Reading mode: Light Dark

RE-VISIT SONY A99 MARK II (PART 1)

Go to last post
orpheuslau

orpheuslau

Well-known member
Messages
114
Reaction score
144
Location
HK
35568183046_b8fde1db48_o.jpg


The first question is: Why A99ii? Before I make my decision, I have been considering several factors seriously. Although it is not a perfect camera to look for, this new camera should be able to enrich my user experience by enabling me to do my work smoothly and, most importantly, happily.

1.) Positioning
A99ii is a combination of A77ii and A7Rii, the former one has been proved to be excel in action shooting while the later one is renowned for her image quality. The positioning of A99ii is a multi-purpose camera which suits the need of professional as well as prosumer.

Personally I still prefer D500 for action shooting i.e. Bird and sport while I need a second body for daily use. Hopefully that can be quick enough to focus, easy to handle and most importantly produce superb image with high pixel count.

Here it comes the A99 Mark II



35568185686_8751efe9ed_o.jpg




To be continue



FULL story: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/re-visit-sony-a99-mark-ii-part-1/

--
Blog: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/
 
Go to admit I don't recall seeing the a99ii referred to as a 'second body for daily use' very often :-O
 
Tim Crammond said:
Go to admit I don't recall seeing the a99ii referred to as a 'second body for daily use' very often :-O
Click to expand...
Yes it would seem that the A99ii would be the first camera for regular use while the D500 would be the second body for sports and action. ;-)
 
Are you saying your primary use is shooting long bursts that fill the buffer?
 
What you can say compared a99-2 buffer with a9 and Nikon cameras?
 
paulnelson88 said:
tbcass said:
Are you saying your primary use is shooting long bursts that fill the buffer?

--
Tom
Look at the picture, not the pixels
Click to expand...
MMA yes the buffer is too short, Ultra Running I have shot 4-6 photos per runner and filled the buffer as they come and on private shoots with runners I use the fast frames so the runner doesn't have to do the shoot over and over to get the perfect picture. I shoot everything raw. I use the the A99-2 with strobes high MP shots as clients ask for but for most sports the buffer on the A99-2 in raw will max out and you will miss shots

--
https://paulnelson.smugmug.com/
Click to expand...
I've only managed to fill the buffer once - baseball player with walk-off grand slam - swing, ball flying over the fence, player rounding the bases, etc. However I do shoot compressed raw (59 shot buffer). The uncompressed raw buffer (25 frames) is the same as my Canon 7D2 and I fill that frequently.

--
Gary
http://www.kleinoak.org/a700/mustang_a700.jpg
 
Last edited:
First of all, even A99ii is my choice, I won’t say it is perfect. There are pros and cons of each model however I will rather consider the camera as a part of my photography system. There are a bunch of factors such as function, lens, handling and price etc to be considered.

2.) Lens choice
Considering size and weight: Fast E mount Zoom lens, e.g. Sony GM 24-70 f2.8, shares no advantage in size and weight compared to her DSLR counterparts. Therefore I use to attach prime lens only on my A7RII. Also I feel kinda weird to attach a big lens on a small A7RII body, that makes the combo so bulky (as DSLR) and difficult to handle (balance).

Price is also another hindering factor which you can see the price tag of latest Sony E mount lens is 30% – 50% higher than other lens which share the same spec. It seems this pricing strategy will continue endlessly.

Although Sony E mount family is growing quickly, I expect a few more years to come before the E mount system is mature. On the other hand, the A mount system has been developed more than a decade ago therefore the availability and variety of A mount lens, including Sony Native and third party lens, are superior than E mount. Some of the A mount lens stills performs pretty well with superb image quality, e.g. Sony Zeiss 135mm f1.8, you can find them in second hand market asking for only 50% of the Sony E mount lens with similar spec. However the development of A mount is apparently stopped when Sony has focused on A7 production. Worry is growing whether new A mount lens will be produced, or…





34765828194_8f771185a7_z.jpg




To be continue...



Full Story https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/re-visit-sony-a99-mark-ii-part-1/

--
Blog: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/
 
ValeryD said:
What you can say compared a99-2 buffer with a9 and Nikon cameras?
Click to expand...
D500 (XQD, lossless compressed RAW, Raw only, no jpg back in slot 2): buffer practically never fill up, even in bird&sport photography, no lag at all, perfect experience so far.

A99ii (SD card, compressed RAW, Raw only, no jpg back in slot 2): buffer is ok, will fill up around taking 60 shots and need another 30 seconds to clear the buffer. In practice, I never experience a buffer fill up as i won't keep pressing the shutter for over 4-5 second. however I must admit, in extreme situation, you need to pay attention to that.

For A9, I don't have it so my opinion is only based on my limited knowledge and testing with it. The buffer is better than A99ii but it is far behind D500. In practice, like A99ii, I think the buffer will not be maxed out usually.

So my observation D500>>A9>A99ii

However, only A99ii can give a 40+MP picture, if you need High res / big print, that is the only choice to go. For D500 and A9, the buffer size is bigger than A99ii however your post processing capacity is limited (e.g. Cropping) when compared to a99ii. So there is no clear winner among them.

P.S. just a rough Calculation, comparing the file size (RAW) between A99ii and A9 together with the processing time (buffer clearing) needed, my impression is...actually the processing speed of A9 does not out-perform A99ii very much. Please do share with us if your more detailed calculation data, I don't have both camera, so can't do an AB test.
 
I wonder if the buffer is bigger or it's the smaller file size.
 
orpheuslau said:
ValeryD said:
What you can say compared a99-2 buffer with a9 and Nikon cameras?
Click to expand...
D500 (XQD, lossless compressed RAW, Raw only, no jpg back in slot 2): buffer practically never fill up, even in bird&sport photography, no lag at all, perfect experience so far.

