It’s official! The A55 has been dicontinued in Japan (Source: DC.watch). The question now is: Is the A65 the natural successor of the A55 or not? My answer is no!
I just don’t understand Sony. Why is the lineup so volatile and confusing
Can’t we have:
3 series. Entry level
5 series. Intermediate
7 series. Semi-pro/enthusiast APS-C
8 series. Full frame with cut down features
9 series. Flagship full frame
They keep releasing new stuff and discontinuing things that are only a year old. It makes buyers scared. The a55 is still a new, and great, camera, yet they’ve still released the a35 and 65 which are too similar.
Did the a33 really need replacing? It was out only a year before being replaced.
And the a500/550 were similar. And a560/580 too.. too similar.
Yet a700 user’s waited years for the a77, and it looks like full frame users wait longer too.
I wish they would stick to the lineup for once! Nikon are STILL selling the d90!
The Alpha 55 is nearly two years old and has the shutter lag problem with flash and is not usable with studio light.
The Alpha 33 was succeded because it was the last camera using the 14.2 MP Sensor and the prodcion of this chip was stopped to make room for the new Sensor.
David, the 580 is much, much better than the 550. Keep in mind that in the big picture (npi) Sony is still quite new in this arena. They’re learning fast. I’m predicting 5 more years and they’ll be pretty much on par with Nikanon with few exceptions (most notably in the array of lenses).
Jeff I have the a580 and I love it. But it still seems unnecessary to go through so many mid-range cameras so quickly. As I said, Nikon are STILL selling the d90, and according to amazon it’s never left the top 20 sold cameras.
I agree that Sony is up and coming, but they need longevity of their products too. A lot of people see cameras as an investment in the system. It’s very discouraging when your model gets discontinued and not replaced. People need to have faith, and nobody likes buying something that feels “disposable”, and that’s what happens when the thing you buy gets discontinued quickly. People want firmware support, software upgrades etc for the thing they spend thousands of £££/$$$ on.
Bear in mind that Sony also discontinued the excellent a850 and a900. So right now the Sony system has no full frame cameras. The next in line are the a77 and a65, which aren’t available anywhere.
Then you have the a580 and a560 (is the 560 even still around?!), but they are dropping OVF from now on, so they will go soon.
a55 now looks to be discontinued, and no replacement announced
a35 is a great camera, no doubt. I reccommend it to anybody wanting to get into the dSLR world.
So we have no pro cameras, unavailable semi-pro, a very unsure mid-range and one good entry level camera. What a mess!!
Instead of doing what other companies by adding a letter or number to add to a series they just rename it and confuse the rest of us. Do I agree? Hell no.
For example: What was the difference between the a100 and a200 not a lot except a new name.
Yeah, I’m serious… your link was referencing the A200 not the A100 which is what I’m talking about.
And really, DXOMARK only talks about tech specs which doesn’t apply here. A CCD sensor with the exact same score as a CMOS will still look different. It’s like comparing Analog to Digital, you can’t say that a mp3 song sounds better than a record because it has a better bitrate.
Can’t we have:
3 series. Entry level
5 series. Intermediate
7 series. Semi-pro/enthusiast APS-C
8 series. Full frame with cut down features
9 series. Flagship full frame
That’s almost what we have, except we also have a 6 series.
Perhaps:
6 series. Semi-Pro Light
.
Strange interpretation of “official”. It’s official when Sony Japan says so, not DC.watch. The Sony Japan web site still lists the A55 as current model.
If the story is correct, it indicates that production has stopped not that the model is not being listed and sold. It could be Sony looking at their sales rate figured they have enough in the warehouse now to cover sales until a new model is released. So we should start seeing rumors of the A57,A56,??? soon probably for fall release.
For years later! no kidding, they can discontinue in a hurry that’s for sure but the new stuff….whoa! They really need to work on the release schedule a bit, please.
Meanwhile absolutely no shortage of nex info, I am up to my eyeballs in nex info! Been thinking about trying to pick up an a850 used, to use for the next YEAR…anyone have one?
That’s a hard to understand decision from Sony! The A55 is an excellent camera for the price, is only one year old and sells very well. The only reason to stop its production I can think of is to make room for A65/77 production ( still very low ) and maybe also for NEX cameras/lenses.
AMOF the NEX-5n could be a good replacement for the A55 as long as new lenses are made available in a hurry!
