[house]

Looking at specs like that i do wonder if photographers as so many others will get completely deproffessionalised into "camera operators" in the not so distant future. At least for "getting the shot" type photography. More arty or even lifestyle stuff should be safer.

[BarryE]

I remember a conversation I had a while back with a photographer who was getting himself wound up with a recent release of a Canon camera. He was angry (I might have been exacerbating his 'condition' slightly, I admit) with Canon for "forcing" (his words) into buying this new camera. At first I thought this guy is joking, but then I realised he wasn't He was genuinely angry that he didn't have the latest model. Sadly, this reaction is not that uncommon, but normally most manage to control their anger a little better. So Sony have a new camera. Guess what, Canon will have one soon too. Just saying ;-)

[repaap]

Popcorn is popping...

[beholder3]

Sony fans to the rescue!

[Michail_P]

That’s a considerable amount of money. But the α1 sounds like a really promising model, designed to please every taste. The best side effect will be the price drop for the α7x models. Full frame in a relatively small body, hard to beat autofocus , many lenses to choose.... this will be fun to watch.

[bobmaxja]

Again Ricoh was a precursor in using a 1 for their top of the line K-1

[neokind]

Again Ricoh was a precursor in using a 1 for their top of the line K-1

This reminds me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the father traces every innovation back to the Greeks.

[c.a.m]

Interesting specs.

CAD $8,500.

Its connectivity and several other features seem to be top-rate, but it's missing 'Real-time Newt Eye AF'.

I chuckled at this statement at the Sony Canada webpage for the Alpha 1:

"Unlike smartphones, the larger sensor in a Sony mirrorless camera allows for a shallow depth of field, or bokeh, to selectively focus on your subject. The dramatic effect adds depth and expression, especially to close-up images, for professional-looking results."

There ya go -- make the jump from a smartphone camera directly to the Alpha 1.

- Craig

[normhead]

Interesting specs.

CAD $8,500.

Its connectivity and several other features seem to be top-rate, but it's missing 'Real-time Newt Eye AF'.

I chuckled at this statement at the Sony Canada webpage for the Alpha 1:

"Unlike smartphones, the larger sensor in a Sony mirrorless camera allows for a shallow depth of field, or bokeh, to selectively focus on your subject. The dramatic effect adds depth and expression, especially to close-up images, for professional-looking results."

There ya go -- make the jump from a smartphone camera directly to the Alpha 1.

- Craig

You gotta love marketing speak.

[biz-engineer]

Impressive electronic technology again. Is it so hard for young engineers to make a camera with good old comfortable handle and well size buttons easy to use without thinking when taking photos?
It's funny, I've been looking at every new Sony mirrorless camera release since the beginning and always wonder why they were not able to make a decent ergonomic design for their cameras. I've been wondering since the A7 came out how was Sony not able to make a decent mechanical design and intuitive user interface during all these years. It's looks like they know how to make a 50Mpixel 30FPS sensor camera with a million line code software to run it, but still unable to design a proper wood handle.

[c.a.m]

how was Sony not able to make a decent mechanical design and intuitive user interface

Personally, I see a lot of impressive technology crammed into this camera. But, I imagine that the menu system would be quite complicated (or convoluted). I also read that 164 functions can be assigned to 17 custom keys -- how does a user remember all these settings?

- Craig

[biz-engineer]

I also read that 164 functions can be assigned to 17 custom keys -- how does a user remember all these settings?

Well, Sony let the choice open to the user, Pentax decides where to put things. So what's the difference for us users? In the case of Sony, you have to do the thinking about how to create the camera button/function layout so that it will fit you own usage and then memorize your own layout "system". For Pentax, they do the thinking and tradeoffs of what's most appropriate for photography use, and as a user you just have to learn it. The K1 was the first camera where I used User settings (U1,2,3 etc.) it took me a while to decide what to put in there, and then refine it after using it, it wasn't obvious. So with the Sony configurable buttons and menus, I think users must be having enough practical experience and logical thinking effort to define what they need , and stick to it without getting lost. This requires a good deal of personal discipline, because if you change customization often, you end-up not knowing where thinks are anymore, then have to dig into the menus again to find what was customized where again. Personally, I like to have 3 or 4 buttons on a camera: shutter speed, ISO, aperture and exp. compensation and nothing else, so that I can free up my attention to look at the subject.

[photoptimist]

No thanks!

The ISO range specs strongly suggest that Sony has once again prioritized video and frame rate to the detriment of image IQ (as they did with the A9).

The A1 may be a great camera for video and sports, but it will almost certainly be inferior to the K-1 for landscape.

And at 3X the cost of the K-1 what happened to the mirrorless viewfinder is cheaper than optical viewfinder claim?

[biz-engineer]

And at 3X the cost of the K-1 what happened to the mirrorless viewfinder is cheaper than optical viewfinder claim?

The price and the cost are two different things and depending from what side you look at it (buyer or seller). What's used to make cameras is all cheap stuff (I once looked at tear downs of camera and looked for the price of components used in it, DRAM chips etc), and came to the conclusion that a big part of camera prices is about selling the dream of becoming the perfect image / video creator thanks to the superior spec sheet of the camera product.

[normhead]

No thanks!

The ISO range specs strongly suggest that Sony has once again prioritized video and frame rate to the detriment of image IQ (as they did with the A9).

The A1 may be a great camera for video and sports, but it will almost certainly be inferior to the K-1 for landscape.

And at 3X the cost of the K-1 what happened to the mirrorless viewfinder is cheaper than optical viewfinder claim?

The cost was cheaper to the manufacturer and bigger profits. After all that's the marketing ethic. Make it for cheaper, sell it for more. Have a few things so people will buy it for more. Watch the money pile up.