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Sony's New a99 Full Frame DSLR

guzhogi

guzhogi

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 31, 2003
3,740
1,831
Wherever my feet take me…
Saw today that Sony announced the Sony Alpha 99, full-fram DSLR camera.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photo...nnounces-worlds-first-full-frame-dslt-1096399

Looks pretty cool. I have an Alpha 65 which takes fantastic pictures. Makes me wish I could afford the 99. Looks like it'll be about $4,000, well out of my price range.

Only thing that bugs me about it is no built-in flash. From what I understand, it uses the same viewfinder as the a77, which does have a built-in flash.
 
NZed

NZed

macrumors 65816
Jan 24, 2011
1,136
1
Canada, Eh?
guzhogi said:
Saw today that Sony announced the Sony Alpha 99, full-fram DSLR camera.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photo...nnounces-worlds-first-full-frame-dslt-1096399

Looks pretty cool. I have an Alpha 65 which takes fantastic pictures. Makes me wish I could afford the 99. Looks like it'll be about $4,000, well out of my price range.

Only thing that bugs me about it is no built-in flash. From what I understand, it uses the same viewfinder as the a77, which does have a built-in flash.
Click to expand...

DSLR? Not DSLR. DSLT

digital Single Lens Translucent

and not an actual viewfinder "viewfinder", just an OLED screen inside. No pentaprism
 
M

MacCruiskeen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2011
321
5
guzhogi said:
Only thing that bugs me about it is no built-in flash. From what I understand, it uses the same viewfinder as the a77, which does have a built-in flash.
Click to expand...

I think the assumption is that someone buying a $4K camera is not going to want a crappy little pop-up flash, and probably has or will buy a real flash.
 
MrXiro

MrXiro

macrumors 68040
Nov 2, 2007
3,850
599
Los Angeles
MacCruiskeen said:
I think the assumption is that someone buying a $4K camera is not going to want a crappy little pop-up flash, and probably has or will buy a real flash.
Click to expand...

guzhogi said:
Saw today that Sony announced the Sony Alpha 99, full-fram DSLR camera.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photo...nnounces-worlds-first-full-frame-dslt-1096399

Looks pretty cool. I have an Alpha 65 which takes fantastic pictures. Makes me wish I could afford the 99. Looks like it'll be about $4,000, well out of my price range.

Only thing that bugs me about it is no built-in flash. From what I understand, it uses the same viewfinder as the a77, which does have a built-in flash.
Click to expand...

It's only $2799.99, not 4k FYI... not cheap by any means but not 4000 dollars... I may get one for the uncompressed 1080p hdmi output so I can sent it to an external recording device and get some great looking video.
 
steveash

steveash

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2008
527
245
UK
Looks like a solid camera to me. Great for video I imagine. Sony seem to be the big innovators in the camera market right now.
 
M

MacCruiskeen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2011
321
5
MrXiro said:
Just correcting incorrect info... Though a crappy little flash would be better than no flash in some cases...
Click to expand...

Actually, the article in the original post wasn't really wrong--it was giving the expected UK price in pounds. But it probably will be cheaper in the US.

And aren't all these camera manufacturers always bragging about their super-fantastic low-light performance and claiming monster ISO ratings? Why should you need a flash at all?
 
Le Big Mac

Le Big Mac

macrumors 68030
Jan 7, 2003
2,809
378
Washington, DC
MacCruiskeen said:
Actually, the article in the original post wasn't really wrong--it was giving the expected UK price in pounds. But it probably will be cheaper in the US.

And aren't all these camera manufacturers always bragging about their super-fantastic low-light performance and claiming monster ISO ratings? Why should you need a flash at all?
Click to expand...

It's a good point - You can jack up the ISO pretty far and still get good images.

That said, sometimes the illumination in a room (i.e., angle, direction) is such that a flash can be handy, and fill flash can be very useful outdoors when it's sunny.

----------
guzhogi said:
Saw today that Sony announced the Sony Alpha 99, full-fram DSLR camera.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photo...nnounces-worlds-first-full-frame-dslt-1096399

Looks pretty cool. I have an Alpha 65 which takes fantastic pictures. Makes me wish I could afford the 99. Looks like it'll be about $4,000, well out of my price range.

Only thing that bugs me about it is no built-in flash. From what I understand, it uses the same viewfinder as the a77, which does have a built-in flash.
Click to expand...

Disappointed only in the price of $2800. Had been hoping it would be under $2k. Or I can hope for a less advanced FF model that drops below $2k.
 
E

equilibrium17

macrumors member
Aug 20, 2007
61
0
MacCruiskeen said:
Actually, the article in the original post wasn't really wrong--it was giving the expected UK price in pounds. But it probably will be cheaper in the US.

And aren't all these camera manufacturers always bragging about their super-fantastic low-light performance and claiming monster ISO ratings? Why should you need a flash at all?
Click to expand...

There things a flash can do, that better ISO performance simply can't. A good example would be fill flash when shooting an environmental portrait against a bright background. You'd don't need a professional-quality flash unit for this -- just a little extra light on the foreground subject from the a body flash will make a big difference in the final product. But ISO can't help with this, since the issue is the difference in light levels between the dimmer foreground and the bright background, not low light per se.

Now, whether this is actually a useful thing to any given photographer depends on what and how you like to shoot. I don't use my camera's body flash very often. When I do it's usually when I decide to shoot something unexpected on the spur of the moment. The effect of the body flash may not be ideal, but the very fact that it's always there and available makes it useful at times.
 
beowulf70

beowulf70

macrumors regular
Oct 20, 2010
246
22
London
MrXiro said:
It's only $2799.99, not 4k FYI... not cheap by any means but not 4000 dollars... I may get one for the uncompressed 1080p hdmi output so I can sent it to an external recording device and get some great looking video.
Click to expand...


Price quoted:

The Sony Alpha 99 price will be around £2,500 (around $4,025) for the body only, with a release date of the beginning of November.

Not cheap.
 
MrXiro

MrXiro

macrumors 68040
Nov 2, 2007
3,850
599
Los Angeles
MacCruiskeen said:
Actually, the article in the original post wasn't really wrong--it was giving the expected UK price in pounds. But it probably will be cheaper in the US.

And aren't all these camera manufacturers always bragging about their super-fantastic low-light performance and claiming monster ISO ratings? Why should you need a flash at all?
Click to expand...

Cause the camera wasn't made by Dumbledor?

----------
beowulf70 said:
Price quoted:

The Sony Alpha 99 price will be around £2,500 (around $4,025) for the body only, with a release date of the beginning of November.

Not cheap.
Click to expand...

Ah... US retail is $2800 for body only.
 
O

OreoCookie

macrumors 68030
Apr 14, 2001
2,727
90
Sendai, Japan
MacCruiskeen said:
I think the assumption is that someone buying a $4K camera is not going to want a crappy little pop-up flash, and probably has or will buy a real flash.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of reasons why having a tiny pop-up flash is a good thing, even if you happen to have a »proper« external flash. Obviously, you have a flash you can use in a pinch (e. g. if you've left your Eneloops in your charger at home ;)), but Nikon also uses the pop-up flash to trigger your flashes remotely (including setting up several flashes in up to 3 groups etc.). So yeah, I'm happy my camera has a pop-up flash.
 
M

MacCruiskeen

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2011
321
5
Abstract said:
Because people who buy these cameras know how to use flash?
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. Is that not what I said at the beginning? If you know how to use a flash, you will not be satisfied with a crappy little pop-up flash. Heck, I even keep a stash of magnesium flash bulbs for those times when they are needed (mainly for shocking people who aren't old enough to remember them).
 
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