Sony's Alpha Strike
Sony's first ever Digital SLR camera - the Alpha A100 - debuted today with a big splash and www.hardwarezone.com was present to witness this historical event. Sony has some ambitious plans for it and we've got the key details of this industry shaker covered in this article.
This article is also contributed by Andrew Chan.
Sony Launches First DSLR with 21 Lenses and Full Accessories
Tokyo, Japan, 6 June 2006 Today, Sony launched what was arguably the most anticipated camera of this year - the Sony Alpha A100 Digital SLR (DSLR) camera. This new camera is very significant in these ways: Firstly, it was built by combining and improving technologies that Sony had to offer with those from the now-defunct Konica Minolta whose DSLR arm was acquired by Sony earlier this year when Konica Minolta retired from the camera market. Secondly, and more importantly, the A100 is Sony's very first attempt at marketing a DSLR. This also makes Sony the only company that never had a significant film camera history to do so as well. The name "Alpha" is derived from the first letter of the Greek alphabet "α" and has an auspicious meaning since this is Sony's first DSLR.
The Alpha A100 - Sony's first Digital SLR (DSLR) camera and hopefully the start of many more to come.
Models proudly showcasing the Sony Alpha A100. Look carefully and you could probably make out the size of the camera from their handling.
Prior to the A100's launch and without a DSLR in its range, Sony had already shared the no.1 market position in the digital camera world with Canon for the past few years, with the two companies exchanging no.1 and no.2 positions frequently. Now, industry analysts are seeing if this will finally break the deadlock and spur Sony on to become the undisputed world leader.
The Sony A100 was launched at the famous and very up-market Omotesando Hills Mall in Tokyo.
A Sony executive told us that Shoguns used to parade down the gently sloped Omotesando road before battle and after a victory. How poetically appropriate it was then to launch the latest warrior in the DSLR arena from a highly respected brand like Sony here.
From left: Tatsuo Takahashi, GM Digital Imaging Marketing of Sony Asia Pacific, Yutaka Nakagawa, Executive VP and CEO, Digital Imaging; and Toru Katsumoto, Senior GM, Digital Imaging.
What the Alpha Is
The new Sony A100 DSLR is positioned as an "entry-level" DSLR camera and sports a special combination of various technologies that make it unique:
Super SteadyShot Anti-Shake Function - Adopted from Konica Minolta's Anti-Shake technology, Super SteadyShot anti-shake is able to detect movements caused by the hand using a gyroscopic sensor, and shift the movable CCD in the exact direction and magnitude of the shake to prevent blurring of photos caused by the hand movement.
Anti-Dust Feature - The A100 features an anti-static coating that attracts less dust than conventional sensors. Even if dust settles, a Super SteadyShot anti-dust vibration system, similar to Olympus' Supersonic Wave Filter, can shake the dust particles off and prevent them from ruining photographs.
Bionz Image Engine - This is the name given to the Sony A100's new image processor. According to Sony, it is especially good at rapidly processing high-resolution images to reproduce very noise free results with high detail preserved. This is especially good for photos shot in dark environments that tend to have such noise.
D-Range Optimizer - Similar to HP's Adaptive Lighting and Nikon's D-Lighting, Sony's D-Range Optimizer analyses a photo, determines where the underexposed portions are, and adjusts exposure and tone only in those areas for a more consistent look. The Sony engineers we spoke with insisted that because the Bionz Image Engine handles this system, it is far superior to the competition in terms of speed and noise generated, which is a common byproduct of such image adjustment. Furthermore, the A100 is the first and so far, the only DSLR to feature such a technology.
A cutaway of the A100 revealing its innards. Click the image for an enlarged photo shot.
A disassembled A100 was on display at its launch
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.
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 |
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.