Sony A850 Users, care to comments?

[SK1968]

A lot of alpha owners sell off their gears simply because of peer pressure. they see their friends having canikon and they wanna follow.

The A850 is an excellent camera. Great handling (very very minolta like, it feels exactly like the minolta 7D), full frame 24mp (crop heaven, u can do so much editing and processing with such high resolution) and the viewfinder is huge! And for just $2.8k, which is a steal for a full frame.

If u have any doubts, just go rent the A850 for a weekend shoot. once u used it, u will never wanna go back to an aps-c dslr anymore

i am a die hard minolta-sony fan man even my aunt who doesn't take photos told me 'the brand that starts with a C' is best. i told her 'the one that starts with an N' is even better....but to me, this one that starts with an 'S' is just right for me.

 

[SK1968]

If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there! I think it is a case of not understanding and using the system to its maximum capabilities. They will keep on changing to find the Holy Grail.

Here is a link to an interesting write-up on different camera systems for wedding photography,
http://photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00V98v

Note the writer's comments on the A900/A850. The availability of AF CZ lenses was one of the reasons I chose the A850.

N.S. Ng

Agree totally. For me, the familiarity of Minolta since 1990, the load of Minolta lenses/accessories i can't bear to part with, the confidence in Sony's future developments, attractive function of in-body stabilisation and the availability of CZ lenses....all lead me to stick to Sony

 

[Rashkae]

The straight-out-of camera shots I get with my A900/CZ135 combo... I love it every time.

 

[ammonite]

I have heard of this full frame solution from Sony, but only do I hear the reviews, one thing I notice about Sony users (particularly from reading the Nex series thread) they are very honest even brutal in their reviews of Sony products they don't pull any punches.

Having said that, it seems that this is one of the most economical full frame systems out there, although some of the typical sony dslr features have been ommited. I would like to ask would there be any problems if one were to mount the Sony crop sensor lens on the 850?

 

[Rashkae]

I would like to ask would there be any problems if one were to mount the Sony crop sensor lens on the 850?

If you do that, it will automatically switch to an 11MP crop, only using the center sensor portion. If you override this, you will get the same issues you would get on any other system, namely vignetting.

 

[torak]

In a more layman explanation of what Rashkae has said, basically when u mount an aps-c lens onto the a850/900, the 2 ff cameras becomes an 11mp aps-c dslr.

Which is a good function to have, incase u hv some aps-c lens laying around when u just upgraded to ff from aps-c.

Some ff dslr from other brands don even give u this freedom of choice.

 

[Aimevous]

I have heard of this full frame solution from Sony, but only do I hear the reviews, one thing I notice about Sony users (particularly from reading the Nex series thread) they are very honest even brutal in their reviews of Sony products they don't pull any punches.

Having said that, it seems that this is one of the most economical full frame systems out there, although some of the typical sony dslr features have been ommited. I would like to ask would there be any problems if one were to mount the Sony crop sensor lens on the 850?

if im not mistaken, u simply get reduced megapixels? or do you get serious vignetting?

 

[zuikoku]

A850 is the best for the money you pay for amazing image quality.
Sony has made a silent improvement over A900 on the brightness of viewfinder.
So, today A850 has the brightest optical viewfinder ever made for Digital SLR !

will not disappointed ..

 

[Aimevous]

In a more layman explanation of what Rashkae has said, basically when u mount an aps-c lens onto the a850/900, the 2 ff cameras becomes an 11mp aps-c dslr.

Which is a good function to have, incase u hv some aps-c lens laying around when u just upgraded to ff from aps-c.

Some ff dslr from other brands don even give u this freedom of choice.

Hi, just out of curiousity, so you'll still see the black vignetting through the viewfinder right? does the focusing screen have guides to show which are the aps-c frames?

thanks!

 

[Agetan]

A850 is the best for the money you pay for amazing image quality.
Sony has made a silent improvement over A900 on the brightness of viewfinder.
So, today A850 has the brightest optical viewfinder ever made for Digital SLR !

will not disappointed ..

I didn't know that VF on A850 is brighter than a900?? But to be honest, not by much at all...

Regards,

Hart

 

[torak]

Hi, just out of curiousity, so you'll still see the black vignetting through the viewfinder right? does the focusing screen have guides to show which are the aps-c frames?

thanks!

Yes u will still see vignetting, (because the vf is showing a fov from ff).

Yes, the focusing screen as seen from the vf will display the aps-c fov, so u can frame ur shots accordingly.

 

[SK1968]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think there is only indication for the corners of the frame instead of a solid rectangular frame.

 

[torak]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think there is only indication for the corners of the frame instead of a solid rectangular frame.

Yup. The 4 corners indicating the fov of aps-c mode. Its clear enought to frame already imo

The indicators are not a dot btw, its the corners of a box.

 

[Agetan]

it is almost rangefinder type of viewfinder if you have use one before.

Basically if you look at the A-900/A850 VF, you will see the whole image and then about 1/3 into the frame, you see there is another set of "Box" that is where the APS-C image will be when use with APS-C lens.. you will see black dark corners outside that smaller "box".

Hart

 

[TME]

Hi TME, long time no see. Been out of action for the past two years due to marriage and baby .... Now baby is 1 year old, I can afford to pick up where I left off . But gone were the days where I can just pick up my camera and go around to take photographs.

I don't take machine gun shots, other than astrophotography where I shoot machine gun shots to do stacking, but those were the days long gone . My shots are mostly one shot, one kill.

Wah! After 2 years become sniper already... hehehe... I shoot a lot of candids and group shots... high FPS is good to catch those peepers in the open state, especially when you need flash... and someone always BLINKS!

 

[TME]

The A850 is an excellent camera. Great handling (very very minolta like, it feels exactly like the minolta 7D)

Eh bro... no lar... nothing can beat the double dials of the Dynax 7D... nothing...:bsmilie:

 

[crash1989]

Hi guys,


Sorry to intrude but i got one question in regards to a850. Does it have tethering capability? As in, is it possible to connect the camera to a laptop/PC, shoot and make adjustments via the laptop/PC just like the A700? I am upgrading my body soon and I am contemplating of skipping A550 and go straight to A850. Thanks in advance.



Cheers

 

[cookie88]

Does this cam support Tamron lenses from the 1990s (35-105 f2.8) or the 2000s Sigma 100-300 f4?

 

[blurblock]

Does this cam support Tamron lenses from the 1990s (35-105 f2.8) or the 2000s Sigma 100-300 f4?

I don't know about your's but it supports my 20-40 f2.8. I figure it should support those lenses you mentioned.

 

[torak]

Does this cam support Tamron lenses from the 1990s (35-105 f2.8) or the 2000s Sigma 100-300 f4?

as long as its alpha mount lenses, it will work.

Sony has not changed the alpha mount from Minolta in any way. Lenses made in 1985 will work on current Sony DSLRs, and alpha lenses made by Sony today will work on Minolta SLRs from that era as well.