Professional photographer and journalist, founder and editor of magazines PHOTOpro, Photon, Freelance Photographer, f2 and Cameracraft. For 25 years director of the Minolta Club. Fellow of the BIPP and Hon. Fellow of the MPA.

No new Alphas after the 58 in 2013?

The Japanese industry magazine, Nippon Camera, has posted its calendar of new product releases for 2013. This does not include the Alpha 58, a 20-megapixel revision of the 57 which is not expected to make any significant difference to the choices for DSLR/SLT system owners (that is – it’s not likely to be an imperative choice).

The A58 has already been previewed by some websites, but no opinion has any meaning until the sensor has been thoroughly tested. It may be significantly better than the 24 megapixel sensor in some ways, and better than the 16 megapixel sensor; or it may just be a compromise which has neither the clear benefit of low light performance, or ultimate resolution.

In March, a NEX-7R is expected – this, following Sony numbering, will be a 7 with on-sensor PDAF added and compatible with the revised and new lenses which work with on-sensor PDAF in the NEX-5R and NEX-6. The next month, a budget model NEX-F3R will complete this compatibility at entry level.

The model numbers given by Nippon Camera are different from those rumoured on the web. 7n would indicate no PDAF on sensor, no touch screen where 7R would indicate both. Either way, a new 7 will have the new Multi Function Accessory shoe. F3R indicates built-in flash, PDAF and touch-screen.

In September, Sony is tabled to launch a NEX-9. This is widely assumed, because of the numbering consistency shown so far, to be a full-frame (probably 24 megapixel) NEX E-mount body just as the VG-900E video camera is a full frame E-mount aimed at that market. We believe that Sony will either bundle an Alpha mount adaptor with the 9, as Canon has done for EF lenses with the EOS M, or will wait until the first flush of sales is complete before using this as a price/value incentive.

Listing this as plain NEX-9 may not mean it’s lacking the ‘n’ or ‘r’ or other aspects. After all, the NEX-6 has almost everything new and it’s a plain 6. So a 9 may also have more functions than the VG-900E.

However, it’s very hard to beat Canon’s approach – at airport duty free last week, Canon’s EOS M was selling for £499 complete with kit 18-55mm lens, EOS EF/EF-S lens adaptor, and a medium powered bounce flash.

Nippon Camera does not place any further NEX or Alpha models on their 2013 calendar of predicted launches, despite every indication there should be further A-mount models.

New lenses announced this week include an 18-55mm SAM II (updated focus motor for better PDAF on sensor, hopefully improved optical and mechanical design); a Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar SSM at a very high retail price; and a revised 70-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II, again probably optimised for on-sensor PDAF performance.

– DK

Sony firmware updates roll out

With new firmware for the Alpha 77 and 99 and most current models now up for download, the promised rush of new firmware is probably complete. The Alpha 77 firmware has errors in the web page for Europe, referring to the Alpha 57 and showing pictures of the 57. This is probably because the page has been based on another used as a template. The firmware, we can confirm, is for A77 and updates correctly.

Note that when using a Windows PC, 64-bit doesn’t work with Windows 8. You have to read the asterisk info carefully to see this. Mac OSX 10.8.x Mountain Lion does work in 64-bit and there is no need to reboot to do the upgrades; older Mac systems must be in 32-bit mode.

The firmware is specified as updating the on-board lens correction list, and for the A99 (v1.01) the ability to use sensor assisted PDAF with some lenses:
Provides support for the following ”Dual AF” function compliant lenses:
SAL24F20Z, SAL85F14Z, SAL135F18Z, SAL70300G, SAL70200G, SAL35F14G, SAL1635Z, SAL100M28, SAL50M28, SAL85F28, SAL300F28G
Provides support for the following automatic compensation compliant lenses:
SAL100M28, SAL50M28, SAL85F28, SAL18200, SAL20F28, SAL28F28

You can find the A77, 99 updates and some other software via these links:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SLT-A77/updates

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SLT-A99/updates

To find the updates for other cameras change the URLs to include SLT-A57 (to version 1.04), SLT-A65 (to version 1.07), SLT-A37 (to 1.04). There are no updates for the A33, A35, or A37 and no updates for DSLR models such as the A580.

There are also firmware updates for the NEX series, including the 5N:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/NEX-5N/updates

The benefits for the 5N are considerable especially if you want to buy the pancake 16-50mm lens. Here is Sony’s list:

  • Applies automatic compensation to “SELP1650”
  • Updates RAW data format version
    *After this update, distortion correction of RAW data will be available with Image Data Converter Ver.4.2 or later. The latest version of Image Data Converter is available on the following site: http://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/imsoft/Mac/idc/us.html
  • Adds bracket shooting exposure settings (three frames / 1.0EV, 2.0EV, 3.0EV)
  • Makes “SELP1650” retract immediately after turning off the camera
  • Improves autofocus operation stability
  • Enhancement of AF response: When subject distance changes enormously.
  • Improved stability in certain camera operations:
    • When setting [Lens Compensation: Distortion] “Auto” and [Picture Effect] “Miniature” at the same time.
    • When setting [Exposure Compensation], [Intelligent AF] operation improves.

Again, to find your updates, just change the model number – there are updates for the NEX-F3, NEX-5R, NEX-6, NEX-7 but not for the NEX-3, NEX-C3 or NEX-5. Improvements are given in the instructions and include correction for the 16-50mm on all cameras.

There is one software update – Alpha 99 compatible Remote Control 3 (USB control, shooting and image transfer from PC or Mac) is now released:

For Windows: http://www.sony.co.jp/imsoft/Win/

For Mac OS: http://www.sony.co.jp/imsoft/Mac/

The same software can also be used as before (RC2) with Alpha 700, 900 and 850, reinforcing the value of these excellent DSLRs which were Sony’s three most professionally specified optical viewfinder models in their time (2007-2009) and remain so. The Alpha 77 is not supported. Settings can be changed on your computer, the camera can be triggered, and the resulting files stored on the computer.

RC3 is a stand-alone program now and does not require to be part of the Image Data Suite. It is Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion, on Intel systems) and Windows 8 compatible (but not 64-bit Windows 8).

There is also a NEX lens firmware update, which can only be installed using an updated NEX-6 or NEX-5R (not a 7, or any other model).

Lens Firmware Ver.02: SEL1855, SEL18200, SEL55210, SEL24F18Z, SEL30M35, SEL50F18 (Windows computers procedure)
Firmware update , 05/02/2013

Lens Firmware Ver.02: SEL1855, SEL18200, SEL55210, SEL24F18Z, SEL30M35, SEL50F18 (Macintosh computers procedure)
Firmware update , 05/02/2013

Each lens is a separate updater so you need a well-charged battery and a little patience in order to update all your lenses. At the time of checking, there are no firmware updates for the LA-EA1, LA-EA2 or LA-EA3 Alpha lens adaptors for NEX.

 

 

An amazing bag bargain

We thought that these bags at a low price would disappear, so since buying some last month, I’ve told a few friends but not publicised it. A Facebook posting or so.

manfrottobag1

What is the bag and why is it so good?

It’s a Manfrotto Stile Unica VII, the largest size made in these Chinese-fabbed courier or messenger style shoulder bags. There are a few smaller sizes but this big one can fit a MacBook Pro 15″ or a typical Windows laptop 17″ in the back of the main compartment, behind the insert. That is not unique, my ancient 1987 Tenba Messenger will also fit my MacBook and even take a couple of cameras. What it will not do it take my favourite tripod, the Gitzo Traveller 6X carbon fibre travel pod, in its base compartment.

