Showing posts with label a900. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a900. Show all posts

Sony SAL70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM Lens Review

Sony SAL70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM Lens
Average Reviews:

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I have been using this lens for the past three weeks. Mostly to shoot local league Rugby, Soccer, and Baseball. Let me say up front, if you do not have a monopod get one now. The total weight of a A700 and this lens is about 4.5 pounds. If you include the A700 grip you are lugging around about 6 pounds of gear. For the images you get its is well worth it the weight. For the bang for the buck this has got to be the best Sony lens out there. With the 1.5x crop factor on most of the Sony DLSR's (only the A900 is full frame) this becomes an effective 105-600mm zoom. It's used mostly at the 400mm (equivalent) setting and my shots are tack sharp even wide open. Since I use this mostly for sports I keep the camera is in shutter priority setting, usually at 1/1000 or 1/800 of a second. Focusing seems a bit faster with the built in SSM as opposed to the screw drive on the other lenses but not much different. Because the SSM uses a bit of battery power you will experience fewer shots per charge. The only negative about this lens is that when zoomed the lens does extend quite a bit. I had hoped that it's length remained the same throughout the zoom range as my Tamron 70-200 F2.8 does. But this is a small quibble when you factor in the image resolution and very fair price for a premium lens. Another plus, the silver finish really looks great. It really stands out nicely when I'm in the press box with the Canikon crowd.

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Sony System 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM

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Sony 24 -70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Cameras Review

Sony 24 -70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Cameras
Average Reviews:

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This is the best lens that Sony/Zeiss have offered thus far, even more versatile than the Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera and Sony SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera, which are incredible lenses. I have compared this Sony/Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 lens to the legendary Minolta 28-70mm f/2.8 G lens using the Imatest lens test software. At an aperture of f2.8, the Minolta 28-70 lens at 28mm focal length and the Zeiss 24-70 lens at 24mm focal length are equally sharp in the center, but the Zeiss lens is sharper at the corners. The Zeiss 24-70 lens does exhibit a minor amount of chromatic aberration but to no serious extent. It also exhibits moderate barrel distortion at 24mm, as do its Canon and Nikon 24-70 counterparts. The barrel distortion is more pronounced with a full frame sensor than with a half frame sensor.
Sony and Zeiss have a very useful partnership going, which I hope will result in a greater variety of lenses in the future. Recently, Sony and Zeiss have introduced a Sony SAL1635Z 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens that improves upon the rare and coveted Minolta 17-35mm f3.5 G lens.
Two minor complaints about this lens are the following. First, like the other Sony/Zeiss lenses, it is rather heavy, but I suppose that good glass is heavy. Second, it zooms by elongating externally unlike the Minolta 28-70mm f/2.8 G lens. However, the Canon and Nikon 24-70 lenses elongate in a similar manner, so perhaps this feature is a compromise that one must accept in exchange for sharpness at f2.8.
Reviews of the Sony/Zeiss 24-70 lens may be found at the Photozone and lemondedelaphoto web sites. The latter site is French but web pages may be translated via Google.


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High-performance Carl Zeiss large-aperture zoom. The SAL-2470Z Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar f2.8 24-70mm Zoom Lens is a brilliant all-around performer -- with SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) design for fast, silent auto-focus, pro-quality Carl Zeiss T coated optics to reduce lens flare, and 17-element design with two aspherical and two ED glass lens elements to minimize distortion and virtually eliminate chromatic aberration. It benefits from the Super SteadyShot image stabilization built into every Sony α system DSLR -- and its wide-angle to medium telephoto range in compact, lightweight design is ideal for a wide range of shooting applications (35mm equivalent: 36-105mm).

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Sony Alpha A900 24.6MP Digital SLR Camera (Black) Review

Sony Alpha A900 24.6MP Digital SLR Camera (Black)
Average Reviews:

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Let me start by saying that I teach a digital photography class at the local community college, and I've seen/used/taught about every major brand and many minor brands of digital cameras, and I think every manufacturer makes a camera that is right for different people with different requirements. That being the case, the alpha900 is amazing. The resolution is not only record breaking, but the clarity of each of those pixels is quite good (with the right lens). The image stabilization on a full-frame sensor is a first (and so far, only). 5 Frames per second? At 24.6 megapixels? It is a testament to Sony's knowledge of electronics. The view finder really does exemplify why "live view" is more of a marketing checklist item, and not really necessary; looking through the view finder is a joy.
But, the world of the a900 isn't all roses. If you have a collection of Sony/Minolta lenses, hopefully they're all full-frame. Yes, the a900 supports APS-C lenses, but there is no real advantage to them with this body over other Sony DSLRs. The a900 does "find focus" better than previous Sony DSLRs, but the location of the focus points aren't as well laid out as other Sony models. While I usually carry an external flash, so the lack of a pop-up flash isn't a problem for me, many users will find the lack of one to be, at least, an annoyance.
And last, but certainly not least, is post production once the images are off of the camera. If you primarily shoot in RAW (as I do), and do much post-production, be prepared to bring your computer to it's knees. These files are huge, and all that wonderful resolution comes at cost; that being the amount of pure computing horsepower required.
Given those few caveats, the alpha900 really is a big step forward in digital SLRs, in many ways. If you can justify the cost of this body, it really is worth having, and you'll be surprised at just how much detail a single image can have when its almost 25 megapixels.

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The Sony A900 is the top-of-the-line model in the Sony α (alpha) DSLR lineup. As befits a flagship model, the A900 raises the bar in a number of areas. In addition to being the first α DSLR to incorporate a 35mm full frame image sensor, it features the worlds highest 24.6-megapixel (MP) resolution and the worlds first body-integrated full-size SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization technology. The new full frame Exmor CMOS image sensor is significantly larger than traditional APS-C sized sensors, providing a larger capture area, improved wide-angle performance, and tighter depth of field control. In addition, its 24.6MP resolution maximizes the resolving power of your existing lenses for sharper, higher contrast photos. The A900 also features Dual BIONZ imaging processors that allow continuous shooting at up to 5 fps (frames per second) with superb image quality and ultra-low noise, a large, ultra bright glass pentaprism viewfinder with 100% coverage, an Intelligent Preview function that lets you see the effects of manual adjustments on an image before you take the shot, and best-in-class viewing with a photo-quality 3.0" Xtra Fine LCD (921K pixels) display and HDMI output with PhotoTV HD compatibility.

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Sony SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera Review

Sony SAL-135F18Z 135mm f/1.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera
Average Reviews:

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I am astonished by this lens, as well as its sibling the Sony 85mm f1.4 lens Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera. Each lens is razor sharp at its widest aperture. An excellent discussion of this lens may be found at the Photozone web site.

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Experience the amazing image quality of the Carl Zeiss® SAL-135F18Z telephoto lens. Its wide range can handle images that are miles or inches away.A high-performance telephoto lens with the widest aperture in its class. Whether you're shooting a distant mountain peak or a beautiful orchid at arm's length, this superb telephoto lens provides amazing image quality. Its f/1.8 aperture makes it the brightest telephoto lens in its class, and with 35mm-equivalent 202.5mm focal length plus the ability to focus tightly on objects closer than three feet away, it can cover an amazing range of photographic assignments

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