Photo sharing: Sony Alpha

[havoc315]

With having the next few days off of work I decided to get up a little extra early to get some early morning pictures over in Downtown West Palm Beach. I was blessed with an amazing blue sky this morning and tried to get as much in as I could before the sun full rose.


A Sandi Sunrise by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

Great shot.. exif says 85 seconds???? Really??

 

[Hockeyman]

Great shot.. exif says 85 seconds???? Really??

Yeah probably, this was the first shot I took and put it in bulb and fired off a test shot and then messed around with my bag and phone for a min and then when I closed the shutter and saw the results I was pretty happy. It was also pretty dark at that point and surprised it picked up that much light

 

[Animagic!]

DSC08349 by tomserwin, on Flickr

 

[Hockeyman]

Every December the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Baily circus comes to town here in West Palm each and last night they had a preview performance n the downtown area. Was a little hard to shoot with how low the lighting was so shot with a higher ISO which of course brought out more noise than I like but what can you do.


Circus Preview by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[fractal]

 

[Hockeyman]

Clematis Street by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[Animagic!]

Minnie & Roy by tomserwin, on Flickr

 

[Hockeyman]

From Sonyalpharumors

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony...and-a99-and-nex-7-successor-to-come/#comments

The Japanese Digital Camera Magazine forecast what could come by Sony in 2014. This time they match more or less what has been rumored here on SAR:

They write Sony 2014 will bring us:
- a total of ten FE lenses to be on market by end 2014
- A99 and A77 successor to come with increased Megapixel number.
- NEX-7 successor

Not sure what im going to do at this point. The more I think about spending $2k on a new camera, the more it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The A77 successor might be right up my alley, although a used A99 for a price around $1,500 would be awfully tempting also.


Also on a side note, anyone ever bought anything over seas as far as pricey camera gear? I've bought some cheap stuff and haven't had to deal with customs an duties but how does it work with lets say a lens from Korea?

 

[havoc315]

From Sonyalpharumors

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony...and-a99-and-nex-7-successor-to-come/#comments


Not sure what im going to do at this point. The more I think about spending $2k on a new camera, the more it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The A77 successor might be right up my alley, although a used A99 for a price around $1,500 would be awfully tempting also.

I'm pretty happy with my used $1800 A99. The A79 successor is sure to be at least $1200 for the body.
If there is a new superior $1999 full frame introduced, I may regret my decision. But if there is simply another $2800 full frame, with 36 megapixels, then I'm pretty happy. I really don't want or need 36mp.

Quite a bit of loss of detail, but how's this for ISO 25600 (with MFNR):


holidayparty-51.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

Though I was mostly shooting portraits at the Christmas party....
This was at ISO 3200 -- Would be unusable on the A77/55.. but on the A99, I blew up some nice large prints:


holidayparty-31-Edit.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

ISO 2500:


holidayparty-16.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

[Hockeyman]

I'm pretty happy with my used $1800 A99. The A79 successor is sure to be at least $1200 for the body.
If there is a new superior $1999 full frame introduced, I may regret my decision. But if there is simply another $2800 full frame, with 36 megapixels, then I'm pretty happy. I really don't want or need 36mp.

Quite a bit of loss of detail, but how's this for ISO 25600 (with MFNR):


Though I was mostly shooting portraits at the Christmas party....
This was at ISO 3200 -- Would be unusable on the A77/55.. but on the A99, I blew up some nice large prints:



ISO 2500:

Great shots Havoc. Id still like to go FF but money will def be a deciding factor when it comes down to it. Ill have to weight all the options when it comes down to it. Ill be selling my A55 so that will help fund the new one so the sticker shot might not be as bad. Was hoping to have something before our next WDW trip at the end of Feb but seems like we may not see the new camera until April

 

[havoc315]

Great shots Havoc. Id still like to go FF but money will def be a deciding factor when it comes down to it. Ill have to weight all the options when it comes down to it. Ill be selling my A55 so that will help fund the new one so the sticker shot might not be as bad. Was hoping to have something before our next WDW trip at the end of Feb but seems like we may not see the new camera until April

Rent the A99 for your trip. It will give you an excellent idea of whether full-frame is worth it for you.
You won't get a ton for your A55, but if you sell your crop lenses and your A55... If I remember your lenses correctly, you can probably get $500-$800.
I got $250 for my A55 body, and I packaged 3 crop lenses for $750 (I could have gotten more separately but packaged out of convenience, the Sony 16-50, the Tamron 10-24, and the Sony 35/1.8). Of course, then you need a couple full frame lenses. There are some cheap good Minolta options, but the limited Sony full-frame options are pretty expensive.