The Gitzo is designed to be shorter than the airline/airport rule on dangerous items, the same sub-14″ length as a large collapsible umbrella. This did not stop the customs guy at Bari Airport, in 2011, seizing the tripod and telling me it was not allowed and would be confiscated. I don’t speak Italian, but I do know Italians! I became very agitated and waved my arms a lot, explaining that this tripod was an Italian product, specially made for airline travel, and cost over 500 euros… and was a gift from my wife (who at this moment was clearly about to burst into tears). I could not believe that I would lose this wonderful Italian product when trying to fly back from Italy.

The customs man and his female colleague turned away to confer. A second later he just handed the tripod back and motioned us through.

Even so, despite its value, the Gitzo now goes in our hold baggage and not in the camera bag. It simply isn’t worth the risk of confiscation versus the risk of loss – and loss is insured, where confiscation is an untried situation with my insurance company. We have not, yet, had to ask.

Once arrived, the new Stile Unica VII bag will fit the pod perfectly and it weights the bag just right. The Stile is relatively slim front to back but large, like a satchel, so it tucks under the arm in busy crowded places. It’s easy to swing round to the front, and with the document compartment zipped up and under the flap with velcro and a huge metal webbing clip, camera access is possible through a top zip. Yes, that’s not so secure if you stand on a Barcelona street corner and swing the bag behind you. That’s where backpacks fail too. It looks slightly less like a camera bag than some, too. And you can do a padlock tie on the twin top zip and document compartment zip too. The laptop slot has a velcro tab to secure it. The camera load bay had one divider and a sort of lens-cradle thing which is not enough, but who does not have a cupboard full of spare dividers? What’s lacking is velcro fur all round to allow free layout. We use pouches or cloths to keep stuff apart. Big microfibre cleaning cloths are great, you can use them to clean the gear as well as wrap it.

The actual dimensions are 16 inches clear in the base compartment, by a variable 3.5-4 inches squareish. It will not quite fit the Sony 70-400mm G lens in its pouch; this would strain the zip. It easily fits this lens ‘bare’, and the height of the top compartment is also enough for the 70-400mm standing vertically. It is a surprisingly large bag for this type of design.

manfrottobag3

So, it’s not got a huge capacity or clever compartments. What is the rest of the appeal? The weight. I opened my copy of Practical Photography and found a guide to camera bags for travel. Are they nuts? All the bags I saw were really for working out of the back of your car or roller-ing along when shooting a wedding. People who fly do not start out with a bag weight over 6 kilos before loading gear.

The Stile Unica VII weighs just a few grammes over 1 kilo, leaving you almost 4 kilos of payload before you hit the maximum allowed on board many smaller flights. I’ve only ever been caught once and had load up my pocket, on Croatian Airlines. In theory plenty of other carriers limit you to 5kg. BA and Easyjet allow anything you can safely lift into the overhead, some others allow 10kg. But even in 10kg, the less dead weight the bag takes up, the better. The Unica VII is even lighter than our single-layer traditional canvas photo bags, and unlike them, it has a tiny amount of padding.

The next thing is the price we paid. This is an £80-90 bag officially. But at the time I post this page, you can get the unpopular mud-coloured ‘Bungee Cord’ (colour) fabric version for £32 in the UK from Amazon. That’s including VAT, not some grey import deal.

manfrottobag2

This is the white version – that’s right, how impractical! A white camera bag. Nearly as impractical as a white lens… it cost more, a touch under £50, still almost down to half price. We wanted white for travel and walking in hot, sunny conditions. Black cameras are bad enough, and can quickly rise to 40-50°C if you leave them in the sun. Dark colours, especially black, bags are poor when it comes to keeping gear cool, and it is the temperature of your DSLR which determines whether you get the best possible dynamic range and noise levels from your sensor. The Alpha 99 is a bit of an exception. These cameras are built to work with the sensor HOT, that’s what live view EVF does for you. You still get the very best performance from a cool camera and shots you take before the sensor has warmed up – and you can still get the camera do a thermal cutout on you in very hot conditions, or if you shoot long video takes. Tip: move the rear screen away from the back a bit to allow ventilation.

The white Stile Unica VII is not just a fashionable dirt magnet, it is a practical camera carryall for tropical, desert and the occasional perfectly sunny day in Scotland. The muddy bungee-cord colour is less conspicuous and will take muddy marks happily.

I’m not keen on the sort of half-union-jack pattern of the bag flap and I hope they never make one in red, white and blue. The fixed shoulder strap is a decent length with an adjuster on both sides and a fixed non-removable, non-sliding shoulder pad. That’s perhaps one way the price has been kept down. But the strap supplied with the Pro bag I tried was so bulky and heavy it weighed about the same as the entire Stile Unica VII and occupied most of its bag’s interior when delivered! I’m all for stuff which can be squished up, rolled, flattened and packed if need be. This bag qualifies.

Here’s the Amazon link for the mud-coloured version at £32 – everyone who has bought one reckons this is a great price for a very functional if slightly depressing bag!

Manfrotto Stile Unica VII Messenger Bungee Cord

And here are other links – the prices are £47.64 for black (as you’ll realise, I just do not recommend black at all) and £53.29 for white (eccentric but useful colour). But ‘Bungee Cord’ rules at £32!

Manfrotto Stile Unica VII Messenger Bag – Black

Manfrotto Stile Unica VII Messenger Bag Star – White

And here is a link to the Gitzo Traveller tripod (latest version) which will explain why I learned quickly to act like an Italian and get emotional – £660, over 800 euros. I think I may just put mine in a safe as buy a cheap Giottos version to actually use… and I do not need a free ‘carrying solution’ either.

Traveller GK2580QTR – get a carrying solution for free!*

– David Kilpatrick

20mm pancake for NEX from Sony

It’s not the fast f/2 design everyone was hoping for, but maybe the quality will be right – Sony has announced a new 20mm f/2.8 pancake lens for NEX. At the same time, the power zoom first seen at photokina, aimed at video NEX models, is available separately.

newlensesfeb2013nexspecs

Here is the release:

Photographers and video makers are spoilt for choice with two additions to the range of E-mount interchangeable lenses for SonyαE-mount cameras and semi-professional camcorders.

E 20mm F2.8 ‘pancake’ wide-angle lens
Measuring approximately 20mm from front to back, this short focal length ‘pancake’ lens makes an ultra-slim yet tough ‘walkaround’ partner for your α E-mount camera.

With the 35mm equivalent of its 30mm wide-angle view and bright F2.8 aperture, it’s perfect for a broad range of everyday shooting opportunities,  from interiors to landscapes, street scenes and casual snaps. Excellent contrast and resolution are also augmented by enhanced clarity in corner areas to satisfy the most discerning photographer.

E PZ18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS powered telephoto zoom lens
Offering a generous 11x magnification range, this high-quality telephoto zoom makes an ideal partner for shooting video with the E-mount interchangeable lens Full HD camcorders. The NEX-VG30EH is already supplied as a kit with the E PZ 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS power zoom lens.

