This quote was recently posted in the news;

“Our new alpha cameras (Sony 230, 330, and 380), lenses and accessories make it easier for new users to get the great photos they expect without the steep learning curve that DSLRs have traditionally required,” said Kristen Elder, senior manager for the alpha business at Sony Electronics Inc. “By overcoming the obstacles, we’ve made it much easier for newcomers to take great pictures with DSLRs.”

Last Thursday, Kristen Elder flew up from Sony’s headquarters in San Diego, CA. She wanted to personally show me and Brian something exciting. Brian and I knew it had something to do with the new Alphas coming out. But all we knew was that it was Sony’s new camera; the details were still unclear.

We had NO IDEA what we were in for. But let me back up…

Over a year ago, Brian and I were at the Sony Headquarters. We were talking with some of the head people about ways to change camera technology so that women can grasp it with more ease. Brian and I had ideas that had never been done before in a camera–things that had to do with getting rid of numbers and using sliding scales so numbers no longer scared women off. The Sony team was super kind and listened to every thing we said. I even asked, in joking–but half serious, if they could make a brown and pink Me Ra Koh camera someday. Why does it always have to be black? Right ladies?!

Well on Thursday, Kristen started her presentation of the new Alphas, and I about fell out of my chair.

The new Sony Alpha DSLR-330 is going to come in a beautiful, pristine, Dark Copper Brown color with an option to have a PINK interface! Yes, BROWN and PINK !!!

Can you picture me falling out of my chair b/c I seriously felt like I was going to faint! To see more images of this beauty, CLICK HERE!

That is not even the half of it!

Sony also heard the ideas Brian and I had about making camera technology more intuitive for women, and well, they went WAY BEYOND our ideas and blew them out of the water. They came up with ideas that are so amazing, I was speechless!

Here is one of many examples! The numbers and fractions often intimidate women and get in the way. Couldn’t there be another way to communicate the same principles of aperture/fstops and shutter speed without having to deal with fractions? Yes! Yes! Yes! And, Sony has DONE IT!!! They have created sliding scales for aperture and shutter speed! You don’t even need to know the fstops or shutter speed settings if you don’t want to! You can just look at the sliding scale. Watch this display change color. Can you guess which color is my favorite?

The top sliding scale is for Shutter Speed. The one below it is for aperture (blurriness in your background). If you go to the left, the background becomes more blurry (see how they made the mountain gray behind the person to symbolize blur?). The more you go to the right, the mountain is in more detail (your fstop is getting higher and higher). Ladies, if you don’t want to look at the numbers, for the first time in the history of camera technology, you can now own a DSLR camera and not have to worry with numbers!

So ladies, you can make the interface PINK on your Copper Brown CAMERA!! The interface is so pretty! As soon as I have the Copper Brown camera, I’ll shoot some images so you can see the brown and pink for yourself!

That’s not all!

At lunch, before Kristen showed us her good news, I brought up the lens issue again. Brian and I know that women want the low fstop lens to create the blurry backgrounds. But to have a lens that goes low in fstop means that you often have to spend $600-$1500. I asked Kristen if Sony would be open to making a more affordable lens with a low fstop. She just smiled and said, “Wait and see Me Ra. Your going to really be happy with what I show you.”

Well ladies and gents! Sony has DONE IT!!! Since our first meetings over a year ago, they have created two lenses with low fstops! One is a fixed 50mm that will go down to 1.8! The other is a MACRO! For all of you who love getting beautiful, buttery, blurred background shots, you are going to love these two lenses! And instead of being $600 and up, both lenses will be SIGNIFICANTLY less! AND, if you own the Sony Alpha 300 or 350, these lenses will work with them!

Brian and I are always bouncing the flash off the walls behind us or above us. We never fire the flash straight at someone. You guessed it! Sony has made a LIGHTWEIGHT flash that can pop onto the camera and bounce off the ceiling!

Instead of costing hundreds of dollars, the HVL-F20AM flash is going to be $130! These price points are going to blow their competitors out of the water!

The new Sony Alphas will still have the beautiful, tiltable Live View on the back,

and they have also added a spot for SD cards! Now you have dual memory slots! (how about it Ziv! :))

But seriously, aside from all the bells and whistles…

The tears came.

Brian and I left the meeting on Thursday, and for the rest of the night tears kept filling my eyes. I couldn’t stop thinking of all the women who have come to our photography workshops over the last few years. I thought of all the women who emailed us what they want in a dream camera. All the women who are so incredibly creative but feel intimidated by the technology. Or even the women who feel like the color black for every DSLR camera makes them feel as if this is a hobby or profession for men, not them.

Ladies, we shared your ideas and our ideas of a dream camera for women. We shared our dreams. And Sony not only listened, they acted! Maybe they were already planning on doing these ideas before we talked with them. Who knows, the amazing part is that they did it!

Sony has changed camera technology so moms could capture the great photos of their kids without the steep learning curve, as Kristen stated so well. They changed camera technology for YOU! Do you know how huge that is? There isn’t a camera maker who has cared so much about women before to change the camera technology. And they did it! The “official” press will have their say on Sony’s new cameras. But ladies, Brian and I met with them a number of times. And I can tell you firsthand, they care about women. They care about moms.

And here’s the amazing part. We are a part of it all! We are a part of changing history!

The Sony Alpha DSLR-330 camera is the one that will come in Copper Brown w/the Pink Interface. You can start pre-ordering this week for a Fall delivery. I told Kristen that I’m calling it the Me Ra Koh camera! And seriously, I’m buying a few of these because this is the camera that defied all tradition and changed history! This is the camera that Pascaline will hold someday. And she will know that history shifted and women were validated when this camera hit the market. For no other reason, women will want this camera!

Basically Sony is saying, no more steep learning curve. Women don’t have to prove they are good photographers by knowing all the fractions and fstops. They believe you are good, and you deserve technology that is intuitive to how you think.

What master art will we create women? How will our images change the world, now that we have technology that is made for us?

I know Sony is excited to hear what you think. If you have a minute, please post a comment. You can even thank Kristen for taking a stand on women creating a camera that isn’t the color black! (love you Kristen!)

Sony has done something incredibly brave. Some may praise them, others in the industry may criticize them.

What do you say?