Of course, there is a realistic chance that 2014 will finally see affordable Sony fullframe. You can now get a new Canon 6d for $1399. The A99, IMHO, is a better camera than the 6d.. but it's not twice as good.

 

[Hockeyman]

Now this is what I like to hear

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/full-frame-pcie-war-6d-sells-for-1399/

With the announcement of the Sony A7 the Full Frame price war has been heated up. Today with $1,399 the cheapest camera is the Canon 6D on eBay US (Click here). I am sure that in 2014 we will see further price drops and maybe some new low budget FF that will sell close to $1,200-$1,300. And I think Sony is prepared for this. I have been told many new FF cameras will come, and some of them are low budget cameras.

 

[Hockeyman]

Rent the A99 for your trip. It will give you an excellent idea of whether full-frame is worth it for you.
You won't get a ton for your A55, but if you sell your crop lenses and your A55... If I remember your lenses correctly, you can probably get $500-$800.
I got $250 for my A55 body, and I packaged 3 crop lenses for $750 (I could have gotten more separately but packaged out of convenience, the Sony 16-50, the Tamron 10-24, and the Sony 35/1.8). Of course, then you need a couple full frame lenses. There are some cheap good Minolta options, but the limited Sony full-frame options are pretty expensive.

Of course, there is a realistic chance that 2014 will finally see affordable Sony fullframe. You can now get a new Canon 6d for $1399. The A99, IMHO, is a better camera than the 6d.. but it's not twice as good.

How much it cost you to rent the A99?

 

[havoc315]

How much it cost you to rent the A99?

Used a discount code... I guess it was about $120 or so for the week.

Or even just rent it for a particularly photographic weekend for less.

 

[Animagic!]

I've been watching Sony to see what they'll do. For a hot minute I was afraid that the A mount was going away. However, since that isn't the case I feel a lot better about sticking with Sony. I'm actually very interested in the upgraded a77. I'm still not sure I want to jump up to a full frame yet.

As far as full frames go the Nikon 600/610 look very tempting. Comparing performance and prices between the 600 and the 99 it looks like the 600 is both a better performer and much cheaper. However, if Sony can deliver on an "affordable" FF than that certainly could be an option. If the new A mount FF has similar performance and ISO abilities as the a7 then I will be very excited.

 

[fractal]

Sony A99 for $2,000.

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/

Clearing some inventory for the new A-mount FF?

 

[havoc315]

I've been watching Sony to see what they'll do. For a hot minute I was afraid that the A mount was going away. However, since that isn't the case I feel a lot better about sticking with Sony. I'm actually very interested in the upgraded a77. I'm still not sure I want to jump up to a full frame yet.

As far as full frames go the Nikon 600/610 look very tempting. Comparing performance and prices between the 600 and the 99 it looks like the 600 is both a better performer and much cheaper. However, if Sony can deliver on an "affordable" FF than that certainly could be an option. If the new A mount FF has similar performance and ISO abilities as the a7 then I will be very excited.

Depending on how you feel about EVF, the A99 is either a small step above the d610 or a big step in everything except high ISO performance. The EVF is a big difference. The A99 EVF is truly superb. More photographers are being won over by the benefits of the EVF, so it's a big selling point for some. Putting aside the viewfinder and live view modes, the a99 is still a bit better then the d610. Better AF system, faster burst rate, less shutter lag, articulating view screen. The d610 advantage is high ISO. Personally, I think the a99 is a better overall camera, but not necessarily so much better to justify the price difference.

Unless a-mount goes mirrorless, which doesn't appear to be happening immediately, a-mount can't match the a7 for high ISO. The mirror reduces the light, hurting ISO performance. When you stick the a-mount adapter on the a7, you get a99 ISO performance.

Still, the a99 ISO performance is quite good. 3200 can still be nearly flawless. 6400 is very workable. Probably a step below the d610, but quite a bit better then the aps-c SLTs.

