a700 to a900 any tips/surprises ?

[ImNoAnsel]

I have recently moved from a700 to a900 and was wondering if people had any tips or had any surprises in the same move, e.g. the way you take photos or the subjects, or the post processing, or ..., I have just upgraded my ballhead and those files are big in photoshop ! Cheers Roy

[TFD]

ImNoAnsel - I just got my A900, after using my A700 for a couple of years. (Haven't even taken a picture yet!) Can I ask YOU what you have found in terms of tips/surprises since you made the same move? Thanks!

[redsim74]

I don't have an A900 but this article - by our very own DK - should highlight some of the differences:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2008/10/1 ... alpha-900/

[Bruce Oudekerk]

Use Intelligent Preview!

I didn’t at first, as I thought it was a poor attempt at live view and added strictly to pad the feature set. Once I actually used it however, I realized it is brilliant and one of the hidden-in-plain-sight features of the a900/a850 that needs to be used to be appreciated. And the more I use it, the more I want to use it.

A number of people have tried it and are indifferent to it. I would say, charitably, that they just don’t get it. Realistically, and in all due fairness, I think it just clicks with some photographers and not with others. I think if you give it a fair chance and you like it…you’ll learn to love it.

Bruce

[levieuxrenard]

ImNoAnsel: Alas, I can’t give a seasoned A850 user’s reaction to your question - but as a new A850 user I can share my initial feelings/findings about the step up (or across, if you prefer) from the A700 and you can see if some of them tally with yours.

Size and weight: difference isn’t dramatic but it’s noticeable. My hands are average-sized and holding the A850 so far feels quite different, as if I’m holding a lot of camera. I often had the vertical grip fitted to the A700 and that gave a wonderfully comfortable hold. I don’t have any immediate plans to add a VG for the A850. The extra room which the A850 takes up in a camera bag or backpack is not significant in my experience.
The first thing I did when I got my A850 home was kit it out with the Op-Tech USA strap that used to be on my A700. This strap is partially elasticated at the top and this creates a shock-damping effect that really does work, making a dealer’s claim for once almost true (‘it makes your camera feel half the weight’). This is one of the smartest purchases I’ve ever made.
Shutter noise: quite a bit louder on the A850. Potentially an issue when discretion is important. I find the sound actually quite ‘educated’ and for my style of work I don’t envisage that it will be a problem.
Viewfinder: I won’t be the first or last to wax lyrical about this wonderful feature, almost worth the price of admission alone. Going back to the viewfinder of the A700, which I found a great improvement on the KM5D I had before it, will be mighty hard!
Intelligent preview: a really handy feature and not a gimmick. I use it a lot. If you own a lens that has a focus hold button (Sony 100mm macro or 70-300G for example) you can reprogram a menu choice (FocusHoldButton) to make this activate the optical preview and then you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
Image quality: some posters say the real-world A850-A700 difference is not that great, and that when like-sized prints are made you would be hard pressed to see much difference. Well, I rarely make big prints and mainly use the PC screen/beamer to show off my work, and on the evidence of what I see onscreen the A850 gives a significant improvement in detail and general image quality. Rather than do endless tests that some one or other is bound to find fault with, I have taken shots of typical subjects with both cameras and for me the quality advantage of the A850 is crystal-clear.
File sizes and impact on workflow: this has for me been so far the biggest downside of the move to the A850; there’s no free lunch and the 24 MP brutes that the A850 churns out need computer leg-room and processor muscle! My modest rig doesn’t have that, and so I have taken to having a decent book by my side whenever I run a batch import etc. This however is no fault of the camera: getting a bigger car is also going to have an impact on your garage space …
Position of the focus settings dial on the front bottom of the camera. I notice on the A850 there is less clearance for your fingertips to turn this. It’s a real pain, I find, as this is a dial I use a lot, mainly shifting from the S to the MF setting and back. I know some Sony-mount lenses have their own MF/AF buttons but this is still not ideal.
AF/MF, C and Fn buttons seem to be more recessed on the A850 – at least they are on my model. On the A700 they stood a little more proud of the surface and were thus easier to activate – also by accident of course. So I have found I need to get used to the extra pressure you need to exert on these buttons, using a thumbnail rather than just the ball of my thumb. The top-plate buttons, though arrayed differently, don’t seem any different from the A700 in terms of feel, though.
Top-plate LCD: so far I haven’t found any need to use this feature.
Rear LCD: this is bigger than the one on the A700 and the hard plastic screen protector I had on that camera won’t fit the A850.
Remote Commander: came with the A700, optional extra on the A850. The one supplied with the A700 works perfectly on the A850 too and so that is one item less to buy.
Lack of built-in flash: annoying! I guess debate will continue on the whole topic of built-in flashes on professional-grade DSLRs but for me it is disappointing and expensive to have to add your own. The built-in flash on my A700 often saved my bacon in harsh lighting conditions in tropical Africa and I fear the Sony F20 flash, small as it is, is just another something to forget to pack.

In general use: The A700 was/is a superb camera, one we will probably come to regard as a classic, like the XD7, X700, 7 and 7D. But the A850 is for me something else: it’s simply a thrill to be able to savour the huge amount of details that is captured by that amazing sensor. More than that, there is something about this camera in its classical purity that makes it more than just the sum of its parts – I guess that’s a romantic idea that will be scoffed at by those people who need all claims measured and evidence-based. I won’t care about any of that as I continue to delight in using such a superb instrument.

I would say without hesitation to any A700 owners who are considering the purchase of an 850 but wondering about what it might add to their photographing experience: save your shekels and buy it! It won’t make you a better photographer but you’ll get more pleasure out of the ones you take.

John

[Simmondsphotography]

The best tip that I can give is....unless you really need to, don't sell your A700! You have the perfect back-up system to an A850/900.

The A900 will feel quite natural after a very short period of introduction..but watch out for the narrower DOF, beautiful as it is!

[Mark K]

Ever since I　have my a850, I began to use it as the camera. The first thing I did was to buy a new CF card with larger capacity. Too bad the Pretec 233x 32Gb did not work with A850. I ended up 16Gb x 4 CF cards.