Some REALLY good news for the Sony/KM-shooters! ;-)) M@H

[Max@Home]

Hi KM-shooters!

RUMOUR HAS IT that 06-06-2006 Sony will launch a Sony Alpha 100 10.2 MP body-image-stabilized DSLR and 22 new lenses, mainly re-branded KM AF lenses, no clue out there whether they are optically improved.

Pictures can be found here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=18709943

) trusting this makes at least one Camelian happy, *my* €0.02 worth...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[Mr. Pickles]

Very nice. And white ones too. If it is all true, then bring them all on. Minolta users need to know what is in store, and this looks like good news to me.

I am sure some will disapprove (RS) of the Sony name, but it looks good on the front htere. Not as good as Minolta, but better than Konica-Minolta to me.

[Paul Shields]

I do find the Sony name a little jarring, but mainly due to my experience with Sony products, and how they've always tried to control technology for their own aims. I'll give them the benefit of the boubt in this area until they've established themselves, and they do seem to be quite serious about attacking the DSLR market.

There is now a mini preview of the Alpha on DPR: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/sonydslra100/

[cyclohexane]

I expected to be totally put off by the camera, but I have to say that it looks pretty good in the preview. The new Sony telephotos and Carl Zeiss short telephoto primes are at the very least intriguing to me. I doubt I'll actually buy one (doesn't share the Infolithium NP-FM50 batteries), as I already have a Nikon kit, but I'm going to keep my eye on where Sony's going with their system.

[Mr. Pickles]

Reading the link to a mini-report that Paul posted, this camera shows some promise to me.

Anti-shake, anti-dust, eye start AF, 40 segment honeycomb metering pattern, continuous JPG shooting till the CF is full, and a 10mp sensor (from Nikon D200 probably) sounds really good to me. And they have 22 new lenses coming to (most are redo's from earlier models, but new Carl Zeiss ones too).

Doesn't seem like just a rebadged KM 5D to me

[Sidebyte]

Curious to find out if it's patterned after the 5 or the 7.....the 7 was basically mag alloy and the 5 was polycarb?

[Paul Shields]

It does look like they've included everything but the kitchen sink as far as specs go. Looking forward to seeing some detailed reviews.

[Sidebyte]

Originally Posted by Sidebyte

Curious to find out if it's patterned after the 5 or the 7.....the 7 was basically mag alloy and the 5 was polycarb?

In reading further, the A100 is an adaptation of the 5D and is polycarbonate. The future intent according to the article is to introduce an up0scale DSLR based upon the magnesium bodied 7D at a later date.

[Nikonfreak]

This looks rather interesting doesn't it?

"The α (Alpha) DSLR-A100 will be the only D-SLR camera that can optimize dynamic range, meaning the range from highlights to shadows, including gain and contrast, through in-camera hardware processing.

Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) analyzes the captured image data and instantly determines the best exposure and color tonality of an image before JPEG compression. Unlike software optimization of a processed image, DRO is performed in the hardware. It is the first hardware-based DRO solution with the speed required for high-speed shooting. "

One of my biggest beefs is dynamic range.... This could be very interesting.

I've always said that with competition, we all win in the long run as all of our systems continue to get better and better.

Julio

[timjon]

Hmm... if it's "before JPEG compression" that implies it takes place after the sensor has been fully read - so from the description (and I could be COMPLETELY wrong about this) it may be that this doesn't offer any real advantages over RAW shooting.

I hope I'm wrong, as coming from a B+W print background, the limited DR of modern DSLRs is one of the things I find most limiting.

Cheers,

Tim.

[Mr. Pickles]

The way I look at it, the increased DR of the JPG will be better than than the RAW image. But then again, I think it is on a lot of cameras.

The real question to me is "will it be better than you could get with the RAW file?"

I mean, straight out of the camera, will this JPG image look better than you could get be tweaking the values of the RAW file? I think that just about any camera will produce a better looking JPG than it does a RAW, before you adjust the RAW and add some USM too.

[Sidebyte]

Originally Posted by Paul

I do find the Sony name a little jarring, but mainly due to my experience with Sony products, and how they've always tried to control technology for their own aims. I'll give them the benefit of the boubt in this area until they've established themselves, and they do seem to be quite serious about attacking the DSLR market.

Yes!, I find the name plate a little crass....I think I may buy one and cover the Sony label with an old KIEV label that I have.

[Raist3d]

Originally Posted by Nikonfreak

This looks rather interesting doesn't it?

"The α (Alpha) DSLR-A100 will be the only D-SLR camera that can optimize dynamic range, meaning the range from highlights to shadows, including gain and contrast, through in-camera hardware processing.

Hmm the Fuji S3 already does this, and I am willing to bet better than the Alpha, at least from RAW files.

- Raist

[BaghdadAR]

Originally Posted by Raist3d

Hmm the Fuji S3 already does this, and I am willing to bet better than the Alpha, at least from RAW files.

- Raist

Two completely different processes, and Fuji's is over two years old (not to mention on a $2500 body). Also, the Fuji approach only optimizes highlights, not the full dynamic range. I'd be willing to bet the Sony is better, unless somehow you believe sensor technology doesn't approve very rapidly.

[Rokcet Scientist]

I'm discovering Dynamic Range Optimized images everywhere now. Many of 'em over the top. Like these 2 that come from my desktop pix collection, where they have been for months at least. Every second glossy fashion mag you open has it too, these days. It's getting stale already.