Sony working on an A200-ish DSLR with flip-out LCD?

Well, Sony finally got official with its A200 DSLR this week, but it looks like Sony's got even more in store for camera nuts. According to the Dyxum forums -- which tracked down these images on some Chinese / Taiwan forums -- Sony's prepping this here DSLR with a flip-screen, and that's all that's known at the moment. The main body is pretty similar to that of the A200, but the internals and other modifications are anyone's guess.

[Via Dyxum]

[Ryan @ Jan 8th 2008 5:44PM]

I'll stick with canon for now.

[supaneko @ Jan 8th 2008 5:51PM]

Yeah, after the fiasco with Sony's CCD chips failing and the ensuing lawsuit... I too will stick with Canon. :)

[David @ Jan 8th 2008 6:17PM]

Agreed. After having some Sony products, and even Minolta which use Sony's faulty CCDs, I am only going Canon or Nikon from now on. Sod Sony.

[CNG @ Jan 8th 2008 6:27PM]

David: "After having some Sony products, and even Minolta which use Sony's faulty CCDs, I am only going Canon or Nikon from now on. Sod Sony."

Umm, you do realise that almost all Nikon cameras (except D2H series, and possibly D3) use Sony sensors too, right?
As do Pentax, and even Canon compact cameras (though not DSLRs).

[Temple @ Jan 8th 2008 7:35PM]

Canon? Aren't they that had the horrible AF issue on the 1-D Mark III. Which they really haven't fixed even with the new updates. The AF is still superior on the 1-D Mark IIn.

You would think that a $4,500 camera would have better service.

[ehisforadam @ Jan 8th 2008 10:07PM]

You Nikon guys do realize most Nikon DSLR sensors are made by Sony.

[JohnTitor @ Jan 8th 2008 6:00PM]

wow, it looks like it ran over another camera

[legacys7 @ Jan 8th 2008 6:15PM]

ran over canon. ;)

[Matt Wier @ Jan 8th 2008 6:11PM]

I'll stick with my 40D, 20D and like 3k in Canon glass. Screw Sony and their overpriced, under performing SLR's.

[hawkeye1977 @ Jan 8th 2008 6:18PM]

@John Titor, I hope you realize that is the OPTIONAL vertical grip attached to the camera.

@Matt Wier, you really sound like a fanboy here. All SLR brands have great products and lenses but you are completely blind if you don't think the A100 and A700 are great, competitive machines compared to Canon, Nikon, etc. I have the A700 and love it. Could name many things it has that your 40D doesn't and also some things your 40D has that mine doesn't. You sound like a fool making blanket statements like that though.

[Matt Wier @ Jan 8th 2008 9:15PM]

Try me. Yes, I am a Canon Fanboy. 100%. But that's not saying I've only ever used a Canon camera. I started with dSLR's on an Olympus E-300 - excellent camera for the price - not great, but for the $800 I got it for with two lenses in August 2005, it was excellent. A year later, I realized I needed more. I tested a D200, D70s, and 20D - the 20D felt to be the best of the bunch. The D70s was too much like my E-300, the D200 just felt lazy to me, but the 20D, oh the 20D was fast, strong, sharp, and snappy. In my first year and a half my line of lenses and accessories grew and I was hooked. I bought a 40D two weeks ago and love it. I currently have a Sigma 10-20mm EX, Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 EX, Canon 50mm f1.8, Canon 70-200mm 2.8 L, and a 430EX, among an array of other goodies. I apologize if I came off as a complete short-sighted jerk, but from my personal experience Sony's dSLR's don't deliver the same punch that their price-tags do. However Sony's P&S cams are great - I'll admit they rival Canon and Olympus'. By the way, I'm only a high school senior (and no, mom and dad aren't the ones who purchased all of that equipment - I worked, saved, and bought it) and plan on attending Brooks Institute of Photography this July. I invite you to take a look at some of the work on my website - www.mattwierphotography.com
Mucho Love,
Matt Wier

[hawkeye1977 @ Jan 8th 2008 9:33PM]

Sure I can understand and appreciate that you have a great camera body and some nice lenses, both of your cameras are excellent. However that doesn't mean that the Sony, Nikon, Pentax, etc. cameras don't have great products as well. Personally I can't stand Sony as a company for many reasons but the Sony A700 I own was the perfect fit for me for many reasons. I have the A700 that goes for about $100 more than your 40D. With that I get in body image stabilization on ALL of my lenses which is a huge deal for me. I bought an excellent Minolta 70-210 F4 lens for $150 on ebay, another great 50mm F1.7 Minolta lens for $100 on ebay, a Sigma 24-70 F2.8 for $280 new, and a Sony 18-250 F3.5-6.3 lens for $500. Every single one of these lenses is now stabilized, many of which are old and low cost but excellent glass. Plus Sony has their Dynamic Range Optimizer, similar but IMO better to Nikon's D-Lighting. Also I, and many others find the button placement and menu system to be second to none. I can change almost all major settings naturally without even having to think about it or look away from the viewfinder. I'd say you have a bit better performance at ISO 1600 and above and also Live View even though it's very limited. The Nikon D300 is better than both our cameras in high ISO image quality but it's a lot more expensive and for me again has no in body image stabilization. For the most part though you need to go with the camera body you're comfortable with and has the lenses you like/need. Really at this price range and regular sized prints they'll all be almost identical so us arguing is pretty pointless.

