DLSR upgrade help!
Discussion
Hi all,
I have a sony alpha 100 which has served me well for the last few years, but the time has come for an upgrade, and im not sure which way to go with its successor
I mainky use the camera for general family photos and alot of motorsport shots. I follow f1 and Btcc alot, so I need something good for fast action zoom shots with a very good shots per second rate. I already have 3 lenses for the sony, inc a 300mm telephoto.
now the question is do I go for the obvious choice of the new sony a65 with the 12fps rate and keep my existing enses or do I re-think and change to another brand and sell / px the sony?
I would need at least another 300 or pref a 400mm lense if I changed, im also not sure if my existing lenses will a. Fit the new body (i assume they will, bujt you never know) or b. Will I get thebest result from sticking to my old lenses with a new body?
Budget is £800-£1000 total.
Any help is appreciated
I have a sony alpha 100 which has served me well for the last few years, but the time has come for an upgrade, and im not sure which way to go with its successor
I mainky use the camera for general family photos and alot of motorsport shots. I follow f1 and Btcc alot, so I need something good for fast action zoom shots with a very good shots per second rate. I already have 3 lenses for the sony, inc a 300mm telephoto.
now the question is do I go for the obvious choice of the new sony a65 with the 12fps rate and keep my existing enses or do I re-think and change to another brand and sell / px the sony?
I would need at least another 300 or pref a 400mm lense if I changed, im also not sure if my existing lenses will a. Fit the new body (i assume they will, bujt you never know) or b. Will I get thebest result from sticking to my old lenses with a new body?
Budget is £800-£1000 total.
Any help is appreciated
Griff Boy said:
I have a sony alpha 100
Excuse my ignorance but I know nothing of the specification of the Sony Alpha, but what it is that is leading you to think you need an upgrade exactly? You seem to be saying the frame rate is perhaps not as good as you need, but also that you need a longer focal length. Other than those two factors - from which I would go for a better lens probably first - can't quite see what it is that you need.K12beano said:
xcuse my ignorance but I know nothing of the specification of the Sony Alpha, but what it is that is leading you to think you need an upgrade exactly? You seem to be saying the frame rate is perhaps not as good as you need, but also that you need a longer focal length. Other than those two factors - from which I would go for a better lens probably first - can't quite see what it is that you need.
Hi beano,The alpha has done it's job well over the last 6 years, but to be honest the "itch" is back for an upgrade, and the main issue I have is that I'm limited to 3fps on the alpha. I have been looking at adding a 400mm lens to the kit, but I don't want to buy another lens until I decide which camera I'm going to go with, just in case it's not compatible. The Sony is good at a lot of things, but rubbish a night ( or quite possibly its me!)
Tbh the 300mm lens is fine 90% of the time, it's just that last 10% that. Would love just that bit better zoom when on trackside. I know the new Sony a65 uses a completely different system, which allows it a max of 12fps and an increase to 24mp (mine is 10mp) I do like to ensure that theres not another option I should be looking a before I just buy another Sony (because that's what I've always had....)
The budget is about £800-£1000 in total, but if I changed to a different body I wouldn't expect to get a great camera for that with a couple of lenses as well, and I don't want to go backwards. Hence the natural inclination to stick to Sony.
Does anyone know if my existing Sony lenses will work perfectly with the new body a65? I know they are both a mount.
Cheers for the answers so far!
RobDickinson said:
Pretty sure the a65 is going to be unusable at 12fps. Blacked out viewfinder and no autofocus!
Also the SLT mirror steals 1/3rd of the light so your going to need faster lenses or higher ISO.
Is that how it achieves 12fps? Bit of a con as it's on of their big selling points of the camera!Also the SLT mirror steals 1/3rd of the light so your going to need faster lenses or higher ISO.
My mistake you get AF but only with the lens fixed to wide opne/minimum f3.5
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta65/page8.a...
