3 months ago, I was drooling for a H5 due to its high ISO capabilities, 3" LCD and zooming in movie mode among all things. Now that the H5 is out in the market and the reviews show that the H5, like the W50 before it, suffered a considerable lost of saturation at ISO 800 and above, I had lost most of my interest on the H5 even though the other features were delivered well to promise. Even though the H5 is more than 2 stops faster in terms of available ISO, the actual quality speed advantage is more like 1 stop only due to the problem mentioned earlier. In addition, I would lose at least about $250 (~38%) of my investment in the H1 if I sell it 2nd hand online now to "upgrade" to a H5.
The Sony Alpha 100 with the kit lens, all images of the camera and lenses are taken from Sony website.
Today, I'm looking forward to another camera instead, the Sony Alpha 100 dSLR. Sony is a huge electronics company that can be as unscrupulous as Microsoft in their dealings. But when such a huge company decides to enter the dSLR market, they will walk in with a bang. The specifications and 4 hands-on preview of the new Sony Alpha 100 dSLR were released today and the top feature list offered, in order of my preference, will be...
- Super SteadyShot build in camera. (instead of all the expensive vibration reduced lens for Nikon and Canon)*
- Anti-dust system to shake off dust on sensor automatically when shutting down with anti static coating.#
- Unlimited 3 frames per second burst mode (in large, fine jpeg, note, many other entry level dSLR offers a limited burst mode at lower speed)
- Hardware dynamic range optimization^
- Useful kit lens range (27-105mm instead of about 27-82mm for competitors) and wide range of lenses (at least 22 types so far) and accessories (4 type of flashes, remotes etc) annouced for the dSLR right from start.
- 10.2 megapixels (Other entry level cameras are usually 6 megapixels only)
- Eyestart viewfinder# (Camera detects user's eye at viewfinder and automatically starts to autofocus, thus reducing time lag)
- Depth of Field preview, 40 segment metering, custom/fine tune white balance... and all other useful features
#Only Olympus has this feature, but Olympus version is to shake upon start-up, which will slow down the reaction time of camera from start.
^I think this is unique to Sony dSLR in it's hardware implementation according to dpreview
#This is unique to Minolta SLR which now belongs to Sony too
Why is anti-shake important? I had both anti-shake camera (H1) and a non-anti-shake camera (F11) and I realise the importance of anti-shake to get blur-free shots. Bumping up ISO to reduce shake would invariably affect the image quality (unless the priority is in stopping actions). So an anti-shake system is as useful as high ISO capabilities and both features do not replace each other, but complements it. The most heartening source of info about the Alpha 100 to me is not only that it has anti-shake built in the sensor, is that it even includes a sensor to determine the amount of shake (instead of a shaking hand symbol).
I also find that the five bars in the viewfinder that indicate how much anti-shake latitude I have left help tell me just how shaky I can be. With a little concentration, I can bring those bars back down from three or four to one or two, where I'm better assured a stable shot. - as quoted from imaging resource5 bars to tell you how far you could be pushing your luck in getting a good shot! Now that's innovation!
The kit lens that comes with the Alpha 100.
It is amazing for Sony to come out with such a feature packed dSLR that is only entry level! Retailing at about USD900 (SGD1422) for body only or USD1000 (SGD1580). But given the official retail price for Alpha 100 with kit lens is the same as R1, I expect it to be sold at S$1,699 when it launches in Singapore and hopefully about S$1,600 or less for street price. Which will be competitive with the Canon EOS 350D with kit lens (S$1,553) or the Nikon D50 with kit lens ($1,307) and Nikon D70 with kit lens ($1,796) (All prices from Bargain city). Even though the Alpha 100 is going to be slightly more expensive than the entry level dSLR from Canon and Nikon, the Alpha had many better features (perhaps partly due to this is a newer camera too) compared to the EOS 350D and D50/70, at least on paper, and some not so comparable ones.
The other lower end zoom lens for a reach of up to 450mm equivalent
The Sony Alpha 100 dSLR is scheduled to be out in about 2 months time and I will look forward to the performance of the kit lens. I'm not rich nor crazy enough to invest in the best zoom (white SAL 70-200mm F2.8 G @ S$3,790) and prime (white SAL 300mm F2.8 G @ S$9,478) lens that Sony had to offer, but that surely implies that a professional dSLR will be coming up next in Sony's dSLR line. Nothing but a big player to shake up the dSLR market and convince users like me to make the huge leap to dSLR. Besides, all physics majors will have a soft spot for products that are named after Physicists or Greek alphabets, don't we? But first, I want to see at least image quality comparable to or better than my H1 with the kit lens when the camera hits the market.
My Dream Sony dSLR Configuration
Sony Alpha 100 with Kit lens, 27 - 105mm, F3.5-5.6 (USD999/SGD1580)
SAL 112 - 450mm equivalent, F4.5-5.6 (USD229/SGD362)
Total S$1,942, but hope to get it for about S$1,700 or lesser after waiting for a price drop.
I will most likely get one as soon as I strike 4D. (Which I don't buy for your information, but did you heard of the story of a woman who won Toto first prize even though she don't bet on Toto herself?). Otherwise I see it hard to spend almost my one month pay on a camera, but this will certainly be in my wishlist for Santa Claus, if he still accept a 26 year old as a child.
You just gotta dream~ And maybe the next live preview dSLR with anti shake, anti dust, Carl Zeiss kit lens and many other features for only S$1,699 is up next year. Who knows?! Now I know that if I eventually go down the dSLR road next year, the innovation from Sony will make the dSLR market a whole lot more interesting to look out for.
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