Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 5)

It seems to be well thought of and sample images on dyxum suggest it has something special about it.

My sigma has gone totally mental now. If it turn off the camera with it attached and it is retracted it unwinds itself to a partial zoomed position. Ironically I think it is roughly 70mm...
 
i picked up that tamron 70 300 usd, not used it alot or pixel peeped, but seems a good lens to me :)
 
I considered all advice and kind of ignored it all.. got a sigma DG OS 70-300. Think it is the discontinued one as they don't do ones with the stabilisation in lens. I may repent at leisure ;)

Seems the perfect reason to get a nice 24-70 in the future for the 2 lens in the bag days too...
 
Is anyone using the A99 in crop mode at the moment due to DT lenses they own?

I want to change my A700 at some point to FF but wasnt sure to jump ship to get a 6D/d600 or look at using an A99 with my current kit then slowly change my lenses to FF.
 
PDub said:
Is anyone using the A99 in crop mode at the moment due to DT lenses they own?

I want to change my A700 at some point to FF but wasnt sure to jump ship to get a 6D/d600 or look at using an A99 with my current kit then slowly change my lenses to FF.
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Not specifically with DT lenses, but I use crop mode with any lens for when I need reach and wider AF point coverage (eg motorsports, BIF etc). Also use it where I want a faster frame rate 8fps.
 
PDub said:
That sounds pretty handy, not something i would use a lot to be honest but good to know.

Is the image quality affected at all?
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It's 11mp. Plenty good enough for most uses. Sure shooting at 24mp is better, but there aren't many lens options over 500mm and some subjects you just can't get close to.

The really cool thing is the EVF zooms, so its seamless in use.
 
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Anyone selling a 50mm f1.4 or similar? I posted in the wanteds..
 
Anyone got any experience of the Tamron 28-75? About to finally replace my sigma 17-70 and was thinking about this, would like a 24-70 but dont think i can stretch my wallet far enough. Could go for a 17-50 but i've got a 10-20 which takes care of the wide end so a 28-75 might do the trick.

I dont do any sports, mostly static stuff, low light and portrait/people.

Cheers.
 
I've got the KM version (supposedly minor upgrades) which I don't really use but I can stick it on the A700 for you if you want.
In fact, thinking about it probably open to offers ...
 
There's a 24-70 ZA on the outlet marked as clearance - use code JOYSEP13 & you'll get an extra 10% off making it £900.
About to buy a new car or I would probably snap it up myself ...
 
I'm still waiting for sony to do an A mount FF with built in flash. So far they seem to be not bothering. Why do they hate built in flashes on FF cameras?? Minolta did it with their entire dynax professional range so why leave one off? You can still stick a normal flash on it.

All the up coming FF cameras seem to be NEX/emount so not what I'm after either as they're missing the in body stabilisation.

At the rate they're going the A580 will be the last sony digital I ever buy and I'll have to keep it going forever unless they can pull a mirrorless crop camera out of the bag with in body stabilisation, built in flash and dynamic range/noise much better than the A580.

Nikon have made the D610. FF and built in flash. That's what I want but with the Sony A mount. It isn't too much to ask is it?!
 
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the top Canon & Nikon FF DSLRs don't have built in flash either ...

& once the transmissive mirror goes you'll have a crop body with in-body stabilisation & an inbuilt flash. I don't think that you are going to get DR/noise much better than an A580 though (better, yes but notmuch better) -sensor development is plateauing out.
 
heidfirst said:
the top Canon & Nikon FF DSLRs don't have built in flash either ...

& once the transmissive mirror goes you'll have a crop body with in-body stabilisation & an inbuilt flash. I don't think that you are going to get DR/noise much better than an A580 though (better, yes but notmuch better) -sensor development is plateauing out.
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Many times it has been said that sensor development is slowing down. Then someone always pulls out a rabbit of a leap forward that no one expected!

The poor battery life of the SLT cameras also annoys me. Frame buffers seem to have shrunk too so they're stupidly small compared to what I have.

I may just buy another A580 :bonk:
 
srichards said:
Frame buffers seem to have shrunk too so they're stupidly small compared to what I have.
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I'm not sure that's true - I suspect it's that image size and burst rate have both increased, so the size of buffer required to store, for example, 2s continuous has increased.