I love the a55. I like it’s body considerably more than the a65. My only 2 wishes would be EVF from a65 etc + AVCHD 2.0 from new Alphas including manual control. The rest keep the same. Funny I feel the ‘higher end’ a65 feels cheap compared to the original 33 and 55 and the advantages of SLT/EVF are supposed to be that they can make cameras smaller. I think the a65 is nice enough and all but I really do feel Sony went a bit backwards from the a55.
Maybe the ’5′ series will become the premium compact SLT, the ’3′ series the cut down ‘basic’ version of the ’5′ (much like nex 3 vs 5), the 7 will be the semi-pro APS-C and the ’6′ will be the cut down ’7′? So while the ’6′ might be bigger and more MP etc than ’5′ the ’5′ is a little bitt more ‘premium’?
imo, the a55 actually is the one that feels really cheap. its too small. grip is tiny (but good for tiny hands like you probably). also the EVF is laggy. i would prefer the a580 with a much better grip and sturdier feel OVF at the time was way better then the EVF. just my 1c.
If you actually read my comment I too was saying a55 needs a better EVF. I do not however believe that the a580′s cheap Penta-mirror VF isn’t anything more than a dark tunnel.
I do not have small hands, but I do like the smaller size. No quality wise it is never going to compete with the 8′s and 9′s but I DO think it feels better than the a65 (which IS a better camera). a65 feels hollow, the plastic feels cheaper and the grip material instead of being a thickish rubbery coating, it feels like cheap shiny plastic.
Lastly with it’s size, it feels like there are all these open spaces, spaces like on a car when you get the basic model and where all the switches and knobs are supposed to be they just have blanking panels. Just a constant reminder that you bought the budget a77, while essentially is the same car, does not come with all the bells and whistles.
a55 is definitely not to everyone’s tastes and is definitely not as well equipped as a65 but I do feel the 5′s are going to be the ‘premium compact SLT’, their tech is just at this point a year + behind the newer a65.
My guess for replacement will be 16.2MP, 2.4 OLED EVF, 50/60fps video (with manual control), added focus peaking, 12+ fps, possibly improved AF, newer software. That will be about it.
All brands change their entry-mid consumer models much more regularly than their enthusiast-pro models. Look at Canon 500D-550D-600D etc.
The a65 does feel worse than a55, but everything feels cheap compared to a850/900 even a77. The grip material on the a65 feels like shiny slippery plastic crap and the camera feels very hollow, like it’s innards came from a smaller camera and it just has a bigger shell around it.
Well, Sony is an international corporation and can treat different geographic markets differently. It’s also known that the Japanese market often sees consumer products sooner than Europe or the Americas, and it is not a big surprise that Sony has discontinued a consumer product after only a year.
The a33/35 and the a55/a65 are consumer grade cameras that are sold largely through big box retailers, electronic stores and amazon that are all-about selling what’s new, and for Sony to get and/or maintain shelf-space in these types of stores the what’s new factor hype is important.
Typically, Sony (and Minolta) marketed camera bodies starting with 2,3 &5 as entry products with cameras numbers starting with 7 (and now maybe 6?) for the enthused and 9’s used to describe the company’s top product.
As we already know, Sony takes its sweet time releasing 7 (a77) and 9 (a99) products but if we are lucky, once in a while, because if some market condition, a 8 series camera comes out as did the a850 to better compete at a price-point.
I would not be supprised to see an Alpha a88 at the same time we see the a99, just as we did with the a65/a77 and the a33-a35/a55 before.
What on Earth does a camera RUMOURED to be discontinued have to do with E mount? Sony have just released their flagship APS-C model and are working on a full frame (according to Sony UK).
There’s a lot of crap floating around about the demise of A mount…
I don’t think that it will happen, but consider the news about how successful Nex has been. Cutting the a55 leaves a substantial hole in the aXX lineup. It is not a stretch to consider that Sony could eliminate the low to mid-level alphas and relegate that business to Nex.
There is no doubt they are probably improving on the new technology. The only problem, as I said before, they decide that they have something better coming so they discontinue a model…..but they are not quite ready to release the new one and there ends up being a huge gap between discontinuing the old and bringing in the new. Hurry the —- up already!
Still there is limited amount of E-mount AF lenses. Therefore I’m not ready to buy into NEX line and I would be happy with small A-mount camera as my second body. If Sony will put in A57 16Mpix NEX5 sensor and A77 EVF, for 700/800USD I would buy it next day after release.
