I think it is going to support me when I go to Nepal (Bardia National Park) in next October. With Alain Pons and Amawanda.

Nikon D700

After the launch events of this Summer and this Fall (before and during the Köln Photokina), there are two brands leaving important questions open. This is Sony and Nikon. While the two near-friends had us used to seeing them working together around the Sony digital photo sensors, we discovered two very divergent/different announces about 35mm Full Frame dSLR cameras: A Sony Alpha 900 pushing the resolution to record levels (24.6MP) and a Nikon D700 limiting its resolution in favor of maximum sensitivity (12MP).

Sony Alpha 900 - publicité

Some would have us thinking that Nikon would have rejected the sensor offered by Sony (used on the Alpha 900) for reasons of insufficient image quality. It does not seem so obvious when looking at the results actually obtained by Sony, but why not? After all, Nikon did obtain a special edition of the Alpha 700 sensor in order to build its Nikon D300…

So what?

It is not very difficult to forecast. Nikon is preparing a Full Frame SLR photo camera with very high resolution (the Nikon D800 of the rumour mill or the D4 promised around Christmas?) and Sony will derive a low resolution version of the Alpha 900 (most certainly named Alpha 800). Their moves will be opposite but very complementary (and predictable).

In both cases, you can say that Canon will not be forced into running with the pack. With their EOS 5D Mk II (and the last EOS 5D, sold at bargain prices), there is enough to sustain the pressure, but Canon will need to react in 2009, before Summer.

This is the reason why the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS UM and Nikon AF 80-400mm VR f/4.5-5.6 D ED has been so successful despite their obviously high prices (around $2000). When I’m on photo safari, I’d say that about half the people around me have one of the Canons as their main lens (somtimes, it’s even their only lens).

Some time ago, Sigma added its own version of this lens (see this high-end zoom lens comparison). And it was a winner in terms of price-performance.

Now, we can expect several significant news in this range of products coming from different manufacturers.

• Sony presented about a year ago a mockup of a zoom lens corresponding well to this range. The word is out that it will be a 70-400mm f/5.6 zoom presented to the European press on August 14th (for an official launch in the beginning of September, probably at the same time Sony launches the Sony Alpha 800 and/or Sony Alpha 900 Full Frame camera(s)).
• According to some rumors (mainly originating from an unsubstantiated initial post at NikonRumours), there will soon be a Nikon AF80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR update. And this should be explaining the reduced availability of the original version.

I would even be tempted to read between the lines of a recent test article of Chasseur d’Image and say that Canon will also be hard pressed to provide an update to its aging 100-400mm. After all, it’s a real cash cow and a sure sale for owners of top- and mid-range cameras like the Canon EOS 40D (and possibly its successor EOS 50D – next year?).

• Bug correction: Resolves an issue where the Access Lamp remains lit and the camera stops responding when several pictures are taken in rapid succession.
• Bug correction: Resolves an issue where powering the camera off while in “MR” mode may cause some registered settings to carry over to other shooting modes.

All this comes on top of the previously detailed improvements to image quality and noise management in version 2.

Everything is available on the Sony support site.

• Nikon D300 at CameraLabs
• Sony Alpha 700 at Luminous Landscape

But if you really want it all (including the Sony Alpha 700 user manual), you should check the Sony documentation server.

• Camera Labs (English)
• Trusted reviews (English)

It looks like this camera is definitely a good one. The Minolta people will like it is feeling a lot like the Dynax 7D in a better way, in a more modern technology.

• First, Sony just announced a firmware upgrade for the just-launched Alpha 700 professional photo camera. Some reviewers (like Chasseur d’Images) had noticed that the excellent sensor was not giving its best with the tested cameras (low-contrast foliage was easily blurred by the noise reduction algorithm). Not surprisingly, Sony presents an upgrade to v1 firmware “improving image sharpness and noise performance as well as tweaking flash performance with non-ADI lenses.”
• Second, Canon UK stopped shipping of EOS-1D Mark III and initiated a recall of unsold cameras pending an official announcement by Canon related to camera repairs/replacements of the autofocus system.

All this points to excellent cameras that arrived a little too early on the market. The pressure to be right in time for the big year’s end sales seems to be forcing these apparently serious manufacturers into technologico-marketing limbo. Will we have to apply the automotive market adage of “never buy a car within less than 6 months of its launch”?

The Sony upgrade is only for to early production cameras with v1 firmware (press the Menu and Display buttons simultaneously to check your firmware version).

Canon official statement.

