Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 3)

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Hi everyone

Thought I'd introduce myself on here, I bought my Sony A200 just over a week ago, and am still getting to grips with it (it's my first DSLR) Just got the kit lens for now, but am very impressed with it so far. I have enrolled on a BTEC course starting in September, so hope to be improving in the not too distant future.

Stella
 
Stella said:
Hi everyone

Thought I'd introduce myself on here, I bought my Sony A200 just over a week ago, and am still getting to grips with it (it's my first DSLR) Just got the kit lens for now, but am very impressed with it so far. I have enrolled on a BTEC course starting in September, so hope to be improving in the not too distant future.

Stella
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Hello :)

The a200 is a nice little camera, ain't it?
 
MarkydeSad said:
The photos at post 1144 in this thread


Another new lens?? You must be made of money! Do you work for the BBC? ;)
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ah yes,those photos...not a lot of PP to be honest...just a bit of saturation,curves adjustment and a little USM ...thats about it really.bird and plane shots were with A700 and 70-200 G SSM +1.4X T/C,and the chap is with the A700 WITH 70-200 G SSM :thumbs:

no need to worry...i won't be getting the 70-400 for a good while yet unfortunately,well,not unless i P/X my 70-200 for it :thinking:

had a play with the new A230 yesterday...cripes,it's blimmin' small in the hand.i wasn't won over on it though,prefering the feel of the A200,but i can see it appealing to someone new to DSLR's.the new kit lens is an improvement over the old 18-70 though :thumbs:
 
stan the man said:
had a play with the new A230 yesterday...cripes,it's blimmin' small in the hand.i wasn't won over on it though,prefering the feel of the A200,but i can see it appealing to someone new to DSLR's.the new kit lens is an improvement over the old 18-70 though :thumbs:
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if it didn't have an interchangeable lens it would almost be a bridge - & I suspect that's the angle that Sony were aiming for.
 
stan the man said:
hi mate..yep,i would love the 70-400 SSM G lens,but the current financial situation has "curbed" my spending for the forseeable future...especially when it costs £1400 at the moment.i could PX my 70-200 for it,but i'd miss the wide aperture too much to do that...now,how does one win the lottery :lol:
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Recently bought a Sigma 135-400 f4.5/5.6 off ebay as a cheaper alternative to the SAL70-400 SSM G at around 1/4 the price. Find it very acceptable with some shots I've taken with it. I'd have loved to get the SAL G - already have the 70-300G which my lad's nicked off me :nuts: - but agree on the present finacial side so the 70400 is on hold :'(. You may want to give the Sigma 135-400 a try :thinking:
 
Austringer said:
Recently bought a Sigma 135-400 f4.5/5.6 off ebay as a cheaper alternative to the SAL70-400 SSM G at around 1/4 the price. Find it very acceptable with some shots I've taken with it. I'd have loved to get the SAL G - already have the 70-300G which my lad's nicked off me :nuts: - but agree on the present finacial side so the 70400 is on hold :'(. You may want to give the Sigma 135-400 a try :thinking:
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cheers austringer...i'll take a look at it :thumbs:

whilst shooting an airshow last weekend,there was a guy with an A100 coupled with the tamron 200-500 lens,and he said he was very happy with the results he was getting...he also commented that it was sharper than the bigma,anyone care to comment?
 
stan the man said:
cheers austringer...i'll take a look at it :thumbs:

whilst shooting an airshow last weekend,there was a guy with an A100 coupled with the tamron 200-500 lens,and he said he was very happy with the results he was getting...he also commented that it was sharper than the bigma,anyone care to comment?
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You're welcome :) If you go to my flickr account you'll see a set for some of the Sigma 135-400 shots I put up there - just having a play in the garden after it arrived.
 
To whom it may concern:

How much better is the image-quality of the a700 than the a200, using the same lenses?

And what's all this about the default ISO being 200? How does that affect shots taken at ISO 100?

And finally, what benefits does the latest firmware bring to the a700?