The A33 needed to be discontinued due to overheating and dismal battery life. It was replaced by the A35, which addressed these issues.
I’m OK with the A65 completely replacing the A55.
You then have 3 levels of SLT’s: A35, A65 and A77. Trying to shoehorn another level between the A35 and A65 is unnecessary, in my humble opinion. Too many options/levels will not help Sony.
I think the discontinue the A55 because they are afraid it’s inferior EVF will damage perception of Sony EVF technology. They want the A77 to market SLT and EVF and don’t want to risk it with the A55 giving people any more averse opinions.
I agree with you JonasM. Just add the newer EVF and a few other features and you will have that 16MP camera that the pixel peepers say that they want in the A65 and A77. This would make a great back up camera to the A65/77 which you could use to shoot at ISO one million. Then we won’t need to listen to the constant whines of the peepers any more.
They have to cannibalize their own products otherwise some one else will (Steve Jobs’s idea to stay ahead of the competition) I’m ok with them trying new stuff. A77 has some quirks, but I’m fine with it. It makes my lenses super accurate and handles well. A55 was too small to be used for me professionally so I passed it and got a580 instead, now a580 is for sale.
Agreed Sergei. Apple could have sat on the ipad 1 for two or three years without any serious competition, but they came out with a new version after one year. On the one had I see people complaining about Sony taking too long to come out with new models and then they complain that Sony replaces the A33 after only one year. If they can upgrade that often, more power to them. And it keeps Canon and Nikon on their heals.
A shame if so. The A55 represented a new direction- tiny body to take advantage of the SLT approach. Too bad, because the newer Alphas aren’t really that small at all- thus giving up one of the promises of the SLT approach.
Agreed! The a33/55 were a new line for Sony, well specified in a small package. The a65 feels like a 500 series replacement not a new series.
I know this is going to get a lot of whining but I would love it if the new a55 (whatever it is called) was E-Mount but came with the A-Mount/SLT adapter like the LA-EA2, with the EVF and video from the A65. Designed to compete against the pana G3/GH2/GH3. That would be my perfect camera.
It is about time the A55 get refreshed. The lower end usually has only 1-1.5 years shelf time. A mid end has 2-3 years (I know A77 takes too long). A high end has minimum 4 years before getting refreshed so the time table is about right.
Sony may decide to release mirrorless A55 replacement to test the water. First A-mount with full CDAF although I would save that for A35 replacement later this year.
— In reply to Matt’s comment —
I agree too. I have the A35 and I really like using it a lot. I used to have the A850 but decided to get a lighter body. Before settling on the A35, I used the NEX-5N as well as NEX-7. Both very nice cameras, but not having a mode dial and an incomplete range of lenses turned me away from them. I’d love to have a swivel LCD though so I will wait for A55′s replacement, if there is any.
I think the A35 is an often overlooked camera in Sony’s lineup, IMHO. It has comparable DXO sensor rating to A65 and not too far behind NEX7 and NEX5N. Yet, it is cheaper than all of these cameras. It is a heavier body than the NEXs but you don’t really feel that difference in the field. It makes up for it with its faster autofocus and better controls.
Sony should continue releasing cameras until they get it right. The SLT line has been a photographic disappointment because of the poor JPEG engine. Also the limited video recording time is pathetic.
R.I.P. little buddy. I’m glad I got one when it came out. Can’t beat it for that price. I think if Sony would have kept if for a couple more years it would have been like the Rebel XS which I still see for sale at Costco and other stores. Do people still buy those old things?
Discontinues of cameras like the A700 years before A77 release and the A850/A900 is a bit critical I think. My father’s A700 for example died within the warranty time but after they decided to discontinue it and was irreparable. Sony was unable to ship a replacement model. In this case I’d say it was luck that it died, because after some debate we got a good offer for an A850 upgrade. But what if your cam dies and you need to replace it. Discontinued and no successor published is strange.
I like the Canon, Apple, whatever model better where you get the current devices until the new are available and sometimes even longer.
If with the classic version, you only get to play the
same game over and over again, with Simon 2 game, you get to play more games with more
challenges ad game highlights. The player who spins the
coin is referred to as the spinner. It sounds like you log into the game and join a “Shadow war” server and
play with hundreds of other players within that PVP world,
but that world is different from the cooperative Arkfall boss hunting world.
