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Which 2nd body

picman

Member
I want to get a second FF body, I have the A900 and all FF Zeiss lenses. Two reasons (1) as a safety measure in case something goes wrong with one body (2) in order to sometimes carry two bodies with two lenses rather than a backpack with lenses. What would you go for at the moment, a second A900 or the A850. The price difference does not really bother me.

Thanks for your ideas!

Cheers, Bob.
 

Eoin

Member
I would suggest keeping it simple and have an exact duplicate, i.e. another a900. I've seen as low as a €200 difference in price between an a850 and a900.

Well that's what I've done this time, I'm tired of having to pause and think my way through an alternative backup which is not exactly the same as my main Camera. It was an easy choice this time, I knew the Sony was that good (for me) I wouldn't be chasing the upgrade train anymore.....well for a long time anyhow.
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
I bought an a700 as a back up for "exotic not to be repeated trips" when I got the a900 - less than half the price but essentially an identical interface, tho' not FF of course. I'm glad to say it has only about a hundred exposures on it - I've never needed the back up!
Bill
 

edwardkaraa

New member
I agree with Eoin. The price difference is too small and the 850 may actually suffer from looser tolerances as per a few user reports.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
That's what friends are for :D

I would wait just a few weeks if I were you. Sony is rumored to announce 2 new Dslr beginning of January. One will be surely the A700 successor. No one knows what the other is, but it could be interesting, maybe a pro body? I hope there will be lenses announced too, so you might want to save more money for the lenses.

How is that for a spending plan? :)
 

picman

Member
That's what friends are for :D

I would wait just a few weeks if I were you. Sony is rumored to announce 2 new Dslr beginning of January. One will be surely the A700 successor. No one knows what the other is, but it could be interesting, maybe a pro body? I hope there will be lenses announced too, so you might want to save more money for the lenses.

How is that for a spending plan? :)
Good advice! Will do, but if they come out with a body AND lenses that would be some spending plan :D
 

ecsh

New member
I am with Edward waiting for lens, although i need another lens like i need another...well, you know.<G>
 

Eoin

Member
What the heck, one can never have too much fine glass:D. A couple of nice fast wide Zeiss primes might prove too attractive to pass up.

I just dream of a Zeiss ZA Planar 55mm f:/1.2 (SAL55F12Z) will some day replace my Rokkor. Damn it's a PIA to use on the a900 but it is good.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I'd wait a little while also.

If Sony does surprise us with the roumored bad boy Pro body ... and even if you really aren't interested in that ... there will be some attractive pricing on A900s from those moving to the new body. I'd sell my back-up A900 and move my current A900 shooter to back-up status if a new Pro camera was announced.

Heck, I even need a back-up midrange zoom for weddings ... and may just get the new Sony 28-75 for that purpose. I don't need a Zeiss for back-up purposes.

I do wish they would get some Zeiss primes out the door. I think they'd be crawling up the backs of Canon and Nikon even more with more Zeiss AF lenses in the stable.
 

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
I just dream of a Zeiss ZA Planar 55mm f:/1.2 (SAL55F12Z) will some day replace my Rokkor. Damn it's a PIA to use on the a900 but it is good.
Eoin, I noticed that in another thread you wrote:
I picked up a minty 58 1.2 pretty cheap, I put a chipped mount on it and to be honest I haven't used it much. My eyesight isn't so good and even with the M focus screen and focus confirmation it's a PIA for me to use stopped down more than f:/4.
I have a number of Rokkor MC and MD lenses (including a 58/1.2) that I use on my Panasonic G1. I'm interested in how you converted it to work on the A900. Did you follow Arkku's conversion process (explained on Flickr) or use a different method?
 

edwardkaraa

New member
BTW, I'm pretty sure some pro grade glass, Zeiss or G, will be announced in January, together with the 2 higher end camera bodies.

Another indication that something from Zeiss is coming. I emailed them 3 weeks ago expressing my and my buddies at getdpi frustration of no new ZA lenses, especially after the extension of the partnership. In the last 5-6 years Zeiss never failed to reply to any email. This time they did.

Last time I asked them this question, before the extension, they blamed it on Sony. I think if nothing was on the way, they would have blamed it on Sony this time too.

Now if something is cooking, Zeiss obviously cannot disclose it to me before the official announcement. However, if they say no, they would be blamed for lying, which happened just before the introduction of the ZE line. Zeiss replied to several emails from FM forum members including myself that ZE will not be produced in the near future, but one week later it was announced. Many people got angry because based on the misleading reply they bought ZF lenses and adapters.

So I'm pretty sure this silence is very promising :)
 

fotografz

Well-known member
BTW, I'm pretty sure some pro grade glass, Zeiss or G, will be announced in January, together with the 2 higher end camera bodies.
From your lips to God's ears ... or at least to Sony's ears ;)

Hope it is Zeiss who does the honor of seeking my cash :)

-Marc
 

Eoin

Member
I'm interested in how you converted it to work on the A900. Did you follow Arkku's conversion process (explained on Flickr) or use a different method?
I didn't follow any one particular site, it was a combination of many. Pete Ganzel http://www.pbase.com/pganzel/modification_of__58mm_f12_rokkor and Arkku's sites come to mind. If I remember correctly I used both to fill in the gaps in each others diagrams.

