SONY a99

[DonSchap]

The brain-trust at SONY still disregards the obvious advantage of having built-in RF flash trigger/ratio control.

Here we actually had as golden an opportunity as was practical to give the photographer complete remote control over 2.4 MHz flash systems.. and instead, we go back to the good ol' ISO Hot Shoe. Huh? This is progress? Sounds more like gutless conformity to me.

Just seems silly, in many ways. Sure, I suppose having the ISO option would be great, but not having the RF seems... like a missed opportunity. Relying on third-party solutions lacks that "professional" aspect of the line. Then again, SONY would probably overprice all the necessary accessories, like they usually do. Maybe it is better they don't.

The $2800 price point is going to be a little rough to justify, if you already have an a850/a900 camera, but then again... times are so good... why not? Just pull that wallet out, grab the plastic... and slide it in the groove. All done. Wasn't that easy?

Still, I cannot say I am into making movies with a still camera. I may just wait this one through, until the 36MP unit is out.

24.6 MP (a850/a900) versus 24.3MP (a99) just does not motivate me enough to want to drop all that coin. I'll let someone else go first.

When it comes to SD Memory versus SONY's Memory Stick.. SD steps ahead:

Burst Buffer :

w/ SD (UHS-I compliant) memory card: Cont. shooting Hi: Extra FINE 15, FINE 24, STD 29, RAW 15, RAW+JPEG 12 Tele-zoom Cont. Advance Priority AE (8 fps): Extra FINE 20, FINE 28, STD 31, RAW 19, RAW+JPEG 18 Tele-zoom Continuous Advance Priority AE (10 fps): Extra FINE 20, FINE 26, STD 28

w/ Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo: Continuous shooting Hi: Extra FINE 14, FINE 18, STD 20, RAW 13, RAW+JPEG 11 Tele-zoom Continuous Advance Priority AE (8 fps): Extra FINE 17, FINE 20, STD 24, RAW 17, RAW+JPEG 16 Tele-zoom Continuous Advance Priority AE (10 fps): Extra FINE 18, FINE 22, STD 24

I guess it is time for a lot of former SONY members (the a3xx crowd) to return to the fold. LOL... it certainly took a while.


BTW: Irresponsible photography is at an end... this baby has GPS! "Where was that taken?" never has to cross your path, again.

[DonSchap]

One of the "cool" devices I have run across in the past year or so was an ISO-footed trigger/ratio controller for the Paul C. Buff line of Einstein 640W monolights, called the "Cyber Commander."

This little RF third-party gem can ratio control and simultaneously trigger up to 16 E640 strobes... and that is an amazing head-trip to consider.

As you can plainly see... I am easily amused. It works on Nikon and Canon cameras, but now... it can work directly on the SONY a99, too. This is almost too easy.

[Peekayoh]

... clip ...The $2800 price point is going to be a little rough to justify, if you already have an a850/a900 camera, but then again... times are so good... why not? Just pull that wallet out, grab the plastic... and slide it in the groove. All done. Wasn't that easy?

Still, I cannot say I am into making movies with a still camera. I may just wait this one through, until the 36MP unit is out.

24.6 MP (a850/a900) versus 24.3MP (a99) just does not motivate me enough to want to drop all that coin. I'll let someone else go first.

Guess that would be me then!

[DonSchap]

Peter,

If you can afford that throw-down... have at it. I'll be content to watch. After $50,000 spent in the past four years... the buckets of cash are a little too dry to justify. I've got my a850 to keep me warm.

[DonSchap]

I look at the "new" Nikon D600's (using the same darn sensor) announced price-point and wonder... how could
SONY expect to draw a market when Nikon has a very similar FF at only $2K? and it is OVF!



I mean, why wouldn't I consider tossing the SONY boatload? This whole thing reeks! The discussion is almost
backwards, as SONY is the originator of the sensor for the D600 (24.3MP)... & the D800(36MP)... not Nikon!

I hope they have a counter-price or an "a88" in the works... or I believe the sales are going to suffer enormously
and I may take a walk.

Of course, SONY could step back and competitively price their new announcement. Yeah... that's going to happen. LOL

I think I know where the Minolta design employees ran off to, after the bankruptcy and sale. The "OVF" approach tells the tale.

[Rooz]

clearly, even after all this time, you cant figure out who sony is aiming for.
the a99 was always going to come, it was always going to be an SLT and it was always going to be exactly what it eventually became.

there are no surprises here. business as usual.

[Peekayoh]

Don, you seriously need to un-knot your knickers (that's a technical term).

I'm certain that D600 doesn't use the same Sensor as the A99. There is no mention of the larger, thinner photo diodes nor of the multi-segment lo-pass AA filter incorporated in the A99 let alone on Sensor PDAF. I think that Sony have put a lot of effort into extracting the best possible IQ from this new Sensor which is probably why they stuck with 24MP and why they have chosen 14-bit processing (for the first time) to improve shadow detail.

A few more A99 pros that spring to mind...
Full Magnesium body
Image Stabilisation
1/8000th shutter, 1/250th synch
Pull-out three-hinge tilt/swivel 1.23m dot RGBW LCD screen (D600 is fixed and 921k)
Built-in GPS
PDAF in Video
Oh yes.. and all my lenses are a good fit.

I think the D600 is equally good news for Nikon users but it's no yardstick by which to judge the A99.

[Peekayoh]

Peter,

If you can afford that throw-down... have at it. I'll be content to watch. After $50,000 spent in the past four years... the buckets of cash are a little too dry to justify. I've got my a850 to keep me warm.

I'm better able to afford $2,800 than I can afford a system change or a $50,000 spend come to that. Let's see, 50,000 divide by 4, umm carry one over and... hmmm $12,500 per year.

Four years ago the price of a full frame camera was $3,000-$6000. Allow for 4 years inflation, the drop in the Japanese Yen and we arrive at a price of $2,800... that can't be right... need to check the math.....

[Rooz]

the d600, in its own way, was also an expected evolution of FX dslr. at some point an fx sensor would go into a smaller dslr. always gonna happen. dont get me wrong, its GREAT that it happened but, just like the a99 or even the apple iphone 5...ahhhh...so what ? good products but no controversy, no shock and awe and imo, nailed their breif perfectly in different areas. the d600 is not an a99 alternative and vice versa. EXPECT...no swivel screen on the d600...WTF ? dumbass.

the BIG news for me was the rx100 and rx1 in particular...these are REALLY revolutionary. this is showing a path way ahead of its time. so impressed.

[Peekayoh]

Yea I agree, no tilt screen incomprehensible and what about the A99, no WiFi, stupidity.
I suppose it's all marketing and "differentiating" the product.

Still, I approve of the downward trend in pricing.

Sony are treading a different path as they often have in the past and certainly not afraid of innovation viz a viz SLT, NEX and now RX*.

I'd love the RX1 but I have an A77, NEX-7 and an A99 preordered so that's me for a bit. The A900 will have to go to go though.