A700 Owner Advice

[Birma]

I've had a tip-off from one of Santa's elves that my stocking this year may contain an A700 and so I have some questions for the A700 users out there.

1. I understand that the battery in the A700 is backwards compatible with the A100, but can you charge the A700 battery with the A100 charger?

2. I have the screen protector and Memory Stick covered. Is there anything else I should be thinking off? (It comes with a hot shoe cover I think?)

3. I use the Sigma 70-300 which I vaguely remember sometimes has issues with the A700 regarding "stripping gears". Do I just avoid this lens on the camera, or accept the risk on the expectation that Sigma will fix it if it happens?

4. I noticed some interesting setting suggestions from Gustav in the Handbags thread http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =17&t=3473 . Any other shooting advice? I think there is a suggestion to use either ISO 160 or 320 as base ISO.

Looking forward to your informative answers.

[Johnc]

It is a super camera and I am sure you will have hours of fun (and learning?) with it.
Your best investment will be a proper handbook - http://friedmanarchives.com/alpha700/index.htm

Consider a second battery. (I have feeling the A100 will not work, but not sure)
Also suggest a UV lens filter - also keeps lens clean.
I invested in a 500GB external usb drive for notebook and general backup, esp when traveling.
Enjoy and many happy snaps.
John

[Greg Beetham]

I've had a tip-off from one of Santa's elves that my stocking this year may contain an A700 and so I have some questions for the A700 users out there.

1. I understand that the battery in the A700 is backwards compatible with the A100, but can you charge the A700 battery with the A100 charger?

Yes, the charger that came with my A700 is exactly the same as the A100 one, the only downside is you can't use the A100 batteries in the A700. I got a grip as well, with another battery, that does increase the bulk and weight a fair bit, also the camera no longer fits in my backpack with the grip on, but it does fit ok in my Toploader 75AW, I might have to look for a deeper backpack at some point.

2. I have the screen protector and Memory Stick covered. Is there anything else I should be thinking off? (It comes with a hot shoe cover I think?)

It does come with a hot shoe cover, that I've always taken off anyway, on my KM5D, A100 and A700 and put into a pocket of a case and forgot about it.

3. I use the Sigma 70-300 which I vaguely remember sometimes has issues with the A700 regarding "stripping gears". Do I just avoid this lens on the camera, or accept the risk on the expectation that Sigma will fix it if it happens?

I have switched the A700 to the 'slow' focus mode, but I can't tell if it's actually slow, it seems as quick as the A100 or quicker....

4. I noticed some interesting setting suggestions from Gustav in the Handbags thread http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =17&t=3473 . Any other shooting advice? I think there is a suggestion to use either ISO 160 or 320 as base ISO.

As I mentioned in my reply to Gustav, the in camera enhancements settings only affect the camera JPEG (as far as I know), except for the noise reduction for High ISO and possibly the WB settings that is.

Looking forward to your informative answers.

[Javelin]

I've had a tip-off from one of Santa's elves that my stocking this year may contain an A700 and so I have some questions for the A700 users out there.

1. I understand that the battery in the A700 is backwards compatible with the A100, but can you charge the A700 battery with the A100 charger?

batteries and charger are the same.

2. I have the screen protector and Memory Stick covered. Is there anything else I should be thinking off? (It comes with a hot shoe cover I think?)

Hot shoe cover has a spot to store it on the viewfinder cover on the strap. Mine is either on the camera or on the strap.

3. I use the Sigma 70-300 which I vaguely remember sometimes has issues with the A700 regarding "stripping gears". Do I just avoid this lens on the camera, or accept the risk on the expectation that Sigma will fix it if it happens?

thats sigma has been blowing up on all cameras not just Sony. and not just the A700

4. I noticed some interesting setting suggestions from Gustav in the Handbags thread http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =17&t=3473 . Any other shooting advice? I think there is a suggestion to use either ISO 160 or 320 as base ISO.

I don't bother. but i'm not as sensitive to "defects" in the pictures.

Looking forward to your informative answers.

[Greg Beetham]

Hey Jav ol' pal, the battery that came with the A100 is the NP-FM55H, and the battery that comes with the A700 is the NP-FM500H, the only physical difference in appearance is the groove down the middle of the A700 battery. I guess when the A100 batteries finally don't hold a good charge any more (mine are still fine), I'd replace them with the A700 battery.
Greg

[david antony]

Hi Birma and congratulations with your presumptive Santa gift! Hope the Elves are well informed.

I had the Sigma 70-300 APO. never mounted it on my A200, sold it to an A100 owner who knew about the gear issue. The gears stripped in just over a week! Sonolta used his Sigma 70-300 a lot without problem with the A700. I think you might be OK using slow focus. MF for sure ;^)

[Birma]

Many thanks to John, Greg, Javelin and David for all your comments.

It is a super camera and I am sure you will have hours of fun (and learning?) with it.
Your best investment will be a proper handbook - http://friedmanarchives.com/alpha700/index.htm

I have seen this mentioned before and I will definitely check it out. I'm still learning how to use the A100 and so the A700 is pure indulgence (on Santa's part of course ). The A700 is becoming difficult to obtain around here and so if I (Santa?) was ever going to do it then it had to be now.