A99ii (SD card, compressed RAW, Raw only, no jpg back in slot 2): buffer is ok, will fill up around taking 60 shots and need another 30 seconds to clear the buffer. In practice, I never experience a buffer fill up as i won't keep pressing the shutter for over 4-5 second. however I must admit, in extreme situation, you need to pay attention to that.

For A9, I don't have it so my opinion is only based on my limited knowledge and testing with it. The buffer is better than A99ii but it is far behind D500. In practice, like A99ii, I think the buffer will not be maxed out usually.

So my observation D500>>A9>A99ii

However, only A99ii can give a 40+MP picture, if you need High res / big print, that is the only choice to go. For D500 and A9, the buffer size is bigger than A99ii however your post processing capacity is limited (e.g. Cropping) when compared to a99ii. So there is no clear winner among them.

P.S. just a rough Calculation, comparing the file size (RAW) between A99ii and A9 together with the processing time (buffer clearing) needed, my impression is...actually the processing speed of A9 does not out-perform A99ii very much. Please do share with us if your more detailed calculation data, I don't have both camera, so can't do an AB test.

--
Blog: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/
Click to expand...
I own both cameras the A9 is in another league for sports than the A99-2. Remember I shoot pro sports I do this everyday and the buffer is amazing on the A9 I use the 12fps it really never ever maxes out. The EVF is a joke on the A99-2 compared to the A9. In lower light the A99-2 EVF looks bad. The A9 just works better and does everything better. Also the DR and raw files out of the A9 are really really good. The D500 doesn't even come close in low light to the A9.

I use the A99-2 for big MP shots clients want the lenses for the A mount need updating and are outdated for speed and everything else. If you are a casual shooter and do a mix of everything the A99-2 is the perfect fit but the lens system needs some love. I LOVE the 135 1.8 but it slow as hell but I make it work. If you have not used a A9 rent it for a week along with the two GM lenses and then judge it.

d56f21b0a2ab477a95ee230dd066a5c3.jpg



3c4149b3072745ea9ba62cbec7a7f116.jpg





377cff1d14bc4f9ab03667697f379a24.jpg

35587cff606542a2a70556b58b70fbe7.jpg

197f871e21464d61866e4de177a9a63e.jpg

7ee7bd06526644e6b621e0f3b4e14940.jpg

a3266a46c3814bd3b4de1dd115c41fa5.jpg

9070b5c5bc07442c8877d134ebcb07b7.jpg

--
https://paulnelson.smugmug.com/
 

Attachments

  • 759686f157b741f0bfbfd2fd09a1df41.jpg
    759686f157b741f0bfbfd2fd09a1df41.jpg
    9.2 MB · Views: 0
Last edited:
The A9 does have a better EVF but don't you think calling the A99ii EVF a "joke" is a bit harsh. Aren't you the one who was praising the A99ii not long ago?
 
Another thing to consider with the D500 is a complete lack of lenses that are any good in Aps-c (exception may be the new 16/85, which seems ok). That means FF lenses and that 24/70 becomes 36/105 and a lot weight that doesn't take advantage of the little sensor. The 99II also focuses at -4 ev with a 2.8 lens, the A9 needs a 2.0 lens to focus at -3. I can go on but if you shoot wildlife which is close and sports where you can sift though thousands of shots you have machine gunned, the D500 will work at 10fps or you can shoot the 99II at 12fps or the A9 at 20fps (all are outrageous numbers).
 
steelhead3 said:
Another thing to consider with the D500 is a complete lack of lenses that are any good in Aps-c (exception may be the new 16/85, which seems ok). That means FF lenses and that 24/70 becomes 36/105 and a lot weight that doesn't take advantage of the little sensor. The 99II also focuses at -4 ev with a 2.8 lens, the A9 needs a 2.0 lens to focus at -3. I can go on but if you shoot wildlife which is close and sports where you can sift though thousands of shots you have machine gunned, the D500 will work at 10fps or you can shoot the 99II at 12fps or the A9 at 20fps (all are outrageous numbers).
Click to expand...
I don't machine gun. It does make it nice to have for certain situations. If you watch the video Max and I made the D5 vs the A9 the A9 was much better than the D5 focusing in low light. Any of these cameras will do great for about anything.
 
tbcass said:
The A9 does have a better EVF but don't you think calling the A99ii EVF a "joke" is a bit harsh. Aren't you the one who was praising the A99ii not long ago?
Click to expand...
 
3.) Live view, flip monitor
The first feature of a99ii comes to my mind is "Flip live view monitor". What? I use to shoot kids and dogs and low angel shot can help to illustrate the world from their perspective. After years of shooting, I can only say the flip live view simply makes life much easier. Most DSLR like D500 also has flip live view monitor however when shifting to live view mode e.g. in D500, the AF performance is significantly dropped, that is just not capable to freeze a running kid.



35568187226_5bde10b96c_o.jpg




To be continue



Full Story: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/re-visit-sony-a99-mark-ii-part-1/

--
Blog: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/
 
4.) Focus linked spot metering
When shooting a fast moving subject, Soccer game for example, the players will shift their position abruptly. Therefore the tradition mode of metering, e.g. Matix, centre or spot, can sometime fail to give an accurate exposure especially in contrast lighting. The focus linked spot metering can make sure the focus point is properly exposed. This feature has saved many precious pictures of my kid. This focus linked spot metering function has been incorporated in the latest Model Sony A9 but not A7RII.

To be continue

Full Story: https://orpheuslau.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/re-visit-sony-a99-mark-ii-part-1/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top