Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 5)

Looks good. I'd like one but won't be buying though. The camera I have does everything I need at the moment, so I can't justify it on any grounds beyond "I WANT ONE!!", and I there are other things that are higher priority at the moment.

Next year, perhaps.
 
Wex already have the new cameras for pre-order. Albeit at WTF prices, compared to the US prices quoted by Sony.

I certainly will be getting an a99, but not until the UK price settles down a bit. Wex are asking for the equivalent of $4,000! It costs $2,800 over there.
 
If you look at the A77V as an example given time they will come into line due to the different marketing schemes in both countries.
The photo season is pretty much over for me this year so unless I see anything at absolute bargain prices I'm unlikely to be buying anything photo related before next Spring which should let prices drop significantly.
 
Ditto Heid. I'll let others be on the bleeding edge and let prices stabilise first. Plus it will take time for the accessories to come out and not forgetting Adobe issue a RAW update. Otherwise it will be a total pain in the bum.
 
heidfirst said:
The photo season is pretty much over for me this year so unless I see anything at absolute bargain prices I'm unlikely to be buying anything photo related before next Spring which should let prices drop significantly.
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Big +1
 
Hmm...the positioning of the AF sensors on the a99 looks a bit iffy. It looks like they're all grouped in the centre of the frame, with nothing at the thirds.
 
bigserpent 1 point 5 hours ago
Could you please comment on AF points area? They all are located within 2/3 part of an image and even classical 2/3 rule cannot be achieved without recomposing. I often miss extra edge points at my A850 but A99 seems not to have even them. Is it true?

Phaelix 1 point 4 hours ago
Yeah, it's true. I don't really understand the physics, but I understand that there's a good optical reason why phase detect focus points are super hard to do toward the edge of the sensor- that's why nobody does them. For what it's worth, our focus points cover more of the image area than anyone else's, but I feel you, more would be better.

source: http://www.reddit.com/r/photography...ucing_the_new_sony_a99_full_frame_slt_camera/
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Above is a snippet I read on reddit. The reply from a Sony rep.

This is one of the things I will wait & see on and compare with it's competition. The dual AF system sounds great but I must admit i haven't fully gotten my head around how it will work and of course the proof will be in the real world use.
 
Cnet says that Sony are updating RCC for the A99 so tethering, check :D
 
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it looks to be ~£2500 msrp.
That's £2000 pre-tax so ~$3120 v $2800 in the US pre-tax.
& the UK street price will fall after a few months whereas the SURE programme in the US will keep it up.
e.g. the (non-grey) A77 is now cheaper in the UK than in the US!
 
The A99 looks great, a very comprehensive still and video camera. It'll be very hard to keep my hard earned in my wallet for long. I like the new features and direction they are heading, certainly stealing the show in my eyes at photokina. Now they must include the minolta to the new flash hotshoe adaptor as part of the camera!
 
I find it rather annoying that for years Sony have stuck with the Minolta hotshoe and so most of us have now got flashguns, triggers, accessories etc that fit this shoe... and with this latest release all that will no longer be suitable. Yes there will be an adapter (probably an expensive accessory) but I'd rather my stuff would fit directly to camera.

This is the only drawback to me... that and the fact I only have one FF lens so would need to replace all of them too. But thats not Sony's fault. The change of hotshoe design is tho.
 
The non standard hotshoe is one reason sony isn't taken seriously by the pro market. I think it is good they've changed it. From what I read an adapter is bundled with the camera. Interfit make a £15 one that goes from minolta to standard iso so it doesn't seem likely that one would be that costly anyway.
 
Long term I think it's great they've changed the hotshoe to ISO. BUT I think it's really penny pinching to ask $2800/£2500 for a pro camera with a new hotshoe and not pop an adapter in the box for free.

I mean the chances are that if you are buying an A99 then you already have Sony flashes. In which case having to fork out say £15 extra is frankly just annoying. And what about if you have more than one flash?
 
Sorry but if I'm spending 2.5K on a camera am I seriously going to be put off by having to buy a cheap adapter :shrug:
 
SussexBlue said:
Sorry but if I'm spending 2.5K on a camera am I seriously going to be put off by having to buy a cheap adapter :shrug:
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Everything I've read has suggested that the adapter will be included with the camera and that new design flashes will have an adapter back to the Minolta hotshoe included.
 
