(SR4) Sony A99 has 100-25.600 ISO (extended to 50 and 102500)
Tha A99 will be based on the same SLT technology of the [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink]
The Nikon D800 (Click here) is out and the Canon 5DmarkIII is also coming soon. And yes, we Sony users are suffering while waiting to get our hands on the A99. As I told you months ago the full-frame roadmap has been postponed and the A99 which was due for this Spring will now be announced in September and the other full-frame cameras will follow in 2013. I really hope that “he who laughs last, laughs best.” :)
Sony is currently evaluating the [shoplink 8461]A77[/shoplink] success and limits. They really want to get a step forward in quality and usability of the A99. And finally I got first bits of news about the full frame camera. I have been told that photographers are already busy testing the A99 in the field. It has a new 24 Megapixel sensor based on the same technology of the A77 Exmor HD sensor (Note: It’s not the same [shoplink 3032]A900[/shoplink] sensor). And of course it is an SLT camera with (improved) electronic viewfinder. I got the exact ISO range of the camera. It goes from ISO 100 up to ISO 25.600. The sources told me that the final version will very likely have an extendable range down to ISO 50 and up to 102500. They haven’t compared the images yet but they are pretty sure it will beat the Nikon D800 at high ISO and per pixel sharpness. There were long discussions inside Sony if they should use a 24 or 28 megapixel sensor. Sony choose the 24 megapixel sensor to have less noise and greater fps speed.
In general sources told me that SAR readers should not expect a revolutionary camera but rather a great evolution of what you saw on the A77. I am now trying to get more specs about the camera but please keep in mind that we are talking about specs from a prototype! So there could be small changes and that’s why I posted this with SR4 and not SR5 value (see the rumor ranking explanation at the bottom of the post if you don’t know what this means).
One more thing: The Nikon D800 sells like hotcakes ( See rankings at Amazon USA (Click here), Amazon Germany (Click here) and Amazon Japan (Click here)) and is using a Sony produced 36 megapixels sensor. The same sensor can be used by Sony in 2013 only (yeah Nikon has an exclusivity on it).
P.S.: Don’t forget there is a huge Sony announcement day o March 13! The A57 is coming (and maybe NEX stuff too!).
Reminder (SR = Sonyrumor):
SR1=probably fake rumor
SR2=rumor from unknown sources
SR3=50% chance it is correct
SR4=rumor from known sources
SR5=almost certainly correct!