Two new sony bodies

[DarkPenguin]

A300 and A350.

http://www.dpreview.com

Very cool live view implementation but the view finder sucks.

[Quentin]

A300 and A350.

http://www.dpreview.com

Very cool live view implementation but the view finder sucks.
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They look like entry level fodder, although sticking a 14mp sensor in the A350 will get them noticed in the mine-is-bigger-than-yours male jewelry sector of the market.

Even with Zeiss lenses (check out the new 24-70 F/2., I just cannot see Sony ever being more that high class wannabes when put up against Canon and Nikon.

Quentin

[DarkPenguin]

They look like entry level fodder, although sticking a 14mp sensor in the A350 will get them noticed in the mine-is-bigger-than-yours male jewelry sector of the market.

Even with Zeiss lenses (check out the new 24-70 F/2., I just cannot see Sony ever being more that high class wannabes when put up against Canon and Nikon.

Quentin
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The A700 review indicated that it stacks up very nicely against the 40D and 300D.  I would guess that any of the A200/A300/A350 trio will stack up nicely against the 450D, D60, K200D, E-510 crowd.

We're hitting the "kinda useful gimmick" stage of DSLRs.  This is where Sony thrives.  (Well, that and installing root kits.  They do that well, too.)

[GregW]

One real innovation in comparison to the established options from Canon, Nikon, et al is the articulating view finder.

[douglasf13]

One real innovation in comparison to the established options from Canon, Nikon, et al is the articulating view finder.
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  They also have full performance auto focus without any blackout.

[MatthewCromer]

The AF on these cameras is really quick in LV and non-LV modes, and image quality looks really amazingly good at 10 and 14MP on an APS sensor from the samples I've seen at ISOs up to 1600.

One drawback: slow continuous shooting 2.5 to 2 frames / second on the 14MP model.      That's what you get using the low-end image processing pipeline designed for a 10MP low price camera.

Still, looks like a really fun camera for shooting events where 3fps is enough (on the 10MP model).  And it's stabilized with a cheap 50/1.7 or 50/1.4, which nobody else but Pentax offers.

[dwdallam]

They look like entry level fodder, although sticking a 14mp sensor in the A350 will get them noticed in the mine-is-bigger-than-yours male jewelry sector of the market.

Even with Zeiss lenses (check out the new 24-70 F/2., I just cannot see Sony ever being more that high class wannabes when put up against Canon and Nikon.

Quentin
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Sony could buy Canon and Nikon if they wanted to.

[GregW]

Sony could buy Canon and Nikon if they wanted to.
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How do you work that out?  

Based on market cap, Nikon and it's parent company Mitsubishi are much bigger than Sony as is Canon.  The kind of leveraged deal required to acquire a company bigger than yourself is just not an option right now.

[dwdallam]

How do you work that out? 

Based on market cap, Nikon and it's parent company Mitsubishi are much bigger than Sony as is Canon.  The kind of leveraged deal required to acquire a company bigger than yourself is just not an option right now.
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Perhaps true enough, but Sony's net income is twice that of canon's. The problem is that right now Sony is in Financial free fall. They have so much going out, but they will turn that around I'll bet. So yes you are right, but what I meant is that historically, in the long term, Sony could buy both Nikon and Canon--if it weren't for its recent bad business practices.

[Marsupilami]

Nice entry level cameras with some good ideas like the articulating screen. But as often if you look closely, there are also things that are not that nice. There is no possibility to enlarge the picture in live view, so not very useful for makro work. The picture quality seems to me not very good, check at the http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
pictures of the A350 are already there. Especially at higher iso quite bad and I dont see a resolution advantage over other models in the 10-12 MP  class.

[MatthewCromer]

Nice entry level cameras with some good ideas like the articulating screen. But as often if you look closely, there are also things that are not that nice. There is no possibility to enlarge the picture in live view, so not very useful for makro work. The picture quality seems to me not very good, check at the http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM
pictures of the A350 are already there. Especially at higher iso quite bad and I dont see a resolution advantage over other models in the 10-12 MP  class.
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Hmmn.  I'd say it blows away the 40D for example in the studio scene shots, esp. at low ISO.  I think the 14MP Sony CCD is good for noise, and great for detail.  I think it shows more detail than any of the 10 or 12MP cameras I saw there.

[Krug]

If Canikon were to take as dismissive a view as Quentin does (above) it might not be commercially sound or in the best interests of their shareholders.

More importantly one should remember that Sony bought a whole slew of Minolta history,experience,research and personnel - not to mention back catalogue and committed users
 -so they are not exactly starting from scratch at the higher end of the market.

If they are serious about using that as a launch base for 'prestige' models for 'halo' advantage in marketing their more bread-and-butter/profit-producing/run-of-the-mill photographic products
I cannot see anything but advantage for serious photographers - either directly or indirectly.

[GregW]

Quite a few of my friends ask about Sony DSLR's when upgrading from a P&S.  It's a name they know well and trust.  This is of course purely anecdotal but Sony have an important role to play as an OEM sensor manufacturer and developer of camera systems.  

It's unlikely Sony has either the cash or would get the regulatory green light for an acquisition but it's a formidable company with significant resources and massive experience in successfully entering existing markets.

[DarkPenguin]

Most of the P&S people i know who want a DSLR end up looking at the Oly E-410 or Oly E-510.  This is entirely because when I show them the Canon Xti they all think it is absolutely gigantic.

Oly has a market in tiny cameras.  They should try to exploit it more.