Upgrade from Sony A77...

[KooKoo102]

I love my A77, but there is only a few things that are starting to bug me.
1. Low light performance
2. Single memory card slot
3. Overall slow
4. Burst buffer

So I'm looking to get a full frame as an upgrade. I would look towards the sony A99, but would only take care of the memory card slot. I am looking at D610, D800, and 5Dmk3.
D610 - not a fan of aperture control on live view. D800 - a little pricy
5Dmk3 - never owned a cannon

So what do you think? Anyone have experience with them that can chime in? I will be starting over with glass... So would need some input on what rout to go, Cannon or Nikkon. Thank you in advance.

 

[Stevepwns]

A77 is overall slow? You cant be referencing the shutter speed or continuous shot speed. The only other camera faster is the 1DX. The A99 is better in low light by quite a bit but the A77 not that bad in low light, IMO, it is a crop sensor....

 

[vipgraphx]

Have you considered the a7 or a7r?

 

[KooKoo102]

A77 is overall slow? You cant be referencing the shutter speed or continuous shot speed. The only other camera faster is the 1DX. The A99 is better in low light by quite a bit but the A77 not that bad in low light, IMO, it is a crop sensor....

Sorry, I should have explained that, I'm talking about the interface and also how it saves files. Verry sluggish feeling. Takes too long to save one file, for over 5 seconds I can't review my shot or anything. Only take another.

I took my a77 to ritz ( before they closed up) and got a comparable lens on a d600, took a pic at the same ISO (1600 if I remember) and there was a HUGE difference in quality. Makes me hate using my a77 in low light.

 

[KooKoo102]

Have you considered the a7 or a7r?

I have... But I do not want to get into e-mount again. Had a NEX-7 and got out of it because of that. Now add full frame e-mount.. Even harder to get lenses for it.

 

[goodguy]

For the price Nikon D610 is a seriously good camera.
It basically took the flaws the D600 had and fixed them.
Yes the D800 and 5DIII are better in some ways but they also cost so much more and you are paying for pro featured that you probably dont need.
I would go with the D610 in a heart beat.

 

[Stevepwns]

A77 is overall slow? You cant be referencing the shutter speed or continuous shot speed. The only other camera faster is the 1DX. The A99 is better in low light by quite a bit but the A77 not that bad in low light, IMO, it is a crop sensor....

Sorry, I should have explained that, I'm talking about the interface and also how it saves files. Verry sluggish feeling. Takes too long to save one file, for over 5 seconds I can't review my shot or anything. Only take another.

I took my a77 to ritz ( before they closed up) and got a comparable lens on a d600, took a pic at the same ISO (1600 if I remember) and there was a HUGE difference in quality. Makes me hate using my a77 in low light.

Im not sure what you are talking about, it may just be your camera. I have the A77 and I shoot continuous and I can review pictures immediately. The D610 is a full frame and costs almost twice as much. Not to mention your lenses have a big part to do with picture quality. How long have you been shooting?

 

[robbins.photo]

A77 is overall slow? You cant be referencing the shutter speed or continuous shot speed. The only other camera faster is the 1DX. The A99 is better in low light by quite a bit but the A77 not that bad in low light, IMO, it is a crop sensor....

Sorry, I should have explained that, I'm talking about the interface and also how it saves files. Verry sluggish feeling. Takes too long to save one file, for over 5 seconds I can't review my shot or anything. Only take another.

I took my a77 to ritz ( before they closed up) and got a comparable lens on a d600, took a pic at the same ISO (1600 if I remember) and there was a HUGE difference in quality. Makes me hate using my a77 in low light.

Well the D600 is a full frame camera, which makes a huge difference in low light. Also even the Nikon crop sensor's generally do better in low light than the comparable Sony, Even my D5100 has better lowlight performance than the A77. Of course the A77 shoots a lot faster so like all things in the camera world it's a trade off. I prefer the higher color depth of the Nikon's myself, I think it gives you much better images in the long run.

There are some work around's for the D600's inability to control aperture in live view, but if this is really a huge source of concern for you it might be best to consider the D800 or the Canon 5D mark III. If it were me I'd recommend the D800 even though it is a little higher priced, if still images are your primary concern I think it would be worth it. But a lot of folks swear by the 5d Mark III and if your doing video it's definitely worth consideration.

 

[Derrel]

I am wondering if the sluggishness "might be" a pokey memory card. Do you have current state of the art memory cards? I mean really,really GOOD, fast cards? Card write-to speed can really make a camera feel like a slug, and not all cards are truly equal. For a great example, go to Robgalbraith.com's CF and SD card database, and compare to VAST DIFFERENCE in write speed and capability across multiple cards. Despite the specifications on the cards, some cards are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than others.

