A200 Based Flip screen DSLR - Main Discussion

Trying to look at everything Sony has said in the past and their recent camera strategy, the market and these photos what do you get?

Well, the A700 at $US1400 - a solid, traditional pro-am camera - no live view but an interesting statement that Sony didnt included this feature as it couldnt be done properly in this type of body.

The A200 at $700, A solid, traditional low end camera based heavily upon the previous generation and interestingly described as a "mainstream" camera.

Also hark back to the press release from Sony describing their new chip:

“Readout mode: All-pixel scan mode (12 bit:10.39 frame/s)”

I'm reminded of an Australian comedian I saw once who said he hated his mother referring to the "good" scissors as he always felt this term implied the existance of the "evil" scissors somewhere in the house. Taking Sony's statements they appear to clearly imply the existance of another way of doing things in a "non" mainstream kind of way.

So imagine a non. mainstream camera configured to make full use of live view. Now give it a price tag of $US1000 and consider the market, technology and where Sony could go - what would make the A200 Ultra/A300/Fred special.

Here's my guesses at the headline feature set- we'll see if I'm right come PMA I suspect:

1. Live view (obvious)

2. EViL

3. A200 body but many A700 internals – so 12 MP CMOS sensor, new Bionz chipset (whereas A200 based on A100 chip)

4. possibly an extremely high frame rate say 10 fps at 12MP, 20+ at reduced resolutions (see the new 60FPS casio).

A real wildcard and something I doubt but would really shake up the market would be a movie mode.

Hmmm, compared to the a200, there seem to be two new buttons on this camera.

- On the back by the AEL button that is a box with arrows pointing out
- On the top in front of the drive button. From the picture I can't see much except it's there.

PMacinSeattle wrote: I'm reminded of an Australian comedian I saw once who said he hated his mother referring to the "good" scissors as he always felt this term implied the existance of the "evil" scissors somewhere in the house.

Ahh, classic stuff.
Not to nitpick or go too far off topic, but that was Tony Martin, and he's actually a kiwi. Although it was on an Australian TV show (the Late Show).

But all good Kiwi's are adopted as Australians. (BTW, you guys can have Russell Crowe back...)

From reading the rest of the thread, I have determined:

• Kiklop knows what is happening & rightly so, is playing his cards close to his chest
• All the clues are here, we just need to work them out
• I am glad that I stuck with the A mount

I am currently contimplating what an EVil interchangeable lens camera means to me. As long as it means DSLR like performance I would seriously consider it. The current LV technology out there is a crap. If this addresses the issues, then I think Sony are on a winner

The Canon 350D has a vertical grip and is the lowest of the Canons. So why not the lowest of the Sonys? Since this is not a D40/X competitor anyway.

Kiklop wrote: But .. what count the most is that we are finally at the stage where Sony has managed to prepare alpha system future and from now on we can expect a very dynamic future that may cover most needs. The problem however is ... that too many people may spend too much time reading about cameras instead of using them

I completely agree with Kiklop. It's great to see a complete Sony line-up that is arguably very competitive with the entrenched SLR players. It's so nice to have so many camera feature and price point alternatives for my A-mount lenses, something Minolta could not pull off.

The King is dead (Minolta). Long live the King (Sony)!

Thanks to Sony, we can stay in "Alphaland". We're not *forced* to move to Nikonland, Canonland, Olympusland, Pentaxland, etc. to continue to enjoy our hobbies and professions. It's great to be able to choose what works best for *you* -- pick orange (me and others here), yellow (dCap, gvknight), red (H20Boy). Options, options, options ... awesome.

Now go take some pictures ... there are still over 20 days in January Madness!

Magnus Wedberg wrote: Well well, this makes me think my 2011 predictions are arriving even faster than I thought. Alpha Handycam, anyone? ;-)

Well the RED camera system is already here and its got a 12MP Super35 size sensor, can take SLR lenses with an adapter and can capture 12MP at 60fps to a hard disk array using standard protocols. Still, its pricey but the market and technology have already arrived :)