A comfortably positioned zoom lever is partnered with a switch on the lens barrel, allowing zoom speed to be selected in six steps, from slow, beautiful shifts in perspective to dramatic crash-zoom effects. Thanks to a newly developed internal linear motor, power zoom is complemented by exceptionally smooth focusing and aperture operation. Zoom can also be controlled directly from NEX-VG900, NEX-VG30 and NEX-FS700*.

*Firmware update is required for NEX-FS700.

Built-in Optical SteadyShot cuts the effects of camera shake, allowing handheld use of slower shutter speeds without image blur. Active Mode further enhances stabilisation at the wide end of the 11x zoom range – even when you’re walking along – making the lens a compelling choice for capturing smooth, stable video footage.

While optimised for video, it’s also a flexible choice for shooting stills with Sony’sαE-mount interchangeable lens,, from expansive landscapes to high impact close-ups of wildlife and athletes

E-mount lens family keeps growing
There’s now a family of thirteen E-mount lenses plus two converters, covering virtually any shooting situation with your Sony α E-mount camera or camcorder. Spanning ultra-wide angle,powerful telezoom, macro and fast, bright primes, the range includes premium optics by Sony and Carl Zeiss. Beautifully styled to complement yourαE-mount camera, every E-mount lens offers refined performance and easy handling.

The new Sony E 20mm F2.8 interchangeable lens will be available from March 2013,and the E PZ18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS lens from February 2013.

Adobe gives away legacy Photoshop/Suite (CS2)

If you don’t like using Elements, and can’t afford the latest Photoshop, and have something like a Mac G4 or early Intel series, or a Windows XP machine, Adobe has an unbeatable price for you to download and use Creative Suite CS2.

Free.

The link you need is:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?pid=4485850&e=cs2_downloads

Be warned that since this link was made public, the server has been down occasionally and the site temporarily unavailable. It has been restored but you may have to retry for a quieter period. This is a popular move from Adobe.

The important element of CS2 for the photographer, Photoshop, is only part of the deal as you also get InDesign, Illustrator and Premiere (pre-HD video).

You can use CS2 for a wide range of photo editing tasks, and although it does not support new Alpha and NEX raw files, it is easy enough to convert these to .DNG (Adobe Digital Negative) format using the DNG Converter. This is also a free download:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5519 (Windows)

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5518 (Macintosh)

Sony’s Alpha 99 – mastery wrapped in dilemma

alpha99side

The launch of and initial reaction to Sony’s Alpha 99 has been spoiled, for many, by the overpricing of the camera generally and to a greater degree in some key markets. The promise of the SLT design, and Sony’s move away from flapping mirrors and optical prisms with their associated collimation and alignment, was one of reduced manufacturing cost and more competitive product.

Along with this, we should remember Sony’s 2006 statement that external mechanical controls, switches and buttons would be reduced on future models for the same reason. The Alpha 99 has as many external physical controls as any predecessor and will make traditional users happy.

a900toa99

Compare the Alpha 900 and the Alpha 99 – despite apparently very different designs, they share many points and clearly come from the same gene pool. There is no longer any need for the largest glass prism of any modern DSLR, the power switch has moved to Nikon position round the shutter release, lines are rounded off. The construction is similar as the strap lugs fitted through the outer skin into the solid magnesium chassis indicate.

a900toa99rear

From the rear, the 900 looks somehow more complex because of the left-hand button array. In fact the A99 has just as many buttons (it is only missing a SteadyShot switch and the selector round the AE lock button for metering method – this is no longer as important with the 99 doing its metering directly from the imaging sensor).

Out there we find Canon’s lightweight travel-friendly full frame 6D appearing at £900 lower launch street price (UK) with both that essential built-in GPS and the marketable function of WiFi, and Nikon’s almost comparable D600 officially at a £500 lower RRP, and a street price match for the Canon. In practice the UK Sony price of the A99 fell from £2499 to £2299 in the first two months on sale; the D600 fell from £1955 to £1495 in the same period (WEX dealer figures) and on that basis we can expect the see the Canon fall to £1395 in early 2013. By then the A99 may have fallen to £2195.

Sony lenses are not cheaper, nor wider in range of choice or sources of supply, than Nikon or Canon. There is no collateral benefit when you hand over as much as 50% extra to Sony for their innovative cost-saving technology. In my British Journal review, I concluded that the Alpha 99 was between 30 and 50% over-priced and combined with the cost and limited range of Sony lenses there would be little good reason for any new full-frame entrant to prefer Sony over Nikon or Canon.

At the same time, the Alpha 77 – so close a sister to the 99 that it shares exactly the same EVF and the same file size, with identifiable advantages in some respects – has been selling for £819 body only in the UK when the 99 in the same store was priced at £2299. That’s 64% less, 36% of the price or just over a third. You could almost buy three A77s for one A99. And it even has that very useful built-in flash.

a77-a99-topaligned

You may pause to work out which of these, photographed to exactly the same scale (one shot) and then moved so that their focal plane markings coincide horizontally, is the 99 and which the 77. The 99 is actually bigger but looks smaller.

a77-a99-sideheight

This will give you a better idea of the height of the A99, and also the improved eyepiece which puts your eye further away from the camera screen or back than the A77.

Assault and battery

In fact, there’s a hidden penalty in addition to the high price of the A99. The Nikon D600 with its single 1900mAh battery as supplied will keep on shooting into four figures where the A99 with GPS enabled manages a couple of hundred on a good day with the wind behind it from 1650mAh. Officially it does over 400 without GPS. That was not my experience, any more than it has been with the Alpha 77.

Perhaps this is because of the odd conditions Sony uses to measure battery life – only using a MemoryStick PRO Duo card not SD, no card in slot 2, ambient temperature 25°C, shooting Fine quality JPEG only, shooting one frame every 30 seconds and turning the camera on and off every ten shots, and not having GPS active. Needless to say I shoot raw, back up to a second card with JPEG, and have GPS active. That’s why I bought the camera…

d600-a99fronttop

The economical Nikon D600 is a direct competitor, despite rabid claims on internet that the 99 is ‘professional’ and the 600 is ‘consumer’. They are both semi-pro models but the 99 probably has a better shutter mechanism and a higher precision body. The Nikon has better image quality and battery life. Both have similar dual card slots, manual adjustment of audio input for video recording, wireless flash options, grip and so on.

d600-a99rear

GPS eats batteries. We’ve got a GPS module for the D600 which runs off the camera’s power, but so far have not had it switched on permanently for a week. Maybe it will reduce the D600 to the same ‘battery every day or two’ as the A99. The Canon 6D is the only other DSLR made with built-in GPS. Unlike the A99, the 6D does not turn off its GPS when you turn the camera off. Result? The 6D drains a battery in four days, flat – dead flat 0% – if you just switch the camera off and leave it in your bag with the GPS symbol showing. You have to go into a menu and turn off Enable. At least the A99 does not draw on its battery at all when switched off, regardless of settings.

d600-eos6d

The EOS 6D compared with the D600 – it’s smaller, lighter, and built to a far more consumer-level standard with minimal controls. But like the 99, the 6D has GPS on board, and as a ‘first’ in this field it includes WiFi, which is not just file transfer. We used a free iPhone app to view, focus, adjust settings and shoot remotely and wirelessly with the 6D (EOS Remote). This is bound to win substantial sales.

You need deep pockets in two senses for two extra Sony batteries (£136) or the add-on vertical grip at £299 plus two batteries (not included). The first option will keep you going without GPS about as long as the Nikon on one charge. If you are travelling and using GPS, be prepared to change and charge one battery daily.

