Sony Alpha 550

RAW file conversion process

Ready to celebrate the arrival of 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau, a new version of the RAW conversion utility from Adobe is here: Camera Raw 5.6. It supports a whole lot of recent cameras:

• Canon EOS 7D
• Canon PowerShot G11
• Canon PowerShot S90
• Leaf Aptus II 5
• Mamiya DM22, DM28, DM33, DM56, M18, M22, M31
• Nikon D3s
• Olympus E-P2
• Pentax K-x
• Panasonic FZ38
• Sigma DP1s
• Sony A500
• Sony A550
• Sony A850

It also solves an issue in demosaicing of some Raw files on PowerPC Mac.

Download Adobe Camera Raw 5.6.

Save money on photo gear

Since this is time for the end of the year and its high sales of electronic gadgets and photographic gear, here also comes the time for cashbacks, sales and promotions. The photography market will not forget this in these recession times and there are many offers and promotions or bundles.

Among the offers I tried to identify for you, I want to list the following ones:

• Pentax “Focus on savings” for K-7 system: $100 prepaid card on a choice of over 20 Pentax lenses. From now until January 15, 2010 (Pentax special offers)
• Nikon Canada adjusted its prices to reflect evolution of the exchange rates (November 16, 2009) – From NR
• Pentax opens a European on-line store with Digital River
• Sony launches an “all in one” kit made by bundling the Alpha 850, a Sony 28-75mm f/2.8 SAM lens and the Elite version of DxO Optics Pro, at a listed price of 2700€. (According to AN)
• Sony France cash-back offer of 50€ on the Alpha 330, Alpha 380 with the SAL50F18 lens and 100€ on the Alpha 500 and Alpha 550 with the SAL50F18 lens (Sony 50mm f/1.8 DT), up to December 2009
• Canon cash back offer for Europe and UK: £150/€170 cashback on PowerShot G11, from Canon UK
• Pentax offers up to 250€/£250 of cash-back coupons for purchases all over Europe before the end of 2009. All the details on www.pentax-cashback.com.

You can try and take advantage of them by rushing to your local photography shop or by browsing to one of the on-line shops that support YLovePhoto.

• Buy it from B&H (The Professional’s Source)
• Buy from Amazon.com
• Acheter sur Carrefour online

In any case, you are strongly advised to check case-by-case the exact conditions required (sometimes only applicable in one country; Sometimes against the return of a special coupon) and exact limit dates.

Sony has presented two new DSLR cameras for the middle of its range: Sony Alpha 500 & Sony Alpha 550. Obviously developped simultaneously and sharing a lot of features, they are offering 12/14 MP APS-C sensors and very good continuous shooting, even in the LiveView mode which has been brought to a very good level of performance.

While lacking video capture, they will probably attract the serious photographer who has a recession times budget, but wants to get the best SLR camera.

Sony Alpha 550

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Collected from the German computeruniverse.net web site:

• DSLR-A500 body only: 649 Euro
• DSLR-A500L with 3,5-5,6/18-55 mm: 749 Euro
• DSLR-A500Y with 3,5-5,6/18-55 mm + 4,5-5,6/55-200 mm: 949 Euro

• DSLR-A550 body only: 749 Euro
• DSLR-A550L with 3,5-5,6/18-55 mm: 849 Euro
• DSLR-A550Y with 3,5-5,6/18-55 mm + 4,5-5,6/55-200 mm: 1049 Euro

• DSLR-A850 body only: 1999 Euro
• DSLR-A850Q with 2,8/28-75 mm: 2699 Euro

The Sony Alpha 850 will definitely be an inexpensive Full Frame camera at this price level. It could even attract some pros to the Sony logo. The Sony Alpha 500 and Alpha 550 will be bringing very reasonable prices to a market segment where competition is very tough.

Thanks Bernd. What is still left for Sony to announce?

The next camera to be announced by Sony will be the Sony Alpha 550. While we don’t know much, I am informed that it will be a Sony Alpha 500 with a larger sensor resolution (probably going to 15 MP).

They’re here! A German site, DigitalKamera, started spilling the beans before the official date (or is it the official hour?).

Sony Alpha 500

Sony Alpha 850

So, Sony is really about to launch (as expected) the following DSLR cameras:

• Sony Alpha 500
• Sony Alpha 550
• Sony Alpha 850

Among the most important or most notable news, I would immediately mention:

• The Sony Alpha 850 will be positioned under the psychologically critical limit of 2000€
• The specification of the Sony Alpha 850, already presented on YLovePhoto, is fully confirmed (still no LiveView).
• The Sony Alpha 500 is inspired by the slim body of the Alpha 380.
• The Sony Alpha 500 abandons fully the CompactFlash memory format in favor of both SD/SDHC and MemoryStick Duo.