SussexBlue said:
Sorry but if I'm spending 2.5K on a camera am I seriously going to be put off by having to buy a cheap adapter :shrug:
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No of course not. But it hardly makes you feel like Sony values your custom does it?

More importantly as I've just read on on another forum, apparently none of the older Sony/3rd party lenses will support the AF-D, 102 AF assist and on sensor PDAF.

In which case that removes a big advantage for upgrading to me. The only other feature which interests me would the improved better IQ at high ISO and the jury is out on that one as to how good the A99 will be compared to its direct competitors. And I'm not even sure I can justify the price difference on that feature alone.
 
gadgeteer said:
More importantly as I've just read on on another forum, apparently none of the older Sony/3rd party lenses will support the AF-D, 102 AF assist and on sensor PDAF.
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the 50/1.4 is supported from launch so it's obviously possible for some screwdrive lenses.
I can't see Sony adding support for 3rd party lenses though.

I'm enjoying watching all the Nikonians spitting teeth at the D600 launch with many similar arguments to those here e.g. comparing msrp of a new product against the street price of several years old ones.
 
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the_womble said:
Personally I'm not too concerned about AF-D on my Minolta lenses, they're more landscape use, as long as it will work on my Sony 70-200 2.8 that I use for Motorsport, or the 70-300 G I occasionally use at airshows
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The 70-300 G is not support yet. Or at least, that's what one of yesterday's report/previews said.

The cynic in me wonders if this acknowledged need for firmware updates is a handy Trojan horse for quietly fixing any other bugs that slip through testing. The a77 FW issues must've been quite embarrassing for Sony, so having a ready excuse for issuing updates could be rather convenient,
 
heidfirst said:
I'm enjoying watching all the Nikonians spitting teeth at the D600 launch with many similar arguments to those here e.g. comparing msrp of a new product against the street price of several years old ones.
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Had to go and say something on their thread, be rude not to offer advice lol :D
 
Johnd2000 said:
The cynic in me wonders if this acknowledged need for firmware updates is a handy Trojan horse for quietly fixing any other bugs that slip through testing. The a77 FW issues must've been quite embarrassing for Sony, so having a ready excuse for issuing updates could be rather convenient,
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Imo no moreso than for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic & Pentax ... in other words they all have to issue firmware updates at some point for some cameras (in fact Sony probably less so than average).
 
The mistake sony keep making is not giving a few people on TP these new cameras and new firmware to test out in the real world. I'm sure we'd find any wrinkle in minutes :) Plus many of us have a range of lenses that vary by age and manufacturer so interoperability issues would be found sooner.
 
already posted by SAR.
I say wait until we get some professionally tested images & DxO results (even though I still think that DxO testing has disconnects with real life results).
 
srichards said:
The mistake sony keep making is not giving a few people on TP these new cameras and new firmware to test out in the real world. I'm sure we'd find any wrinkle in minutes :) Plus many of us have a range of lenses that vary by age and manufacturer so interoperability issues would be found sooner.
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Having done a lot of beta testing (still doing some atm) even in large betas I can say with some certainty that something always slips through & is only caught (or is that just shows up?) due to the sheer volume of retail customers.
You can bet that someone will always try something that nobody in their sane mind would & they'll find an issue ... ;)

Like most manufacturers Sony isn't too bothered about interoperability with other manufacturers gear - they want you to buy theirs & will only guarantee that.
 
sonik said:
Or is that A NEX 7 in Bad clothing. :thumbsdown:
I have always thought of a Blad to be a pro tool to be aspired to.
When did it become a gauche trinket?
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Oh I agree. Ugly and pointless, but an interesting partnership all the same. I think it's no coincidence that Zeiss announced their new E mount lenses yesterday. The Blad/Sony connection can only help drive the business case for more 3rd party lens development.
 
TurnipFarmer said:
Interesting reading about the a99. With regard to the a77 what are the current issues with it or are they fixed atm. In thinking of buying one.
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I don't think that there are really any issues that aren't inherent in the design - i.e. do you like EVF or not & the ~.4 stop of light lost due to the translucent mirror?
Some won't like that it only has 1 card slot or a buffer that only lasts ~1.5 seconds at max fps.

Also is anyone having trouble getting on the Sony Outlet store? The dslr links don't work
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there are no DSLRs on the Outlet atm - only some accessories. Somebody beat me to a 16-50/2.8 by seconds :( & there is a Zeiss 135/2.8 if anybody wants one ...
Also there was an RX100 for £329 - again I missed by seconds :(
 
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