Photoclubalpha

I notice that Eye Start has been added to the a550 but wasn't available on the a900. Does this indicate that Sony rather bizarrely thinks it is an 'amateur feature'. Has it been added back to the a850?

How useful is eye start with no grip sensors? Answer...erm not very.
I disable it on the A200, most of the time it's just plain annoying as the camera goes off when you carry it via neckstrap.
On the bodies I have that do have grip sensors, I leave it on..as this annoying going off problem is gone..as it requires both sensors to activate eye start (grip and eye)

Well, it still works without grip sensors so the answer is 'as useful as it is with grip sensors' - which is very useful as far as I'm concerned. The lens whirring while carrying the camera can be annoying but isn't a good reason to leave the feature off in my view.

The question remains: is it present on the a850? If they took it off because of the grip sensor - well, the a550 doesn't have a grip sensor either, does it, so do Sony consider it an 'amateur feature'?

I gave up trying to predict Sony a long time ago.

I shall have to disagree with you on this. Eye start is not a big deal, it's "a nice cherry", but far from essential. I have bodies that don't have it, and I cannot say I am upset about that. It can be useful at times, but I don't feel it is very well implemented when no grip sensors are present. It's damn annoying in many ways! I might leave it on the A200 "if" I am doing some action shots, but I'll soon turn it off for general use. It's in no way as useful without grip sensors

I have no idea why Sony cannot add some kind of grip of pressure sensor to the bodies, but there you go.
Yes maybe they do consider it an "amateur" feature.

There´s only one able to answer the initial question: Sony...

First time I had it on a camera, I thought ´nice´ and was pleased with the innovation. Two weeks later I switched it off forever. I am now pleased it´s taken off, makes one parameter less to set. The sensor now serves to save batttery, which imo would be in contradiction with eye start and the rather quite a lot more than just a bit annoying whirring when carrying the camera around. I´m happy Sony made that choice.

I'd rather they had put a grip sensor in along with the eyestart. I did not like having it turned off one little bit. the extra 1/10's of a second it saves by starting up the focus and waking the camera are huge and not so much for sports shots in my case. at the time I was photographing children and getting a fleeting expression was tough to begin with.

Nickel is the best thing to use for it but I could be gold or platinum to to bring the same or better conductivity but they don't have the wear resistance nickle has. you guys should make an issue about this with your euro govern mets. They need to be more careful with writing their regs. the whole thing is silly.

Nickel is restricted in use for the EU, for items in contact with human skin. So that one is out the window.

Lots of alternative they can use, if they want to. A pressure sensor would be just fine as well

I still think they're a bunch a jackasses...dreaming up that one, I wonder how long they hold their teaspoon for while they stir their tea or coffee? not too mention their knife and fork for dinner, and what about that ol' tablespoon when they eat their morning cereal, it's mind-boggling how much contact with 316/304 (whatever) that adds up to in a year, their hospitals should be full of people with ss poisoning...
Greg

No idea on the Nickel thing. I have no allergies, but some say 10% of folks do..not a doctor so think of that what you may.

The EU is mostly a stomping ground for failed domestic politicians, who get bored and think up stupid things, such as a tax on cameras with HD video units that record for xyz minutes etc..duh!
On paper the EU sounds like a good idea, in reality it's just another talking shop, and a cushy little number for politicians who could never do a real days work to save their lives!

Aren't frets on musical instruments nickel? Maybe that's why so many rock guitarists are crazy...

Nickel silver, or 'German silver' - usually an alloy containing some nickel, some tin, maybe some copper, probably very little silver. Also sometimes known as 'Dutch metal' because of where the fretwire was made - Holland or Germany. Despite the shift of manufacture to Korea and China, any decent fretwire still comes from Europe or the USA.

I can understand the nickel allergy thing. I know I don't have it as I have used nickel plated equipment many times over the years (most Leica plating over brass was nickel). I do have a zinc allergy and can't wear zinc plasters, end up with a perfect red patch the size of the plaster.

David

this ban came about because of the popularity of body piercings and the cheap studs that were used were nickel instead of gold or silver. there were some horrendous injuries from it because people thought the infection would pass. the problem is the way it's written is too broad.