Calling all Sony Alpha users!

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Hi Kev,

I'm happy with the A700, it's a big upgrade from the 7D. I'm not sure whether it's better than the Nikon, at the end of the day they have very similar sensors. If you look at it rationally, the benefits of the Alpha mount are

1. VR in the body
2. A huge stock of old quality lenses

The disadvantages are

1. Expensive new high end lenses
2. lack of supply of accessories making things like lens rental impossible

I personally feel that the A700 with a beercan, for example, can not be beaten in terms of quality for the price by anything that Nikon or Canon can offer. I have ended up upgrading away from that and my A700 with the 70-200 2.8 G is an awesome combination, but is it better than a D300 with Nikon 70-200 2.8 or 40D with 70-200 2.8 IS L?

Probably not, it’s nice to be a bit different though.
 
Hope someone can enlighten me as to the cause of this one.........

I have an a200, on which I have been using some of the lenses that I used to use with my Minolta Dynax 500si and have had no problems thus far. However, I tried using another lens, namely a "Sigma 1A-zoom, 70 - 210 power zoom" and get the message "shutter locked, no lens fitted" every time I try to take a picture. I tried the lens on my Dynax and it worked perfectly. Any ideas? I'm off on holiday this afternoon so if I don't get to reply, I apologise in advance.

Shezz, the story goes that Sigma had a very cavalier attitude to paying to license the Minolta technology needed to make their lenses work with Minolta AF. Rather than pay to use it like other manufacturers, they chose to reverse engineer (hack) the firmware in chips from Minolta. One of the implications of this is that their lenses aren't always forward compatible. If the camera body didn't exist when the lens was made it might not recognise the lens.
You can often see this in the exif from pictures shot with Sigma lenses, I think my 170-500 reports as a 70-300 and a 90mm Macro I've got kicking around swears it's a 100mm.

Buyer beware when picking up s/h Sigma from eBay ;)
 
First post on here to say that I've moved from a sony DSC-V1 P&S to the A350 plus kit lens.

Only had it 3 days and think it's a great little camera. Am looking at getting the 50mm/1.7 lens and maybe a beercan too.

I am off to America in October, any bargains I should be aiming to pick up? I shoot alsorts from potraits to landscapes, motorsport to rugby.

What bags are people using, any pictures of them with kit in?

Also can anyone recommend a lens hood for the kit lens?
 
I'm getting a bit peeved now to be honest. I was out at the weekend taking 'posed people' shots using the Minolta 1.7 and could I get a sharp shot, no I couldn't. Maybe I was having a bad day.

Using centre AF point, AF-C, ISO 100 and ISO 200 using a selection of F1.7, F2.2, F2.8 etc etc. Good job these photos were not for anything special, the weather was nice but the photos all turned out naff.......... Sometimes I get peeved with this camera lark...:bang:
 
I'm getting a bit peeved now to be honest. I was out at the weekend taking 'posed people' shots using the Minolta 1.7 and could I get a sharp shot, no I couldn't. Maybe I was having a bad day.

Using centre AF point, AF-C, ISO 100 and ISO 200 using a selection of F1.7, F2.2, F2.8 etc etc. Good job these photos were not for anything special, the weather was nice but the photos all turned out naff.......... Sometimes I get peeved with this camera lark...:bang:

I know how you feel mate :bang:
Can't see that you were doing anything wrong :thinking:
Perhaps try using AF-A or AF-S??
Don't know anything about this lens, but an F/1.7 lens should get you some good results.

I went to Biggin Hill airshow last month, and I took over 350 shots.
Less than 20 shots were 'usable', so to speak.
Usable as in good enough to post on here, flickr etc. The rest were just ok enough to keep, for a little while at least!!

Do you use RAW?
This will get the max quality shots for your camera.
RAW is a bit fiddly, but amazing when you get used to it!
 
well,the guy hasn't come back to me..so i may hang on to the 100 a bit longer as i've not got the best from it(or me),which means i may get another lens...decisions decisions..:thinking: :LOL:

Oh man, that's a bummer :thumbsdown:
That's a tough decision to make.
I'm sure the a100 is very capable of taking a great shot. Well, I KNOW it is, as I had one for a while!

