a900 trashed WHy

[binky]

I have my eye on a new A900 and giving my d300 Nikon to my wife
I have read some really nasty things --Very hard for me to believe

so it it hate Jealousy of just fan boy trash---

I just love the high point view finder, last week on another site this one person says its it hard to see through if you have glass's on
I have eye problems so this caught my attention

whats up with all the bad stuff??
fill me in you you can

 

[dennismullen]

I love the VF but it is so big you really have to hug it to see all the area at once. I guess if you had glasses on it would keep you from getting close. I'd get contacts. It does have a built in diopter correction so I do not need my reading glasses. I use the viewfinder with my left eye and a contact for reading in my right which gives me mono vision.
--
You can see larger versions of my pictures at http://www.dennismullen.com .

“Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - Ben Franklin.

 

[Graham Best]

I have my eye on a new A900 and giving my d300 Nikon to my wife
I have read some really nasty things --Very hard for me to believe

so it it hate Jealousy of just fan boy trash---
I just love the high point view finder, last week on another site
this one person says its it hard to see through if you have glass's on
I have eye problems so this caught my attention

whats up with all the bad stuff??
fill me in you you can

Why not either try before you buy, or order from a vendor that offers a 30 day return period and make your own decision?

--
Regards,
Graham

'I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.' -Garry Winogrand

 

[Chris G B]

I have my eye on a new A900 and giving my d300 Nikon to my wife
I have read some really nasty things --Very hard for me to believe

so it it hate Jealousy of just fan boy trash---
I just love the high point view finder, last week on another site
this one person says its it hard to see through if you have glass's on
I have eye problems so this caught my attention

whats up with all the bad stuff??
fill me in you you can

Regards the eye relief of the viewfinder, the A900 is 20mm the D300 is 19.5mm, so I would imagine it being very similar working distance of eye to finder.

My suggestion is that if you are going to part with the money, get a look at one and have a peek through the finder first, just to check it is OK, but according to the figures, the A900 should be fractionally easier to work with wearing glasses.

Also noted that the A900 has a wider range of dioptre adjustment on the finder too.

There are quite a lot of folks who love brand bashing, I personally would ignore most of it. The A900 is a good camera. I am hoping to collect my new one Friday. I did try one and it was good enough to make me order it.

Chris

 

[Russell Ervin]

Use google. Read all the reviews. Ignore the ones that say it the 'best' camera in the world, ignore the ones that say it is the 'worst' camera in the world. Read the rest, read between the lines. Figure out which reviewers are biased, then you can make a decision.

Of course asking on a Sony forum, you will hear praise, on a Nikon or Canon you will not, that is just the way things are on 'equipment' forums.
Russ
P.S. Google and common sense are your friends..heheh.
--



http://www.flickr.com/photos/quietrvr/
Gear=A camera with a lens.

 

[headofdestiny]

It is nearly impossible for me to see the entire frame in the A900 VF with my glasses on. I just tried it, and corners are cut off. I'm not sure if other FF cameras are much better in this regard. Personally, I don't shoot with my glasses, and rely on the diopter control.

 

[binky]

thanks Chris
I need to wait for income tax return
so I will waiting to here your review

 

[raminolta]

I have a D300 and I have tried A900 in the store. All other factors aside, I prefer A900's viewfinder over D300's everyday. It is the difference between a great viewfinder (D300) and an amazing one (A900)! It's like watching a 20" TV versus a 17" one from the same distance. I wear glasses too and find it hard to do manual focus unless the viewfinder is really good. So viewfinder really matters to me.

 

[lonewolf69]

LOL !!! That's exactly what I did, I switch to contacts but ONLY to gape and ABSORB the gorgeous VF... With glasses on, you don't get to appreciate the details that you would get with contacts!!!

Mind you the VF with GLASSES is NO SLOUCH and NO PROBLEM, but wearing contacts just gives the ICING on the cake for me!

To the OP, I'm not too sure where you are reading/hearing about the A900 being trashed? Store sales people, friends/colleagues at work, family members, or magazine articles? I have seen some "slightly" negaive reviews emphasis on "slight" but I have yet to read/see/hear of the A900 being trashed... !

