sonyalpharumorsLog in

Every year Thom Hogan predicts what’s coming next from Nikon (and not Nikon only! He also made a Sony prediction!):

Read the article at http://bythom.com/2010predictions.htm

I like this phrase: “Put another way, I’d say that Olympus, Panasonic, Leica, and Sony have a plan. Pentax has no plan. Fujfilm thinks they have a plan, but don’t actually possess one. Nikon and Canon have their old plan and think it will work forever. ”

And what is coming next from Sony?

• Sony. Lots happening at the new Minolta.
  • First up will be Sony’s GH1 killer. Only it won’t kill the GH1, especially since Panasonic will be on the next model soon, too. APS sensor, interchangeable lens video/still camera without a mirror. Check. Unfortunately, it will be larger than many of the m4/3 cameras. This has been a crash project for Sony, and I think it may explain why some of the other rumored items have been delayed. Still, I don’t expect it until near Photokina time-frame, which means it shows up after Panasonic’s next offering and after Samsung’s. That puts a lot of pressure on it to be better in some clear, significant way.
  • The A700 replacement, which is long overdue. And yes, it will have video. As with Sony’s latest fashion, it will probably come as multiple models (e.g. A750, A775) instead of a single model, though. Difference between the two models will be sensor (say 14mp and 16 or 18mp). Sony’s using a shotgun to hit the target, then going back and finding which pellet hit the target and trying to figure out the gun that would do that by itself.
  • I think we’ll see the low end lineup go through some modest, small changes during the year, too (after analyzing which pellets hit the target).
  • This should be a strong lens year for Sony, too. We’ll finally see their 500mm, and we’ll get a couple of fill-in-the-blanks lenses, too.