Sony aims at Micro Four Thirds and video SLRs

Sony's presence at the PMA show today is headlined by a pair of new Alpha concepts with firsts for the company. The company is showing a prototype of an EVIL (electronic viewfinder, interchangeable lens) Alpha that would have a compact body but the "quality of a DSLR." Sony doesn't give any details, such as whether it would use Micro Four Thirds, but hints at a pop-up flash and a lack of dedicated control dials on the top.

A handful of conventional DSLRs are also on show. The flagship of these is a mid-range model that would use a CMOS sensor capable of supporting HD video. While its resolution and other specs aren't provided, it would encode video in AVCHD (H.264). Some mainstream Alphas are also on show but again don't have new information.

Two lenses join the previews and include Sony's first real super-telephoto for the Alpha system, a 500mm f4 with "class-leading" performance. A Distagon-labeled 24mm f2 lens would provide a fast, wide-angle prime for landscapes and certain portraits.

Nnone of these have definite release windows as concepts, though Sony has occasionally shown concepts and launched them as finished products several months to a year later. The teases reveal Sony to be relatively late to both fields as it's more than a year late with both an EVIL camera and video DSLRs.

By Electronista Staff