PMA is just kicking off in earnest down in Anaheim, and it looks like
Sony has arrived in a big way. Looking to make a splash in a DSLR world dominated by Canon and Nikon, the outfit has brought a few of its best and brightest concepts to SoCal. Up first is an ultra-compact "interchangeable lens" concept, which is no doubt Sony's attempt to get in on the fledgling
Micro Four Thirds game before it blows up big. Few details on the device are available, but we'll be doing our best to pry whatever specifications we can from the booth representatives in short order. Moving on, there's a conceptual model of the
Alpha A700 replacement, complete with an Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor that promises full AVCHD video capabilities. There's also a prototype of a Super Telephoto Lens (500mm F4 G) as well as a prototype Distagon T 24mm F2 ZA SSM, which ought to make wide angle junkies drool profusely. The company's also dishing out a raft of accessories, including underwater housing devices, HD lenses and output cables, tripods / accessory packs and a Compact PictureStation photo printing kiosk. Stay tuned for some hands-on action from the show floor.
posted February 21st 2010 12:26PM
Needs more buttons, seriously. If I'm going to buy a micro 4/3 camera, it must have a decent of complement of buttons for use in manual mode to set parameters.
It is sexy though.
@spin cycle And it has to go to eleven!
...prototype of a Super Telephone Lens (500mm F4 G)...
Haha! That sounds intriguing
@jm1234567890 Ring, ring? ;-)
No, not another lens mount standard, Jesus tap-dancing Christ.
And the pocket DSLR will soon be upon us. Only problem yet to solve, getting the lens compact enough as the body. This is what Sony do best, small stuff.
@Oflife Nah, not just small stuff. Small, expensive, proprietorially-standardized stuff.
@Oflife
It's not a DSLR because there's clearly no mirror.
@chispito True. I meant a camera that offers interchangeable lenses and potential for a 'live view' electronic or optical viewfinder. (Unlike regular compact digicams.)
@Oflife pentax already offers "pancake" style compact lenses. i realize that pentax and sony use different mounts so it would be up to either pentax to follow suit and make a similar styled camera, or for sony to start redesigning some fixed lenses.
http://www.pentaximaging.com/camera-lenses/#DALimited20090216135719
@chispito You guys should read up on the Four-Thirds/Micro Four Thirds systems.
@chispito All the news sites seem to be making this error, equating 'SLR' with 'high quality camera.' This new Sony, like the Micro 4/3 models are pointedly NOT SLR's. Single Lens Reflex means mirror box. They leave out the bulky mirror box and optical TTL finder to make them more compact.
-
The cameras just have larger sensors and usually interchangeable lens mounts. Clearly a new acronym is needed like LS-IL or something.
@Oflife
Come on, don't call it a DSLR...it is a Mirror-Less Interchangeable Lens Camera...
Super Telephone Lens, shouldn't that be Telephoto? Stupid autocorrect. Proofreading is still a usefull skill.
Finally a pocket DSLR camera. IT'S ABOUT TIME.
@LCDBox
Exactly! But I'm waiting the response from Nikon and Canon before buying. Nikon, afaik, has plans for at least a couple of years now.
@LCDBox Yeah man! I'm sick of carrying the big ass camera around, especially in urban places
@LCDBox Sigma have been doing APS-C size sensors on their cameras for year now, not that I'd ever recommend one of them because they're so quirky to use.
oo, sexy.
Wow, these look pretty nice. Love the design and the colors Sony picked/created.
Is it Micro Four Thirds? I heard it was called the E-mount, and is compatible with Alpha mounts with an adapter.
@shu Yeah, same. Engadget ought to clarify this in the article. I've found no sources stating that Sony has joined the m4/3 gig.
clarification?
you must want journalism.
check a few sites down the web.
@shu
It's not Micro Four Thirds. It's an APS-C sensor, and Sony's new E-mount.
I wasn't aware Four Thirds had smaller sensors. Then I guess this does have an advantage.
This is interesting....since the body of a DSLR doesn't need to be as big as they typically are..they no longer have to accommodate film. Sensor Size does play a role and distance from the sensor...but thats not such a big deal with these new micro raw sensors...the only thing I would be concerned about is it seems that it would be very front heavy and that could be extremely annoying.
