Ken Rockwell SLAMS the A55

[bfitzgerald]

I dunno after the A230 hit the market I swore blind that it had never hit the hands of anyone with even a vague interest in photography. Then I saw the mug shots of the so called "development team" some of whom only started shaving recently

Being slightly more serious I do think there is some truth to the "Sony doesn't quite get it" argument. Every camera product you look at even if you like it has some obvious points that could have been done better. I guess they are still learning as any company would be. That might be a slightly more diplomatic way of re-wording Ken Rockwell's references to Canon and Nikon. He goes way OTT with it, but there is an element of truth to it.

I gave a pretty good example with the A700 remote lacking MLU on the open talk forum on this site. It's small things that Sony don't really have worked out as well as they should have.

Personally I don't buy the firmware argument for one second. Sony made deliberate choices on models and features they were removed on purpose in the same way Nikon rips a lot of stuff out their sub pro bodies. Why they felt P shift needed to get the chop I have no idea. We'll call it "crippled P mode" from now on

[Dusty]

I've really only used P mode when the camera was new. My 350 is my first DSLR, and I wanted to see what the camera could do on it's own. I'm 98% of the time an A mode shooter.

However, in defense of P shift, let me say, yes, it is only a firmware thing, so no need to take it out. Also, those who like to shoot in P mode - maybe they're newbies or maybe they just like it that way - may see times where the camera is setting aperture at F8 and they want to be at f22 to get extreme depth of field. They shouldn't have to switch to A mode then set twist the control wheel to get there. With P shift they wouldn't have to.

Since it's a freebie fix, Sony should get it done. There's really no down side of it being in there, and the cost is nil, (the code is already written just copy it over from the other models) while there IS a downside of it being removed, even if it's a small one.

Dusty

[pakodominguez]

Every time I read someone saying that firmware upgrades are for free, I think on how much an Engineer make a year, then, how much a developer team really cost on a company like Sony, or Nikon or Canon, doesn't matters... I just know that I'm waiting for a couple of new functions on the company's dashboard and I have no answer because adding those functions cost money they can not expend now (and we are a multi million company...)

I wonder how much it costs to take out a feature? I was a software engineer for 20 years and taking functionality out also costs time and money.

That is true -in case they were recycling "old tech".

When the A900 came out, I had the chance to speak with Mark Weir, top marketing manager for the Alpha Division in the USA, and I asked him about the release without lens on A mode, available on the Maxxum 7D and A700 but restraint (not anymore since FW2) on the flagship model. He told me that it was the Engineers decided to design the camera that way (no further explanation) so, even if the A900/A850 shares lots of technology, not all the software was just re-used -no copy and paste here...

[edrice]

The IQ is poor was a stupid statement to make he would have been advised to pick his words a bit more carefully. For example "I don't like the colours as much etc" You can't possibly say the IQ is poor on any of these APS-C sensor models mirror or not..some a bit better in some ways.

Still has some valid points though whatever way you cut it.

His review reminds me of one of those widget TV ads where the subject is thrashing about trying to do some impossible thing that can only be solved by buying said widget. Rockwell seems to be thrashing about to unearth things I never dreamt I missed.

The only possibly valid point I've seen as of yet of any concern to me is battery life, but many have incessantly gone on about battery life as if this were a failing on Sony's part. Too much is made of EVF power and not enough of battery size. The NP-FM500H used in the A350 (et al) is rated at 730 shots per charge with LV off and 410 with it on. The NP-FW50 in the A55 is rated at 380 shots with LCD and 330 with EVF. But the NP-FM500H 78 grams at 1650 mAh and the NP-FW50 is 57 grams at 1080 mAh. Capacity is necessarily a function of size and if they were to put a larger battery in it, they would have had to make a larger camera. And yet the A55 has to drive the same size lenses that the A350 does. Battery life can be further extended using EVF only, as I do with LCD folded, but I have to keep all this in perspective. My X-700 had to be "recharged" after 36 shots. My first digital camera, the Canon G1, was rated at 300 shots. My Canon S95 is rated at 200 shots and it spends far more time with me than does my A55.

So my solution, as usual, is to keep another battery with me most times. So I probably have at hand a good 800 shots of capability and I don't think I've ever realistically shot more than 400 in a day and if I did, there was a lot button pushing going on. So the whole battery issue is really moot and a bunch of hand-wringing in my view. If you do pro work and shoot a lot more, you probably should be using something else anyway.

Ed

[bakubo]

That is true -in case they were recycling "old tech".

When the A900 came out, I had the chance to speak with Mark Weir, top marketing manager for the Alpha Division in the USA, and I asked him about the release without lens on A mode, available on the Maxxum 7D and A700 but restraint (not anymore since FW2) on the flagship model. He told me that it was the Engineers decided to design the camera that way (no further explanation) so, even if the A900/A850 shares lots of technology, not all the software was just re-used -no copy and paste here...

Interesting how Sony, known for reducing costs by having designs that share components, etc., spends so much extra money redoing software. Maybe if they could come up with modular software for their firmware then they would save some money and not have strange deletions of functionality that sometimes require expensive software updates and that are then released as a new firmware version. It sounds like they might want to offer some lucrative employment packages to a few of the top Canon and Nikon software guys to lure them to Sony so Sony can learn the software side better.

Some years back I spent a bit of time at Motorola in their cell phone division. Hated working there so didn't stay long, but they were working on modular Linux based firmware that could be used in all their cell phones. I bet other cell phone companies and other camera companies do the same.

[bakubo]

The NP-FM500H used in the A350 (et al) is rated at 730 shots per charge with LV off and 410 with it on. The NP-FW50 in the A55 is rated at 380 shots with LCD and 330 with EVF. But the NP-FM500H 78 grams at 1650 mAh and the NP-FW50 is 57 grams at 1080 mAh. Capacity is necessarily a function of size and if they were to put a larger battery in it, they would have had to make a larger camera.

