineering attention.
However I think this lame release is actually cruel to the A-mount die hards. Giving them hope when there really isn’t any. Better to just officially cut the cord quickly, rather than this painful slow pace.
I find absolutely no interest on this camera except it give us some clues about amount and aps-c strategy
This could be my way back to A-mount…
Interesting.
Why is this a way back, but existing A77ii isn’t?
Because i sold all my A mount gear… I thought that A mount was dead… so with this affordable cam maybe… I´ll return 😀
What about 4k-Video?
Not in any Sony camera below 1000€. They’re too proud for that.
Get a Panasonic G7.
IF this rumor turns out to be true it is represents no new technology, and no serios commitment to A mount.
I already have an a77ii so have absolutely no reason to buy one of these.
Again however that is IF this turns out to be true.
Show me the camera.
Are you really expecting cutting edge technology in an entry level product? BTW you are still wrong about a-mount.
I am not expecting any new A mount camera.
I still have not seen one.
The Nile, not to be confused with Denial.
I’d like to see at least a body redesign, but these specs don’t imply anything exciting.
So, slightly nerfed A77II in a smaller shell, sold 300$ cheaper. No fancy new sensor. No fancy new stabilization. No 4K. Nice camera, especially if it was released year ago, but hardly exciting today.
Sounds like a A77ii in a cheaper plastic shell for a lower price.
=> not really new A-mount development
but Sony can stick to its claim that Sony still develops new A-mount products.
Uh yeah, I guess Fuji stopped development of their X series too? Or Canon and their rebels?
Canon at least paused its rebel development for one generation.
See: Canon T5i 700D vs T4i 650D
And 550/600/650/700D. Fuji… Well every model.
Each Rebel was at least an improvement to its predecessor.
From 650D to 700D they changed only a wheel. On one body the wheel stopped after reaching limits, on the other body the wheel didn’t stop.
Oh – and 700D had the new STM-version for the kit-lens.
But the body: 100% identical except this wheel-dial stopper limit. And I mean really identical, not just similar.
Yeah I know. This will be a significant difference to the A65…
The 550D was the last major improvement to it’s predecessor. Then they added things that no one cares for. Stuff like flash controller
750D : 700D:
24 : 18mp
19 : 9 AF-points
WLAN : no WLAN
stereo-mic : mono-mic
Touchscreen : no touchscreen
DUAL-pixel-AF : contrast AF for video
Ok, the 750D is a nice improvement 😉
Still using my 550D occasionally with the plastic fantastic Canon 10-18 mm wide lens, only reason why I haven’t sold it yet,
According to latest Canon financial report, there’s quite a drop in their ILC sales volume, while not so much in profitability. Why? Rebels!
Really? I mean all the other awesome $600 crop cameras out there I guess this does look like a turd 😉
Probably “No micro-af adjust” like A65 and unlike A771 & 2.
I hope not, all the competing camera’s from Canon and Nikon have micro adjustment.
$600? Really?
The A65 was $900 at launch.
If this is stripped down A77II without anything new (like BSI sensor), 600$ sounds fair considering A77II is now sold for 950$ brand new.
Add a 16-50 /2.8 kit lens for 1000$ and you will have a nice present for first christmas
I would honestly rather give an RX10II or RX100IV as a gift to a friend or family member who are not photography enthusiasts yet. Buying low-to-mid end DSLR camera is, in my opinion, most stupid thing someone not already familiar with photography can do.
Sounds like mark3 A77 is around the corner with BSI and 5-axis
Maybe, but that would be a strange strategy.
I have not heard too many cry about A77II update – most of that seems to be about FF instead.
i would have thought they will test the water with A style body + A mount but E-mount camera (like A6000) and get rid of the mirror all together.
They already sort of did that with A3000. A camera that looks like low end cheap DSLR, and operates no better than one too. I wonder how successful it really was…
you have a point, but i think the A3000 slightly different. first off, it uses E mount. secondly, the on-sensor PDAF is pretty immature back then. the A3000 also uses very entry level type menu and alot of functions are locked away.
It doesn’t have PDAF at all.
It tanked. The people who bought it were happy, however reviewers were not all to kind because the LCD and EVF were crappy as hell. It’s EOL but they are still selling it here in the Netherland.
