Rumors have been circulating in the forums and internet about the slew of new Alpha models for the past few months. When some Sony website in the Euro region updated their product list with new models about 2 months ago, the speculation became more intense. Everybody was discussing about the possibilities of a new budget Full Frame to complement the Alpha A900 while some were speculating on a successor to the Alpha A700 model.
An interesting discussion point among the current Sony users was regarding the physical design for the new model. Many (me included) kept their fingers crossed, hoping the A850 will not follow the design cue of new entry level models A230, A330 and A380.
On 27th August, Sony issued an official press release announcing the new Alpha A850. Virtually identical to the A900, it has the same 24.6MP CMOS sensor, 3.0 inch 921k LCD, SteadyShot INSIDE™ image-stabilization and Dual Bionz processors. The only differences is a 98% viewfinder coverage against A900's 100% and slower continuous shooting (3FPS for A850 vs 5FPS for A900). Both shared the same battery and grip.
Physically, the A850 and A900 looked almost the same. From the buttons layout, the grip, the overall feel when it's in your hand; it's hard to tell one from the other. Fortunately, there is no tacky 2-tone colour scheme or ridiculous grip design from the other new series. At least the A850 feels and looked serious for a DSLR of this price and specs range.
I honestly can't tell the difference between the 98% viewfinder coverage of the A850 compared to 100% for A900. What I can tell however, is the difference between 3FPS versus 5FPS. As an avid fan of motorsports and action photography, I rely a lot on the 5FPS capabilities on my A700. Mounting my SAL70300G onto the A850, I tried out some panning shot.
The AF was fast and accurate. I had no problem getting a clean shot even at 1/30sec shutter speed handheld. However, I sorely miss the 5FPS burst mode. While it can be argued that it's not often that we will need this function, I believed it's the link between getting the shot and missing the moment.
At a speculated street price of RM6XXX, the A850 will be almost RM1k ~ Rm1.5k cheaper than the A900, making it one of the most affordable FF DSLR in the market.
For me, I will stay happily where I am with my beloved A700. Besides the slower FPS, I don't think I can live with the huge size of it's RAW file. 1 RAW file from the A850 takes up 35.7MB of hard disk space. I'm gonna end up spending more on storage than camera gear......
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