Sony Alpha

I just played with one of these in a store.
If I did not have a closet full of Nikon lenses the temptation would be hard
to resist. I almost reached for my credit card anyway.
In fact I find it hard not to consider the Alpha and its kit lens the best
bang for the buck out there in the dSLR market.
Sony may finally be getting the knack of sophisticated camera design: I am
allowed to say this as I still have an 828.
If the D80 does not substantially improve on the execrable D70 viewfinder I
may just make the switch and offer some bargains on Ebay. The D70 is a
landmark camera in many ways but it is impossible to manually focus indoors
in normal lighting because the viewing image is too small and too frigging
dark even with an f1.8 lens. Unless Nikon had some long range plan to force
users to upgrade at the next product cycle I still do not understand how
they mated such an otherwise brilliantly designed camera to such a cheap
butt viewing system.

You're correct, bmoag! My Alpha has turned out to be a sensational
camera. Just tried it out on a cruise to the Bahamas. Some daylight,
some night indoor time exposures, manual and auto, hand held and tripod.
Super Steady Shot seems to work as advertised. Controls and menus are
intuitive. Results are outstanding. Printed some of them out with a
little Canon Selphy Pictbridge printer ($49) while on the cruise.
Downloaded 150 10 meg images in less than a minute when I got home. To
me, the thing about this camera is not the 10 Mp, but the hammer-quick,
accurate autofocus that gives you the results every time. And kit lens
is great.

Gary Eickmeier

bmoag wrote:
I just played with one of these in a store.
If I did not have a closet full of Nikon lenses the temptation would be hard
to resist. I almost reached for my credit card anyway.
In fact I find it hard not to consider the Alpha and its kit lens the best
bang for the buck out there in the dSLR market.
Sony may finally be getting the knack of sophisticated camera design: I am
allowed to say this as I still have an 828.
If the D80 does not substantially improve on the execrable D70 viewfinder I
may just make the switch and offer some bargains on Ebay. The D70 is a
landmark camera in many ways but it is impossible to manually focus indoors
in normal lighting because the viewing image is too small and too frigging
dark even with an f1.8 lens. Unless Nikon had some long range plan to force
users to upgrade at the next product cycle I still do not understand how
they mated such an otherwise brilliantly designed camera to such a cheap
butt viewing system.

In article , "bmoag"
wrote:

If the D80 does not substantially improve on the execrable D70 viewfinder I
may just make the switch and offer some bargains on Ebay. The D70 is a
landmark camera in many ways but it is impossible to manually focus indoors
in normal lighting because the viewing image is too small and too frigging
dark even with an f1.8 lens.

Bmoag-

Your comments seem to be more of a slap at Nikon than praise of the Alpha.

I bought my Alpha because I do have a collection of Minolta lenses. They
all work well with it. It is a nice camera.

On the other hand, it isn't any better than the Pentax *ist DS except for
the number of pixels. I prefer the feel of the Pentax. I just don't have
many lenses for Pentax yet.

As far as image brightness, I was disappointed to find that Sony had lied
about it having a prism. What they call a "Roof Mirror Type Pentaprism"
is just a penta-mirror system. It works OK, but I wonder how much better
it might have been with a real prism?

Fred

Canon may make its own sensors but otherwise the sensors and electronics of
current 6mp dSLRS are pretty much the same Sony stuff. Autofocus, lenses and
brand cache are what distinguish these cameras from one another, if at all.
There is no "better" camera between the Nikon and Pentax 6mp dSLR line-up.
In fact many Pentax lenses outperform Nikon lenses and cost less.
When the Sony 10mp sensor package is distributed through the various
manufacturer product lines the situation will be the same.
The Sony Alpha does not have a great focusing screen but compared to the
tiny dim viewing screen of the D70 the Alpha is incomparably superior. Until
the D80 hits the market I would prefer the Alpha to the D70 in this price
class. I have lugged my D70 across three continents and shot tens of
gigabytes of images with it, think it is one of the greatest cameras ever
made, but its heavy and the viewfinder stinks.
"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
In article , "bmoag"
wrote:

If the D80 does not substantially improve on the execrable D70 viewfinder
I
may just make the switch and offer some bargains on Ebay. The D70 is a
landmark camera in many ways but it is impossible to manually focus
indoors
in normal lighting because the viewing image is too small and too
frigging
dark even with an f1.8 lens.

Bmoag-

Your comments seem to be more of a slap at Nikon than praise of the Alpha.

I bought my Alpha because I do have a collection of Minolta lenses. They
all work well with it. It is a nice camera.

On the other hand, it isn't any better than the Pentax *ist DS except for
the number of pixels. I prefer the feel of the Pentax. I just don't have
many lenses for Pentax yet.

As far as image brightness, I was disappointed to find that Sony had lied
about it having a prism. What they call a "Roof Mirror Type Pentaprism"
is just a penta-mirror system. It works OK, but I wonder how much better
it might have been with a real prism?

Fred

Hi,
I lucked out and got one of these alphas in trade for some work i did.
I am new to digital photography and a novice at best in general. Can
someone point me to a good book or website that will help me get the
most out of this camera? any recomendations on lenses and accesories
would be great. I plan on taking lots of close up stuff, landscapes
and like being able to zoom in a decent amount.

thanks,
John
On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 20:26:30 GMT, "bmoag" wrote:

I just played with one of these in a store.
If I did not have a closet full of Nikon lenses the temptation would be hard
to resist. I almost reached for my credit card anyway.
In fact I find it hard not to consider the Alpha and its kit lens the best
bang for the buck out there in the dSLR market.
Sony may finally be getting the knack of sophisticated camera design: I am
allowed to say this as I still have an 828.
If the D80 does not substantially improve on the execrable D70 viewfinder I
may just make the switch and offer some bargains on Ebay. The D70 is a
landmark camera in many ways but it is impossible to manually focus indoors
in normal lighting because the viewing image is too small and too frigging
dark even with an f1.8 lens. Unless Nikon had some long range plan to force
users to upgrade at the next product cycle I still do not understand how
they mated such an otherwise brilliantly designed camera to such a cheap
butt viewing system.

wrote:

Hi,
I lucked out and got one of these alphas in trade for some work i
did. I am new to digital photography and a novice at best in
general. Can someone point me to a good book or website that will
help me get the most out of this camera? any recomendations on
lenses and accesories would be great. I plan on taking lots of close
up stuff, landscapes and like being able to zoom in a decent amount.

thanks,
John
On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 20:26:30 GMT, "bmoag" wrote:

The first read is your cameras manual while trying all the effects you
can. You will learn a surprising amount.
--
Neil
reverse 'ra' and delete 'l'.