Maybe when on-sensor AF catches up, we will get that Z-shift sensor with a hybrid mount
Maybe the problem is language, but the A65 is NOT a current model. Sony appears to have discontinued it a while back. It is not available new, at least from major U.S. retailers like B&H and Amazon. Only the A58, A77 II, and A99 are truly current models (although some original A77 cameras may be available some places as new-old stock).
Hardly a pro-level camera. I wonder whats the motivation behind Sony’s launch of such a camera… Consumers would need more motivation than this to put faith in this mount
Looks like Sony is pushing A77ii hardware down into a new body and maybe a mark3 with BSI and 5 axis IBIS is in pipeline which would come along with A6xxx launch
What about configurable Auto-ISO Limit and Micro-AF adjustment? I hope they added some of the A77 features, else they should have named it A65II, no?
Oh yeah. I am buying one
This is SOOOO lame, clearly a poor attempt to keep the a-mounters hope up that a-mount is not dead.
It’s not lame as much as it is odd. They can’t be moving that many units of the A77II and this camera is looking to just be a cheaper version. I’m thinking it may just be an attempt to spike sales and sell off A77II parts.
Do you have any idea how manufacturing actually works in today’s world. Do you think huge companies like Sony keep huge inventories of spare parts for each and every model. Manufacturing units operate much leaner these days.
Pffft.
No but the fabs/die’s/molds are there and there is the cost of r&d neither which is cheap and certainly cant make any money if you aren’t using them anymore.
This lets Sony sell this camera for little up-front cost, and takes
away some of the A-mount hysteria.
If this is true, Sony is following a strange schema:
put small sensors into big bodies
put big sensors into small bodies
Only an A99ii or an A6000-successor would brake this schema. And both are already long time awaited but not announced
what a joke 😀 . I am sure they will sell thousands of them, just look at Canon and Nikon, they are doing so well on the low entry DSLR market, smarthones are shit. said no one ever.
But why in the mirror ???
I wasn’t expecting a top LCD display – just an A65 with improved internals. It’s not obvious from that spec exactly how it’ll be different from the A77II…
I think no weather sealing, less speed. I hope they don’t make the mistake of removing the micro adjustment, for many users that was a real pain in the .ss
Simpler screen hinge as on A65
Yes, micro adjustment is one feature that I miss not having on my A57.
This is another gimmick of marketing. If you cannot deduct the price of a product, you just rename it and push into the market. Strange enough, A57 was the most successful camera in this range.
meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh
this is what Sony meant when they say they will ‘ continue to develop a-mount ‘ n ‘future’ a-mount cameras. So much for Sony ‘listening’ to customers. More like a prank on them
From speculations of no camera launches to a new mid level A-mount camera is giving some positive vibe. That’s good for now. I believe we will see the big guys like A99ii and A77iii soon.
Just a few weeks ago many were saying APS-C and A-Mount were both dead.
This is obviously a very dead camera body.
A zombie, so to speak…
I see dead cameras.
I’m starting to think cameras in general are dead.
4k??? FOUR KAHHH? hm.. no no..we do not because we want to sell fs-5
and have fun with the 7s mk1 mk2 mk3 mk4 mk5 mk5 mk6 mk7 mk8 show..
we found our idiots.. ” we like the sound of mony in the morning”
Honestly it’s a lame release.
But after reading comments here in SAR, this release makes people believe in A-mount. This makes people believe that A99ii and A77iii is coming. This convinces people not to sell A-mount stuff and keep waiting.
Good move – Sony!!
600 is a steal just at the specs listed BUT- you can now get a very slightly used A77II for around 700-750. The price will most likely drop a bit further in the next two months. Tells me this A68 will be 500 bucks before you know it.
You are right if you are living outside the Netherlands. There is something fishy here with the shops, no one is competing and stay the same for a long time. (A77M2 body still sells for 1000 euro)
Amen to that!!! ALL the brands/shops are playing a VERY fishy stinking game…
Importers & Distributors are setting prices and shops are even fined/reprimanded for trying to go below set prices… Even if a big retailer like ‘Mediamarkt’ wants to make a special deal for customers (Crazy Deals/No Tax Days) they get wrist slapped… If you look at surrounding countries (Belgium/UK/Germany) they can & will make special sales and prices drop way faster and therefor even secondhand is very expensive in the Netherlands. In some other product groups it is slightly noticeable, but not as much as cameras/cameragear…. Truly is shameful, I really want to support local shops but end up buying my gear in other countries… So do a lot of fellow photographers that I know.
