Sony A900 Full-Frame: Hands-On Preview
by Wesley Fink on September 12, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
A900 Complaints
Let's get the disappointments out of the way first, since there is much more to like about the new A900 than to dislike. Sony has really been active this past year, just as they promised, but sometimes it is really hard to figure out what the DSLR design team is thinking. We get brilliant concepts from Sony marred by a "no thought here" feature, or lack thereof, that makes us truly wonder. The A900 is not without its share of a few of these:
- No Pop-Up Flash or Wireless Controller - It looked like the D700 had finally killed the idea that a pop-up flash didn't belong on a pro level camera. The argument that the wireless control capabilities alone justified a pop-up is pretty compelling. Sony even supports four banks of ratio controlled wireless flashes in their flash arsenal, but you won't find a pop-up flash for wireless control or a built-in controller in the A900. Apparently the Sony employees that used to work for Minolta remember the Maxxum 9 fiasco over the pop-up flash. When asked about it the Sony reps commented that the 5D was the competition and there's no built-in flash on the 5D. What is funny is the 5D replacement, like the D700, is very likely to feature a pop-up flash, which would make the Sony A900 alone again.
- Same Pricey Battery- The same proprietary NP-FM500H battery used in the A700, A350, A300, and A200 is also used in the A900. Great consistency, but you can still only buy it from Sony and you will still pay $55 to $95 for a spare. Sony insists on pimping their battery manufacturing even if their stubborn insistence on a proprietary battery drives some users away in a market where they need to win new users.
- Another Battery Grip - Unlike Nikon's clever move which allowed the Nikon MB-D10 grip to work on either the APS-C D300 or the full-frame D700, the new Sony A900 gets another new grip that fits the same batteries used in the A700. The A900 base is about half an inch wider than the A700 so the VG-C70AM grip can't work. You would think design teams working together could have found a way around this since there is nothing new about the VG-C90AM. Keeping the volumes small with separate grips will all but guarantee Sony will continue as the most expensive grip options in its class.
- No zoom in "Intelligent Preview" - Continuing the only glaring failing in the Sony A350/A300 Live View, the A900 Intelligent Preview does not allow zooming in the preview. Most studio users and tripod shooters like live view zooming for critical pre-focus, and that just isn't possible with no zoom. When asked, a Sony rep commented that critical focus control was not something they found studio shooters using Live View for. In my opinion, the intelligence is missing from the A900 Preview if you can't zoom.
- Multiple HVL-F58AM Flash Units Required - The new HVL-F58AM is truly a fantastic concept in a flash unit as we'll talk about in our Positives pages. However, four flash banks with ratio control requires a 58 flash unit as a wireless flash controller on the camera, and other 58 units for the flash banks. This can get pricey with the 58 selling for around $500.
- A Memory Stick Slot? - Do you know anyone who shoots the Sony Memory Stick in an A700 instead of the industry standard CF? It's easy to see why you might include a memory stick option in the A200/300/350 for Sony point-and-shoot users moving up, but a memory stick slot in the A900 is a true mystery. It looks like Sony Corporate has declared anything imaging will use only a Sony battery and will include a Memory Stick option. No other explanation makes sense.
- No speed improvement in APS-C mode - While Sony DT lenses automatically switch to APS-C mode and you can select crop mode even with a full-size lens, there is no improvement in burst speed while in crop mode.
- No Video Mode - Sony reps were on the verge of laughter when asked about a Video Mode for the A900. Frankly, with Sony's capabilities we really thought Sony might be first in bringing video to the DSLR instead of Nikon (D90) and Canon (rumored feature on the 5D replacement). Some industry analysts predict every news photographer will be shooting DSLR video within two years, giving editors the ability to select the stills they want for newspapers and magazines. Sony needs to truly lead in the DSLR market to capture the market share they covet.
- No Weather-Sealed Lenses - The A900 appears very well sealed against the elements, as you would expect in a camera aimed at pro users. However, none of the current or announced Sony lenses are weather-sealed. Weather resistance is only as good as your weakest link, and Nikon and Sony need to pay more attention to weather-sealing their lenses.
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yyrkoon - Monday, September 15, 2008 - link
If I had any personal gripes with Sony,it would be because of their 'business tactics' in the past with things mentioned by Westley here. Westley made mention of the 'battery issue', but what he did not mention was Sony's bad judgment in the past concerning rootkits.Sure, Sony's motivation for installing 'software' on a system without the users knowledge may have had to do with protecting their IP(DRM), but I have to question any company who deems they have the right to take control of any system that does not belong to them. Also, for those who may think that this is no big deal, keep in mind that even USB thumb drives, etc have their own MAC address.
What does this mean to the end user you may ask ? This means that anyone of us *could* potentially be locked out of the hardware that we payed hard earned cash for at the whim of a company who obviously has serious moral issues.
Thankfully Mark Russinovich caught this back in 2005, but it took several class action suits, and a court order that made Sony pay up $150 to each affected individual before they stopped shipping the CDs(almost two years later).