I have no more questions ;)
 
I'm very sorry... [ just in case you are tempted!!! ]

LCE Secondhand

A900 : £1500
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10520

Sony CZ 24-70 F2.8 £1099-£1149
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10522
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10604

Sony 70-200 F2.8 G : £1099
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10523

Sony G 70-400mm F4-5.6 SSM : £1099
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10597


Although (apart from the 70-200) are not a huge saving over RGB Tech:
http://www.rgb-tech.co.uk/browse/269

LCE are sometimes open to negotiation though :)
 
MarkydeSad said:
To whom it may concern:

How much better is the image-quality of the a700 than the a200, using the same lenses?

And what's all this about the default ISO being 200? How does that affect shots taken at ISO 100?

And finally, what benefits does the latest firmware bring to the a700?

I have no more questions ;)
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I have not used the A200 so I can't answer the first. I always use 100 as my native ISO and I don't perceive any IQ problems.

As for firmware (I assume you are thinking of v4) the main benefits are better noise handling and the ability to turn the in camera noise reduction off.
 
fabs said:
I have not used the A200 so I can't answer the first. I always use 100 as my native ISO and I don't perceive any IQ problems.

As for firmware (I assume you are thinking of v4) the main benefits are better noise handling and the ability to turn the in camera noise reduction off.
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Cheers, mate :)

Bit of a n00b question here, but how does one go about installing the firmware? I've never done anything like that before :baby:
 
Hullo all

Newbie to the forums!

Was an A200 owner until last week. Sold the 200 with 2 kit lenses for more than i paid for it 3 months ago and gone for an A700 with 16-105mm.

Chuffed to bits with it. Got a 75-300 Minolta 'new' for now to cover the tele side of things + got the Tamron 90mm Macro and a nifty fifty [1.7].

Shall keep checking in here for hints and tips!;)
 
bells0 said:
Hullo all

Newbie to the forums!

Was an A200 owner until last week. Sold the 200 with 2 kit lenses for more than i paid for it 3 months ago and gone for an A700 with 16-105mm.

Chuffed to bits with it. Got a 75-300 Minolta 'new' for now to cover the tele side of things + got the Tamron 90mm Macro and a nifty fifty [1.7].

Shall keep checking in here for hints and tips!;)
Click to expand...

Welcome :)

Another a700 user, eh? I feel the insistent call of PC World......
 
springtide said:
I'm very sorry... [ just in case you are tempted!!! ]

LCE Secondhand

A900 : £1500
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10520

Sony CZ 24-70 F2.8 £1099-£1149
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10522
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10604

Sony 70-200 F2.8 G : £1099
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10523

Sony G 70-400mm F4-5.6 SSM : £1099
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/SHdetails.asp?Item=10597


Although (apart from the 70-200) are not a huge saving over RGB Tech:
http://www.rgb-tech.co.uk/browse/269

LCE are sometimes open to negotiation though :)
Click to expand...

i hate you for putting those up simon ;) :lol:
 
MarkydeSad said:
To whom it may concern:

How much better is the image-quality of the a700 than the a200, using the same lenses?

And what's all this about the default ISO being 200? How does that affect shots taken at ISO 100?

And finally, what benefits does the latest firmware bring to the a700?

I have no more questions ;)
Click to expand...

cannot speak of the A200 either,but i'd say the IQ of the A700 is better than that of the A350,but as the A350 has 14.2MP on a cropped sensor as opposed to the 10.2 of the A200 or 12.4 of the A700...then it's probably not a fair comparison.as for the rest,fabs has answered that beautifully ;)

i've gotta say though...the A700 just does everything better,and i love it so much,i can feel another coming soon-ish if i can sell the A350 :naughty:
 
stan the man said:
cannot speak of the A200 either,but i'd say the IQ of the A700 is better than that of the A350,but as the A350 has 14.2MP on a cropped sensor as opposed to the 10.2 of the A200 or 12.4 of the A700...then it's probably not a fair comparison.as for the rest,fabs has answered that beautifully ;)

i've gotta say though...the A700 just does everything better,and i love it so much,i can feel another coming soon-ish if i can sell the A350 :naughty:
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Your powers of persuasion are just too much, Stan

