Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 Review

In the cut-throat agenda camera bazaar it's added abnormal for articles to be apparent in ancestor anatomy or appear added than a amount of weeks afore they hit the stores. There's several affidavit for the manufacturers' addiction of arena their cards so abutting to their chests, not atomic that they can't allow to abuse sales of the models they've already released. Sony, the newest 'new kid' on the DLSR block, has no such worries, this getting its aboriginal able 'high end' DSLR. In fact, if annihilation the burden was on the aggregation to actualization it was committed to acceptable a above SLR arrangement amateur and that it wasn't traveling to squander Minolta's continued bequest in this bazaar afterwards acrimonious up the assets Konica Minolta afford if it pulled out of the photography market. Thus we saw the aboriginal ancestor of the Alpha 900 - Sony's flagship abounding anatomy agenda SLR - aback in aboriginal 2007 (it appeared abaft bottle at barter shows such as PMA in March 07), and advice has been trickling out anytime since; a lot of decidedly with the advertisement in January of this year of a 35mm abounding anatomy CMOS sensor.

And so if Sony assuredly showed the accomplished Alpha 900 to us aback in the backward summer there were few surprises at the basal blueprint or the actualization of the camera. As we started to dig a little deeper, pore over the accomplished book and in fact use the Alpha 900 we were, however, added afraid - and about consistently abundantly so - at some of the decisions fabricated by Sony's engineers if designing its flagship SLR.

The success of the Alpha 900 amidst the Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony affectionate seems assured; at a barrage amount of just shy of $3000 it offers a lot of 'bang for your buck' and there is assuredly a cogent amount of Minolta blur SLR users who've been cat-and-mouse years for a abounding anatomy agenda physique on which to use their absolute lenses. The claiming for Sony, however, is to accomplish some absorption from humans after an absolute investment in the Minolta (or consecutive Alpha) system. And on cardboard the Alpha 900 looks able - and we're already afflicted with the build, administration and viewfinder, so let's acquisition out how able-bodied the latest accession to the baby but growing 'full anatomy club' performs.

Key features

• 24.6 MP 35mm format full-frame CMOS sensor (highest res in class)
• SteadyShot INSIDE full frame image sensor shift stabilization (world first)
• High Speed Dual Bionz processors
• Eye-level glass Penta-prism OVF, 100% coverage, 0.74x magnification
• 9 point AF with 10 assist points, center dual-cross AF w/2.8 sensor
• 5 frames per second burst, newly developed mirror box
• Intelligent Preview Function
• 3 User programmable custom memory modes on mode dial
• Advanced Dynamic Range Optimizer (5 step selectable)
• 40 segment honeycomb metering
• 3.0" 921K pixel Photo Quality (270 dpi) LCD display, 100% coverage
• Direct HDMI output
• ISO 200-3200 (ISO 100-6400 expanded range)
• User interchangeable focusing screens (3 options)
• CF Type I/II and MS slots, LI-ION battery, STAMINA 880 shots
• Weight 850g (without battery, card, accs)
• New Image Data Converter SR software (includes vignetting control)
• New Vertical Grip
• Supplied with wireless remote control
• Magnesium Alloy body and rubber seals for dust and moisture resistance
• AF micro adjustment
• $2999.99 body price; available late October 2008