Also, with increased frame rates the processor has more work to do in a given time to process the images, so less time to shuffle data from the buffer to card.

Combine these, and it appears the buffers aren't increasing, when actually it's that they're not increasing enough...
 
After fiddling about with mirrorless for a bit I'm feeling the full-frame urge again and seriously considering the A850 on sale here in the classifieds. It will cost me a lot less than a low-mileage 5D2 and I'm very attracted by the possibilities of wallet-friendly Minolta glass. As you can probably tell, I'm a cheapskate and I just can't cope with Canon L glass prices.

I know the A850 doesn't have movies (I don't need them) or live view (which I would have liked) but is there anything else I should take into consideration?

What do you experienced Sony guys think?

Many thanks for your advice.
 
If budget is your main concen then I doubt you'd find a cheaper way into FF.
 
paulcamcas said:
After fiddling about with mirrorless for a bit I'm feeling the full-frame urge again and seriously considering the A850 on sale here in the classifieds. It will cost me a lot less than a low-mileage 5D2 and I'm very attracted by the possibilities of wallet-friendly Minolta glass. As you can probably tell, I'm a cheapskate and I just can't cope with Canon L glass prices.

I know the A850 doesn't have movies (I don't need them) or live view (which I would have liked) but is there anything else I should take into consideration?

What do you experienced Sony guys think?

Many thanks for your advice.
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I've got it's (slightly) bigger brother, the A900, and love it!

It is obviously not the latest technology, but will can be used up to ISO 1600 without problems (using RAW and LR to post process, higher with more elaborate PP).

To me, it feels comfortable & solid to hold - but then I came from a Sony A200 then A700 before I got the A900. :)
 
Only other thing it is missing is a pop up flash which is either a boon or a bum depending on your point of view.

Minolta lenses are very wallet friendly. With a minolta md/af converter you can then use lots of ancient minolta MD lenses too. All manual focus obviously but endless hours of fun on the cheap ;)
 
This group seems quiet. I picked up an alpha 58 at the weekend, and I'm really enjoying it so far as a semi-auto camera using my old Minolta lenses. No sign of the backfocussing issues reported, though I've not taken enough pix to really tell if it will behave in all circumstances. I'd love a super-wide zoom - say 10-20mm - and a long lens (say 500mm) but as I don't have spare cash I'll have to be happy with the kit lens, 50mm 1.7 and beercan. I may try to pick up a Vivitar 28-200 cheap on ebay, just to have as a do-everything walkabout lens for when I don't want to risk getting dust inside. I also seem to be developing a hankering for something with an OVF for brighter days.
 
The long lenses are expensive. The very cheap (and quite crap option) is the centon mirror lens. That's 50mm and fixed f8 and it only works with an adapter and in full manual exposure mode.

There's also the old sigma and tamron 28-300 superzooms. Latter is dirt cheap but like carrying a dustbin. The former may have issues with SLT cameras but I prefer it (I have both). I bought the tamron for about £70. It's actually much cheaper and easier to crop a 300mm image than it is to get a 500mm lens. With the resolution of the A58 it may not be much of an issue.
 
Something I had forgotten (and just remembered) is that I have an old 500mm f8 lens (not a mirror lens) with a T2 mount sat in a cupboard, plus a spare T2 mount for MA. Time to dig out a tripod.
 
Hi all,
I have sony a99 and would like to get info what to use for wireless flash controller?
 
Hi Louis & welcome.
I'm not really a flash user but I would suggest that you head over to the forum at Dyxum & ask there. You may also want to say what you want (IR/radio etc.) & how you intend to use.
They should be able to give you the heads up on various 3rd party solutions as well as Sony's own flashes.
 
Hi fellow Sony owners - really hope I'm doing right thing resurrecting this thread, seems a while since it was posted in?

Anyway - My enquiry; I am wondering if anyone can offer advice on what wireless/radio trigger I could purchase for use with a Sony HVL-F62 Flash gun on my Alpha please?
 
seanoevil said:
Hi fellow Sony owners - really hope I'm doing right thing resurrecting this thread, seems a while since it was posted in?

