either that or 7D

The a730 announcement is 40 days early, but there is always something to complain about. I’m privy to the specifications of the soon to be announced a735, having seen the official pre-release a730 PDF manual. I’m not pleased.

Sony HAS been listening to us and not only has included MLU but also MLD. I have no idea what mirror lock down is used for and the manual is very vague regarding this feature. I think it has to do with new restrictions at professional wrestling venues. They have also incorporated a full implementation of aperture-priority mode with any lens but unfortunately you have to reset the mode in-camera after every shot. I don’t get it. I also don’t get why they would incorporate ISO 128,000 ISO when even F1.4 lenses won’t focus in that kind of light. I like the included cranium-implantable OLED screen but you have to buy other units if you wish to share the camera. The associated thought-controlled zoom actuator is a bad idea, especially for male photographers.

True auto-focus video finally arrives in a dSLR and is standard with associated 6MB 30 fps but since no flash memory can handle that throughput the camera needs to be tethered via gigabit LAN to a computer with a very fast RAID. That lets out laptops and so we must drag along a big workstation and a portable generator. A two pound camera body, and you have to lug around two hundred pounds of storage support. It should also be noted that video can only work properly with HSM lenses if you are to use onboard sound. Sony does sell black head-mounted stereo dish-style mics. Other than at Disney world, I can’t imagine actually wearing these things.

The most unusual new feature is the low-light twin laser rangefinders that will serve as built in macro illumination and bug zapper. They also power up to kill mode for hunting purposes but require a user supplied local license for usage. U$1699 and we have to go to the local government offices to spend more money just to shoot the wildlife. In kill mode they are a huge battery drain but at least you can use the generator you are toting. There an asterisk in the manual to make sure you use a low noise generator so you don’t scare the wildlife away. Speaking of noise; the built-in low noise, sensor refrigeration unit connects to the Sony auxiliary lens case that also doubles as a beverage cooler. This is taking the Beercan lens concept too far in my estimation. And it only cools one can at a time, which is really stupid IMHO. Unless you’re British, what are you supposed to do with the other 5 cans of warm beer?

All in all, I find the new a730 very disappointing… its always disappointing.

...a concerned alpha user...