Alpha 100 versus Alpha 77

[Dr. Harout]

David, please do comment on the EVF. I guess that too is one of the most delicate aspects of the a77.

[hrstrat57-RI]

I am most anxious to see A 77 results posted with vintage Maxxum glass in front of the camera.....I wish you still had your beercan.

Dropped my A 700 and torn between buying another A700 from KEH, switching to EOS and 7D or holding out for the A77.

The large collection of beloved Minolta Maxxum glass that I have is holding me back from switching systems.....I really like the 7D very intuitive camera, quite impressed.

At this point tho due to my love of the Maxxum lens collection that I have I am leaning towards the used A700 as I have the vertical grip as well and use it constantly. My backup A 100 is filling in nicely at the moment, thank goodness. It remains a really great camera IMHO.

Still mulling.....

[Greg Beetham]

Yes a full rundown by Sony on which A-mount lenses (Minolta, KM and Sony) having compatibility problems with the A77 would be good, as well as some tests at 24MP in decent ambient conditions.
I sort of wonder about Sony producing a supposedly A700 replacement (A77) that is not fully compatible with A-mount lenses; as David mentioned even late model Sony lenses may have issues. So we really need to know which lenses have issues and exactly what the issues are. Maybe it’ll end up being another carpet and broom job….compatibility issues? What compatibility issues?
And another thing, what about the system flash question? I don’t think anyone has done any tests with a few flash units yet, I’d be interested to know if the F56 is fully compatible.
Ideally what we need is a proper A700 replacement with an OVF, one that fixes the control wheel bug and the faulty flash i-shoe and has a good sensor like the NEX16n, the A77 is fine for those who want a camera that can focus during video but if it introduces more glitches and compatibility problems what’s the point?
Sony we need both types of camera if you can’t build an A77 that is glitch free and up to the mark for still shooters.
Greg

[redsim74]

Yes a full rundown by Sony on which A-mount lenses (Minolta, KM and Sony) having compatibility problems with the A77 would be good

Sorry, did I miss something? Are there reported issues with non-Sigma lenses as well?

[bakubo]

Sorry, did I miss something? Are there reported issues with non-Sigma lenses as well?

David recently reported that his A77 locked up and he believes it is because he mounted his Sony 28-75mm f2.8 SAM on it:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... 768#p61125

So, in addition to worrying about Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Minolta, and Konica Minolta lenses, one should also be careful with Sony lenses.

[OneGuyKs]

Sorry, did I miss something? Are there reported issues with non-Sigma lenses as well?

David recently reported that his A77 locked up and he believes it is because he mounted his Sony 28-75mm f2.8 SAM on it:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... 768#p61125

So, in addition to worrying about Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Minolta, and Konica Minolta lenses, one should also be careful with Sony lenses.

What's the point of sarcasm here? It's already known to be a firmware issue.

[bakubo]

What's the point of sarcasm here? It's already known to be a firmware issue.

Great! I have been waiting to see the Sony press release and notice on their website. You are the first person I have seen to say they have acknowledged the problem and stated that firmware will fix it. It would be great to have the link on the Sony website with the info so it can be passed around. The word on your rumor website said Sony didn't bother to test their firmware before releasing the A77. If that is true I hope this time they do.

By the way, I just saw a report of an A65 owner who said his camera also locked up so he had to return it.

[David Kilpatrick]

Having reversed the lock problem once, I decided to try my Sigma 8-16mm and 70-300mm OS. Both lenses appear to work well and did not affect the camera. However, the 28-75mm had been OK or a dozen shots and a couple of short video clips.

David

[kiwibee]

David - I intend buying the A77 when it finally arrives in NZ(!), and am therefore interested in any useful forum topics, like this one is. BUT could you please get rid of that ridiculous dansoft.com nonsense. Many forum administrators disallow such additions to signatures.

[David Kilpatrick]

The Dansoft sig is only able to show the user their own info, and I find it useful, especially when on the road and using subscription wifi or hotspots with our bundled roaming access. It's not important I know and it is a bit naff. But it's helped inform me when BT has changed the IP assigned to my connection and to confirm which of our two networks I'm working through.

I had a very odd issue yesterday with Adobe trying to deactivate my laptop's CS5. Seems to have been down to the IP change though I thought they worked from the computer's serial number/identity. CS5 kept working which was a relief - with a message saying I had exceeded my installs because it still thought my roaming BTOpenzone connection was a different computer, not a different IP only.

David

[bfitzgerald]

A more interesting (and probably of more use overall) would be to compare 16mp to 24mp where you should see a less dramatic difference between them.

I'll be the lone voice of not supporting this move to 24mp simply because so few people will actually need or require such high resolution images bar some specialist areas you will however see much higher requirements for storage esp raw files too.
I suspect very few photographers would consider 24mp as a major appeal point with the new SLT models.

As I have said before there is so much more to IQ than purely resolution it would be useful to explore these areas too.

[David Kilpatrick]

Agreed Barry. My one wish-list item for the A77 would be to allow different sized JPEGs or even different sized RAW. At the moment, if you want RAW+JPEG you are stuck with 24 megapixel JPEGs and that's not much use. I have just shot one event using 6 megapixel JPEGs at iSO 3200, the final required image size is only 1000 pixels anyway, and the A77 produces great sharpness and noise (just a faint mottled look to even tones) at 6 megapixels where 4 source pixels are creating one final pixel.

sandraparris-ukwedding.jpg (234.41 KiB) Viewed 4572 times

Nothing special about the shot, except that I was able to get it easily without needing flash and it's eyelash and hair sharp at 6 megapixel full size.

Sandra Parris receiving Fujifilm portrait photographer of the year trophy from Jon Cohen of Fuji and Dave Lee Travis.

David

[Greg Beetham]

Barry, trust me, you aren’t the lone voice objecting to the 24MP APS-C sensor, I thought it was ridiculous right from the start, a 50% increase over the last Sony APS-C sensor. When David pointed out about the advantage of the 24MP just for the purpose of using it at 12MP or 6MP I began to think maybe it’s not so bad after all, a round about way of achieving a better 12MP or 6MP image in bad light than an actual 12MP or 6MP camera can, I don’t know if that holds in good light though.
I can see another advantage of 24MP, and that is in scenic work, providing the lens is up to the task, I doubt that I would frequently want 24MP apart from some scenic shots though.
Greg

[stevecim]

Are there any DSLR that allow you to take different size RAW.
To me it sounds like the good solution for everyone?
What would every one think if you could set the A65/77 to 24MP, 18MP , 12MP , and 6MP for raw?

[redsim74]

Are there any DSLR that allow you to take different size RAW.

I think Canon might, at least in some cameras.

I'd be interested in a reduced RAW option also, even if it was just for 12MP.