Sony A300 and A350 DSLRs with swivel-screen and live view leaked

With just days to go until PMA, it looks like security's starting to slip a little bit -- a little creative sonystyle.com URL trickery led Beline at the Dyxum forums to images of those Sony A300 and A350 DSLRs we'd heard about. The A300 is an update to the A200, adding in live preview and a flip-out swivel screen, while the A350 looks like it'll be a 14.2 megapixel unit and probably includes live preview and the swivel screen as well. We're hearing that an A900 is also in the works, but that's a just a whisper -- looks like there might be some surprises in store this week after all.

Update: Tons more pictures here, for the curious.

[Thanks, Mike]

[eddy_88_nite @ Jan 28th 2008 4:08PM]

I am so getting the A350...14 mp with live view..woot

[Joseph @ Jan 28th 2008 4:26PM]

what lenses they use?

[felgonza @ Jan 28th 2008 5:07PM]

@Joseph:
They use Konica/Minolta lenses. Actually, Sony bought the whole Konica/Minolta photography division.

[ET @ Jan 28th 2008 5:07PM]

A mount from Minolta, so you can shop for minolta old lenses, sony lenses, Sigma and Tamron lenses with sony mounts

[Dankoozy @ Jan 28th 2008 4:27PM]

The first new DSLR this week that takes CF. Huzzah!
whats with the sudden influx of new DSLR's anyway? why now? the past week and a half has probably seen more new ones released than in all of 2007

[EddieW @ Jan 28th 2008 4:41PM]

You know? DSLRs are actually getting more popular with the average users. The price drops and the mass marketing by companies like Nikon (that whole D40x thing) are really making the entry level DSLRs more common around the street. And if you ever travel to Asia (or if you live in an Asian-tourist heavy spot), you will notice a lot of Asian users are carrying DSLRs, i guess they are more common oversea comparing to the States as well.

[PeterF @ Jan 28th 2008 4:44PM]

its SLR week

[ET @ Jan 28th 2008 5:08PM]

It's more popular, but most of the people still set it to P-mode and popup the internal flash to use it like a P&S

[Mike @ Jan 28th 2008 5:31PM]

Um... it's the week of PMA bro...

[Jeff @ Jan 28th 2008 5:24PM]

It's called PMA. Look it up...

[Geir E @ Jan 28th 2008 5:37PM]

It is first because the increased popularity with slrs, then it has with the upcoming PMA, then it also has with that the last generation is getting old and the cycle to replace was due (and they all tend to release at the same time to avoid brand jumping and stuff)

[Mike V @ Jan 28th 2008 4:40PM]

Yawn.

Where is the 5D Mk II?

Come on Canon, throw us a bone for PMA.

[c1906w @ Jan 28th 2008 5:28PM]

canon are bringing out a new entry level 450d or rebel xt what ever it will be called in the states and it sounds like a 50d will soon replace the 40d which is mad as thats only just come out.

[chadow @ Jan 28th 2008 4:47PM]

Thats quite a camera. I want one.

On another note, its strange how so many photo buffs made fun of Olympus when they were the first to add live view on the E series dSLR's. Then they put a tilt/swivel LCD on the E-3. All I read after that was "GO back to your point and shoot" in places that I praised the E-510 and E-3.

Canon, Nikon and now Sony now following Olympus's lead? Too funny.

[Noah @ Jan 28th 2008 4:52PM]

Wait, an A300 update to the brand spanking new A200? That sounds dumb. And although I wouldn't put it past Sony to introduce so many similar models, I don't think they would go so far as to have an immediate update to the long awaited A200 in the form of an A300, only to supersede THAT with an A350. Also, the A700 is new enough that an A900 seems silly. However, I haven't really been following Sony, so the timeline might be right, who knows.

[ET @ Jan 28th 2008 5:10PM]

You are right, but the A200 is immediately obsolete when Canon 450D, Pentax K200 all come up with their version of live view. Sony will be one generation behind if they don't announce their version with liveview fast enough.

Also, A200 is a joke when the sensor is completely the same as A100.

[Geir E @ Jan 28th 2008 5:43PM]

First, the a200 is the budget version, a step above is the a300, then the a350, then the a700. just like Nikon d40, d40x, d80 and d300. People have more choices.

In the other hand, the sensor in the a200 is not the same as in the a100. yes, it has the same mpixel (or thereabout) but it has improved noise handling and does iso 800 like the a100 did iso 200 or 400.

having 14 megapixles on a aps-c sensor is probably more a marketing plot than useful. because I bet the 10 mpixel sensor perform better in low light with no visible difference in resolution. 10 vs 12 vs 14 is not a very huge difference.

But I will be buying the a700. wish it jut got that tilt screen update :)

[Boudu @ Jan 28th 2008 6:49PM]

@Geir E

Great explanation, Sony seems to be tiering their line-up pretty well. Hopefully the A350 will use a CMOS sensor for better lower noise at higher ISOs. Also, the A200 goes up to 3200 ISO, while the A100 did not (neither does the Rebel XSI for that matter).

However, being that the A700 is $1400 now, Sony seems to have a pretty crowded prosumer DSLR market (A200, A300, A350, A700)

[Bluesoul @ Jan 28th 2008 11:10PM]

Do you really think the 450D is gonna have Live View? The first camera Canon rolled it out on was the 40D and the 1DMkIII. The 450D will be neither of those. Nonetheless I'm a whore for swivel screens, though it looks a bit clunky compared to how Canon did it with the S1/2/3/5 IS. I'll be watching the PMA feed definitely

[travis @ Jan 28th 2008 4:55PM]

i want to get my hands on the α350, but i wonder what the price tag looks like..

[Semi @ Jan 28th 2008 5:07PM]

here is some more photos
http://minoltaspain.com/foros/index.php?topic=9136.msg90829#msg90829

link from dpreview.com

[Bill Koslosky, MD @ Jan 28th 2008 5:21PM]

What I'm waiting for is for them to put a decent-sized sensor in a compact digital cam. Something that can do a good job at handling noise at high ISOs, but that you carry with you always. I understand that Nikon might be coming out of a few models.

[Dankoozy @ Jan 28th 2008 5:34PM]

its called the megapixel war. people know what megapixels are, not too many non-photography people know what noise is unless a picture is *very* noisy.

an old olympus 1.3MP camera takes better pics than some of the crap on the market now.

[Mike @ Jan 28th 2008 5:31PM]

Hey Engadget, you got my http wrong. :-D

[Kalen @ Jan 28th 2008 8:03PM]

Didnt't pentax just come out with their own version of live view on the upcoming K20D?

It might even be out now, I'm not too sure when it comes to cameras

[G H @ Jan 28th 2008 8:30PM]

My guess is the A200 w/lens $699, A300 w/lens $799, A350 w/lens $899. You guys are gonna be blown away when you see how well the live view works in the A300/350. A second CMOS sensor swings down in front of the mirror, so you get full auto focus, unlike the janky live view systems in the other DSLRs. If Sony announces the A900 at this PMS, then they are gonna be the talk of that show with 4 new cameras in a month.

[Doug F @ Jan 28th 2008 8:31PM]

I meant PMA, lol

[Elan @ Jan 29th 2008 1:14PM]

This was posted a while ago. More about about the camera and images here:
http://www.dslrgossip.com/sony-a300-with-swiveling-lcd/