Sony Alpha DSLR A500 / α500 Unofficial Specifications

Personally, i think that more photographer especially the beginners actually looking forward to the release of Sony Alpha A500 more than Alpha A850 itself. Reason being Alpha A850 is a scale down Alpha A900 full frame camera (unless you already own a complete range of Full Frame lens ... else you will have to get rid of all your APSC lenses and start hunting all over again for full frame lenses.) wherelse Sony Alpha A500 is still an APS-C camera that comes with very-very "advance" features.

Plus the fact that, you cant deny that the Sony Alpha A230 and Alpha A330 somewhat did not fill out the gap left by Alpha A200 and A300 respectively. Alpha A700 on the other hand were discountinued and the only excitements left for the existing Sony Alpha DSLR users is on the Alpha A500 & A550 for the time being.

So what can we expect from the all new Alpha A500? Lemme give u a list ...

1. New housing ... some says that the size of the new Sony Alpha A500/a550 is almost similar to Alpha A200/A300 but i beg to differs. Take a look at the "on-off" switch located above the jog-dial in the above photo and also the grip, it looks nothing like the A200/A300 housing. My take is this new Sony A500/a550 will be slightly bigger than A200/A300 ... but the truth is, we just gotta wait and see if this assumptions of mine is correct or not.
2. Live view, this feature is gonna be made available in both Alpha A550/A500 models, some even says that the Alpha A500/A550 comes with face detection features ... hmm face detection ... isnt that child play? Why do a DSLR photographer need face detection? And ... Will the live view be using the same additional crappy sensor like Alpha A300/A330 or otherwise? no information on that yet.
3. Improved C-MOS sensor ... there is a very high percentage of chances that the new Alpha A500 will be using the same/improved version of CMOS sensor as the Alpha A700 @ 12megapixels. ISO were pushed up till 12,800 instead of 6,400 on the Alpha A700. Noise handling should be showing significant improvements for Sony to push the ISO to that level. Cant wait to test what this barger can do in low light conditions!
4. Altho there isnt much official indications about the retail price for this new Alpha A500 yet but there are speculations that the new Alpha A550 is just a little bit more expensive than the newly launched A330/A380 ... if thats the case then existing Sony DSLR users really have something to look forward to!
5. No more bling bling two tone/brown color matching #$%$!! on the Alpha A500 series ... *phew!*
6. The battery used will be the same as those used in Alpha A200,A300,A350,A700 and A900 which is the NP-FM500H, existing users with extra batteries will be able to use them on their new Alpha A500.
7. 5 fps, this feature previously only available on the Alpha A700 and Alpha A900 but now made available on the new Alpha A500/A550. Its not a must have features coz unless you take sports photos for a living or else how often would you need 5fps?
8. Storage wise ... some claimed that the new storage will be like what Alpha A230 and A330 has become, SD card and Hd duo ... but my hopes is high that the Alpha A500 will retain the usage of CF card in its body. CF card is alot more reliable compares to SD ina whole.
9. 3" tilt-able screen just like the existing Alpha A330.
10. I do not foresee the availibility of video recording feature in the new Alpha A550 DSLR, maybe on the higher end/future model but definitely not on Alpha A500/A550 nor A850.
11. Buttons layout, since the Alpha A500 will be using a housing, i would expect changes on the buttons layout and well as GUI. Since there is none photos available on the Alpha A500 "back/behind" therefore I could only assume and hope that it do not follow the path of the Alpha A230/A330 buttons concepts. I prefer to have a dedicated button for each job function.
12. Built in flash GN12 with adi feature and customisable flash power till 1/32, such feature only available in the Alpha A700 currently.
13. In Camera programs and functions is also expected to see dramatical improvements over the Alpha A700/A300 series.
14. The Sony Alpha A500/A550 will probably be available in Malaysia by the end of October 2009.

After reading all that, you probably knew why the Alpha A550 is actually more anticipated than the Alpha A850. As far as I m concerned .... I m sold! Hopefully my wallet will be able to take that kinda damages!!!

Are you impressed yet?!! Cant wait to get my hands on the actual unit for a full review!

[pic source]