Most likely it's like what you wrote, jealousy and/or fan boyism for Canon/Nikon/Pentax/ Olympus/ Sigma or substitute your own brand here. You know the type well:

The SONY A900 is bad, blah blah blah, but BRAND X (and ONLY Brand X maybe Brand Y) is better.... sigh

IMHO the only thing better about the other brands is the available equipment that is available for the system. TO me this is the major weakness of the SONY AMOUNT system:

1. Lenses - other brands have much more lenses available from OEM to 3rd party, including T&S

2. Support - directly with Manufacturer or camera stores as well. Walk into any camera store and sales staff are enthusiastic until you mention SONY and more than 50% of the time, you'll get a disparaging remark, ohhhh, why would you shoot with that? Are you ready to trade in to a real system? (Even B&H some of the staff will look at you with disdain) - It's gotten better, but the A-MOUNT is still treated like a 2nd class citizen

3. Flash system - Missing a TRUE ring flash, and the wireless system and metering have caught up and surpassed Minolta/Sony's implementation. The F58 is a BIG stride in the right direction but the MOMENTUM needs to continue and SONY still needs to "catch up" to Canon and/or Nikon

4. Software support - Adobe/SONY needs to "fix" RAW converters to fully showcase the best possible output. We have a SEVERE problem when a 3rd party RAW converter (Bible & Raw Therappe)does a better job than that of the INDUSTRY leader (Adobe) or the OEM of the equipment (SONY), specifically refering to the A900 but also A700 pre firmware 4.0... I put the blame squarely on SONY's shoulders, they should be PUSHING for the BEST possible output if their own SOFTWARE can't produce the best results how can we expect more from Adobe?!??? Firmware also kinda falls under this category as well, where's the firmware for A200/300/350/900?

Just some "minor" gripes, but honestly if SONY can address these 4 key issues, I'm sure there will be many more users who will come flocking over to the AMOUNT system...

I love the VF but it is so big you really have to hug it to see all
the area at once. I guess if you had glasses on it would keep you
from getting close. I'd get contacts. It does have a built in diopter
correction so I do not need my reading glasses. I use the viewfinder
with my left eye and a contact for reading in my right which gives me
mono vision.
--
You can see larger versions of my pictures at
http://www.dennismullen.com .
“Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither liberty
nor safety.” - Ben Franklin.

--
-Alex

From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no other.

http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69

 

[ephankim]

i'd also like a firmware that write the lens name in EXIF where Adobe expects it

 

[willysp]

It's no different than any other camera WRT glasses.

I have my eye on a new A900 and giving my d300 Nikon to my wife
I have read some really nasty things --Very hard for me to believe

so it it hate Jealousy of just fan boy trash---
I just love the high point view finder, last week on another site
this one person says its it hard to see through if you have glass's on
I have eye problems so this caught my attention

whats up with all the bad stuff??
fill me in you you can

 

[austinnyc]

um I have heard of no issues of it not writing the lens ID, maybe yours is a off brand or model? Check out PhotoMe if you need info from your exif about lenses or anything else.
--

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Email : [email protected]

'Always Looking For New People To Walk The Streets Of NYC With In Search Of The Perfect Shot'

http://photobucket.com/AustinNyc

'Equipment List'
Beer Can 70-210 f4 (Sharp but TONS of CA)
Sony 50mm f1.4 (Tack Sharp!)
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 ( !!Sharp Sharp Sharp !! )
Tamron 20-200 F2.8 Macro XD Di (I LOVE this lens!!)

 

[Legacys_Quest7]

Sony knows that if you're going to compete against Canon and Nikon, you must make a very strong impression that you're serious. No system is perfect, but neglecting obvious issues for a long time will put doubt in the consumer's head. Firmwares shouldn't take a long time.

If you're going to brag about your very first full frame camera, make sure that some of the primary issues are minor ones. Noise issue in a high iso 3000 dollar camera shouldn't be there. Especially for that price.

A strong lens system is a must when you're putting out a serious camera like the A700 and 900. You'd think that Sony have done their home work before buying Minolta seeing that they lacked this and this is what kept Canon and Nikon in the game. I would love to be able to lease a body and lens. I can do this with both Nikon and Canon at a few of my local dealers.

Some of the accessories are over priced and some shouldn't come separate. I find it sad that you have to pay for a lcd cover. That's cheap and nickle and dime the customers. Come on Sony, don't run your customer away.

I have a few more, but I can't think of the rest but this last one right now. The flash system, Sony seriously needs to change that. I like using Pocket Wizards, but hate that I don't have the universal mount or have to buy an adapter and Sony's adapter price is outrageous. Their future bodies should have the same flash mount that all of the other cameras have.

Mind you the VF with GLASSES is NO SLOUCH and NO PROBLEM, but wearing
contacts just gives the ICING on the cake for me!

To the OP, I'm not too sure where you are reading/hearing about the
A900 being trashed? Store sales people, friends/colleagues at work,
family members, or magazine articles? I have seen some "slightly"
negaive reviews emphasis on "slight" but I have yet to read/see/hear
of the A900 being trashed... !

