Picked up a A55 with 18-80 CZ yesterday to see if it works for me.
Here are my first impressions:
-Much smaller than lets say my D700 and 24-70 (which is of course faster lens and 24-120 would be better comparison) - I really like the compact size of the A55 and the CZ lens; still much bigger than m4/3
-the EVF is better than I thought. If the light gets a little dimmer the EVF is brighter than the OVF of the D700. Also the size of the EVF is totally fine IMO
-The A55 feels very responsive and fast. nice
-user interface: The A55 works fine here. To me the UI is more logic and intuitive than that of Pana and Oly M4/3
-IQ: I am not sure yet. for fun I took some coparison images between the A55 and the D700. (maybe not a fair comparison-but thats what I have) I stopped the 24-70 one step further down (5.6) to get comparable DOF and cranked ISO 1 step up in D700 (ISO 800), A55 ISO400 to get same exposure time.
1) not having f2.8 means even during daytime you can sometimes not shoot bas ISO. Here I had to use ISO 400 with the A55.
2) when doing manual WB and looking at raws in LR3 the colors look very similar between those 2 cameras. I could not see any advantage in the "Zeiss" color
3) AF for stills - the D700 seemed more accurate than the A55 - still the A55 did ok
4) sharpness and micro detail: with the d700-24-70 nearly each shot was spot on focused and popped; with the A55 all shots were fine, no one was better than the D700 shot, some did not pop like the D700 shots. I need to do the same at base ISO
Overall first impression:
I find the A55 with the CZ zoom for its price a very appealing combo with a very nice handling. Suddenly the D700 appears very big (it appeared small when I came from the D3 back to D700).
The EVF I get along better than I thought. The CZ 18-80 is IMO a very good compromize between range/speed/size/price.
I see this camera as a very nice camera for travel/parties/family etc. with the ability to shoot both still and video. ( I have not checked out the video yet)
It feels like a real camera to me, not too small still nice small size and weight.
First impression look like it is still no match for cameras like a D700 or comparable regarding AF reliability, noise behaviour etc. The D700 just remains for me the camera which meters/focuses/flash meters just works allways for everything (but the pro-lenses are heavy)
Would be interesting to see how the Nikon 24-120 compares to the 18-80CZ IMO.
For sure the A55 is a nice new techno toy...Do I need or do I just want it? Havent found out yet.
I dont know yet if I shall keep it (since I allready have so many systems)
Here are my first impressions:
-Much smaller than lets say my D700 and 24-70 (which is of course faster lens and 24-120 would be better comparison) - I really like the compact size of the A55 and the CZ lens; still much bigger than m4/3
-the EVF is better than I thought. If the light gets a little dimmer the EVF is brighter than the OVF of the D700. Also the size of the EVF is totally fine IMO
-The A55 feels very responsive and fast. nice
-user interface: The A55 works fine here. To me the UI is more logic and intuitive than that of Pana and Oly M4/3
-IQ: I am not sure yet. for fun I took some coparison images between the A55 and the D700. (maybe not a fair comparison-but thats what I have) I stopped the 24-70 one step further down (5.6) to get comparable DOF and cranked ISO 1 step up in D700 (ISO 800), A55 ISO400 to get same exposure time.
1) not having f2.8 means even during daytime you can sometimes not shoot bas ISO. Here I had to use ISO 400 with the A55.
2) when doing manual WB and looking at raws in LR3 the colors look very similar between those 2 cameras. I could not see any advantage in the "Zeiss" color
3) AF for stills - the D700 seemed more accurate than the A55 - still the A55 did ok
4) sharpness and micro detail: with the d700-24-70 nearly each shot was spot on focused and popped; with the A55 all shots were fine, no one was better than the D700 shot, some did not pop like the D700 shots. I need to do the same at base ISO
Overall first impression:
I find the A55 with the CZ zoom for its price a very appealing combo with a very nice handling. Suddenly the D700 appears very big (it appeared small when I came from the D3 back to D700).
The EVF I get along better than I thought. The CZ 18-80 is IMO a very good compromize between range/speed/size/price.
I see this camera as a very nice camera for travel/parties/family etc. with the ability to shoot both still and video. ( I have not checked out the video yet)
It feels like a real camera to me, not too small still nice small size and weight.
First impression look like it is still no match for cameras like a D700 or comparable regarding AF reliability, noise behaviour etc. The D700 just remains for me the camera which meters/focuses/flash meters just works allways for everything (but the pro-lenses are heavy)
Would be interesting to see how the Nikon 24-120 compares to the 18-80CZ IMO.
For sure the A55 is a nice new techno toy...Do I need or do I just want it? Havent found out yet.
I dont know yet if I shall keep it (since I allready have so many systems)