Just by here in Denmark. The a99 is amazingly cheap right now.
http://www.kamerahuset.dk
11.000 krone, that is 1475 euro. We are being screwed again, everyone sells it for 1800 euro in Netherlands. And the Dutch VAT is 21%, the Danish VAT is 25%.. This really sucks…
And there are plenty of decent lenses to be had at cheap prices, just a few days ago a seller offered a Minolta film camera, beercan telephoto and 50mm F1.7 for $125 or best offer. A new-bee could have a decent kit for not much money and take great pictures.
Where did you see this offer?
Local Craigslist.
https://buffalo.craigslist.org/pho/5260571362.html
the a77ii is selling for just under a thousand at my store with the ssm 16-50mm 2.8
Geez..that’s a steal.
Nah! I think Sony is bringing much better specs other than listed. Might as well go hang themselves in shame if it’s true as listed. There’s no way with so much technologies going on for not having them after 4 years since the debut of a65
By the way, do not bring on the lame duck plastic mount like those were on a58 and a3000. Those were such a disgrace to Sony’s name.
I hope so, but Sony has also suprised us with that lame A3000, a great sensor with a lousy LCD and EVF. My 0.02 cent. I can’t imagine Sony is releasing the A68 to make some quick bucks with the A77M2 parts, that would be so dumb and short sighted.
Amazing how AWFUL the EVF and LCD were on the A3000. It was noticeably worse than the cheap LCD in my Panasonic FZ18 from 2008.
This is probably a camera for soccer moms to compete against Canon Rebels on the shelves at Best Buy. Don’t sweat it.
I would rather see updated laea5 and laea6 than a downgraded a77ii
The new/updated adapters would be nice, a new a-mount body to silence the naysayers is priceless.
It’s not an either/or. A “downgraded” a77-2 at a low price point is desirable for consumers in the market for a dslr at a non-prosumer price.
isn’t that market getting maturing.
http://petapixel.com/2015/10/27/canon-profits-down-21-as-mirrorless-cameras-cut-into-dslr-sales/
It’s been mature for a while, but if Sony is going to keep a mount camera bodies going then the lineup should have a body that is approachable in price. Canon has far more SLr bodies at many price points and is far more exposed to a shift or downturn.
I wouldn’t. I would much rather see an A-mount body released… any A-mount body!
I’m still not convinced by this rumour, but if it is true then maybe part of the extra development work they did on this body would include improved AF with the 4D sensor… could there be a new A77II firmware released alongside such a product as this with AF-C incorporating any such development that actually works for BIF this time?
So basically, this will be exactly the same as a77ii…what are the differences? lower fps at high-speed? What else?
I’m thinking;
Downgraded body
Lower res EVF
No micro adjust
No sync port
Can’t think of anything else though.
Maybe not weather-sealed
Lower magnification EVF
No double hinged LCD
No joystick but 4-way button
No 12 fps
No AF mode dial
No 3 separate memory recall positions
No weathersealing, plastic body
It seems to be aimed at the Canon 760D/t6s.
If you are right, this would still be a worthy upgrade from my A57.
I have been lusting after the A77ii since before it was announced, but wanted to see one in person before buying one. Last weekend I finally found a camera store that had one in stock. It was not as nice as I was hoping.
* I found the joystick harder to use reliably then either the dumb 4-way control on the A57 or the combination 4-way/wheel on the A7Rii.
* The double-hinged LCD is nice, but not that much superior to the A57. Switching to the simpler hinge would likely be a decent cost savings.
* I don’t beat the crap out of my gear, so the magnesium body and weather sealing are luxuries that I could forego to save cost.
If the A68 comes out as the guts of an A77ii in a cheaper body, I would be okay with that. I just hope they keep the WiFi and don’t degrade the frame rate or buffer size too much.
No Vertical Grip!
no sensor ……
It’s Sony! You never know….
Lower price.
Not, I’m obviously not being serious. I’m reversing and exaggerating Judd Weiss’ statement, which is as divisive as this.
No she is not, don’t lie!
Better not have plastic lens mount like a58 downgrade.
Why are everyone so pessimistic? There are two ways this info could go.
