Sony Alpha DSLR A900

In the modern  digital camera market it’s unusual for products to be shown in prototype form or announced more than a matter of weeks before they hit the stores.Sony’s new DSLR camera Alpha DSLR-A900, has no such worries.What we see in the blow picture is the Sony’s first prototype of the Alpha 900. back in early 2007,it appeared behind glass at trade shows such as PMA in March 07, and information has been spreading out ever since; most significantly with the announcement in January of this year of a 35mm full frame CMOS sensor.

There has been few surprises at the apperance of the camera, when they finally shown the Alpha 900 to the public in the late summer.When we go deeper into it, pore over the fine print and actually use the Alpha 900 we were, however, increasingly surprised – and almost always pleasantly so – at some of the decisions made by Sony’s engineers when designing its flagship SLR.
The success of the Alpha 900 amongst the Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony faithful seems assured, As always, we’ll have to wait to see if the performance and image quality live up to the specs and hype. But if past experience with Sony digital SLRs is an indicator, the A900 should be quite a camera.

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 will be available in November and should cost just under $3000. That’s a very competitive price for a camera of this caliber and definitely a challenge to Canon and Nikon.

Key features:

* 24.6 MP 35mm format full-frame CMOS sensor (highest res in class)
* SteadyShot INSIDE full frame image sensor shift stabilization (world first)
* High Speed Dual Bionz processors
* Eye-level glass Penta-prism OVF, 100% coverage, 0.74x magnification
* 9 point AF with 10 assist points, center dual-cross AF w/2.8 sensor
* 5 frames per second burst, newly developed mirror box
* Intelligent Preview Function
* 3 User programmable custom memory modes on mode dial
* Advanced Dynamic Range Optimizer (5 step selectable)
* 40 segment honeycomb metering
* 3.0″ 921K pixel Photo Quality (270 dpi) LCD display, 100% coverage
* Direct HDMI output
* ISO 200-3200 (ISO 100-6400 expanded range)
* User interchangeable focusing screens (3 options)
* CF Type I/II and MS slots, LI-ION battery, STAMINA 880 shots
* Weight 850g (without battery, card, accs)
* New Image Data Converter SR software (includes vignetting control)
* New Vertical Grip
* Supplied with wireless remote control
* Magnesium Alloy body and rubber seals for dust and moisture resistance
* AF micro adjustment
* $2999.99 body price; available late October 2008