# Sony a100 blues



## Funky (Aug 29, 2007)

Alright, well i've had my sony alpha a100 for about a year now. sadly, i needed to purchase a flash (the f56am) and to my dismay sony's trashed everything for the a100....how do i know? every single camera shop around portland oregon said that sonys pulling the a100 and all its accessories off the shelves to make way for its new propiatary camera in september. i really hate sony for this. after i tell this wedding party, i cant get a hold of the flash i needed and figure something out with them, im selling all my minolta and sony gear and moving to nikon, at least they know how to build a company. I HATE SONY! 

:evil:

sorry for the rant

zack


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## Funky (Aug 29, 2007)

so, anyone have any idea of what system for me to turn to?


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## Big Mike (Aug 29, 2007)

I hadn't heard that about Sony, that's a little weird...but then again, Sony has a history of doing silly things.

I would confirm what you are hearing, before switching systems...but if you do want to switch, you can't go wrong with Canon or Nikon (or maybe Pentax).


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## lostprophet (Aug 29, 2007)

sorry but that is not true, I work in a shop that has loads of A100 bits and bobs and can reorder as and when we need to, there should be a new release announced within the next 7 days about the new body but lenses, flash guns etc etc will work on both. 

What the shops you've been in are probably doing is clearing stock to make room for the new kit but they should be able to order old kit.


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## Funky (Aug 29, 2007)

ritz,kitz,wolf,shutterbud, and citizen all said that sony recalled all a100 accessories, lenses are all going to stay the same being as its just A mount minolta stuff. apparently sony's going to re badge the flv-f56am flash along with some other stuff, i just cant stand a company that cant back its gear. i'm selling my a100 after this lineup of weddings and buying something that has a real name behind it, maybe nikon.


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## Big Mike (Aug 29, 2007)

> i'm selling my a100 after this lineup of weddings and buying something that has a real name behind it, maybe nikon


Did you know that Nikon sensors are made by Sony? :er:


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## lostprophet (Aug 29, 2007)

not the D3 sensor, that was designed by Nikon but made by someone else


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## Big Mike (Aug 29, 2007)

I was wondering if their new one was a Sony or not...so who makes it?


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## Funky (Aug 29, 2007)

I'm guessing sensors are like plasma and lcd TV's theres only 3 manufactures that make them....im not bashing sony's camera, the a100 is amazing, but i cant see myself upgrading a system thats not going to get any better without spending two grand on a new body.

its some variation of the a100 its probably going to be 12-16 MP


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## Garbz (Aug 29, 2007)

The D3 is in house and the D300 another Sony AFAIK. Not that it matters. Sony is an excellent electronics company who often serve their target market well. Great sensors for wholesalers, and cheap crap P&S for mums and dads. Interesting to hear that they are actually recalling stuff.


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## Don Simon (Aug 30, 2007)

I'd wait a bit.

This idea of recalling accessories in order to help sell new cameras (how does that even work?) sounds very odd, no doubt... especially since this doesn't seem to have happened here in the UK (anywhere else?)...

... I'm also not sure why they would rebadge the flash when they rebadged it once already!... if they are being recalled then I would imagine more likely there will be some kind of upgrade...

... but anyway, if Sony's new model is as impressive as a number of people expect it to be, then even if you're still determined to switch systems you will find more people looking for lenses to buy.

Btw Garbz I'd have to disagree with you about Sony only making cheap crap P&S... they make good P&S and good fixed-lens models too. Have been doing so for a number of years now, well before they ate Konica-Minolta's photographic business and moved into SLRs as well. They are a camera company now, as much as we Canon Nikon or Pentax users might not want to admit it


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## holga girl (Aug 31, 2007)

to my knowledge sony discontinued their flashes and lenses. i work for ritz and all of the sony accessories were called back. in the 10 years that i have done photo retail, i have never seen a company call back all of thier product. it can not be a good sign.

i personally would not put any more money into the system. you will never be able to build a 'full system' out of sony, and i would cut your losses and move on before you sink anymore money into it. 

just my 2 cents.


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## shorty6049 (Aug 31, 2007)

WHAT?!?!?!?!? i just bought that flash earlier this summer.... and i ahve the alpha... (i'd NEVER switch to nikon though) whats going on?? i havent heard any of this recall stuff. funky... we are not friends anymore if you're gonna dump sony like that.... lol (kidding , but WHAT?!) sorry i'm a little upset by this thread right now... all of this was news to me.. (if its even true)

but what about this??? - http://news.sel.sony.com/electronicsblog/?p=9

and on ritz camera's online store, all the accessories are still available


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## eravedesigns (Aug 31, 2007)

I just found you a flash in 10 seconds on bhpoto video heres the link
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/439005-REG/Sony_HVLF56AM_HVL_F56AM_Digital_Camera_Flash.html

idk why you sold everything so fast you could easily get the accessories online. The person you talked to at a shop was prob just saying they are slowing down shipments for the new cameras which are prob going to be better than the nikon you just bought


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## shorty6049 (Aug 31, 2007)

i dont know if he did all that yet...