Anyway - My enquiry; I am wondering if anyone can offer advice on what wireless/radio trigger I could purchase for use with a Sony HVL-F62 Flash gun on my Alpha please?
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This place is completely dead for Sony related stuff. You're best heading over to the Dyxum forum for flash questions, they're a friendly bunch (compared to asking this question in the Sony section of DPReview).

I can't find any information about your flash, is it the 42 or 60? After the whole Multi Interface Shoe upgrade I have no idea anymore about Sony flashes.
 
Is it true that Sony might pull the plug on its cameras? I am trying to decide whether to stick with Sony or jump ship to something else. Don't get me wrong, I love Sony, but they don't seem to have an aim, and the upgrade path would be difficult if they stopped making cameras OR continued bouncing around with different ideas (a77 II, a99, a5000, alpha mount vs e mount, etc). Let's figure out what's going on here!
 
It would be a bit stupid to release a whole new set of them and buddy up with Hasselblad only to get rid of them all within a few months. They are dumping their tv division as that is loss making.

I'm assuming their eventual aim is to have one mount. Personally I think it should be the A mount as that is backward compatible. Having a different mount on the Nex etc was a daft idea and I don't know why sony did it. I'm assuming they thought the A mount would die out but it hasn't so they're making 2 but with adapters to allow you to use each one with the other system.

If you want in body IS then you only have Sony or Pentax. If sony went I'd move to Pentax and I'm sure pentax would quickly make an A mount adapter. If they actually made an A mount adapter I think they'd have a much larger market share as they'd be the sensible side of Sony rather than the innovative side.
 
Rustico said:
Is it true that Sony might pull the plug on its cameras? I am trying to decide whether to stick with Sony or jump ship to something else. Don't get me wrong, I love Sony, but they don't seem to have an aim, and the upgrade path would be difficult if they stopped making cameras OR continued bouncing around with different ideas (a77 II, a99, a5000, alpha mount vs e mount, etc). Let's figure out what's going on here!
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If you are merely wanting to change for changes sake, then do it. You will not be happy until you swap. I have no brand loyalty, I use what I like to use regardless of badge. ;)

Sony have just invested a fortune on the new AF system for the A77II and their imaging division is one of their core businesses now. When buying the A77II I had no second thoughts at all and fully expect the A99II with improved AF to be announced soon'ish.

I've had the A77II for a day playing around with the AF, it's everything the A77 is and then some! 79 AF points with the new AF functions is very good indeed, but I haven't had chance to test tracking yet.

People have been saying Sony are pulling out of dSLR, but people have been saying that since taking over from Minolta!
 
While I don't think Sony are pulling the plug I do think they've left their A-mount users with a dilemma.

It's a bit galling that Nikon offer a cheaper 24Mp FF upgrade route and a 36Mp FF route using Sony sensors when Sony neglect their own customers. The A7 family sort of offer an upgrade route if you figure on the LA-EA4. But no in-body stabilisation.

I sold off all but a core of my Sony/Minolta gear earlier in the year and abandoned any plans to go FF. I like the cameras (ironically the EVF is one of the key attractions for hanging on) but right now the lack of commitment on the FF A-mount side and the lack of IS on the A7 FF route if using A-mount means I'm not buying any new lenses until things become clear. Sadly the new Sigma and Tamron offerings in A-mount might have been attractive if they had optical stabilisation in A-mount but they don't so they don't solve the problem of the lack of IS going the mirrorless+adapter route.

It's a bit sad that Sony have let this situation arise. I think they have a great set of products and they've been very innovative - but the lack of empathy with their own A-mount system is now costing them. The cost of avoiding this hiatus situation? I think a 36Mp FF and incorporating OSS into the newer A-mount lens releases such as the 70400G II would have eased things a lot.
 
twist said:
Olympus
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THIS is what's calling to me now... I've been researching m4/3 a bunch recently trying to figure out if it's worth switching over from an APS-C size sensor. As of now I haven't really found any reason not to switch, except that bokeh isn't quite as nice from a m4/3 as from a regular DSLR. I love the idea of in body IS, like Sony, and their lenses are better quality than Sony's low end lenses that I have now. Lots of thinking to do!

Thanks for everyone's replies! They sure helped!
 
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