We are told that this Fall is a great time for news on the SLR market. I let you judge by yourself:

• Canon: one announcement would be a definite possibility to replace the Canon 1D Mk III with a Canon 1D Mk IV and maybe also a Canon EOS 7D whose top cover and a detail are visible below (August 25?)
• Nikon: D700x (or D800) to offer a 24 MP full frame sensor.
• Sony: Alpha 500, Alpha 550, Alpha 850 (probably on August 28)
• Pentax: an entry-level SLR

We only have to wait (impatiently) for a few days (maybe a few hours) in order to know all about .

Canon 7D ? top

Canon EOS 7D detail

There is a bizarre rush for visibility in the online shops all around the web. I start to feel that most of them are actual fakes. Let’s check this:

• Several (accidental?) leaks from Sony web sites, showing Sony Alpha 500, 550, 850 (and possibly Alpha 750, but this one may be a counter-fire).
• A German site showing the Alpha 850, with price.
• An Andorra web site showing a supposed Alpha 800, no price.
• The Canon EOS 7D spotted in Best Buy internal catalog system.

I will not fully judge their credibility, but I feel that the order I used goes from most possible to mere rumor.

Sony Taiwan just sent a few invitations to the local press to present new products in the Sony Alpha series. The announcement will be done on August 25 (maybe a little earlier or a little later everywhere else in the world).

Everybody expects to see the presentation of the Sony Alpha 850 and maybe also the Sony Alpha 500 and Sony Alpha 550 (if they are not pushed later in 2009).

Source: PR.

Surprise on the Sony Japan web site: The Sony Alpha 700 is no longer listed as a consumer SLR camera between the Sony Alpha 380 and Sony Alpha 900.

This can normally be considered as the sign of its imminent disappearance in favor of a new camera. Or several ones…

A new leak at Sony Style (from the USA, this time) confirms (this is no longer a surprise) the arrival of the new following cameras:

• Sony Alpha 500
• Sony Alpha 550
• Sony Alpha 850

Apart from the Sony Alpha 850 already well known from a User Manual leaked on a Sony Hong Kong web site (see below), there is not much to talk about.

Thanks to Dyxum forums, we know that there is a very strong possibility of seeing a new Sony photo camera under the name of Sony Alpha 850. The camera registration system on Sony Style has been shortly showing the following option for registering Sony cameras:

Is this the Sony Alpha 850 on Sony Style?

Actually, there is currently no DSLRA850 in Sony line of SLR photo cameras, so it’s just expected to be a small error leaking information about the name of one future camera nearing launch.

Of course, this could well be a hoax… But this is going in the same line as the previously rumored Sony Alpha 500 and Sony Alpha 550.

Still no feature list.

Just a quick post: Sony is going to bring the oft-announced SLR cameras: Sony Alpha 500 and Sony Alpha 550.

But it seems that these relatively small improvements to the mid-range of Sony SLR cameras will be joined soon with two new Full Frame cameras.

More details coming soon, right here.

Sony leak for Alpha 500 and Alpha 550

PhotoRumors is telling us about an anonymous leak describing a possible new Sony Alpha 800 with the following features:

• 16.2 MP full frame sensor EXMOR R (new technology)
• 100-25600 ISO
• 8 frame/sec
• SSI, same a900 OVF, new AF system,
• GPS and WiFi built-in
• 3.5″ LCD display
• Pop-up flash
• Flash sync: 1/500s
• Camera level
• 23 AF sensors
• Quick Live View
• Video Full HD
• Dust/splashes sealed
• Aluminum-magnesium alloy body
• Released early September 2009

It seems that everybody is now expecting Sony too announce/launch at least one more SLR camera (after the Sony Alpha 230, Alpha 330 and Alpha 380).

I am not sure this leak is real (it looks too much like the wet dream of a techno-geek maniac), but it’s worth waiting for a new SLR photo camera to go and replace or complement the existing Sony Alpha 700.

What seems certain: Sony promised to present two more high-end lenses in 2009 (one super-tele-photo, maybe a 500mm f/4.5, and a beautiful 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom); We expect both lenses and new body to be announced simultaneously.

The sonystyle.ca web site (Canada) has just been revealing something: When you try to register a newly bought camera you are offered the choice of registering:

• DSLRA500 (read Sony Alpha 500 body only)
• DSLRA500S (read Sony Alpha 500 in standard zoom kit)
• DSLRA550 (read Sony Alpha 550 body only)
• DSLRA550S (read Sony Alpha 550 in standard zoom kit)

But, obviously, those cameras do not exist (yet) in the Sony catalog. So, everybody is expecting to see them appearing very soon in a Sony press release. Will it be the opportunity for Sony to launch video-enabled SLR cameras?

The interweb is now filled with this photo which may or may not be a real Sony Alpha 500 picture.

Sony Alpha 500

Do you read the sensor resolution written on the body?

And so what? Five Sony SLR cameras launched in a matter of a month! Is that marketing? I would rather say ‘carpet bombing‘?