Sony Alpha 100 DSLR

The new Sony digital SLR that I mentioned a while ago has been officially announced. Due in shops at the end of July it is priced at $1000 so I'd figure at least €1000 given the weird anti-currency-conversion companies run between the States and Europe. I dont know if thats just for the body, I suspect it may be.

Still the spec is rather impressive, especially

• 10.2 million effective pixels
• Anti-dust protection system
• Super SteadyShot in camera body
• 750 shots from single charge
• 2.5-inch anti-reflective display

It takes Compact Flash and apparently Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo using an "adapter". Sony have also announced 20 new lenses for it, though it uses the Minolta mount so there are a lot of existing lenses already available.

You can never really tell from photographs, but it looks a pretty reasonable size for a general use dSLR, like the Canon 350D or the Nikon D50, i.e. something I can fit in my current camera bag without having to dump half the other stuff. The reviews all give it thumbs up for it's build quality and apparently the hand grip has soft rubber on it. Digital Photography Review and Digital Camera Review got their hands on "pre-production versions" and have detailed reviews.

I wonder how Canon and Nikon will respond. I wont be buying a dSLR until January or February of next year, but this one just jumped onto the current short list.

[via Gizmodo]