Headsup Sony A700 £274 in-store clearance @ Currys UK

[Highlandsnapper]

I though about a second body at this price but i really dont need one.

"Sony A700 semi-pro DSLR body only £274.97 in-store clearance @ Currys"

Its Pot luck if your local store has any left, they were also selling A700 with kit lens for £400

Apparently if PC-World has any A700's instock currys can arrange for you to get that one.

Good luck if anyone gets there hands on one.

[David Kilpatrick]

One day too late. I got a search about the same time you reported this, and there were none left which could be traced - but callers may have been lucky. Certainly there were none in Scotland.

David

[Highlandsnapper]

I did see there was one somewhere near Edinburgh. But I dont know whereabouts, sorry.

[Richard T]

I've been lucky enough to get one , a bit rough so managed a further discount to cover a clean up & service, but seems new - is there a way to check the number of actuations it's had ? Initial impression are that it reacts so much faster than my A100, the shutter button is like a hair trigger - I keep taking shots when I don't mean to !
Wish me luck as I head off down the A700 road, I feel it could be bumpy !
Richard T

[Birma]

Congratulations Richard - that is a cracking price . From seeing this question with answers on other forums I don' think you can see actual actuations. I understand you can reset the files numbering so this doesn't help. Good luck on the A100 to A700 conversion. I'm about to start the same thing in about 2 days time. Are you planning on keeping the A100? At the moment I think I will, but I'm looking forward to doing some comparisons.

[Richard T]

Thanks Birma, I was very lucky & went into the store assuming they would all have gone. I had been veering towards the 550 as an upgrade but this seemed too good to miss in these hard times ! I think you will really enjoy the transition, I've done the v4 upgrade and all seems well so far. The legendary Agrobasta settings seem a bit heavy but I suspect they will be a good base for pp.
Good luck & Happy Xmas

[lepidopteran]

Oh Yippee !!
This must surely be an indication that the Sony reps have advised them to get shot of them quickly because the extremely long overdue replacement is about to be released. I certainly hope so. I've been using my a700 for 2 years and it's an absolutely fantastic camera, really feels like you are using a tool not a toy, great ergonomics and excellent images.

Sony really are lagging behind Canon 50D and Nikon D90 in terms of specification though, but they have had a long time to work on the new camera, so when it comes it should be something special.

Unfortunately Sony are lagging even further behind when it comes to optics, and it is because of this that I might be tempted, despite the cost of a system switch, to convert to Nikon or Canon. Sony, are you listening ?????

When are you going to bring out a 100mm ( or thereabouts ) macro lens with optical image stabilisation, ultra fast & silent focussing at macro distances, and an affordable price ?

Canon have the new 100mm IS macro which I've tried out on friends cameras and beats the hell out of using my slow focussing, noisy Sigma 105mm on the a700. Nikon have taken up the gauntlet with the new 85mm VR macro, and a bargain price. Sony just have the very slow focussing, ex-Minolta 100mm job, which is fine optically and mechanically but not really usable when you are shooting butterflies in the tropics - they don't stay in one place long enough to get away with manual focussing. I get better results with the Sigma 105mm which is a bit faster to use, but nowhere near the speed of the Canon IS.

Adrian
http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com

[David Kilpatrick]

Even expecting to use AF on a macro is a new thing. I very rarely do, at least not for close-ups, no matter what system I am using. The Nikon VR 105mm macro was extremely disappointing optically, I have not tried the Canon IS - they must have done better given the criticism levelled at Nikon for putting IS into a lens intended for ultimate resolution. IS and the highest resolution standards don't go together, as it's an optical compromise - though often a very good compromise today.

Every time I try a lens which appears to offer much faster focusing with AF, in a specification like 100-105mm macro (or longer teles) I find that it is using internal focusing in such a way that you are really only using a 60mm macro (for example). What I valued about 100mm macro lenses originally was the working distance, which allowed photography without casting shadows or disturbing insects. The old manual focus MD macro was perfect, a true lens head on a focusing tube. The Minolta AF design is a good compromise, it does lose some focal length by a combination of overall and internal focusing, but I'll but the Canon design loses 1/3rd or more of its 100mm.

When the 50mm and 100mm macro lenses are finally discontinued and replaced by internal focusing SSM or SAM models, I'll bet there are howls of anguish and claims that the old designs were far superior!

