Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

With the official announcement from Sony ( http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666485827#compatability ) of the features of the A99, do you think it warrants the price increase over the A77?

unclebe1 Loc: NYC & Wellington, FL

The specs look great (don't they always), but I'll have to wait until the reviews are in. Otherwise, just getting rid of the mirror slap from my a850, is almost enough to justify the cost....not really, but it's a great start. I thought about the a77, but decided to wait until the rumored a99 was released. Now (soon) I'll have to make a decision.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

From what I have read so far it looks good but I'm getting by with my A900 and do not have a pressing need to make a move to the latest "flag ship". I'm holding off and hoping for the rumored dual mount (Alpha and E-mount) so can put my old Konica lenses back to work. I hope the Konica lenses will work full frame on that camera when I comes out.

unclebe1 Loc: NYC & Wellington, FL

Not even my pants 'need' a pressing these days. No, this is all about new and improved toys, errr tools, not need. :lol: However, with my granddaughter crawling about and itching to walk and run, the movie mode can be stretched to be a 'need'. It's just that there are many less expensive ways to fill it. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure out a way to justify it sooner or later!!

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

One item that I looked for was the weather seal like they put on the A77, not sure that the A99 has it, the A99 looks more like the A55 in that respect. One of the advantages of the A99 is the move to 14 color channels over the 12 in the other cameras. Keeping the 24 megapixels on the full frame sensor should prove good for noise to high ISO levels. I don't see enough improvements to justify moving from the A77 to the A99. I own the A700, A850, A900 and A77 so I don't see an A99 in my future.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Wow Bruce, an A900 and an A850?! That seems a bit redundant. Sony must love you.

I saw a film clip on the Internet saying that the A99 is weather sealed. They had at a prototype at motorcycle race. The camera was covered with dust and the user said it not a problem because of the weather seal.

I only have the A100 and my A900 but you would not believe the lenses I have collected over the years!:

Sony:A100,A900|18~70 f3.5~5.6 DT|11~18 f4.5~5.6 DT| 24-70 f2.8 ZA SSM|50 f1.4|100 f2.8 Macro|70-300 f4.5~5.6 G SSM|300mm f2.8 G w/2X Teleconverter|500 f8 Reflex

Flashes:HVL-F56AM (2 qty) HVL-F58AM (3 qty) HVL-F20AM

Minolta:28 f2.8|35~70 f4 (qty2)|135 f2.8|100~200 f4.5

Sigma:12~24 f4.5~5.6 DG|28~105 f2.8~4|70~300 f4~5.6 Macro|400 f5.6

BTW, I'm not sure if the A99 has a GPS built into it or not? I looks to me like a port where you can plug a GPS into. I would like that.

Edit----------------------
I just found this rather comprehensive description of the A99:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-a99/sony-a99A.HTM

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Thanks, I just peeked at the site looks interesting. I purchased the A850 as a backup to my A900 when I was trying to go professional. The A700 was an earlier model and the A77 couldn’t resist getting into SLT. The A99 looks great but on a retirement budget I just can't justify it. I also own 3 Nikon cameras (D2X, D7000 and the D800) along with some pretty expensive lenses and flashes. My lenses for the Sony line are high level Tamron and Sigma. If I could afford it I would opt for the Zeiss Icon lens, but then I would need to be making money in the field and not just a hobby.

"Wow Bruce, an A900 and an A850?! That seems a bit redundant. Sony must love you.

I saw a film clip on the Internet saying that the A99 is weather sealed. They had at a prototype at motorcycle race. The camera was covered with dust and the user said it not a problem because of the weather seal.

I only have the A100 and my A900 but you would not believe the lenses I have collected over the years!:

Sony:A100,A900|18~70 f3.5~5.6 DT|11~18 f4.5~5.6 DT| 24-70 f2.8 ZA SSM|50 f1.4|100 f2.8 Macro|70-300 f4.5~5.6 G SSM|300mm f2.8 G w/2X Teleconverter|500 f8 Reflex

Flashes:HVL-F56AM (2 qty) HVL-F58AM (3 qty) HVL-F20AM

Minolta:28 f2.8|35~70 f4 (qty2)|135 f2.8|100~200 f4.5

Sigma:12~24 f4.5~5.6 DG|28~105 f2.8~4|70~300 f4~5.6 Macro|400 f5.6

BTW, I'm not sure if the A99 has a GPS built into it or not? I looks to me like a port where you can plug a GPS into. I would like that.

Edit----------------------
I just found this rather comprehensive description of the A99:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-a99/sony-a99A.HTM"

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

i read up on it last night,with all it's improvements,i still saw things missing that i would want.i'm good with my a-850.having said that if you feel you will use most of it's many features, then go for it.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Does anyone understand the rumored "dual mount hybrid" (Alpha and E-mount), full frame camera that is said to be coming in 2013? I believe that such a camera is coming, but I wonder if old legacy 35mm lenses will work on them as full frame lenses or will they be restricted/limited to the APS-C portion of the imaging array?

I can see some advantages that the A99 has over my current A900 but when I read that a 36MP camera that will accept both Nex and Alpha lenses with an adapter, is coming soon, I can't justify spend money on something that will soon be obsoleted.

I have a drawer full of wonderful old Konica lenses that I would love to put back to work.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

I agree with you. The way the manufacturers of cameras are updating their line of cameras is in some way like the computer manufacturers update their computers, the moment you buy the item it is obsolete because a newer one has just come out.

perpoto

INVEST IN LENS not CAMERA

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

i just bought my a-850 two weeks ago,except for two, all my lenses are minolta or canon fd's with an adaptor.with the other cameras i have i'm good for my lifetime.am going to shoot the zoo with the a-850 today,the next visit will be with the pentax 645d.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

For the most part true, however I also have Nikon cameras with Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 ($1,999), Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 ($2,300) and Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 ($1,800), Nikon 105mm 2.8 macro ($900) as well as an assortment of Nikon primes and a Sigma 50-500mm ($1,500). Now how can I afford to furnish my Sony with great lens on retirement income? When doing professional photography you better have a backup camera body or you can get yourself in trouble.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

I forgot to mention that I picked up a Sony RX-100 just to have with me all the time when I am not lugging a DSLR. It is a great camera with almost all the features of my DSLR's except interchangeable lens. It is compact enough to carry in a shirt sleeve pocket and is rated just above 20 megapixels.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

For most of us the answer to your question is probably not. As a matter of fact, for normal size photos, I see no improvement of the Nikon d800 over my Sony a580. However, when you get into the fine scale of things, there is quite a difference but mine is more than adequate for what I do.

I do like the fact that the a99 is updated from the a900. You do realize that the sensor being full frame, is different than the a77 even though they have basically the same megapixel count. I also like the fact that they held it down to 24mp vs. the d800's 36mp which I understand is the same sensor. I may be wrong here. But with 24mp on that size sensor, they are not trying to cram as much information on to the sensor as would they have with 36 mp. This should result in better color representation at the least.

A good example of this is with the a500 12mp camera vs. the a550 14mp camera. They both have the exact same sensor but they found that the picture quality on the a500 was much better than the a550 because just by adding a little more to the sensor degraded the picture quality just enough to be noticeable. Just goes to prove once again that less is sometimes more.

Sony now has it listed on their website complete with specifications. It is also geared better for movie making along with the expensive accessories that go along with video.

But if Sony has done their homework correctly like they usually do, the a99 ought to be dynamite. At that price it better be.