Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Archives for April 20, 2008

Cheaper Nikon Full Frame DSLR on the Horizon

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Amidst the recent discussions of the rumored Nikon D3X, insights on a cheaper full frame DSLR from Nikon surfaced again.  The exchange between a couple of forum posters occurred on DPReview’s forums; however, one of the forum posters was Thom Hogan.  The original poster noted that a cheaper full frame Nikon DSLR was in the rumor mill.  Thom replied with:

Yep. But I still hear this as being further out than the D3x.

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As you may know, Thom seems to have his ear keenly to the ground regarding Nikon news, rumors and equipment developments.  I’m sure Nikon users would love to see a mid-range FF DSLR that’s in the same price range as the current Canon 5D.  We’ll keep you posted with the latest on this rumor and the Nikon D3X.

 

Sony A700 Discontinued?

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Reports are surfacing that the Sony A700 is destined to be discontinued in April.  Most of this info arises out of notations in Best Buy’s inventory system, which indicates a discontinuance date of April 27, 2008 for the Sony A700.  Here are a few of the quotes from readers who have posted this news in forums:

I just called my local BB in Maryland. There is a discontinue date of 4/27/08 for this cam. They are selling at origial price until at least after the discontinue date.

The clerk said she had heard of the new replacement coming out but didn’t have much info.

The discontinue is widespread. Something is going on. Many other electronics sellers are dropping the price on the a700.

My BB has a decent amount of Aplpha gear. The A100, A200, A350, A700, 18-200, 11-18 and 75-300. Some filters too. They also have a discontinued date of 4/27. This all happened very quickly as I was in there about a week ago trying to monitor the price of the 36 flash and the A700 was full list price of $1,399. They are not getting rid of all Alpha items, just A700.

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Whether this means Sony is discontinuing the A700 or whether it’s just that Best Buy is no longer carrying the A700 remains to be seen.  The A700 does, however, seem to be a bit of an odd duck right now, due to the introduction of the A300 and A350.  I could certainly see Sony dropping the A700 from the current lineup in order to incorporate the awesome Live View featured on the A300 and A350 into a true prosumer DSLR.