Any A99 users out there?

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Michaelparris
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p.1 #1 · Any A99 users out there?

Some to get some feedback on the camera....I have read a bunch of side by side comparisons. Would like some real world experiences and comparisons

Thanks in advance

Mar 10, 2013 at 06:30 PM

Jonas B
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p.1 #2 · Any A99 users out there?

Hi Michael,

As another possible A99 buyer I wonder what you have in mind, more in detail?

Mar 10, 2013 at 06:32 PM

mawz
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p.1 #3 · Any A99 users out there?

I know there's a couple active in the Sony/Minolta A mount thread.

Mar 10, 2013 at 06:43 PM

hiepphotog
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p.1 #4 · Any A99 users out there?

You might have a better luck at Dyxum.com. I know that phillip_pj is shooting with one right now. My A99 has been at S.K. Grimes for almost a month, so I'll chime in when I get it back.

Mar 10, 2013 at 09:33 PM

Mescalamba
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p.1 #5 · Any A99 users out there?

Lately is Dyxum bit "dead". I tried to ask there how good/bad are Zeiss (ZF/ZE) lens on A99, no answer..

Still curious.

Mar 10, 2013 at 11:19 PM

hiepphotog
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p.1 #6 · Any A99 users out there?

I don't see how ZF/ZE lens would behave that much difference on an A99 (aside from the sensor and RAW). People on Dyxum rarely use alternative lens. Their M42 section (pretty much the equivalent of this forum) is not that exciting. Flypenfly actually has used quite a few ZF lenses on his A900. Personally, I used to adapt a whole bunch of Contax lenses on my A900, but I have yet tried any ZF lens. The upcoming Distagon will probably be the first.

Mar 11, 2013 at 12:29 AM

philip_pj
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p.1 #7 · Any A99 users out there?

What do you want to know, Michael, besides the factor that the a99 shares the killer sensor with the RX1, and is a fine camera with the best EVF in existence ;-)

See a number of my Goa images shot with CY lenses on the Sony Minolta thread plus the Zeiss lens and discussion thread (or whatever it is called), will post more soon, from the 21mm and Leica Summ 50/2. There is an old thread on the camera also, died for lack of interest...why don't you buy a Canon anyway - strength in numbers, lol.

Real world? It worked flawlessly in three solid weeks in temps from -20 to +8C, several thousand images, it's great for manual focus, great customisability - new silent button/dial, 730 gram body, very quiet first curtain shutter, no mirror slap, files are extremely easy to work in post, ISO up to 3200 no worries, 5000+ with care, huge DR (real world not DxO world), files 2/3 the size of A900 files (craw), battery consumption around 200 images with lots of EVF/focus mag work/review in cold temps. I bought for the practicality of ensuring I got the images at shoot time, but found much more to like.

Not many are lucky enough to have even tried one, but that does not make it a poor camera - quite the contrary is true. Video not fantastic like some were expecting. Drop me a PM to avoid boring all the 99% non-Sony people here. The Dyxum outfit are rusted on Minolta lens diehards, you cannot say a word against them, believe me. There is a bit of talk and info on DPR Alpha.

Mar 11, 2013 at 02:22 AM

philip_pj
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p.1 #8 · Any A99 users out there?

Here is a sample:

2013 © philip_pj

Mar 11, 2013 at 02:24 AM

Mescalamba
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p.1 #9 · Any A99 users out there?

Nice, what lens?

Well, there is difference, thats why I ask. Zeiss lens work on A900 differently, cause it has pretty strong AA, while A99 seems to have much more "Zeiss friendly" AA.

Since this sample does have a bit "3D", I guess it does work.

Mar 11, 2013 at 02:26 AM

philip_pj
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p.1 #10 · Any A99 users out there?

All files have very good depth, Mescalamba, apart from silhouettes, say. Yes, post work is around 30% of the a900, and ACR/LR is very happy with these files. That one is the CY 21/2.8, at ISO 3200, handheld. Another from the same lens, for a more typical scene, at low ISO:

2013 © philip_pj

Mar 11, 2013 at 02:42 AM

hiepphotog
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p.1 #11 · Any A99 users out there?

Mescalamba wrote:
Nice, what lens?

Well, there is difference, thats why I ask. Zeiss lens work on A900 differently, cause it has pretty strong AA, while A99 seems to have much more "Zeiss friendly" AA.

Since this sample does have a bit "3D", I guess it does work.

And people said the same thing about the 5D Mark 2 but I've seen plenty of good shots with 3D pop. I don't think the A900 would hinder any of the Zeiss pop.

Mar 11, 2013 at 03:21 AM

Mescalamba
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p.1 #12 · Any A99 users out there?

