(SR5) Sony says the A77 will be much better than expected (?)
Photoclubalpha had a discussion with Paul Genge of Sony UK and reports that “When the new A700-series model appears, Paul confirmed that it will look quite different from the mock-up shown at PMA and again at photokina. All the clues I can get indicate that it does indeed use the same basic internal system as the A33/55, and will have an EVF. But Paul said this camera will include such high specification features that current A700 owners will be amazed.” and “Paul said they intended to complete the A3/5/7 developments and would then turn their attention to new full frame, including an Alpha 900 replacement with features yet to be decided. He pointed to the new 500mm f/4 G SSM, shown in bare metal and with paint on, as evidence of their intentions. Also, it was possible to create a full frame NEX, using the same mount and the A-mount adaptor, but never the same lenses as the APS-C NEX. The mount had been designed to allow this and it might one day happen, in which case full-frame adapted Leica lenses (and so on) would be even more useful. The new standard zoom lens (16-80mm replacement) could be SAM not SSM. Paul pointed to the ring on the front of the mockup (gold ring – a bit of a Tamron-type clue?) and suggested that this could mean the SAM motor.”
In summary:
1) the A77 is a SLT camera that will very likely be even better than we imagine….I can imagine a lot 
2) The A950 will come some months after the A77
3) NEX was designed keeping fullframe in mind
Read the full text at Photoclubalpha. David also talks about the new NEX firmware!
P.S.: We are currently receiving some A77 and A950 rumors and I ask my sources if they can talk with me about that cameras. i need to confirm those rumors before to post them here! Thanks!
Bryan
3 years ago |Glad to hear about that there will be replacement for A900…. At least it show Sony still will expand their FF market.. : )
Futile
3 years ago |I’m happy they intend to introduce another Full Frame, but I’m somewhat upset that it doesn’t sound anytime soon. I’m guessing next xmas from the way he says that they’ve not decided on spec.
valon
3 years ago |I hope that the ff nex will be designed toward something quite like a rangefinder except without the weird rangefinder viewfinder. That would a neat alternative for shooting when you need low shutter noise.
EG
3 years ago |“Weird rangefinder viewfinder”
What do you mean? Some rangefinders have excellent and useful viewfinders.
john
3 years ago |I’m wondering if the delayed A700 replacement re:
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-we-think-translucent-mirror-designs-are-better-than-classic-dslr-a77-within-one-year/#comments will also delay the release of the Nikon D300= D400 as they should share the same sensor……
Wait a minute….Nikon no longer use Sony sensors.
(tongue firmly planted in cheek)
It’ll be interesting to see Nikon Users reaction if true
Hphotog
3 years ago |I guess what he meant is the “estimated” view of a regular RF VF. Composition-wise, it does not do as well as the regular direct view of a SLR. Large lens can also block a portion of the viewfinder.
I’m excited with the NEX full frame possibility.
Ed
3 years ago |I am really looking forward to hearing more about the A900 replacement. I love my A850 but I would not hesitate buying the new FF model and using both my A850 and A700 as backups.
Glad to hear Sony is still interested and has plans for the pro-market !!!
kb
3 years ago |ok so there is a glimmer hope… dont let me down sony. a900 replacement that is a A950 not A99.
qbic
3 years ago |It was obvious that Nex mount was designed for FF
SirWired
3 years ago |Does ANYBODY have even a vague ETA for the A7xx? Also, the linked article was a bit vague. It most certainly confirms there will be a 7-series SLT. However, I am having a hard time telling if there will be a 7xx SLR. The interview too-freely mixes rumor/”clues” with the actual interview.
I can buy that the A7x SLT won’t look anything like the displayed mockup. But if they were never going to release a A7xx SLR (that looks like the mockup), then why was the mockup even there? Just to show off the new lens and flash?
The way I’m reading it is that Sony has NOT said there will be no A7xx SLR, just that there WILL be a A7x SLT.
Panfruit
3 years ago |If going by this news, then no, there will not be a7xx but an a7x.