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## eravedesigns (Aug 31, 2007)

Its also instock on the ritzs website: http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/542083753.htm


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## Zatodragon (Sep 1, 2007)

I dunno, i have my a100 and gonna be stick'en with it.  Sony has definitely made an investment with the whole line of lenses they've produced.  And Ritz camera is just a weird company to work for anyways.  For a long time, they never had any Olympus cameras.  Then out of the blue they start to carry them.

Kits/Ritz/wolf are all the same company now, so i bet you they are trying to do a marketing ploy.  But i do have my eye on going up to Nikon if they don't get more serious with their camera body.


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## Don Simon (Sep 1, 2007)

Sounds like most of the information is coming from retailers at the moment. IMO someone needs to contact Sony themselves, ask them if their products are actually being recalled without replacement and if so what they are smoking. I know trying to get information out of camera companies is like blood from a stone, but it's worth a try.

In the meantime I've posted on Dyxum, a Minolta/Sony-specific forum. You may get more information (or perhaps just more speculation  ) there.


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## shorty6049 (Sep 1, 2007)

alphatracks.com posted an article relating to this, but still no real facts to back anything up.... i'm calling BS on this. why would sony discontinue the camera named dslr of the year in 06 by pop photo? it makes no sense


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## shorty6049 (Sep 1, 2007)

ok, i dont knwo what to think anymore, i've heard rumors from a british alpha site saying that they have already discontinued the a100 over there...


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## Don Simon (Sep 1, 2007)

Well according to LostProphet the A100 is still on sale here... unless he is being forced to lie; maybe Sony are holding some otters hostage 

The impression I get from the Dyxum forum is that the A100 is being _discontinued_ because of the new camera body; not that it is being recalled. In other words you should be able to buy it until stocks run out. Apparently rumours have been bouncing around for a while now. But supposedly in a few days we will hear about the new camera and hopefully that will clear up any confusion,


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## shorty6049 (Sep 1, 2007)

yeah, some peopel were saying they were being recalled as in, the existing stocks of it were being called back to the factory, nto that there was anything wrong with them, but i'm really upset that sony decided to discontinue the a100 model because i'm sure if they put out a new one to take its place, it'll have all the features that i wanted and all the problems i have with this one will probably be fixed... i'm not made of money!


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## Alex_B (Sep 1, 2007)

shorty6049 said:


> yeah, some peopel were saying they were being recalled as in, the existing stocks of it were being called back to the factory, nto that there was anything wrong with them, but i'm really upset that sony decided to discontinue the a100 model because i'm sure if they put out a new one to take its place, it'll have all the features that i wanted and all the problems i have with this one will probably be fixed... i'm not made of money!



welcome to the world of digital photography!

well, this is more or less the same for all sony, nikon, oly, canon, pentax and whatever people. old models are discontinued and new ones appear that are better in some ways ...

it is a money drain


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## lostprophet (Sep 1, 2007)

having worked in a Camera shop for over 10 years I have NEVER known ANY manufacturer to recall any stock that is not defective.

Why would they?

What would they do with a load of stock they have recalled if it the stock was in working order? Just bin it? get real!

The simple fact is that Sony are due to announce their new stock, around Sept 13th from memory, just like Canon and Nikon done the other week.

What probably has happened is that those stores are waiting to see what is coming before they place any orders, no shop wants to get stuck with old stock if there are new products around the corner.


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## shorty6049 (Sep 1, 2007)

alex, you're right, that IS how it usually goes, but how often do you see a company discontinue a camera thats only a couple years old? and thier FIRST dslr?


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## lostprophet (Sep 1, 2007)

shorty6049 said:


> alex, you're right, that IS how it usually goes, but how often do you see a company discontinue a camera thats only a couple years old? and thier FIRST dslr?



they all have


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## shorty6049 (Sep 1, 2007)

ah... well ok, guess i was wrong... what about like the canon rebel xt? how long was that in production before the xti was made?


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## lostprophet (Sep 2, 2007)

these are Canon's dates of announcements, most entry level and mid range cameras are replaced every 18 months, the exceptions to that rule arethe cameras that have had no competition like the full frame bodies 

entry level
300D/rebel aug 03
350d/xt feb 05
400d/xti aug 06

mid range
D30 may 00
D60 feb 02
10d feb 03
20D aug 04
30d feb 06
40d aug 07

Pro full frame
1ds feb 02
1dsmk2 sep 04
1ds mk3 aug 07

Pro high speed
1d  sep 01
1d mk2 jan 04
1dmk2n aug 05
1dmk3 feb 07

non pro full frame
5d aug 05



Nikon dates

again its the consumer cameras that get replaced on average every 18 months

pro
D1 jun 99

pro high res
d1x feb 01
d2x sep 04
d2xs jun 06

pro high speed
d1h feb 01
d2h jul 03
d2hs feb 04

semi pro
d100 feb 02
d200 nov 05
d300 aug 07

mid range
d70 jan 04
d70s apr 05
d80 aug 06

entry level
d50 apr 05
d40 nov 06

entry level high res
d40x mar 07

pro full frame
d3 aug 07


as for the future, Canon should be announcing a 5D and 400D/rebel xti replacement around feb. As for Nikon, I've not heard of anything but guessing a D90 again around feb


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## Alex_B (Sep 2, 2007)

Thanks for the list! 



lostprophet said:


> as for the future, Canon should be announcing a 5D



looking forward to that one ....


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