Sony a77; any good ?

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gary43

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I've just spent a lot of time downloading RAW files from the web from various places from the Sony a77 to see how they stack up against similar shots from the 7D.

To me, the a77 definitely gives more detail in side-by-side shots and I THINK the high iso performance is similar up to 800 and not too dissimilar at 1600.

However, I see very few real life examples of decent wildlife images taken with the a77 and those I have seen are at around iso 400; sort of indicating that people are uncertain about using this body at high iso's.

I appreciate that there is not the glass for wildlife in Sonyland that there is in Canonland and this might influence matters.

So, the question is, does anyone here use the a77 for wildlife ?

I would love to see how it performs in the field and particularly what the AF response is like.

Also what lenses do Sony shooters use ? Are Minolta/Sony/Sigma offerings any good ?

Thanks in advance for your responses and best wishes.

Gary
 
HI gary from what i have seen the a77 is ok upto iso 1600 and the 7d iso 3200, personally i have not used the sony but have a 7d and its a cracking piece of kit af speed is awsome, and also from what i have seen jpegs from the sony are naff so using raw from it is a must to get the level of detail.
eccles uses an a77.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=373407
 
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Hi Scott

Thanks for the input. The robin photo linked to was 2009 so pre-a77 but thanks for pointing eccles out. I will PM him if he does not chip in here.

Best wishes.

Gary
 
Hi Gary. Just found this thread, and in answer to your question, the detail that can be had from the A77 is staggering, but it isn't a novice camera. Jpegs start to lose that fabulous detail once you get above iso 400 so for seriously large photos or heavy crops you need to shoot raw. Shooting raw allows you to get very nice detail to iso 1600 but beyond that you need an increasing amount of work to get decent images.
The SLT mirror has its critics, mainly because it robs the sensor of 30% of its available light which amounts to about half a stop. In other words shooting at iso 3200 is like shooting at iso 4800 with a non-SLT equivalent. But what reviewers don't mention is that the biggest advantage of the SLT is a complete absence of vibration caused by mirror slap. This is coupled with the option of using Electronic First Curtain. This means that at the point of taking the photo there is no shutter vibration either as only the second curtain is mechanical. The result is sharper photos and wildlife that is less likely to get spooked.
The other love-hate is the electronic viewfinder. If I was to be perfectly honest I'd have preferred an optical viewfinder with pentaprism, but accept the EVF for the benefits the SLT design gives me. Vibration-free shutter or OVF? Give me that shutter every time. It is rather cool to have white balance and exposure preview in real time as well though. Press the stop-down preview button and the image gains up so you can see the DOF. With an OVF the feature is next to useless as it's so dark.
This robin was shot just before Christmas shot with my 70-400mm Sony zoom and is approximately 1/4 of the original image. It's at 400mm on a monopod at 1/60 second.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=374201

Incidently the Sony 70-400mm 'G' is in my opinion peerless. At risk of ire from other users, I'll go so far as to say there is no equivalent zoom in any mount to touch it.

Hope that helps, and any other questions just fire away.
Mike.
 
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Hi Mike

Thanks for the input above and for the linky to the robin shot. FWIW, I like the oak leaf !

Shows the a77-70400 combo to be very capable.

Also, FWIW, I shoot RAW anyway and am very happy to do a bit of PP work.

The 70400 gets great reviews but was wondering if there are any other longer lens options which are decent ? I've owned Canon 600f4ISL and 500f4ISL and now have a Siggy 120-300f2.8os as a walkabout. I'm not over happy with the Siggy 150-500 so that really leaves the new Sigggy 50-500os or 500f4.5 or 300f2.8 (with TCs) or some Minolta stuff ? I've had the Siggy 500f4.5 in Canon mount and really liked it but these seem very rare in the Sony version. Are you familiar with how any of these perform on the a77 ?

Most importantly, thanks again for the information above.

Regards

Gary
 
The siggy 50-500 is supposed to be a peach. The fixed 500mm should knock it into a cocked hat but you'd need deep pockets. Ffordes list them but they're just under £4k new.

One place to look for image samples is dyxum. A77 hasn't been out very long so I'd assume it would take a few months for a wide variety of images to appear.
 
