The 550 is dead?

[Greg Beetham]

So that's why Sony can afford too leave an important market niche vacant for months, (and let the opposition make hay while the sun shines), they don't care, they sell so many consumer DSLR's that they can't keep up as it is. Yeah go Sony, wow, I'll bet the next time I go anywhere at least 10% or more of the DSLR's I see will be Sony. I might even take my museum piece A700 along and show some of the teenyboppers a real camera that CAN'T do video...on second thoughts maybe not, they have an attention span measured in nanoseconds and the mere mention of such a thing as a DOFP button will probably cause mental arrhythmia.
Greg

[bakubo]

I am curious where all the Sony DSLRs are? With 10% of the market it seems like I would be seeing more of them. Here in Waikiki I might see a Sony DSLR once or twice a month. I see dozens and dozens of cameras that tourists are carrying everyday. Of course, of the DSLRs it is mostly Canon and Nikon. I see Olympus and Pentax more than Sony. I was in Japan for a few months until January and it was the same there. I was in Egypt in December. Same there. With 10% it sure seems like I would see more of them in the places where lots of people are carrying cameras. Where are they?

[Scooterman]

I am curious where all the Sony DSLRs are? With 10% of the market it seems like I would be seeing more of them. Here in Waikiki I might see a Sony DSLR once or twice a month. I see dozens and dozens of cameras that tourists are carrying everyday. Of course, of the DSLRs it is mostly Canon and Nikon. I see Olympus and Pentax more than Sony. I was in Japan for a few months until January and it was the same there. I was in Egypt in December. Same there. With 10% it sure seems like I would see more of them in the places where lots of people are carrying cameras. Where are they?

Over here in the UK, I have just bought two of them (A-550/ A-850)

[Allam2009]

One thing I think I can say is we had an internal focus group on new cameras. Other guys are a lot more serious than me and when asked what was vital MLU and AEL were probably top. Think if feedback gets to the right people then it does address a lot of concerns

[alphaomega]

Allam2009 wrote:

.......and when asked what was vital MLU and AEL were probably top

According to sonyalpharumors two of the cameras to be unveiled shortly do'nt need MLU and I guess the other two won't have MLU as they may be based on the current 500 series, but all four appear to have DOF, so Barry may be to some extent happy. My guess is that they will all have AEL. I don't think that Barry will be liking the prices though although the specs may partially meet his requirements.

SonyAlphaRumors is pleased to share some new details about the next cameras! Four new APS-C cameras will be announced late August. All those cameras will be in Stock by September!

1) A55 (translucent) 16MP 10FPS EVF-1.44M 1.1X magnification 95% AVCHD full hd
2) A33 (translucent) 14MP 7FPS EVF-1.44M 1.1X magnification 95% AVCHD full hd
3) A560 14MP 7FPS MF recording AVCHD full hd
4) A580 16MP 7FPS MF recording AVCHD full hd

Those models will replace the actual Sony A550 (which has been discontinued in Japan!).

All four will feature a HDR 6EV, 15 AF focus point, DOF preview, panorama/3D, ISO 100 (base).

Latest addition

The A33 and A55 will be the first DSLR camera designed to take very good quality video, with unique fast autfocus for stills AND video (Phase detection AF during video!), and a 2 stop better High-ISO performance (than previous Sony APS-C cameras).

so with much better ISO performance there may be a lesser need for MLU on the A560/590 as just screw up the ISO setting. We should be so lucky. It will be interesting to see what actually transpires in 2-3 weeks time.

[bfitzgerald]

Personally I've no interest in the EVF models..it's a sign of the sadly impending move to all things electronic. So I'll be holding out for as long as possible (translated that means I'll move mount as often as is needed to get an OVF!)
On the OVF ones no MLU no buy..simple as that..

Yes it's great they put a DOF preview back in there but if anyone is expecting a super customisable feature rich selection of bodies, my bet is on that not happening, but Sony can shock me if they want to!

[WaltKnapp]

Personally I've no interest in the EVF models..it's a sign of the sadly impending move to all things electronic. So I'll be holding out for as long as possible (translated that means I'll move mount as often as is needed to get an OVF!)
On the OVF ones no MLU no buy..simple as that..

Yes it's great they put a DOF preview back in there but if anyone is expecting a super customisable feature rich selection of bodies, my bet is on that not happening, but Sony can shock me if they want to!

That's my expectation as well. The only mystery is figuring what they left out or degraded this time.

And, yes, I expect to follow where the OVF goes too.

And where is the Macro ringflash?

Walt

[Greg Beetham]

Don't get me started on Sony's Macro Ringflash vandalism Walt, I gave Sony a bit of a serve once again on the subject (see the [flash] forum) but once they realize you know more than them they clam up....no more attempted bulldust, they just go silent.
Thing is with the downgrading and removal of features, will they be able too un-downgrade and un-remove them after a passage of time? when this video 'fad' in DSLR's has run it's course, and they realize there is a substantial market in normal full featured DSLR's specifically designed for taking stills.
Greg

[WaltKnapp]

Don't get me started on Sony's Macro Ringflash vandalism Walt, I gave Sony a bit of a serve once again on the subject (see the [flash] forum) but once they realize you know more than them they clam up....no more attempted bulldust, they just go silent.
Thing is with the downgrading and removal of features, will they be able too un-downgrade and un-remove them after a passage of time? when this video 'fad' in DSLR's has run it's course, and they realize there is a substantial market in normal full featured DSLR's specifically designed for taking stills.
Greg

I bring up the Ringflash from time to time to keep reminding them of it's importance. And I most certainly frequently use my Minolta ones. Though I have been fiddling with other ways just in case. Not easy equipment to substitute for. I don't remember them ever responding on ringflash.

They did respond on crippled A mode last winter sending some of their pros through various forums as hitmen to try and shut it up. When we did not shut up, they did, but with at least an admission they were discussing it.

I don't think it's dawned on Sony yet that just putting a feature in here and there and leaving the others off won't get them any prizes. They have to start thinking whole still photography package. And do it regardless of video. AA and Pro folks are not easily fooled by partial solutions.

Beads and shiny things won't get us to trade long island off.

Walt

[bfitzgerald]

Fixing crippled A mode would take very little effort a quick fw update would do it nicely. Very easy to do.
Wonder if this will continue to be a problem on newer models? I think this aspect showed me more than anything else that Sony don't listen..and to allow this on a flagship camera/s is unforgivable. If the mock-ups are right then the A5xx new range will be fairly basic design wise and not a lot of buttons going on..if not we might have a chance. But I'm not very confident it's not just this but a whole host of issues and problems that don't seem to get addressed.

[WaltKnapp]

Fixing crippled A mode would take very little effort a quick fw update would do it nicely. Very easy to do.

The only hopeful sign is that NEX does not have crippled A Mode. That is essential to the selling point there that all kinds of lenses can be used with the NEX. With crippled A mode probably few of the lens adapters for nex would be there. Sony would not put out the necessary info and the chips would have to be reverse engineered if that would be even possible.

Now to see if the message got farther than NEX.

Walt

[Javelin]

Did I miss something. Is sony going to roll cybershot in with Alpha ?