Brett
3 years ago |See, that’s all we needed to hear. Although if the A77 will “be within a year”, I would suspect the A9xx won’t be much sooner than 18 – 24 months. Now all we have to fret over is whether it will be OVF, EVF or combo!
bloodsucker
3 years ago |For now OVF 900> EVF although this might change in 2 years time. call me old fashioned but why would i “peek into LCD monitor” when taking picture lol…
Brett
3 years ago |2 weeks ago, who would have believed the A7xx would be A77 with EVF! Of course only time will tell for sure.
Novedades Nex
3 years ago |[...] Es que es muy facil plantear y exigir… Para los inconformes… sonyalpharumors | Home 1) the A77 is a SLT camera that will very likely be even better than we imagine….I can [...]
RB
3 years ago |Well, I don’t see the need of a FF replacement every six month. a900 is just 24 months old now. a850 is just 12 months old. As its design is quite perfect, I don’t see the need of a successor of the a900 right now.
Regrading EVF and SLT — I’m curious now, how the advanced a77 with SLT will behave. I bet, the difference between a55 and a77 will be as big as a500 to a900. If the a77 keeps what Paul promises, than I can’t await a FF SLT!!!
The OVF of the a900 is very nice — but admit it guys, how often were you cursing because you didn’t see anything in really dark conditions? How close is the depth-of-field control in the OVF to what you get in your image file? Admit it: In gentle images you take a series of different aperture settings and judge later from what you’ve got…
kb
3 years ago |the a850 IS the a900. its a dumbed down 2 yr old design.
i agree that a a900 replacement isnt necessary right now. however everyone is in panic mode because the canon 5dm3 is being wispered about, and we want confirmation that the next sony FF is OVF. we just need some assurance.
i certaintly wouldnt dump my a850 for a 5dm2 but a 5dm3 and knowledge of no a950 ovf would make me do it.
if sony said right now expect the next FF to be EVF i think many ppl would jump ship right now.
Tristan
3 years ago |What i care the most, is the FF replacement.But seems only God knows when exactly a77 will be announced.
Everybody can’t wait for them (77 + NEW FF).Sony needs to launch a77 now.
acolyte
3 years ago |Everybody sounds about right.
Still no flip though?
Panfruit
3 years ago |Didn’t they state that ‘the flip’ would be physically impossible?
Joel
3 years ago |SAM?!! Come on, Sony. Not SAM. Sigma can come out with HSM and it only adds about $100-150 for the price and is MUCH better than SAM (very quiet and faster). At least Nikon has the decency to only through a micro-motor on their $100-150 lenses. Sony is going to put it on $500-700 lenses?
Sky_walker
3 years ago |I hope it gonna be something really cheap with constant aperture if they put SAM in it, or at least: they should make SAM mk. 2 – noiseless one for video recording.
Joel
3 years ago |BTW, I’m boycotting all SAM lenses. I don’t see a point since they are barely quieter than the body AF motor. Might as well buy old non-SAM lenses.
contraspirit
3 years ago |I’ve got a question. If the a77 will look quite different from the mock-up shown at PMA and again at Photokina, then which camera will look like the above-mentioned mock-up? If any.
acolyte
3 years ago |More like, why did they show it in the first place?
Sky_walker
3 years ago |To show /something/.
I guess they don’t have the body design completed yet, so… ~_~
Panfruit
3 years ago |Is Sony the only major large-sensor camera manufacturer that shows an endless parade of mock-ups at these events?
john
3 years ago |after changing their minds mid stream Sony didn’t have enough time to chisel out an new mock-up.
by the time it’s released nobody will remember or care what the mock-up of the A77 looked like…:-)
johnnyboy
3 years ago |Come on Sony, don’t give us a good product in a year, give us a rediculously stupendous, we won’t believe it till we use it product than is powered by pure kryptonite in 4 years. Who needs anything now, that’s crazy! Btw, does sarcasm translate to Japanese very well?
Panfruit
3 years ago |They should have shipped a stupendously amazing product last frickin’ fall. This fall they’re becoming a joke.
By next fall who knows how many people who will leave the system in disgust? Lots and lots surely.
