Who is using a Sony A77 and or A99?

vipgraphx · Mar 4, 2014

A99 has taken a price drop to $2299 at best but and amazon

jfrabat · Mar 5, 2014

cosmonaut said:
The a99 is a much better camera than the a77 as far as image quality. The a77 really isn't good at high iso and the a99 is a couple of good stops better. I have the a77 but it is mostly for the crop factor and wildlife shooting when I need the extra reach. The files of the a99 are smoother and less pixelated when pixel peeping in post. The a99 has a lot more dynamic range which is the achilles heal of most APS-C sensors. If you shot in a lot of difficult lighting situations the a99 will handle it better. Given a choice the a99 hands down would take it. Don't let anybody kid you full frame is where to be if your serious.

The A99 is WAAAAAYYYY better than the A77 if you are serious about shooting in poor lighting conditions. No questions asked. And this from a Sony employee who paid full price for his A77 and who got to play around with the A99... The A99 does have SOME drawbacks compared to the A77 (no on-board flash is a biggie for me; I use it to trigger off camera flashes. But then again, with the A99, you can get away with A LOT before you actually need a flash!).

BGeise said:
Its also 2 grand more for not a lot of difference. The a77 has much more bang for the buck

It's ONE grand for A LOT of difference. Not to say that the A77 is not a great camera, because IT IS. But there is no question that the A99 is a hole different ballgame!

ConradM said:
These comments are surprising to me. Mind you, I'm coming from an a33 but I've found I can go up to 2000 ISO on the a77 without much noise. 2000 ISO on the a77 is = to about 800 ISO on my a33.

I have not played around with the A33, but it depends on what's acceptable to you. But there is no question that I can see the noise at ISO 1600 with the A77 (while with the A99 I struggle to find it at MUUUUUUCH higher ISO's).

Menthol · Mar 6, 2014

remylebeau said:
Shoot video at 6400ISO in a club. Shoot a ballet performance with 1/800th of second to catch the action, while using 3200 ISO to gather enough light. Shoot in dim churches that don't allow flash at 3200 ISO and same for receptions. All else being equal in terms of shutter speed, lenses, technique etc. In those stated situations the a77 would not come close to the image quality I got with the a99. It's not a matter of noise, ACR noise reduction is very good at what it does. It's a matter of maintaining detail, skin tones and accurate color. My experience with the a77 showed those things were not something I'd present my clients with shot above 1600 ISO.

I also tethering 90% of the time when I'm in my studio shooting portraits or products. It's not a necessity but for me it's more than a luxury, especially where product photography is concerned. I have food stylists and art directors who my clients bring, and we all work off a properly calibrated monitor while building shots. I can certainly get away with using the back of an LCD but I'm not trying to get away with anything, I'm trying to make the workflow as efficient as possible for everyone involved. So tethering is a big thing for me. I really wish the a77 had tethering like it's predecessor the a700, if that were the case this would also be a none issue.

The camera's both perform incredibly well below 800 ISO, while the a99 is still better I'd gladly use the a77 when less than 800 ISO is called for.

So as I previously stated, "worth it" is a matter of opinion not fact and it's entirely subjective. For me unlike the above video the upgrade is absolutely worth it.

Guess at the end of the day it all depends on user needs. I don't take pictures in clubs but if I ever need to do so then my 50mm 1.4 would be a weapon of choice.

An extra grand for a99 wouldn't be advisable for a semi pro or enthusiast especially if they don't have G lenses to maximise quality. An a77 with good glass fitted is just as good if not better than an a99 with cheap glass.

Just my opinion. Not scientific test conducted.

Ps. Noise reduction software is getting better all the time. Most client that I have seen will not magnify image 1:1 to check noise levels but obviously I am not an advocate for shoddy work.

Sent from my Galaxy SII using PhotoForum

2WheelPhoto · Mar 6, 2014

I'm surprised Sony as a company is still in business. Don't hate me look at the company's performance past few years (on everything not just DSLR's)

Menthol · Mar 6, 2014

2WheelPhoto said:
I'm surprised Sony as a company is still in business. Don't hate me look at the company's performance past few years (on everything not just DSLR's)

I refuse to be drawn into discussing other devices other than cameras and accessories.

As far as I am concerned sony can stop making all those things as long as if they continue to make cameras as sony or minolta ... what ever.

Sent from my Galaxy SII using PhotoForum

2WheelPhoto · Mar 6, 2014

Menthol said:
2WheelPhoto said:

I'm surprised Sony as a company is still in business. Don't hate me look at the company's performance past few years (on everything not just DSLR's)

Click to expand...

I refuse to be drawn into discussing other devices other than cameras and accessories.

As far as I am concerned sony can stop making all those things as long as if they continue to make cameras as sony or minolta ... what ever.