As to a camera with dual memory card slots--over 95% of all d-slr cameras have just ONE, single slot...

 

[Stevepwns]

I am wondering if the sluggishness "might be" a pokey memory card. Do you have current state of the art memory cards? I mean really,really GOOD, fast cards? Card write-to speed can really make a camera feel like a slug, and not all cards are truly equal. For a great example, go to Robgalbraith.com's CF and SD card database, and compare to VAST DIFFERENCE in write speed and capability across multiple cards. Despite the specifications on the cards, some cards are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than others.

As to a camera with dual memory card slots--over 95% of all d-slr cameras have just ONE, single slot...

I agree, I also get the impression the issues he has aren't really the problem of the camera. Aside form the dual card issue, the A77 is a solid performer. There is more to this than I think is recognized.

 

[robbins.photo]

I am wondering if the sluggishness "might be" a pokey memory card. Do you have current state of the art memory cards? I mean really,really GOOD, fast cards? Card write-to speed can really make a camera feel like a slug, and not all cards are truly equal. For a great example, go to Robgalbraith.com's CF and SD card database, and compare to VAST DIFFERENCE in write speed and capability across multiple cards. Despite the specifications on the cards, some cards are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than others.

As to a camera with dual memory card slots--over 95% of all d-slr cameras have just ONE, single slot...

Absolutely. When I switched to the Sandisk Extreme Pro with the 95 mbs write speed it made a huge difference with my D5100 over the standard Class 10 card I was using with the 30 mb/sec write speed. The card was a bit on the expensive side, I think I paid a little over $100 for the 64 GB version, but it was worth every penny. Just a night and day difference in shooting speed.

 

[Dliwevad]

A77 is overall slow? You cant be referencing the shutter speed or continuous shot speed. The only other camera faster is the 1DX. The A99 is better in low light by quite a bit but the A77 not that bad in low light, IMO, it is a crop sensor....

Sorry, I should have explained that, I'm talking about the interface and also how it saves files. Verry sluggish feeling. Takes too long to save one file, for over 5 seconds I can't review my shot or anything. Only take another.

I took my a77 to ritz ( before they closed up) and got a comparable lens on a d600, took a pic at the same ISO (1600 if I remember) and there was a HUGE difference in quality. Makes me hate using my a77 in low light.

Im not sure what you are talking about, it may just be your camera. I have the A77 and I shoot continuous and I can review pictures immediately. The D610 is a full frame and costs almost twice as much. Not to mention your lenses have a big part to do with picture quality. How long have you been shooting?

Even my a65 images are available right away so I'm not sure about either. Maybe the firmware needs updated. The early on firmwares for the a65/a77 had lots of issues with speed being one of them.

 

[KooKoo102]

As far as the mem card goes, I will do some research, but it's a sandisk "high end one"
But that day I compared the d600 to my A77, I used my mem card in both cams... Mine takes a good 5+ seconds while the d600 took less then half the time. So no technical data behind it, but it was faster for me.
And I have the latest firmware.. Unless there has been a new one in the last 2 months.

 

[KooKoo102]

So doing some comparison... Price wise, I think I'm looking at the d610 body only with the sigma 24-105 F4 or 5dmk3 with kit f4 lens.
The 5d kit runs about $400 more... And I'm not 100% on the 5D. No built in flash, slightly less mp.

I want the d800 so bad... But I think the body is my whole budget lol.
Thoughts?

 

[goodguy]

So doing some comparison... Price wise, I think I'm looking at the d610 body only with the sigma 24-105 F4 or 5dmk3 with kit f4 lens.
The 5d kit runs about $400 more... And I'm not 100% on the 5D. No built in flash, slightly less mp.

I want the d800 so bad... But I think the body is my whole budget lol.
Thoughts?

There is nothing bad I can say about the Canon 5DIII, I still think it is a waist of money for people who are not pro's, it is simply offering too much for somebody like me that photography is his hobby and not profession.
I think in the hands of a hobbyist you will not see any difference between the 5DIII and D610.

I have the 24-85mm VR Nikon lens, this is the kit lens of the D600/D610.
I think its a fantastic lens that gets little respect, I think while not as usable as the 24-105mm is it is just as good optically.
I bought this lens MIB (second hand Mint In Box) for 325$ and its used by me all the time.
I would get the D610 with this kit lens + 50mm 1.4D and 70-300mm VR
These 3 lenses gives you a very good basic lens collection that will serve most of your basic needs.
All these 3 lenses used should cost you around 800$