Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 5)

Deed is done. Suckered by the Jessops 0% finance offer and sony's VAT back offer so a new 580 with Jessops flash is on its way. Think I might convert my old 350 to IR once I've seen what it's like. Worth nothing to trade in so I'm better making use of it.
 
mastertrinity said:
Nope, I'm shooting professionally with it and it hasn't let me down since, and I've had it for over 15 months now and shot countless portraits and weddings. If you have the cash then buy the sony f42am but for budget I highly recommend the jessops gun :)
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Same here. I've have the jessops own flashgun and for the money value it's great. I've done numerous portraits and a wedding with no problems.
 
Just waiting for the paperwork to be processed by the finance company so they will release the stuff for despatch. No idea how long it should take but I posted it Tuesday and they claim not to have had it. Hope it hasn't got lost as most of my accounts are online so they won' t accept them for id purposes! Sent the only thing I could find so if that has gone missing.... Grrrr!

I'm hopeless at waiting for others even though it can take me days or weeks to get round to doing some things!
 
.......sony a850 on the cards. looking for the best deal and do you guys know if you get vat back?
 
I'm not sure it is. It's not mentioned on the sony vat back site or on warehouse express or Jessops for that model. Worth phoning to find out assuming anyone is there tomorrow with all the snow!
 
srichards said:
There was someone on here selling a low mileage 850 for about a grand I think.
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Yeah, I was thinking about buying that before I decided to switch to Canon.

It was 'onefunkypenguin' - original thread here - doesn't say if he sold it or not...maybe worth a try.
 
Beer_Stalker said:
UK Optics have the A850 for £1399
http://www.ukoptics.co.uk/sony-alpha-a850-body-p-1538.html

Haven't ordered from them so can't say if they are reliable for not. They do have a physical store in Clitheroe, Lancashire that you can visit, which is a good sign.

No VAT back on any FF gear :(
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skydiver said:
Yeah, I was thinking about buying that before I decided to switch to Canon.

It was 'onefunkypenguin' - original thread here - doesn't say if he sold it or not...maybe worth a try.
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Thanks Guys. You'd think Sony would help out potential FF buyers :(
Cardiff Camera Centre appear to have it for the same price and have some good reviews.

Switching to Canon/Nikon isn't really an option for me now. Have to stick to Sony. Now where do I buy it from? Wait for the New Year and VAT increase and new body or buy now and dread a new FF body release??
 
If you can afford the new FFs when they come out I would wait. You know you are going to want one.
 
VAT increase is only 2.5% though. It's not that much even on a £1500 camera relatively speaking. £40 quid or so.

It is sod's law the moment you buy a camera one will appear that will do everything yours does and more for less money. It's the way of things.

The FF might be an SLT though so if you have sigma lenses they'll need to be altered.
 
srichards said:
VAT increase is only 2.5% though. It's not that much even on a £1500 camera relatively speaking. £40 quid or so.

It is sod's law the moment you buy a camera one will appear that will do everything yours does and more for less money. It's the way of things.

The FF might be an SLT though so if you have sigma lenses they'll need to be altered.
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may need to be altered, i had an old 105mm FF sigma lens that worked fine on a A55.
 
Well I don't own any Sigma lenses, so I'll be fine :)

I have been looking at the A55 & A580. Both sound good. I predominantly work in the studio but do the odd bit of nightclub photography (low light etc) and weddings too. A200 has been serving me well to date, just like the new sensor and focus point setups.

Perhaps I'll get one of these for the time being plus you get VAT back ;)

Decisions, decisions.......
 
I've just ordered an A580. Jessops have knocked them down to £499 with kits lens. With the 6 months 0% finance offer then it is a bargain. I just ordered one when they were more expensive so I'm hoping Jessops honour their word and credit the difference if I ever get it, as the paperwork for the finance is currently lost in the post :-/
 
Now there's a bargain to be had. Shame I have to buy an SD card and can't use my CF cards. Will have to go and handle one or take a punt and just order it! :)
 
The change of card type is ruddy annoying! Got a 16GB SD class 10 for under £20 so no biggy. I'm just hoping the a580 works with the remote releases I already have....
 