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SLT Pro
2 years ago |If they keep discontinuing Cameras like this then it means there must be new cams in the pipeline for the next few months!!! A99 we need you!
Marc
2 years ago |You don’t think the A65 is a replacement for the A55 ?
A57 with the body of the A65, but with a lower resolution chip and a few missing features ?
David
2 years ago |I just don’t understand Sony. Why is the lineup so volatile and confusing
Can’t we have:
3 series. Entry level
5 series. Intermediate
7 series. Semi-pro/enthusiast APS-C
8 series. Full frame with cut down features
9 series. Flagship full frame
They keep releasing new stuff and discontinuing things that are only a year old. It makes buyers scared. The a55 is still a new, and great, camera, yet they’ve still released the a35 and 65 which are too similar.
Did the a33 really need replacing? It was out only a year before being replaced.
And the a500/550 were similar. And a560/580 too.. too similar.
Yet a700 user’s waited years for the a77, and it looks like full frame users wait longer too.
I wish they would stick to the lineup for once! Nikon are STILL selling the d90!
Vivek
2 years ago |If they had no competitors, Nikon would still be selling their D1. Haha.
Maximus
2 years ago |The Alpha 55 is nearly two years old and has the shutter lag problem with flash and is not usable with studio light.
The Alpha 33 was succeded because it was the last camera using the 14.2 MP Sensor and the prodcion of this chip was stopped to make room for the new Sensor.
Arthur
2 years ago |It’s not a studio camera anyway.
Helena
2 years ago |+1 jaja
Jeff
2 years ago |David, the 580 is much, much better than the 550. Keep in mind that in the big picture (npi) Sony is still quite new in this arena. They’re learning fast. I’m predicting 5 more years and they’ll be pretty much on par with Nikanon with few exceptions (most notably in the array of lenses).
David
2 years ago |Jeff I have the a580 and I love it. But it still seems unnecessary to go through so many mid-range cameras so quickly. As I said, Nikon are STILL selling the d90, and according to amazon it’s never left the top 20 sold cameras.
I agree that Sony is up and coming, but they need longevity of their products too. A lot of people see cameras as an investment in the system. It’s very discouraging when your model gets discontinued and not replaced. People need to have faith, and nobody likes buying something that feels “disposable”, and that’s what happens when the thing you buy gets discontinued quickly. People want firmware support, software upgrades etc for the thing they spend thousands of £££/$$$ on.
Bear in mind that Sony also discontinued the excellent a850 and a900. So right now the Sony system has no full frame cameras. The next in line are the a77 and a65, which aren’t available anywhere.
Then you have the a580 and a560 (is the 560 even still around?!), but they are dropping OVF from now on, so they will go soon.
a55 now looks to be discontinued, and no replacement announced
a35 is a great camera, no doubt. I reccommend it to anybody wanting to get into the dSLR world.
So we have no pro cameras, unavailable semi-pro, a very unsure mid-range and one good entry level camera. What a mess!!
Maveric19
2 years ago |Instead of doing what other companies by adding a letter or number to add to a series they just rename it and confuse the rest of us. Do I agree? Hell no.
For example: What was the difference between the a100 and a200 not a lot except a new name.
Paul Hedderly
2 years ago |… and a completely different sensor that was not nearly as good at colour, and light…
AVESTA
2 years ago |Yup… I wish they would bring back CCDs. The A100 is still outdoing a lot of their new cameras. SAD!
Maximus
2 years ago |youre not serious right??
“http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors/Compare-cameras-side-by-side/%28appareil1%29/685|0/%28brand%29/Sony/%28appareil2%29/342|0/%28brand2%29/Sony/%28appareil3%29/216|0/%28brand3%29/Sony”
AVESTA
2 years ago |Yeah, I’m serious… your link was referencing the A200 not the A100 which is what I’m talking about.
And really, DXOMARK only talks about tech specs which doesn’t apply here. A CCD sensor with the exact same score as a CMOS will still look different. It’s like comparing Analog to Digital, you can’t say that a mp3 song sounds better than a record because it has a better bitrate.
GunnarK
2 years ago |David wrote:
Can’t we have:
3 series. Entry level
5 series. Intermediate
7 series. Semi-pro/enthusiast APS-C
8 series. Full frame with cut down features
9 series. Flagship full frame
That’s almost what we have, except we also have a 6 series.
