Photoclubalpha

This poll expires before the presumed "a900" release date. It is intended to concern digital camera bodies only.

EDIT: Now you have more than one choice! Enjoy.

Wow, some fairly conclusive responses so far! I wonder which end of the range everyone had in mind when they answered too? I was thinking low end, e.g. A200.

Excellent, Kevin.

There are several points which leave some room for improvement ... including (but not limited to) high-ISO noise, frame rate, live view that helps manual focusing. But the one single issue that needs improvement so desperately that everything else becomes a non-issue in comparison is auto-focus accuracy. So that's what I voted for; no need for a 2nd option to tick.

-- Olaf

That's where my vote went, Doctor. Digital sensors, being more demanding of focus than film, need more attention than Sony is giving them. If the new full frame body doesn't have some intelligent, beefed-up autofocus to go with all that resolution, I'll be looking very seriously elsewhere when it is time for me to move into professional bodies. I don't know what all of the other systems are like in practice, but 9 or 11 points with one double cross-type sensor is far from competitive when you're reading comparisons.

Because I cast the first vote, I didn't get to vote for a second choice. Please increment autofocus.

KevinBarrett wrote:I don't know what all of the other systems are like in practice, but 9 or 11 points with one double cross-type sensor is far from competitive when you're reading comparisons.

So you're confusing the number of AF points with AF accuracy ... oh well. If all customers are like this then I'm afraid we'll never get accurate auto-focus. Eleven AF points is ten too many anyway.

-- Olaf

01af wrote:

KevinBarrett wrote:I don't know what all of the other systems are like in practice, but 9 or 11 points with one double cross-type sensor is far from competitive when you're reading comparisons.

So you're confusing the number of AF points with AF accuracy ... oh well. If all customers are like this then I'm afraid we'll never get accurate auto-focus. Eleven AF points is ten too many anyway.

-- Olaf

Exactly my point, however, you attribute the ignorance to me rather than to to market in general. Eleven autofocus points is ten more than I use, to be sure, but when competing camera bodies offer several times as many focus points, somebody buying into a brand new SLR for the first time might not know the difference. These buyers are the ones Sony needs to target if they hope to increase market share (I suspect that is their hope, having introduced a triad of entry level models earlier this year).

Though it's a little bit late now, but in future poll question we might consider sturdiness of a camera too.

Doh! And weatherproofing!