Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 5)

I am in the lucky posistion to nearly have enough ££££ for the A99 :)

But my big dilema is how good is real life high ISO on the A99 compared to the the A77 that I already own?

I love the A77 and with the 70-400G it a killer combo for my main usage birds ?

Here a quick example?

8159152924_dde4d9ccb3_b.jpg



The only downside with the A77 is the relatively poor low light performance?

As soon as because of poor light etc I have to go to 1600 ISO I might as well go home as the IQ just drops away instantly?

So my question is about real life usage and especially if anyone uses it for bird photography etc?

I know I will lose the crop factor with the A99 but will be keeping the A77 so not an issue? I just want to be able to carry on shooting on our all to familiar dull Uk days :-)

Cheers Mick
 
mufftrix said:
I am in the lucky posistion to nearly have enough ££££ for the A99 :)

But my big dilema is how good is real life high ISO on the A99 compared to the the A77 that I already own?

I love the A77 and with the 70-400G it a killer combo for my main usage birds ?

Here a quick example?

The only downside with the A77 is the relatively poor low light performance?

As soon as because of poor light etc I have to go to 1600 ISO I might as well go home as the IQ just drops away instantly?

So my question is about real life usage and especially if anyone uses it for bird photography etc?

I know I will lose the crop factor with the A99 but will be keeping the A77 so not an issue? I just want to be able to carry on shooting on our all to familiar dull Uk days :-)

Cheers Mick
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There's some wonderful examples of the a99 and 70-400G here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/sony_alpha/discuss/72157632195906158/
 
gadgeteer said:
The A99 should have no problems at all. ISO performance is fine at ISO3200 & acceptable at 6400.

If they ever reduce the price I could be tempted to switch back to Sony.
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Why is that? I thought you having a monument of camera there and no Sony would match it?
 
Johnd2000 said:
Beat me to it!
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LOL great minds think alike?

It a good site and they have a android version as well if you OCD like me?

I just hovering over the price because usually there a drop after the camera has been out a while like the A99 has?

I got stung on my A77 as within a month of buying they did the £100 cash back offer I was gutted !

I know there never a good time to buy, but there got to be some movement in price soon? Well I hope so at least ? :lol:
 
mufftrix said:
I know I will lose the crop factor with the A99
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the A99 has a crop mode ;)
Obviously it won't have 24MP over the APS-C area (~11MP in crop mode) so further cropping in on a computer will be limited in detail compared to an A77.
 
heidfirst said:
this is a good deal if they will sell it to you over the phone (& I suspect that they will) http://www.castlecameras.co.uk/sony-alpha-99-body-with-grip-and-two-extra-batteries
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Now that is a good price :-)


BUT!

Why are some Sony products only available in-store?

Sony believe some of their products benefit from a demonstration. An expert demonstration takes time and effort, both in the preparation and the delivery. There is nothing worse than making that effort only to be pointed out that, 'You've been very helpful. If you can just match this price, I'll buy it.'

Sony have recognised the problem and offered us, along with all their dealers, a choice of accepting support to provide demonstrations in return for not selling on-line.

The most popular Sony products can be found on our Sony page. All can be found by searching our products for either Sony or a brief key-word or code.
 
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it's a plastic mount (actually plastic, plastic, metal) on the A57 & how many complaints have you seen about that?
& bear in mind that this may well be Sony's entry level body now.
 
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heidfirst said:
it's a plastic mount (actually plastic, plastic, metal) on the A57 & how many complaints have you seen about that?
& bear in mind that this may well be Sony's entry level body now.
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No it's not. The body to lens contact point (the outer ring) is metal on the a57.
 
having checked it appears that you are right but it's only a mating face.
on both it's then a plastic ring & a metal ring with this last being the retaining one.
 
Whats really interesting is the new 20mp sensor. Spec looks really good. It will be nice to see this sensor making its way into the Nex7 replacement.
 
architectfadi said:
Whats really interesting is the new 20mp sensor. Spec looks really good. It will be nice to see this sensor making its way into the Nex7 replacement.
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Hmm...no mention of on-sensor PDAF points, as far as I can see. I was hoping they'd roll out the a99 AFD mode across the alpha line, but it seems not (yet).

I can't see a NEX7 replacement without some form on on-sensor PDAF, personally. Mind you, I'd never have predicted an a57 replacement with a lower res LCD, plastic mount and only 5fps (full res).

I do sometimes wonder what the Sony design team are smoking.
 
