Staying power of A99

[mikeriach]

Well I trooped down to the last ever RAF Leuchars air show at the weekend. I was greeted with sunshine but a cool wind.
I had the A99 set up with the 70-400G all day.
With only a little reviewing, GPS on and 99% use of EVF, I shot 619 frames on a battery with 9% power remaining. Pretty damn good I think.
To be fair it was switched on, shot set up then a blast of between 3-8 frames then off till the next one. I have in the past had it permanently on with power save set to 2 minutes or so and I've been on 50% power after 150 frames.

A few samples: The Red Arrows plus 4 RAF Typhoons

The stunning Swedish Saab Viggen

An Austrian Air Force Typhoon pulling high G in the moist air


Mike

[mvanrheenen]

The first and last for me. The last is very cool!

Mark

[mikeriach]

Re the last one, the jet was going very fast and started to pull as it got to me hence the huge amount of vapour.
The back light made the rainbow effects.

Mike

[Atgets_Apprentice]

Great images Mike! I would loved to have been there for one last time.

[Birma]

Those are fabulous shots Mike. That last one is a bit special

I've also found that switching off and back on seems the best way of conserving power rather than letting the A99 sleep. Were you using the EVF or rear screen?

[mikeriach]

Birma,

EVF only with the odd bit of reviewing through the EVF. RAW only with continuous AF and mix of single shot and HI continuous shooting.

Also used the A77 for static subjects with the 16-80CZ. I have to say that the A99 appears to have superior IQ though that could be attributed to the lenses (70-400G on the A99). The images are just that bit crisper and have less noise.
The A99 was often on ISO 250 and the A77 on ISO 100 but the full frame had similar noise/grain.
Well chuffed with the A99 performance.

Mike

[Birma]

Hi Mike. Well, I can't explain it objectively and scientifically, and I haven't done exact side-by-side comparisons or laboratory tests, but the files from the A99 seem to have an extra depth and richness that I have not experienced with my previous cameras. It could of course just be fan-boyism or buyer's optimism, but I am finding that I want to use the A99 even when it would be much more sensible/convenient to use one of my smaller Nexs. I still have only used a tiny part of its potential in terms of auto-focus and video, so plenty more things to like yet .

[classiccameras]

I think your right about the extra depth and richness in the Sony A99 pictures. Although the A99 may be one step ahead of other Sony SLT's, I found a simliar richness and colour depth in my little A-37 compared to my Nikon D5100 which I sold. However, there is something about Sony that I cannot explain, but fit a high end lens such as some of the CZ or even some of Sony's own high end lenses and the sensor seems to burst into life. I have not seen this on other cameras I have owned.
Its almost as if your shooting Kodachrome 25 all over again, its quite spooky really.

Love the plane shots, reminds me of the days I spent at the Farnborough Air Shows and the IAT. Is there no stopping this government. They are cutting our 3 services down to the bare bones and as one defence analyst has said, if Falklands happened again we would lose it.

[Dr. Harout]

Stunning shots Mike. I have never been at an air show (and it stays on my bucket list), so TFS.

[mikeriach]

Dr Harout, there is a show in the UK every year in July called the Royal International Air Tattoo. It is held at RAF Fairford in Glostershire and is a superb event if you ever make it over here. Look it up on the internet http://www.airtattoo.com/airshow/photo-gallery

Mike

[Rehan125]

The first and last for me. The first is very cool! its look good

[David Kilpatrick]

I missed this - the Austrian Typhoon shot with the strange atmospheric moisture glow is remarkable.

David

[mikeriach]

David,

It's quite a big crop but at the smaller image sizes it looks quite good.

Mike

[Iknowit]

Battery power on the Sony SLT-A99v or SLT-A99 is really not good.
The same is true on the Sony A7r

Sony knew this problem that why they provide a free vertical grip only to add for weights when you purchase the body.

AF/GPS/OSS/EVF or LCD enabled with the following equipment:
ATG Sony SLT-A99v IR
Sony SLT-A99v
Sony A7r
ATG Sony A3000 IR
Sony A3000
ATG T*16-35/2.0
ATG N 13/5.0AIS
ATG/Carl Zeiss T*70-200/2.1
Carl Zeiss T* CF 120/4.0
Sony 70-400/4.0-5.6 G II
Mamiya 150/2.8
ATG Adapters
ATG AL-AE4 Adapter
Sony LA-AE4 Adapter
ATG Gold Pro II Flash
ATG Gold Pro II IR Flash
ATG Gold QFlash UV/IR Flash
Sony HVL-F60M Flash
ATG AK1 Un-Tethered Systems
ATG MRMC

My staff & I have been using the ATG Pro External Battery (PEB) and can shoot all day in the extreme weather of Oymyakon and Vostok.
The PEB is a must for shooting outdoors or when camera is attached to MRMC so we can shoot remotely from a warm place.
The vertical grip added weight & useless do to dead batteries from the cold.

You just got to make sure your gloves & the cable does freeze up /or snapped.
Without gloves, your hands will be fused to the camera.

Our staff preferred the ATG/Sony A3000 dues to a plastic body and lighter than carrying/holding SLT & A7r.

[Birma]

Hi Iknowit. I get the impression that ATG are a firm who mod equipment - is this right? I tried some google searches but couldn't find a web site. Did see your posts on some Flickr groups. I can imagine you need some pretty serious kit when using any piece of technology in extreme weather conditions.