Update on my Sony situation (Page 4): Thanks, GeneS! Got one on it's way to me now!! Can't wait to get it!! Hi! I bid for one on eBay, but was outbid by $7.00....so I found a "Like...

sdemaagd Loc: Michigan

Sheeba wrote:

quote=sdemaagd quote=Sheeba Hello, I am also int... (show quote)

No problem! Good luck!

B-Side Loc: Davenport, Florida

James56 wrote:

The A55 is no longer available thru Sony...they took an A55, removed the GPS feature and called it an A57. Otherwise they are nearly identical.

There are actually quite a bit of "upgrades" from the A55 to the A57.

Shoots video at 30 fps - 60 fpd (for slow motion) and supports 24 fps video for that "film" look. The A57 shoots 2 fps more when using rapid fire (12 fps vs. A57 10 fps.), slightly better image quality, color depth, light sensitivity and dynamic range. The Battery lasts longer. A57 is bigger and heavier than the A55 (which is good for a guy with gorilla hands like me) and they dropped the geotagging. The A57 takes a little longer to start up. And its about a hundred bucks more. I chose the A57 over the A55 for the video upgrades and the slightly faster rapid fire. For me those two things were worth the extra hundred bucks and I don't want Geotagging so I don't even consider that a tradeoff.

B-Side Loc: Davenport, Florida

shieldsadvert wrote:

Can you tell me where to find "Snapshot". Tried Googling it and that didn't work and I am interested in the Sony results.

Thanks,

Bill

Do you mean snapsort.com?

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

sdemaagd wrote:

quote=_Rex Why the 55, and not the 57? All Alpha... (show quote)

I believe the A33 was the first. Then A55. Then A35. Then A57 and A77. On and on.

I have an Alpha 55 and it had no kinks of any kind and still doesn't, so don't be concerned about that. I've not heard of any of the Alpha 33 through 77 models having any kinks actually.

It's your choice but I'd buy the Alpha 55 if it's cheap enough and when the 99 is available, keep the 55 as a backup since they will likely feel and act very similar.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Thanks for your help; I have been looking for this for a long time. I read the manual that came with each camera, I even have David Busch's book on the A850 and the A77 and I couldn't find this information (maybe I am dense), where did you find the information (book or manual and page)?

Peekayoh wrote:

Brucej67 wrote:

I just tried it on all 4 cameras, this is what I got:

A77 - Tracking Focus
A700 - Appears to work on multi selector button
A850 - Appears to work on multi selector button
A900 - Appears to work on multi selector button

So it appears to work on 3 of them the A77 is diffrent.

You need to turn object tracking off or you could assign it to a different button.

Peekayoh Loc: UK

Brucej67 wrote:

Thanks for your help; I have been looking for this for a long time. I read the manual that came with each camera, I even have David Busch's book on the A850 and the A77 and I couldn't find this information (maybe I am dense), where did you find the information (book or manual and page)?

Glad to help.

I wish I could tell you but I'm not sure it's even in the A77 manual, I just know from many years of using Minolta then Sony cameras.

I do think Sony missed a trick with the implementation on the A77. Pressing the multi function selector initiates focus but only on the centre focus point, why they didn't default to the AF point in use (as in "local focus" mode), I fail to understand. I get over this by choosing Manual Focus and initiating AF using the AF/MF button (As you probably know the AF/MF button temporarily switches to AF when you're in MF mode or to MF when you're in AF mode). Anyway, I find this pretty useful as, with "focus peaking" enabled, when you release the button you see which areas are in good focus.

In addition, I have assigned DMF to the AF-A position on the "focus mode dial" (Shooting Menu Item P3). As soon as the focus locks the camera switches to DMF (direct manual focus) and again "peaking" picks out the areas in focus and you can manually tweak it if desired.

Even if it's far from perfect, this is a brilliant piece of kit. I can't wait to see what they've done with the A99.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Agreed, and this makes me feel a lot better about my Sony equipment. I am expecting a FedEx shipment on Monday for a Sony RX-100 P&S camera. I wanted a P&S camera for everyday carrying around when I am not luging my DSLR's around (so that I am never without a camera), but I wanted a P&S that was almost up to par with a DSLR and everything I read and saw on u-tube qualifies the Sony RX-100 as such a camera.

Peekayoh wrote:

quote=Brucej67 Thanks for your help; I have been ... (show quote)

glennkrewson

I got an a390 because it will take my minolts lenses, I really like it too. I think the alpha series Sony is made by the old Minolta crew even though it is re-badged Sony

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

glennkrewson wrote:

I got an a390 because it will take my minolts lenses, I really like it too. I think the alpha series Sony is made by the old Minolta crew even though it is re-badged Sony

You are very close. Sony bought the Minolta camera division lock, stock & barrel. They then merged their camera division with the Minolta division. Sony retained all personnel from the Minolta R&D department.

maranatha

dont know what is supposed to be wrong with a55 i have a35 for something small and compact i use canon full frame in my work but think sony a35 is excellent camera as i have said before so much twaddle talked about cameras no bad slrs or slts just bad photographers

shieldsadvert

You seem to be a Sony expert and I am thinking of buying the a67 with the Zeiss 16-80. Is this a good choice for a high quality walk-around lens? Also, do you find the HDR feature effective and how many stops is it capable of processing.

Thank you,

Bill

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

shieldsadvert wrote:

You seem to be a Sony expert and I am thinking of buying the a67 with the Zeiss 16-80. Is this a good choice for a high quality walk-around lens? Also, do you find the HDR feature effective and how many stops is it capable of processing.

Thank you,

Bill

Bill, in a nutshell: If I could, would! How's that for an answer? I have that Carl Zeiss lens. It is incredible! It does not leave my house.

Oh, and as for HDR, I just made this post yesterday. You be the judge.

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-60202-1.html

Tom

shieldsadvert

Very useful information and I'm happy to hear you really like the lens as I have some older Contax/Zeiss lenses I would also like to use on the camera with an adapter. It looks like the HDR added about two stops.

Thanks again.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

shieldsadvert wrote:

Very useful information and I'm happy to hear you really like the lens as I have some older Contax/Zeiss lenses I would also like to use on the camera with an adapter. It looks like the HDR added about two stops.

Thanks again.

It really doesn't add any stops but sometimes it appears like it. I was about 150 yards away using a 300mm zoom. That does not help. But what is nice is that it was really sunny so there was harsh contrast. I did not think it would turn out that good.