1) Sony will replace both the A65 & A77II with the A68, and still release a top of the line A99II which will potentially be even better than the A7rII, or
2) A68 will be the baseline camera for A-mount, introducing the possibility of a much improved A77III, and also a top of the line A99II.
I speculate that there will only be one top of the line A99II as to not cannibalize sales for the Semi pro FF E-mounts. But of course any guessing and arguments at this point of time would rather pointless because all we have to do is wait and see. Big things are coming the A-mount way. Also, I personally find the A68’s specs decent enough for my daily use and occasional work and will definitely be getting at least one to replace two of my ageing A57’s.
Unfortunately most of the posters here prefer to be negative, gives them validation and a way of venting the frustration resulting from their failed careers and sad lives.
your negative comment is so funny. it’s good to reflect
Hope this give you the validation that you so desperately need.
says the one with the mirror in front of him.
I know you’re suffering, perhaps I’ll light a candle for you today at chapel.
ok you win. now you’re validated, online and in church. hope you feel better
This ones for you:
your “career” must not be too demanding
Awesome!
Jebus candles.
This^^^^ most epic comment of the week.
+1
I have a 77ii but I still love my 57!
A77ii in A65 body. Spent a lot on R&D then..
Probably they’ve added 4 “rule of the thirds” AF points to existing 15 cross-type AF points in A77II?
Sounds like a budget-friendly a77-2, it could be a nice entry point.
WAHOO! $2,000 A mount glass passing light through a peice of plastic!
What’s not to love? 🙂
I’ll stick with the A7r-II with grip.
By By Canon/Nikon!
Groundhog Day ?
A-Mount:
APS-C
A68 (entry level)
A77II (top asp-c)
Full Frame
A99II (36 MB BSI Sensor or 42.4 MB / 4k / Better AF)
A99R (something like Nikon D4s, perhaps with the sony A7SII sensor and 12fps)
I own 3 sony cameras
A99, A77II & A7II.
Alpha 1 instead of A99R.
24 megapixel bsi a shitload of memory as buffer
1 m.2 slot
2 SD card slots
30FPS RAW 60FPS JPG
and a big battery
Would be great.
Sony would bring long zoom lenses.
I wonder why nobody is even mentioning a ‘small’ FF camera to compete with the CANON 6D, something like an a88 or similar. Am I the only one who would be interested in that?
Any A7 model is far better than the 6D at being a ‘small’ full frame camera. I understand that you want it with A mount, but Sony has moved on already. Expect incremental A mount updates only.
And for a-mount bodies to be big…
Some people just prefer the SLR shape, I think the a7 series have a bad form factor especially when shooting a lot for a long period of time
I actually hate dslr shaped bodies ever since I started usinf A7. I do have small hands though and it feels so much better.
I hate the form factor of the A7’s hurt’s my hands after only a couple of minutes of holding one!
sucks for you then. I love it.
How would an update not be incremental??
Small DSLRs are the old fashion .. Now they call them mirrorless
Canon EOS 1200D (EOS Rebel T5 / EOS Kiss X70) is mirrorless?
No .. I meant the small DSLRs are old fashion, people used to buy them for smaller size.. now you have a much more smaller size mirrorless cameras with much better specs
I was just kidding…. errm – let’s say I was trolling 🙂
If the A68 gets an FF sensor, than this camera would be very very interesting for a lot of people. But for USD 600, I doubt it.
I would be interested.
They should make this a68 aps-c and then the next 77 could be an FF camera. In the good old Minolta days the 7000, 700 or 7 series was just below the 9 series. So why not make the 77 an FF camera.
Canon 6D is only a tiny bit smaller an lighter than Sony A99 that is about the same amount smaller and lighter than Nikon D610.
In practise they are almost same size:
http://camerasize.com/compact/#380,377,486,ha,f
Thanks a lot for the comparison. I never really noticed that the size isn’t that different, since the A99 always seemed so huge to me and I love my A68. Another story is the pricing, I found a new D6 on amazon for a little more than 1100 Euros. I’s be up for something similar from sony, but I’m beginning to think the a 7 II plus adapter may be the solution.
https://sertifikasi.postel.go.id/index.php?0601=&key=0&cari=Sony
Is it too soon for that Sony camera registered in there with product code ‘WW843944’ to be the A68? Being the country of manufacture “Japan” it could very possibly be the RX1rII, but being already announced a release then why not use its definitive product name (DSC-RXRII) instead, as in the certification of previous cameras? Strange.
