Could this be the ‘High Amateur’ camera that Sony announced back in March at PMA and is it really geared with a highly rumored fullframe CCD sensor with In-Camera Image Stabilization SSS (Super Steady Shot)? If true, finally something to compete with the popular Canon 5D fullframe DSLR.

Website : Sony Announces ‘High Amateur’ DSLR Camera at PMA

Sony yesterday announced that it was developing two new DSLR to follow up the popular Alpha 100 and expanding its lens lineup with three new zooms.

Speaking at a press conference on the first day of the Photo Marketing Association’s annual trade show in Las Vegas, Sony executives mentioned that the two DSLRs, one of which the company promised would be in stores before the end of the year, are targeted at the “high amateur” and professional markets, respectively. It will incorporate the company’s Super-steady Shot technology as well as more advanced features, although they did not elaborate.

The second DSLR in the works is called the “flagship” model, which will be aimed at the pro market. As for the new pro-level glass, Sony says it will add three news lenses to the lineup of 21 currently available within the next 12 months. Those include a 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-300mm f/4-5.6, and 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3.

First introduced last July, the Alpha 100, which features a 1.5x lens factor, expanded on technology Sony acquired from the purchase of Konica Minolta. Based largely on the popular Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D and 5D models, which had chip-based image stabilization, the Alpha 100 was the fifth most popular DSLR in the U.S. in January, according to the NPD Group, which tracks sales data.