In case of A900 it was unfortunately true. Not much pop even with 35-70/3.4.

5DMK2 is ok. It has pretty heavy handed AA filter, but apparently it doesnt filter that important part of Zeiss signature. 1DsMK3 doesnt have exactly lightweight AA filter either. Tho best is probably D3X, if someone wants something really friendly to Zeiss or Leica. Or M9 and today couple of other AA-less cams. Yep and old 5D is actually good..

philip_pj

Heh, makes me want it even more. Sounds really like perfect camera.. (especially for alt lens). Pics look pretty fine and that high ISO is just "wow".

Mar 11, 2013 at 03:28 AM

hiepphotog
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p.1 #13 · Any A99 users out there?

Did you do any test to show this since you're the first one I've seen claiming this? I don't know how the AA filter on the 5D would just "selectively" retain the Zeiss goodness while the A900 would not. If the A900 is that destructive, I don't think Phillip would have been using that camera with his Contax. I have quite many pictures that I would consider as Zeiss pop with my A900 and CZ 21. I agree that with the M8 and M9 (have not looked at other AA less cameras), I have seen some amazing three dimensional pictures. But I would just chalk it up to the lens.

Mar 11, 2013 at 03:41 AM

philip_pj
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p.1 #14 · Any A99 users out there?

The big difference I see from a900 to a99 is noise handling, as you can expect around two stops for the same output, and even then the tighter pattern is easy to take - look at the RX1 images to see what I mean by this. Many shooters actually prefer the a900, like journo David Kilpatrick, at low ISO. When you get it right it's great. Very film-like and lots of depth (3D).

I am coming around to believe that the better the 'imaging system' the better the 3D, so I don't want to get into the AA issue as I don't can't claim to know as much as many here - with respect to 3D corresponding to AA strength. There are so many other factors involved - lighting, contrast, subject...all the modern cameras look very good...I do think the Canon lenses, not their camera sensors, look 'flat', unlike the Zeiss look.

In the end, the big step up in the a99 is the 'pre-shot' features and the slightly better everything - for shooting, but there is no doubt the a900 remains a wonderful camera for what it does well. Still holding good prices 2nd hand too.

Mar 11, 2013 at 03:54 AM

SoulNibbler
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p.1 #15 · Any A99 users out there?

I've got one and a mirex adapter mamiya lenses (35mmf3.5, 80mm f4 macro, 120Af4macro). I'm very happy with it. I haven't used anything but the mamiya lenses but if I get lucky I might get to adapt some leica R to it in about a month.
Repeating what others have said:
ISO 50 is devastating:
Tripod Portriat
ISO 3200 is obscenely usable; good DR, nice noise performance (though its hard to see here since C1 by default is a little heavy handed with the NR)
iso 3200
SSS works well with a chipped adaptor:
fifteenth of a second handheld exposure 120mm

I've opted to remove the translucent mirror in mine which takes away the ability to do focus traps or smile shutter. Its a simple procedure though and completely undoable (there are two latches to release and then the mirror just pops out)

As an alt camera: focusing is exactly what I wanted (fast live view, with an intuitive zoom feature), however you are very much limited in the choices of lenses to m42 leitax and larger formats. It looks like I can do a custom mount and get OM lenses but it will require permanent lens surgery (at OM prices I'm willing to live with it). The samyang lenses are available in native mount but I don't think they are chipped. Also the viewfinder has a heavy jello effect in magnified mode which the nex 7 doesn't exhibit, its not a deal breaker at all but it can be a bit annoying.

Other miscilaneous notes: lots of button reprogram-ability at the moment mine is set with C-button, DOF-preview, and AF/MF all set as hotkeys for the MF zoom mode. MF zoom is an improvement over the nex's in that its a two press operation: first press brings up a box which you position (either by the wheel controls or the 4-way stick) and a second press zooms the box. The box remembers its position unless you power cycle so double presses are easy once you have your framing. Also it has the minolta feature that the exposure lock can be set to toggle mode either as a lock or as a spot meter which makes the camera great for semi-auto exposure. Also as an update there is fully functional auto-iso in M mode though I haven't used it much more than to see that it actually works as expected. Also the shutter is less sharp sounding than the nex 3 or 7 although the SSS whine is quite audible.

Complains: ISO button is poorly positioned and I always accidentally find the EV button instead. Grip is also slightly taller than on the A900 which for me leaves my pinky in purgatory where it was tucked under the camera on the A900 its half on half off with the A99. The vertical grip is definitely on the future upgrade list. The camera is also very ugly in person as compared to the A900, or any other camera except maybe the Canon 5D mk2-mk3. Ergonomically it just works though.

Battery life is better than the nex's.