How will they differentiate this from the a77ii?
By price
Just checeds and you can actually pick up an a7 for less than an a77ii…
Sure you can .. but you will not be able to get 12 fps .. faster AF .. balanced body for super telephoto lenses .. crop sensor that gives you 1.5x focal length for wildlife and sports .. better battery life ..etc
a7 and a77 ii are for different types of photography
Body size – I am not sure yet about that shoulder display, I wouldn’t expect the A68 to have one.
Weather sealing.
The unique A77 articulating screen.
Number of buttons.
How much you can customize the buttons and Fn menue.
AF micro adjust.
Just guessing.
But maybe the A68 will have most of it, because Sony just wants to redefine the APSC DSLR market, pricing the sh*t out of D7x00, 70D, 7Dii? They didn’t win against Canon and Nikon with features, so maybe they’ll try it with a lower price. They will get your money with lenses and flashes anyway.
Sounds right – though I’d guess price would be a factor. The a77ii is old enough that you can pick it up for a petty good price…
The A68 is rumored to be $600, just like the A58 two years ago. Over here, the A77ii sells for €900 new, €750 – €800 used.
Shoulder display and the AF module of the A77ii for just $600 – if the A68 is weather sealed, too, I’d doubt that there will be an SLT named A77iii.
they might get you on the flash but you can always buy minolta lenses plus meike makes a pretty small yet decent ttl flash for the sony mount and so does nissen.
Do they need too. This is probably aimed at soccer moms who want to take photos of their kids at soccer games on auto mode. They’ll stock it at Best Buy next to the Rebels, Price and bundled features will be the differentiator.
4 years ago Sony released both A77 and A65 at the same time, the A65 was shadowed no one talked about it, there were few reviews for it, on the other hand A77 took all attention.
Now Sony stretched the releasing dates between those cameras.. And Voila .. A68 got some attention by people searching for entry level DSLR.
Good new marketing plan for A-mount
They did the same thing with the Alpha 850 in 2009 and it worked quite well.
Can anybody tell me why the A-mount-system is dead? Sony just stopped releasing half finished bodies every 6 months and started doing so in their new E-mount-system:
A7: no IBIS, slow AF, 1800 $
A7II: IBIS, same slow AF, 1800 $
A7RII: IBIS, new sensor, fast AF, 3500 $
…
A7RIII: longer battery life, second SD-Slot…
Sticking to my 4 years old Alpha 77 saved me more than 7000 $ – money I can invest in an Alpha 68 or an Alpha 77 II or an Alpha 88.. The Alpha 99 II will be too expensive for me – after all it’s just my hobby…
That one is the RX1RII which is manufactured in Japan.
P.S.: Sony always uses these kind of codes and never uses the real name of the camera.
Do your sources know if the A68 has micro focus adjustment?
I thought SLT would allow them to calibrate themselves.
I think it’s exciting to see an A-mount camera release even if it’s not the one we wanted. If we look at the Sony Alpha timeline we can see some trends. The A99 has been for sale about the same amount of time the A900 was on sale (actually Sony still sold the A900 well into 2012 up till just about when the A99 released), and the A77 and A65 were released before the A99. So if they follow that schedule the A99II will be released next year or possibly sooner.
“I think it’s exciting to see an A-mount camera release even if it’s not the one we wanted.”
Thank kind of thinking doesn’t belong here! 🙂
I’d love to see an a99 II. I’d even think about buying some Sony/Zeiss FF lenses as much as I feel permanently converted to the “open source” lens world via Sony’s E-Mount and the MFT mount.
I know there is a negative view on a-mount right now, but to me, this is a clear sign that Sony is upping their game on the a-mount platform. It Simply looks like this camera is going to smoke the crap out of the Canon rebels and the Nikon 3300 and 5500 series. So my logic says that A77iii is going to have a higher pixel density, faster AF and higher buffer, while the A99 is going to be a true Nikon D800/Canon 5Ds rival. Awesome news A-mount users!
Now please get rid of all the lag associated with the SLT cameras and release new version of those 30 year old Minolta designed lenses.
Cheers!
They already “smoked the crap” out of the Canikons in every way, didn’t help.
