Sony A99

[gregj1763]

Hi all,
Very exited, just ordered a Sony A99. Will be a bit advanced for my level of photography skills but I'm hoping as I improve it will be a reliable and capable camera for me.
The wait begins until it arrives.
Cheers Greg

[jeeperman]

What is it that you shoot now Greg? I shoot with the A77....the little brother to the A99. I am very happy with my choice, I am betting you will be as well.

[gregj1763]

Hi Paul, I have their first dslr the A100 and upgraded to the A55 last year.
Think I will sell the A100 to put towards a new lens

[jeeperman]

I think you will be quite happy. I went from the A100 to the A77. I looked at the A55 but could not come to grips with it's small body and the viewfinder {while not the worst out there} I was just not sold. Different story with the A77 and the A99 is nearly the same. Main difference being the sensor size, which should show benifits in low light. Although I have no complaints.

I look forward to seeing what you think.

[Melkus]

I sure you will be happy with it. I still have my A580 which as we know was the last DSLR Sony made without that translucent mirror and was over shadow by the A55 since they came out at same time, it was and still is a great camera and hard to find one for sell since no one wants to sell there. Looking forward to seeing some shots with that A99.

[gregj1763]

Thanks Paul's.
will keep you posted. I'm expecting at least a couple of months wait

[AB26]

Hi Greg,
Congratulations. I am sure you will enjoy it. I had a look at it at the SA Photo & Film expo. Sony cameras are great.
Think the Nikon D600 shares the same sensor. Brett Florens raved about the low noise at ISO 4000 on the D600.

Hope after market service from Sony in Tasmania is better than in SA. Sony SA is useless. Had another disappointment with Sony over the weekend. I was looking for a filter adapter for my DSC HX100V. At a Sony Centre they simply said they never heard of such an adapter. Went to another camera shop, bought a 52mm UV filter and stuck it on the front of the lens with glue.
Not the cameras fault but rather the people whom are supposed to render service. The camera is great!!!

[gregj1763]

Hi Andre, Sorry to hear about the bad service, very frustrating at times.
I have a three year replacement extended warranty with the camera so basically if it fails I get a new one from Sony.
With regards to finding camera parts I check the local stores first and if I have no luck the internet, (ebay) is my next port of call.
Buy local first, keeps people employed
Cheers, Greg

[gregj1763]

Good news, A99 has arrived. Happy as a kid in a Lolly shop.
Bad news. I have to work all weekend
Oh well, I will grab what chance I have to get out with it and post some images when I can.
Cheers, Greg

[jeeperman]

Looking forward to it.

[enaiman]

Happy for you Greg

I was surprised when you said about waiting for months because I was pretty sure I've seen the camera in a store in Hobart.

[gregj1763]

Happy for you Greg

I was surprised when you said about waiting for months because I was pretty sure I've seen the camera in a store in Hobart.

Bought it through Harvey Norman in town. With past experience I know it can take time to get things in especially this time of year.
Thankfully I was wrong. Had a quick play with it last night, got a lot of reading to do to get comfortable with it but very happy. It feels like a proper dslr as opposed to my A55 which while I am still very happy with, I must admit it had a light and plastic feel to it.
Cheers, Greg

[gregj1763]

Ok, Had the camera for a month now but work has been frantic to say the least so haven't had as much time to play with it as I would have liked.
However, I got a few days off over the Christmas break before I start work for 2013, (tomorrow) to get to know my new friend.
What do I think of it ?
In a word, BRILLIANT!!!
I'm still getting to know the camera and learning about it every time I go out. Still have a long way to go.
By far this is the the best camera I have owned and I hope I can do it justice by producing some decent photo's with it.
PRO'S: Everything, so far.
CON'S: Likes to use 6400 ISO if you let it, but I'm shooting a lot more in manual mode now so I make it behave itself.
More CONS: I need better glass on the front of it
(Keep working hard Greg). Expensive hobby !!!
Here are a few samples. Portrait is a good example of high ISO if you let it, but still happy with it









Cheers, Greg

[Black Pearl]

Hi Greg,
Congratulations. I am sure you will enjoy it. I had a look at it at the SA Photo & Film expo. Sony cameras are great.
Think the Nikon D600 shares the same sensor. Brett Florens raved about the low noise at ISO 4000 on the D600.

