Sony in the Shires

[Birma]

Well, Worcester-shire, anyway. I haven't been in to a camera shop in my home town of Worcester for some months. Never much to interest Sony dslr types. Today I found my self at a lose end for a few minutes in town and popped in to Jessops first and then LCE. I was pleasantly surpised in both. In Jessops they had a whole cabinet dedicated to Sony, at least the same shelf space as Canon and Nikon. They also had a Sony sale on with around £50 off many lenses - still more expensive than the internet, but better value than normal. Only A200, 300 and 350 bodies on display. The shop itself was very busy as usual on a Saturday; mainly people being confused by young sales-people extolling the virtues of the latest P&S, and people queuing to use the photo printers.

I then headed over to LCE and was even more surpised to see one of the Sony CoE stands in the shop - wow. Lots of lovely Sony gear to drool over, and A200, 350 and 700 bodies free to be handled. Had my first hold of an A700. Not as big as I expected, but seemed "thicker" than the A100. Lovely solid feel. Anyway, the shop was quiet and I chatted for a few minutes with the staff. They sold an A900 on Monday - they will not stock them, but can get them in a couple of days usually. They had all been impressed by the camera when they tried it out. (They also finally had a lowepro case big enough for my beercan - hooray!)

Anyway - thought you may be interested in the increasing profile of Sony dslrs in this part of the UK. If I had been new to the camera market I would easily have left town with the impression that it was a big three, rather than a big two. It is also rather scary to think all of that tempting stuff sitting a few short miles from my house, where in an insane moment of gear-lust a CZ35/1.4 could be mine!

[KevinBarrett]

Do you know something I don't or is the 35/1.4 marketed as a CZ lens rather than a G in the UK? I've got my big temptation center pretty close by, Arlingotn Camera. I live immediately across from a Wolf (Ritz) Camera store (all they carry are the a200, a350, and a handful of lenses you wouldn't settle for if you knew better), but Arlington Camera, a little further off, carries the a200-a900, 16-80, 16-105, 24-70, 85/1.4, 11-18, 50/1.4, 50/2.8 Macro, 100/2.8 Macro, 18-200, 18-250, and 70-300 G.

[Greg Beetham]

Hi Birma,
Good to see that major stores no longer seem to ignore the existence of Sony DSLR's as much, makes one think confidently about the future at least.
I think you're talking/lusting about/after the 35 f1.4 G, or is there a Zeiss equivalent now?
If it's the G version, I'd save your money because the reviews give it a bad rap for strong CA and softness between f1.4 and f4, really surprising when one considers the price of the lens.
Greg
http://www.photozone.de/sony-alpha-aps- ... 14?start=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dr. Harout]

It was a mistyping guys. Birma meant 85/1.4 CZ. And I perfectly understand what he means.

[Birma]

Sorry guys,it was late - I think I meant the CZ85, but I could get pretty excited about the 35 G as well

[KevinBarrett]

Well I'm with you on that one Birma, the 85/1.4 is a darn sweet lens! If I were ever able to rationalize a lens purchase over 1000 USD, that would be the first one I'd go for!