"The 'AE' in Continuous Advance Priority AE mode stands for 'automatic exposure'. Unlike continuous Lo and Hi, Continuous Advance Priority AE can only be accessed via the exposure mode dial. As we saw in the A55, which offered a maximum frame rate of 10fps in the same mode, there are some downsides to this maximum capture rate. The A65 can still autofocus continuously, but in order to be able to do this, aperture is either fixed wide open, or limited to f/3.5 if the maximum aperture allows it. You can take full control over aperture in Continuous Advance Priority AE mode, but only if you select AF-A or manual focus. The reason for this limitation is the same reason why you cannot combine AF with manual aperture control in movie mode - at apertures smaller than f/5.6 the A65's AF system receives essentially no light, so cannot function.
Another disadvantage of the SLT system when it comes to fast shooting is that it isn't possible for the A65 to maintain a live view feed in its fastest 8fps and 10fps continuous capture modes. The viewfinder does not black out when shooting at these high frame rates, but shows a sequence of still frames in real time. What this means is that at any given moment, you don't see the view through the camera's lens right now, but how it was a fraction of a second ago. This makes little or no difference if you're shooting slow-moving or static subjects, but it makes panning with fast-moving subjects very hard indeed, since you never know where they are - only where they were."
Note that the fps max is 10 and the frame buffer can hold only 14 shots!
"When photographing static subjects we found the system very fast and accurate and we could hardly find any out-of-focus images amongst our several hundred sample shots. Unfortunately, the story is a little different when focusing on fast-moving subjects. Despite the A65's translucent mirror technology - the mirror is fixed, meaning the AF sensor can operate full-time, without interruption - we have found that when presented with fast moving subjects focus accuracy is far from 100%. In 10fps mode it is clear that the A65's AF system is simply unable to predict subject position accurately when presented with fast-moving subjects at relatively close range. Whilst the zone of focus shifts from frame to frame, it is almost always slightly behind the intended subject.
The conclusion has to be that for everyday use, the A65's AF is perfectly capable, and very good for its class. However, while the A65's impressive continuous shooting specs may suggest it to be an ideal tool for sports and action photography, in demanding shooting situations the AF system cannot always quite keep up."
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta65/page8.a...
"The 'AE' in Continuous Advance Priority AE mode stands for 'automatic exposure'. Unlike continuous Lo and Hi, Continuous Advance Priority AE can only be accessed via the exposure mode dial. As we saw in the A55, which offered a maximum frame rate of 10fps in the same mode, there are some downsides to this maximum capture rate. The A65 can still autofocus continuously, but in order to be able to do this, aperture is either fixed wide open, or limited to f/3.5 if the maximum aperture allows it. You can take full control over aperture in Continuous Advance Priority AE mode, but only if you select AF-A or manual focus. The reason for this limitation is the same reason why you cannot combine AF with manual aperture control in movie mode - at apertures smaller than f/5.6 the A65's AF system receives essentially no light, so cannot function.
Another disadvantage of the SLT system when it comes to fast shooting is that it isn't possible for the A65 to maintain a live view feed in its fastest 8fps and 10fps continuous capture modes. The viewfinder does not black out when shooting at these high frame rates, but shows a sequence of still frames in real time. What this means is that at any given moment, you don't see the view through the camera's lens right now, but how it was a fraction of a second ago. This makes little or no difference if you're shooting slow-moving or static subjects, but it makes panning with fast-moving subjects very hard indeed, since you never know where they are - only where they were."
Note that the fps max is 10 and the frame buffer can hold only 14 shots!
"When photographing static subjects we found the system very fast and accurate and we could hardly find any out-of-focus images amongst our several hundred sample shots. Unfortunately, the story is a little different when focusing on fast-moving subjects. Despite the A65's translucent mirror technology - the mirror is fixed, meaning the AF sensor can operate full-time, without interruption - we have found that when presented with fast moving subjects focus accuracy is far from 100%. In 10fps mode it is clear that the A65's AF system is simply unable to predict subject position accurately when presented with fast-moving subjects at relatively close range. Whilst the zone of focus shifts from frame to frame, it is almost always slightly behind the intended subject.
The conclusion has to be that for everyday use, the A65's AF is perfectly capable, and very good for its class. However, while the A65's impressive continuous shooting specs may suggest it to be an ideal tool for sports and action photography, in demanding shooting situations the AF system cannot always quite keep up."