Perhaps:
6 series. Semi-Pro Light
.
GermanGuy1
2 years ago |No, it should be:
9 full frame flagship / pro
8 full frame semi-pro
7 APS-C flagship / pro
6 APS-C frame semi-pro
5 intermediate
3 entry
Arthur
2 years ago |More like:
a900/850
A700/77
Photo toys for kids.
Carnicero
2 years ago |Hmmm. The A55 is still selling well in the shops where I live. Doesn’t quite make sense to discontinue it…
panda89
2 years ago |Maybe they plan to release an updated a55 without the flash shutter lag issue and with the oled evf?
Michael
2 years ago |Strange interpretation of “official”. It’s official when Sony Japan says so, not DC.watch. The Sony Japan web site still lists the A55 as current model.
Bill
2 years ago |If the story is correct, it indicates that production has stopped not that the model is not being listed and sold. It could be Sony looking at their sales rate figured they have enough in the warehouse now to cover sales until a new model is released. So we should start seeing rumors of the A57,A56,??? soon probably for fall release.
Michael
2 years ago |The Sony Japan web site was updated in the meantime.
Nobody
2 years ago |Well. Prepare yourself. Less than a year from now A77 will be discontinuted
john
2 years ago |and four years after that we’ll get a replacement
monkeyfacemcbride
2 years ago |I’d prefer it if they just finished the one we’ve got.
Ian
2 years ago |For years later! no kidding, they can discontinue in a hurry that’s for sure but the new stuff….whoa! They really need to work on the release schedule a bit, please.
Meanwhile absolutely no shortage of nex info, I am up to my eyeballs in nex info! Been thinking about trying to pick up an a850 used, to use for the next YEAR…anyone have one?
Michal
2 years ago |There will be new EVF for entry level
Clifton
2 years ago |maybe the A55 is having a rest from production while the factory concentrates on filling demand for the A77?
BMan
2 years ago |Soon, the new and improved A56 with an 18Mpix sensor, everything else the same, and a new price will surface. and another revolution will be here…
*sarc off*
Lucas
2 years ago |That’s a hard to understand decision from Sony! The A55 is an excellent camera for the price, is only one year old and sells very well. The only reason to stop its production I can think of is to make room for A65/77 production ( still very low ) and maybe also for NEX cameras/lenses.
AMOF the NEX-5n could be a good replacement for the A55 as long as new lenses are made available in a hurry!
john
2 years ago |Until Sony add I.B.I.S to the NEX lineup it will never be an Alpha replacement for me/
:-/
Mike
2 years ago |The better is the enemy of the good, as we say here in my country.
Of course the A55 will be replaced by an even better camera. So nothing to worry about.
Doraemonboi
2 years ago |Well. My A55 just celebrate her birthday one month ago.
Matt
2 years ago |I love the a55. I like it’s body considerably more than the a65. My only 2 wishes would be EVF from a65 etc + AVCHD 2.0 from new Alphas including manual control. The rest keep the same. Funny I feel the ‘higher end’ a65 feels cheap compared to the original 33 and 55 and the advantages of SLT/EVF are supposed to be that they can make cameras smaller. I think the a65 is nice enough and all but I really do feel Sony went a bit backwards from the a55.
Maybe the ’5′ series will become the premium compact SLT, the ’3′ series the cut down ‘basic’ version of the ’5′ (much like nex 3 vs 5), the 7 will be the semi-pro APS-C and the ’6′ will be the cut down ’7′? So while the ’6′ might be bigger and more MP etc than ’5′ the ’5′ is a little bitt more ‘premium’?
Thoughts?
sleek
2 years ago |imo, the a55 actually is the one that feels really cheap. its too small. grip is tiny (but good for tiny hands like you probably). also the EVF is laggy. i would prefer the a580 with a much better grip and sturdier feel OVF at the time was way better then the EVF. just my 1c.
Matt
2 years ago |If you actually read my comment I too was saying a55 needs a better EVF. I do not however believe that the a580′s cheap Penta-mirror VF isn’t anything more than a dark tunnel.
I do not have small hands, but I do like the smaller size. No quality wise it is never going to compete with the 8′s and 9′s but I DO think it feels better than the a65 (which IS a better camera). a65 feels hollow, the plastic feels cheaper and the grip material instead of being a thickish rubbery coating, it feels like cheap shiny plastic.
