Sony a77II discontinued

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bfitzgerald
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Well anything is interesting at the right price that's my take. A68 wouldn't do much for me I can't do with the other cameras unless I wanted a budget video option £399 maybe can't say I'd pay more than that. It's probably fine for many jobs I don't do action much

Film 7 is ideal size for me I rarely use the A77 gripped it's pretty bulky though impresses people if you're into that kind of thing. Only use that for jobs or if I need a full day shooting. I'd prefer a slightly smaller body sometimes A57 meets that. I only got the A77 because it was a bargain price nice to have some extra bits mostly handling not a must have but for me at the time worth getting.

Bar a nice wad of cash flying my direction A99II looks pretty good not very likely to be buying anything for a while. Honestly I have 95% of what I need right here. I even pull out the KM5d's the odd time for a play around
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by alphaomega »

I occasionally use my A58 mostly with Tamron's 18-270 mm zoom. I really only have one complaint, namely the buffer is slow in Raw+Jpeg setting and second shot takes ages to write to card. I think Barry has complained about this silly downgrade by Sony months ago. For my purposes the sensor if very good as is focusing. The A68 would cure this problem, but the cheapest just now is Park Camera at £469. Might go for it if the price drops below £300 at some point. Unlikely. Meantime I will simply use my A6000 if I need a faster buffer.
Frankly, with the A58 for my A mount lenses and A6000 for E mount, as well as the RX100M3 for walk about, Sony will have to wait for a total camera breakdown before I invest in a new camera.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

58 left me a bit cold after a play in the shop wasn't overly impressed never really understood why Sony didn't just take the A57 style body and screen and tweak it. Some say the cheap price would forgive some cut corners at the time it wasn't really much cheaper and took a lot of bits out.

A68 is a bit odd using the A77 body style quite surprised at that. Again you can moan about the low res LCD and I think it shows Sony cutting corners..yet they use a body with a top plate LCD which I hardly ever use on the A77. A58 LCD is usable just pales a bit even next to the A57 time moves on that's about 5 years old that camera the A68 is a year old. At a bargain price I could live with some compromises even the plastic fantastic build and mount. I just don't see the A68 at a price that screams yeah extra body maybe in 6 months or so perhaps bide your time on that one. There are other odd annoyances lack of IR remote the old wired remote. On the other hand you do get MFA and the snazzy new AF and F2.8 central AF sensor and it's a lot cheaper than the A77II and you get quick nav and a few other bits. As with anything you have to weigh up the pros and cons shame the buffer isn't a bit bigger say 12 shots maybe you can manage with 8 raw or the jpegs. Either way it's a bit more interesting than the A58 which brought nothing new to the party.

I'd sit it out on that one price is sure to drop during this year maybe a new A77III will arrive and push down the price on that body
Sometimes it's the small things that make a body I rarely use the memory recall on the A77 once I used the daft smile shutter just to show somebody. But I do use the dual dials and set the AEL to flash comp small things that make life a bit easier. The one feature I do use is the GPS out in remote areas and it's very useful and they removed it entirely from their cameras..sigh
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by classiccameras »

Until something new comes out in the entry/enthusiast range with a few more sensible boxes to tick, I will stay with the A37 and my small collection of Minolta and Sony glass. I never understood why the very popular A55 and later A35/37 compact body style was not continued, they were great cameras to handle and use. The A57 as Barry pointed out should have been tweaked rather than an A58, a A57 ii would have been more logical, but then when was Sony logical!!
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

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I appreciate Barry's knowledgeable comments. I often wondered what was going on in the minds of Sony marketing and development people. I concluded they were trying to "find their feet". At first they thought (wrongly) that they could compete with NIC/CAN in the DSLR market. Then they "fumbled" their way through mirrorless until they arrived at current model series A6000/A7 variants as well as the excellent RX100 series. At the same time they have tried to maintain a presence in the traditional DSLR market with their mirrorless SLT variants. I think that considering that they started from "scratch" (with Minolta throwing in the towel) they have come a long way and Nikon seem to be waning as they don't seem to have have the electronics knowledge required today. With Sony now saying that Nikon and others will not get certain high level sensors for their cameras you can read into that a new found self confidence in their own products. But Barry is right about the weaknesses in their current A-mount line-up. I APS-C they need a good entry, middle and high offering. For full frame I guess the A99 series should do. Is there a need for a cheaper version? With APS-C sensors now so good I would have thought not.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

You could probably write a book about Sony's camera adventures or the digital photo revolution. I just look back 10-15 years or so and see a period where an activity that was always quite popular attempted to become a mainstream product. There have always been photo enthusiasts, it just took off to a point where few would have believed it - camera makers went ga ga overloading the market with tons of compacts, super zooms, DSLR's lots of models. Then bang it all went south...financial crisis hit it as did the phone cameras. The enthusiast market never went away nor will it, but the mass market did. Most people who bought into cameras/gear in a serious way were always there when digital came along it was a big fat cow to milk.

Some say it's the phone cameras partly but not entirely true most people who "bought" a camera back in ye film days got a compact or semi enthusiasts a bridge or SLR. Compact users rarely upgraded there wasn't any point unless you lost the camera or broke it. That part of the market was never sustainable for digital because these users just don't keep buying cameras never did even in film days. Phone cameras got better to a point where many people would skip on replacing or buying a camera so that killed off that old turkey almost - there will still be a market for them just nowhere near the size it used to be.

