Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sony is Kicking Butt With Their New Digital Cameras!

Sony has come back with a vengeance. After four or five somnambulent years producing mediocre digital cameras, they have come out of the gate (pardon my analogy) Godzilla. First they announced and shipped (on time) the Sony NEX 3 and 5 APS C Sensor removable lens cameras to glowing reviews form the digital photography community and almost immediately followed up on that earth and category shaking announcement with the world's first Single Lens Translucent Mirror DSLR camera, the SLT 33 and 55. They are readying a new line of full frame DSLRs that will give Canon and Nikon a run for the money in terms of feature set, performance and price.

I have never seen so much digital camera innovation pour out of one company so quickly. They have put Canon and Nikon on notice that they intend to pull out ALL of the stops technology wise with digital camera technology from here on out. The EXMOR sensor, The Carl Zeiss lens operation and the SLT technology are all home run franchises that will propel the product mix and will filter down into their lower priced cameras sooner rather than later. The Minolta acquisition has clearly paid off big time for Sony and they are fearless when it comes to changing the game of digital camera offerings for the advanced amateur or those looking to trade up from an advanced point and shoot camera. The end result of Sony's aggressive moves in this space is more road-kill and still born products from the second tier digital camera companies like Olympus, Fuji, Casio and Ricoh. Price performance at Sony is way up and their digital camera products are really hard to beat with the still and video imaging advances built into their new cameras. It is obvious that they are gunning for the number one digital camera manufacturing position and by introducing the NEX and SLT product lines, they have laid the gauntlet down. It will be very interesting to see how Canon and Nikon respond product-wise and you can bet your pay check that Canon and Nikon are NOT going to let those product introductions go un-answered. The digital camera buying public is clearly the big winner coming out of this battle of the Digital Camera Titans. STAY TUNED!!!!!!





Here are 2 digital photos taken at 9:00 PM in the evening at the Stoneridge Mall parking lot near The Cheesecake Factory restaurant. - Just Existing Light using the Handheld Twilight Scene Mode on the $200.00 Sony DSC-WX9 Point and Shoot 16 megapixel Digital Camera. I did not use a tripod and the camera automatically selected ISO, Shutter and aperture in addition taking 6 separate photos and aggregating them together for the best HDR photo. These photos are about as sharp and noise free at 800 ISO as you will get from an entry level DSLR. Shooting in near or total darkness is a true test of a digital camera's low light capabilities and the Sony DSC-HX9 passes with flying colors.

7 comments:

  1. I own 4 SONY cameras, bought one SONY camera a year for the past 4 years. SONY has always made great cameras. Can't wait to try their new cameras.

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  2. John G.
    Their new cameras will blow you away. You can take photos at night or indoors without a flash and get razor sharp noise free photos that are astounding. Even the $200.00 Sony DSC-WX9 can produce low light photos that are comparable to entry level DSLRs. I switched over from Canon to Sony and never looked back.

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  3. Wes Lem
    I know. Today I was at an electronics store in San Jose, CA. I was like WOW these new Sony cameras are awesome. Which of the Sony Cameras do you recommend? I so want to get a new Sony Camera. Also, I was wondering if you can tell me the pros and cons of JVC video recorders vs Sony video recorders. Which of those would you get? I need both a great camera and a great video recorder.

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  4. John G.
    I think that the video quality is so good now with the Sony DSC-WX9 and the larger zoom lens Sony DSC-HX9V that you can use the camera for both video and still and get quality approaching a dedicated camcorder. The Lens and the Exmor CMOS sensor will allow you to shoot in low light and get very high quality video without a flash or video strobe lighting. The new Sony's will also allow you to use XC SD memory cards that have 54 GB of memory and more. JVC makes nice camcorders and they are leaders in the consumer segment of the digital camcorder market world-wide but have never produced higher end digital cameras for the consumer market. The JVC camcorder pros are really ease of use and is a great camcorder for a newbie or beginner. The cons are the low light performance is not as good as the Sony digital camera or camcorder. They do not have an EXMOR equivalent type of light sensor technology. I believe selecting either the DSC-WX9 or eh DSC-HX9V will allow you to take really nice still images and also take really sharp and accurate color videos in High Definition. The DSC-WX9 street price is about $200.00 and the DSC-HX9V sells for about $349.00 and comes with a 16X Optical Zoom Lens, the EXMOR low light capability and the Sony G Lens. If you only need a 4X optical zoom lens then go with the DSC-WX9. The DSC-HX9 also has a stereo microphone set up for recording sound where the DSC-HX9 only has a monaural microphone. Either camera will produce razor sharp images and high quality videos that equal the quality of other dedicated digital media camcorders. I would purchase a class 10 SD HC Memory card with at least 8 or 16 GB of memory capacity if you plan on shooting a lot of video.
    Check out the photo I took in total darkness using the Twilight Handheld Mode and you will see what these cameras are capable of. I used the Twilight Handheld mode, and shot the photo without a tripod using the Sony DSC-WX9. The ISO setting it chose was 800 ISO but it took 6 photos and superimposed them automatically to reduce the noise and increase the sharpness and dynamic range. Good luck on your camera purchase.

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  5. Wes Lem,
    Wow, those are really nice photos taken at night. You provided so much valuable information. I really really appreciate that. :-) Thanks again.

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  6. John G.:
    Fry's ELectronics has the Sony DSC-HX9V 16 megapixel Camera with the Exmor CMOS sensor, Sony G Zoom Lens and 16X Optical Zoom lens for only $319.99 this week. Sale Starts Today Sunday September 18th and all local Bay area Fry's stock these Sony digital cameras. Fry's Also has an 8 GB SD HC Patriot Memory Card on Sale for only 9.99. I think that is the lowest price I've seen for a new Sony DSC-HX9V including internet prices. This is an outstanding deal and I would snag one at this price.
    Good Luck
    Wes Lem

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  7. John G:
    You gotta love it!!! Best Buy ALSO has both Sony DSC-W9 and DSC-HX9V digital cameras on sale this week only for $199.99 and $319.99 respectively. Again these are the lowest prices ever for two of their best equipped low-light capability point and shoot 16 megapixel digital cameras. If you are near a Best Buy, this is also an excellent Sony digital camera source.
    Good Luck!
    Wes Lem

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