• DP review
• Photography blog
• PopPhoto (preview)
• PopPhoto (review)
• ThinkCamera
• PhotoReview
• QuestionsPhoto (prise en main)
• Imaging Resource (preview)
• LetsGoDigital
• MegaPixel

Some links jump to French articles. But not all, of course.

Feel free to send me other ones you found.

Nevertheless, the general indications of technical characteristics where rahter precise. I let you be the judge. Here are the final/official specs:

• Magnesium allow for a robust and light-weight body (The Alpha 100 had strong opposition from people feeling it was too “plastics-based”
• 12.2MP CMOS sensor
• 5 frames per second (sequences of 17 images in Raw format)
• 11-point Autofocus
• 100-6400 ISO (we will wait for the real images to know the quality)
• 1/8000e second max shutter speed (1/250e flash synch)
• LCD screen 3″ (7,5cm)
• Optional battery grip
• Compatible with CompactFlash and MemoryStick flash memory
• Minolta flash system
• HDMI, PAL, NTSC video output

You will notice that, contrary to what many other digital SLR recently announced, there is no LiveView option. It’s not that I think it is very important (I believe that it is mostly useless), but there is a notable difference when you compare to the current wave of SLR launches.

All this puts the Alpha 700 in the same class as the old Konica Minolta Dynax 7D which it should naturally replace and in the competition against the other cameras at more than $1000/1000€ that were launched or announced by Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus, etc. However, the price is not officialized yet while the availability is set to mid-October.

Useful links:

• DP review
• Photography blog
• PopPhoto
• ThinkCamera
• PhotoReview
• QuestionsPhoto (prise en main)
• Imaging Resource (preview)

I would bet on Nikon using the same 14MP+ for the Nikon D300 (as the D200 used a speedier version of the Alpha 100 10MP sensor). If this happens and the Canon 40D still has a 10MP or even a 12MP CMOS sensor, it could mean that the both Nikon and sony will have a nice time beating the Canon 40D just out of launch. Even if you repeat that resolution is not the solution to all problems, Canon would have to fight for image quality (and we know they are at the highest level of the competition) without having any resolution advantage, while users are still driven by mega-pixel figures.

Let’s look deeper: the most advanced model (Alpha 500, as we should understand) will be the first Full-Frame in the product line (with a sensor of the same size as the old 24×36/35mm film image). So, it would not be usable with lenses specially optimized for the small APS-C sesors. This is quite well in line with the observation already done that Sony developped no lens of this type and stayed ready to switch to Full-Frame cameras. It would give them a very significant advantage if you compare with Nikon and Canon, in a competitive environment where the small compact cameras are starting to put some pressure on the lower end of the D-SLR market.

So, the Alpha 500 would have a FF 20MP sensor and through the use of an intelligent organization of the sensitive zones of the sensor, Sony would claim to be providing a stunning 40MP. Striking!

But this is only about a 2008 camera that is still far from being ready. For 2007, the Alpha 300 (or can I still call it Alpha 200?) would bring no less than 14-15 mega-pixels with a crop factor fo 1.25 that would near the FF target. Think about it: As the Alpha 100 shocked the public with the first ultra-low-cost 10MP when only Nikon could fight on the field of image size (with a Sony sensor, by the way), the Alpha 200/300 could be able to shake down the best oppponents, even without the marketoid-like doubling of resolution through the sensitive site organization of the sensor.

But to stay compatible with the already existing market of compatible low-cost lenses, the Alpha 200-300 would include a menu option allowing the user to switch to a lower resolution (11MP?) and giving compatibility to the cheapest lenses.

Most of the rest of the post is rants and raves about the Sony marketing babble: “We are the world leader in photo sensors; We succeeded in prying 6% market share out of Canon and Nikon hands in a year only, we are ready to overtake anon and leave them the 3rd rank“. All is quite in line with the information recently appeared in the news: Canon has recently left the pole position to Nikon on the Japanese market (many analysts believe that the Japanese are showing the way for the rest of the world with a year of advance).

Such cameras would be able to transform the dreamof Sony into a hard reality and move the market around. Howevern we still do not have a precise launch date for such an Alpha 200 or 300. and even less about the Alpha 500…

It is becoming more and more critical to lure the public into company information to avoid the impact of rumours and grey-market information. We’ll see if Sony learns to handle this kind of communication.

Nothing great or very new, but 12.8 MP, up to 3200 ISO, 10 frames per second and image stabilisation on the sensor. 10 fps looks a bit too high to be completely credible and the post does not give any precise source of information, so beware.