Lastly with it’s size, it feels like there are all these open spaces, spaces like on a car when you get the basic model and where all the switches and knobs are supposed to be they just have blanking panels. Just a constant reminder that you bought the budget a77, while essentially is the same car, does not come with all the bells and whistles.
a55 is definitely not to everyone’s tastes and is definitely not as well equipped as a65 but I do feel the 5′s are going to be the ‘premium compact SLT’, their tech is just at this point a year + behind the newer a65.
My guess for replacement will be 16.2MP, 2.4 OLED EVF, 50/60fps video (with manual control), added focus peaking, 12+ fps, possibly improved AF, newer software. That will be about it.
All brands change their entry-mid consumer models much more regularly than their enthusiast-pro models. Look at Canon 500D-550D-600D etc.
Frank Withers
2 years ago |I have not held the a65 but IMO the a55 feels like a piece of plastic trash compared to my a850.
Matt
2 years ago |The a65 does feel worse than a55, but everything feels cheap compared to a850/900 even a77. The grip material on the a65 feels like shiny slippery plastic crap and the camera feels very hollow, like it’s innards came from a smaller camera and it just has a bigger shell around it.
Atlasman
2 years ago |It’s a good move on Sony’s behalf—technology marches forward.
SRL
2 years ago |Well, Sony is an international corporation and can treat different geographic markets differently. It’s also known that the Japanese market often sees consumer products sooner than Europe or the Americas, and it is not a big surprise that Sony has discontinued a consumer product after only a year.
The a33/35 and the a55/a65 are consumer grade cameras that are sold largely through big box retailers, electronic stores and amazon that are all-about selling what’s new, and for Sony to get and/or maintain shelf-space in these types of stores the what’s new factor hype is important.
Typically, Sony (and Minolta) marketed camera bodies starting with 2,3 &5 as entry products with cameras numbers starting with 7 (and now maybe 6?) for the enthused and 9’s used to describe the company’s top product.
As we already know, Sony takes its sweet time releasing 7 (a77) and 9 (a99) products but if we are lucky, once in a while, because if some market condition, a 8 series camera comes out as did the a850 to better compete at a price-point.
I would not be supprised to see an Alpha a88 at the same time we see the a99, just as we did with the a65/a77 and the a33-a35/a55 before.
J
2 years ago |I just hope that this doesn’t mean that the E mount is the replacement for the alpha mount.
Kyrios
2 years ago |Don’t be silly, the E is the E and the Alpha is the Alpha. That would be like Ford replacing all of their automobiles with pickup trucks.
J
2 years ago |Don’t be naive. We are talking about Sony.
SonyA77
2 years ago |What on Earth does a camera RUMOURED to be discontinued have to do with E mount? Sony have just released their flagship APS-C model and are working on a full frame (according to Sony UK).
There’s a lot of crap floating around about the demise of A mount…
J
2 years ago |I don’t think that it will happen, but consider the news about how successful Nex has been. Cutting the a55 leaves a substantial hole in the aXX lineup. It is not a stretch to consider that Sony could eliminate the low to mid-level alphas and relegate that business to Nex.
Ian
2 years ago |There is no doubt they are probably improving on the new technology. The only problem, as I said before, they decide that they have something better coming so they discontinue a model…..but they are not quite ready to release the new one and there ends up being a huge gap between discontinuing the old and bringing in the new. Hurry the —- up already!
GunnarK
2 years ago |No, the (possible) discontinuation of SLT-A55 certainly does not mean the discontinuation of the entire Alpha line. See the interview with Sony Senior Manager Mark Weir here:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2012/01/15/sony-interview-10-years-hence-will-mirror-based-cameras-be-a-distant-memory
.
march
2 years ago |look like A65/A77 will be official announce discontinue soon!
LEdgars
2 years ago |Still there is limited amount of E-mount AF lenses. Therefore I’m not ready to buy into NEX line and I would be happy with small A-mount camera as my second body. If Sony will put in A57 16Mpix NEX5 sensor and A77 EVF, for 700/800USD I would buy it next day after release.
Jay Kay
2 years ago |The A33 needed to be discontinued due to overheating and dismal battery life. It was replaced by the A35, which addressed these issues.
I’m OK with the A65 completely replacing the A55.