Another reason for this short battery life is the electronic viewfinder. Unlike any optical prism finder, it uses as much power as shooting video. Even if you turn the camera off every time it leaves your eye, the typical length of time needed to compose and follow subjects will add up. I do not have review enabled, and I rarely ‘chimp’ because one big plus side of the Alpha 99 – as you will learn – is the near 100 per cent success rate achieved by its metering and focus. If you use the rear screen for composition instead of the eye-level finder, you can extend battery life by 16%.

Sony must be commended for sticking to the same battery format used by all larger body models from the Alpha 700 onwards. I do have half a dozen spares but of course, many are now getting old and barely manage 150 shots in the 99. What Sony must do is to take the advances made in lith-ion production and create a higher capacity NP-FM500H. Third party makers have been able to boost their clone batteries to 2000mAh (I’ve bought two and they are non-compliant with the chargers and clearly don’t deliver what they claim…). Sony’s battery should match Nikon’s similar size at 1900mAh, even if the EVFs now standard across the Sony range will always eat twice as much power as a regular DSLR.

The EVF dividend

Would-be Alpha system professionals and advanced amateur users face a future of electronic viewfinders. The good news is that at photokina 2012 Epson showed a prototype with twice the resolution of the current 2.3 million pixel ceiling, and in five years most current complainers will accept that an EVF can be as accurate as any true groundglass screen ever was.

We tend to forget that after autofocus arrived focusing screens lost their visible granular or laser-cut structures unless you deliberately specified a type intended for manual focusing. Plain old groundglass has a ‘dot’ all of its own because it does break the image up. Minolta’s Acute Matte screen was like a superfine microprism field. The new Epson developments come so close to being as fine as this kind of screen, visually, that you might be able to fool someone into believing it was not an electronic finder.

While the A99 finder is excellent, it falls a touch short of this. It is absolutely identical to the Alpha 77 in every parameter including virtual window size (the magnification figure given by Sony of 0.71X compared to the A77 1.09X is all down to using a 50mm lens on both for measurement). Eyepoint is identical despite the slightly different overall design of the eyepieces and the size of the rubber surround. If there’s any improvement, it lies in the illumination range and contrast control of the OLED unit which has been given one additional user control, colour temperature. You can make the finder warmer or cooler in colour independent of any picture style or WB adjustment.

This is a good example of where the EVF’s great clarity in low light pays off – an ISO 3200 image taken hand-held where a tripod was not appropriate, using the Sigma 12-24mm which has fairly strong vignetting. To see and align the geometry of the shot (bottom cropped off) was much easier on the A99 than it would have been on an OVF camera. Click the image for a full size file.

In full sun, the finder appears very dim compared to any good optical finder. In overcast light, it’s a good match. As the light fails or you move indoors, the EVF shows substantial benefits over optical systems. After dark, it can make accurate composition easy instead of almost impossible.

Here, the A99 has the edge over the A77, NEX-7 and all predecessors even including the NEX-5n and presumably the 6 which I haven’t tried. The larger sensor’s better high ISO performance together with its pixel count keep the coloured noise at bay for another stop or two lower light levels. This coincides with an important transition. The kind of indoor artificial light level where the A99 remains very clean using an f/2.8 lens is typical domestic light – brighter than restaurants, not as bright as stores and malls.

Anyone using the A77 will confirm that the 16-50mm f/2.8 lens brought a real benefit in this sort of lighting despite its other failings, by improving the finder experience. Combine the A99 with a good fast lens like the 50mm f/1.4 and you get a relatively natural view of the world after dark.

The A99 returns the auto eye start sensor, which switches between rear screen and EVF if you have that function enabled, to below the ocular instead of above it as on the A77. This makes viewfinder attachments work without blackout glitches, including Sony’s 1.15X eyepiece magnifier, which for me enables a full view of the screen and a truly impressive finder size.

Ergonomics and control

One of the benefits of the EVF is that you don’t need to use the rear screen at all. The Quick Navi interface developed more or less from A700/900 Quick Navi has to cope with a bewildering number of pictograms and readouts, ranging from a full histogram to digital spirit level, and a complex AF setup. With the help of carefully repositioned buttons, it succeeds. I’d say that the A99 has the best user interface I’ve seen on an Alpha since the 900. The top LCD display panel is much richer than the basic one of the 900, and does not deserve some of the criticism levelled at it for duplicating stuff you can see on the rear screen. I work with the rear screen permanently turned to face the body, unless I am actually employing it for composition or image review. The top LCD provides vital at a glance info about manual or metered exposure settings, ISO, state of ± override, battery power, drive mode, WB, file type and image remaining count.

It is, however, blank when the camera is asleep. Later in this review I’ll be comparing the A99 with the Nikon D600, which we now also own and use alongside it. Nikon’s top LCD shows some basic info (shots remaining) all the time. But it’s interesting to note that Sony gives you the correct information when Nikon does not! Both cameras have two card slots. You can set both of them to work in overflow mode, fill one card, then the next. Nikon shows you only the shots remaining on the card in use. Sony shows you the total. The Canon 6D LCD also goes blank when the camera is turned off, except for showing a GPS symbol to warn you about leaving this battery-eating function Enabled.

a99-modedial

The Mode dial has three memory positions, a Tele 10fps (1.5X crop) position, panoramic, Scene selection, Intelligent Auto, PASM and a separate Movie position. You can opt to lock the Movie button out except when the dial is set to this.

Another similarity is the mode dial, locking on all three cameras. Here, Sony goes for a more purposeful central locking action making it a little harder to adjust the dial. They also cram more on to the dial, including the invaluable feature of Memory 1 2 3 positions (as on the 900). There’s a special movie mode which not only prevents accidental movie shooting, but when used allows shutter, aperture and ISO to be set. The range for this is exceptional, you can film at 1/8,000th shutter speed if you really want to break rules.

a99-mainbuttons

The right hand buttons include Fn, your access to Quick Navi on the screen or in the EVF. There is a new AF Range button which I simply don’t seem to need – I wish this could be customised to become a SteadyShot On/Off button, something I need to do far more often when working with a tripod.

The A99 has a total of 19 operating buttons, some of which have only a single use such as LCD illumination or Playback. The manual identifies 18 primary default functions plus the Silent Controller, of which more later. One button, Fn or Function, accesses Quick Navi and its 23 adjustable settings many of which have multiple choices. Fn can direct access 18 functions outside Quick Navi.

a99-custombutton

Here is where the Custom function button has been moved to – under your left index finger, where the flash pop-up button used to be. Slightly pointless wording on the bright orange anodised lens mount bezel lets you know this camera is not actually aimed at working professionals.

The Menu button accesses six main menu tabs. Still Shooting has four menus covering a total of 20 parameters. Movie Setting has two menus and eleven adjustments. The Custom menu has a huge depth, with six menus covering 33 functions some of which in themselves cover other buttons – five of the dedicated buttons on the body can be assigned any one of 35 functions or behaviours, including their native marked use. The Playback menu has two tabs, with ten parameters. The Memory Card Tool menu also has two tabs and nine functions, needed because you can choose where and how to save raw and JPEG images and movies.

Only the Clock Setup menu remains its usual two-entry basic form. The main Setup menu has four tabs covering 24 settings or actions. If you want to try adding all this lot up, before even investigating the complexity of settings within some aspects like Picture Style, you’ll realise there are thousands of different exact ways in which an Alpha 99 can be configured.