Most likely it's like what you wrote, jealousy and/or fan boyism for
Canon/Nikon/Pentax/ Olympus/ Sigma or substitute your own brand here.
You know the type well:

The SONY A900 is bad, blah blah blah, but BRAND X (and ONLY Brand X
maybe Brand Y) is better.... sigh

IMHO the only thing better about the other brands is the available
equipment that is available for the system. TO me this is the major
weakness of the SONY AMOUNT system:

1. Lenses - other brands have much more lenses available from OEM to
3rd party, including T&S
2. Support - directly with Manufacturer or camera stores as well.
Walk into any camera store and sales staff are enthusiastic until you
mention SONY and more than 50% of the time, you'll get a disparaging
remark, ohhhh, why would you shoot with that? Are you ready to trade
in to a real system? (Even B&H some of the staff will look at you
with disdain) - It's gotten better, but the A-MOUNT is still treated
like a 2nd class citizen
3. Flash system - Missing a TRUE ring flash, and the wireless system
and metering have caught up and surpassed Minolta/Sony's
implementation. The F58 is a BIG stride in the right direction but
the MOMENTUM needs to continue and SONY still needs to "catch up" to
Canon and/or Nikon
4. Software support - Adobe/SONY needs to "fix" RAW converters to
fully showcase the best possible output. We have a SEVERE problem
when a 3rd party RAW converter (Bible & Raw Therappe)does a better
job than that of the INDUSTRY leader (Adobe) or the OEM of the
equipment (SONY), specifically refering to the A900 but also A700 pre
firmware 4.0... I put the blame squarely on SONY's shoulders, they
should be PUSHING for the BEST possible output if their own SOFTWARE
can't produce the best results how can we expect more from Adobe?!???
Firmware also kinda falls under this category as well, where's the
firmware for A200/300/350/900?

Just some "minor" gripes, but honestly if SONY can address these 4
key issues, I'm sure there will be many more users who will come
flocking over to the AMOUNT system...

I love the VF but it is so big you really have to hug it to see all
the area at once. I guess if you had glasses on it would keep you
from getting close. I'd get contacts. It does have a built in diopter
correction so I do not need my reading glasses. I use the viewfinder
with my left eye and a contact for reading in my right which gives me
mono vision.
--
You can see larger versions of my pictures at
http://www.dennismullen.com .
“Those who would sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither liberty
nor safety.” - Ben Franklin.

--
-Alex

From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no
other.

http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69

--
http://www.legacys-photo.com

 

[fastglass]

A Sony dSLR's outsider's view (Sony p&s owner & many Sony consumer goods) - I haven't yet tried an a900 - but I'm interested - & as a long time Nikon SLR user, in addition to the concerns expressed above ...

One of the MAJOR reasons to consider investing the big $$$$ in a FF sensor dSLR is much improved LOW LIGHT performance - & according to reviews I've read (NO personal experience) - the Sony falls short of Canon's & Nikon's FF offerings.

In addition - Sony "Pro-glass" offerings are extremely limited - until recently, a big Nikon criticism too.

And, though this maybe a little shallow - the "Sony" brand - great as is is in some product catagories - means little to nothing (possibly a negative, even) in big $$$$ still cameras. Panasonic was smart to recognize this limitation & develop the "Lumix" brand - which works very nicely, thank you - with their "Leica" relationship.

The Zeiss connection, resolution, somewhat attractive price (especially before the 5D MkII) & alleged "best in class" viewfinder are a few of the Sony temptations.

Bottom line - I'm open to learning more about Sony FF too ...

Best.

--
Vaya con Dios
imo
(c) fastglass

 

[gpr2020]

I have my eye on a new A900 and giving my d300 Nikon to my wife
I have read some really nasty things --Very hard for me to believe

so it it hate Jealousy of just fan boy trash---
I just love the high point view finder, last week on another site
this one person says its it hard to see through if you have glass's on
I have eye problems so this caught my attention

whats up with all the bad stuff??
fill me in you you can

--

Don't worry about the trashing things regarding the a900. These are made by people that do not know how to use the camera and/or do not even own the camera.

Go try one yourself and if it suits your need get one. Only you will know if it is good or bad for your needs. Trust yourself on choosing a camera and no one else.

 

[cgarrard]

My opinion on this subject, if I may.

Insecurity just feeds insecurity.

I wouldn't worry about it, personally had a change of heart on the subject. I realized that it is just insecurity.

I mean, dude.... the world is teetering on some major issues right now and trashing a camera is what is important?

