Sony's A900 DSLR caught in the wild

Apparently, not only is Sony's fancy new full-frame DSLR -- the A900 -- showing up in ad leaks all across the interblogs, but it's been caught with its lens cover down in real life. An eagle-eyed forum poster managed to snag shots of what appear to be the camera in action, taken in Belgium this August doing what it does best... snapping pictures. There's not much more to say, but this should thoroughly wet your whistle for the model's forthcoming introduction, which we can only imagine will be happening sometime around the upcoming Photokina.

[Via Digital Photography Review; Thanks, Douglas]

[SteveJr_Ri @ Sep 6th 2008 10:15AM]

Engadget can we please stop with the spy shots and random news about speculation, and stick to real tech news. Granted I know a show is going on but lately it just seems to either be a picture of some camera in the wild, something about apple, some TV, or a netbook review. I can remember a time a short while ago that there was actually content to engadget. Stick to tech news that has credible sources instead of "Mr. Blurry Cam" (which was great HunterXI)

btw. I still haven't seen an article about chrome, or haven't heard you cry that it isn't on a mac. Is that why you won't review one of the best technologies for the web? Oh wait you to busy leaking spyshots and apple rumors

[andrew @ Sep 6th 2008 10:31AM]

well said... lol, someone's got an itch in his pants today! :-)

[tekdroid @ Sep 6th 2008 10:39AM]

Chrome uses a web installer. It deserves to be ingored ;) Where is that standalone link for one-download-multiple-deployments (assuming it's worthy)? Hmm? :p

In on-topicness, I like the effort Sony are putting in their DSLRs. Full frame ftw.

[morcheeba @ Sep 6th 2008 11:52AM]

If you stick to only credible sources, your website becomes a simple regurgitation of press releases, showing the same news on the same day as all the other tech blogs. I think engadget walks the line fairly well, showing some credible rumors while managing to not get duped too often.

[Anthony @ Sep 6th 2008 12:15PM]

I don't understand the Chrome thing either. When it was first announced they had a blip, now nothing.

Granted it's not a "gadget" but it's the program you use to *search* for gadgets. That's pretty important too.

[nDee @ Sep 6th 2008 12:51PM]

Without any leaked photos,
Engadget will have no update for 23 hours

[ynx @ Sep 6th 2008 1:39PM]

LOTS OF MobileMe but NO Chrome. Maybe mobilecrap is considered a gadget up there at the engadget cloud :)

[Juaquin @ Sep 6th 2008 4:53PM]

I think Engadget balances fairly well, but I would like to see some more technology related articles - not just gadgets, but technologies behind them. Also, I think it's outrageous that there hasn't even been a mention of Chrome yet. It's pretty much the biggest tech news this week and Engadget is ignoring it. So we can get posts about a slight update to Safari but nothing about the first release of a brand-new (and fairly polished for first release) browser?

[loosely_coupled @ Sep 6th 2008 9:44PM]

Engadget does a very good job. Unconfirmed leaks, reports, and speculation have always been part of engadget. So has spy photos, if they are somewhat decent, as the one above certainly is. If they solely reported confirmed news, all you would see is a bunch of press releases..

in other words, SHUT YOUR HOLE!

[BobTurbo @ Sep 6th 2008 10:54PM]

Amen. The problem is that they most likely analyse the number of hits of each article and have found that these stupid rumour stories are the most popular.

Engadget miss a lot of interesting stories on their mission for ten thousand posts of a blurry fake iPod. It certainly doesn't have to be about press releases, there are so many other things to cover.

[Kinematic @ Sep 7th 2008 9:29AM]

Odd thing to say considering that Chrome is made with Safari engine.... in it's core it's an Apple.

[ben @ Sep 6th 2008 10:32AM]

The expression is "wet" your whistle. Not "whet." Wetting one's whistle refers to making your lips or occasionally fingers moist so they will whistle better.

Also, the above commenter makes a valid point. Why no Chrome love?

[andrew @ Sep 6th 2008 10:35AM]

yeah there is one post with chrome and andriod , search engadget for the tag chrome.

I would like a bit more for it. Looks set to take up some market share from the big 2.

[Jerremy @ Sep 6th 2008 10:56AM]

@ben Right. It's wet you whistle, whet you apatite.

[Chris @ Sep 6th 2008 10:33AM]

The hunter has become the hunted.

[dfivetwo @ Sep 6th 2008 12:41PM]

That is one fine-looking lens...

[xValentine @ Sep 6th 2008 11:49AM]

What does Full-Frame means in the DSLR camera ?

[Sin @ Sep 6th 2008 12:09PM]

The sensor is the same size as 35mm film.
People want this because it makes their old lenses behave like they should,
and the depth-of-field is better with a larger sensor.

