New Sony A230, A330, A380, My Opinion
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:46 am
This is what the A200-350 line should have been like from the start. But Sony needed to beef it up a little, to cover the gap between them and A700, also to make A200 look as an upgrade from A100. People think that Sony can't make competitive DSLR's. Just wait for the time, when they complete their lineup with all new models. They are really only starting out. And they have the Zeiss label lenses. They have the Minolta design team, but Sony's design and manufacturing expertise is superior, so it takes some time to come out with real Sony-like products.
Now that Sony is able to cover the gap with A500 and A550, the 3 cameras are positioned properly in the entry level.
We can look at it this way:
Series 230-380 - entry level. One major improvement is higher extending built-in flash.
Series 500-550 - amateur
Sony, in pro video, always makes two models that are basically the same, but one has less features. The A100, A700, and A900 single model series is very unSony-like. I assume that Sony has been using the following strategy:
1. A100 as KM#5 replacement, with Minolta design, which is not as economical in manufacturing as Sony design.
2. A700. This one is already using the Minolta numbering scheme.
3. A900 was in development for some time. New steady-shot mechanism had to be developed. That may have caused delays.
4. Interim models 200-350
Now we will see a new range of products, and there will be pairs of models. Let's assume that Sony strategy is not 5 models, as they claimed, but 10 models, which makes more sense, considering their pair strategy. I also think that they all will have properly implemented video.
JVC came with improperly implemented high definition prosumer cameras couple years before Sony. I think that they were models HD1 and HD10. Sony, couple years later, came out with FX-1 and Z1. Note that both companies used again the pair strategy. It took Canon and Panasonic two years to catch up. Canon did it with the use of Sony technology. They used the same Sony processors, etc. As a result Canon conversion from interlaced to progressive yielded the same results as Sony's. Still, even years later, the owner of the biggest video forum site comes to his board and claims that Canon is not losing resolution in progressive, but Sony is. They both lose precisely the same amount. I can back up all this. Tests were done i.g. by Adam Wilt.
Sony was not the first one before JVC, because it protected their expensive HD segment of the market, where their least expensive camera, with lens, battery, and viewfinder cost over $100K.
Now Sony is protecting their pro video market again, when it is not releasing video function in their DSLRs. When it does, it will be a superior system. It needs to, to counteratack Red, not Canon. Canon is no threat to Sony, Red, backed by a multibillionaire is - but only in the digital cinema market segment.
When Red startup threatened Sony by producing a low end digital cinema product, Sony reacted by creating XDCAM EX1 and EX3 - note the pair again - basically the same cameras, but with different features. Red was planning to introduce a new budget camera Scarlet, but had to scrap their original design.
What is also interesting that Red claimed 4K (8 MP) resolution with a 35 mm sensor. It actually produced the same resolution as Sony's 2MP 1080p EX camera, and had the same low-light performance, despite the fact that Sony is using 1/2" CMOS.
Sony came out with excellent XDCAM 700 model. It had better picture than their several times more expensive HDCAM, but was crippled by Sony, because of all the rental houses rented HDCAM and they needed to write off their purchase expenditures in these cameras. It took Sony over a year to come out with the better featured XDCAM 800 that competes with HDCAM.
Sony wanted to buy JVC from Matsushita, but Matsushita would not sell it to them, even though Sony used the same company that they lined up with to buy share of MGM. Matsushita sold JVC to Kenwood and Sony licensed their XDCAM technology to them, basically killing Panasonic's inferior P2 competition in the long run.
Note what a bargain the new DT primes are. They may cost a little more than Canon stuff, but the Sonys are stabilized, the Canons are not.
This is what we may be able to see in a 10 camera lineup:
A110 no EVF
A250
A360
A400
A530
A600
A730
FF:
A800
A930
A1000
Did anyone notice that when DPR added A230-380 to their database, it never appeared in their "number of hits" and never made it to their charts, in which Sony did not gain any points. They left out these new Sony models from their database. if it was on purpose, or by mistake, I'll let you figure out yourself.
Now that Sony is able to cover the gap with A500 and A550, the 3 cameras are positioned properly in the entry level.
We can look at it this way:
Series 230-380 - entry level. One major improvement is higher extending built-in flash.
Series 500-550 - amateur
Sony, in pro video, always makes two models that are basically the same, but one has less features. The A100, A700, and A900 single model series is very unSony-like. I assume that Sony has been using the following strategy:
1. A100 as KM#5 replacement, with Minolta design, which is not as economical in manufacturing as Sony design.
2. A700. This one is already using the Minolta numbering scheme.
3. A900 was in development for some time. New steady-shot mechanism had to be developed. That may have caused delays.
4. Interim models 200-350
Now we will see a new range of products, and there will be pairs of models. Let's assume that Sony strategy is not 5 models, as they claimed, but 10 models, which makes more sense, considering their pair strategy. I also think that they all will have properly implemented video.
JVC came with improperly implemented high definition prosumer cameras couple years before Sony. I think that they were models HD1 and HD10. Sony, couple years later, came out with FX-1 and Z1. Note that both companies used again the pair strategy. It took Canon and Panasonic two years to catch up. Canon did it with the use of Sony technology. They used the same Sony processors, etc. As a result Canon conversion from interlaced to progressive yielded the same results as Sony's. Still, even years later, the owner of the biggest video forum site comes to his board and claims that Canon is not losing resolution in progressive, but Sony is. They both lose precisely the same amount. I can back up all this. Tests were done i.g. by Adam Wilt.
Sony was not the first one before JVC, because it protected their expensive HD segment of the market, where their least expensive camera, with lens, battery, and viewfinder cost over $100K.
Now Sony is protecting their pro video market again, when it is not releasing video function in their DSLRs. When it does, it will be a superior system. It needs to, to counteratack Red, not Canon. Canon is no threat to Sony, Red, backed by a multibillionaire is - but only in the digital cinema market segment.
When Red startup threatened Sony by producing a low end digital cinema product, Sony reacted by creating XDCAM EX1 and EX3 - note the pair again - basically the same cameras, but with different features. Red was planning to introduce a new budget camera Scarlet, but had to scrap their original design.
What is also interesting that Red claimed 4K (8 MP) resolution with a 35 mm sensor. It actually produced the same resolution as Sony's 2MP 1080p EX camera, and had the same low-light performance, despite the fact that Sony is using 1/2" CMOS.
Sony came out with excellent XDCAM 700 model. It had better picture than their several times more expensive HDCAM, but was crippled by Sony, because of all the rental houses rented HDCAM and they needed to write off their purchase expenditures in these cameras. It took Sony over a year to come out with the better featured XDCAM 800 that competes with HDCAM.
Sony wanted to buy JVC from Matsushita, but Matsushita would not sell it to them, even though Sony used the same company that they lined up with to buy share of MGM. Matsushita sold JVC to Kenwood and Sony licensed their XDCAM technology to them, basically killing Panasonic's inferior P2 competition in the long run.
Note what a bargain the new DT primes are. They may cost a little more than Canon stuff, but the Sonys are stabilized, the Canons are not.
This is what we may be able to see in a 10 camera lineup:
A110 no EVF
A250
A360
A400
A530
A600
A730
FF:
A800
A930
A1000
Did anyone notice that when DPR added A230-380 to their database, it never appeared in their "number of hits" and never made it to their charts, in which Sony did not gain any points. They left out these new Sony models from their database. if it was on purpose, or by mistake, I'll let you figure out yourself.
