MemorableStudios: Er, I've got a Minolta Dynax 7 which has a grip sensor and eye start sensor (it started with Minolta film bodies.) The Minolta Dynax 9 also had a grip sensor.

The Konica Minolta 7 Digital lost the grip sensor. The Konica Minolta 5 Digital after that also didn't have it.

The Sony A100 still didn't have the grip sensor but the A700 brought it back.

The Dynax 9 was Minolta's last professional-level SLR with a 100% 0.74x viewfinder (same as the A900).

The Dynax 9 also had a grip sensor, so there was no reason for Sony to purposely remove it on the A900. Unless the EU buat kacau.

Funny thing is, the Dynax 9 was the first professional-level SLR to have a pop-up flash and could control wireless flashes and people laughed at it*, saying it's not a pro camera because it has a pop-up flash.

It is likely because of that, that the A900 doesn't have a pop-up flash... but Nikon got the idea and put a pop-up flash on the D700... which is now, the only full-frame dSLR with a pop-up flash. (The Canon 5D/MkII/1D/1Ds do not have it.)

I've been following the Alpha series (had the A100, A700 and then A900) and anybody who has been around that long would know about the grip sensor issue. It's quite uh... common knowledge.

* People also laughed at the invention of auto-focus and multi-segment metering, but now every camera has it!

aiaya.. some ppl are like that la... just learn to ignore them.

Most ppl who talk like that, are usually quite empty on the inside.... Buy equipment based on brand only.

raist86: The A700 has a F2.8 sensor in the middle, for more accurate focusing and the ability to detect focus faster.

nabelon: That aquarium video isn't a good example of dSLR video (the main reason people like it is for shallow depth of field.) That video could've been shot with a point-and-shoot with HD video capability!

However, I still strongly dislike the rolling shutter effect (seen on every video dSLR to date.) When subjects move quickly across the frame, they flicker!