David
3 years ago |But when? Such B.S. already…if and when this magical DSLR does appear, I hope to God it isn’t a tiny little toy like the A33 and A55. I’m not going to wait anymore….I’m going to go and try to re-purchase another A700. I feel stupid for selling mine over a year ago thinking Sony would actually get off their butts and give us something!!!
Anon
3 years ago |Of course it would be better than I expected, because I don’t expect anything from Sony anymore.
Jake
3 years ago |I’m one who is not really interested in the NEX. I’m content with my Alpha, but am disappointed that Sony doesn’t put more effort into their lens offering quality and variety. Nikon and Canon have much more options and better ones. This is a sentiment I believe is shared with all Alpha users who haven’t forked out $1500 for a Zeiss.
Fuji
3 years ago |What about the prime lenses that they currently offer. For $150 – $700, there are some very good lenses. Don’t forget about the 35mm and 85mm primes that were just announced. It will take time for the lens choices to grow. Remember, Sony has not been around as long as other manufacturers in the interchangeable lens category. It seems like a lot of Alpha shooters are forgetting to take pictures and are more worried about specs, jumping the gun, and waiting on new gear. By the way, I see a surge in used A900′s for sale, but they are asking way too much in order to pay for their Canons and D3s…goodness. Lower it under 2000 and I’ll buy your A900.
Fuji
3 years ago |Speaking of FF and new lenses, the 24mm Zeiss prime is back on their website. It was taken down so they could correct the description and specs, which were initially copied directly from the 24-70mm lens word for word.
Emopunk
3 years ago |It’s funny to read through the lines: it may all sound like “we’ve got nothing at the moment, we are still figuring out what to do; but once it happens, be sure that we’ll be the best around!!”. ROTFL That may all be nothing but a bunch of arrogance. They better watch out for Canikon offerings in the same market, before releasing such statements..
jjack
3 years ago |this is good example of mass crowd psychology. Small number of people impress majority of people who don’t have decent knowledge and unclear creed. I want to see how many people actually throw all their gears to ebay.
acolyte
3 years ago |Meh.. Hope we who stay won’t be too late – by the time they bought Canikon they might not want to switch to Sony again and we’ll just pick off the lenses
R0B
3 years ago |Idea regarding the original post – if we expect the a77 to have the build quality of a phase one back, speed and ISO performance of d3s/1dmkiv, the IQ of a hasselblad and the video quality of a RED camera, then will it surpass that… well we can dream
Chris
3 years ago |After waiting for so long for a replacement A7xx, I decided to get on eBay and buy myself a 2nd A700. I love the camera, so now can relax a bit safe in the knowledge that I have 2 bodies to work with that are great kit. Hopefully, by the time I’m ready to go FF (and can afford to) they’ll have sorted this mess out and released a few options for me to choose from.
Steve Jones
3 years ago |I don’t want the A700 replacement, I want the new FF camera. The current FFs are old school and, OVF apart, are not class leading on anything an lack innovation. The high ISO isn’t there yet it is surely the FF format which is optimal for many serious photographers with its balance of system size, affordability, transportability and image quality.
Come on Sony, do something revolutionary and don’t listen to those that would have you follow the conservative line. That was tried with the A850/A900, and it scarcely set the world alight.
Paul
3 years ago |Plz Sony! Do not put the EVF into a A77 or A950 !!! Its a big failure! Ive tested the EVF of the A33 and A55 on the Photokina and it is weak! The dark image areas of the EVF are fully of noise and tell my plz.: How will you work in dark Places with it? Sorry but i cannot believe this Sony….
acolyte
3 years ago |Believe it or not o_O Remember, SLR isn’t Sony’s main market.
baru
3 years ago |SOny.. i want a better FF camera. but some says Sony would abandon FF line?
acolyte
3 years ago |Sell your gears and the patient ones will pick it up XD
LEdgars
3 years ago |I’m totally not agree that A900 is outdated as still camera. Of course it lacks live view and AF system could be improved, but otherwise it still have best low ISO DSLR sensor, best viewfinder and LCD.
Video? How many people need pro class video and could handle it? I would suggest go for A55 or NEX for video.
