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A850 manual downloaded

edwardkaraa

New member
Agreed. The A700 has lasted two years, and I see no reason to think the A900 will only last one. We may see a price reduction, though. I'd say we have a long time before a higher end Sony comes, but we'll see.
Exactly. However, if the price point of the A850 turns out to be true (2K or less), I would be interested to get one to have the 100 macro permanently attached to it for studio use as this is will avoid me dust issues and hours of dust spotting caused by using the camera and lens changing outdoors.
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
We always want more...and I'm no exception. The A900 is a superb tool not least because its relatively simple to use. If an A1000 was an A900 with lots of sports pro add-ons, then I would not be interested because I am not a sports pro. It would need to have superior image quality to the A900 - more and/or better pixels.

Quentin
 

Terry

New member
We always want more...and I'm no exception. The A900 is a superb tool not least because its relatively simple to use. If an A1000 was an A900 with lots of sports pro add-ons, then I would not be interested because I am not a sports pro. It would need to have superior image quality to the A900 - more and/or better pixels.


Quentin
Well,
I said this before about my D700 in the are you happy with your gear thread but I don't see a reason to change from the A900. The one thing I would do is buy a second body if a new model was like the A900 but optimized for high ISO and could have fewer pixels. Before Iceland when I was trying to decide what to take to Iceland, I looked at an A700 as a backup but it just didn't feel the same. So, for instance, when I was shooting the puffins the light was poor, the 70-300 is pretty slow and I was forced up pretty far in ISO to get decent shutter speeds. So, like the D3/D3x or D700/D700x? combo I think that would serve Sony well.
 

jonoslack

Active member
So my new A900 arrives in 2 days. Not interested in a stripped down version, but A1000 makes me wonder if waiting a couple of weeks would have been wiser. If it's a big body like the Canon 1 series, I'm still not interested.
HI Tom
I'll join my voice to the others - I've actually completely stopped following SLR rumours and new releases for the first time since digital appeared. I really can't imagine anyone bringing anything out which would tempt me away from my A900 - Like Eoin, I don't really need high ISO, but I've used it for concerts with the 135 f1.8, low light in weddings etc. without issue.

It's an excellent camera, but what's important, it fulfils my mate Neil's definition of good technology:

It's never irritating.

Sounds like a little thing but oh no!
 

Terry

New member
Haha - I'm with you Jono,
I don't even read the Sony forum at DPReview and had no idea what this thread was about until this AM. My puffin issue can be solved with heavy glass. But will I make it up the cliff carrying the glass LOL (getting to the puffins wasn't simple!)
 

jonoslack

Active member
Haha - I'm with you Jono,
I don't even read the Sony forum at DPReview and had no idea what this thread was about until this AM. My puffin issue can be solved with heavy glass. But will I make it up the cliff carrying the glass LOL (getting to the puffins wasn't simple!)
Puffin up the slope eh?:ROTFL::eek:
 

douglasf13

New member
Puffin up the slope eh?:ROTFL::eek:
The only thing about this that is a little exciting to me is that MAYBE, since the A850 is so closely spec'ed to the A900, Sony will release a firmware update to the A900 with new features, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. Multiple card reading is really the only thing that I'd be excited about.
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
HI Tom
I'll join my voice to the others - I've actually completely stopped following SLR rumours and new releases for the first time since digital appeared. I really can't imagine anyone bringing anything out which would tempt me away from my A900 - Like Eoin, I don't really need high ISO, but I've used it for concerts with the 135 f1.8, low light in weddings etc. without issue.

It's an excellent camera, but what's important, it fulfils my mate Neil's definition of good technology:

It's never irritating.

Sounds like a little thing but oh no!
Nah, if Sony brought out a 35mp A1000, you'd buy it Jono, you know you would :ROTFL:

Quentin
 

dhsimmonds

New member
Sony have never claimed the A900 to be a pro camera, although many pro's do use them very successfully professinally. The Sony press releases at the time of the A900 launch did tantalisingly slightly hint of a pro camera sometime in the future.

In my view for Sony to have a viable pro camera they must also have a viable pro quality lens range and whilst this is (slowly) building up it still has some way to go IMHO.

Some pro's will find some of the excellent Zeiss and G lenses more than adequate for their particular speciality. However wildlife and sports photographers will not be interested probably in the current lens line up.

A true pro system has to appeal to all disciplines of professional photography.
 

Terry

New member
Well, it looks like we have the A850 now, which is the A900 with 3fps and 98% VF for $2000 US. Pretty good deal.
Certainly helps justify a backup body. It will still be interesting to see what the A900 replacement is. I can't see these two models co-existing for a long period of time. Also, can't imagine nothing changing before Photokina a year away.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I hope there is no hidden price to be paid in terms of manufacturing tolerances a la Canon 5D series.
That's probably the most important reason for the 98% viewfinder; it gives them manufacturing tolerances. It probably also means that the quality control in that area will be more relaxed, and that not all viewfinders will be 100% level.
 
P

pancasj

Guest
the new alpha is posted everywhere
alpha 500/550/850 is official
 

edwardkaraa

New member
That's probably the most important reason for the 98% viewfinder; it gives them manufacturing tolerances. It probably also means that the quality control in that area will be more relaxed, and that not all viewfinders will be 100% level.
Totally agreed. It seems 100% coverage viewfinders require much more labor as they have to be calibrated individually. Anyway, the target clients for the A850 are the A700 owners that would like to upgrade into FF, and Sony is giving them the cheapest FF Dslr in history :) I think they will forgive some viewfinder tolerances. The 5D/5D2 are a nightmare in this respect, and in order to be able to get accurate MF, owners have to go into calibration with washers and what not.
 
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