Last year, Sony’s introduction of two new cameras utilizing fixed pellicle mirrors caused a bit of a stir in the camera world, and both were well received by the public. Following up on their successes, Sony announced on Wednesday a second generation camera based on its translucent mirror system: the Sony Alpha a35.
With the a35, Sony appears poised to take on the popular new Canon T3i and the Nikon D5100; Sony is making use of a new, lower noise 16 megapixel sensor (1.4x crop factor), and has set the price point around $700, nearly $100 less than the offerings from Canon and Nikon. The a35’s features generally fall between the two previous models, the a33 (now officially discontinued) and a55, but a more comprehensive comparison is forthcoming.
If you’re having trouble getting excited about a camera from Sony, keep in mind that until very recently, Sony produced all of Nikon’s sensors, including the 24 megapixel beast found in the D3x (as well as the Sony a900 and a850), and they have a growing collection of beautiful Zeiss lenses. They have a long way to go before their SLR sales catch up with Canon or Nikon, but they must be taken seriously.
