Sony rolled out three new fancy Alpha digital SLR cameras this morning, and the headliner is the full-frame shootin' a850 you see pictured above. Besides its impressive 24.4-megapixel sensor, there's a nice big 3.0-inch LCD viewscreen. This one's aimed at the pros, with pricing starting at a steep $2000.

More down-to-earth are the a550 and a500, priced at $950 and $750. The a550 has a 14.2-megapixel sensor, and the a500 goes with a 12.3-megapixel sensor. Both are rocking newer, sharper and cleaner Exmor CMOS imagers that can snag better pictures in low light, helped along by the faster BIONZ image processor that can take the speckles out of pics shot at ISO 12,800. Jeez, is this possible?

If you like your shooting in the most rapid of succession, Sony boasts that the a550 "is the first DSLR in its class with seven frames per second shooting speed for under $1,000." Sony's also improved the Live View function in both of these shooters, and added the kooky Smile Shutter that automatically snaps a frame when somebody flashes a grin. Want one of these? You'll have to wait until September for the a850 and October for the other two.

Via Digital Camera Review and CrunchGear