RobDickinson said:
.... "at any given moment, you don't see the view through the camera's lens right now, but how it was a fraction of a second ago. This makes little or no difference if you're shooting slow-moving or static subjects, but it makes panning with fast-moving subjects very hard indeed, since you never know where they are - only where they were"....
Good grief - someone's created a Heisenberg Camera! Good show.K12beano said:
RobDickinson said:
.... "at any given moment, you don't see the view through the camera's lens right now, but how it was a fraction of a second ago. This makes little or no difference if you're shooting slow-moving or static subjects, but it makes panning with fast-moving subjects very hard indeed, since you never know where they are - only where they were"....
Good grief - someone's created a Heisenberg Camera! Good show.K12beano said:
RobDickinson said:
.... "at any given moment, you don't see the view through the camera's lens right now, but how it was a fraction of a second ago. This makes little or no difference if you're shooting slow-moving or static subjects, but it makes panning with fast-moving subjects very hard indeed, since you never know where they are - only where they were"....
Good grief - someone's created a Heisenberg Camera! Good show.
Of course what you see through the VF is not the object as it really is, since the light takes time to reach you. So I think by 'fast-moving' he means around the 186,000 miles/sec area. Panning on objects at that speed gives you neckache though.
To the OP, just about any a-mount lens should work on the SLTs, heard some reports about old sigmas having problems as sigma botched reverse engineering the chip in the lens so may be worth perusing dyxum and indeed asking your original question there.
I haven't tried the SLTs yet, am quite happy with my a900 and have no desire to replace it, 5fps being fast enough for me when taking motorsport pictures.
The frame buffer on the a77 (which is in the OP's budget) is broadly comprable to (slightly better than) that of the 7D. Link with some numbers : http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1...
1/3rd of the light is of course less than a stop. A faster lens or higher ISO will only be needed if there is insufficient light hitting the sensor at the existing lens' maximum aperture - only time I've been in that situation (needing to increase the ISO over 200) was a classic trial in a forest late on a grey February afternoon. It's just a hobby to me of course so I probably haven't experienced the full range of conditions that some have.
I haven't tried the SLTs yet, am quite happy with my a900 and have no desire to replace it, 5fps being fast enough for me when taking motorsport pictures.
RobDickinson said:
Pretty sure the a65 is going to be unusable at 12fps. Blacked out viewfinder and no autofocus!
Also the SLT mirror steals 1/3rd of the light so your going to need faster lenses or higher ISO.
Just so you know it also has a more conventional 8fps mode as well as the 12fps mode where some things don't work to achieve the high frame rate.Also the SLT mirror steals 1/3rd of the light so your going to need faster lenses or higher ISO.
The frame buffer on the a77 (which is in the OP's budget) is broadly comprable to (slightly better than) that of the 7D. Link with some numbers : http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1...
1/3rd of the light is of course less than a stop. A faster lens or higher ISO will only be needed if there is insufficient light hitting the sensor at the existing lens' maximum aperture - only time I've been in that situation (needing to increase the ISO over 200) was a classic trial in a forest late on a grey February afternoon. It's just a hobby to me of course so I probably haven't experienced the full range of conditions that some have.
"8 fps RAW test
7D: 16 frames, 10 seconds to clear
A77: 15 frames, 8 seconds to clear "
Sorry thats utter bulls
t.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta77/page10....
a77 = 14 shot buffer and 12 sec to clear
Buffer full rate 1.1 fps
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/page13....
7D = 24 shots, write time 9.4 seconds
Buffer full rate is 4.9fps
Sony are great at making headline numbers which just arnt practical in the real world.
7D: 16 frames, 10 seconds to clear
A77: 15 frames, 8 seconds to clear "
Sorry thats utter bulls
t.http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta77/page10....
a77 = 14 shot buffer and 12 sec to clear
Buffer full rate 1.1 fps
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/page13....
7D = 24 shots, write time 9.4 seconds
Buffer full rate is 4.9fps
Sony are great at making headline numbers which just arnt practical in the real world.
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