The 300 and 350 are fab camera's, but the only real difference is the live view. Which incidentally I couldn't live without now :love:
Except the MP's with the a350 being 14.1.
Actually, if I had my way, I'd take a few features from the a100 and put them onto my a300. The main one being the second dial for the functions. I really liked this feature of the a100.....

A tough decision mate, and I'm sure you'll make the right one.
 
I'm getting a bit peeved now to be honest. I was out at the weekend taking 'posed people' shots using the Minolta 1.7 and could I get a sharp shot, no I couldn't. Maybe I was having a bad day.

Using centre AF point, AF-C, ISO 100 and ISO 200 using a selection of F1.7, F2.2, F2.8 etc etc. Good job these photos were not for anything special, the weather was nice but the photos all turned out naff.......... Sometimes I get peeved with this camera lark...:bang:


PS. Just been checking out your website.
You have some AWESOME shots mate :clap:
 
Oh man, that's a bummer :thumbsdown:
That's a tough decision to make.
I'm sure the a100 is very capable of taking a great shot. Well, I KNOW it is, as I had one for a while!

The 300 and 350 are fab camera's, but the only real difference is the live view. Which incidentally I couldn't live without now :love:
Except the MP's with the a350 being 14.1.
Actually, if I had my way, I'd take a few features from the a100 and put them onto my a300. The main one being the second dial for the functions. I really liked this feature of the a100.....

A tough decision mate, and I'm sure you'll make the right one.

yeah,i'm a little bit dissapointed,but having said that..i never really got the best out of the 100.i love the twin dials on the 100,also the 300/350 doesn't have the mirror lock up facility which i like also..plus no DOF preview on the 300/350...
 
yeah,i'm a little bit dissapointed,but having said that..i never really got the best out of the 100.i love the twin dials on the 100,also the 300/350 doesn't have the mirror lock up facility which i like also..plus no DOF preview on the 300/350...

Another good point!
Didn't think about the mirror lock up, but yes you're right.
I don't really know much about the DOF preview as I never used it on my Canon 400D, so I don't miss it :nuts:

I always regretted selling my a100, as there was something 'just right' about it. If you know what I mean :bonk:
 
Another good point!
Didn't think about the mirror lock up, but yes you're right.
I don't really know much about the DOF preview as I never used it on my Canon 400D, so I don't miss it :nuts:

I always regretted selling my a100, as there was something 'just right' about it. If you know what I mean :bonk:

the 100 really is a lovely camera,and the reason for wanting the 350 was for the live view/tilting screen as i thought would be great to compose/focus low to the ground/macro shots..

to be honest,i've not really understood the DOF preview,other that i know that depending on what you set the aperture,you press it and it shows varying amounts of what can be clearly seen:shrug:

i also love how it fits in the hand,positioning of buttons/controls etc.....
 
the 100 really is a lovely camera,and the reason for wanting the 350 was for the live view/tilting screen as i thought would be great to compose/focus low to the ground/macro shots..

to be honest,i've not really understood the DOF preview,other that i know that depending on what you set the aperture,you press it and it shows varying amounts of what can be clearly seen:shrug:

i also love how it fits in the hand,positioning of buttons/controls etc.....

I don't fully understand it either tbh :bonk:
Apparently it's not needed on the a300/a350 due to the live view. So I've read.....

That live view screen is a huge selling point.
My main reason for changing back to Sony was this. And I'm glad I did.
It's absolutely awesome. And auto focus is still fast and smooth when live viewing, which I understand some other live view models struggle with.
You also get a live histogram, which can be very useful.

I have an interest in macro work, so for me the LV is a must.
Some of my shots wouldn't be possible without it. But people have managed up until now I guess!
 
