Thanks so much for the night shots, petetsai, they reveal a world of possibilities that is simply not available with the a900.
I fully understand Quentin's take based on his intended use of the Merrill - stock. To be honest, the Sigma cameras' images look preternatural and graceless to me, much like over-sharpened web images, with odd colours for landscape/nature work. But good luck to them and the users of the technology.
The a99 has the usual 'something for everyone' approach by Sony, but I guess I see it (for my uses) as a FF version of the already very capable a77, with more DR, attractive noise, and the real clincher - greater colour separation. If you take a long look at the excellent comparisons at Imaging Resources, the colour brightness and tonality are very evident. The sensor is regarded as having moderate a strength AA, due most likely to some design intelligence to overcome the inherent SLT 'light theft'. From a strictly imaging POV, I look for excellent (not necessarily class leading) resolution, top class colour, natural rendition and very broad DR.
I expect it to be possible to use just the (apparently improved) EVF much of the time for manual focus (100% for me now), due to the peaking display, real time histo display and real time exposure feedback and post shot display. These four *camera* features plus high ISO ability, and no mirror slap induced me to order one right away, as they are all clear advantages over the a900, and will result is very few non-composition errors - I have always reshot most critical a900 images, and the LCD is horrible in bright light, with a very poor histo display, exposure with Leitaxed lenses was iffy, and low light was a serious 'challenge' to say the least.
I shot a few a77 images using a Summicron R 50/2 with peaking in near dark, checked the focus accuracy - and was an instant convert to EVF, as this is simply not possible with an OVF even the a900s.
Gets here tomorrow.
) I will provide a few example images, the camera jpegs as shot.
