Sony's silent camera takes on high-end Canon and Nikon SLRs

TOKYO -- Sony, which has rarely been the first choice among professional sports photographers, has a new weapon it is wielding against Canon and Nikon as it fights for a larger slice of the high-end camera market.

Its mirrorless picture-taker has a big advantage in that it does not make the sometimes irksome shutter noise single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras are known for but is capable of delivering high-quality images.