Sony α 900
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| Sits right at the top of the professional camera pile 23/01/2010 The Sony Alpha 900 sits right at the top of the professional camera pile. It has a true pro specification - magnesium alloy body, dust seals and a 24.6 mp full-frame image sensor. It is also incredibly easy to use with all the dials and controls being in just the right place. I only had to look at the (comprehensive) manual twice which is a credit to the designers who obviously placed the photographer first when they created this beast. And it is quite a beast - large, angular, retro and heavy. But this all contributes to a reassuring, professional feel. Sony, who also produce professional video cameras, know a thing or two about making equipment that is going to be used and abused. Solidity, dependability and usability are all top class. This is also a feature rich camera and other than live view, there is little Sony have not included. The list goes on: SteadyShot image stabilisation; Intelligent Preview; HDR friendly with +/- 2 EV steps on auto bracketing; bright and large 100 % viewfinder image; 3 inch, high-resolution LCD; top panel LCD; dual memory card formats and more. If you are looking for the highest quality optics, then Sony-fit Carl Zeiss lenses are among the best (and priciest). But for a professional, they are worth it, especially to get the best from the astounding sensor. When you enlarge the images, the amount of detail is incredible. In crowd shots, you really can see the whites of the eyes. This is almost medium format quality. The 40 multi-segment honeycomb-pattern metering coped well with most situations - better than the Canon 5D. The autofocus is accurate and responsive. The auto white balance is among the best I have tested. In short, for the money, there is little to match this camera apart from the Sony Alpha 850 which has a few features stripped out. Since the introduction of this camera Nikon and Canon have reduced the prices on their competing models, but the Sony Alpha 900 is still the best value for money, for which Sony should be applauded. Sure there are some niggles, such as no live view, no built-in flash and some noise at lower ISO speeds. But these are just minor points. You will not be disappointed with this camera. By C. Watts UK | ||||||
| Watch out Canon and Nikon Sony is on your tail 21/01/2009 I had the pleasure of using one of these over the last weekend. Brilliant. I am a semi-pro sports photographer and I also do event photography. Ok first things first this is not the camera for either of those activities, but it is up there with the best of them for landscape and portraits. Now I have recently decided to experiment doing HDR photography (High Dynamic Range) and this camera is the best I have used to try it. The exposure range is brilliant and with its 24.6 megapixels nothing gets near it for price. I have given the camera 5 stars due to its unbeliveable value for money. It does have a few drawbacks ie additional cost of the battery back to the bottom of the camera (which I believe is more expensive then both the Nikon and Canon equivalents) but it feels great when attached I would urge you to buy the battery pack too. If I was not already a Nikon user I would certainly seriously buying this camera. Be foolish not to. By Mr. G. Bridgeman-clarke Rayleigh UK | ||||||
| Official...Film really is dead 28/09/2008 Weighty in feel, this camera feels the business, and instead of having a 24mm APS-C sized sensor, it has a maddening 24 megapixel on a 35mm sensor. That in itself is not only class leading, (beating the yet to be launched Canon 5D Mk2 by 3 megapixels), but likely to be class establishing. The sensor is rumoured to be put into the next range of Nikon top end cameras with effect of late 2008/early 2009. Immediately the controls feel familiar to a Minolta and Sony digital user, and indeed as the layout of the controls on cameras became almost standardised, I should expect anyone who has used a digital SLR to quickly become familiar with the controls. Sure it is missing the additional dials for flash and exposure control like the old Minolta 7D, but flicking around the display panel using the function button and the joystick, is just as easy. Shortcut buttons on the top of the camera are well out of the way of accidental presses, giving access to exposure, white balance and ISO controls. Other options include creative modes, including black and white, and Dynamic Range options which try and squeeze the detail out of over or under exposed areas of a picture. Another neat touch is the preview mode. Press the depth of field button at your subject and release. A preview picture is displayed on the screen and various exposure and picture control options. Fiddle with these, until the picture looks the way you want it, and hey presto, those settings are set for you to continue shooting. Don't expect to keep the preview, it is just that, and gets deleted the minute you exit to the menus or take another picture. When you find the settings you like, there are three direct access (save) registers to save those settings. Next time you want to use that particular set of parameters, just turn the dial to the register number you saved them in, and start shooting. In essence, from a control point of view, it is a photographers dream. With fantastic automatic settings and manual overrides for almost everything you could wish for. The camera is fast. Fast on autofocus, fast to establish exposure, and very fast in taking a picture, with up to five frames per second in burst mode. It also has built in image stabilisation so ANY lens fitted, even if it a 20 year old Minolta 70-200 beercan, can benefit from this blur reducing feature. So it's fast, usable and feature packed, but what about the picture quality? Well that's partly down to you, but once I had started to get the swing of things, this camera offers unparallel speed and accuracy for its price, and detail which is scarey. Imagine being able to count pores or stubble on the skin of a group of three people in your image, or see the veins across the surface of an eye in a portrait. Yes you can! Colour rendition is fantastic and the black and white mode produces beautiful images. Sure the new Canon 5D will have a movie mode, but it is in no way a movie camera, and the feature misses the point of buying a DLSR. To take still photographs! Until last week professional photographers only had two choices of brand for their workhorses. Nikon or Canon. If Sony can deliver the additional accessories and lenses that professionals require, (and with their partnership with Carl Zeiss, it is entirely possible), then professionals have the choice of three brands. However, for me, it is the quality of the product, it's compatibility and image improvement it offers my old lenses (with anti-shake), and the frightening level of detail that will make anyone over 25 blush as the wrinkles start to show. What a great, great camera, I am truly bowled over. Well done Sony. By Mr. T. G. Rose London UK | ||||||