[K H @ Jan 8th 2008 9:50PM]

"I apologize if I came off as a complete short-sighted jerk, but from my personal experience Sony's dSLR's don't deliver the same punch that their price-tags do."
And what is your personal experience.

You do realize that the All Sonys have spot metering which your 20D and none of the Rebels has.
All Sonys have a built in wireless flash controller which is $160+ add on for Canon
For $100 more than the 40D. The A700 has always available ISO 100-6400 where the 40D disables both 100 and 3200 for some modes.
All Sonys stabilize all compatible lenses from my used 50mm f1.7 to my Sigma 10-20mm
A700 supports high speed UDMA CF cards, 40D does not
Sony has a second memory slot for Memory stick and while not my favorite format I keep one loaded at all times as back up..
So I really wonder what PERSONAL Experience you have that says Sony DSLRS don;t provide value.
Oh and there is the 3 inch VGA res LCD on the A700.
Oh and the include wireless remote with controls for playing images on a TV and both regular and 2 second delay shutter release.
If I just want to add a wireless remote and wireless flash controller the 40D is almost $200 more then the Sony.. so what was your problem with Sony Value. NOte I am not saying the Canons take bad pictures or even that they are a bad choice.. just that there is plenty of comparative value in the Sony vs Canon,

[Ty @ Jan 9th 2008 10:29AM]

That's a nice list. Too bad you can't use Canon glass on a Sony :(

[dove-7 @ Jan 8th 2008 6:16PM]

sony ran over canon. ;)

[K H @ Jan 8th 2008 6:22PM]

Any company that thinks it can hold #1 with just a brand name and feature crippled DSLRs under $1000 is about to get a wake up call. Nikon and Sony are going to knock Canon down a notch with better features sets on great cameras. Canon is heading to #2 behind Nikon..

[celeritas @ Jan 8th 2008 10:01PM]

A flip out LCD screen looks like a sure sign it will have live view capabilities. But then again, the A700 doesn't have live view so it wouldn't really make sense for Sony to give that feature to a cheaper model. Maybe it can be added to the A700 via firmware.

[DavidEckmier @ Jan 8th 2008 10:41PM]

I foresee a whole new crop of "photographers" who hold their cameras above their heads while they shoot dozens of crappy pictures. As if digital photography hadn't diluted the art of photography enough... :oP

[Geir E @ Jan 9th 2008 5:20AM]

You know, even if they were holding the camera by the camera strap it really doesn't matter. It is not how you use the camera that is important - it is the result you get. So if you want to photograph above the crowd, from a birds perspective or any other creative way you could imagine - why should that be more "crappy" than the regular peek through the viewfinder?

[ottovds @ Jan 9th 2008 8:53AM]

For top of the line optics canon and nikon are simply the best. As we all know Canon and Nikon lenses are simply better than Sigma ones when we see the built quality. Only a few Sigma's do support Sony mount.

For example there is no only mount 70-200mm f/2.8. And this is what I think is my dream lens...

And in the 70-200mm series canon even beats Nikon, as they have a light weight 70-200 f/4 with 1 stops more of ImageStabilisator compensation when compared to other 70-200mm's.

All brands have some advantages to others brands. It is to you to decide with brand or camera will satisfy you for the longest time. And don't forget Fuji, as they use nikon mount and have a huge Dynamic range.

Keep in mind that optics is a key factor, as a body don't last that long as good lens... Once investing in optics it will probably more difficult to change to the other brand.

I use a canon 30D now, but when I could buy a camera now, I'd definitely choose for a nikon D300 because of the sealed body and functions as a more advanced AutoExposureBracketing and making time lapses.

[ottovds @ Jan 9th 2008 8:53AM]

As a flip LCD is only higly usable when having Lifeview, I think this camera will have it built in.

[Rally9x @ Jan 9th 2008 9:12PM]

-ottovds

You are exactly correct Carl Zeiss has a long history of sub par camera lenses. No wait, their pretty much the most respected name in the history of photography. Sony is fully aware that they need high quality glass and the few releases they have had so far have proven that. One big advantage I find in the Minolta/Sony series is that it has an amazing array of wide prime lenses that can be image stabilized. I don't think Canon or Nikon make a single IS Prime that isn't a Telephoto.

Also you do know that the 70-200 G 2.8 is one heck of a lense right?

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11033557