Most DSLR's are APS-C, this means 1.6 times smaller than full frame,
lenses can be smaller, but there are also disadvantages.

Read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-frame_digital_SLR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/135_film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera#Sensor_size_and_image_quality

[Backlin @ Sep 6th 2008 12:13PM]

I am so going to edit one of those articles...

[Bayard @ Sep 6th 2008 11:53AM]

Dear engadget,
I think your speculating and rumor watching and spyshots and general snark are what make you so much fun to visit.

[Billster @ Sep 6th 2008 12:41PM]

Yes, let's continue with this type of news and spyshots. Last time I check, the site was called engadget and the new Sony is one amazing gadget. Even a Canon fan like me can appreciate news on the new Sony full frame digital SLR.

[JG @ Sep 6th 2008 1:29PM]

This is the new A900 camera all right - but quite interestingly, the camera also sports the upcoming (yet still unannounced) Zeiss ZA 16-35/2.8 FF-lens.

[CEHE4KA @ Sep 12th 2008 2:12PM]

Zeiss FTW

[Wicker24 @ Sep 6th 2008 12:47PM]

Already starting on you about Chrome today huh Josh?

What does Chrome have to do with a DSLR camera?

On topic this camera looks great and I cannot wait to start snapping away!

[Preston @ Sep 6th 2008 12:48PM]

This is probably the same sensor that's going to end up in Nikon's D3x.

[CEHE4KA @ Sep 12th 2008 2:11PM]

Probably since Sony makes Nikon sensors.

[Nina @ Sep 6th 2008 12:56PM]

24.6 megapixels, Sony's Dual BIONZ image processing engine, "Intelligent Preview", a 3-inch Hybrid LCD, 5fps continuous shooting.... http://www.camera-forums.com/forums/f2/advert-reveals-spec-sonys-900-dslr-184/

[lonewolf @ Sep 6th 2008 1:18PM]

The 100% coverage @ 0.74x magnification OVF is quite impressive. I was going to order Nikon D700 from B&H but right now I will for Sony A900 instead.

[lens42 @ Sep 6th 2008 2:10PM]

That shot look too good to be a spy shot. I'd bet it was a leaked promo shot.

[gad get @ Sep 7th 2008 7:53AM]

I disagree. It just looks to me like the spy shot was taken by at least a semi-experienced photographer with a decent camera. Which makes sense, since someone who uses such a camera would be the type who might actually know the significance of what they were looking at. Most people would just see a guy holding a big camera, and not think anything more of it.

If someone using a cameraphone were to post a spy shot of this, that would just be weird. I guarantee that almost anyone who takes photography seriously enough to know what the man is holding wouldn't be caught dead without a good camera on them. Especially in this situation, where there's clearly some sort of spectacle everyone is gathered to see. (When does a serious photographer show up to an event without decent equipment?)

Plus, the photos just don't have that marketing "flare" to them that you would expect of a promo shoot, you know what I mean?

[Taylor @ Sep 6th 2008 8:19PM]

Not sure about you guys, but I want the camera just for the lens. That thing is freakin' awesome.

[Arseny @ Sep 12th 2008 2:14PM]

This lens probably costs more than most cameras on the market.

[Dudebaker @ Sep 7th 2008 2:20AM]

For sure that is a staged leak. Even the freaking EXIF in the photo is from an existing Sony camera - with their 0.01% market share what are the odds of that?

[Geir E @ Sep 7th 2008 3:38PM]

You know, the reason someone spottet the camera was probably because they knew what it was. And those who usually know Sony stuff uses Sony stuff since the Canon and Nikon users are already too occupied by acting smug. ;)

But for all means this news is good news for them too, just means more competition which means their respective brand will get better toys than they would if the competition wasn't that stiff.

[joey @ Sep 9th 2008 1:40AM]

What are the odds that I could buy a Canon or Nikon DSLR camera with a 24.6MP FF image sensor and 100% viewfinder? ZERO.

[Ankan Bhowmick @ Sep 7th 2008 4:54AM]

Do I see a Zeiss logo in that lens? Yummy!

[Karn Eggie @ Sep 7th 2008 7:40PM]

Here is the lens:

http://www.zeiss.com/C12567A8003B8B6F/GraphikTitelIntern/Vario-SonnarT28-2224-70ZA_2/$File/objektiv_gross.jpg

pretty nice if you ask me, i wonder if the new D90 can handle it?

[chych @ Sep 7th 2008 8:46PM]

Of course the D90 can't handle it, since it's not a Nikon mount lens. But Nikon users can use their excellent 14-24/2.8 or others.

[douglasferling2 @ Sep 8th 2008 11:12AM]

some of you are missing the point. That isn't the current 24-70 zeiss, it's a new 16-35mm that we haven't seen yet.