No CF cards: the buffer with a fast large memory stick is good but not quite up to what the A900 could do in raw mode. Also the camera doesn't like you deleting the file structure and bitches that it needs to reinitialize if you move everything off the card into your computer. If you use an import call from whatever raw library you use it probably wouldn't be a problem.

Last complaint: The A900 as far as I know was the last sony camera to allow you to set the brightness in the picture menu, thus I would often used vivid +contrast --brightness +saturation --sharpening as a worst case mode where I could see clipping early and was encouraged to expose to the right. On the A99 we lose the ability to make brightness changes to the preview jpgs, but its been gone for a while though I had hopes it would come back with the 9-series.

Mar 11, 2013 at 11:52 AM

Michaelparris
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p.1 #16 · Any A99 users out there?

Thanks for the responses....

Mar 11, 2013 at 06:12 PM

mortyb
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p.1 #17 · Any A99 users out there?

hiepphotog wrote:
Did you do any test to show this since you're the first one I've seen claiming this? I don't know how the AA filter on the 5D would just "selectively" retain the Zeiss goodness while the A900 would not. If the A900 is that destructive, I don't think Phillip would have been using that camera with his Contax. I have quite many pictures that I would consider as Zeiss pop with my A900 and CZ 21. I agree that with the M8 and M9 (have not looked at other AA less cameras), I have seen some amazing three dimensional pictures. But I would just chalk it up to the lens.

As a former A900 user with Leitaxed ZF 21, 35, 100 and C/Y 50/1.7 - I agree that there was a lack of pop compared to the files from the 5D2 with the same lenses - which I also used for about two years. The A900 files were very nice, color were a lot better than the 5D2, but the biting sharpness, clarity and pop were a bit different. The Zeiss signature wasn't as strong with the A900 as it was with the 5D2.

Mar 11, 2013 at 06:56 PM

alwang
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p.1 #18 · Any A99 users out there?

mortyb wrote:
hiepphotog wrote:
Did you do any test to show this since you're the first one I've seen claiming this? I don't know how the AA filter on the 5D would just "selectively" retain the Zeiss goodness while the A900 would not. If the A900 is that destructive, I don't think Phillip would have been using that camera with his Contax. I have quite many pictures that I would consider as Zeiss pop with my A900 and CZ 21. I agree that with the M8 and M9 (have not looked at other AA less cameras), I have seen some amazing three dimensional pictures. But I would just chalk it up to the lens.

As a former A900 user with Leitaxed ZF 21, 35, 100 and C/Y 50/1.7 - I agree that there was a lack of pop compared to the files from the 5D2 with the same lenses - which I also used for about two years. The A900 files were very nice, color were a lot better than the 5D2, but the biting sharpness, clarity and pop were a bit different. The Zeiss signature wasn't as strong with the A900 as it was with the 5D2.

Would you happen to have any samples comparing one of these lenses on the A900 and 5D2? I'm sincerely curious, since I just bought a used a850, and was considering adapting some ZF or C/Y lenses.

Mar 11, 2013 at 07:17 PM

mortyb
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p.1 #19 · Any A99 users out there?

alwang wrote:
Would you happen to have any samples comparing one of these lenses on the A900 and 5D2? I'm sincerely curious, since I just bought a used a850, and was considering adapting some ZF or C/Y lenses.

I haven't got any direct comparison shots. I started using my ZFs with a 5D2, then Leitaxed them to my A900, then converted them back to native mount for use on the 5D2 again. My views are just based on my total expereience with these cameras and lenses. I would have no qualms using ZFs on an A900 for creating top-notch output, it's more that the looks between the cameras with the same lenses are a bit different, where I'd say the 5D2 look has a bit more of that Zeiss signature. But - the A900 colors rock. So - it's just some pros and cons of each of these cameras.

Mar 11, 2013 at 07:23 PM

Michaelparris
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p.1 #20 · Any A99 users out there?

mortyb wrote:
alwang wrote:
Would you happen to have any samples comparing one of these lenses on the A900 and 5D2? I'm sincerely curious, since I just bought a used a850, and was considering adapting some ZF or C/Y lenses.

I haven't got any direct comparison shots. I started using my ZFs with a 5D2, then Leitaxed them to my A900, then converted them back to native mount for use on the 5D2 again. My views are just based on my total expereience with these cameras and lenses. I would have no qualms using ZFs on an A900 for creating top-notch output, it's more that the looks between the cameras with the same lenses are a bit different, where I'd say the 5D2 look has a bit more of that Zeiss signature. But - the A900 colors rock. So - it's just some pros and cons of each of these cameras.

No offense, but please start a new thread and dont hi-jack this one......Would like to hear from people who have experience with the A99

Mar 11, 2013 at 07:57 PM

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