I bought a James Lao chipped adapter M42->¦Á/MAF Focus Confirm Adapter M42-L1 Item# , Lens' Data: 60/1.1 for $42 if I remember correctly.

Using 1/2 stop adjustment setting in the menu brings it up to a starting value of f:/1.2 and matches the stop clicks on the lens.

It is an excellent lens considering it's age, I've one of the older scalloped focusing ring versions and I'm very impressed with it's performance.

I was shooting some high key white Orchids against a window full of overcast sky last weekend, both my Zeiss 85 & 135 gave lots of CA and purple fringing on the edges of the white flowers but the Rokkor was almost flawless.

It's a wonderful lens but a PIA if you want to shoot at any aperture smaller than f/4. You need to open her up, focus and then stop down. Focus confirmation works well though.
 
J

Jan Chelminski

Guest
I'm not sure if you guys/gals saw this, but there's a pretty good article translation on dyxum from a Sony guy about the future. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/a7xx-tidbits-from-sonyalphaes_topic56368_page1.html
Thanks for the link. this makes me a little nervous. I would prefer Sony conceding the sports pro market to C/N and continuing to improve the strong fundamentals that already set the A 900/850 apart from models that must include additional features/users. The A900 is the first camera to get me excited in a long time, mostly due to its being a highly focused tool. Simply describing it as a camera that has appealed to landscape photographers suggests to me that Sony may plan themselves out of a favorable position. Jan
 

douglasf13

New member
Agreed, Jan. I'm a little worried that Sony is gonna start focusing more on high ISO and video-type features, which isn't the direction I'm hoping for. It sounds like I'm gonna be shooting the A900 for quite a while. Hopefully they at least give us some Zeiss primes
 
J

Jan Chelminski

Guest
Agreed, Jan. I'm a little worried that Sony is gonna start focusing more on high ISO and video-type features, which isn't the direction I'm hoping for. It sounds like I'm gonna be shooting the A900 for quite a while. Hopefully they at least give us some Zeiss primes
It seems too soon for significant progress in a direct replacement, as opposed to a model targeted to different users. Although it is a year old and I don't yet own it, its value is still so great that the idea of newer models is not a concern, even a little. So I think they did a great job with this one.

More of a concern are ideas that it will be orphaned by a perceived need to compete or (align) feature for feature with the C/N 1st/2nd tier models.

If it was me, i would respond to the D700/7D with a model having video, maybe 16-18mp, and more speed/sensitivity. The coming replacement for the A700 would be one place below this, in a crop format. Hold off on replacing the A900 until development permits better IQ at the current or higher resolution. And consider not attempting to compete with units like the D3x directly. C/N have a mandate to battle and advance such models, but why should Sony?

And the lenses, as you said. Jan
 

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
I didn't follow any one particular site, it was a combination of many. Pete Ganzel http://www.pbase.com/pganzel/modification_of__58mm_f12_rokkor and Arkku's sites come to mind. If I remember correctly I used both to fill in the gaps in each others diagrams.

I bought a James Lao chipped adapter M42->¦Á/MAF Focus Confirm Adapter M42-L1 Item# , Lens' Data: 60/1.1 for $42 if I remember correctly.

Using 1/2 stop adjustment setting in the menu brings it up to a starting value of f:/1.2 and matches the stop clicks on the lens.

It is an excellent lens considering it's age, I've one of the older scalloped focusing ring versions and I'm very impressed with it's performance.

I was shooting some high key white Orchids against a window full of overcast sky last weekend, both my Zeiss 85 & 135 gave lots of CA and purple fringing on the edges of the white flowers but the Rokkor was almost flawless.

It's a wonderful lens but a PIA if you want to shoot at any aperture smaller than f/4. You need to open her up, focus and then stop down. Focus confirmation works well though.
Eoin, many thanks. I wasn't aware of the Pete Ganzel mod so this, combined with Arkku's guide, gives me a much better idea about how to proceed...
 
H

hornblade

Guest
I'm a little worried that Sony is gonna start focusing more on high ISO and video-type features, which isn't the direction I'm hoping for. It sounds like I'm gonna be shooting the A900 for quite a while. Hopefully they at least give us some Zeiss primes
Yes, some new zeiss primes are on my list as well (18mm and 24mm PC-E please!). When reading that interview, what stood out most to me was that it didn't mention Zeiss at all!

As I read it, Sony will be focused next year on releasing a competitor to the micro 4/3rds cameras (potentially using a different mount?) and replacing the A700 with a D300s/7d competitor. Hard to say where Zeiss/Sony development focus has been for the last 6-12 months (maybe targeting lenses to complement an A700 upgrade?), but we should get some idea early next year at PMA.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the last ZA release was the 16-35, which came out last February/March. That's almost a year ago, so we're due for something.
 
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