Sent from my Galaxy SII using PhotoForum

Yeah my point is lackluster sales across the board from Sony....among all their devices. Sorry didn;t mean to go off-topic

ConradM · Mar 6, 2014

2WheelPhoto said:
I'm surprised Sony as a company is still in business. Don't hate me look at the company's performance past few years (on everything not just DSLR's)

They recently sold or downsized different departments to focus on imaging.

Fox_Racing_Guy · Mar 6, 2014

2WheelPhoto said:
I'm surprised Sony as a company is still in business. Don't hate me look at the company's performance past few years (on everything not just DSLR's)

Nikon's is even worse :lmao:

And who would Nikon purchase image sensors from? Toshiba,, good luck with that.

jfrabat · Mar 7, 2014

Menthol said:
Guess at the end of the day it all depends on user needs. I don't take pictures in clubs but if I ever need to do so then my 50mm 1.4 would be a weapon of choice.

An extra grand for a99 wouldn't be advisable for a semi pro or enthusiast especially if they don't have G lenses to maximise quality. An a77 with good glass fitted is just as good if not better than an a99 with cheap glass.

Just my opinion. Not scientific test conducted.

Ps. Noise reduction software is getting better all the time. Most client that I have seen will not magnify image 1:1 to check noise levels but obviously I am not an advocate for shoddy work.

I did the test when I got my hands on the A99... The A99 with the A380 kit lens (a very cheap Sony lens, 18-55mm) still had less noise in poor light than my A77 with a Zeiss lens (1.8 85mm IIRC; lens was also borrowed)... I was trying to prove to myself that the A77 was as good as the A99, but I had to find other ways to justify that the A77 is still the camera for me (and there ARE things, like, for example, I would have to change my lenses, as 2 of them are for crop cameras; also, I would have to change my flash units, which are for the old mount - and I have 3 of them; and finally, the A99 cannot trigger external flashes without using an additional flash, as it has no pop-up flash, so I would probably need an additional flash). But as for quality, there is just no comparison in poor lighting conditions.

In halfway decent lighting, though, the A77 is more than capable of holding its own against anything out there... Is it worth it to spend the extra money? My answer is "it depends"; it depends on your style of shooting and how much noise you find acceptable, and how much work you are willing to put into post (because you DO make a good point about noise reduction software)... And yes, the 1.4/f will help, but in a concert, unless you are in the first row, 50mm is probably going to be too short of a lens.

To me, the extra grand (more if you consider I must change 2 of my lenses as well) was not worth it either, so I stuck with the A77. But it is a matter of personal taste and preferences. But the quality was not the only issue but also the glass and the flashes for me... If it were only a quality issue, I would have probably gone with the A99!

ConradM said:
2WheelPhoto said:

I'm surprised Sony as a company is still in business. Don't hate me look at the company's performance past few years (on everything not just DSLR's)

Click to expand...

They recently sold or downsized different departments to focus on imaging.

Yeah, Vaio was sold off to reduce cost, and TV business is being restructured. I think the company will turn around, but in general, NONE of the electronic companies are doing so hot right now...

GarP · Aug 19, 2014

vipgraphx said:
Just wondering who is shooting with a sony A77 or A99. I tested out an A77 yesterday at the camera shop with the 2.8 kit lens and I was really impressed. But, its hard to tell what the cameras can really do just messing around at the shop and not in real world use.

So I ask this question in hopes that I can here pros and cons and what you shoot. I like to shoot HDR sometimes I need to do handheld where the A77 seems it would be nice because of the speed, even the A99 is quick. I had a gripped D700 that was shooting 8FPS and I could do handheld shots in the night 3 exposures. With HDR I will shoot Landscapes/CityScapes, Scenery, Interior and almost anything in between.

I also like to take portraits of the kids..not so much into sports because when I had the D700 and 70-200 2.8 VII I seem to miss a lot of the actual games because I was behind the lens and we would never really print any of the photos so I stopped doing that and started recording with our canon HD camera. I would like to do some off camera flash/strobing.

I have been using the A7 for a few weeks and although it is a very nice camera I am not sure if this is the best camera for me at this time. I am up in the air. I really love all the features and image quality is great. I am just disappointed in the
battery life and lenses available. Yes I know I can use other brands with adapters but then that take away many if not most of the features in the camera that makes it such a joy to shoot. Plus sony lenses seem to be pricey for what they are IMO.

I know the A77 is an older camera but, does not mean its outdated just yet. The A99 I only held and did not use but seems like it would be best of both worlds of the A7 and A99. I understand that the what also makes the A7 so popular is the size however I am torn, because it is so light and petite that it feels like it will break very easy or if I have to be extra careful. I like the bulkiness of the A77 and A99 while holding them I remembered why I wanted to get out of the huge FF cameras..heavy cameras…there is a tradeoff for the weight and its the rigidness..

anyways I can go on and on but I wanted to see if anyone here would like to chime in with your personal hands on experience.

Thanks!

Cheers