Building on the success of the Sony DSLR-A100 from last year, Sony and has teamed up with Konica Minolta once again to create the 12-megapixel Sony Alpha 700. Based on the Minolta Maxxum 7D body, this new Alpha model features a durable magnesium alloy shell over an aluminum chassis and is sealed to be dust and moisture resistant. The A700 features loads of useful settings, like creative style modes, high-speed shooting, Sony's exclusive Super SteadyShot image stabilization, Eye-Start Autofocus system and Anti-Dust Technology. There's something for everyone. Even though Sony says the "DSLR-A700 is the perfect DSLR for serious amateurs" I found nothing amateur about this camera.

Ergonomics are superb and the A700 will seem quite familiar to Minolta aficionados. The body is designed to resist dust and moisture and the aluminum chassis is 5% lighter and 3x stronger than the Alpha 100. Controls are well positioned on the camera and the LCD menu system is easy to read. This SLR feels great in your hand and the grip is comfortable and textured for a good handling experience. The DSLR-A700 is simple to operate - you can use the detailed menus or the new Quick Navigation menu for camera setup. You can even set your own personalized camera settings. Even with all the high-tech features, the DSLR-A700 is simple to operate. You can always use the scene presets on the mode dial for fast point-and-shoot photography.

The A700 features a bright 3-inch LCD screen with 921,000 pixels of resolution, which is used for menu display and image review. The recording mode screens give you easy access to camera settings, and the display turns on and off automatically when you bring your eye to the eyepiece of the viewfinder. Menu navigation was a breeze, thanks to the 4-way controller. It seems LCDs get brighter with every new model, and the A700's is no exception. This is a beautiful, bright display that I found was quite usable outdoors, even in harsh sunlight. When you turn the camera to portrait orientation the display automatically switches from horizontal to vertical format. Although the Sony A700's LCD does not provide a "Live View" on the LCD, you can plug the camera into a HDTV using the HDMI connection.

The eye-level viewfinder has a field of view of approximately 95%. The eyepiece cup is removable and Sony's web site lists 9 Eyepiece Correctors available as accessories. The viewfinder magnification is 0.83x (with 50mm lens focused on infinity) and has dioptric adjustment. Inside the viewfinder is a screen displaying the Local Auto Focus area, the Spot AF area, the Spot metering area and the 16:9 aspect shooting area. Along the bottom is a digital status line that displays flash compensation, flash status, wireless flash status, high-speed sync, manual focus, focus, shutter speed, aperture, EV scale, AE lock, shots remaining and the anti shake warning.

The A700's shooting performance is very robust. From power-on until the first image was captured, including autofocus time, measured a mere 5/10 second. Waking the A700 up from its power-saving sleep mode took about the same amount of time. Shutter lag, the delay between depressing the shutter and capturing the image, averaged less than 1/10 second when pre-focused, and under 2/10 second including autofocus time. Shot-to-shot delay averaged a fast 3/10 second in both single and continuous autofocus modes, releasing the shutter button between images. Using the internal flash, the shot to shot interval grew to between 0.8 and 2.4 seconds depending on subject distance. Shooting JPEG Fine versus Extra Fine, I was able to capture 75 images in 14.9 seconds before the camera slowed down in continuous drive mode. Shooting JPEG Extra Fine images in continuous drive mode, the A700 was able capture 30 images in 6.1 seconds before the camera slowed down, still capturing 40 frames in 8.8 seconds.

In RAW mode, I was able to capture 14 images in 2.8 seconds before the camera slowed down to approximately 1 frame every 1.7 seconds with a full buffer. This camera also offers a cRAW (compressed RAW) format, using a lossless compression method for smaller file sizes. Shooting cRAW, I was able to capture 14 frames in 2.7 seconds, with the camera slowing down to approximately 1 frame every 1.2 seconds with a full buffer. cRAW + JPEG Fine captured 10 frames in 2 seconds, before the camera slowed down to approximately 1 frame every 1.5 seconds with a full buffer. The buffer took approximately 25 seconds to clear. Tests were performed using Program exposure with a Konica Minolta 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 DT Autofocus Lens (equivalent to the Sony 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 DT Autofocus Lens), and a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II CompactFlash card. Note that performance times will vary, depending on the speed of the memory card, camera settings, lighting conditions, lens used, etc.

An excellent anti-shake system is inherited from the Konica/Minolta's 7D, one of the first among dSLRs. Sony claims that the A700's Super Steady Shot will help you capture blur-free images at shutter speeds two and a half to four stops slower than the 1/focal-length rule of thumb, and my testing agreed with this statement. The A700's Super Steady Shot feature reduces camera shake-caused blur, however it won't help with blur caused by subject motion; for that you'll need to pan the subject if it is moving at a consistent rate.

