Sony press release goes live: two new DT primes, new kit lenses, and flash

The official announcement of the trio of Sony Alpha DSLRs that have been leaked has now gone live at DC Views, complete with dozens of thumbnail pictures of the camera bodies. Thanks to Stephen Gillette (website/portfolio) for the tip!

We start with 20 hours of reactions from Sony fans themselves, in this busy dpreview Sony Talk thread which also points to a press release that is currently live on the Sony website.

More on these at the Sony-expert site Photo Club Alpha.

Various discussions on these also at the Dyxum forums.

And another discussion in the Sony dpreview forums makes a case why these are a good thing for Sonoltans.

Update: Some spec comparison between the six A2xx and A3xx have been posted at PhotoScala.de.

SD/SDHC replaces CompactFlash
According to the press release, the theme of this trio is to help photographers "overcome the obstacles" which perhaps explains the mild-surprise found in the press release, Sony has replaced the CompactFlash with the more common these days SD/SDHC memory card. Yes, you can use both MemorySticks and SD/SDHC cards. They have "dedicated slots" for each. This type of thing can turn the proprietary memory card option from a disadvantage to an advantage. Olympus non-DSLRs, are you listening?

The starting prices do not remove obstacles
While the press release wants to remove obstacles, the starting prices of some of these kits are not exactly "obstacle-removers". Let's take a look:
+ Alpha A230: one-lens kit (A230L): $550, two-lens kit (A230Y): $650
+ Alpha A330: one-lens kit (A330L): $650, two-lens kit (A330Y): $850
+ Alpha A380: one-lens kit (A380L): $850, two-lens kit (A380Y): $1050

As you can tell from the prices, it becomes obvious that the A380 is a little bit of a marginal product, because a person willing to spend $850 is more likely to expect more advanced features (or get them from older Sonolta models, or the competition). So most people who prefer the tilting-LCD/LiveView combo will gravitate towards the A330.

New Digital Prime lenses as well
Not to be overshadowed by the trio of new DSLRs, Sony is introducing some new lenses and a flash as well! The new lenses are SAMmies, they have "Smooth Autofocus Motor", and that means, in-lens autofocusing. Reminds you of Nikon? :)

The new lenses are:
+ 50mm f1.8 DT (yes, a DIGITAL PRIME) - for just $150
+ 30mm f2.8 DT MACRO - no price mentioned
+ 18-55 f3.5-5.6 DT (as opposed to 18-70 DT before): more in line with the other manufacturers; for $200 stand alone
+ 55-200 f4-5.6 DT for $230 stand-alone

Also a new HVL-F20AM flash is coming out (bounce, GN20) for $130

We will have the usual detailed breakdown after the cameras are officially-officially announced.