You then have 3 levels of SLT’s: A35, A65 and A77. Trying to shoehorn another level between the A35 and A65 is unnecessary, in my humble opinion. Too many options/levels will not help Sony.
JonasM
2 years ago |I think the discontinue the A55 because they are afraid it’s inferior EVF will damage perception of Sony EVF technology. They want the A77 to market SLT and EVF and don’t want to risk it with the A55 giving people any more averse opinions.
Wheelus
2 years ago |I agree with you JonasM. Just add the newer EVF and a few other features and you will have that 16MP camera that the pixel peepers say that they want in the A65 and A77. This would make a great back up camera to the A65/77 which you could use to shoot at ISO one million. Then we won’t need to listen to the constant whines of the peepers any more.
sergei
2 years ago |They have to cannibalize their own products otherwise some one else will (Steve Jobs’s idea to stay ahead of the competition) I’m ok with them trying new stuff. A77 has some quirks, but I’m fine with it. It makes my lenses super accurate and handles well. A55 was too small to be used for me professionally so I passed it and got a580 instead, now a580 is for sale.
Wheelus
2 years ago |Agreed Sergei. Apple could have sat on the ipad 1 for two or three years without any serious competition, but they came out with a new version after one year. On the one had I see people complaining about Sony taking too long to come out with new models and then they complain that Sony replaces the A33 after only one year. If they can upgrade that often, more power to them. And it keeps Canon and Nikon on their heals.
ronin
2 years ago |A shame if so. The A55 represented a new direction- tiny body to take advantage of the SLT approach. Too bad, because the newer Alphas aren’t really that small at all- thus giving up one of the promises of the SLT approach.
Matt
2 years ago |Agreed! The a33/55 were a new line for Sony, well specified in a small package. The a65 feels like a 500 series replacement not a new series.
I know this is going to get a lot of whining but I would love it if the new a55 (whatever it is called) was E-Mount but came with the A-Mount/SLT adapter like the LA-EA2, with the EVF and video from the A65. Designed to compete against the pana G3/GH2/GH3. That would be my perfect camera.
hanugro
2 years ago |It is about time the A55 get refreshed. The lower end usually has only 1-1.5 years shelf time. A mid end has 2-3 years (I know A77 takes too long). A high end has minimum 4 years before getting refreshed so the time table is about right.
Sony may decide to release mirrorless A55 replacement to test the water. First A-mount with full CDAF although I would save that for A35 replacement later this year.
Jay
2 years ago |— In reply to Matt’s comment —
I agree too. I have the A35 and I really like using it a lot. I used to have the A850 but decided to get a lighter body. Before settling on the A35, I used the NEX-5N as well as NEX-7. Both very nice cameras, but not having a mode dial and an incomplete range of lenses turned me away from them. I’d love to have a swivel LCD though so I will wait for A55′s replacement, if there is any.
I think the A35 is an often overlooked camera in Sony’s lineup, IMHO. It has comparable DXO sensor rating to A65 and not too far behind NEX7 and NEX5N. Yet, it is cheaper than all of these cameras. It is a heavier body than the NEXs but you don’t really feel that difference in the field. It makes up for it with its faster autofocus and better controls.
Steve G.
2 years ago |Sony should continue releasing cameras until they get it right. The SLT line has been a photographic disappointment because of the poor JPEG engine. Also the limited video recording time is pathetic.
knurd
2 years ago |R.I.P. little buddy. I’m glad I got one when it came out. Can’t beat it for that price. I think if Sony would have kept if for a couple more years it would have been like the Rebel XS which I still see for sale at Costco and other stores. Do people still buy those old things?
Ingmar
2 years ago |Discontinues of cameras like the A700 years before A77 release and the A850/A900 is a bit critical I think. My father’s A700 for example died within the warranty time but after they decided to discontinue it and was irreparable. Sony was unable to ship a replacement model. In this case I’d say it was luck that it died, because after some debate we got a good offer for an A850 upgrade. But what if your cam dies and you need to replace it. Discontinued and no successor published is strange.
I like the Canon, Apple, whatever model better where you get the current devices until the new are available and sometimes even longer.
alex
2 years ago |very short lifespan for sony a55.. pity.. it seems better to wait and to NOT buy a new sony slt, but to go for secondhand/used slt´s..
Vlad Theodor
2 years ago |Any firmware-upgrade (v3.0…) for A33 !? Just for fun
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