Sony is finally ready to replace the A700 with its upcoming A77. On its site, Sony is hyping the upcoming camera which will feature a transparent mirror with “translucent mirror technology”, which means the A77 will be able to use AF while you’re shooting or recording video. The camera will also include Sony’s Exmor APS CMOS sensor (something Sony’s invested a lot of money in lately).
As far as any unforeseen additions, the A77 will feature an upgraded vertical battery grip and a new flash. No other specs have been released at this point, but multiple sources are approximating the A77 will have a 20-megapixel sensor.
It will be available later this year, for how much we don’t know. But just to give you an idea, the A700 was $1,500 to $1,900 (depending on which lens kit you selected), and the A55 and A33 (which also feature similar mirror technology as the A77) are in the $600 to $800 price range.
Don’t get too attached to the transparent body of the cam just yet though – we’re uncertain whether this is what the finished product will look like. The Japanese to English translation on Sony’s site pairs the image with a caption reading, “intermediate machine concept model” and also called it a “skeleton model.”