Maybe a larger camera or maybe just a battery with newer battery technology.

The Canon LP-E6 has 1800 milliamp-hours capacity and the older, but same size, Canon BP-511A has 1390 mAh milliamp-hours capacity:

http://usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act ... cleID=2046

The battery life of the LP-E6 in my 60D is amazing. Never seen battery life like this in any digital camera I have owned before.

[alphaomega]

Canon do not provide a weight or dims of the LP-E6 but I have seen weights quoted 80g and 114g. So it is probably heavier than Sony's NP-FM500H. My Instruction manual for A580 provides for 1050 images using OVF and 560 using LV. So not sure if the Canon is vastly superior to Sony's equivalent. I may be wrong.

[bakubo]

Canon do not provide a weight or dims of the LP-E6 but I have seen weights quoted 80g and 114g. So it is probably heavier than Sony's NP-FM500H. My Instruction manual for A580 provides for 1050 images using OVF and 560 using LV. So not sure if the Canon is vastly superior to Sony's equivalent. I may be wrong.

I have two of the Sony NP-FM500H batteries for my A700 so I compared it to the LP-E6. Dimensions seem to be essentially identical. Holding them in my hand the weight seems to be pretty much the same too, but I don't have a scale to check. I can say that my 60D gets amazingly long battery life, longer than my A700. Not that I found the A700 battery life to ever be a problem for me. Technology, including battery technology, marches on. It makes you wonder how big and heavy the batteries for some of these new electric cars coming out these days would be if they were using 2000 technology rather than 2010 technology? From what I have read there is lots of battery research going on these days so I bet 5 years from now the size, weight, and capacity of batteries will be much better than even today.

And, of course, the power usage of cameras changes too. I suspect in addition to new features requiring more power there are also many attempts to make the power usage more efficient so sometimes a newer camera with new features and more megapixels might sometimes be able to function with less power than an older design.

[Greg Beetham]

I never could find how to shift the exposure program. Even Canon's first EOS 620 of 1987 had a shiftable program. Canon is a camera built for photographers, while Sony is better at making electronic baubles.

I used to say in my MD days that the P on X700 was an anomaly and the A/S settings on my XD7 were much more logical. Glad I went back to A and cannot understand why this forum continues to be filled with that complaint that P shift has been removed. Don't miss it one bit on my A550/580.

The X700 does not have an [S] mode, they designed it so the [P] mode effectively does that function, as it's heavily biased towards shutter speeds and not apertures, it does have an exposure compensation dial +/- in 1/3'rd stops as well. I have to admit I haven't learnt to habitually use the [P]shift function yet, I guess it would be handy for those that have.
Greg

[Greg Beetham]

The only possibly valid point I've seen as of yet of any concern to me is battery life, but many have incessantly gone on about battery life as if this were a failing on Sony's part. Too much is made of EVF power and not enough of battery size. The NP-FM500H used in the A350 (et al) is rated at 730 shots per charge with LV off and 410 with it on. The NP-FW50 in the A55 is rated at 380 shots with LCD and 330 with EVF. But the NP-FM500H 78 grams at 1650 mAh and the NP-FW50 is 57 grams at 1080 mAh. Capacity is necessarily a function of size and if they were to put a larger battery in it, they would have had to make a larger camera. And yet the A55 has to drive the same size lenses that the A350 does. Battery life can be further extended using EVF only, as I do with LCD folded, but I have to keep all this in perspective. My X-700 had to be "recharged" after 36 shots. My first digital camera, the Canon G1, was rated at 300 shots. My Canon S95 is rated at 200 shots and it spends far more time with me than does my A55.

So my solution, as usual, is to keep another battery with me most times. So I probably have at hand a good 800 shots of capability and I don't think I've ever realistically shot more than 400 in a day and if I did, there was a lot button pushing going on. So the whole battery issue is really moot and a bunch of hand-wringing in my view. If you do pro work and shoot a lot more, you probably should be using something else anyway.

Ed

Changing the memory card in the X700 (roll of film) isn't really re-charging it, the button cell battery in the X700 lasts for years.
Greg

[edrice]

Changing the memory card in the X700 (roll of film) isn't really re-charging it, the button cell battery in the X700 lasts for years.
Greg

Ah! Au contraire. One of the definitions of "charge" is -

To load to capacity; fill.

So if you "recharge," you reload or refill.

Granted - I've still got 357 batteries from the last century.

Ed

[edrice]

The X700 does not have an [S] mode...

You caused me to have to go dig out my X-700. You're right! I used it for two decades and never had a reason for an S mode so I didn't remember that it wasn't even there.

Ed

[edrice]

Maybe a larger camera or maybe just a battery with newer battery technology.

Larger cameras are already available. I have a larger camera now, with greater capacity. The goal was a smaller camera. The smaller battery still meets my needs. When the A55 first came out I saw posts in various places becrying the fact that a vertical grip would not be available. What? Wouldn't that make it a big camera again?

Ed

[edrice]

Maybe a larger camera or maybe just a battery with newer battery technology.

BTW, newer technologies are on the way. The current one is expensive enough as it is and and it still quite suitable. I'm not having any particular problem with capacity, even with the A55.

Have you noticed what has happened to flashlights over the past few years?

Ed

[edrice]

Canon do not provide a weight or dims of the LP-E6 but I have seen weights quoted 80g and 114g. So it is probably heavier than Sony's NP-FM500H. My Instruction manual for A580 provides for 1050 images using OVF and 560 using LV. So not sure if the Canon is vastly superior to Sony's equivalent. I may be wrong.

I haven't seen any published weights for the Sony batteries. I put them on an electronic scale just to know.

Ed