One thing I like about the older bodies is that they all take CF cards and the same batteries!

So my A900 backup is still the A350 :)
 
Finally got the A580 yesterday. Couriers too chicken to try the road for 2 days even though it was perfectly clear :shrug:

Not sure I like the plastics. Feel a bit cheap. Buttons look cheap but feel ok. The DOFP button is in a completely stupid place too. Strap thingies are too small so I can't fit my decent strap on it. Don't like the sony one as it is thin and sharp. Really annoying as I've got a lovely lowepro one that won't fit :-( No AF in video mode. Don't know whether that is a physical limitation or a firmware one which could be altered.

But focussing in low light is so much better than the 350. Either the 350 is faulty or this is just streets ahead. None of the werrp, werrppp werrrpppp I had to put up with before. Same old sigma lens.

Got so many features it's going to take ages to try them all out!

Jessops are now selling it for £493 after sony cash back ;)
 
Hi folks - got a a200 - lovely basic piece of kit

went to a wedding and noted two things i was coming short on

a good flash and a wide lens - i couldnt fit everyone on stage in one shot. anyone recommend any for either?
 
What is your budget ?
For the WA I think the Tamron 10-24 would be the cheapest at just over £300. Quite good.
I think the cheapest flash would be the Jessops one at £69. Don't know if it is any good or not though.
 
I can always try to source cheaper stuff from fleabay and what not. just would be good to know what comes recommended.

do all flashes require their own battery source or are the newer ones powered off the camera battery?
 
The Jessops one is supposed to be pretty reasonable as there are a few people using them professionally. It takes 4 AA batteries.
 
thanks :)

why are so many flashes self powered rather than leeches?
 
I'd assume it's because you'd have the problem of passing all that voltage across the hot shoe and it would have to be much more beefy to withstand it and you'd need a proper locking mechanism and there is the potential for electrocution if you didn't fit it properly or something went wrong... and you'd zap the life out of the camera dead quick. I think there are many :)
 
ah well. i've got till june ideally earlier to get my kit and skills upto scratch. my niece will never forgive me if i mess up the wedding pics!! *LOL*

i'm sure i'll have a few weddings to practice on before hand though.
 
Just a note to make sure you are aware that Sony dont have the standard hotshoe for flash. If you are going down the Jessops route you need a sony compatible one, or an adapter which is a fortune from sony or a fraction of the price from Hong kong
 
yeah i think its essential to keep costs to a minimum - AA's arent the cheapest going around especially the good stuff

its just in the middle of a wedding you dnt want to be running out of them!!
 
lexie said:
i picked up a jessops flash just before xmas and i'm happy with it for the money it costs. i managed to burn through a set of 4 AA's in a day or so just messing about, but they were cheap batteries so i'll have to invest in some decent rechargable items soon.
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I use 7DayShop 'Good to Go' rechargeable batteries - they are the same type as 'Eneloop' rechargeables - so hold their charge when not in use. One set in the flash, a spare set in the bag. If I change a set, then the old ones go in the charger when I get home, and are back in the bag, fully charged, the next day.

With 2 young children I also have a lot of kids toys about the house that need AA's - I have about 10 packs (40 batteries) of them I think :)
 
Last remaining lens on my list is a long one. I was looking at the 100-400 that minolta made in the mid 90s as being a likely candidate as it seems to have rather lovely colours and it isn't a great big bulky bugger either.

The other alternative is a bigma (50-500) but that is much heavier (minolta is half the weight basically) but I don't know how much better a modern lens with superior coatings will be much better than a nearly 20 year old one as build quality seems to reduce over the years. The massive range is very appealing as I'm lazy. The older EX lens I have from sigma is lovely build quality wise though. Don't know whether the build is the same as decade old lenses.

