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Author Topic: Questions about Sony A99  (Read 5164 times)

Herbc

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Questions about Sony A99
« on: September 26, 2014, 10:51:33 am »

It will be obvious that I have too many cameras:  A7R, A7, A7r IR,   NEX 7, Nikon D800E,  and enough lenses to fill a small trunk.

The A99 has been touted as something wonderful, and it is not immediately obvious why is is so much better than the A7 except for fast focusing and rapid shooting (?). 

I would appreciate knowing more from those who actually shoot this camera, as it might be a replacement for my D800E or the A7 or both.  I realize the lens selection for the A99 is much wider than the A7's, and when handling a new one, it is more compact and lighter than the D800E, which is a plus.
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2014, 02:42:12 am »

Hi,

I have an A99, but neither Nikon or F mount Sonys. I like the A99 but I don't think it is superior to any of the other cameras. It may be the A99 has less aggressive raw compression than the A7r, and it is larger and having better battery capacity.

I don't know if it shoots faster (6FPS) or focuses faster than the A7.

It won't take any of your existing lenses, BTW.

Best regards
Erik

It will be obvious that I have too many cameras:  A7R, A7, A7r IR,   NEX 7, Nikon D800E,  and enough lenses to fill a small trunk.

The A99 has been touted as something wonderful, and it is not immediately obvious why is is so much better than the A7 except for fast focusing and rapid shooting (?). 

I would appreciate knowing more from those who actually shoot this camera, as it might be a replacement for my D800E or the A7 or both.  I realize the lens selection for the A99 is much wider than the A7's, and when handling a new one, it is more compact and lighter than the D800E, which is a plus.
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Erik Kaffehr
 

pegelli

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2014, 06:02:40 am »

It's a competent camera, but so are all the ones you already own.
Only other advantage I can think of is in-body stabilization, and with plenty good old Minolta AF lenses on the second hand market this can be useful.
But given your current equipment there's not a lot of other things I can think about that would pull you in that direction.
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pieter, aka pegelli

Herbc

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2014, 09:08:13 am »

Thanks for the responses.  I handled an A99 and my D800E again and am just about to stay with the smaller cameras altogether.
 I had not used the D800E for a month or so, and it seemed like handling an anvil after the A7's.
That, and my current winner in 3 gallery shows is a handheld shot taken with the NEX 7 and the Zeiss 24mm, proving bigger is not necessarily better.
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Baimei

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2014, 08:12:46 am »

I got mine primarily so that I could use the Zeiss ZA primes (especially the 135/1.8) and my Leica R lenses, which are now Alpha mount adapted. It works great with both. However, I also wind up carrying a smaller camera most of the time, like my Sony RX1R or an OMD.
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2014, 08:27:50 am »

Hi,

The main difference between the A99 and the A7 that the A99 has a mirror box with an AF-module.

Neither really improves image quality.

May be better to wait for the A9?

Best regards
Erik

Thanks for the responses.  I handled an A99 and my D800E again and am just about to stay with the smaller cameras altogether.
 I had not used the D800E for a month or so, and it seemed like handling an anvil after the A7's.
That, and my current winner in 3 gallery shows is a handheld shot taken with the NEX 7 and the Zeiss 24mm, proving bigger is not necessarily better.
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Erik Kaffehr
 

qwz

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2014, 04:44:59 am »

It has great ergonomics, in-body stabilisation, faster than A7 series Autofocus (but not so sophisticated as Nikon's), faster burst shooting, extremely useful articulated screen. And direct (w/o adapters) support for great lens like AF Zeiss primes  and zooms (different to non-af versions), especially 2/24 Distagon, 1.4/50 Planar , 1.8/135 Sonnar and some others and some interesting legacy Minolta's (4/200 Macro, 1x-3x Macro Zoom, 2/28, 2/35, 2/100, 100 Softfocus, 135 STF and so on).

In other cases it's modern camera but could be better - personally i don't like a little laggy operation (due EVF startup time) and not-so-good video quality - still better than long-time industry standard 5DMkII (in 2014 we have many wonderful options).

In your case it can be replacement for your D800 for long lenses IF Sony A system can cover your needs - a99 is more handy for lens like 70-200 and 70-400 (both excellent) than a7 with adapters.
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lowep

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2014, 03:13:48 pm »

perhaps a99 stabilisation system makes it more useful for hand holding for video and photos in low light but on the other hand it most likely chews batteries faster than the d800 that has an optical viewfinder and no stabilisation, so questions I would ask apart from how many mps you need and what difference to IQ this makes is how likely is it going to be used for video shooting, how does battery consumption compare if this is important for you, and how preferable is optical versus electronic viewfinder... right?
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ynp

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2014, 05:08:15 pm »

My daughter shoots with her sony 77-II mostly and the predictive Autofocus works very well. It has a nice eye recognition etc.

She accumulates Zeiss full frame lenses now and waits for The A99-II. She is a member of a local sony camera club and their instructor heard that a new A99-II would be introduced early  next year with a completely new AF system and predictive hybrid multi point sports AF.
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: Questions about Sony A99
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2014, 10:45:20 pm »

Hi,

Yes it is a bit heavy on batteries.

On the other hand, it is often sold with a free battery grip. The EVF is sort of a question of taste.

Best regards
Erik


perhaps a99 stabilisation system makes it more useful for hand holding for video and photos in low light but on the other hand it most likely chews batteries faster than the d800 that has an optical viewfinder and no stabilisation, so questions I would ask apart from how many mps you need and what difference to IQ this makes is how likely is it going to be used for video shooting, how does battery consumption compare if this is important for you, and how preferable is optical versus electronic viewfinder... right?
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Erik Kaffehr
 
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