DSLR-A330, A330L, and A330Y

[bfitzgerald]

The other problem spotted

The location of the front jog dial is at the top part of the grip, well the sculpted part. This is not the same concept as the dial on the 5 or 60. That dial sits where your AF assist light is on the A700/Film 7 etc. It looks odd, but "it does work ok". It works better on the 60, as KM made the width of the dial much bigger, and coated it in rubber..so you have a more positive feel.

I can tell right away that the current position of the jog dial is going to cause problems. Whoever designed these cameras, clearly is not a photographer.

[stroberaver]

Whoever designed these cameras, was clearly smoking something imho.

That's purely from an aesthetic point of view. I think they look hideous. I haven't experience of the Minolta bodies they are said to resemble, but given the current ergonomics I'm used to, it's hard to see how these will be acceptable.

[KevinBarrett]

The ergonomics of the grip actually look pretty good, if appearing rather puny. I never liked the grip on the a100-a300 bodies, a grip that was much more suited to larger metal-bodied cameras like the a700 or a900. On the entry-level alphas it always made me nervous that I was about to drop the camera. This new grip is the very same design as on my Maxxum 5, and it's very reassuring for a smaller, lighter camera. We'll have to see how it feels in the hand with a heavier lens attatched, though. I wonder how or whether an accessory vertical grip will be designed?

[bfitzgerald]

All I can say is Kevin, thank the lord that KM decided to put a "real grip" on the 5d, rather than copy the small, uncomfortable and weedy film 5 design.
I dislike that grip (and it's on the 4) more than any other camera I have held. I don't care what sony put into these models, or what improvements they make, the design is one which was abandoned by Minolta (and thank god) for good reason, it didn't work very well!

Sony seem to be determined to carve their own identity on cameras, I have no problems with that, just pick "good" designs. These are awful, not a hope in hell I would go near these offerings.

[pakodominguez]

All I can say is Kevin, thank the lord that KM decided to put a "real grip" on the 5d, rather than copy the small, uncomfortable and weedy film 5 design.
I dislike that grip (and it's on the 4) more than any other camera I have held. I don't care what sony put into these models, or what improvements they make, the design is one which was abandoned by Minolta (and thank god) for good reason, it didn't work very well!

Sony seem to be determined to carve their own identity on cameras, I have no problems with that, just pick "good" designs. These are awful, not a hope in hell I would go near these offerings.

I didn't know there were a original grip for the Maxxum 5D.

I think that Sony has to face two different trends: the "Asian" (or Japanese) fashion of make things small and smaller, kinda for really small hands -and that's a good approach to the feminine market globally. And the "western" trend of having "normal size tools". In order to please this second market, the grip (any grip) will help. I got the grip for the Maxxum 5 because it was impossible to handle that camera otherwise -to small for my (big?) hands. The grip made the camera a little better for handling because the size and weight was more adequate to my standards. But it wasn't a good design by itself. Not like the grips for the Maxxum 7; 7D or Alpha 700. I haven't tried the grip for the A300 series. The 200 and 300 series are small DSRLs, but not small enough in order to replace my Dimage A2.
Regaards

Pako

[Javelin]

looks like Sony pulled the header pictures down and replaced them with the ones from before.

[KevinBarrett]

I saved the images to my desktop before they went down, but I'm sure there's already a billion copies out there...not that it'll matter in ten days.

[bfitzgerald]

Some more info here, not much

http://translate.google.com/translate?p ... l=ru&tl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note the "newbie" lcd display
A bit of rubber appears to have turned up on the back of the LV body
The button arrangement is odd..note the sloped part above the Fn button
Still not sure about the main exposure dial, that must be sunk down or replace with buttons

I guess we will see more, but I have seen enough! These are clearly aimed at new users...
Looks like no increase in mega pixels..some small bit of good news then!
ISO, WB and flash mode on the back controller, a complete Canon copy job.

I cannot see a CF door! I hope this does not mean....lol

[KevinBarrett]

FWIW, the mode dial appears to be on the traditional side, flush with the shoulder of the camera but accessible from the back.

[Dusty]

So, are these additions to the line-up or replacements? The Sony Style web site is have a sale on 200, 300 and 350 bundles, maybe in an attempt to clear inventory?

Me waits to see what the 18th brings.

Dusty

[Dusty]

I also notice from the Russian site that they put some help screens in the camera. That ought to make a few people her happy!

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

Wait a minute--Anybody else notice the "Movies" bullet on the left side in that google-translated page? Could it mean just "product videos?"

EDIT: A visit to the original language site reveals that these are indeed product videos; the same a700 and a900 video with which we are all familiar.

[Birma]

I think it sadly looks like no video I think the "movies" option must refer to movies of the product, not video capability in the camera, which I am disappointed by. Perhaps they are saving video for the higher end cameras ?

It looks like the zoom control is used for digitally zooming the live view. Perhaps handy for macro work?

[bfitzgerald]

I was just wondering if we needed "3" hand holding newbie DSLR's, seems a bit of overkill IMO. One maybe, I could understand it, 2 possibly for the LV aspect..but 3 is pushing things.

Resources better spend on an A500 IMO.

Using a DSLR requires users to put some effort in, I remain unconvinced this is the right road to take, "dumbing everything down" probably won't work.

[Dusty]

Using a DSLR requires users to put some effort in, I remain unconvinced this is the right road to take, "dumbing everything down" probably won't work.

My favorite old camera store had up a cartoon: "You can't make anything idiot proof because idiots are just so d*mn ingenious!"

Dusty