A850/900 vs a77

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cosmonaut1959
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A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by cosmonaut1959 »

Before I got the a77 I came very close to going full frame. I looked hard at the a850 and the 900 was a little out of my price range. The only reason I didn't was I felt the a850 was a very basic camera as far as modern day features go.
But looking down the road some. What would be any benefit to me to go FF in the not so distant future, next spring or summer. Is the IQ that much better? I am certainly pleased enough with the a77 that I think an emergecy savings fund the replace it should it quit working might be the better option? But if the IQ of the a900 or 850 just plain smokes the a77 I would consider it. At some point.
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David Kilpatrick
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

The IQ of the larger sensor is better if you have the right glass and keep to low ISO settings - or select your ISO and processing path carefully, for example using ISO 320 with ACR. It's the lens issue which matters most. The two cameras are so totally different in use that it's hard to compare results.

I'm satisfied that the A77 removes the need for me to have an A900, but lenses once again are the critical issue. They have to be perfect, and they must be used in a very specific way to get the best from the A77. The A900 in contrast is amazingly forgiving of HOW you use the lens (f/1.4, f/5.6, f/16 - it's not fussy) and does not require ultimate resolution - just very even coverage, good illumination, etc. So it's often very happy with older Minolta AF lenses of good pedigree.

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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by GeirJ0909 »

I have just experienced this. Some time ago I bought a Minolta 135mm F/2.8 in mint condition on Ebay and I was very impressed with the pictures I got on the a850. Then I bought an a77, but when I tried it with the 135mm the pictures turned out rather disappointing. I have not done any systematic comparison, but it would appear that the a77 reveals the weaknesses in your lenses.
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InTheSky
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by InTheSky »

Even on the A700, the 135mm 2.8 wide open was showing is limit compare to the A900. This is the reason why in the past I sold the lens and kept the 100 2.0 only. But the 135mm reduced to F4.0-5.6 become very good even I think for a 24MP sensor APS-C.

The most advantage compare to the A900 from the A77 is the ability to do live view precise focusing, that in the past for the A900 has bring me to false conlusion on lens performance doing too much miss focus subject wide open.

Regards,

Frank
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cosmonaut1959
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by cosmonaut1959 »

David that was very interesting and informative. Thanks big time. The a77 is an amazing camera. Coming from Olympus I think I am in culture shock. With the E5 I could make stunning sharp large picture. But the a77 even took that to another level.
I also find the a77 RAW files are easier to process, push and pull exposure, than the E5 more noticable in the dark areas.
But back to the FF thing. If it isn't a vary noticable improvement then there is little use for me to make the jump and maybe just invest more in sharp glass for the a77. I need a nice fast zoom for the a77. Something like 70-300mm. The Olympus 50-200mm will be hard to match with Sony. The 50-200mm is fast and sharp and i rarely missed focus.
I worry with Sony on the high 300mm end how well I can nail focus without a tripod?
I really live in a bad area for trying equipment.
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Dr. Harout
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by Dr. Harout »

cosmonaut1959 wrote:...I need a nice fast zoom for the a77. Something like 70-300mm. The Olympus 50-200mm will be hard to match with Sony. The 50-200mm is fast and sharp and i rarely missed focus.
I worry with Sony on the high 300mm end how well I can nail focus without a tripod?
I really live in a bad area for trying equipment.
I have the Sony 70-300 G SSM. Can't make comparison with other brands' analogue tele, but can assure you it's quite fast on the a77, and unlike on the a700 it doesn't hunt much.
On the tele end it is quite nice. So I'm quite happy with it.
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

My secret weapon recently has been the Sigma 70-300mm OS - much smaller for travel, and every bit as sharp as the G SSM Sony lens. But I keep forgetting to turn SSS on again after using the lens, so I am planning to try the 70-300mm old classic Sigma Apo Macro.

David
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mikeriach
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by mikeriach »

David Kilpatrick wrote:My secret weapon recently has been the Sigma 70-300mm OS - much smaller for travel, and every bit as sharp as the G SSM Sony lens. But I keep forgetting to turn SSS on again after using the lens, so I am planning to try the 70-300mm old classic Sigma Apo Macro.

David
I acquired the Sigma 70-300 OS to replace a clapped out Tamron a while ago.
I use OS or SSS when shooting stationary subjects but only use SSS on action stuff. I found that the OS could sometimes lose the plot with a moving object and cause a refocus just at the wrong moment. It appears to be quite a good substitute for the old Tamron. Generally I'm happy with it, just not as compact as the old Minolta 100-300 APO :roll:

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bfitzgerald
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Wandering a bit I just noticed the A77 and A65 both have the plastic mount part inside the main metal mount, the A900 has a full metal mount.
Surprising esp on the A77
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[SiC]
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by [SiC] »

bfitzgerald wrote:Wandering a bit I just noticed the A77 and A65 both have the plastic mount part inside the main metal mount, the A900 has a full metal mount.
Surprising esp on the A77
What part do you mean? Can't find it in photos... Only spot that outer ring is different (on A77 at least), probably due to sealing (?).

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bfitzgerald
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

I can't find the shots now! Will have a look around (A77) maybe I'm wrong I never took the lens off when I tried one. Here's the A65 with the plastic mount part behind
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta65/page4.asp
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by pakodominguez »

bfitzgerald wrote:I can't find the shots now! Will have a look around (A77) maybe I'm wrong I never took the lens off when I tried one. Here's the A65 with the plastic mount part behind
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta65/page4.asp
where?
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslt ... nolens.jpg
where it says "plastic"?
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[SiC]
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by [SiC] »

Only plastic part of the mount I can see is where the contacts are.
Sony A700, A580, Nex-5t, KM D7D & VC-7D, M Dynax 500si
KM 17-35 F2.8-4 D, M 50 F1.7 RS, M 135 F2.8, M 28-100 F3.5-5.6 D, M 100-200 F4.5, T 70-300 F4-5.6 Di USD, S 18-55 F3.5-5.6 SAM, S 18-70 F3.5-5.6
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Greg Beetham
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by Greg Beetham »

I think I can see what Barry is looking at, the photo of the A65 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslt ... nolens.jpg by dpr showing the mount view is unusual. The bayonet flanges don’t seem to be the usual machined bright metal finish, i.e. they don’t look like the flanges on my three cameras that were machined out of solid.
What they do look like is a fish plate stamping that is separate to the mounting slip surface and located in position by the mount screws passing through both plates and clamping them together against the mirror box.
Re-designing the implementation of mount (but not necessarily the functionality) this way would obviously save some material and machining time and therefore some dollars and cents.
I guess the thinking (if true) is that the camera is a limited life span device and will probably be replaced and forgotten in a year or two anyway, so why waste money unnecessarily doing expensive machining that most likely no one would notice…except eagle eye Barry F :D
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Re: A850/900 vs a77

Unread post by Dr. Harout »

No plastic part in the mount on my a77. :!:
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