My "New", A850 is sick, it drains the Battery in the course of an afternoon, Sony will repair the Cam under warranty, At first they wouldn't because the reciept had Ebay on it! Talked them round and were fine there! As it ws in fact bought from Currys!
I informed them it was probably the battery circuits but they still insisted on testing it for three days with the NP-500H battery before trying the new motherboard so now it's awaitng parts, they've had it for a fortnight and frankly they just seem to be messing me about, nothing to be done so I'm without until at least New year I'd say. Beginning to wish I'd stuck with the A77 now but what is done is done, I hate being without a Camera, it does my head in. Serves me right for having no money and only being able to have one body, cast that it would fail really! I can just can't seem to catch a break, I'll look into getting a second body as soon as finances allow, I'll not let myself get into this position again!
RANT OVER, normal service resumed!
Any recommendations here? A580?
Would go for the A77 again or a 65 but I just don't want to throw lots of money at an SLT, I think the EVF is potentially great tech but it's not quite there yet, (Flicker, moving/action,low resolution,inaccurate white balance, blooming, viewfinder histogram, etc) It has lots of positives (Peaking, magnifier, low light, WYSIWYG nearly!). SLT however will go as soon as Sony Technicians rip open a Nikon V1 and see how the on chip AF works!

Sorry to hear about your problems. Of course it's one of those situations where you need the backup if you don't have it, but never need it if you do. Murphy's law hasn't been repealed yet, and probably won't be soon.

As far are recommendations goes, yeah, the A580 seems like a pretty solid choice.

One point about your post caught my eye though:



First, given the long-time cooperation between Nikon and Sony on camera sensors, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if Sony already knows exactly how it works.

If that's not the case, looking at Nikon's recent patents would probably be a better starting point. For example, US Patent number 7,989,745 looks like a promising possibility.

Of course, patent searching can produce information that might be somewhat misleading. For example, in the course of making the system work, Nikon might have tried and patented a few possibilities that turned out to be dead ends and don't represent how the real system works. My guess, however, is that if such things exist, figuring out which patents really apply is likely to be fairly easy.

The only hiccup there is that the v1/j1 use an aptina sensor, not a sony one.

Thanks, J and Lonnnie...
Rang Sony Service this morning and my Camera is awaiting a new Mainboard with no parts ETA, I couldn't be more fed up
Did I mention I hate being Skint... Serves me right for having no cash to buy a spare body, the Law of Sod wins again!
Remember guys, if I ever give any advice here, always buy the other thing or do the opposite you'll be much happier...

So that means I have to do the opposite of this, and follow any other advice you give, right?

Well there is one cheerful thought you could have Jules, by the sound of things the only way left is UP…that’s something too look forward to.
Greg

It'll get better...

Returned today, after five weeks away, with the crawliest letter I've ever read!
New Mainboard, new shutter mech and a new DD-299 mount??? The mount is a hundred quid alone but I'm not sure if thats internal or the Lens mount...
Not much wrong then
Weathers turned nice so I'm off to Dalehead (Buttermere) with it tomorrow...

Great to hear you have got it back Jules. Hope you can share some pictures when you get back.

Never got to go unfortunately
My Partners Father had a serious Stroke on Friday night and we spent until the wee Hours in the Cumberland Infirmary Caualty Department instead Obviously were on a short leash for a bit, I've been given Carte Blanche for a jaunt on Monday though so I'll get to try out the A850 then, I need the time out to be frank...
2012 is going to get better, it can't be much worse to be honest...
I've got a fifty F1.4/17-35 F2.8-4 and a 70-400 to test out in the one afternoon so it'll not be a relaxing lazy jaunt either I suspect

That's terrible news. I hope he is recovering well and is not too badly affected.

He's not great but thankyou for asking, you've got to love Communities like this for that, people bother, I'll pass on the regards, many thanks...

Like I said it has not been a relaxing weekend, I really need the days shooting, my poor other half has to go to work perversly in a Doctors surgery, it's going to be very difficult for her to take her mind off...

That's terribles new Jules - hope he is feeling better soon.

The least I could do. I hope he comes through it okay.

Cheers,

Sim

Sorry to hear the news.
Hope you have fruitful day out with the kit.
We have a beautiful day here in Aberdeen, cold but sunny with (hazy) blue skies.

Mike