And now we have that mount back to confuse everyone, I can bet that every comment section about this camera announcement will be a lot of confusion and complains around both mounts. It is hard enough to explain in photography related sites, for the average Joe he’ll just keep with Canikon because it’s simpler to understand.
I totally agree with the minolta lenses. Add new coating, change body to plastic. Plenty wonderful lenses from minolta to update and call it a sony.
It´s sad to say that Sony has done a terrible job updating A-Mount lenses. For full frame you either pay the Sony/Zeiss premium or you´re stuck with a 50mm 1.4, a 20mm 2.8, a 16mm fish eye, a 50mm 2.8 macro and a 100mm 2.8 macro for prime lenses. None of the four mentioned lenses have SSM and are are exactly the same optically as their Minolta counterparts.
On the Zoom front you basically have the two Zeiss zooms(16-35mm and 24-70mm) and the very expensive 70-400mm and the 70-200mm. The 70-200mm is almost $1000.00 more expensive than their CaNikon counterparts and reportedly not as good.
Don´t get me wrong, I have a huge amount of money invested in A-Mount and have nothing but the best wishes for the format, but Sony has a lot of catching up to do with Canon and Nikon.
I have the 70-200 G and love it. It’s a tad soft at 200 and f/2.8 but sharp from f/3.2.
At 70 f/2.8 it’s great. When using this lens I almost never doo any sharpening in Capture One.
The 20 f/2.8 is also a fine lens especially if you consider it’s small and have a very low weight. It’s great in the coners from f/8 and ok at f/5.6. At f/2.8 it’s only sharp in the center but I can live with that.
I´m sure it´s a fine lens. Similar things have been said about the Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm 2.8 and I love that thing to bits. But I don´t know if it is $1,000.00 dolars better than the Canon, Nikon and more than double of the Tamron offerings. But I wouldn’t argue against it since I mostly live in wide angle/short telephoto focal distances.
You mean the Sony/Zeiss f/4? Otherwise I’ve never heard anything but great things about the Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8. I’ve rented it a couple of times myself and loved it. I think it’s priced a little under Canon’s 24-70mm f/2.8, and a tiny bit over Nikon’s 24-70mm f/2.8 (non VR), but that’s in reference to the Sony ver. II. I’ve seen the version I sell on FleaBbay (Sony refurbished) for $1,199. I should have (maybe) bought one. 🙂
I can live without the plastic
me too but i figure that plastic would keep cost down
They’re not gonna smoke anyone unless they can get it into every retail chain like BB that sells the lower end Canon & Nikon equivalents. That’s the reality of the low end market.
I lost hundreds on the A7 in less than 8 months of ownership. It wasn’t a camera I wanted to keep for a very long time either. Poor battery life wasn’t the issue as much as it’s other quirks especially lack of IBIS. With that said,
A7II can be had barely used for around 1250 now. I gather by years end you’ll be able to grab it for 1100.00. I think it’s a worthy machine, but I absolutely hate spending excessive money on bodies. Lenses- totally different story. I had the A77 and went back with an A77II- like it ten times more than the A7 and differences up until 1600 ISO aren’t worth wasting time even discussing IMO with RAW files and a bit of PP work.
I think about picking up an A99 but I just can’t muster up enough enthusiasm right now. After shooting a wedding with the A7II and A77II the differences aren’t enough to get me to add another body right now. I’ll just keep renting a FF for weddings and I might pick up a fuji xpro-1 and some zeiss glass since the touit and bodies are so cheap now.
I’m more about the overall feature set and execution than all out IQ these days. There isn’t enough difference for me to warrant dishing out large sums of cash…just to much excellent products at steep discounts out their right now.
So Admin posts a (SR5) about imminent A mount release and only 149 comments so far?? On one of the most hotly debated topics on this website,,, 149….. Is it safe to say all those +600 comment posts about anything A mount related was all just E mount trolls pumping the “a mount is dead” narrative?
It seems A mount is actually coming and all I hear is crickets from the peanut gallery.
Come on little guys why so quite? trolololo 😉
I half agree.
A great many of those people are after an A99 replacement, so this camera will be of little relevance. With APS-C E-mount Sony have created a precedent of supporting lower-end bodies while abandoning the higher end, expecting everyone to go to the A7 series if they want something better. The same could be speculated for A-mount: Sony know that a lot of low end DSLR sales go to people who just walked into a store, so best to have a recent camera waiting there for them, but if they leave the top of the range empty they can still shift people to the A7.
