14 DAY TRIAL // Announced in early September 2007, the A-700 is Sony's DSLR model competing in the semi-pro league, which also includes the Nikon D300 and the Canon 40D (both released this year, but a bit earlier).
Recently, Sony released version 3 of the camera's firmware and judging from what the manufacturer mentions, it looks like it's worth the trouble of upgrading.
First of all, version 3 resolves an issue where the Access Lamp remains lit and the camera stops responding when several pictures are taken in rapid succession and the issue where powering the camera off while in "MR" mode may cause some registered settings to carry over to other shooting modes.
Compared to version 1, the new one should generate sharper images for pictures taken under low contrast conditions and improve flash control for objects closer than 1 meter with non ADI controlled lenses. Those who like to shoot in dimly lit places will be glad to hear that images takes at ISO 3200 will benefit from a better noise reduction, albeit Sony does not mention whether this will affect the details.
As a quick reminder, 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 BIONZ processor has also 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.
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.
Anyway, firmware version 3 for Sony DSLR-A700 is available for download here.