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Refurbished A99V

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:16 am
by Edward
I've seen a few advertisements for the A99V, with a grip and flash for $1900 US. Does anyone have any experience with refurbished cameras?

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:09 pm
by Edward
I guess no one has an experience with these refurbished deals. So is the A99V still worth buying at all?

-- I do not have the budget for a E model and all the replacement lens that would have to come if it was going to be a real replacement for the A-mount system. I have a number of Minolta and Sony A-mount lens that I've purchased since about 1985 when I bought a Minolta 9000, and since I'm entering a fixed income stage of life there never will be the money to replace everything, nor do I see money for a $4500 A99II that many never come anyway.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:38 pm
by Birma
Hi Edward, for me the A99 is still a hell of a lot of camera. I don't think there is anything to better it for un-adapted A mount glass (accepting it is full frame rather than APS-C). If the electronic viewfinder or SLT technology bother you then I would suggest looking for a secondhand A900 or A850 - surely another great way to enjoy your A mount glass.

If the size of the A99 is a problem then the original A7, with a LA-EA3 adapter for A Mount would be another great value alternative to allow you to enjoy full frame A mount glass.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 2:09 pm
by mikeriach
As I understand it in the UK, refurbished cameras are usually ones which developed a fault shortly after purchase and were swapped out by the manufacturer. The faulty one was then repaired and sold as refurbished. We bought a Canon point and shoot like that and had many years service from it.
As Andy says, the A99 is a superb camera and if bought at a good price is worth acquiring.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 11:26 pm
by bakubo
No experience with refurbished Sony cameras, but at the suggestion of an IT guy who over the years has bought many, many refurbished Dell computers from the Dell Outlet for himself and his company I decided to order a nice Dell 17.3", i7, 8gb, 1tb laptop in the fall of 2012. It was a great price. And I am using it as I type this message. :) I added a 256gb SSD to it in February this year for Win8.1 and my LR catalog/previews. Other than that I have done nothing to it. Works fine. When I got it 3 years ago it looked brand new. Anyway, if the Sony refurbs are as good then I would say that if the price is good then go for it.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:59 am
by Edward
Thanks guys for all the feedback. I'll look for the best deal now that we are nearing Black Friday sales.

-- Today I noted a few for the Nikon D850 with a 24-120 lens for $3200 so its tempting to think about dropping Sony. If I switch, I'll just use the A850 with my Minolta lenses and couple of sony lens.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:59 pm
by jbtaylor
Just bought a refurbished a99 with grip for $1,299.00. Arrives by December 11, 2015.
I will let you know how it goes. In the mean time, pray for me.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 7:56 pm
by Edward
jbtaylor wrote:Just bought a refurbished a99 with grip for $1,299.00. Arrives by December 11, 2015.
I will let you know how it goes. In the mean time, pray for me.
Be sure to report in. -- I broke down last week and bought a new A99, mostly because I had the thought that I wanted a warranty with it. I assumed there either isn't going to be an A99II or its forever in the future, and I refuse to start over with another system. I also needed something ASAP to finish a technical writing project.

Sony, unless you deliver a new FF A-mount This was the last Sony product I will ever buy.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2015 8:31 pm
by jbtaylor
I had been thinking about what it would take to buy an a7rII and the numbers made me sick. Buying the refurb a99 keeps me from upgrading Lightroom, buying more batteries, and buying two kinds of Sony converters (regular and SSM). At that point I knew what I had to do. It took my two days to figure it out after lusting after the a7 line. I do believe that the refurb carries a limited warranty. Still buzzing over the purchase so I could be projecting.
Another reason for settling is that it's the same sensor as the RX1 and I love the images that camera gives me. I began to feel I was giving up quality if I picked up the a900. As for making this your last purchase, I would take a long view if I were you. Eventually I will migrate to the a7 line. Buying converters over time is the way to go. I cannot give up on being able to use the ZA 135mm 1.8. It's that simple.
Will definitely keep you posted as I use the a99.
Good luck with you purchase.
JT

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:33 pm
by jbtaylor
Just received the item. Cosmetically, it looks brand new. Not a single scratch on it. Set up the camera and have taken a few test shots. They say it is no more heavy that the a900. However, I have been shooting with the RX1 of late and handling the a99 with verticle grip and the ZA 135mm is a real task. Hopefully I can get my sea legs back.
So far, the $1,300 purchase was well worth it. The warranty is for 90 days. I should be able to discover any problems in that time frame.
How is you camera working out? Any tips on holding the beast steady?
Al the best.
JT

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:46 am
by Edward
RE: How is you camera working out? Any tips on holding the beast steady?

So far the A99 is fine, but the documentation needs lots of work.

I haven't noticed any issues with holding it steady. When set to Auto it pretty much picks a setting that is fast enough to eliminate any problem. There is a steady shot feature that has to be turned on in the menus.

The IQ is advanced from the A850.

One feature I wanted was the panorama mode, and so far all I get are error messages when I try it.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 3:41 pm
by jbtaylor
I too got the error message on the first few tries. Only when panning very slowly was I able to get a completed image. I cannot imagine a scenario where could pull this off in real time without being able to rest my elbows on a chair. The camera is just too heavy. I will use the RX1 for that purpose.
LT

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:44 am
by Birma
Congratulations to the new A99 owners :)

My A99 spends most of its time on a tripod so holding it steady is a moot point. I haven't used the pano feature on the A99 much, but on my old Nex 6 I got more success with wider angle lenses, and using the view finder so the camera was pulled in close to me, and closer the centre of rotation.

Re: Refurbished A99V

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:10 pm
by Edward
Thanks for the tripod tip. I ordered a new one. Because hand-held panning just doesn't work for me.

My existing tripod is a 35 year old Cullman with a center pipe that now slides down when a camera is on it. So it was time to retire it. -- And it use to work fine with a Minolta X700 and 9000.