Live View Would Have Delayed Alpha 900 Launch 6 Months...

[David Kilpatrick]

Not surprised - it would also have involved much extra cost, I suspect, and made the A900 a £2500 camera not a £2000 camera (UK prices, add 50% for dollars using the 'special lousy exchange rate for Europe'!).

David

[Javelin]

maybe that gives us a time frame for the next major releases ?

[PhotoTraveler]

Not sure if I buy that or not.

The feature set of the A900 would have been locked back when we first saw the mockups. But at the same time, they would have known LV is coming. They were making sensors for others that supported it even.

I think more than anything they just didn't see a reason for it when they got going, and for the most part, I don't think there is a need for it. Also they system they went for on the A300/A350 is very different, and probably started on that the same time they started on A700, A900. I could believe that Sony simply doesn't want to do an off the main sensor approach. They haven't sounded that warm to the design. So they may not be planning to do it at this time.

Now, on a delay. Well, if it was a few days before A900 launch, and they decided to add it, I can see 6 months. They would have to do a fair bit of modifications to the boards to be able to handle the data rates, also the output to the screen would probably need to be changed. The big aspect would have been software, which definitely would have taken a while to write and debug. On the mechanics, I would worry about the shutter some, as they were already having to make a 35mmPlus shutter. Doing what it would take to make the shutter be able to hold open for extended periods of time all the time could have been a challenge. The other difficulty could be in the SSS system. Obviously others have done it. But it very well could be a real challenge to do to have the system continually track the image like that for extended periods. Probably more software. And then there is the sensor itself, we don't know if it's made for LV. They may have to rework some of it, and with the timeline to get production quantities to Sony AMC and Nikon it might just not been in the picture. Look at the images of the D90 sensor, it's a sony, but the wiring is different.

All of these items could have been adjusted into the schedule with little hit if Sony realized the desire for LV early on. It's not like LV in everything is coming out just recent. It's been there for most all the A900 development. So they could have done it without a real schedule hit.

I think Sony is more than capable of making a fast contrast driven AF system, from all their video experience. We see how Panny is getting it done on the new G1. I just get the impression they just aren't looking to go there.

My guess is we will never see LV on a PentaPrism Sony. It will only exist on the pentamirror units, and EVIL bodies.

[Dr. Harout]

Frankly I don't care for a LV. Maybe it will become a usual thing in the future but for now I would prefer the right angle viewfinder or the magnifier.

[David Kilpatrick]

What I gather from one user who is close to Sony is that a future camera will have live view and also an extremely fast capture rate - 24 fps without using the focal plane shutter. Since 24fps is a video capture rate, that rumour/prediction sounds possible. But this user was also saying the 24fps would be at a much higher pixel count than HDTV (1920 x 1080) which is only 2 megapixels. How they would do this, I don't know, but the implication was that it will appear in a professional body not amateur, and that this professional body will permanently change the way DSLRs are designed - and that it will take over the sports/news market occupied by Canon and Nikon overnight when it appears.

This source was correct on all aspects of the A900 and had obviously been shown one early in the summer by the Sony contact who made these predictions. Shutterless, high speed capture, EVF, high pixel count (suitable for reproduction uses in print), professional.

David

[paulobro]

Shutterless, high speed capture, EVF, high pixel count (suitable for reproduction uses in print), professional.

Show off the best OVF ever in the A900 and then climb a further step into the solid state trend that eventually, unavoidably will turn OVFs with their moving mirrors+shutters obsolete. From what I managed to read since A100, very much Toru Katsumoto's way it would seem to me...

[David Kilpatrick]

So...nobody will be playing video at resolutions greater than 1920 x 1080 from an SLR for quite sometime to come. They may be able to make a camera record more than HD resolution so that still frames can be extracted from it at resolutions greater that 2MP...but we will not see video display resolutions greater than 1920 x1080 on for quite sometime to come.

-Sonolta

The person involved is a pro photographer shooting fast sports where 5 or even 10 fps doesn't cut. He has been lobbying Sony for a shutterless 6 megapixel plus SLR shooting really fast frame rates from some time, and says that they say it's coming. It is not for video shooting, it's for ultra-fast pro sequence capture.

David

[PhotoTraveler]

Far as the pro bodies being very different, that would fit with my expectations. I've rather expected they won't try to make a clone of what Nikon and Canon does. Sure they will probably have 2 bodies, and targeted at the same 2 markets. But if the design is something very different, I wouldn't be surprised. Sony won't make a dent in Nikon or Canon at that level if they make the same kind of body as Nikon and Canon.

Part of me thinks the A700 and A900 are so traditional is part of a psychological marketing/branding aspect by Sony. Bring very traditional bodies out, to separate themselves from being an electronics maker to some level. So bodies that look like a maker like Nikon or Minolta would have brought out, so no one can go after them as corrupting the SLR from the start. Once people get to where they see Sony can make a kick butt traditional body, then they can move on to more extreme designs. If they had come out the gate with crazy stuff, you would see "Sony isn't a camera maker" thrown around much much more.

They very well didn't put LV in those bodies because they knew everyone would expect them to put it in them. And if they did it and others hadn't people would probably be mocking them.

I think it might in part be the path Panny did. Now they have just gone EVIL, but people got a bit use to the idea of them as an SLR maker.

[Buttoneer]

24mp sensor and two Bionz processors will in theory get you two 12mp images at twice the fps rate. A lot lower pixel density of course.

Maybe something to work around that?

[Philip]

You alone know what you need to bring in the bucks, Don, , so if the new 5D does what you need, then great and best wishes. I don't really want a video camera combination (I don't even use my phone for anything other the phoning!), so short term it makes no difference to me - but if Sony sales suffer, which they might(might not), then long term it could matter.......... But it will certainly be a quieter place round here if you do go

Philip

[gil]

The way I see it, purchasers of the A700, and ESPECIALLY the A900, would be much, much better served if they bought the ZigView S2. It would cost a whole lot less, and is much more usable.... go check it out!

http://www.zigview.co.uk/prd7331ziglive.htm

Gil

[[SiC]]

The way I see it, purchasers of the A700, and ESPECIALLY the A900, would be much, much better served if they bought the ZigView S2. It would cost a whole lot less, and is much more usable.... go check it out!

http://www.zigview.co.uk/prd7331ziglive.htm

Gil

It says it's for LV-cams like the Sony alpha 300 & 350 but it really looks like an old D7D in the background