Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 Digital SLR

[Photo-John]

The official Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 press release has been posted on the news page:
http://forums.photographyreview.com/...ad.php?t=21700

Someone spilled the beans so it got posted a bit early and I'm, umm, not quite prepared. More info will follow. I have lots and lots. For now, let's just say - it's looking good

[payn817]

Lookin great. I read the info and lens list last night, and can't wait to get my hands on the system. MSRP is $899 (if i recall) and there's some G glass on the way.


John, don't be a tease, let us know what you got

Do you know if you'll be getting one for review?

[Photo-John]

I should get one for review. I don't know when, though.

G glass, as well as three Carl Zeiss lenses are on the way. A 24-120mm equivalent Zeiss zoom is one of the highlights, in my opinion.

[kiwiguo]

Forget it. Minolta Professional customers have been forgotten for the last 8-9 months with no equipment available since January. Sony allowed Minolta to withdraw from the market 8-9 months before they are ready to fill the place leaving us with nothing. With no replacement lenses or any accessories available until September, it's time to say farewell to my beloved Minolta kit and hello to Canon. Anyone want to buy 2 x 7D's, one A2, one 800si, numerous flash units, numerous lens systems (incl a bunch of prime f2.8's, f1.4's and numerous zooms out to 300mm) ? Package sale coz I am off to Canon who have products not hollow promises and actually understand the concept of customer service.

[payn817]

LOL.

Have a good one over in Canoland. Personally, I had everything I wanted/needed before they dropped out, and probably won't even touch the first generation Sony product. Unless something breaks and needs to be replaced, that is.


FWIW, business is like that. KM couldn't afford to remain open, and why would Sony pay their people's salary to keep them open? It takes awhile to resolve issues, and transfer people/knowledge.


I was thinking about the lenses that have already been announced, more than the body. Some of those lenses point to one thing in my mind, a future "pro" line.

[kiwiguo]

You are lucky to have all you need already.

KM and Sony have plenty of money so are not going broke to bridge the transition in a professional way. Their handover is to say the least amateur, by leaving dedicated customers in a void. Normally we can't change systems so easily so I am now planning my $10,000 hit to switch. Insult to injury, the Sony help desk laughed to me that I was such a dedicated customer of KM. When I reminded him I was now a Sony customer he gave the standard reply ... wait .. great things are to come. I even went to the level of Sir Howard Stringer, their CEO, especially when my local Sony Service centre insited I pay into a personal bank account before I could get my camera back after cleaning of my dear old old 800si. Well, $18,000 of KM kit is on e.bay and look now to my new EOS which are vastly superior spec to anything either of the above offer.

I would urge anyone with KM gear in a professional setting, dump it because "Sony Care", don't care.

666 is their launch date ....

mmmmmm ...............

[Photo-John]

Originally Posted by kiwiguo

Forget it. Minolta Professional customers have been forgotten for the last 8-9 months with no equipment available since January. Sony allowed Minolta to withdraw from the market 8-9 months before they are ready to fill the place leaving us with nothing. With no replacement lenses or any accessories available until September, it's time to say farewell to my beloved Minolta kit and hello to Canon.

Sorry to hear that. I think service has been the main concern of Konica Minolta owners. I'm sure you'll be happy with Canon equipment but it's a shame you feel the need to abandon your KM system.

[Erik Stiegler]

It must be something to have $18,000 worth of gear and not have everything you need.

At the risk of sounding flippant, I would think Minolta owners would have gotten use to being left in a void. Minolta took years to deliver a DSLR, and skipped generations of pro level cameras. Things like that.

It seems odd to decide to drop them just when a company that seems interested in actually selling cameras takes over the business. If you've been waiting on Konica-Minolta to take the DSLR market seriously for this long, what's another couple months?

[Ronnoco]

Originally Posted by Photo-John

The official Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 press release has been posted on the news page:
http://forums.photographyreview.com/...ad.php?t=21700

Someone spilled the beans so it got posted a bit early and I'm, umm, not quite prepared. More info will follow. I have lots and lots. For now, let's just say - it's looking good

I am that someone.

Ronnoco

[Photo-John]

Originally Posted by Ronnoco

I am that someone.

No - no you aren't

I meant at a higher level. All members of the press were under NDA for weeks on the Alpha release. Another site spilled the beans early. We weren't supposed to post until midnight, NY time, last night. And after one site posted, other sites started to do the same. So you aren't to blame.

I'm working on a dedicated Sony Alpha system page. I'm hoping to have it up in a couple of days. If anyone has any questions before then, I have a lot of information.

[payn817]

I was not offended by your decision or anything. What camera a person uses doesn't matter to me. I do think the newer offerings look promising, and I never have the need for the "pro" features, so I'm gonna wait awhile. If Sony don't do it right, I'll be right there with you in "Camp Canon".

