a77 image quality advice, how do I get the best from it?

[lonewolf16x9]

I'm skint Mike
Had two Years from Hell, Had to sell off 15000 yes three zero's worth of Nikon Glass, Lost Jobs, failed business and the other half getting made unemployed three times in two years too
Been a sod and no mistake, just trying to get back into shooting Landscapes and maybe make a few pennies at it too but lack of finance maens I cannot run the business as I'd like, no exhibitions, no money for printing or advertising. Arthritis, a knackered back in two places, chronic Asthma and Sciatica in the lower and upper back means no one else will employ me either, photography is what stops me going bonkers to be frank
I'm a regular on the Dumail Raise when the weather is good and I can afford the bus, nothing better that seeing all the walking groups duck for cover when a Tiffie stokes it up the valley
My main thrust is however the Landscapes and when I'm feeling ok, I can still get on the tops but it's less and less regular now, pain management is not so good these days. Anyway Enough of that woe is me mullarky, I prefer to talk gear and as I alluded I would love to buy Davids 100mm F2.8 and indeed his 28mm F2 but just can't, I miss having Money thats for sure...
100mm macro is probably a waste on me as I'd just use it as a short tele and probably never as a Macro, I love seeing the shots and all but am just not interested in doing it myself Probably because it involves getting down in the dirt for critters and Funghi etc and I just can't damn well get up again...
Something wide next, and maybe the 28-75mm F2.8 and the A580/77 next year.

[mikeriach]

I'm a regular on the Dumail Raise when the weather is good and I can afford the bus, nothing better that seeing all the walking groups duck for cover when a Tiffie stokes it up the valley

If I ever have a chance to go to Dunmail I'll drop you a pm and maybe we can meet.
Not likley to be till May next year though.
What body do you use currently?

Mike

[lonewolf16x9]

Moot, a brand new broken a850, thats for landscaping though I tried the a77, for lthe Landscapes and just couldn't quite get away with it. I prefer the files from the 24Mp 35MM size sensor, they seem to allow you to mess em about a lot more in post and I'm a fiddler so I like that. The a77 may be good for the aviation on my 70-400 which I wouldn't let go despite our finances.
Love the EVF but no so much the SLT bit, I'll have to stay fairly cheap for a second body hence the thought of an a580. Autofocus wise (Flame suit on!) Despite all the claims from various manufacturers I never found much difference in Autofocus for aviation photography, as long as the Camera had a couple of groups of points and a cross sensor in each and thats coming from a former D3 owner, (D3/D700D300/D300S/D90/5DMKII/7D as well!) so an a580 may suffice but if I can stretch to an a77 again by next summer I may do that...

[edrice]

Arthritis, a knackered back in two places, chronic Asthma and Sciatica in the lower and upper back means no one else will employ me either, photography is what stops me going bonkers to be frank

This is a bit off topic, but I can't bear to read a fellow human suffering when I've had the same issues and found a way out. I've had back problems off-and-on for about 15 years, but in '08 it went nuclear and I really struggled through the year, staying home from work for days on vicoden, sometimes not able to get out of bed with a full bladder, brushing my teeth on my knees, for most of the year getting up from my desk I had to get up on one leg and couldn't straighten out the other till I limped half way down the hall, couldn't even walk my dogs for two months, how's that for a run-on sentence? Anyway doctors, chiropractors, accupuncture, epidural injections, nothing phased it for long and no relief was in sight.

Then an aquaintance told me about a book called "Pain Free" by Pete Egoscue and within a week I had more relief than I had had the entire previous year. In 6 more months, in phases, my back was restored with only minor nags and the sciatica was entirely gone. That was the first thing to be relieved. It was a sorry state of affairs and quite depressing, but now, just a couple of months ago I unloaded 1300 pounds of tile from the back of my truck and not the first blip and I'm 65.

Egoscue's book has over 200 5-star reviews and it might help to read some of them to know that there is hope -

http://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolut ... 445&sr=8-1

Love my A65! (just to get back on topic) Good luck to you!

Ed

[lonewolf16x9]

Thanks for that, I may have read it:!: Not sure about that, and the a65 is a good point as imaging with that beast applies equally.
I may acutually prefer that to another go at the a77 though I found the physical size of the a77 about perfect, and the handgrip about the best I've ever tried and I've pretty much tried em all.
One part of the a77 that annoys me is that they chose to use plastic for the top LCD and mine suffered badly from the rainbow effect when looking down on it, sometimes rendering it useless So I could lose that problem with the a65. Not having a vertical grip also won't bother me one bit either, I just think they are a con price wise and I probably only use a Camera vertically maybe less that ten percent of the time, so can live happily without the unnecessary weight. Disclaimer Some people just can't use a Camera without one, I'm not one of these people...