We recently posted a video showcasing the ability for the A33 to shoot in its burst mode at an insane speed. Now we have the follow-up video, courtesy of Engadget, of the amazing new capability of the A33; Auto Focus. In order to activate this, all you need to do is to place the camera in video mode and the camera takes care of the rest. It does not matter whether you are recording or not as the camera will continue to pull focus as need be, a true first in the DSRL world.
Digital Cameras
First, congratulations to Sony for not having some weird and long name for this device: The Bloggie™ Touch. It makes sense and is easy to remember. Now, onto the product itself. Here to replace the older, multi-button and confused Bloggie, the Bloggie Touch offers a beefy array of specs while having the simplicity of the Flip HD series.
Sporting a brushed aluminum body that will come in pink, black and silver, the Bloggie Touch will replace most of the buttons found on its predecessor with a new 3-inch touch screen. The device, via its F2.8 wide angle lens and Exmor CMOS sensor, will give you the capability to record in full 1080p and take stills at a 12.8 megapixel resolution with 4X zoom. The Bloggie Touch also has a USB out for computer and Playstation hookup with also an HDMI out for direct playback. Look for these units to be release in October at $180 for a 4GB unit and $200 for the 8GB version.
Hit the jump for a full gallery and press release.
On cue, Sony today has launched their new Alpha Camera’s. Among the new changes, Sony has a new mind blowing burst mode. Here is a video from Engadget as they got to have hands on with the new units. More from the camera’s from us soon.
For anybody who is looking to buy a new Alpha in the up coming week, I would recommend that you hold off on that purchase and for anybody who just bought one, I would check your return policy. As typical, Sony on August 24th will be unveiling its new Alpha lineup for the fall. As reported from the guys over at sonyalpharumors.com, the new DSRL will be getting 10fps shooting capabilites, as well as “transparent mirror (if you don’t want to have the little light loss when using the mirror).” During this event, Sony will also be updating or tweaking some of its Cybershots as well, most likely to add further 3D capabilities.
[Via SonyAlphaRumors]
While we hope Sony one day gives us love by hitting our Contact Us page and offering us units to demo and review, we won’t neglect our readers from gaining some more insight on the new Sony A390 and A290 that we reported on. The guys over at Engadget got to spend some time with it and were so far impressed saying “we were certainly impressed by both cameras’ build quality” and “the 2.7-inch LCD looked sharp and served us well for all purposes“. So hit them up for some pictures of these new units.
[Via Engadget]
I wont beat around the bush when I say that I think the NEX series from Sony is the greatest thing to happen to camera’s since they have gone digital. I’ve extensively used the Alpha 300 from Sony and fell in love with the quality of that unit (albeit, the first ones were kind of loud, something that has been addressed since). But the CyberShot is where it all began for me. I’ve had the CyberShot series since they first came out. I remembering shopping with my dad at Best Buy at the time and there were choices of 1, 2 and 3MP Cybershots. We of course decided to go with the 2MP because I didnt want the lower end of the series, but 3 just seemed like overkill. This was around 2000 or 2001. Since then, I’ve mainly stuck with the T series, T1, T3, T99, T500 and sorts, and have crossed to the W series a few times with the W330 and W230 to name a few. But ever since I used the Alpha 300 a good 3 years ago, I knew what I was missing out on. The great battle of DSRL verse Point and Shoot. Sure I want the quality of the DSRL, but I’m the person who takes my camera with me everywhere. Taking a DSRL is just not convenient and I don’t wanna be that guy. Having said that, there are times that I would love to take a DSRL and do a photo shoot (something that I have planned for the site).
With this, Sony has really answered my prayers with the NEX series. Giving me the ability to be compact when I need to be and go full out by attaching additional lenses, this makes the NEX the only camera body I might ever need. Well for those of use who are on board with the 3D ride, Sony is now updating the NEX series to support 3D Sweep Panorama pictures. Sony has stated that the 3D mode is “activated simply by pressing the shutter button and sweeping the camera from one side to the other. The NEX-5 and NEX-3 shoot a high-speed burst of frames that are automatically combined inside the camera to create a seamless panoramic still image containing depth information.”
Other things this firmware update addresses is
- Improved 2D Sweep Panorama mode
- Better battery usage when the camera is turned off
- Faster startup when under low-light conditions.
If you’re ready for the update, go ahead and visit the Sony Cybershot site to download the needed update. If you’re not sure which firmware your camera currently has, hit up “menu,” then “setup,” then “version” on your camera now.
Today, Sony is updating its entry Alpha lineup with the A390 and the A290. While they both look similar, there are some noticeable differences between the two that some of the other blogs have missed.
Both units do indeed come with a 14.2MP sensor but while the A290 ($500) will come with a 18-55 mm lens and sport a 0.83x magnification with a slightly larger screen, its higher-end sister, the A390 ($600), will actually come with a 0.74x magnification and slightly smaller LCD. However, the A390 makes it up with its 2.7-inch Quick AF Live View. This will be a very familiar feature for those (including me) who owned the Sony-A717. This basically allows you to tilt the LCD down or up, so if you are looking to crouch or shoot over a crowd or object with your hand up in the air, you can just tilt the LCD to your given position and still take the picture you want. It’s easily worth the extra $100. Look for these units to hit in July.
Hit the jump for a spec sheet picture.
