Sony has announced the DSLR-A700, their new digital SLR camera aimed at “photo enthusiasts.” The 12.2-megapixel camera crams dual noise reduction right on the sensor itself; noise reduction is applied to analog signals before A/D conversion and the resulting digital signals are then subject to a second round of noise reduction.
Shutter speeds of up to 1/8,000th of a second freeze fast-action scenes, and a high-power coreless motor charges the shutter and mirror mechanism, allowing continuous shooting at up to five frames per second. In JPEG fine or standard mode, continuous shooting is limited only by the capacity of the memory (up to 18 frames can be captured in RAW format).
A supplied remote capture application allows the camera to be controlled from a compatible PC via USB without even touching the camera, and files can be stored on the computer instead of the media card. It also features an HDMI output for connection to HDTV sets, and when connected to a Sony BRAVIA LCD HD television, photos are optimized for viewing with Sony’s “PhotoTV HD” mode.
Two new lenses will be introduced with the A700; the standard kit lens, DT 16-105 mm f.3.5 – 5.6, featuring internal focusing, and the high-magnification DT 18 – 250 mm f3.5 – 6.3 lens. Sony is also planning to introduce a specialty 70 -300 mm f4.5 – 5.6 SSM G telephoto lens featuring a super sonic wave motor auto focus drive system in Spring 2008. The A700 is also compatible with most Minolta Maxxum mount lenses in addition to Sony lenses.
The A700 also features separate slots for Memory Stick Duo media cards as well as CompactFlash Type I/II media cards. Sony’s new CompactFlash models are available in sizes up to 8GB.
The DSLR-A700 camera body, DT 16 – 105 mm lens, and DT 18-250 mm lens will be available for about $1,400, $580 and $550, respectively. The DSLR-A700K kit with an 18-70 mm lens will be available for about $1,500, and the DSLR-A700P kit with the 16-105 mm lens will be available for about $1,900. The camera body and DSLR-A700K kit will ship in October and the DSLR-A700P kit in November.
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