Canon has always had a secret weapon whenever anyone failed to get the expected good results from their camera – ‘ah, you didn’t set it up correctly…’. Now Sony has the same rather weak excuse. Not setting the camera up at all should result in successful images. No buyer should experience Default Setting shortcomings out the box. Setting it up expertly should lead to wonderful, perfectly tuned, almost-impossible-to-get-easily images.

And, I am glad to say, if you get an Alpha 99 out of the box and never touch a single one of these adjustments it is more than likely you will get perfect images. That is because unlike most DSLRs, the Alpha 99 actually works like your eye. It focuses and exposes as effortlessly as you do and you can see far more clearly, through the EVF, what is happening to exposure and focus as you prepare to shoot.

The EVF looks great in dark conditions – no coloured noise like the A55 and A77 generations, as the sensor is so noise-free. This is an in-camera ISO 1600 JPEG, click to go to the original full size file. It’s not bad at all.

Real-world performance

As I’ve said, we have been using the Alpha 99, Nikon D600 and Canon 6D side by side before I started writing this review. I did not have the 6D present when making colour-checker tests on the A99, A900 and D600.

Shirley has used Minolta/Sony since 1980, when we first took over the Minolta Club. Before that she used Praktica (as many students did), Pentax and then Olympus. The OM system was her preferred camera for its size and weight, and the exceptional viewfinder.

Well, after over 30 years using Minolta then Alpha, she’s finally departed from the system because of the change to EVF. Unlike me, she finds EVF view uncomfortable. The Alpha 700 was a great camera but sensor technology moves on, and she happens to be a regular abuser of long focal lengths and low light. The A580 has proved good but the very small optical finder has been an issue from the start. The Nikon D600 with 28-300mm VR lens may not be her ultimate ideal camera – we’re planning to try the Pentax K5IIs with 18-250mm, as that has a very good large optical prism finder. But Sony is now out of the picture and we suspect that she’s not alone. However good EVF technology becomes, some users will never feel comfortable with it.

One reason is the need for perfect accuracy in adjusting the dioptre. Optical finder cameras have a certain latitude, always best with exact adjustment, but remaining sharp over a small range of error. The A99 EVF does not have any latitude. The dioptre is set in clicks, and one click either way puts the OLED display visibly out of focus. If your eyesight changes a lot or you move between spectacles and the naked eye frequently, you will need to make constant adjustments to the dioptre.

The first thing we noticed when reviewing a few hundred raw files taken in  similar conditions with the two cameras is that Nikon’s auto-ISO implementation on the D600 behaves very differently from that on the A99. The Sony metering, especially in Program mode with Auto ISO and wide potential range set, prefers the lowest ISO acceptable for the focal length in use and the available light. Nikon’s system will select higher ISO settings, and smaller lens apertures, very readily.

The Nikon meter is also calibrated out of the box to be generous in exposure, possible because the separate metering system is more influenced by light sources or high contrast and prone to big shifts in auto exposure with minor adustments to composition. At any given ISO, the D600 was often giving double the actual exposure – half of this doubling due to overexposing a bit, half of it due to Nikon’s different calibration of ISO.

dynamicrange-a99

Not only does the A99 have strikingly accurate auto exposure when confronted with very difficult conditions (Sigma 12-24mm shot above covering from deep shade to a white waterfall in sun), it also has 14-bit raw files with generous shadow detail and highlight recovery headroom. Click image to open a larger (not 100%) view.

dynamicrange-histogram

Here is the histogram and totally neutral adjustment set shown in Adobe Camera Raw before fine tuning the shot above to improve the brightness and clarity of the shaded areas. Note the excellent shape of the histo without top or tail clipping.

The A99 meters exposure off the actual shooting sensor, using a 1200-zone colour sensitive matrix and intelligent bias towards single or multiple active AF points. In practice, it proved almost bullet-proof. Anyone who can remember the consistent off-sensor exposure of the old Konica Minolta A2 will appreciate the new Sony EVF and NEX models alike. They simply meter with far better consistency than any camera which uses a separate metering sensor. Of course this can also be said of Olympus, Panasonic and all mirrorless cameras. But they don’t all have the amazing 14-bit raw files and 12 EV normal ISO step dynamic range of the Alpha 99.

When we processed the raw files, Nikon’s ISO 6400 was less noisy than Sony’s despite the very similar (not identical) Sony manuactured 24 megapixel FF sensors. The difference is a little more than we would expect from the 2/3rds EV light loss caused by the trans-flective SLT mirror. The remaining difference seems to be down to Nikon treating a gain which Sony would call ISO 4000 as one labelled 6400, but giving exactly the same exposure Sony would give at 4000. This is not very accurate, as depending on the actual ISO setting the discrepancy ranged from less than 1/3rd of a stop to around 2/3rds, but seems to increase at higher ISO settings. Thus Sony has an apparently clear disadvantage at 6400 or 12,800, but the camera is actually giving half the exposure.

Here are some small samples which, when clicked on, will lead you to our full size set of JPEGs which can be pretty large. These files compare the A99, A77, A900 and D600 at two ISO settings only – 100 and 6400. All are auto exposed under identical conditions using matrix metering, so the cameras have been allowed to give whatever exposure and apparent ISO they would do in comparison. All have been processed using identical settings with Adobe Camera Raw 7.3 – Camera Standard profile (Sony Alpha 900 profile for A900), Linear, default sharpening 25/1/25/0 and no noise reduction at all.

A99 at 100

A99 at 6400

A900 at 100

A900 at 6400

D600 at 100

D600 at 6400

A77 at 100

A77 at 6400

anglescreen-85mm-100th6p3-640

The Minolta 24-85mm at 85mm and f/6.3, 1/100th at ISO 640. A perfectly clean file, critically sharp though only one third of a stop down from wide open. Click image to view a larger (not 100%) version. The quiet shutter and articulating live view screen enabled this natural study.

Although the Nikon lens used was a consumer grade optic the £800 28-300mm VR, when it managed not to misfocus or produce a strange reverse-VR blurring due to Shirley’s initial failure to delay shooting by a tiny amount to allow the lens to settle, often produced slightly sharper results than the 1999 Minolta 24-85mm I chose to use on the A99. Subsequent tests show that the Nikon sensor seems to have a slight fine detail advantage over the Sony at ISO settings around 200-800 with Adobe Camera Raw 7.3. While Canon’s 20 megapixel 6D sensor has a similar high ISO performance, detail sharpness was generally similar to the A99 rather than the D600. Cumulative issues with AF performance, lens field flatness and sensor planarity also led to some Canon images having zones of unexpected defocusing. The A99 has no such problems and I believe it has the same very high standards of sensor flatness and body precision as the A900.

Comparing the A99 with the A900, there is a clear one stop gain in ISO related performance above 1600. But at 100 to 400, the A900 from raw has a kind of fluid quality – the pixels seem to merge and give a luminous yet crisp image. The A99 never really produces this special quality at low ISO, though at the expanded 50 setting it’s impressive. Perhaps there’s an element of illusion in this, that the exceptional optical image through the A900 finder conditions me to see the final picture differently.

The A99 has the same generous 30-lens AF Micro Adjustment calibration as the A77, though I found no need to calibrate except a very small adjustment of -2 for my 28-75mm f/2.8 SAM. I’ve not yet used every lens I own. It also corrects geometry and CA in-camera unlike the A900, for JPEGs. One benefit over the Nikon D600 which does the same is that the EVF shows the true geometry and composition after the corrections are applied. Optical finders can’t do that. This does impose a small extra load on processing and if you are after the fastest overall response should be turned off.

