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First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:29 pm
by Hiroshige

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:34 pm
by bossel
Basically the A500 is a boosted A330, a few more functions, a tad bigger. If you want to replace your A1/2/3xx -> ok. If you want to replace your A700 -> not ok.

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:48 pm
by David Kilpatrick
If this is not a fake spec sheet, there is one VERY important difference - the A500 offers two forms of Live View, QuickAF live view with the switched mirror, and off-sensor true Live View with a 14X manual focus (no AF) option. I reckon that is a major advance for Sony.

David

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:51 pm
by Birma
Interesting to see the A500s specs starting to appear.

- Sensor is CMOS and 12 MP, but different size to A700 so new sensor ?
- Continues move to MS and SD cards
- Same battery as A700 etc. (hooray)
- ISO up to 12800
- 200k lcd (shame)

Can't read German so not sure about LV, viewfinder etc. ?

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:54 pm
by bossel
And of course, face detection! :lol:

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:58 pm
by peterottaway
Well if the A550 has a decent 15MP sensor, a 920,000 pixel LCD and a very good pentamirror then it could sell as a low end enthusiast model. I must admit that a decent pentaprism is a big selling point to me but it may not be to others.

It would seem that there will have to be an A700 replacement or replacements if Sony is going to cover the enthusiast market.

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:02 pm
by picman
David Kilpatrick wrote:If this is not a fake spec sheet, there is one VERY important difference - the A500 offers two forms of Live View, QuickAF live view with the switched mirror, and off-sensor true Live View with a 14X manual focus (no AF) option. I reckon that is a major advance for Sony.

David
Also if this is not fake, another noteworthy difference seems to be "the grip".

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:46 pm
by Javelin
HEH! I came here to see if anyone here picked up on the live view modes. Hope they put a sync port on it so it can be used with external lights it'll make a bid diference for set up shots and might make a great macro camera with the 14mp sensor from the a380. maybe a ring flash is comming too but I haven;t seen any runours on accessories

David Kilpatrick wrote:If this is not a fake spec sheet, there is one VERY important difference - the A500 offers two forms of Live View, QuickAF live view with the switched mirror, and off-sensor true Live View with a 14X manual focus (no AF) option. I reckon that is a major advance for Sony.

David

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:13 pm
by David Kilpatrick
I've put a post up with a size reference comparison.

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2009/08/2 ... alpha-500/

David

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:37 pm
by Dusty
Ah! More speculations because we all can't wait! I want to know if I need to by another 350 before they all disappear, or if the 550 is an upgrade for it. I like the sensor and the great skin tones it gives, so for weddings it's perfect. If the 550 gives some improvements in some areas, but keeps the same look in the photos, I may go for one of them.

I'd really like, of course to be able to afford a full frame camera and glass, but that will have to wait until I book a whole lot more weddings!

Dusty

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:42 pm
by bfitzgerald
Looks ok, and the price is pretty good. But Sony scare me at times, something obvious is bound to be missing..like MLU, probably won't have AF adjustments, and it's bound to have some other major downer. ;-)

Leaving that aside, we shall see. One thing I was dead on with, was this ain't no A700 type camera. Where is the AF assist light? DOF preview?? And let's hope that they have the sense to put a decent VF in it, not the bad LV entry level ones, just won't do for this segment.

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:00 pm
by bossel
bfitzgerald wrote:But Sony scare me at times, something obvious is bound to be missing..like MLU
Since I have a tripod and done a few tests now, never a camera without MLU!! The website mentions 2s and 10s timers, but not specially MLU.

Now the real technological wonder is this, I am glad they mention this from the beginning:

> Speicherung von Datum und Uhrzeit für jede Aufnahme

It saves date and time for each picture!!! :lol:

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:02 pm
by Javelin
that second live view mode should lock the mirror up already. I don;t know how you could have main sensor LV with the mirror in the way

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:47 pm
by kingfisher
what i have heard it that the only different between the A500 and A550 is that the A550 have 15MP

the A500 and A550 is not a replacement of the A700
the replacement of the A700 is next year

sony said to me that the want a lot of camera`s between the entry level ( A230) and the highest( A900)

so everyone can a step higher with his camera

so when you have a A380 you go to the A700 , now you can go to the A500 or A550 than the A700 ( later the replacement A750 ) than the A850 - A900

sorry for my english :( :(

best wishes
gustav

Re: First official specs and pics of A500 + A850

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:07 pm
by bfitzgerald
Less is more to me, I rate quality as more important than just sheer numbers.
IMO the shovel out loads of models strategy is not something that is going to work for Sony for DSLR's, this is not the same as the cheap junk compact market.

Still we will wait and see what these new ones are like, but the concept of 2 models mid range (no A700 replacement leaves a gap) 3 lame entry models, still I do not see how this is going to cause concern to the top 2 companies, and that is the ultimate goal.

Also how on earth are Sony going to shift the poor spec high priced A380? Looks like these new ones have killed that model off right away. That's the problem with too many models, you can end up hurting yourself ;-)