7dayshop are selling Sony compatible batteries ( NP-FM500H ) for the a700 for a ridiculously cheap £9.99 at the moment. I bought half a dozen a month ago. I've carried out a test by fully charging one, and periodically putting it in the camera to check the level of charge. ( removing it from the camera afterwards to prevent trickle-draining ).

How did it do ? Well, it retained 100% charge for 20 days, and was down to an indicated 95% after 28 days.

You might ask why I bought 6 spare batteries. 2 reasons - firstly I will be doing a 3 week camping trip in the Andes next year, and recharging facilities will be virtually non-existent so I want to take plenty of fully charged batteries with me. Secondly camera manufacturers have a nasty habit of bringing out new models that need new types of battery, and then the old style batteries become obsolete or difficult to obtain for people who hold onto their older cameras.

Adrian
http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com

For that reason, I picked up a Sony AC-VQ900AM (not to be confused with the AC-SQ950D) which not only charges two batteries in sequence, but can adapt the household AC power to the camera body directly; for that tragic day when my batteries are all dead and replacements are unavailable.

For $150, it's not a very tempting accessory at the moment. I picked it up on sale at Fry's for $50 when Sony released the AC-SQ950D. The newer gadget offers connectivity for multiple sources for power but supplies it only for recharging, and not directly to the camera (a handy gadget, none-the-less).

May I thank Santa for bringing an A700 to my buddy Birma?

Yes Doc, Santa delivered

Wow - it is a revelation to me. I've never used a high(er) end body before (digital or film) and so I suppose I am easily impressed . To me it is like switching between driving a 1990's Ford Fiesta L (small compact) and driving a 2009 BMW 3 series. They will both get you there, but the drive is completely different! When I first pressed the shutter I nearly dropped it as it sounded so different to the A100 and everything happended so much more quickly - wow again. At first I thought it wasn't bigger than the A100, until I put them side by side. The A700 doesn't feel significantly heavier. Very comfortable to hold, although I have always found the A100 nice to hold as well.

So, the first of, I'm sure, many questions. Fitting a lens is a lot more 'stiff' on the A700 (perhaps my A100 was lose?). I must admit there is the tiniest bit of play in a lens when fitted to the A100, there is none of the A700, but this must be a good thing. Do other people find variations between bodies? Is it something that losens over time?

Oh, and the view finder is brilliant! I could go on, but instead I will go and take some more shots. More questions later I expect .

Just realised - I needed to update my signature!

Neat news, Birma. Conratulations!

You deserve such a good camera and even better ones....Santa probably will be more generous when Sony some better ones...

Enjoy!

Yildiz

Congratulations Birma.
Now that you're in pure ecstasy, may the Muses visit you and push you to photograph all around and post them here on this wonderful and enchanted forum.

Welcome to the a700 owners circle! Now go tell Barry Fitzgerald what he's missing.

Yeah Birma, I noticed the lens fit difference as well, they all are very slightly tighter on the A700, there is also now a slight noticable difference between lenses, and I'm talking about KM lenses, so the lens bayonet flange can have slight thickness tolerance variations even in the KM lenses. For example the KM17-35 is very slightly tighter than the KM28-75, the KM100 Macro and the KM24-105 are similar to the KM28-75, the KM100-300APO is very slightly tighter than all of them, and the KM18-200 is very slightly the easiest fit of them all.
Greg

Thanks Greg - glad to hear it's not just me.

Thank you Doc, Yildiz, Kevin and Westcoast

Hope you enjoy your A700 as much as I've enjoyed using mine, please show us some pics once you have settled in with it.

Best wishes

Paul

I am sure you will enjoy using your new A700 a lot. I gave an A100 to my wife when it came out -- after I had 2-3 months to play with it first -- and then got the A700 to replace my Canon 30D. The A700 and A100 are quite different.

Birma,

Delighted to see you finally landed an A700.
I'm sure you will be very happy with it as am I.
No doubt lots of snow shots this week.

Seasons greetings,
Mike

Birma: Good to hear Santa pulled it off for you ;^) Congratulations.

Looking forward to some photos now!

birma

for me also Congratulations with your new camera

you deserve this camera , i am happy for you

best wishes
gustav