The A99 has one of the best 1080/50(60)p HD video functions on the market. For the bitrate involved, it captures detail three times as good as you would expect. It tends towards a soft compression like the Canon 5D MkII, not a highly detailed frame level image like Nikon’s video. You can stream pure HD video to external recorders without compression, monitor live sound with headphones including provision for lip-sync or echoless real time latency, control the stereo mic/line input with manual gain, and use the Silent Controller during filming for various functions.

silentcontroller-a99

The Silent Controller is a free rotating dial with a push button in the centre allowing you to set its function before each use if you want. The default use is AF-C, AF-S, AF-A, MF, AF-D and there are no clicks. It is silent, for use during movie shooting to change exposure or audio volume (etc).

This controller is placed where the former C/A/S/M focus mode switch was on the 900. It has a central button you can press to reassign a function to it before use. The external knurled collar is turned with one finger, without click stops. By default it changes focus mode. A typical assignment for this during video would be audio volume.

The 99 can auto-crop to APS-C 10 megapixel files when DT lenses are fitted, or if this is set by menu (needed for non-Sony lenses like Sigma DC or Tamron DiII). It can do this for raw files, resulting in a smaller raw, for raw+JPEG, JPEG only and for video. The Smart Teleconverter works in JPEG-only or video modes, giving 1.4X or 2X (4.6 megapixel) stills. In conjunction with the rear controller you get a further continuous zoom range to 4X for movies (native resolution to 3X, interpolated between 3X and 4X, with a very smooth electronic zoom effect). The EVF remains pixel-sharp at 1.4 or 1.5X, but anything more and you can see that the sensor image is being enlarged and is softer.

The 1.5X crop is also enabled if you select the 8fps or 10fps higher speed continuous mode, using the mode dial, rather than the 6fps full resolution mode using Drive settings. The actual sequence burst rates are effectively identical to the A77 and not any better in practical terms than the 4-year-old A900, which unlike the 99 can shoot 5fps Fine JPEGs without a break until the card is full or the sensor overheats. The 99 can only manage 18 frames before slowing. The use of a single Bionz processor with SD storage in the A77 and 99 seems to have been a backwards step, the dual processor of the A900 was better able to sustain a data flow to the fast UDMA CF cards accepted by that camera.

a99-carddoor

The dual card slots – SD and MS Pro Duo upper, SD only lower. The lip surrounding the card slot area is an effective waterproofing channel and the metal spring plate gives the card door a firm, unstressed action.

The 99 does away with CF despite its 900-like body size. Instead, a dual SD drive very similar to that in the Nikon D600 is fitted. Even the spacing of the two slots, and the way the upper card sticks out a little more than the lower, is the same. But the Sony has the ability to accept Memory Stick PRO Duo cards in Slot 1 as well as SD. I find this convenient, as I use a classic Dynax camera strap with a card wallet fixed to it. This can hold spare MS Pro Duo cards, and by chance, the slots for these cards also fit the plastic cover for the new hot shoe exactly – there’s nowhere else to put it, and it matters. The latest MS Pro Duo HX cards offer maximum performance, better than SD UHS-1.

But in the end, despite all its problems, the Alpha 99 simply turns in a better success rate on my sort of subjects – landscapes, street scenes, people, events – than its rivals. The metering is more accurate, the AF is either as good or better, the image quality at high ISOs is a touch lower, the GPS works well, and of course the sensor-based stabilisation is a total winner. Sigma sent a 35mm f/1.4 in Canon fit to test. This lens is quite incredible, and transforms the Sigma offering. It’s so sharp even wide open that the smallest degree of camera shake makes a shot look inferior. I forgot that with the A99, there’s hardly any situation I can not tackle hand held and get pixel-sharp results. I used speeds like the 1/30th or 1/60th on the Canon 6D and lost the exquisite jewel-like edge sharpness of the Sigma. I’m just so used to getting every single shot usable and not thinking about whether a lens is stabilised or not.

This scene didn’t work well with the un-stabilised Canon 6D – I was too cold, and hanging on to a support with one hand while standing half way up a steep muddy slope, with two cameras. SteadyShot worked well on the A99. Click the image for a full size link. ISO 1600.

The new shoe

The new Sony Multi Function Accessory Shoe looks a bit like a rather crude old single contact hot shoe, and its central contact does indeed work to sync with any plain ISO unit. It can be used with Skyport and PocketWizard or generic flash wireless triggers, and I’ve also checked it with Wein infra-red. The three holes round the main contact are locking-pin holes, so beware third party generic adaptor makers. This is a good candidate for getting adaptors stuck.

alpha99-shoe

Under the leading edge of the ‘old’ shoe there is a recess, a horizontal slot not unlike the accessory slot fitted to the first generation NEX cameras. Its gold plated contact strips are very fine, and if this slot was left exposed by failing to replace the cover, it’s easy to see that dirt of moisture could get in. Unlike the NEX slot, there is no built-in spring loaded cover to shield it.

This interface provides the flash connection – duplicating the entire contact set for the iISO or Minolta i-shoe known as the Auto Lock Accessory Shoe by Sony, which is now gone. A small adaptor ADP-MAA is provided with the camera to convert from the new ‘old’ shoe to the Minolta standard. It is as slim and firmly fitting as they can make it, but still felt a little vulnerable with an HVL-F58AM mounted on top, especially when the camera was held vertically. A new flash unit, the HVL-F60AM, has been released for the A99 and in line with current trends it incorporates an LED video/modeling light. This aims forward to double as an AF illuminator, and can not be bounced.

flashadaptor-base

The adaptor ADP-MAA shown with its connectors and the small spring loaded pins and ‘ball bearing’ centre contact to fit the new Multi Function Accessory Shoe.

Audio input is also handled by the shoe for microphone units compatible with the Cyber-Shot/HandyCam/NEX models using the new shoe. Since this shoe also appears on the NEX-6 and the DSC RX1 where it is the only way to input audio, there is some hope for a line/mic module. It is not needed by the A99 as this has a 3.5mm phantom powered stereo jack input, under one cover with a similar headphone output. Both input and output volume levels can be controlled on screen.

alpha99interfaces

This change means that there are now three generations of hot shoe in the Alpha system, and five different shoe or accessory mounts in the Sony still camera systems of the last few years – there’s the Sony CyberShot shoe in two generations used by DSC F series and the R1, the inherited Minolta Auto Lock shoe, the NEX Smart Accessory Terminal and this new Multi Interface Shoe. To say this is unwelcome would be an understatement, but the shoe provides a long-term solution for future development and if you want to create a Christmas tree, it’s still backwardly compatible.

Its 24 contacts cover two different levels of power supply to accessories, audio in and out, flash or wireless flash control and connection, add-on GPS unit (the 99V includes an internal GPS, the plain 99 does not), add-on WiFi module, and EVF or HD monitor feed. We should expect to see a WiFi module and a monitor screen option, while the regular HDMI output can simultaneously send uncompressed video to a recorder. What we don’t know yet is whether the future WiFi module will be as clever as Canon’s built-in WiFi and do more than just send files from the camera. If it has an Android/iOS app for remote viewing and shooting it will be a winner.

