Phil's A100 review up - Highly Recommended!

Richard B. · Jul 31, 2006

...hoping this isn't a duplicate thread.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but conclusion is highly recomended, a promising future for the A-mount!

--
Richard B.
http://www.pbase.com/richard_b

pitaw · Jul 31, 2006

Hmmm...noisy on iso 800 & iso 1600...

jonny1976 · Jul 31, 2006

pitaw said:
Hmmm...noisy on iso 800 & iso 1600...

yes but much more detail than canon 30d..see the bailey's crop...for me you can shot iso 1600 and then use noise ninja and have the same results than canon 30 d at iso 1600...you can reproduce more detail if they are not there, but you an conrol noise if it's there.

it's a great review for me, and the only con i can see is noise, the other for me are more con added than real con, sorry phil but i think this. great review but it seems to me that the cons are a little bit stretched.

In the conclusion ihaven't read a clear judgement about Af improvement, but it seems it's improved on behalf the minolta 7 and 5d

--
http://www.pbase.com/jon1976

cleanmaxx brian · Jul 31, 2006

Just as we thought no?
A little noisy but good everywhere else for the most part.
--
Brian
Konica Minolta 7D, Panasonic DMC-fx01
My picture page:
http://www.pbase.com/cleanmaxx_brian/

My 91 Nissan Sentra SE-R
http://www.jbl.com/car/featured/installs/sentra.asp

jonny1976 · Jul 31, 2006

cleanmaxx brian said:
Just as we thought no?
A little noisy but good everywhere else for the most part.
--
Brian
Konica Minolta 7D, Panasonic DMC-fx01
My picture page:
http://www.pbase.com/cleanmaxx_brian/

My 91 Nissan Sentra SE-R
http://www.jbl.com/car/featured/installs/sentra.asp

i can see more detail than all the other camera...if u have not specific photo interest, at the end of the day u have more detail and better images than nikon d200. Yes nikon d200 is another league but it's very important to have all tese details at iso 100-400.
I'd like to see how noise nija can control iso 1600.
a good step toward the big brother.

--
http://www.pbase.com/jon1976

David Martin · Jul 31, 2006

I very much enjoyed the new sections.

The review on the Sony was about what most had guessed - the only surprise is the metering issues he experienced, hopefully it is just his camera.
Sounds like a pretty good deal for would be Sony buyers!
--
Regards,
DaveMart

'Just a wildebeast on the plain of life'
Please see profile for equipment

tapir · Jul 31, 2006

That means that ISO 800 is more like ISO 1000

pitaw said:
Hmmm...noisy on iso 800 & iso 1600...

--
http://www.pbase.com/klopus

barri · Jul 31, 2006

just finished reading the review.... this review now fully convinced me of the A100. Until now I still needed some decent comparison of picture quality telling me that the A100 would not be worse than a D200 - also at higher ISOs.

I guess, I will be out shopping for the A100 this week. I only hope that I can find one available..... ;-)

--

Minolta 9xi, Minolta 7xi, Minolta 5400xi, Minolta 2.8/100 macro, Tokina 2.6-2.8/28-70 ProII, Sigma 3.5-4.5/28-70 UC, Sigma 4.5-5.6/75-300 APO, Sigma 7.2/500 APO, Sigma 1.4x, Canon S70

.

David Kilpatrick · Jul 31, 2006

The link to this forum at the end of the review goes to the Canon 30D forum instead

- just what we needed to keep cool!

Also, the card shooting speeds refers to Canon EOS 30D in the headings when it should say Alpha 100.

There's one more I spotted but my handwriting is so bad I now can't tell what on earth it was, Phil's test is so thorough I can't remember all of it at once...

David

Eric Sorensen · Jul 31, 2006

See here: Canon 10D at ISO 1600:

Sony Alpha at ISO 800:

And the 10D is almost 4 years old. Of course, to be fair, the 6mp vs 10mp really would make a difference in prints because the Noise would be "smaller" if you print both images on the same size paper. Given that resolution difference, the noticable noise would probably be about equal.