Click to enlarge

For people interested in the longer focals, the most attracting part of the image is on the right. We see a black tele-zoom that points at the long awaited 100-400mm (possibly a f/5.6 to keep the AF coupling with Konica-Minolta and Sony bodies). I hope I read it well and I can’t wait to have this for wildlife photo. Then, there is a prime which looks a lot like a 300mm f/4 that is not the Minolta APO G design. It will have to compare favorably with the second-hand marvels that are still moving around eBay (my own Minolta APO G 300mm/4 is a blue diamond). The last one on the right is certainly a 600mm at f/4. Prepare your significant other now to avoid a heart attack when you will sign the check for this. Prepare your physician for the back aches after lugging this around.

On the left, it’s much more difficult to get certainties. There are three zooms and two primes. Two of the zooms and one of the primes have quite large front lenses pointing to very large apertures (more probable than only wide angles).

The pro camera (on the right) is probably no longer the wooden mock-up of PMA, but they keep the odd-looking penta-prism. I wouldn’t comment long, but many people said that this was the clue to a Full-Frame sensor. The counter-argument is still that the Canon 5D did not need to have such a beast of a prism to do full frame. However, many observers still think it would be the right time to introduce a full frame in the Sony line.

Update: Don’t ask about the availability dates. This is very hush-hush at Sony. There is a persistent rumour that the left side camera will be available in June, but it seems quite surprising knwowing that we are already mid-May. Maybe an announcement in June 2007. For the lenses, nobody seems ready to give precise dates; So, it’s still “2007-8″.

Availability: Some time this year for one of the cameras (you can’t get more fuzzy than that!)

Both cameras will have Super Steady Shot (Sony’s technology to stabilize image by moving the sensor inside the body). Both will be extended with an external/additional grip.

One of the products (for high amateurs) should be described as:

• Higher end/higher performance than the Alpha 100 (many people wanted a Dynax 7D replacement)
• New sensor (it is not said if it will be more than 10MP or larger than APS-C)
• higher-rez BIONZ image processor (suggest more than 10MP resolution)

The other one (the flagship model) looks quite ugly in its PMA display. I wonder where they found the idea of moving back in time to this design. It seems that they wanted to make it look definitely serious. But the body displayed here could well be inert rather than a full working prototype (my feeling only). I’d bet that this one will not ship in 2007.

Complement: Sony will launch some more lenses as 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6, DT28-250mm f/3.5-6.3 (nice zoom ratios).

Source: Gizmodo, The Photo Station and Photim forums.

Sony Alpha-100

After making a successful entry in the market of the digital SLR photo camera with the A100 in July 2006, Sony should be preparing the extension of its product line (still containing one camera only). Most people expect it to take the form of the addition of a higher-end camera that could be named either Alpha 10 [A10] or Alpha 200 [A200] (Wanna bet?) This would be a good complement to the A100 and would fit nicely after the Konica-Minolta D7D.

It is definitely interesting to notice that there is still no information leaking out of Sony about this future product. However, we should remember that the Alpha 100 was not preceded by months of pre-launch propaganda; Sony went shot for a quick launch followed by months of heavy advertising (and kept its word on the launch date).

Launch date

It seems that people heard Sony murmuring in 2006 that there would be no new launch before the first months of 2007 and they decided that it meant a new product (either Alpha 10 [A10] or Alpha 200 [A200]) at the PMA 2007 in March. But there is not even a murmur now that we are nearing the right time for it.

Sensor

Here is the biggest rumour. Based upon the launch of lenses that are 100% 24×36 (also known as Full Frame, to contrast with the more common reduced size sensors – APS-sized), people started to extrapolate that Sony does not want to have “digital format” lenses because it would go against the near arrival of a full frame Single Lens Reflex. This is a first supposition. The second would be that the next Sony D-SLR camera would go right for this large sensor.

Most observers still think that most of Sony’s effort came from rebadging existing Konica-Minolta lenses that left no choice on their size. The new Carl Zeiss lenses could have been designed semi-independently with this in mind without pressure from Sony marketroids.

Nothing for it, nothing against it.

What’s sure is that Sony is a sensor manufacturer and it gives them a large choice and they are able to access to the newest technology (larger sensors or more resoolution) as much as they would need. The available technology is the only limit -and their engineers can push it.

More info, later

This does not amount ot much. Don’t stop your decision based on these weak rumours, if you intend to buy a new digital SLR camera. But we’ll keep you informed.