The flash system remains with the original Minolta digital wireless TTL protocol as found from the HS(D) guns onwards. There is no built-in flash on the A99 and thus no built-in wireless control. The HVL-F20AM fold-down mini flash made for the A900 as a wireless trigger works perfectly on the 99 with the ADP-MAA but it’s no way as neat. The one benefit is that for direct use, it’s raised a little higher and casts less lens hood shadow while causing less risk of red-eye. We would guess that a new version will appear soon enough. I’ve tested it both directly and bounced, and as a wireless controller.

Flash exposure with the A99 has been exactly as expected – not a wildcard – but short of testing every flash in every configuration, I can’t guarantee against the kind of overexposure found in the A77. All I can say is that my tests, made within the expected range of units using appropriate ISO settings and apertures, have worked well. I do not use flash often outside the studio, and given the performance of the A99 at high ISO settings I doubt I will ever want to.

Any reverse adaptor for the shoe – to allow the HVL-F60AM to be used on Auto Lock shoe cameras – will not of course provide functions other than flash. The Auto Lock shoe doesn’t have any of the other contacts.

My reservations about the Multi Interface Shoe are only that its connector strip looks delicate and each contact has a very small physical contact area. Even the Auto Lock shoe has had its problems with occasional contact failure due to wear and tear or foreign matter.

a99-connectors

There is, of course, also a studio flash PC sync cord connector, threaded, under the same cover as the DC Power Supply connector. Below these is the Remote Cord connector, and between them, a GPS symbol marked next to the loudspeaker. Sony does not give advice which way up to hold the the camera for the best GPS reception. With the Canon 6D, lying on its back face up is the recommended position.

The focus system

Because of the Smart Teleconverter, APS-C auto crop and video crop/zoom functions the A99 needs an AF module perfectly suited to the APS-C or smaller areas. It gets exactly that – the same module as the A77 uses, and that one starts off with leeway to work in Smart Teleconverter mode.

It’s a rather staggeringly tiny 6 x 12mm AF array, one-ninth of the frame area. Imagine the frame divided into thirds both ways and the entire 19-point, 11-cross point phase detect array fits within that modest central rectangle, but forms more of a horizontal ellipse shape within it. No AF points reach into the corners of that central patch.

The manual is deceptive because it frequently shows the AF area and points out of true scale to the overall frame.

a77-AFarea-ona700

This is why you come to photoclubalpha – we do the stuff the others don’t notice! Above, though rather crudely taken due to needing to hold an A55 with 30mm macro up to the eyepiece of an A700 aimed at the rear screen of the A77, is the actual AF module of the 77 (faint squares) overlaid on the AF markings of the A700 finder. This may be out by enough to make the overall AF zones similar , but it looks to me as if the A77 doesn’t quite cover the same extent as the A700, even after allowing for the 96% A700 finder view.

a99-AFarea-ona700

This is the same technique applied to showing the AF zone of the A99. As you can see, it’s the same module as the A77, floating in the middle of full frame. It doesn’t come anywhere near to the extent of the old A700 module, or the A77 in its cropped format frame. It does not even reach the ‘rule of thirds’ favoured points for composition. Coindidentally, the Phase Detect AF-D zone with its 102 tiny sensor spots occupies almost exactly the same area as the square formed by the A700’s top and  bottom horizontal line sensors and triple vertical groups.

sonyafrepresentation

Here is how Sony generally represents the AF zone within manuals. This is not a graphic dealing with AF, and there is no need to show the AF zone larger than it actually is relative to the rest of the display. From the A99 manual.

Sony may have saved some money by using exactly the same module as the A77 but it’s just not adequate. You can compose shots where not a single part of the subject you want to have in focus touches an AF point, and moving subjects can move beyond the active zone all too easily. What was needed was twice the AF area – 1.4X the linear dimensions at least – even if that meant adding further non-cross points.

This module works with all Alpha lenses, from the earliest Minolta screw drive to the latest SSM and SAM. It works down the EV-1 (minus one), the same as Nikon’s 39-point D600 module and four times less sensitive than Pentax’s latest SAFOX design or Canon’s equally tiny central AF cluster in the 6D. It’s still better than AF used to be considering its ability to work optimally with relatively small apertures.

The marked AF-D area is a larger 12 x 12mm square, and when one of the compatible lenses is used and the appropriate AF-D mode invoked with subject tracking, a square array of 102 on-sensor PDAF focus assist points becomes active. I’ve described the result as a fireworks display, though that depends on the lens and subject. Groups of these points can light up, alongside the main focus points, in brief recognition of the subject.

As to whether it works, I can’t say. It turns on and become visible. Does it make any difference? I use both incompatible and compatible lenses. I can’t say that I have been able to spot any real difference in performance, certainly nothing I can observe or measure. All I see is the points light up after the focus has been acquired; they seem often enough just to confirm what area surrounding the chosen focus point is also within depth of field at focusing aperture.

300mm-500f9-iso800-APSC

To get this shot, the surfer had to be kept within the AF area of the A99. I was using a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Apo Macro DG lens (which has replaced my Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 SSM G – reasons of superior sharpness, light weight, size and close focusing prevailed over the superior colour rendering and bokeh of the big G lens). Click picture for a larger, but not 100%, size.

surferfullframe300mm500thf9iso800

Here’s the full frame, 300mm, 1/500th at f/9, ISO 800. You can see I was keeping the central AF point on target because in this case, there was going to be plenty of spare megapixel estate to crop away. I took 115 shots of surfers, mostly single frames but some short maximum speed bursts between 2 and 5 frames, in nine minutes. Not one is out of focus even when the surfers came in closer to the camera at speed. But… they are all within that small one-ninth area of the frame which features the AF grid.

This 102-point zone is also too small, and the wrong shape. It’s a cut-cornered square. I am shooting 2:3 or 16:9 ratio stills or movies. I am not shooting square images. There is a reason, and it is also the reason more lenses do not work with this on-sensor phase detect focus assist. The pixel pairs on the sensor with their differentially angled microlenses use the image forming ray cone in a specific way to detect front or back focused phase shift. To do so, they demand a specific exit pupil geometry and need to be placed relatively close to the lens axis. This on-sensor array can not be extended to cover the entire sensor, or even to extend to a echo the image format more accurately.

In theory, on-sensor PDAF should be extremely accurate, and should be able to work with contrast detection (as it does on other sensors using this technology). But on the A99, they don’t have that function. You can not opt for hybrid contrast detection with on-sensor PDAF; the system is designed to augment the SLT-fed main PDAF module only.

I’ve already observed that the perceived maximum resolution (microcontrast and detail sharpness) of the A99 does seem to be lower than the D600, despite Sony’s zonally graded low-pass filter which I can confirm does improve the performance to the edges and corners for wider angle lenses. The on-sensor PDAF zone is sufficiently populated and large to have some effect.

In case you think I’m talking up Nikon’s AF module over Sony, don’t… the D600 certainly did not focus any more accurately, quickly or reliably than the A99. Both AF modules are small in coverage, and both cameras do have an APS-C crop function including raw file saving and faster burst capture. The thinking has been alike. Ditto for the Canon 6D. That’s got a pitiful APS-C area module with only 11 AF points, ten of them plain old linear f/5.6 the centre one a mere f/5.6 cross with vertical linear f/2.8 (slightly inferior to the Alpha 700 of 2007 in all respects except low-light sensitivity). Canon doesn’t even have the excuse of APS-C or 2X capture modes, you can’t fit any Canon APS-C (EF-S) lens to the body let alone get the optional crop functions enjoyed by the D600 and A99.

