In the cut-throat digital camera market it's increasingly unusual for products to be shown in prototype form or announced more than a matter of weeks before they hit the stores. There's several reasons for the manufacturers' habit of playing their cards so close to their chests, not least that they can't afford to harm sales of the models they've already released. Sony, the newest 'new kid' on the DLSR block, has no such worries, this being its first proper 'high end' DSLR. In fact, if anything the pressure was on the company to show it was committed to becoming a major SLR system player and that it wasn't going to squander Minolta's long legacy in this market after picking up the assets Konica Minolta shed when it pulled out of the photography market. Thus we saw the first prototype of the Alpha 900 - Sony's flagship full frame digital SLR - back in early 2007 (it appeared behind glass at trade shows such as PMA in March 07), and information has been trickling out ever since; most significantly with the announcement in January of this year of a 35mm full frame CMOS sensor.
And so when Sony finally showed the finished Alpha 900 to us back in the late summer there were few surprises at the basic specification or the appearance of the camera. As we started to dig a little deeper, pore over the fine print and actually use the Alpha 900 we were, however, increasingly surprised - and almost always pleasantly so - at some of the decisions made by Sony's engineers when designing its flagship SLR.
The success of the Alpha 900 amongst the Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony faithful seems assured; at a launch price of just shy of $3000 it offers a lot of 'bang for your buck' and there is undoubtedly a significant number of Minolta film SLR users who've been waiting years for a full frame digital body on which to use their existing lenses. The challenge for Sony, however, is to generate some interest from people without an existing investment in the Minolta (or subsequent Alpha) system. And on paper the Alpha 900 looks promising - and we're already impressed with the build, handling and viewfinder, so let's find out how well the latest addition to the small but growing 'full frame 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
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