Last week, during its annual Computex press conference, NVIDIA unveiled technology that would give DSLR cameras the capability to turn images into 3D with a post process conversion. This basically eliminates the idea of needing different lenses for your pictures although there isn’t a lot of detail whether this is done in camera or later on via a software. Of course the surprise (or now lack thereof) was that NVIDIA is teaming up with Sony to deliver this technology. Sony is of course going to be offering this feature in its high end Alpha series (sorry Cybershot fans). Beyond that, there is not a lot of information, but I think that this is a fantastic move on Sony’s end. Sony really needs to stick behind 3D and leverage its different brands. So far, its giving the PS3 3D capabilities, individual Blu-ray players, as well as its 3D televisions, camcorders and of course, its releasing 3D movies as well. This just expands the idea of 3D one more level and into the hands of the consumer.
[Via Engadget]
As we continue to gear up our site and do more reviews, I’ve sat back and analyzed how other sites do reviews, when they are able to gain access to them and what they offer in them. It first becomes clear to me that the major tech blogs all get their products for free to review before they are released, while we are purchasing our products for review (yikes). More so, the reviews I’ve found are in depth, but many times are not useful. Here is what I mean; many reviews get extremely technical and in depth, and that might be great for the tech crowd, but chances are that crowd already knows about the products and their likes and dislikes. This leaves those who really need the reviews to decide if this is the right product for them. This crowd has nowhere to turn to. They don’t need to know about the processor versus last year, versus 8 other products. They want to know about this product, what it does, and how it does it. With that information they can make up their mind about the product.
For this reason, I’m introducing a new series if reviews called “The Everyday Review”. The goal of this review is to take a product and start looking at it from an everyday consumer’s eyes. I’ll ask questions like: How easy is it to set up when you take it out of the box? How is the layout of the device? Can I easily integrate it into my other products, and how might it handle during day-to-day use? For example, although there will be some talks about features, the idea of my Sony W330 review was simple. The person who is buying this is looking for a good budget-friendly camera. They are not looking for 100 different settings and options. They want to know: When I take this camera out of the box, what can I do with it? How does it handle when I take it outside for a trip and shoot some normal pictures (not sit there and compare ISO settings in one light vs another vs 5 other cameras). And that’s exactly what I did. After the basic setup, I took the camera out for two days and just took pictures like most people would. Here is my experience with the camera after a 2 day shooting spree and another week of intermediate use.
Hit the jump for the full review and sample pictures.
Ok yea, we wish it was us. We’re hoping one day, Sony will use the Contact Us button and actually give us units to look and review and post about here. Until then though, we wont be shunning you from experiencing any Sony news. So remember the NEX series we have been covering and drooling over? Well here is a little video to further entice you. I can’t wait to see what the NEX-7 can do then.
So, you know how Sony has a tendency of giving Japan things first now and then? We finally strike back! USA! USA! We have had the Sony DSC-H55 for a while now, but Japan is set to get this unit on June 4th. Some specs of the DSC-H55 are:
- 14.1 Megapixel Super HAD CCD Camera
- 3-inch LCD
- 10x Optical Zoom (25-250mm)
- Sony G Lens
- HD Video in MPEG-4 720/30p
- Face detection
- Support SD, SDHC and SDXC cards.
I’m still torn between the TX7 and the HX5 for the replacement of my T300. Normally, I would go with the TX7 hands down, except that the HX5 has a built in GPS and I love geo-tagging my photos and then viewing them on iPhoto on my iPad and being able to see where they were taken. Decisions, decisions. Although, Sony could make this easy on me and give me both to review? What do you say, Sony? Contact Us?
Remember the good old days of the Leica II camera and lugers and fresh milk being delivered to your door? Neither do I. but at least one person did, and thought, “Huh, a digital camera back then would have been more convenient”. This then turned into “How can I stuff a cybershot DSX-WX1 into the body of a Leica II camera?”
Watch the video after the jump!
It’s been a long time coming, but the successor to the entry level Alpha 230 looks to be the A290. Although there is no word on the pricing since Sony has not revealed the unit yet, there are quite a few specs that we can report on. The Alpha comes with:
- 14 megapixel CCD with a BIONZ image processor
- a maximum 3200 ISO
- 2.7-inch LCD
- 2.5fps maximum shooting speed.
The Alpha 290 can use the Sony Memory Stick or SDHC and will come with a 18 – 55mm lens. Good time to upgrade to the new Memory Sticks huh?
[Via SonyAlphaRumors]
So we brought you news of the upcoming Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras. Of course besides its beautiful design, what makes these cameras to amazing is its lens capability and the option to shoot up to 1080i. But what about us video whores who like 1080p? Well there might be an option for us too. Rumor has it that the NEX-7 will be able to shoot 1080p at up to 60fps, or 720p at 120fps vs the NEX-3 and NEX-5 shooting 720p/1080i video. All you might need for your next vacation is just a NEX camera? Of course, the NEX3 and 5 will be out by mid June where the NEX-7 isnt expected till late this year.
There is already two series in the Memory Stick Pro Duo family. First, is just the good old fashioned Memory Stick Pro Duo which is what I use in my Sony T300 and now W330 and previous units as well. It’s the slower of the family but for a point and shoot, more then enough. Then comes the higher end, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo HX. Those are the faster of the series currently which are aimed at those who use DSLR like the Alpha series or for your HD Camcorder. You will also note that they have an orange dash on them as oppose to being all black so if you have both, you dont accidently grab the wrong one. Well, things are about to get faster and that dosent mean there will be a Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo HX-Type R. Nope, Sony is just pumping up the speeds to these units. The new will offer maximum capacity of 32GB and transfer rates of 30MB/s which will be faster then any SD card out there which only offer a max of 20MB/s. Expect these units to land in late Summer.
Now how would you like to hit the jump to ready about the press release?
You must be logged in to post a comment.