I’m not against new FF Sony camera, just wandering, what would be features worth to spend another 3000USD. Extremely improved AF? Frame rate 40fps (global readout)? Main sensor live view? Double HD video + 1080p 120fps? BUILT IN WAFFLE IRON?
Jonathan
3 years ago |Having not yet moved on from my film based Dynax 7, I have been hoping for a FF camera of a similar spec (something akin to the Nikon D700). I am not looking for a 24MP monster, and would rather buy a 12 to 15 MP FF camera with built in flash for the occasional fill in. I would prefer a lower resolution without noise issues and don’t want to have to carry a flashgun all the time “just in case”.
I also tried out the EVF on the Sony A33 in Jessops, and am less than impressed. Motion blur is bad when panning (almost as bad as the NEX-5). It is not a patch on the EVF in the Panasonic G2, so Sony has some catching up to do when it comes to the A77. Even then I am not convinced that EVF is the way to go for fast action photography.
Francisco
3 years ago |+1 for the waffle iron suggestion. Make it happen Sony!!
Arthur
3 years ago |I want to see a900 improved to higher iso and with integral vertical controller(brick). the rest is for kids who like to play with fancy toys. Serious photographers need a solid camera with no nonsense features like EVF or transparent mirrors.
acolyte
3 years ago |Umm.. excuse me though.. Some serious photographers may not have the money, or can easily dish out the money you can.. Please be more sensitive in theses contexts.
Arthur
3 years ago |I apologize for being rash. My bad. As for the money, I believe that a good camera is worth the wait(time to save up some cash). I have waited for 3 years now which makes me very upset at Sony for not delivering updates for A900 and A850, and not putting effort into making a new FF.
Besides, those who prefer a lower-end model camera for their needs are still paying a lot of cash for the features that are fresh out of the lab, and then they pay some more for a newer model of the same camera(case in point 300 an 500 series) that may have slight improvements. Well, I say no to that and will only settle for the camera that is done right and will serve me for 5-10 years like my film Minolta cameras did and continue serving me well to this day.
Aside from my that, it seems that most cameras that Sony sells are targeted for those who have plenty of cash and are not worried about buying new and more popular/fancy camera every year. It seems like many confuse fashion in photography/pictures with fashion in technology, the later being almost irrelevant because pictures are only as good as a photographer who takes them. Field cameras may not be popular today, but their pictures still lead the way in many areas.
BMan
3 years ago |By the way …
I’ve nabbed a black 80-200/2.8 for a bit over 500 EUR 
On the german eBay, loads of very rare A mount lenses appeared over the weekend.
Minolta 80-200/2.8 HS (both black & white), Minolta 200/2.8, 300/2.8 SSM (extra rare). The prices are somewhat high for the moment, but I’m sure they will fall
I think that some people are abandoning the ship already.
PMac
3 years ago |BMan – from what you’ve said it doesnt sound much like people are leaving Sony, rather some people with really, really old equipment are looking to update. Possibly they are staying with the A mount, possibly not but its impossible to tell. But from the age of the stuff you are describing these are people who never actually boarded the Sony ship but rather just happened to be left over following a previous cruise.
One thing I’ve noted is how rare used Sony lenses are.
Jonathan
3 years ago |Some of us have not yet boarded the Sony ship because they haven’t yet delivered a product to match our expectations. I’m still waiting for a FF camera which would be the digital equivalent of my Dynax 7. It seemed that the rumoured A800 might have been that camera, but it did not materialise. The longer this continues, the more likely I am to jump the A-mount ship.
Arthur
3 years ago |Same situation here. My maxxum 7 is getting a bit tired and film is very costly sstill. I did invest in some good A-mount lenses and sony flash though. would be good to have a FF digital to try some burst photography in birding and sports.
BMan
3 years ago |Well, the 300/2.8 SSM is the exactly same thing as the Sony version. Sony just put it’s name on it and upped the price a bit.
And at 8,000 EUR new it’s not really an amateur lens.
And if in just 2 days, 2 such used lenses appear on sale (and before that there were no used ones for months), that says something.
