A500 & A550?

I thought one of the models would be either a dumbed down A-700 or a very improved A-100

One will have Live view and the other may have video, but I don't think Sony is ready for video in a D-slr yet.

Yea... I'm assuming the 500 and 550 will differ by megapixels.

That would be really cool though... built in GPS... could drain the battery though... but it would be pretty sweet.

madecov wrote: One will have Live view and the other may have video, but I don't think Sony is ready for video in a D-slr yet.

Why do you think so? They already have video on a non-dslr model (DSC-HX1).

I think the a730 will come between September 7th and 11th...

dekie wrote: Someone posted this link on dpreview, 17,2 mp 12800 Asa http://www.photographybay.com/2009/04/22/sony-a500-rumor/ Regards

Don't know about the specs, but the images are definitely fake. It's just a photoshopped A300/350. The new cameras will be better designed than those.

My guess is that the specs are pure speculation as well. I think Sony showed restraint with the A230/330/380 announcement by keeping the megapixel counts the same as the previous model. Plus, if the 500/550 is 17Mpx, there won't be much room for the A700 between the A550 and the A900.

Maybe I am missing something, but why does anyone want or is concerned with having video capabilities on a DSLR (just buy a video camera) or having live view. From what I have seen on the small point and shoots, it delays the ability to take shots quickly. Plus, ergonimically, holding the camera against your face helps to stabilize it better. So why not buy the point and shoot instead of wanting it included on the better cameras. At the rate things are going, I could see the day that unless you buy a high end A900 type, you are going to have live view or video capability. This is just my humble opinion.

I guess the 500/550 will be a competitor to the Nikon D90 and allow the A700 replacement to move up in specs to compete head-to-head with the D300 replacement (upcoming D400 ?).

Currently, a lot of people are comparing the A700 with a lower-end product like the D90 in Nikon's range.

In the Nikon range as we know, the products below the D200/D300 level (like the D40/D60/D80/D90 etc) are never given NEF (full RAW in case of Sony) and are only provided with cNEF (cRAW in Sony terms), since providing full-NEF will mean that the data pipeline architecture of the product has to be a lot more sophisticated (read mucho expensive electronics), unlike say cNEF (or cRAW) where you can get away with a significantly lower-end architecture.

And comparing Sony's semi-pro model (A700), whose architecture and electronics allows it to rapidly write data to the CF-card faster than any other dSLR on the planet (excepting the A900), against the D90 is degrading to Sony's product positioning of the A700, and this move will allow there to be a diffrentiation.

Of course the expectation is that Sony will have learned from prior mistakes and rise upto the occasion and provide a high-end AF module, more customization options, main-sensor Live-view (not the consumer-grade secondary sensor LV like in the A350/A300) and other abilities like full compatibility with the latest flashes etc (like the A900), AF micro-adjustment (like the A900).....and features unavailable in any other competitor, which will enhance the photo taking experience.