A58 coming with 20Mp and increased DR???

[Heidfirst]

Faster AF is always welcome. I wonder why such improvements are introduced to a cheaper model after the release of the A99. To my way of thinking faster AF and greater DR should have been first in the NEX top model as well as the top APS-C and FF Alphas. Just my way of thinking.

because it was the first body on the roadmap for replacement.
Entry level (A3x & A5x) are typically on a 1 year cycle, higher bodies are on a longer cycle (same for Canon & Nikon).
Tech will trickle down & as for faster AF on NEX whilst I'm sure that they are working on improving CDAF & on-sensor PDAF this mentioned improvement probably still relies on a separate PDAF module.

[bfitzgerald]

That is true on the product cycle.
But it's also evident they are trying to protect the A77 model by going for a 20mp APS-C sensor (it will probabaly outperform the 24mp one anyway) but marketing numbers.
On the other hand one can't ignore Nikon's 24mp across the range even the D3200 (cut down as it is 24mp)

The LCD downgrade is probably another ill advised move it's as if the 5 series gets more watered down as each model comes out. But I'll be prepared to be shocked with some unknown goodies if they are included. I don't see the A58 being a very strong model in 2013 they really needed to do more to make it stand out against rivals. I'm sure DPR will give it a gold award as they usually do, this isn't going to tear up Canikon's sales (just as the A57 hasn't either)

[bakubo]

No idea.
IMO I've not yet found a sensor where I can treat it like negative film and aggressively expose for the shadows and still hold the highlights (the Fuji EXR sensors are close though).

Note, I am talking about what I do and not what you should do since I know you can figure that out for yourself. But this might be something to think about.

I tend to think about what I want to achieve and then figure out how to do it rather than start with how I want to do it. I think what I would do is not treat my digital sensor like "negative film and aggressively expose for the shadows" and instead I would expose so that important highlights weren't lost and then try to bring up shadows in pp. Some of these newer sensors can often allow that and the result may be acceptable.

It is sort of like when I am thinking about walking from point A to point B. I could follow the same route the bus takes, but on foot I have so much more freedom. I don't have to follow the often indirect route the bus has to take. I don't have to care about one-way streets. I don't have to care about traffic. I don't even have to care about streets. It may turn out that a quick walk across the park is 1/10 the distance of following streets or 1/20 the distance of following the bus route.