Sony yesterday announced its second DSLR, the A700, with a feature set that puts it in the same league as the Nikon's D300 and Canon's 40D. It's not quite what the rumors said it would be, but it does come with a nifty set of new technologies.

First of all, the DSLR-A700 model boasts a new CMOS sensor, Exmor, with APS-C dimensions and 12.2 megapixels. Sony claims that by carrying out the analog-to-digital (A/D) signal conversion and dual noise reduction right on the sensor itself the picture quality will be significantly better. It remains to be seen how much of this is true, but it is a progress nonetheless.

The manufacturer also informs that the BIONZ (yes, it's the same funny Bionz name) processor has been improved to "process data-rich picture information at high speeds, and to reduce picture noise in the RAW data stage before final image compression and encoding".

In the autofocus department, the new 11 wide-area sensor module comes with an interesting novelty: a center dual cross sensor comprised of two horizontal and two vertical line sensors, touted as ensuring superior performance.

The viewfinder uses a precision-ground optical glass pentaprism and a high refractive index eyepiece lens to provide 0.9x viewfinder magnification and 95 percent frame coverage. For those who still prefer manual over auto, there's an interchangeable spherical acute matte focusing screen to ease the task.

As expected, the new DSLR boasts the Super SteadyShot image stabilization system, which works with most Minolta Maxxum mount lenses as well as Sony's new lenses.

The Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) function has been updated on this model so users can choose the desired level of detail recovered in areas of shadow. Additionally, DRO bracketing creates three images from a single capture with three different levels of DRO.

Compared to the first A100, the build quality of the new A700, made of magnesium alloy with dust and moisture seals, is very good.

The shutter unit has been redesigned to accommodate speeds of up to 1/8,000th and 1/250 for flash sync and to allow continuous shooting at up to five frames per second. In JPEG fine or standard mode, continuous shooting is limited only by the capacity of the media card (sold separately), while up to 18 frames can be captured in RAW.

Other features include HDMI output for connection to HDTV sets, 28 camera settings that can be stored in one of three user memories for instant recall, support for both Memory Stick Duo media cards and CompactFlash Type I/II with the new Ultra Direct Memory Access standard for up to 300x write speeds and a 3-inch LCD with 922,000 pixels.

The only feature missing from the Alpha 700 is the Live View, which might seem unimportant to serious photographers, but to those switching from bridge cameras to DSLRs it can be a decisive factor.

The camera will be introduced with two new lenses, the DT 16-105 mm f.3.5 - 5.6 lens and the DT 18 - 250 mm f3.5 - 6.3 lens. Sony is also planning to introduce a specialty 70 -300 mm f4.5 - 5.6 SSM G telephoto lens featuring super sonic wave motor auto focus drive system for smooth auto focusing in Spring 2008.

Sony's full line of accessories will also expand to include a new vertical grip. Equipped with buttons and switches for the most essential control functions, it offers the same ease of operation and handling as when shooting vertically. It houses two InfoLithium batteries (sold separately), which will automatically switch to the second battery when the first one runs out. Remaining charges of both batteries are displayed on the camera's LCD screen.

The DSLR-A700 camera body, DT 16 - 105 mm lens and DT 18-250 mm lens will be available for about $1,400, $580 and $550, respectively. The DSLR-A700K kit with an 18-70 mm lens will be available for about $1,500 and the DSLR-A700P kit with the 16-105 mm lens will be available for about $1,900. The camera body and DSLR-A700K kit will ship in October and the DSLR-A700P kit in November.

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