Tariq Gibran wrote:
I thought the Canon 5D3 AF was really a major jump over the older 5D's, at least from everything I have seen and read. Very close to the top of the line Canon AF even. No?
Tariq Gibran wrote:
I thought the Canon 5D3 AF was really a major jump over the older 5D's, at least from everything I have seen and read. Very close to the top of the line Canon AF even. No?
Same sensor, but no metering info used (I was incorrect above, Canon also uses a metering sensor feed in the 1D X AF system just like Nikon does on their high-end bodies) and no dedicated processor for AF. Big jump over the previous 5D's, but not up to what the 1D X can do in terms of speed & tracking, mostly due to having a lot less processing power.
mawz wrote:
Same sensor, but no metering info used (I was incorrect above, Canon also uses a metering sensor feed in the 1D X AF system just like Nikon does on their high-end bodies) and no dedicated processor for AF. Big jump over the previous 5D's, but not up to what the 1D X can do in terms of speed & tracking, mostly due to having a lot less processing power.
I believe it was the camera store video which had a comparison of the 5DIII and D800 AF and found they were very close (I think the Canon had a slight advantage even).
Imaging Resource interviews Mark Weir, Senior Manager of Technology and Marketing for Sony Electronics Inc., at Photokina 2012. Weir discussed the attention-grabbing RX1 full-frame compact camera, as well as the unique Dual AF system of the Sony Alpha A99, and that camera's renewed focus on video capture.
I'm sorry if this is terribly lazy, but does anyone have some general info/opinions on the a99 from an a900 user perspective? Ive been following rx1 discussion, Leica m, and just ignored this camera. Having a quick look over the dpreview preveiw I see two extra things I do not like over the things that already annoyed me on the a77: the focus mode dial has been removed, placed with some video toggle related dial... Secondly, the AF was one of the main improvements needed, and I'm sure the new wider AF sensors work well, but why so clustered in the middle? Being so squashed together, I can't see such a great advantage over focus-recompose, or not as great as I'd like - they need to be pushed wider for me.
The focus mode dial is still there, it's just multi-function now. If you're shooting in still mode, it's assignable to behave just as the focus mode dial, but now you won't have to take your eye from the VF to confirm your setting.
I think any answers on AF are going to have to come from usage. Mawz's time with the preproduction model made it sound very positive, and the specifications certainly read like it's going to a boon to AF users, but I'd wait for some production model hands-on testing before comparing it to the a900.
'Curious: When does the Sony DSLR line no longer qualify as "alt"?'
What heresy, how could you suggest such a thing? Sony is just a passing 'alt' nimbus cloud, momentarily obscuring the magnificence of the Canikon universe. Next week normality will return you can be assured, and business as usual will be resumed.
I remember a lot of people here saying Sony would not stay in the DLSR business, they just make low end junk lol, and it was all just rumours. I found that just bizarre. That's the thing with talk shops, they get insular, become an echo chamber and don't notice changes until it's too late. Standard elite behaviour, other stuff does not exist, until it does when reality bites.
But if you want to see what may happen with a dedicated Sony forum, go visit the Canon forum, it is an illuminating experience, almost a parallel universe - though being outsiders, Sony users may be a bit different. Maybe it's best this way after all...
ricardovaste wrote:
I'm sorry if this is terribly lazy, but does anyone have some general info/opinions on the a99 from an a900 user perspective? Ive been following rx1 discussion, Leica m, and just ignored this camera. Having a quick look over the dpreview preveiw I see two extra things I do not like over the things that already annoyed me on the a77: the focus mode dial has been removed, placed with some video toggle related dial... Secondly, the AF was one of the main improvements needed, and I'm sure the new wider AF sensors work well, but why so clustered in the middle? Being so squashed together, I can't see such a great advantage over focus-recompose, or not as great as I'd like - they need to be pushed wider for me....Show more →
From a still shooters perspective the silent control wheel is a full programmable control dial. It can be setup to replace the focus mode dial which used to be there or assigned to any number of stills related controls as you wish (personally I'd probably use it for ISO), so there you're gaining rather than losing over the A900 and now you can actually see what you're picking as it shows up in the display.
The AF sensors aren't super-clustered, but there is a definite centre bias to the location. I suspect the basic AF unit is fairly close to the A77's, just with more processing. I think the big deal here was keeping everything inside the APS-C frame so you have a fully functional AF unit when in HSC mode.
As to overall vs the A900, it's noticeably smaller & lighter, has an IMHO nicer grip and it's FAR quieter. No more loud slappy scissor sound. I prefer the ergonomics of the A99, but I was never sold on the A900's ergonomics, I found them generally slightly inferior to the A700 which fit my hands better. One nice feature is all the buttons on the body are distinguishable by feel, being of different heights (this is not a feature of the vertical grip unfortunately). The Vgrip is 7/9 style, so you can swap it on and off at need, and the vgrip takes 2 batteries for a total of 3 in the camera. Also the camera will not drain the body battery until it's drained the grip batteries.
One aspect which does take some getting used to is that all of the buttons feel spongey. This is a video-oriented optimization, the buttons are silenced for video shooting and it affects the feel. Took me about 5 minutes to get used to, although I still prefer a more positive feel. They're fairly long in throw so don't worry about accidentally pressing them.
mMontag wrote:
The a99 will be a heck of a camera after Bo Ming "uncovers the E, EF and N-mount communication protocols" to Sony "A" mount!
Unpossible currently for EF and N mount, A mount (unlike E mount) does not currently support electronic aperture control. I suspect it's coming though (Nikon's added it to the F mount spec with the PC-E lenses for example, F and A mount are very similar in capability from a protocol standpoint)
Don't know if these have been posted yet, a few really clean high ISO samples. I'm really liking what I see from the A99. Right click on the images in the first one and open in a new tab to get larger images, the 6400 shot of the model holding the Nex is very clean.
"Sony’s different approach to mirrorless has meant some unique value propositions at the low and mid range, and a slightly odd product at the high end – the A99 shares a base sensor with the D600, but is positioned at the price point of the D800E. At that level, you get higher fps than either camera, an excellent EVF, but a slightly odd control layout and user interface. General operation is fast enough, but I have no idea whether tracking AF is up to speed with conventional DSLRs or not; this has traditionally been a weak point of Sony cameras. I don’t think the package is compelling enough to attract new photographers to the brand, but videographers might be convinced by the quality of the output"
Yeah, I read that the other day. I guess he did not see the Photokina interview with the Sony guy who talked about the two types of AF (PDAF and CDAF) being used together to improve the tracking.
Sad that the A99 was announced so close to the 6D/D600 - its going to get buried as reviewers focus on the CaNikon cameras. From Dpreview: 5d3 announced March, reviewed May ... T4i announced June, reviewed August ... D800 announced Feb, reviewed June ... Sony A57 announced March, reviewed September.
Obviously DPreview and others are going to review whatever brings the most hits to the site. Before the A99 review surfaces, I bet we see reviews for the 6D, D600, GH3, new Pen's, Fuji EX-1, Nex5r/6 and the Sony RX1. Hopefully Sony put pre-production samples in the hands of a few reviewers, otherwise the A99 will be long forgotten before any competent reviews are posted.
I want to hit "buy" but I want to see more than the slew of hastily shot press event jpeg's that are floating around right now.
Same as any other camera?