The Sony Alpha A700 SLR is the second dSLR from the well-known brand, after they assumed Minolta's former Maxxum line. The A700 is considered their 'high-end' offering, and a look at the specifications (and the price) will confirm that. It's definitely going to be strong competition for Canon and Nikon with its 12 megapixel CMOS sensor and full compliment of advanced features. Most interestingly, the A700 is not merely limited to Sony's proprietary Memory Stick memory cards, allowing photographers to use Compact Flash as well. That certainly opens things up for serious shooters with a lot of money invested in Compact Flash to make the switch to Sony.

Sony A700 Specifications
12.2 megapixel CMOS sensor
JPEG and RAW file formats
CCD-shift dust reduction
Sony Alpha/Minolta-A lenses
Sony Super SteadyShot Image Stabilization
Auto and manual focus and exposure
ISO 100-1600 (6400 expanded)
3.0-inch LCD display
HDMI output
Compact Flash and Memory Stick storage memory
Lithium-ion battery