Has anyone tried tethered shooting with the A700? Is the software any good?
 
well...the a100 has gone,so i'll be getting the a350 very soon :woot:

i've also just realised that i have a book by gary l friedman called "the complete guide to sony's alpha 100 digital SLR camera" which i got earlier this year...if anyone wants it,it's yours for £15 inc delivery...
 
picked up the alpha 350 this afternoon,and i'm a happy chappy..gonna have a play this evening to get used to the placement of controls etc...

one thing i'd like answering if possible..will i have to uninstall the software that came with my alpha 100,and install the software that came with the 350,or are they the same?(reffering to picture motion browser and image data converter).
 
picked up the alpha 350 this afternoon,and i'm a happy chappy..gonna have a play this evening to get used to the placement of controls etc...

one thing i'd like answering if possible..will i have to uninstall the software that came with my alpha 100,and install the software that came with the 350,or are they the same?(reffering to picture motion browser and image data converter).

will probably have to install new software,i had to do this whenI chaned fro A100 to 350.The original wouldn't read the new raw files from A350
 
cheers jim..i've installed it so i'm up and ready once i've taken some shots :woot:

next on my list is the battery grip,once i've recovered from todays spend ;)

Spend, tell me about it,I just bought a nikon outfit,to go with my Sony gear,fancied a change.
You should enjoy the A350 nice step up from the 100.best of health to enjoy it
 
Spend, tell me about it,I just bought a nikon outfit,to go with my Sony gear,fancied a change.
You should enjoy the A350 nice step up from the 100.best of health to enjoy it

i think my missus would have had my "nads" in a vice had i spent any more today :eek: :LOL:

i just hope i don't regret getting rid of the A100 as it's a great camera..although i suspect i shan't miss it too much :LOL:

enjoy your sonikon kit jim...:D
 
Well I've just spent half the budget this evening on the A700 with battery grip, spare battery, 4gb Extreme III card and the 16 - 80 Carl Zeiss lens as a bundle package. If you saw my recent story about wondering about getting the A700 or the D300 from Nikon, well I stuck with Sony.

Tomorrow I order the 24 - 70 f2.8 ZA and the 70 - 200 f2.8 G white beast and also the new Epson R2880 printer, oh and some paper to print on........ (y)
 
Well I've just spent half the budget this evening on the A700 with battery grip, spare battery, 4gb Extreme III card and the 16 - 80 Carl Zeiss lens as a bundle package. If you saw my recent story about wondering about getting the A700 or the D300 from Nikon, well I stuck with Sony.

Tomorrow I order the 24 - 70 f2.8 ZA and the 70 - 200 f2.8 G white beast and also the new Epson R2880 printer, oh and some paper to print on........ (y)
Enjoy your new gear.i use the epson r2400 printer and its really good.You should get some cracking results with the r2880
 
. I have ended up upgrading away from that and my A700 with the 70-200 2.8 G is an awesome combination......


Hopefully I'll be able to test your theory out next week if my order arrives in the post.....hoping the 2.8 G lives up to the hype I've read - and the £££'s it's cost.
 
Well I got home from work at 22.45 and found that the nice Mr Postman had delivered my new baby, and all his 'toys'. Well except for one lens and the new printer that I have ordered from a different store.

Looks like I'll be up late tonight checking the boxes and then up and out in the morning to play.......

A700.jpg
 
looking very impressive.best of health to enjoy all your new gear
 
Well I got home from work at 22.45 and found that the nice Mr Postman had delivered my new baby, and all his 'toys'. Well except for one lens and the new printer that I have ordered from a different store.

Looks like I'll be up late tonight checking the boxes and then up and out in the morning to play.......

A700.jpg

:eek::eek::eek:

Jesus! You are a lucky (and rich!) man. Well done indeed.
 
Thank you very much, the shop are going to send on the battery they forgot to pack, I am just installing the camera software on the PC and then I'm off out to................ P A R T Y ...... well in the backyard as I'm going to have to go to work soon......
 
Let us know when you post some shots.
Really looking forward to seeing what that 70-200mm beast can do :love:
 
Well the CZ 24 - 70 f2.8 arrived this morning, less than 24 hours after I had ordered it - well done London Camera Exchange and the guys at City Link.

Not had much of a chance to do any 'serious' testing, but I have noticed that the RAW files from the A700 are about 20mb, whereas the RAW from my A100 were somewhere between 8 and 11mb on average. Big difference for only an extra 2mp......
 
picked up the battery grip yesterday from jacobs in london(just off london bridge)for £140,and spent all last night shooting around westminster/south bank...it definately makes a difference when shooting in portrait mode.also love the size/weight of it all....christ,this photography is adictive...(y)
 
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