@Oflife
You are describing a pocket point and click. The problem that can't ever be solved is the fact that the lenses have to be a certain distance apart and a certain size to capture light the best. You can't use tiny optics and get real depth, it is physically impossible...until someone discovers an alternate means of bending light lenses will be big.
Wow that looks pretty nice!
is this another prototype... like the one OM came up and had us waiting for 3 years?
this does not look like any kind of D-SLR.
It looks like a compact with exchangeable lenses - but got nothing to do with a Single Lens REFLEX camera? Neither pentaprism or mirror in that design it seems like.
@kaz911
it looks like a ep1-like camera, but with a aps-c sensor
@kaz911 Read and be enlightened
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/
@kaz911
You didn't get the memo? DSLR stands for anything that's higher then a point and shoot.
/s
Engadget- either get a writer who knows what they're talking about when it comes to digital cameras and photography or quit writing. You're making yourself look like fools.
@EM1
Last summer, while in a motorcycle class, I corrected someone for calling her digital Rebel a "digital 35mm" instead of a DSLR. I felt like a bit of a know-it-all (in the negative sense) afterward.
The above mitigates that feeling.
It'd be nice if engadget added a "Camera" page and an imaging specific editor.
@Nitesh that does not make 4/3s SLRs either.. Maximum SL's ...
the R is for REFLEX (mirror) ....
and despite having "Live View" on my D3 and D700 - it is only a feature used when I have to - not a feature I like or use a lot. You do not get the same feel for the composition and in bright sunlight - Live View is kind of impossible due to reflections and bad LCD tolerance to sunlight - despite the D3/D700 have one of the best Live View screens out there.
But the new Sony range will be perfect as a Scuba camera :-) where it can be hard to use the pentaprism wearing your mask etc
@EM1 I must echo your sentiment about this engadget writer's lack of camera knowledge. If this camera is APS-C format a "24mm F2 ZA SSM, which ought to make wide angle junkies drool profusely" is really not that wide. The writer fails to acknowledge the sensor crop that will make that 24mm more like 35 or 36mm, which isn't all that wide.
It would be wise to have a basic understanding of digital cameras and sensors before writing about them.
This is the start of compact quality for the mainstream. If Sony throws there weight behind putting these concepts into production, we will all have lo noise hi, speed and the quality images without carrying a huge dslr.
I love my canon g10 but it badly needs a bigger sensor. I used a 5D mark ii and obviously the difference is gapping. My question is, does it need to be?
@Atkins
Not at all. micro 4/3 cameras are very expensive and niche. Sony getting involved will force every cameramake into this form factor which will also bring the price down to a 500 mark. Do you agree?
The sony prototypes have full-sized APS-C sized sensors. These are significantly larger sensors than micro-four-thirds giving Sony a lot more of an advantage in this market than most people realize.
(1) More megapixels at the same pixel size
(2) Larger pixels at the same resolution = higher image quality & sensitivity
(3) Shallower depth of field at the same f-stop (to get the APS-C equivalent DoF of f/2 you'd need f/1.6 on a four-thirds sensor, for the APS-C equivalent DoF of f/2.8 you'd need f/2.2 on four-thirds, etc.).
Is that a DSLR in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
WHOA! THAT's AWESOME! How much for one of these? :D
--
www.techzang.com
Wake me up when someone makes a smaller DSLR with a real viewfinder.
Why do digitals have to be SO MUCH bigger than film SLRs?
@micah356
My thoughts exactly. The batteries in DSLRs are huge to power the ever bigger LCD screens and this bulks them up.
@Atkins I'll admit that I haven't tried any MFT EVFs. But I have tried other EVFs in the past and they don't come close to an optical viewfinder. Maybe I should point out that I ALWAYS use manual focus.
I will have to try one, but I'm worried about low-light performance and (even slight) lag.
My main concern is using existing alpha lenses. Between a 10mm/2.8, a 35mm/1.4, a 50mm/1.4, and an 85mm/1.4 I have about $3000.00 invested in glass. My fear is any adaptor Sony provides won't be as compatible as I hope. Given the glass to sensor distance on these new cameras compared to the current alphas, I figure there's about an inch of room to fit an adaptor tube and maintain the correct focal distance. But can Sony jam mechanical aperture control and the focus drive motor in there as well? I fear what we'll get is auto-aperture control with manual focus, perhaps with some kind of beep or onboard light to tell you when focus is good.