A responsive auto focus system utilizes 11 wide-area sensors, including a center dual cross sensor with two horizontal and two vertical line sensors for AF precision. An F2.8 line sensor leverages the brightness of fast aperture lenses for even greater precision. And the fast focus speed is provided by improved algorithms and a high-torque focusing drive motor. Low-light AF performance is very good thanks to the addition of an AF illuminator, an improvement over the a100. When you press the shutter half way down a red illuminator is emitted automatically until the focus locks. Still, there are always situations that mandate the use of Manual focus. The Auto Focus selector switch below the lens provides various AF modes: Single-shot AF, Automatic AF, Continuous AF or Manual.

The A700's exposure system was quite effective. The automatic settings produced well-exposed, nicely saturated shots with accurate color rendition. When conditions are more demanding you can manually shift the exposure suggested by the camera's sensors with the Exposure compensation button. You can use the AE lock if you need to shoot continuously yet keep the same exposure value. 3 metering modes are selectable via the Metering mode lever: multi-segment, center-weighted or spot. Multi-segment metering is optimized by the 40 honeycomb-shaped metering elements. The Zone Matching system improves exposure control in difficult lighting situations by emphasizing highlights yet retaining subtle tones.

Both exposure bracketing and flash exposure bracketing are offered, with steps limited to ± .3, .5 or .7 EV for three or five frames; bracketing drive mode can be set for single or continuous advance. Based on your selected White Balance setting, 3 images can be taken and the color temperature is automatically shifted. Also DRO (D-Range Optimizer) shooting takes 3 photos while optimizing the gradation and colors in each image. The D-Range Optimizer has 2 operating modes: Lo3 which lowers the DRO bracket or Hi3 that amplifies the DRO bracket. Although the DRO seemed to increase image graduation you may not want to use in conjunction with your software photo editor.

The A700's built in pop-up flash worked well in most situations. It provided sufficient coverage for a 18mm wide field of view, and the AF-assist and Red Eye reduction functions were both very effective. When using red eye reduction mode, shutter lag extends to about 9/10 second for the pre-flash. You can also use external flash units such as the Minolta 5600HS. Off-camera flash is possible with the FA-CS1AM Off-camera Shoe and FA-EC1AM extension, FA-MC1AM multi flash and FA-CC1AM Off-camera cables.

The alpha 700 accepts new Sony wide-aperture zoom lenses, Sony “G” Series lenses and Minolta a-mount lenses. Sony lists 24 lenses, including 3 new items, that are available as optional accessories for the A700. Sony's new lenses are designed to take advantage of APS-size CCD imagers like the Exmor sensor of the DSLR-A700. The $580 f3.5 to f/5.6, 16mm to 105mm lens (shown above) providing the same angle of view as a 24mm to 157.5mm lens on a 35mm camera. Also new is the $550 f3.5 to f/6.3, 18mm to 250mm (27mm to 375mm equivalent). And the f4.5 to f/5.6 70mm to 300 mm (105mm to 450mm equivalent) lens that incorporates a supersonic motor in its autofocus system for smoother operation. These Sony lenses have a sophisticated Multi-Element Design of 16 lens elements in 13 groups to correct visual aberrations across the entire zoom range and help reduce weight. The ED (Extra-low Dispersion) Glass lens elements minimize flare and greatly reduce chromatic aberration.

Utilizing a special coating on the imager's filter and an anti-dust vibration that shakes the sensor to dislodge dust, the A700's self-cleaning features help reduce spots from marring your images. On SLRs, the risk of getting dust on the sensor occurs at every lens change and is especially noticeable at small apertures. The self-cleaning process is invoked each time you turn the camera off, causing an ultrasonic vibration to shake dust loose from the image sensor. I did not notice any dust spots in my samples. This feature is especially useful for amateur photographers who might not remember to use a blower or alcohol swab to remove dust from the sensor between lens changes.

The rechargeable battery pack proved to be more than adequate for my 250+ test exposures. Battery life is estimated at 650 shots using a combo or samples with and without flash (CIPA measurement). The automatic power-saving mode is selectable after 1, 3, 5, 10 or 30 minutes. The battery required 3 hours with the supplied BC-VM10 compact charger. An optional AC-VQ900AM AC Adaptor/Charger can be used to power the camera with AC current and rapid-charge op to two battery packs.

Bottom line - These days the amateur dSLR market is quite competitive and the A700 has a wonderful combination of quality and shooting features to keep it in the top rank. With 12 megapixels of resolution, impressive shooting performance, superb image quality and the combination of Super Steady Shot image stabilization and anti-dust technology, this camera it a very worthy contender. An A700 would obviously be the best choice for anyone upgrading from Minolta film cameras or dSLRs, and yet it should appeal to first time dSLR users as well.

Sony has announced a Firmware Upgrade for the DSLR-A700 as well as Software Upgrades for the bundled Image Data Converter and Image Data Lightbox programs.

Camera Firmware Ver.2 benefits:

Sharper images for pictures taken under low contrast conditions Reduced noise for pictures taken at ISO 3200 Improved flash control for objects closer than 1 meter with non ADI controlled lenses

Mac users click here for: Camera Firmware, Application Update.