There's a Minolta 400/4.5 on eBay at the moment. Or there's always the slow, but rather good 500/8, if you can live with the bokeh.
 
gary will you be laving canon altogether, and i can highly recomend the 50-500mm os, sharp as and i would put it aainst the canon 100-400mm and the sony 80-400mm anyday of the week.
heres some pics from mine on a d300, pleanty more shot if needed.
SJB_2515.jpg


SJB_8422.jpg


SJB_7641.jpg
 
Hi Scott

Not sure at all what system(s) I will go for yet.

Gotta say you make a great case for the 50-500os though. I looked at getting one of these a few months back but none were available used at the time (still are very rare on the used market) and the new price is a bit more than I wanted to pay. Your images are trully superb !

Best wishes

Gary
 
They are nice images, but I think Scott got lucky and has a significantly better than average 50-500. I've done direct comparisons between an Alpha mount version of the Bigma and my Sony 500mm reflex and the two were very close in terms of resolving power. The Bigma benefited from better bokeh and 2/3 stop bigger aperture. The mirror is a lot of fun to use, being very light to carry around and can give nice images but my Sony 70-400mm 'G' is easily better, being optically very close in performance to a prime. It also benefits from a closest focussing distance of 1.5m making it useful for dragonflies and butterflies.
In terms of long primes Sony is wanting in its current range. The 300mm F2.8 is first class but expensive. It'll take a 2x converter to give 600mm F5.6 but the IQ of that combo won't be as good as a prime. They have been promising a 500mm F4 for ages and the word is that it'll finally see the light of day this year, but it's bound to be hellishly expensive.
Minolta primes such as the 400mm F4.5 and 600mm F4 are still popping up occasionally but they are expensive and it's a risk buying 20 year old lenses that are no longer supported. Which leaves the independents such as Sigma. WEX are currently advertising the 500/F4.5 in Sony mount for £3770. The aperture is just wide enough for a 1.4x TC to give autofocus at 700mm F6.3.
 
eccles said:
Incidently the Sony 70-400mm 'G' is in my opinion peerless. At risk of ire from other users, I'll go so far as to say there is no equivalent zoom in any mount to touch it.
Click to expand...
I think that it's widely agreed that at it's price-level/size it's the one to beat (the Nikon 200-400 is probably better but bigger, heavier & a lot dearer) at least until Canon & Nikon update their current offerings.

for longer with quality (the 70-400 @400 will match or beat the like of the Tamron 200-500 @500) there is the old Minolta 600/4 or the Sigma 500/4.5.
It's also rumored that Sony's own 500/4 will finally launch this year with a new FF body.

Whilst the A77 loses 1/2 stop @ the sensor due to the translucent mirror the ability of the OVF to gain up I would imagine to be a benefit for composition in poor light.

edit: didn't you just pick up an A700?
make sure that it's on firmware V4 & visit www.dyxum.com for a good A-mount community & resource.
 
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eccles said:
They are nice images, but I think Scott got lucky and has a significantly better than average 50-500. I've done direct comparisons between an Alpha mount version of the Bigma and my Sony 500mm reflex and the two were very close in terms of resolving power. The Bigma benefited from better bokeh and 2/3 stop bigger aperture. The mirror is a lot of fun to use, being very light to carry around and can give nice images but my Sony 70-400mm 'G' is easily better, being optically very close in performance to a prime. It also benefits from a closest focussing distance of 1.5m making it useful for dragonflies and butterflies.
In terms of long primes Sony is wanting in its current range. The 300mm F2.8 is first class but expensive. It'll take a 2x converter to give 600mm F5.6 but the IQ of that combo won't be as good as a prime. They have been promising a 500mm F4 for ages and the word is that it'll finally see the light of day this year, but it's bound to be hellishly expensive.
Minolta primes such as the 400mm F4.5 and 600mm F4 are still popping up occasionally but they are expensive and it's a risk buying 20 year old lenses that are no longer supported. Which leaves the independents such as Sigma. WEX are currently advertising the 500/F4.5 in Sony mount for £3770. The aperture is just wide enough for a 1.4x TC to give autofocus at 700mm F6.3.
Click to expand...