| The Alpha of the digital pack 10/07/2010 Best bang for the buck. I have other legacy cameras from Nikon, but for simplicity and execution the Sony works well for me. Forget about noise., that discussion is a big yawn. Unless it's sports that pays your bills, this Sony hangs with the rest of them. I use Raw Photo Processor to work on my files, and CS5 to finish with. By K. Jorgensen | ||||||
| Sony Alpha A900 (AlphaMountWorld Review) 21/09/2009 Ultimately the Sony A900 was built for Minoltan's who wanted a full frame upgrade path to the discontinued KM 7D. In a sense, this camera is a confluence of that camera, the Sony A700, and the Minolta Maxxum 9 film camera- that never saw a digital Minolta equivalent come to life. Sony's Alpha A900 represents performance value. It is a high end/professional DSLR with a rather conservative feature set when compared to its peers on the market. It does not offer live view or video, instead it offers arguably the best 100% coverage viewfinder in a DSLR to date, excellent 24.6mp resolution, the worlds only image stabilized full frame sensor, excellent Quick-Navi Gui interface, top notch build quality, and large easy to use external controls. Handling is excellent and intuitive. The A900 is built to handle an extreme range of weather conditions with an excellently sealed body. The external buttons are designed to be larger on purpose, and spaced out so that it can be used with gloves on in cold weather situations (it definitely passed my test in the Sierras). Build quality on the A900 is top notch, all external panels and framework are made from an advanced Magnesium Alloy, giving an overall excellent strength to weight ratio. The grip is large and comfortable with recesses for the fingertips on the right hand that aid in portrait shooting and overall ease of grip, reassuring less hand fatigue for all day shooting for all hand sizes. The design itself is rather compact for a full frame camera (without the vertical grip) when compared to its peers, yet is large enough to let you know that this is one serious camera for advanced enthusiasts and professionals (even though Sony is careful not to classify it strictly for professional use). Add a vertical grip to it, and it is actually larger than Canon or Nikon's largest professional cameras by a hair. The vertical grip is probably one of the best designs ever made, nearly perfectly mimicking the back panel of the A900 itself and is very comfortable. Autofocusing is by way of a diamond arranged 9 AF points, with the center point being optimized for a f/2.8 aperture. The surrounding 8 points have been increased in sensitivity compared to the A700, for more reassuring AF performance. The speed of the in body focus motor is snappy, and the overall speed of the autofocus varies depending on the lens itself (due to different internal gearing and programming, etc. The A900 has 3 custom presets built into the main menu dial that are quickly accessible, but the bread and butter of your adjustments will be made the way of the Quick Navi system which employs the LCD and use of thumb and front wheels and/or the multi controller joystick. Adjustments can be made to most functions without having to go one level into the menu system, which saves time and headache in moments you need to make quick decisions. The Alpha A900 boasts an overall impressive feature list. It will shoot 5 frames per second at full 24.6mp resolution on Jpegs until the memory card is used up, ISO sensitivity ranges from 100-6400, has an excellent low light autofocusing illuminator, intelligent preview function for making changes to WB/exposure/DRO etc., lens micro AF adjustment (with memory up to 30 lenses), HDMI output, dual memory card slots, sensor based dust reduction, APS-C capture mode, 1/300th sec flash sync, built in viewfinder shutter (to black out light on long exposures), user changeable focus screens (with 3 total optional screens), 880 shot per charge battery life, 3" 920K dot LCD screen, a top deck illuminated LCD panel, comes with a wireless remote, and much more. In use, the A900 is designed to be intuitive and is, it is simple enough so that it won't leave you perplexed but featured enough to handle most job situations. While the current trend is to add video and other such gizmos to DSLR designs, the A900 remains conservative. Film SLR users will feel right at home. To me the A900 is more utilitarian in design, and less about a features war with competitors. Sometimes I wish it had more creative software features or live view, but I never miss video on it. Intelligent Preview is good enough to replace the live view feature for many applications although not all, such as zoom micro focus aid, but it gets most of the job done and helps to save storage space by not having to take several test frames. In a way the Sony A900 is an old fashioned DSLR with just the right amount of modernization, which may throw some who expected the opposite from Sony for a loop. The A900 is reliable, right out of the box. It has not exhibited any focusing issues or firmware/hardware errors once. It is a well designed camera in this aspect, and reliability is first on my order checklist. It does all I need it to do for most circumstances. Image Quality is simply fantastic. As long as your sensitivity needs aren't higher than ISO 3200 for nearly noise free images, the A900 will impress you with color gradation, excellent dynamic range, and mind boggling detail. Raw files are out of this world good and compare well to medium format rigs costing thousands and thousands of dollars more. This camera is for the enthusiast with deep pockets, a budding professional, or a professional that wants a lot of camera for the buck. It is really hard to find any faults with this camera within its specification sheet, a real joy to use and own. Strengths: Build Features for price Viewfinder Speed Image Quality (ISO 3200 and under) Resolution is extraordinary (close to medium format DSLR backs) Noise reduction can be turned off Lightest in class Excellent LCD Panel Well thought out controls Built in Full Frame Image Stabilization (2-4 stops advantage) A landscape shooters dream DSLR (weight, size, resolution) Reassuring mechanical mirror/shutter cycle sound Has character and some old fashioned heritage AF Zeiss Lenses Weaknesses: No live view (if thats for you) Jpeg Image Quality above ISO 3200 Tends to underexpose .3-.7 EV (at least consistently) Proprietary flash shoe (although superior in design- locks on flash heads etc) AF motor drive in camera can be a bit noisy Mirror slap is also a bit loud No pop up flash (debatable weakness) - Carl (see more at alphamountworld) By Carlton D. Garrard Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, United States | ||||||
