Event Coverage

Sony's Alpha Strike

By Vijay Anand & Daniel Lim - 7 Jun 2006

Who is the Alpha for?

Who is the Alpha for?

Sony is targeting these three groups of potential buyers the most:

  •  First-time DSLR buyers
  •  Existing Sony Cyber-shot owners who wish to upgrade
  •  Loyal Konica Minolta users

With the A100 bearing a Konica Minolta lens mount, it has a ready market of those who already own such lenses. Furthermore, with its unique combination of amateur-friendly features, Sony is confident of achieving its goal of capturing an ambitious 11% of the Asia Pacific DSLR market for 2006.

The top reveals the new settings dial on the left that allows selection and alteration of common shooting settings.

Besides the large LCD, the other interesting features are the dark bars below the viewfinder. They are actually proximity sensors that can detect if your face is pressed toward the viewfinder and automatically turns off the LCD and goes back into shooting mode.

The Sony A100 is expected to retail for an estimated S$2000 with a kit lens. From what we've heard, a plan to include two kit lens for a reasonable price is also in the works.

As for those who are looking for something towards the mid and high-end range of the DSLR class cameras, we tried to ask Sony if there would be even more capable models in the pipeline. Though Sony has kept mum about this, we anticipate even more DSLRs in the very near future as some of the lenses launched with the A100 cost many times more than the camera itself and were clearly for professional use rather than consumer. Anyway, stay tuned!

The A100 was launched with a new set of 21 lenses (three of which are from long time partner and revered optics specialist, Carl Zeiss), as well as a comprehensive host of accessories. However, a vertical grip was conspicuously missing, hinting that a future, more advanced Sony DSLR may feature it.

The kit lens for the Alpha A100, SAL-1870

Carl Zeiss will be offering lenses with T* coating such as the, SAL-85F14Z for the Alpha A100 too.

The optional external flashes, HVL-F56AM and HVL-F36AM, use the same hotshoe as previous Konica Minolta flash units.

You can purchase the LCS-AMA bag to go along with the new camera.

 

Sony's Alpha A100 DSLR Key Specifications
Resolution 10.2 megapixels, 3880 x 2600 maximum image resolution
Imager 23.6 x 15.8mm APS-C sized CCD with 10.8 megapixel total resolution
Lens mount Sony Alpha or Konica Minolta Dynax/Alpha mount
ISO Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 eq.
Storage CF card, Microdrive, Memory Stick Duo / Pro Duo
Formats JPEG, RAW, RAW+JPEG DCF2.0, Exif 2.21, DPOF 1.1 compatible
Color Space SRGB, Adobe RGB (without ICC profile)
White Balance Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Flourescent, Flash; Custom; Color temp (2500 - 9900K with 19 step magenta/green compensation)
LCD 2.5-inch TFT LCD, 230,000 pixels
Viewfinder Optical, 95%coverage
Exposure Compensation +/- 2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps
Focusing Manual; Auto AF � Auto AF, Single AF, Continuous AF; with AF assist lamp
Focus Area Wide (Auto 9-point); Spot; Manual point selection; Predictive focus control (with moving subjects in AF-A and AF-C)
Built-in flash GN: 12 (ISO 100); Modes: Auto, Fill-flash, rear flash sync, wireless off-camera flash (with flashes: HVL-F56AM and F36AM); 3 second recycle time
Shutter Electronically controlled, vertical traverse, focal-plane type. Range: 1/4000 � 30 sec (bulb); Flash synch speed: 1/160 (with Super SteadyShot off), 1/125 (with Super SteadyShot on)
AE bracketing With 0.3 EV / 0.7 EV increments, 3 frames
WB bracketing 3 frames, selectable 2 steps
Continuous shooting 3FPS � max 6 frames (RAW), 3 frames (RAW+JPEG), unlimited (JPEG)
Battery Lithium ion, rated for about 750 shots by CIPA
Interface USB 2.0 PC out; NTSC/PAL video
Dimensions 133.1 x 94.7 x 71.3mm
Weight 545 grams without battery, card and accessories
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