Hope after market service from Sony in Tasmania is better than in SA. Sony SA is useless. Had another disappointment with Sony over the weekend. I was looking for a filter adapter for my DSC HX100V. At a Sony Centre they simply said they never heard of such an adapter. Went to another camera shop, bought a 52mm UV filter and stuck it on the front of the lens with glue.
Not the cameras fault but rather the people whom are supposed to render service. The camera is great!!!

Sorry I missed this but wanted to get your post clarified.


You went into a Sony store and were told there was no such adapter and you feel this is poor service?
Sony don't make a lens adapter for the HX100 so why would a Sony store have one? Why would they know anything about an accessory that they can't sell you or that Sony don't recommend you use?
You can get third party adapters but there is talk on some forums as to the long term affects of hanging a heavy filter and in some peoples cases a hood off the front of a lens that wasn't engineered with this in mind.


Now I'm hesitating here - but have I read you right - you went and bought a UV filter and "glued" it to the front of your lens?
Really?
You glued something to the front of your lens?
Did you use superglue because if you did the fumes are likely to damaged the plastics beyond repair rendering your entire camera into a pile junk.
Is your camera still within its manufacturers guaranty period because any bit of paper you have is now rendered worthless as Sony will bounce any claim straight back to you with a note saying "Don't glue thing to the front of your camera mate"

[Melkus]

Good looking photos so far Greg. Your saying it likes to using high ISO? are we talking about outside on a bright day or inside under low lights. I love the one of the little girl, bet it would look great in B@W

[gregj1763]

Thanks Paul, will try a black and white conversion.
Yes more low light situations it will go for a higher ISO in auto mode than I would perhaps like.
Not a big deal, just something I keep in mind before pressing the shutter button.

[Melkus]

Thanks Paul, will try a black and white conversion.
Yes more low light situations it will go for a higher ISO in auto mode than I would perhaps like.
Not a big deal, just something I keep in mind before pressing the shutter button.

Ah yes and that's why I don't like my ISO set to Auto.

[TAPdsgn]

Congrats on the a99. I've been following the a99's progress to market for about a year and it's been exciting to see all the reviews come out.

Great photos by the way. I agree with Paul, I think a B&W conversion would be great with the portrait.

I shoot with an a65 and I've blown so many photos because the camera selects 1600 ISO way too soon. And, unfortunately, the a65 doesn't handle 1600 very well (imho). It'd be great to shoot at 3200 and not even worry about degraded image quality.

It's hard to find people that respect Sony cameras-- even though they manufacture almost all of Nikon's sensors-- and except for Canon, seem to have at least one sensor in most DSLR manufacturer's camera lines.

I'm not very brand loyal though, I go with what I like, and the a65 has been so much fun to own. The ability to fire off pictures (that each focus) so fast in very little light almost makes the a65 a completely different camera than its competitors. I had a chance to shoot with a CZ 2470 and it turned my a65 into a new camera. It was an unbelievable lens. I've seen some good examples sell for $1,600 USD, so if you keep your eyes peeled (and like the lens) they've been out long enough that you can get a good deal on one.

Sorry for the rambling post, it's my first.

[gregj1763]

Hi Tyson,
The CZ 2470 is on my wish list but it will have to wait a little while, while my hip pocket recovers from buying the A99
I have a bit of a collection going now with the A100 and the A55 so I guess you could say I'm in the Sony camp.
To be honest when I bought the A100 I had no bias towards any camera brands and what swayed me was the built in image stabilisation compared to an equivalently priced Canon at the time.
The only other DSLR I have used is a friends Nikon D5100 which seemed a very nice piece of gear and produce some very nice images.
I too love the burst mode on the A55 and A99. Great for motocross action shots of my stepson. The A55 has a faster frame rate but the A99 produces sharper images.
All I need now is a nice 400mm lens on the front and I'm set.
PS, Welcome to CiC. Great site, you will enjoy yourself.
Cheers, Greg

[gregj1763]

Oh, and the B&W conversion as suggested