It’s an interesting move to create a camera that would compete with the A6000 with first-time buyers, since I don’t think this will be much interest to anyone with an A77ii etc. They must have decided there are a lot of first-time Canon Rebel buyers still out there to snag.
If they don’t keep supporting those new customers it could backfire though.
It’s certainly a better sign than the flat-line people feared, but most of the people here won’t be happy until there is an A99 successor.
Yes that makes sense. Also there are many a300 a58 type users who just want a good small sized camera for light usage but really have no where to upgrade to.
As someone mentioned below the a68 will not get overshadowed by the a77 release like last time. For the price at the time I think the a65 was a whole lot of camera for a small price.
I’d be interested to know what kind of video capabilities this camera will have. The high bit 100mbs? 4k?
I don’t think it will be 4K.
A tad more expensive at $800, then it might get 4k to “compete” against the Panny G8 in that field. But then it would mean that any subsecuent release (a6xxx, a7iii…) might include internal 4k for not cannibalizing their own products with the video-oriented shoppers.
Well, the LX100 does 4k, which cannibalises the GH4 at a fraction of the price.
If the A68 did 4k but not with log, it might be placed well enough to not compete with the a6000 (a6000 is older so can expect to be superseded on video) and a7 models (they have pro features for video).
I guess it will come down to where the A68 is wrt to the A77ii, as the A77ii doesn’t have 4k either.
That’s a good point. You also have to factor in Sony’s bonkers marketing team and their random decision making and you are probably right. Sony was making great progress with A and E-Mount here in Mexico. There was a time around 3 years ago where I would see more people with an A37, A65, A58 or a NEX than their Canikon rivals. That is of coarse until they decided to drop everything except the A7 cameras and expensive FE lenses from every single store except their own. They also added a hefty 30-50% premium for their importing efforts. Hence, Sigma art and old Minolta lenses now live on the A99.
Hey, unless Sony comes out, later on (and they should… unless the Market has commanded them not too) with a serious Pro Level FF A-Mount Camera, we can all stick our heads between our legs and kiss our A-Mounts goodbye. I’m hanging on to mine though as longs as I can because I love it, I will even hold onto yours if you have given up, if so… please sell all your A-Mount lenses and camera’s on EBay for next to nothing in order to get ride of it before its toooo late 😉
I have an a57, a99, 85mm 2.8 Sam, 24-70za 2.8, sigma 70-200 2.8 (latest version). If you are interested, my email is kpounds.photography@gmail.com. I’m serious.
If the 68 gets a FF sensor in the 600 dollar range, then I’ll be at the front of the line to get one!
Good for you! I’ll stick with my a900 which has instant review of photos, a perfect grip, a solid mount, and a decent battery life intil Sony bring us a new FF a-mount.
No, that is not the case. The A77/A77II both offer micro focus adjustment. And that feature is handy to have.
It makes sense to have keep a-mount alive because it will still sell as sony DSLR style body for people who are not interested in e-mount and want DSLR style form factor. Sony might want to confront Nikon and Canon on two fronts. Keep developing DSLR style cameras to keep Conikon confused.
This is interesting. The SLT models were all very very good cameras. I thought they could improve the jpegs though.
It’s funny to think of it that way. Sony has saved me money too by focusing so tightly on FF E-Mount cameras. In fact, in my entire motley collection of lenses, there are now only 2 a-mount lenses left and no E-mount lenses at all (even though I have an a6000).
You bet it would, but there is no way that is happening. I’d be up for an A68 sized FF A mount camera even if it costs a more realistic 1000-1500 USD though.
So, who was adamant that the A-mount was dead ?
Exactly, so so so many,, all scuttling under rocks to wait it out then reemerge with some other silly directive. It’s time to call some people out .
This doesn’t exactly dissuade me. A pretty big yawn of an update if you ask me; updated AF (from A77II), and that’s about it. I figure there will likely be a couple A-mount updates, including a FF body, until they get the OSPDAF perfected, and once they do, buh-bye A-mount…
Price $600??! Really!!?
I bet this will be $400 in 6-9 months. Even though I have switched to E Mount now, I might just buy one to get use out of my beercan!!! Canon Rebels are selling at $750… Its laughable!
A68 is just a teaser/joke! Actually it’s an A99ii coming!