Sony to Debut First Digital SLR in July

Sony entered the digital SLR camera market Tuesday, announcing that it would begin shipping its first model in July. By the end of its current fiscal year, ending in March 2007, the company hopes to grab as much as ten percent of a market currently dominated by Canon and Nikon.

Canon has about an 53.3 percent share of the market, with Nikon garnering a 28.3 percent share, according to recent research by IDC.

Even without any digital SLRs in its lineup, Sony has become the second largest camera maker behind Canon by selling cheaper compact models. However, moving into the market could prove lucrative; more expensive and better performing, DSLRs offer a higher profit margin for manufacturers.

The camera will have a 10.2-megapixel APS CCD sensnor, and would be introduced with 19 Sony-branded lenses, the company said. Additionally, most Konica-Minolta lenses will fit, making it an ideal upgrade candidate for those customers.

Additionally, the camera includes technology built in that would help to cut down on fuzzy pictures. The technology works similar to that of image stabilization on video cameras.

Sony believes that it will be able to cash in quickly on the market, as loyal customers look to migrate to higher quality cameras, and Konica-Minolta users upgrade. Sony recently purchased most of the assets of Konica-Minolta.

"Our system will be attractive to people who are ready for something beyond what's available in D-SLR cameras today," Sony's marketing director for digital imaging James Neal said.

The camera would be competitively priced, although it would be more expensive than most entry-level DSLRs. A model with the body only would retail for 100,000 yen ($890 USD), while a kit that includes a lens would run for 120,000 yen ($1,070).