Sony officially introduced the final camera on 9 September 2008 prior to photokina 2008.

The specifications include: 24.6-megapixel CMOS sensor, 5 frame/s burst mode, dual BIONZ processors, 100% viewfinder, 9-point AF with 10 assist points, inbuilt image sensor shift stabilization and intelligent preview.

At that point, the photographer can accept current settings or simulate how the image (and histogram) would look with changes in aperture, shutter speed, dynamic range optimizer and white balance.

The DSLR-A900 requires a labour-intensive alignment procedure in the factory in order to provide a 100% scene view in the viewfinder.

In eliminating this costly procedure by masking the view to a slightly smaller area (98%) while also downspecifying the frame rate to 3 frames per second, the DSLR-A850 offers a camera with most of the benefits of the DSLR-A900 at a significant saving to the photographer.