Either would be 400-500 quid from what I've seen around so far second hand.

Anyone used both?
 
The Minolta 100-400 is pretty rare, but gets good reviews. I've never seen or used one personally.

I can comment on the Bigma 50-500. I had one for a while - it wasn't a keeper for me as I already had the Sony 70-400 SSM but the lens is pretty decent - its MUCH better than the newer 120-400 or 150-500 models (which are optically pooer, and non-EX).

I'd probably go for the 50-500 as you'll be waiting a long time for a 100-400 to come up, and the price could be a bit on the silly side as well.

Best option is the Sony 70-400 SSM but thats a £1k lens...
 
Thanks for that. I've actually seen the minolta in question for £400. It's cheaper than the bigma and wouldn't be such a monster. Is that a silly price? The bigma I've seen for £500.
 
srichards said:
Thanks for that. I've actually seen the minolta in question for £400. It's cheaper than the bigma and wouldn't be such a monster. Is that a silly price? The bigma I've seen for £500.
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I've really no idea about the going rate for one..tbh I wouldn't pay £400 for a 100-400, but I would pay £500 for a 50-500 but that's just me. The Bigma is a pretty large lens though, but does have the advantage of the extra 100mm if you need it.

I think Cosina do a 100-400 in Minolta fit which I've seen go dirt cheap on occasion. No idea if its anygood though..!

Another option could be the Sigma 100-300mm f/4 with a 1.4x TC. That's still nice and light, and 420mm would be f/5.6 which faster than either of the above. A while back a few UK dealers were knocking out the 100-300 brand new for about £450 on Ebay (is SRS, GWCameras etc)
 
A dirt cheap cosina would probably do the job just as well for the actual hours use I'd probably get from it! My siggy 28-300 lives on the camera so I probably wouldn't go for a 100-300 even though it is a bit faster.

I shall consult dyxum.... I did like the quality of the images taken with the minolta. The bigma ones seem to be slightly blue and harsh. The minolta was a bit more old school colour - warm canony sort of feel.
 
puddleduck said:
Another option could be the Sigma 100-300mm f/4 with a 1.4x TC. That's still nice and light, and 420mm would be f/5.6 which faster than either of the above. A while back a few UK dealers were knocking out the 100-300 brand new for about £450 on Ebay (is SRS, GWCameras etc)
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ffordes are listing them at 499 new at the moment.
 
andy...do you know if the sigma 100-300 F/4 will fit/work on the sony 1.4 X TC? I occasionally miss my old 70-400G,but don't want to shell out the £1100 plus for the amount of use it would get,and see the way forward getting the sigma 100-300.
 
stan the man said:
andy...do you know if the sigma 100-300 F/4 will fit/work on the sony 1.4 X TC? I occasionally miss my old 70-400G,but don't want to shell out the £1100 plus for the amount of use it would get,and see the way forward getting the sigma 100-300.
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I'm pretty sure that won't fit.

You could probably use a Kenko, or better still a Sigma TC.

I tested a Sigma 100-300 f/4 against your old Sony 70-400 and at 300mm the Sony absolutely smoked the Sigma ;)

Sigma 100-300mm:

100-300.jpg


Sony 70-400 SSM:

70400G.jpg


So too be honest I don't think you'll like the Sigma if you are used to the 70-400 SSM. I've tested a number of lenses inc. Sony 70-300 SSM, Sigma 100-300 and Sigma 50-500mm and your old Sony 70-400 SSM smokes 'em all :)
 
What was the sony like at 400mm as it isn't a completely fair comparison unless you shoot them both at their max zoom and the same aperture? Got any test shots with the bigma at 400mm and 500mm?

I'm still leaning towards the minolta 100-400 as I could always splash out on a sony or sigma later....
 
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