May I be guided by you?

[Scooterman]

I will get straight to the point,
My wants are a camera with fast AF and tracking, good metering, IS and good IQ.
What I want it for is Wildlife, birds etc so longer lenses that don’t cost the earth.
I did have a Canon 7D, it was fast but very erratic on focus and metering, also a 1Dmk11n very nice and good for hammering nails in, but far to heavy, and lens costs that make your eyes water.
I don’t require water proofing, as I’m not anyway.
I have been looking at the A550/500, any comments on these two, or alternative suggestions.
I am using at the moment an Olympus E-30, but lens shortages and weight force me to find an alternative system.(NOT Canon or Nikon or even Pentax ).
Regards
Richard

[Dr. Harout]

If it's for wildlife (birding you say) then I guess APS-C should be the choice.
I wonder why you disliked the 7D (though I have a personal dislike to Canon), it should be a good one (except for the weight, I guess.
Your choice for A550 is a good one (as far as I have read), but kind of amazed why not Pentax (they are lightweight).

[Scooterman]

Hi And thanks, The Pentax is an ok system but no good for AF far to slow, the IQ is good but the new SDM lenses are even slower focusing on the K7?
My problem is small birds move quickly so I do require these features in a camera.
I do waterfowl as well as the small stuff and they tend to be a bit slower.
I have tried the Olympus 90-250mm f2.8 on my E-30 but at 3.25KG is not the easiest lens to use on the move.
And as I am disabled (Scooterman ) I do have restrictions.
But I do enjoy what I do.
Regards Richard

[Javelin]

I belong to a camera club full of Canon shooters and I fully understand why you felt the 7d wasn't suitable. All I can say is my A700, focus wise, runs rings around the canons 5dmII level and below cameras. but I can say the people with canon who shoot birds sucessfully use Gustavs technique which is to prefocus a natural looking spot that they commonly land on and shoot in MF mode so you can work with what you have if your willing to go that way.

The other user there that was surprised by the lack of AF use in the Canon members is shooting a Nikon D300 and he does well with birds. we have pentax users but they are very much beginners and can't really comment on how well they focus, we were recently on an outing and they didn't produce too much that they showed and the canon people were showing them how to prefocus a spot..

A friend is shooting bald eagles with an A230 and the kit lenses (550-200). her shots are always in focus but she doesn't have long enough glass for where she shoots from so it's hard to say. I feel though that the focus on that camera and the SSS is a lot better than on my A200 (SSS might even be better than my A700). In auto modes she rarely has a blured picture and thats says a lot becuase she is the essense of beginner. but she has a good eye for composition so she gets very nice results.

[David Kilpatrick]

The A550 plus a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM II lens and 1.4X HSM converter would be a good choice. Like the Canon 7D, you have a bit more pixel density and can crop to match the microfourthirds 12 megapixel tele abilities, more or less. An alternative would be the Sony 70-400mm SSM G, which might just be the ideal solution for your situation, a one-stop lens solution, no need ever to change lenses for 95% of your bird shots.

Prefocusing, together the 7fps manual focus/exposure burst mode, is one very good way to use the A550. But with an HSM or SSM lens, the focus should be fast enough for many subjects.

David

[Scooterman]

I know what you mean, I was out with my friend he uses Canon he has a 5Dmk11 that he used and his 100mm canon macro.
We were at the Butterfly Zoo on the river Wye not far from me, he had real problems getting shots, where as my E-30 with a Sigma 105mm had loads of “Keepers” , as you may guess I like my E-30 but the longer lenses are just not there for my bird shots so I do require a camera lens combination that will do the job for me.
Yes, the Nikon D300 has good AF and every thing else, there is one big but, and that is lenses with VR are not cheap, about twice the price of normal lenses and they weigh a ton.
So I am looking at the A550, I do think the A850 being full frame, there for even longer lenses and more weight.
I do not want Video in my stills camera, the 7D had it I think but I never even switched it on.
Do you Guys think the A550 will do it for me or should I wait for the A700 replacement and that I’m told won’t be long now?
Regards
Richard

[Scooterman]

The A550 plus a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 HSM II lens and 1.4X HSM converter would be a good choice. Like the Canon 7D, you have a bit more pixel density and can crop to match the microfourthirds 12 megapixel tele abilities, more or less. An alternative would be the Sony 70-400mm SSM G, which might just be the ideal solution for your situation, a one-stop lens solution, no need ever to change lenses for 95% of your bird shots.

Prefocusing, together the 7fps manual focus/exposure burst mode, is one very good way to use the A550. But with an HSM or SSM lens, the focus should be fast enough for many subjects.

David

You could be right there David, lens weight 1.5kg (Sony 70-400). (But I do hate doing too much cropping.)
I have the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 mk2 HSM in four thirds, but that is still at Sigma service dept been there since Feb this year, I may be getting it back next week!
That combination would be spot on for the times when I go to Peter Scotts place, Slimbridge.
The last time I took the Olympus 90-250mm f2.8 it weighs 3.25KG, not the easiest combination to take, impressive to look at but no good if you want to use it.
Regards
Richard

[Greg Beetham]