Johnd2000 said:
Mind you, I'd never have predicted an a57 replacement with a lower res LCD, plastic mount and only 5fps (full res).
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is it a direct replacement though or is it a repositioning?
£450 at launch is cheaper than the A37 was at launch.
 
heidfirst said:
is it a direct replacement though or is it a repositioning?
£450 at launch is cheaper than the A37 was at launch.
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I guess it's looking that way. I'm wondering if it means there will be an a65 upgrade. Surely they can't be reducing the Aps-c line to just 2 models?
 
A Nex 7 replacement will definitely have on-sensor PDAF. 20mp to me is a good balance between 16mp and 24mp on a DX body.
 
Having just seen the picture of the A58, surely that lens mount is a black painted metal one and not a plastic lens mount. Are there any DSLR/DSLT out there with a plastic lens mount?
 
architectfadi said:
Having just seen the picture of the A58, surely that lens mount is a black painted metal one and not a plastic lens mount. Are there any DSLR/DSLT out there with a plastic lens mount?
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Why would you paint it? The paint would wear off (creating dust particles) in no time.

It looks suspiciously like the same plastic as the kit/easy choice lens mounts to me. Can't help but doubt the durability, particularly since I have a couple of lenses that are very tight on my existing bodies. Metal mounts show wear after a while. Plastic is going to grind away, surely?
 
any bearing surface will wear. Modern engineering plastics can be very good though.
Also, all the evidence & research says that the vast amount of entry DSLR buyers either never buy another lens or at most 1 more so is it really an isssue?
I suspect that the perception is worse than the reality.
 
Johnd2000 said:
Why would you paint it? The paint would wear off (creating dust particles) in no time.

It looks suspiciously like the same plastic as the kit/easy choice lens mounts to me. Can't help but doubt the durability, particularly since I have a couple of lenses that are very tight on my existing bodies. Metal mounts show wear after a while. Plastic is going to grind away, surely?
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I totally agree. This plastic mount is definitely not for me
 
I'm more concerned about the downgrading of the rear LCDs (A37, A58 and Nex 3n). There's a strange guilt that comes with admitting you like using the LCD to compose and shoot with, and I'm 50/50 using EVF and LCD. After using two different Sony 920k screens it was an absolute pig going back to a 460k screen, manual focusing was more luck with the lower res screens. How much battery life are they truly saving by downgrading? Wasn't the whole move towards SLT to get better FPS (5fps on the A58), better use of video (only giving the A58 50i) and usable liveview (very average LCD). I'm more disappointed as I was hoping to pick up a cheap a57 on eBay, but I doubt there will be many moving towards the a58.

Saying all that, it's nice to see OLED being used in the entry-level camera and let's see how the new autofocusing and sensor do.

Last point - Am I the only person who enjoyed the size of the a3x series? I have tiny hands and the a3x (and a55) were perfect. I was using a gripped a700 and a57 a few weeks ago and it was frightening to hold onto, I couldn't get a comfortable grip at all. That's why I'll miss the a3x.
 
stan the man said:
hi guys

i'm going to shoot a local cross country race on the weekend,and was wondering which AF area would be best to use...wide,local or spot?

i'll be using my a900,if it helps..
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I prefer to pick a single spot and AF-C unless the target is small and difficult to track in the VF. CC runners are fairly predictable, so tracking isn't that difficult.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jd_shotz/6342509130/
 
stan the man said:
many thanks john.thats what i've used in the past with sports etc..i don't know why,but i thought using wide would have improved tracking the subject :thinking:
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I use wide for thing like birds and aircraft. Newer SLTs have groups of AF points (centre, left and right) which can be handy when you have only a rough idea where the subject will be in the frame.
 
would anybody going to Focus in Birmingham mind having a look for the best Sony A77 & A99 deals & posting back or PMing me? thanks.
 
From memory the A99 was £1999 at Camulet- to be honest there wasn't much alpha stuff kicking around- surprises no one had the 24mm f2 in stock or the accessories.
 
thanks for looking.
I know that Camera World are doing a great deal on the 70-400 G SSM II & wondered if they also had good deals on the A77/A99 bodies.
 
heidfirst said:
thanks for looking.
I know that Camera World are doing a great deal on the 70-400 G SSM II & wondered if they also had good deals on the A77/A99 bodies.
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What's their price on the 70-400G II? Have looked at the website but its only showing the old one (at a couple of hundred more than Wex).
 
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