DSLR-A330, A330L, and A330Y

[Javelin]

I think thats why Sony has their web sites divided up in Advanced class and Family class. Someone going there for the first time may be intimidated by "advanced class" and stick with the A300 and A200 series where they really probably belong.

On DPR now theres like 3 or 4 people all complaining and it sure looks like they all have more camera than they are capable of comprehending. If we are going to have the cameras we want then the people who are going to have trouble with them need to be discouraged or rather shown a better way than buying the advanced cameras and screwing themselves untill they learn what they are missing. Some are going to buy the top end no matter what and still never learn to do anything and blame the equipment in the end. If they bought canon or Nikon then blaming te equipment is harder to do because Sony is in a vulnerable position in that regard.

[bfitzgerald]

Javelin, it's more about the strategy, than complaining for the sake of it.
With reference to the above by Kevin, the 3L (maxxum 3) was a heavily cut down model, poorly featured and didn't even have a decent selection of exposure modes. I doubt any half interested photographer would have looked at it. Maybe as a last gasp backup model..but not much more. The film 4 and 5 were clearly released as more affordable options to those who didn't want/need the 7, which was at the time fairly pricey if I remember.
We don't really have a film 5 model equivalent at present, in comparison for the time, the 5 was a well featured camera, and would appeal to the level above new users. It didn't have all the snazzy stuff the 7 did, but it had "most" of what more serious photogs were looking for.

So the real issue is, the non existent A500. If sony want to newbie the A200 and 300 series, fire away. But I don't see the point of the 10mp LV model being honest, it probably won't be much cheaper than the 14mp one, it will most likely not be as easy to get hold of. 2 entry level models is enough for any company.

The A500 could be many things, depending on what you want, let's take the A700 sensor, rip out the mag alloy (decent plastic will do) 4 fps would be fine, up the specs over the entry models, put some stuff back such as MLU, more DRO options, larger buffer, AF adjust, normal styling etc etc. Pretty easy to do really. Let's not forget when the A700 gets replaced in a few months or so, the new one is probably going to be £900 odd, or near that. That leave a massive gap in the line-up, and one the new A350 won't fill. After all the LV models are same specs, with LV slapped on more mp on one of them.

So you can see where folks are coming from. Sony cannot afford to leave that wide open.

[Greg Beetham]

Zackery BF, if Sony built a A5 series cam, what in Canon/Nikon land would be equivalent too it? Maybe Canon's 500D 15.1MP cam with it's 1080P movie mode, that means Sony would probably have too also include some movie thingy otherwise they would be seen as not being up to the mark, thing is, can they do it and still have a great OVF? personally if they compromised the OVF for a movie mode I doubt I'd ever buy one, (they would have too fix the macro flash system first anyway..for me that is), and what do Nikon have in that class the D90/D5000 both also do movies but only 720P and only the D5000 has a tiltable screen, so Canon looks like they are in front a little bit there, if you like movies in a DSLR that is. Thing is, some/most are going to expect a camera that does not have any movie mode too be worth less, even if it's equivalent every where else that counts, so poor old Sony is stuck between a rock and a hard place on that one, my guess is they really have no option but to go with the majority sooner or later...lets hope they can find a way of doing it right without compromising the primary purpose of the camera....ie. be a great still image camera first and formost.
Greg

[bfitzgerald]

Greg, I would happily pay less for a camera with no video!
The 500d is near £800 last I saw, Canon have found a way to try to extract more cash off of folks
I would think a camera similar to the D90, but a touch cheaper would fit the bill nicely.

[Dusty]

What if they come up with a 500 series w/o video, but that outshines Canikon on straight stills performance? 15/16MP, better high ISO than they currently have? Maybe also cheaper, that the competitors w/ video?

As one who doesn't want video in a still cam, I'd snatch it up. I don't want the compromises and added expense that video brings to DSLRs. If Sony wants to be the semi-pro king of DSLRs, they need to focus on top preforming stills cameras, and up the lens line a bit. They can also be the cheap pro's camera with the 900 and anything that derives from it, without adding video.

Almost all the calls I see for video are for people who want an all-in-one solution and are willing to make compromises for it. Real pros don't want it - Ever seen a request for that on a Phase One or Mamiya? - and the serious shutterbug doesn't want compromises, they want great cameras.

I think Sony would be wise to keep video off of higher-end models unless and until there is a breakthrough that allows it to be added without the current compromises.

Dusty

[fastson]

I agree. Video secondary, spend all R&D on the still photo side of the camera.

For video I can always get the HX1.

[Greg Beetham]

Just to make it plain, I need video in my DSLR like a hole in the head, but being realistic I don't see how Sony is going to avoid it unless they make a version with and a version without, just to see where the mop flops, that could be an expensive exercise and an escalation of costs that somone will have too pay for...
Thing is, Nikon and Canon both have their 5-ish cameras out on the shelves already, both with video, and anyone looking at that class of camera will be casting an eye over the price, performance and features (including available accessories and lenses and the price of those as well), but should Sony arrive on the scene late, with a camera of equivalent performance but without video, there will probably be a lot of customers looking askance at Sony as to why they apparently can not match the opposition, then there is also the store personell who sell cameras for a living and their attitude, ie. "And this is Sony's equivalent camera..only thing is, it doesn't come with video, but it's about the same price" .....hmmm
Why I think it would be a similar price or even more expensive with or without video is, Sony have an advantage in knowing what they have too beat, so they can design and build a camera with the necessary features and performance to do the job, but building a cheaper superior camera at a later date will not be very likely IMHO, or it would be a world first at any rate.
There is the possibility of utilizing a superior next gen. sensor series that could tip the balance in Sony's favour, but that doesn't take into account that their biggest customer Nikon, might not let them, or be very displeased should Sony go out and build a camera that knocks off a Nikon without letting Nikon have first dibs, so being the first on the market for once with a superior next gen. sensor might not actually come to pass.
Greg

[Javelin]

they don;t need much. couldn;t they just rig the live view types to use the LV sensor for it? all they need is 2 megapixels for HD video.

[Birma]

None of the press reviews of the D5000/D90/500D that I have seen suggest that Canon or Nikon have compromised the still photography capability of the camera in adding video - the video is compromised as you'd expect. As someone who does want video in their next dslr, I also do not want a compromised stills camera, and I don't think that one automatically follows the other, judging by Canon and Nikon experience.

Just to prove how much of a "rebel" I'm willing to be, I also don't care what format card is in my next dslr. Prices of these consumables will have fallen so much since I bought the last lot of cards that I will buy new cards anyway.

[Dusty]

Just to prove how much of a "rebel" I'm willing to be, I also don't care what format card is in my next dslr. Prices of these consumables will have fallen so much since I bought the last lot of cards that I will buy new cards anyway.

If you spend $55 each for 233x CF cards, or $110 for the 300x speed ones (current prices at B&H for 8 GB cards), it's not a minor investment to change. True, prices continue to drop, but I don't want to spend an extra $150 just to replace what already works. Maybe when prices on storage come down to $2 to $3 per GB it won't matter as much. However you still leave a person who has the old model now with 2 different card types he has to manage.

Dusty

[KevinBarrett]

they don;t need much. couldn;t they just rig the live view types to use the LV sensor for it? all they need is 2 megapixels for HD video.

The LV sensor would also show AF points and other markings as these are etched into the mirror.

[Javelin]

wow.. well thats completely diferent than the A200 and A700 for sure. might be easy to overcome though. do we know for a fact than none of the new leaked models have video? The only text we have is from that russian site isn;t it? and could very well be just about one of the 3 models