I am using a 10D now and I need noise levels low for high ISO's - so this camera will not be on my list of cameras to upgrade to, that's for sure.

Excellent review, of course, but the only major thing I see this camera has that my old 10D doesn't is 10MP, unlimted JPEGS at the same FPS, and a bigger LCD. I guess I was hoping for a bit more from Sony.

--
Eric Sorensen
Bossier City, Louisiana
http://www.pbase.com/ericsorensen

SteMa · Jul 31, 2006

it supposed to have a better sensor than the d200, but that has a wider dynamic range, a 1/2 stop better (11 with acr best instead of 10.5), and that's in the shadow areas, so that's good, because underexposure means faster shutter speed.

ywos · Jul 31, 2006

Fair points, but the 10D was aimed at a different market at the time than the A100 is, so "expecting" more from an entry level Sony camera (and basically a first generation at that) would inevitably leave you disappointed in some aspects. I never expected miracles from the A100, but I am pleasantly surprised how good it is.

The great thing about a 10Mpix sensor is that it gives you a big margin to work with the image, so I don't consider the noise issue to be such a problem in the end. I'll know for sure once I get my hands on some prints.

jstaels · Jul 31, 2006

Coincidentally, these two cameras were also my favorite ones when I worked with them. Now, if Phil compares the A100 to those cameras and the differences are just minor, this is a great victory for Sony. The Canon is ±€350 more expensive and the Nikon is ± twice as expensive.

I'm glad I didnt buy the expensive Nikon D200, as I don't need all the high end options, and I'm glad I bought my A100 today for the second time.

The only real con is off course the ISO 800/1600 issue. Maybe I need a good tutorial on how to effectively remove noise in Photoshop. Anyone seen one?

macshark · Jul 31, 2006

jstaels said:
The only real con is off course the ISO 800/1600 issue. Maybe I
need a good tutorial on how to effectively remove noise in
Photoshop. Anyone seen one?

Yes, use a EOS 20D/30D!

rvogie · Jul 31, 2006

I shoot RAW and use NoiseNinja. Works on JPEG too.
Simple.

jstaels · Jul 31, 2006

Although the Canon 20/30D has lower noise, it does has it in some situations. Its inevitable when using long exposures and high ISO values.

So, a good tutorial on noise removal in Photoshop is still welcome, even for a Canon enthiousiast

.

jstaels · Jul 31, 2006

Is there a profile for the A100 in NoiseNinja available at this time?

macshark · Jul 31, 2006

I do use NeatImage and I am quite happy with it. There is even a free trial version (w/o time limit) you can download from their site.

robert pb · Jul 31, 2006

Thanks to Phil for this mega test, must be one for the Guiness Book of Records. I think it will take a few days to take it all in.

Perhaps it will keep some of the gadjet cowboys quiet for a while.

Best price i've seen for the 100 with 18-70 £569.99 at digistor.co.uk.

Nikon D50 with 18-70 £499.99 and who said that the 100 was not going to compete at this level
--
robert pb

David Martin · Jul 31, 2006

...One way is to pick the areas needing treatment with magic wand, convert to LAB, look at which channels have most noise and do a light gaussian blur, then convert back and do a bit of sharpening to compensate for the blur you have introduced.
Here is another way:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=12516246
And here is more:
http://www.zenadsl5251.zen.co.uk/photos/highiso.html
A different way:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=19267561
And:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=19310008

jstaels said:
Coincidentally, these two cameras were also my favorite ones when I
worked with them. Now, if Phil compares the A100 to those cameras
and the differences are just minor, this is a great victory for
Sony. The Canon is ±€350 more expensive and the Nikon is ± twice as
expensive.
I'm glad I didnt buy the expensive Nikon D200, as I don't need all
the high end options, and I'm glad I bought my A100 today for the
second time.

The only real con is off course the ISO 800/1600 issue. Maybe I
need a good tutorial on how to effectively remove noise in
Photoshop. Anyone seen one?

--
Regards,
DaveMart

'Just a wildebeast on the plain of life'
Please see profile for equipment

Phil's A100 review up - Highly Recommended!

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