 

[Animagic!]

Depending on how you feel about EVF, the A99 is either a small step above the d610 or a big step in everything except high ISO performance. The EVF is a big difference. The A99 EVF is truly superb. More photographers are being won over by the benefits of the EVF, so it's a big selling point for some. Putting aside the viewfinder and live view modes, the a99 is still a bit better then the d610. Better AF system, faster burst rate, less shutter lag, articulating view screen. The d610 advantage is high ISO. Personally, I think the a99 is a better overall camera, but not necessarily so much better to justify the price difference.

Unless a-mount goes mirrorless, which doesn't appear to be happening immediately, a-mount can't match the a7 for high ISO. The mirror reduces the light, hurting ISO performance. When you stick the a-mount adapter on the a7, you get a99 ISO performance.

Still, the a99 ISO performance is quite good. 3200 can still be nearly flawless. 6400 is very workable. Probably a step below the d610, but quite a bit better then the aps-c SLTs.

That's what a lot of it boils down to for me. I have a love/hate relationship with SLTs. I LOVE the EVF. I've become so dependent upon it that I hesitate to go to Nikon. But the decreased light hitting the sensor is the biggest con for me personally. I'm torn between EVF and ISO performance. To be frank, most of my photography is done at the parks. I generally think of photography in terms of Disney parks. Since I love trying my hand at dark rides I put a lot of my eggs in the ISO basket. At the end of the day a camera's ISO capabilities mean a lot to me.

This battle between EVF and ISO has had me torn between Sony and Nikon. I ultimately went with Sony but have always wondered deep down if I should have invested into Nikon instead. I think for APS-C I'm pretty happy with Sony cameras. But if I was going to invest in a Full Frame camera then I'm likely going to switch over to Nikon. Ultimately I'd only leave APS-C for Full Frame because of better ISO performance. So spending all that money for a FF camera plus FF lenses would be somewhat of a waste if I went to a FF SLT with less ISO capabilities when I could have spent that money on a FF dSLR that has better ISO performance. I'm not saying the a99 is bad by any means. But if I'm upgrading to FF specifically for ISO then it makes sense to go over to Nikon. Plus Nikon's lens support is a nice bonus.

All that said, I'm very happy with my Sony cameras and do not regret buying them.

 

[havoc315]

That's what a lot of it boils down to for me. I have a love/hate relationship with SLTs. I LOVE the EVF. I've become so dependent upon it that I hesitate to go to Nikon. But the decreased light hitting the sensor is the biggest con for me personally. I'm torn between EVF and ISO performance. To be frank, most of my photography is done at the parks. I generally think of photography in terms of Disney parks. Since I love trying my hand at dark rides I put a lot of my eggs in the ISO basket. At the end of the day a camera's ISO capabilities mean a lot to me.

This battle between EVF and ISO has had me torn between Sony and Nikon. I ultimately went with Sony but have always wondered deep down if I should have invested into Nikon instead. I think for APS-C I'm pretty happy with Sony cameras. But if I was going to invest in a Full Frame camera then I'm likely going to switch over to Nikon. Ultimately I'd only leave APS-C for Full Frame because of better ISO performance. So spending all that money for a FF camera plus FF lenses would be somewhat of a waste if I went to a FF SLT with less ISO capabilities when I could have spent that money on a FF dSLR that has better ISO performance. I'm not saying the a99 is bad by any means. But if I'm upgrading to FF specifically for ISO then it makes sense to go over to Nikon. Plus Nikon's lens support is a nice bonus.

All that said, I'm very happy with my Sony cameras and do not regret buying them.

I don't disagree with you. There are times I have wondered if I should have gone Nikon. And yes, if high ISO is your highest priority, Canon 6d or Nikon d610 can make sense.

That said, the A99 would do Disney dark rides beautifully. I got some very nice dark ride pics with the Rx100-- and the a99 is about 3 stops better. I would be very confident in the a99 on dark rides.

 

[fractal]

I think ISO performance can be overblown. A Sony A99 with a fast prime will handle any Disney dark ride shot easily. The Sony also has in body stabilization which the Nikon doesn't ( I believe ).

anyway - unless you are taking pictures of a black cat in a dark basement, a full frame Sony A99 should be more than enough camera.