New Gear: Sony DSLR-A850 Full-Frame DSLR

If you have been craving the full-frame sweetness of Sony's flagship DSLR-A900, but don't quite have the savings for it, The A850 may be just what your accountant ordered. It checks in at $2,000, which is a decent price drop from the A900, but, you get the same 24.6-megapixel (effective) CMOS sensor that we liked so much, and most of the other features as well. It will be available in September, which gives you a little time to dissect and compare the spec sheets. More specs and images below.

--Optical glass pentaprism viewfinder with 98% coverage (The A900 gets 100%)
--Two-stage noise reduction: Digital and analogue
--9 point AF system with 10 focus assist points
--Dedicated F2.8 sensor for enhanced AF accurace with fast lenses
--3-inch LCD with 921k dots of resolution
--Intelligent Preview function let's you preview the effect of changing settings before taking a shot
--SteadyShot INSIDE optical stablization delivers "up to 4 steps of anti-shake correction" with compatible lenses
--Dual card slots: MemoryStick and CF
--InfoLITHIUM battery rated up to 880 shots on a charge
--HDMI for connecting to Bravia TVs
--3 FPS shooting up to 16 frames in RAW mode --Maximum resolution: 6048 x 4032 (24M 3:2)

Comments

[MC]

It really needs HD video (love it or hate it) to compete. Sony is dropping the ball on this one. They need to move faster to video to compete with Nikon and Canon pro offerings.

[dyna]

HD video, while nice, is not yet implemented well enough to have become truly necessary. I think Sony's done the right thing by bringing the purist's photographic tool, with near medium format linear resolution, into the D300 crowd's price range. The added color rendition and edge definition, the build and prism, the killer flash set up (now nearly complete thanks to the HVL-F20AM)... this is a viable camera for someone looking to get off the ground for $500 to $1000 less than the competitor... and know that they'll have a camera that they can stake their reputation to and will not let them down.

Video will come in time and, like LiveView, Sony will do it when it's done right. Their dual implementation, while certainly Olympus's right to call firsties, is the best in the market at this time. Oly should never have abandoned it in the first place.

[DANSY]

Researching my first semi pro DSLR I read the sony comments re live preview, believed it and bought a A700 and shortly thereafter they came up with the feature. I think HD video has come of age and and Sony is behind the times. Due to my current investment in lenses I will just wait until they see the light and will only buy another Sony when they can match the competition, unless it takes them too long ( PS Sony Christmas is comming!)

[Davey]

Incredible news!!!

Sony has shattered the price barrier here for ultra high resolution 35mm Full Frame DSLRs.

In this economy, who cares about video when you can get medium format resolution for $2,000!

The A550 is great too -- with still photo specs that beat the Nikon D300S at half the price.

THANK YOU SONY FOR LOOKING OUT FOR US PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THIS ECONOMY!!!

[Audwin B.Faulk]

How much money do to get it right how much more is needed how much do more do i have to pay sony. thats it . i like sony but i can use35mm film and get the same thing if not better from any camera.$2.00 & up.

[Nola Huffstetler]

Sony does not need to add video to its Alpha cameras. If I want a video I use a video camera. Sony makes the best DSLR on the market. I won't use any other brand in my studio. Sony's cameras are the best for sports action as well.

[Joe]

This would be even better news if Sony had worked to improve low light performance and noise. One would think that sufficient time has passed for them to have accomplished these issues that have been well documented since A900 was released. $2,000 might have been a better price for the A900.
That said, maybe an A1000 will address these deal-killer issues is on the horizon. I am wanting to consider Sony, but image quality needs to be closer to the Nikon, with whom it has shared technology. Just an opinion.

[Chris]

I'll take one pending some reviews from Pop Photo and other sites.

[Nelvin]

personally i'm waiting for nikon's update to the d700 which is rumored to house the d3x sensor. i do agree that sony's pricing is attractive and can only hope the update to the d700 won't have this useless feature called video to jack up its price. thanks for putting the ball in nikon's court, sony!

[John C. Driskill]

I would still have to win the lottery to afford either the A850 or the A900. DLSR's from Sony are over priced.

[jamesfrmphilly]

i do not want video. i want low noise and high IQ. unless SONY has found a way to make their IQ equal NIKON i see no need for this camera.

low noise @ high ISO. is that so difficult?

so far, NIKON has made SONY look foolish.

[Ron]

I own a Sony A700 and I wouldn't trade it for any Nikon or Canon camera you could name. The only thing I'd trade for would be an A900 or a similar Sony camera, unless it had live view or video capture. Live view and video capture are for soccer moms and little league dads. Thank you Sony for NOT putting these amatuer features in your semi-pro and pro cameras. If Sony users want those features I say buy a consumer level camera like the A330 or A350. Please Sony, keep your top line cameras as they are, pro features for pro users.

[Newton Shader]

Everyone keeps referring to 24mp performance as medium format quality, but actually I believe it is only equal to 35mm film performance(Fuji Velvia 50 or 100 or Kodak Ektar 100). I think a camera requires 50 or 60mp to equal true medium format performance.

[soSHOOK.com]

Just look at the sample videos from Canon and Nikon...are you folks not convinced? These videos are super...their still photos are super. THE TIME IS NOW...technology is HERE TODAY...you can create great work in both fields regardless of minor technical stumbling blocks. Sony wake up!

[zunge]

My only hesitation about an a700 to a850 upgrade is in relation to the final points of comparison with the a550... namely JPG processing, auto white balance etc. It seems that the a850 came out as a "previous-generation" camera at the same time as "new generation" a5XX cameras were released. Which always leaves us frustrated... why can't we have the cheap full-frame WITH the very latest processing power? It's obviously there.

[Carl]

Hi Phil,

Just read your review on the Alpha A850. I noted that you made a comment about not being able to change the focus point of the A850 without diving into a menu. This is incorrect.

Please note that when the A850's Auto Focus is set to AF area "local" the AF point can be moved by the joystick at any time without having to dive into a menu.

All you have to do is move it to any of the 9 points by manually moving the joystick to the AF point you'd like, and you are done.

Also, you are able to switch between any focus mode by pressing the FN button moving over the AF area icon, and turning either function wheel to move you into the different modes.

This is one of the greatest advantages of the quick-navi system as most other functions can be changed in this same fashion without having to dive into a menu.

Cheers,

Carl

[David]

The Sony A850 has much better noise performance than the A900, as well as better color depth. HD video? I think I can wait for the A700 replacement, which will no doubt be full-frame with HD video...the perfect backup for an A850!