Also, the old Minolta lenses outperform most of the shit that Sony sells nowadays (except the wonderful CZ of course).
I’d never exchange my 28-135 or 135/2.8 or 100/2.8 for the newer designs …
RB
3 years ago |Do you mean those two 2.8/300 on ebay today? Well, they are brand new ones with full two years warranty…
So: False alarm.
acolyte
3 years ago |I’m still not understanding these new-old lenses. Are they still being manufactured under the Minolta name, or is it old untouched stock that has been sitting in someone’s warehouse?
Arthur
3 years ago |many APS-c lenses were designed by KM for their maxxum 7/5 series, and they were not very good(most have plastic mounts and cheap glass). Sony rebadged and re-worked many of those lenses for APS lineup, but they are still not as good as old Minolta FF lenses. In general, Sony lenses get better when you wander into the FF professional lenses like CZ and G series. I have a 70-400G
and it is great. If Sony delivers a good FF body, I will invest in some sony glass again(CZ 16-35 would be the first choice), and if not then i’ll stick with film for 2-3 years and see where the market is headed then.
Manolo
3 years ago |After reading this I’m seriously thinking of purchasing another brand or maybe an old A700 I’m not very convinced about the SLT cameras and if Sony has decided to go that way I’m not quite sure I like it.
RB
3 years ago |Here in Germany, we say (literally translated): What the peasant doesn’t know, he won’t eat.
How do you come to a statement like “I’m not very convinced about the SLT cameras and if Sony has decided to go that way I’m not quite sure I like it.”? All you know so far comes from the the “cheap” interpretation of SLT in form of a33/a55, rumors, other’s reports, or own hands-on experience of the family cam a33/a55.
Now, use imagination: Imagine, how would a (semi-)pro full-frame SLT look like, if the difference between the family A33 and a (semi-)pro A99 would be as big as between a A230 and an A900. Imagine, what you could do if you can overcome the limitations of the SLR design…
You blame that Sony is not playing according to the rules. Fine. But Sony is currently changing the rules of the game… If you like to play according to the soon obsolete rules — go ahead!
acolyte
3 years ago |It’s a really hard gamble, but here’s what I’m hoping:
By the time A7x/A7xx came out, we get enough reviews about A33/A55 and A560/A580 and we can proudly say “Hey, I chose the best camera for myself, and others think it’s good too”
After all, even if SLT is good, until the news spread and the media agrees, we can’t be proud (or, more importantly, confident) about the technology.
santanu
3 years ago |Why should we feel proud only when media tells it is a good camera or why should it matter to us what the media says? This is typical herd mentality i see in people, 100 guys tell something and quickly without understanding any thing I jump in the bandwagon and claim to be a happy and content photographer with my great equipment.
I will be proud of sony and slt if I like the camera and I feel it helps me take better photos-to hell with media and bandwagon!
Equally flawed is the logic of lenses apparing in ebay-it means noting because for every seller there is a buyer so spare me the jumping ship BS. Sony has tried to be innovative, tried to be different-hallmarks of a leader and I support them, we all must support change it is the only constant.
Arthur
3 years ago |I am proud of my Maxxum 7 and my ability to get good prints. No matter how awesome NEX 5 is i will not buy it ever. Why? Simple, i need a camera that satisfies my needs. Nex and the rest of APS-C stuff does not work for me, so I wait for a A950.
Oscar
3 years ago |EVF is now like Digital Cameras some years ago. They need to improve the system because it seems not very accurate at this moment but I hope it will be better and better in a few months/years
PS: And I love my OVF!!!!!!
Regards
Christian
3 years ago |Sony didnt make a launch date ready for their a77 prototype at Photokina. But do anyone know when they might announce that and when it might come out. Is it at Photokina 2011 or jan 2012? or how long might it take. Because all of the rumors are great but if we dont know when its coming out in the near future then how long are we going to wait if we dont jump on the wagon now and get the a55 or a33. If the launch date is jan 2012 then that would be a looong time to wait. To long for me because then Canon or Nikon might already be launching their own SLT versions and then what do you do?