IMO Sony had a very good chance back in 2006 but they didn't really get what people were looking for so they played around with different ideas hoping something would stick. Maybe E mount will for me the lenses are horribly priced I suspect a good share of their buyers are using Canikon glass on their bodies. For A mount I'd expect a drip of occasional releases maybe the A77III later this year the A99II surprised some..A68 will be around for a bit can't see that getting replaced. A99 is still sold fairly cheap for a FF body so maybe they will keep it going for a bit. I see no point moving mounts.

The open nature of E mount is appealing..that's it's biggest downfall long term you're no longer locked into buying a single lens mount. Can't say the prices on E mount lenses are good compared to the big 2 so it's a non starter for a native system. E mount is a sensor in a body that's the appeal to many. Sony will probably run with 3 bodies for SLT all the makers are struggling Ricoh are losing money on Pentax evidently and Canikon are having problems. Glory days are over..what they are trying to do is get more profits from less sales by targeting the higher end market and price increases or premium stuff. Just like the RX series they're looking for £1000 odd for the latest MkV really a grand for a 1" sensor compact? Fair enough if they get people to buy it ;-)
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Finishing off with a quick ebay browse there are some decent prices on s/h A57/65's or the previous smaller bodies A35/37. One German seller is pumping out A68's at just over £400 new. I think I grew out of wow excitement on cameras a few years back (take a look at the DPR forums even the Canikon ones are pretty slow nowadays). Really about getting the shot even with a less than ideal product I'm pretty sure that's what counts most so fire away and have a browse about. Only advantage buying a new body is the warranty if you have a problem. Worth considering

Don't see the A77II as a good buy right now even if you handed me a grand in cash I probably wouldn't buy one
classiccameras
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by classiccameras »

It seems camera manufacturers rely more and more on products from other manufacturers, Sony censors being a good example. Currently Nikon, Pentax, Olympus and possibly more use Sony censors, Sony are also the biggest Olympus share holder, Independent of that Canon are still very much a stand alone company, and make a large percentage of the cameras/components 'in house'.

Panasonic are another company who make their own sensors, and were at one time used by Olympus, Samsung used to supply Pentax. However it may have gone unnoticed that Some Nikon DSLR's have been using Toshiba censors which was probably more to do with Sony censors being in short supply due to their factory getting flooded out. Sure Canikon DSLR sales are on the decline and have been for a number of years, perhaps this is why Canon have gone mirror less with the M mount. Even now, Canon would be my first choice for another APS-C system if I dumped A mount, its that or M/4/3, there is some fabulous glass especially second hand out there at affordable prices and Canon's UK HQ and repair workshop is just 5 miles from home. As for expensive Compacts with small censors, the manufacturer will extol all the cameras virtues trying to justify the price, but conveniently not talk about the censor size leaving you to find it in the camera specs list. I bet Ricoh sell Pentax in the next 18 Months.
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by jbtaylor »

Just bought a refurbished a77ii on ebay for $650.00. Wanted the best focusing camera for the Tamron 150-600. Will be testing it out shortly.
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the_hefay
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

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I look forward to seeing the results.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

That's a decent price for a refurbished A77II prices are all on the up for the UK ebay I've actually lost very little if I sold my A77 s/h price increases. The older stuff is also worth a look A57/65 due to age quite decent prices old but still useful as they say ;-)

Pentax was never going to be a success story for Ricoh the company wound down their GXR we all knew that was a non starter from day 1 buying a sensor with every lens simply daft thinking. The Pentax FF is quite cheap and looks pretty good really it's all a bit late to grab share off the big players was never going to happen. I'd expect the brand to stick around just like A mount probably will ticking over. Micro 4/3 has done fairly well carving a market out for itself and decent optics better range of bodies at lower price points I know a few video people who use them. I don't have a problem with a 1" sensor seems capable enough prices are sky high as they try to get the best profit margins on these products, hence the increase in premium models they want max return on them. I'm sure the RX100 V is nice the prices just keep ramping up each new release.

If my Fuji X10 dies (done good service so far) I'm really not sure what I'd get to replace it
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by jbtaylor »

"That's a decent price for a refurbished A77II"

Which reminds me, I paid that same price for my back up Minolta 7D back in the day. Seems like we get more these days. Isn't technology grand?
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by CHOLLY »

Yep!
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sury
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by sury »

Wouldn't same amount today be much less back in the day? Seems you are getting FAR more these days. :lol:

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bfitzgerald
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Re: Sony a77II discontinued

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

sury wrote:Wouldn't same amount today be much less back in the day? Seems you are getting FAR more these days. :lol:

Sury
In Europe the words "bargain or deal" rarely have much meaning. I'm sure if I was in the USA I'd be pretty damn happy with prices :D. I know some states have sales tax..it's not nearly as nasty as the horrible VAT which adds (depending on which country you live in) 20% to the price. It was lower DK will know about the previous taxes I think there was one on luxury goods at one point. True it's not on some food items (some that is not fruit/bread etc)

If you dump £2000 on a camera or lens you're paying £400 just in tax you could be Richard Branson or the council worker who saved up for a year you pay the same. Personally I think it's a very poor form of taxation. Only workaround is if you are self employed and VAT registered you can claim it back..if not you can offset the cost (total) as an expense. Mix in some Brexit currency problems and things just got a whole lot more expensive for purchases. For those who do reside in the UK and are now stuck into this process I'd hope they get tariff free trade with Europe and the EU or else that could add even more to imported goods. I'll be applying for EU citizenship if it's made available as I am not in the UK most of the year, so if the pound completely collapses that would be work out quite well for me :mrgreen:
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