You seem to be confusing the bigma with the os version which is accepted to be so much better.
 
eccles said:
They are nice images, but I think Scott got lucky and has a significantly better than average 50-500. I've done direct comparisons between an Alpha mount version of the Bigma and my Sony 500mm reflex and the two were very close in terms of resolving power. The Bigma benefited from better bokeh and 2/3 stop bigger aperture. The mirror is a lot of fun to use, being very light to carry around and can give nice images but my Sony 70-400mm 'G' is easily better, being optically very close in performance to a prime. It also benefits from a closest focussing distance of 1.5m making it useful for dragonflies and butterflies.
In terms of long primes Sony is wanting in its current range. The 300mm F2.8 is first class but expensive. It'll take a 2x converter to give 600mm F5.6 but the IQ of that combo won't be as good as a prime. They have been promising a 500mm F4 for ages and the word is that it'll finally see the light of day this year, but it's bound to be hellishly expensive.
Minolta primes such as the 400mm F4.5 and 600mm F4 are still popping up occasionally but they are expensive and it's a risk buying 20 year old lenses that are no longer supported. Which leaves the independents such as Sigma. WEX are currently advertising the 500/F4.5 in Sony mount for £3770. The aperture is just wide enough for a 1.4x TC to give autofocus at 700mm F6.3.
Click to expand...
as said by dean the new os versions optics have been adjusted and improved.
http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/sigma-50-500mm-os-hsm/review.html
 
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The23rdman said:
You seem to be confusing the bigma with the os version which is accepted to be so much better.
Click to expand...

The one I tested was a non-OS version. I wasn't aware that the optics were updated with the introduction of OS to the lens so you could well be right. It would certainly explain the disparity between my experience and that of others, but I would still put my money on the Sony as the better lens. Incidently, has anyone owned both Bigma versions and compared them?
 
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BIG thanks to all for the input above; lots to think about.

Heidfirst is correct that I did just pick up an a700 (couple of days ago) and a 16-80 (today) by way of an introduction into Sonyland. I'm going to run this set up alongside my Canon gear for a bit to see which I prefer and bearing in mind the dreaded roadmaps for future lens/body products.

Have also looked at A LOT of RAW images from a77 in the past couple of days and converted them using my usual workflow and am still blown away by the detail this camera can give, even compared with the Canon 7D which I had until recently, and the 60D which I currently have. I also would maintain (just MHO) that there is very little difference in noise between a77 and 7D up to iso 800. Hence my continued interest in the a77. Certainly images sent by a friend with the a77 and those from the Imaging Resource website bear this out. The oft-cited DPReview images are, to my mind, the source of much of the reported poor high iso performance of this body. Again, IMHO, lots of people on the web seem to cite their rather poor a77 images from the DPR review.

Faldrax, many thanks for the links above - if only the SAL300 was not so rare or expensive !

Finally, IF (and it is a big IF given my current investment in Canon gear and the time taken learning how to use it) I did swop systems the a700 would be a back-up body.

Thanks again to all for your thoughts above.

Gary
 
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eccles said:
The one I tested was a non-OS version. I wasn't aware that the optics were updated with the introduction of OS to the lens so you could well be right. It would certainly explain the disparity between my experience and that of others, but I would still put my money on the Sony as the better lens. Incidently, has anyone owned both Bigma versions and compared them?
Click to expand...
I have had both the non os and os and the none os was not as sharp at 500mm, the os version also focuses closer and has faster af. i have also had 3, 150-500mm and 4, 170-500mm sigmas.
 
gary43 said:
Heidfirst is correct that I did just pick up an a700 (couple of days ago) and a 16-80 (today) by way of an introduction into Sonyland. I'm going to run this set up alongside my Canon gear for a bit to see which I prefer and bearing in mind the dreaded roadmaps for future lens/body products.
Click to expand...
the A700 imo will stand up to the 40D & 50D but the 60D is probably noticeably better in terms of AF & possibly high ISO.

Also, remember that with in-body IS all your lenses including legacy become stabilised. I recently picked up a NIB old stock Tokina 300/2.8 for £800 - I'm sure that the SAL300/2.8 is better but £3000 better I doubt (& couldn't justify). I generally reckon that the A700's stabilisation for me is ~2.75-3 stops.
There is also a suggestion that the SAL300/2.8 is getting facelifted/replaced this Spring.
 
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