People should be taking lots of pictures of our time and place in history, it is truly historical. It doesn't seem that important now, but in 50 years people are going to look back in fear to what we all went through, hopefully they will learn something from it.

Pictures and stories will help educate. Not brand worship and ignorance.

C
--
http://www.CarlGarrardPhotography.com

 

[eyefuse]

I came from the old Minolta AF7000, got a KM7D 2005 and have held on to that until one moth ago when I bought the a900. I have looked at the a700 but didn't see enough benefits for an update there. I also got only FF lenses since day1.

Now that I have the A900 I'm very happy. My initial reaction was this is the last camera I will buy, it has everything I could ever need and more. It's still relatively light and small for logging around everywhere. Double horizontal and vertical resolution compared to the 7D; 5 frames per second; sharp and clear LCD; excellent handling and ergonomics; full frame field of view; huge and bright VF; very good battery life; not to mention the exceptional dynamic range and preserving of highlights... and so on. Finally a situation where you can forget about anticipating new bodies and just look at getting the best lenses from now on.

I truly don't see any point in bashing this camera. But one has to realize that a 24MP sensor is not the best for high iso work. Personally I think the resolution more than makes up for it - if you run a mild noise removal on an iso3200 full res picture and then resize it to 12MP you end up with a superb shot! Though I think it's fair to bash the jpeg engine and high iso 100% crops if you need to pick on something - I think it has no real purpose as those are not relevant issues for a good photographer who process photos himself and uses noise reduction in the process anyway. While it's true that Sony hasn't got as many mid level lenses as Canonikon, it's rubbish to say that the ones they have aren't pro grade - the Zeiss glass is on par or better that the competition.

I got my a900 for 2200€ after tax reduction, so that ain't bad either.

--
Georg Varsanpää

 

[keith Bennett]

. . .
Now that I have the A900 I'm very happy. My initial reaction was this
is the last camera I will buy, it has everything I could ever need
and more. . . .

• indeed, i agree with everything eyefuse said, and, i think a well exposed picture at iso3200 is most useable with correct noise removal - better than anything else i've tried -
• take some pictures for yourself at your local camera shop with the 900, compare it with anything else and you should be able to see the quality for yourself - for me skin texture will tell you almost everything because it is so familiar - just make sure you use a good raw converter - i like raw developer and capture one

--

keith

 

[Axion]

Apologies for operating in the rant mode.

I am not sure why we are crying so much about (1) Incomplete lens collection and (2) noise

(1) Lens collection: In my view Sony has the 'pro' level lens that a 'typical' professional with a budget of $10k would need. Granted the 600mm and the TS are not available, but how many really need these lens or could afford them?

I for one have yet to own all the CZs that I drool over. The 600mm and TS will have to wait until I have all the CZs, Gs, 16FE & more!

(2) Noise: Won't it be great to have ISO 25600 that looks like ISO25 Kodak Ektar? Face it, no way. By most measures A900 seems to be 1-2 stop worst off than the D3X or 5D2. Why don't you turn on the SSS and reduce the ISO by 2-stops and you have a A900 performing as well as the D3X or 5D2?

By all account, even though the A900 is not perfect, it is not as bad as what is being said. I actually believe A900 is competitive.

 

[Anastigmat]

I have my eye on a new A900 and giving my d300 Nikon to my wife
I have read some really nasty things --Very hard for me to believe

Nasty things about cameras are said all the time, both in the forums and in the web.

so it it hate Jealousy of just fan boy trash---

Not sure what motivates some people. Some criticisms are legit, others are not. You would need to learn to differentiate them yourself. Even Mother Teresa has her enemies, and even Hitler has his fans. Go figure.

I just love the high point view finder, last week on another site
this one person says its it hard to see through if you have glass's on
I have eye problems so this caught my attention

The whole idea of a high eyepoint viewfinder is to let you see more of the viewfinder when wearing glasses. You would need to try it yourself to see if it is high enough for you. LOL.

The A900 is a good camera, with lots of good points and some bad points. The proprietary hot shoe is always a bone of contention. Some like it; some don't. The high ISO noise level is also a sore spot. Nikon is better at taming high ISO noise but the D3X is not as good as the Canon 5DMKII at high ISO settings. There simply is a limit as to what a camera maker can do with noise reduction. The 24 mp Sony sensor, without benefit of Canon's proprietary on chip noise reduction patents, simply cannot match the Canon sensor's low noise levels. But then again, no other brand can boast Carl Zeiss AF lenses, which is probably one of the best selling points of the A900. So, if you want Carl Zeiss lenses, and you rarely shoot at ISO settings about 800, and you are not bothered by the proprietary hot shoe, then the A900 may be for you.