I think shooting tweety birds is going to be just like it always is no matter what equipment you have, really difficult. From my experience they tend to hang around in thckets and move about a good deal, I don't think it's just to annoy and frustrate us, I think it's because they always are potentially lunch for some raptor. Thus you have to contend with the subject being backlit sporadically and moments later some intervening leaf or twig getting in the way and screwing up the AF system etc. it's just the way it is.
As Javelin said, probably the best bet is a hide like Gustave uses (if you have plenty of time to kill that is), you can try to find a nest and study the behavour pattern, the parents sometimes use a particular approach path, then you could use the pre-focus + hide method, and/or get them at the nest.
Myself, I've sometimes harboured secret thoughts of trapping em and supergluing them onto a branch.
On the odd times I've had time to try this futile pursuit since going digital I really haven't noticed all that much difference between the A100 and the A700, they both can get fooled by a confusing subject movement-exposure-location, although the A700 does have very slightly faster AF I think (in standard, accurate mode, faster in fast AF, but maybe not as accurate).
Although I don't own one I've seen the results and it's on my lust list, the 70-400G I think is a must for that kind of work, the only thing I'm not sure of is how fast it focusses.
The camera is up to you, you can give the A550 a try (I don't own one of them either), but I might be inclined to wait for the A700 replacement myself, that is if you're patient, there is apparently new A700's still available (so they say, I haven't checked).
Greg

[UrsaMajor]

The camera is up to you, you can give the A550 a try (I don't own one of them either), but I might be inclined to wait for the A700 replacement myself, that is if your patient, there is apparently new A700's still available (so they say, I haven't checked).

As of about 10 days ago, the SonyStyle store near me had two New-In-Box A700 bodies in stock for sale at $599. They also had a couple of A700 kits, one with an 18-70mm lens and one with a 16-105mm lens. I did not really pay attention to those prices, but I think they were $799 and $999.

Of course, this is no guarantee that other stores have them elsewhere in the US, let alone in Oz.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[Argonaut]

Tom - which store had the a700s? Was it the outlet in Camarillo?

Thanks

[KevinBarrett]

Just to muddy the waters a bit, I've been processing a load of wildlife pictures from Yellowstone and all I had with me was a 70-210/4 which, most of the time, was long enough for bison and elk, but far too short for birds, big-horn sheep, and grizzly bears. I came back planning for a new super-telephoto lens. Under consideration now is the new Sigma 120-400, but would I be better off with a Sigma 70-200/2.8 + 2X tc?

[WaltKnapp]

Do you Guys think the A550 will do it for me or should I wait for the A700 replacement and that I’m told won’t be long now?
Regards
Richard

Well for bird shooting I use MLU a lot when shooting from a tripod, and the a550 does not have that. DOF preview is also a miss and I do use it a fair amount too. I also like the Fn system of the a700 much better. And I use DMF and the easy toggling from AF to MF a lot with my a700s. For me, the a550 is missing too much of the fundamentals. Read through the a550's specs carefully, and it's owner's manual and make sure it's going to have the features you use. Don't assume anything is there, no matter how basic.

With what you were using before you would probably find a more comfortable home with the a700. The replacement is guessed to turn up at Photokina, but there is no confirmation from Sony. As far as what it will have we only know video is included and not much else. If it's a true improved replacement for the a700 it will undoubtedly be better than the a550, but we don't know what will come from Sony, who seem to only want to talk video about it. It is, of course, still possible to find a700s, a few new and also used. At really good prices for what you get.

I agree, if you can afford it, the 70-400G is probably top choice it's a very good lens, worth it's price. It might be a bit short depending on how far off those small birds are, personally I'd not go after small wild birds with lenses without at least that reach. Short lenses can work, but much less often. I use the 70-400G for wildlife on good tripod with Wimberley gimbal (and sometimes smaller heads), Kirk Window mount with their Cobra gimbal, Beanbags, and sort of handheld with the BushHawk shoulder mount, which is a good portable solution. I only rarely use it pure handheld. It can be used with a 1.4TC and even AFs with the Kenko 300 1.4x TC, though not very fast there. I very often use the technique described of prefocusing a spot anyway. And am no stranger to MF.

A second lens that will give you good service and IQ is the Tamron 200-500. I have one, though it sees less use now that I have the 70-400G which is a little better IQ, especially in the wide open aperture use. I've done a lot of comparison between the two. It's staying for the longer reach without having to use a TC. Waiting something like a 300-600G or such

Walt

[Greg Beetham]

I agree with Walter, the A700 replacement may not have all the functions and features that we want and need in a good camera, if Sony keep doing what they've been doing of late.
I don't know why Sony don't have a master switch that just dissables the features that still shooter want and expect to be there, the ones that seemingly interfere with the video feature that so many apparently are keen on being added into a still camera, then those who just want a prosumer still camera don't ever need to activate the switch at all, those who want video can switch the camera over into a makeshift video cam to their hearts content....bliss and serenity all-round.
Greg

[UrsaMajor]

Tom - which store had the a700s? Was it the outlet in Camarillo?

No, it was the store in Costa Mesa, at South Coast Plaza mall.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[WaltKnapp]

I don't know why Sony don't have a master switch that just disables the features that still shooter want and expect to be there, the ones that seemingly interfere with the video feature that so many apparently are keen on being added into a still camera, then those who just want a prosumer still camera don't ever need to activate the switch at all, those who want video can switch the camera over into a makeshift video cam to their hearts content....bliss and serenity all-round.
Greg

Unfortunately what makes a good video camera vs a good still camera is not only software, so the switch would have to have the ability to transform the camera hardware, including the lenses. Like the kids' transformers Putting both into a camera is a compromise that cannot be avoided. Want top quality in either it's got to be one way.

Maybe the NEX video camera that's coming out will be the start of sanity on this. I'm sure it won't be just Sony doing video cameras with larger sensors and lenses now.

Walt