Now onto the subject of lenses. Zeiss also makes Nikon glass, but according to Ken Rockwell (heh yeah I know . . .) Zeiss actually does not make these lenses(some other company in Japan does), and most of, or all of these are MF. Ken Rockwell then goes on to say - "When photographers want quality they use larger format cameras, not 35 mm. " Nothing he says here really matters to me. All I care about is how well any given lens I purchase performs. I suppose the part he mentions going to a different format for quality does sort of make sense, but since I am not a 'professional photographer', my Nikon DSLR will just have to do . . . The thing is though, Zeiss is not the end all be all of lenses, and other manufactures make good lenses as well (Nikon for one).
I did the research more than 1.5 years ago when purchasing my first DSLR, and at that time, there just was not a broad enough lens selection available for the Alpha 100. Obviously I decided against it(and I do have my reasons), but with shooting pictures with a decent DSLR, I am finding that knowing how to use a camera in the first place makes more of a difference than the 'quality' of equipment used.
In the meantime, while the latest Alpha may have some desirable features, and can use some seemingly nice glass. I think I would have to pass on the 'latest flavor' of the month. Also seems to be yet another company who can not get it into their heads that the 'big MP penis' *thing* was a last year and before trend. While this year savvy photographers have been asking for, and want more dynamic range . . .
melgross - Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - link
Yes. Right now, most of Sony's lenses are old, and not intended for digital sensors. There are a few Zeiss lenses, which are certainly good, though not quite up to the standard of their third party offerings for Nikon, and now Canon. But their Sony models do auto focussing, which the Nikon and Canon models do not.It's surprising that their sony models, at the prices that they sell for are not weather sealed as Canon and Nikon's own lenses are.
Heidfirst - Monday, September 15, 2008 - link
1. Sony have made it very clear all through the A900 development that they do not consider the A900 a Pro body (albeit capable of being used by a Pro).I guess a proper Pro body (or several) comes later if they decide that they really want to seriously target that market.
2. the reason that there is no increase in burst speed in APS-C mode is that Minolta/KM & now Sony have never had a shutter/mirror mechanism that can do more than 5fps i.e. it's the shutter that is the limiting factor not the image processing abilities.
3. batteries - yes, it's dear compared to generics but it's no dearer than equivalent Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax genuine batteries.
& I've got to say that it's a great battery in terms of performance so I don't need as many.
Keepitpro - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
Sony is an Industry standard in broadcasting with their video cameras, expect it to become a reference standard in photography as time passes. They have the engineering power to solve problems, and almost an unlimited budget to make things happen. They are the freshman in the SLR market and already making good decisions, it's only a matter of time before they get all of it right. The other question to factor in is how the photo industry will accept Sony as a future industry standard. Artist and photographers tend to stick with what they know and love. Lets see how their incredible marketing team handles that. It might be Sony take over, PS3 stile.Only time will tell.
Milleman - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
Looks interresting, but there are a few things that stops me from buying right now. First, it's the first of its kind in a new breed from Sony. Some functions and engineering is just great, while some other seems premature or even absent. Onther big backlash is the batteries. I don't wanna end up with a "Sony-only" choice of battery source. I have have a friend that is tied to the Sony batt-packs, and he claims it is really a pain in the ass.For now on, I'll probably wait until Nikon or Canon turns up with a similar 24 MP unit, just because of what I mentioned.
roweraay - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
Actually, the entire range of Konica-Minolta engineers are in Sony's employ and you cannot get any more expertise than that, from a photography perspective, regardless of manufacturer. As far as electronics and sensor technology is concerned, Sony has been doing that for a while, including as a supplier to Nikon.Bottomline, in the "DSLR", the "D" aspect is covered through Sony's own expertise/know-how and the "SLR" aspect is covered through the prior Konica-Minolta engineers.
I would not have too much concern about Sony being new to this field.
They did have some mis-steps when the A700 was initially released one year back, by applying NR onto RAW (BAD in my book) but they have completely reversed course, with the upcoming release on Sept.16th, of Firmware Ver.4, which completely changes things for the better.
Now the RAW files are virgin-untampered-RAW-files (with the NR-OFF setting) and is unbelievably detailed even at ISO 6400 and seemingly has even more luminance data in it than its peer, the Nikon D300 (which shares roughly the same sensor).
chiew - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
how much is sony paying you ;)i'm going to wait for some side by side comparisons by phil askey, etc before putting my money into something that isn't even on the market yet.
rjm55 - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
I suppose if you have already decided to buy Canon or Nikon then waiting for Phil's side-by-side makes sense. You can always be sure Canon or Nikon will be the winner in Phil's reviews. And dpreview and their parent Amazon are obviously paying me nothing.chiew - Sunday, September 14, 2008 - link
are you saying you are more qualified to compare cameras side by side than phil or any other site's reviewers? dpreview was just one site i mentionedKorruptioN - Monday, September 15, 2008 - link
It has been generally seen that Phil favours his Nikons and Canons over something "different", such as a Sony. Cameras that are technically stronger but are of the "different" nameplate earn lower final ratings than a camera from one of the proven stablemates.