David

[alphaomega]

lepidopteran wrote:

When are you going to bring out a 100mm ( or thereabouts ) macro lens with optical image stabilisation, ultra fast & silent focussing at macro distances, and an affordable price ? (presumably addressed to Sony)

Excuse my ignorance but why would Sony even contemplate a lens with inbuilt image stabilization when all DSRLs have SSS built in? Does not make sense to me.
I bought a new A700 a couple of months ago for £500. Thought I got a good deal. Maybe I should have waited for this one. £274 is just unbelievable for a new A700.

[lepidopteran]

Hi

Sony's built-in image stabilisation has proven in numerous tests to be at least as effective as optical image stabilisation in terms of the final result.

However as someone who has used ( borrowed ) Canon and Nikon optically stabilised lenses ( and as an unbiased Sony a700 user ) I can assure you that optical stabilisation is a great deal better in practical usage, because unlike in-camera stabilisation it freezes the image in the viewfinder, which makes composition considerably easier and far more pleasant when using macro, telephoto or long heavy lenses. Once you have tried both methods, I guarantee you will prefer to use optical stabilisation.

Also, getting back to the autofocus issue, I find the noise made by the in-camera focus motors to be irritating at times, and it often scares nervous butterflies into flight, which is why I usually end up using manual focus. This defeats the point of having autofocus. Sony have already started to fit silent focus motors to some of their more popular lenses, so they are obviously aware of the problem.

Ideally I'd like to stay with Sony as I love the handling of the a700 and a900, and doubtless the a700 replacement will be superb, but if the lenses I need are unavailable, it's Nikon or Canon who will get my money next time.

So I reiterate my plea to Sony to bring out an affordable 100mm macro lens with silent, rapid and reliable autofocus - and optical image stabilisation.

Adrian
http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com

[David Kilpatrick]

We have one optically stabilised lens for Sony, the Sigma 18-250mm. While there are benefits for those with unsteady hands at 250mm - that includes Shirley, she really likes the stable image - I find really accurate composition tedious with OS lenses. You try to move the camera 1mm to get exactly the crop you want, and the lens wanders off 2mm then back meaning you have to do fine composition adjustments very slowly and smoothly. If you have to grab a shot, the OS often adjusts your framing involuntarily.

The point about Canon's 100mm is the second mode which compensates for lateral offset shake rather than rotational shake. Even if Sony did introduce an OS macro, I doubt they would be able to copy this. It's more likely, I think, that Sigma will introduce a single mode 105mm OS-HSM macro in Alpha mount.

David

[lepidopteran]

Hi David

Thanks for your comments, I agree that Sony are unlikely to bring out the lens I want in the forseeable future, and also that Sigma will probably bring out an image stabilised, silent motor version of their excellent 105mm macro, probably sometime late next year. I'm sure they must have an OS version under development, as the 105mm macro is an extremely popular lens. In the meantime I await seeing test reports of the new 85mm VR macro from Nikon, and will then decide whether to buy that ( and a D90 ) , or whether to stick with the a700, and get the new a7xxx ( or the a850 ) as a second body. I don't need full frame, but I do need the durability, quality and lack of gimmicry that the a850 offers, so might be tempted....

Adrian
www.learnaboutbutterflies.com

[RubberDials]

One day too late. I got a search about the same time you reported this, and there were none left which could be traced - but callers may have been lucky. Certainly there were none in Scotland.

David

Would you have bought another one, David?

I had the chance to get one of these two days before Christmas and I passed on it after some thought because I already have an a100 and an a350. The a700 is a very nice camera and a bargain (obviously) at £274 but it wouldn't have improved my photography.

That was my third and presumably last time of 'almost' buying an a700! I guess it won't happen again now.

[David Kilpatrick]

Yes, I think I would have bought another one, and sold an A350. I've been editing A700 pix from a while back as part of my New Year HD clearup and trawl for any missed shots which should have gone to Alamy, and I am more than impressed with some of the A700 pix.

David

[Heidfirst]

However as someone who has used ( borrowed ) Canon and Nikon optically stabilised lenses ( and as an unbiased Sony a700 user ) I can assure you that optical stabilisation is a great deal better in practical usage, because unlike in-camera stabilisation it freezes the image in the viewfinder, which makes composition considerably easier and far more pleasant when using macro, telephoto or long heavy lenses. Once you have tried both methods, I guarantee you will prefer to use optical stabilisation.

I've used both systems & I don't prefer OS but it's a subjective thing so some people will & some people won't.
Some people even suffer from nausea akin to motion sickness when using OS & for them in-body is obviously better.