Yes, the charger that came with my A700 is exactly the same as the A100 one, the only downside is you can't use the A100 batteries in the A700. I got a grip as well, with another battery, that does increase the bulk and weight a fair bit, also the camera no longer fits in my backpack with the grip on, but it does fit ok in my Toploader 75AW, I might have to look for a deeper backpack at some point.

I have switched the A700 to the 'slow' focus mode, but I can't tell if it's actually slow, it seems as quick as the A100 or quicker....

This is good news. I can ask the elves to charge up the new battery with my exisiting charger so we will be good to go on the big day! Good point about carrying it around. I've never owned two dslrs before so I can see that you can get in to a debate of which to take, or take both and carry more. There are worse dilemmas .

Hot shoe cover has a spot to store it on the viewfinder cover on the strap. Mine is either on the camera or on the strap.

thats sigma has been blowing up on all cameras not just Sony. and not just the A700

Top tip Javelin, for the hotshoe cover. I can see that I will have to decide whether to take the risk on the Sigma or eventually upgrade my telephoto range.

Hi Birma and congratulations with your presumptive Santa gift! Hope the Elves are well informed.

I had the Sigma 70-300 APO. never mounted it on my A200, sold it to an A100 owner who knew about the gear issue. The gears stripped in just over a week! Sonolta used his Sigma 70-300 a lot without problem with the A700. I think you might be OK using slow focus. MF for sure ;^)

These Elves have been reliable so far . Top tip about slow focus, and even MF - this gives me an option of using the lens risk-free at least.

[bossel]

Good luck and greetings to Santa! You're going to love that A700!

[kingfisher]

hi birma

first congratulations with your new camera the A700

every day i work with the camera , i think .......... this is a great camera

for me , my settings are holy
the best iso for your camera is 200 ISO
that is the iso where the camera are calibrated is

best wishes
gustav

[aster]

I'm glad Santa is loaded with gifts rather sooner than his annual schedule this year, Birma.

All the best on its arrival and hope to see your captures with it. Hopefully, there'll be no problems that'll be of annoyance that causes any waste of your precious time.

Good luck,

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

Birma, 11 days to go... cheer up, Santa visits us on New Year's eve.
Don't ask questions on A700. Just feel it, touch it, caress it and you'll understand (what on earth am I saying?).
Do not bother for the settings, just shoot in RAW, and when in high ISO just slide the exposure compensation to the right a bit. And don't forget to shut down the High ISO NR.
I'll congratulate you on that Day.

[KevinBarrett]

Birma, congratulations! All I can say is enjoy all the growing room the a700 offers. What settings do I use? Hmm, let's see...since I don't know exactly what the use of an a100 is like, I'll be exhaustive:

First off, bump all your NR settings down or off. Set your AF area to "local" and enjoy all eleven AF points. Program your custom button to something deliciously handy, like "White Balance," "AF Area," or, "Memory." You'll have exterior buttons for nearly everything else, anyway. Get familiar with your control dial setup, it is completely customizable. As well, your AF/MF button and AEL buttons can be programed to work while you hold them or toggle on and off with one press, pick what you like.

That should get you started in exploring your options. Now onto something I found challenging when I moved up from my Maxxum 5...storage! The a700 is a big, heavy camera. In my experimentation, it deforms most smaller or insubstantial camera bags including the Lowepro Slingshot 200AW. Complicating matters more is the use of the vertical grip (which I highly recommend, as they are cheap, handy, and add weather-proofing to your battery compartment). What I finally got was a Lowepro Nova 4 AW, which, when configured correctly, holds the a700+VG in a lens-down holster fashion with lens attached (up to 70-300), plus every other lens listed in your profile (minus the 18-70). With all this, or a large flash gun in place of a telephoto lens, there's still room in the main compartment for a couple of bulky filter cases and a rocket blower. Access is super fast.

[Greg Beetham]

Hi KB, I have a Nova 4 AW in my collection, I agree it's a good bag, the only thing I found that bugged me (personal preference), is that the lid opens toward you when you are carrying it, thus one has to just about put the bag on the ground to access the inside, although in reality that's the same with a backpack, you have to lie it down on it's back to get the camera out as well, (what with those long zips down the side).
The toploaders aren't bad, you can put a couple of ziplock lens pouches on the side, and the lid opens away from you so you can easily access the camera in a hurry without having to look for a dry mud free spot...I have a complaint though, my 75 AW has ziplock loops on the side like my 65 AW (home for the A100), but they stuffed up the stitching on the 75 AW, I can put two lens pouches and two of the square shaped pouches on the 65 AW, a total of 4 accessory pouches, (the loops are of equal size on the side of the 65 AW), the 75 AW has an over sized main central loop and the loops on either side are as a consequence too small to insert the tongue of the ziplock, now I'll have to think about unpicking the stitching and re-stitching the loops properly...grrr
Greg

[Birma]

Thanks to Bossel, Gustav, Yildiz, Doc, Kevin and Greg. All the information will be very useful in setting up the new camera - it is much appreciated. I am definitely going to have to go bag shopping in the new year.

[Highlandsnapper]

My A100 Battery did NOT fit my A700 because of the groove down the middle on the A700 Battery.