It's understandable for someone who makes a living to leave, but because of service, not because of much else. Perhaps I am missing something, but I get alot of positive feedback about my photos, and they're taken with KM products.

[Anbesol]

10 megapixel, anti-shake built in with dust reduction and the best priced quality lens on the market?

yeah, that just sucks dont it ;) :P...

I have a replacement plan on my minolta 5D, i am SO going to "manufacturer defect" that out to the new sony a100 when it comes out! ...

should i be worried it doesnt shoot iso 3200? i hope its comparable to the minoltas in noise performance, thats big shoes to fill, but if theyre anything like theyre building themselves up to be, they will...

[farkengruven]

OK kiwiguo, we all know by now you are going to Canon land. Can you please speed it up a bit...

[kiwiguo]

Don't get me wrong guys, I have a living to make here. My studio is probably one of the few using KM gear and with wedding photo's, you miss one shot, you miss the wedding. I found with the move to the 7D's that the old lens's were compatable to a point, but lacked accurate exposure indoors with no flash (which we gotta do) and focus searches too much. So needed the new D lens's. These were since removed from the market from January-February at the same time I invested in 7D's for my studio. Press release says Sony eq. SSM 70-200 f2.8 is out in September ... More frustrating is that I live 20km from the factory in China which makes them but Sony won't relase .. just 1.

You are right, it is only lack of service from Sony during their transition. Hope for future users it is not the norm. KM to me was the groundbreaker. My old 800si on Velvia with a good scanner has given us a 100% digital eq. hit rate which so far the 7D has not matched. Due to lack of lens's we are using the "old trusted si's" today ... and the 7D's are on the shelf. Frustrated thats all, sorry to bother you all, but somehow I want to get the message to Sony.

[Photo-John]

Again - thanks for posting. This post was especially useful. And I think your insight, both as a professional and as someone who's having some problems, is especially valuable. You have just as much of a right to be on this forum as anyone else. I'm here and I don't even own one piece of Sony or Konica Minolta gear - unless you count my TV

I'm also excited to find out we have a pro from mainland China on the site. I think that's very cool. Glad to have you - no matter what equipment you use

[Ronnoco]

The specs look great and suggest that Minolta and Sony directed their design attention to some of the concerns of photographers as in tonality, noise, stabilization, shooting speed, battery power, focus, etc. and seemed to have done it all at an extremely reasonable price.

Ronnoco

[Photo-John]

I have posted a full page on the new Sony Alpha DSLR-A100, here: http://www.photographyreview.com/sonydslrcrx.aspx

It has full specs, a description of the features and system, and more photos.

[kiwiguo]

:-)
Yes, running a studio in China does have it's interesting times but overall business is OK. Still some nice opportunities in rural china and models to die for in Shanghai. haha. Still capturing on Velvia. I guess we have to wait for a 30,000 MP camera to match this one ... haha.

[Anbesol]

actually from something ive read the hasselblads, such as teh 40 megapixel H2D offers better resolutions then the velvia...

[sakbarzad]

well i work for sony and i went to a training on this camera... its actually not that bad of a camera... dont get me wrong im not die hard sony i actually bought an sd450 over anything we offered but im actually waiting for this camera to hit

[Photo-John]

Originally Posted by sakbarzad

well i work for sony and i went to a training on this camera... its actually not that bad of a camera... dont get me wrong im not die hard sony i actually bought an sd450 over anything we offered but im actually waiting for this camera to hit

An interesting post, for sure. What do you do for Sony? And can you tell us anything interesting about the camera that we don't know yet? Maybe you can start a new thread. I am very curious about the A100 and look forward to getting some hands-on time with it.

[sakbarzad]

Originally Posted by Photo-John

An interesting post, for sure. What do you do for Sony? And can you tell us anything interesting about the camera that we don't know yet? Maybe you can start a new thread. I am very curious about the A100 and look forward to getting some hands-on time with it.

it sounds better than it really is i work for sony style and they sent me to a training on the a100 we got to play around with it. we got to use the kit lens and a 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens. they didnt tell us anything "top secret". all they told us was the basics because nobody really knew anything... but a side note we printed out the top 8 pictures and from the top 8, 6 of them were mine btw if any one is in the stanford, ca area we have the alpha on display to play around with... ask for sal (thats me)

[payn817]

IMO, Sony made a bad move in letting anyone use those kit lenses (from my understanding, they have two different kits) both are not the best of quality. Though they are not easily found, there are images taken with the A100 with much better glass used, and there's a huge difference.

[Photo-John]

Originally Posted by sakbarzad

btw if any one is in the stanford, ca area we have the alpha on display to play around with... ask for sal (thats me)

I'm in the area, and it's my job to check it out. Hook it up!

I'll send you an e-mail.

[sakbarzad]

a100 just released only store to have them now is sony style in stanford