I've held out for months over whether to get the a700 or not. I think now is the time to capitulate :thumbs:

I'll give my Dad my a200 and kit lens - he collects cameras :)

Now, where's Mrs. deSad's bank card.....
 
stan the man said:
cannot speak of the A200 either,but i'd say the IQ of the A700 is better than that of the A350,but as the A350 has 14.2MP on a cropped sensor as opposed to the 10.2 of the A200 or 12.4 of the A700...then it's probably not a fair comparison.as for the rest,fabs has answered that beautifully ;)

i've gotta say though...the A700 just does everything better,and i love it so much,i can feel another coming soon-ish if i can sell the A350 :naughty:
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I've always liked you stan! :D
 
As the title of the post suggests, which one would you recommend?

I have an A200 at present. Hopefully be getting an A700 and using the A200 as a backup. Budget can't stretch to the Sony version - :thumbsdown:
 
Boobster said:
As the title of the post suggests, which one would you recommend?

I have an A200 at present. Hopefully be getting an A700 and using the A200 as a backup. Budget can't stretch to the Sony version - :thumbsdown:
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i've no experience of either the sigma or tamron versions,but if my memory seves me right,the tamron supposed to be the sharper of the two,but has slow/noisy AF.if you get a good copy of the sigma..i recon thats the one to go for :thumbs:
 
MarkydeSad said:
How much better is the image-quality of the a700 than the a200, using the same lenses?
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hard to say but 1 area where it will be better is at higher ISOs (assuming firmware V4) - probably an extra stop.
You will probably find other areas of the body a big improvement though - more features, better build etc.

And what's all this about the default ISO being 200? How does that affect shots taken at ISO 100?
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iirc it's actually somewhere around ISO160-180.
what it means is that there is no real point in shooting ISO 100 (unless you need it to achieve a lower shutter speed) because your IQ isn't going to improve (unlike on film) indeed it may marginally (but I stress marginally & probably imperceptibly to the human eye) decrease.
 
Boobster said:
As the title of the post suggests, which one would you recommend?
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David Kilpatrick seems to favour the Sigma albeit he's mainly using an A900 these days. If you use a tc with the Sigma HSM though apparently you need the Sigma HSM compatible TC otherwise it gets very stuttery.
 
I asked this in the Shopping section, but it may get a quicker reply here as there's a bit more traffic - I've been offered an 18month 18-250mm Tamron (boxless, used less than a dozen times, UV filter from new) for £250 including postage. I'm looking for a holiday lens so wondering if its a fair price. They're around 360-370 new, i think. I've had a look at the reviews, and i'm happy enough with what people are saying about, just wanting to see if 250 is a fair price, and i'll be able to sell it on for same if I weren't getting on with it. Thanks.
 
sounds fair.
is he including the UV filter (& if so is it a decent quality 1)?
 
stan the man said:
i've no experience of either the sigma or tamron versions,but if my memory seves me right,the tamron supposed to be the sharper of the two,but has slow/noisy AF.if you get a good copy of the sigma..i recon thats the one to go for :thumbs:
Click to expand...

heidfirst said:
David Kilpatrick seems to favour the Sigma albeit he's mainly using an A900 these days. If you use a tc with the Sigma HSM though apparently you need the Sigma HSM compatible TC otherwise it gets very stuttery.
Click to expand...

Thank you both for your replies. I'll do some further investigations into the Sigma. Suppose the extended warranty helps too. :thumbs:
 
heidfirst said:
sounds fair.
is he including the UV filter (& if so is it a decent quality 1)?
Click to expand...

Thanks - no details on the UV filter, but my understanding is that it's included, although I'm going to have to reconfirm that detail before finalising purchase.
 
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