So, here’s a new bunch of full-frame choices, and all three turn out to have small-area AF modules. It is Hobson’s Choice.

The A99 can never be rescued from its tiny principal AF zone by firmware updates and owners will just have to live with it. Things could have been designed differently; they were not. The same module is just about right in the A77. It’s lost in the big image of the A99.

Shutter response

One of the more surprising things about comparing the humble Nikon D600/Canon 6D with the advanced Sony A99 is the sound and feel of the shutter action. Both rivals have a low 1/4,000th maximum speed shutter, but are still capable of flash sync similar to the A99 (1/200th for Canon, 1/250th for Nikon, 1/250th for A99) which means curtain travel speed is similar and they simply chose not to permit a narrow enough slot to achieve 1/8,000th.

The D600 with its complete mirror up and down, twin shutter blind and recock action feels and sounds sweeter than the A99 which has no mirror to move and no first shutter blind. In fact, it’s louder and the dB peak for a very brief spike is about twice the volume of the A99 or the A77. But some recording with sound analysis reveals that the A99 sounds ‘louder’ because the actual duration of the sound is almost twice as long, and divided into two distinct clunks.

d600-a77-a99-200th

The D600, like the A77, has a normal single-shot shutter sound of around one sixth of a second, as you would expect from cameras which can achieve 6fps or something close. The Alpha 99 has double that. I timed it at over 300ms, and if first curtain mechanical mode was used, well over 400ms.

It took me a few days and some digging to find out that the 14-bit readout on the A99 only applies one shooting mode – single shot. Any other mode you select, including Lo 2.5fps continuous and all multishot or JPEG only modes, uses 12-bit readout from the sensor. This was already documented in the literature about the A99, but what Sony omit to say is that the 14-bit mode causes a noticeable pause between the shot being captured and the restoration of EVF viewing. This pause is around 1/10th of a second longer in single shot mode than the blackout which happens during 2.5fps or the first frame of any faster sequence, and totals 200ms or 1/5th of a second.

single-versus-lo

single versus lo

Above is an .mp3 link of single frame 14-bit capture compared to 12-bit capture in a Lo sequence setting. The green rectangle on the graphic indicates the extra time used for 14-bit processing; the overall time of the longest sound is over 400 milliseconds – nearly half a second is a fairly long duration for the audible cycle of any modern camera’s shutter actuation.

Thanks to the detailed analysis of audio recording using Amadeus Pro, followed by frame by frame time analysis of an iMac movie clip showing the actual LCD screen blackout period, I have been able to see this ‘dead period’ of blackout and image processing is longer than the entire shutter action of the A77 or D600; indeed, the shutter actions of the A99 surround this hiatus. The card writing light comes on a millisecond or two after the live view blacks out. The action of the shutter curtain being recocked, which accounts for a substantial part of the overall shutter noise, only happens at the end of the 1/5th second pause.

Short of a firmware upgrade, there’s nothing you can do about the extremely slow single-shot shutter cycle or the interrupted finder view if you want the extra quality which comes from 14-bit raw capture. Nikon offer you a choice of 12 or 14 bit, compressed or uncompressed raws. Sony does not offer a choice and makes the bit depth specific to the way you shoot. There is no doubt at all that both raws in single-shot mode, and Extra Fine Quality JPEGs created in this mode, show less noise when adjusted to an extreme. 12-bit capture is fine for lower ISOs, in good light, with correct exposure.

a99-14bitprocessing

The 14-bit raw file has great flexibility for shadow and highlight adjustment from raw without losing colour values or subtle tones. I’d rate it as one of the best raw file formats I have worked with, at normal (100-800) ISO settings. No local dodging has been used above to enhance the backlit scene – just what amount to curve adjustments.

The 3fps Lo motordrive setting was easy to use for single frames, with a light touch. This caused half the finder blackout duration and no more than a 290ms total sound envelope (including all reverberation – the main sound is not unlike the 180ms of the D600 or A77). It didn’t matter what file size and type I recorded or what card was used. This setting always produced the shutter cycle, and sound, I would have expected the A99 to have.

Having observed the way the camera works, I’m afraid I am now rather too aware of it. It makes me appreciate the Alpha 77’s much faster, sweeter action and even consider the A900’s noisy clack with affection. One effect of the longer shutter cycle is to make the relatively quiet sound – 4dB quieter at peak than the Nikon D600 which also has a higher and more intrusive pitch – seem ‘louder’ than it actually is.

What is interesting to me is just how few users, when I asked for information or tests of their own cameras, were really able to hear the differences or see the blackout period. I can thank Gary Friedman for being able to confirm my findings – he could understand exactly what I was looking for. And thanks to several posters on Dyxum forums, whose concerns were with the image quality of 14-bit versus 12-bit, for providing the information I need to put the facts together and realise that no amount of adjusting settings was ever going to make the A99 share the brief blackout and sweet shutter sound of the 12-bit A77.

Gary uses wireless flash a lot. I don’t generally use flash at all except in the studio. Gary has observed delay in wireless flash triggering which is just as long as the entire shutter cycle, and made a great short video which explains this problem:

http://youtu.be/eHrBcT51oE8

I’m not sure if this is a definitive test – there are other trigger flashes which can be used and I’d like to see the times from the HVL-F60AM, F58AM, F42AM and so on. But it indicates that it’s not just me who does not use wireless flash. Nor do Sony’s systems designers and technical team!

The LV dilemma

Sony’s camera line is now totally committed to using the sensor as the viewfinder. This means that whatever performance they can pull from that sensor, it will always be a quantum drop lower than the same sensor used in an optical viewfinder camera. The level of read noise is heavily influenced by the sensor temperature, and continuous live view makes the sensor heat up.

Sorry, I can’t measure it. No doubt someone equipped with the right tools could measure the temperature of the silicon after 15 seconds, a minute, ten minutes or any other period and also allow for ambient conditions. Sony’s handbook reveals that most performance figures and presumably most pre-production tests assume an ambient temperature of 25°C. By my standards, that’s extremely warm, even as an indoor temperature.

There are warnings that the camera may shut down if video or continuous shooting result in an internal overheat. I’m just not going to be testing the A99 to that degree. The best I could do was to set it to ISO 6400 and the highest video bitrate, and leave the camera running in low light, to ensure the highest gain levels.

I’m fairly sure all of the Nikon D600 noise level advantage can be put down to not using full-time live view, and the effect of the SLT mirror. The Sony sensor is almost certainly just as good overall, give or take whatever effect the phase detection pixels may have.

a99-base

Battery – left hand as seen (right hand grip). To the other end, a narrow covered port allows connection of a vertical grip without cannibalising the battery already fitted. The resulting three-battery configuration is the only way to get real stamina for a busy day’s uninterrupted shoot, especially if you use GPS.

LV and EVF lead to very short battery life, and this may be exaggerated if you want to do very long exposures.

So there is the ultimate dilemma – the Alpha 99 is a master of all the functions and features you could want just so long as you want EVF with it. If you don’t, then the Nikon and Canon alternatives will not only be better choices for you, they will save you into the higher hundreds of pounds or into four figures in dollars.

My choice

The Alpha 99 is currently the full-frame camera I’m working with and will stick with until the next generation arrives.

I sold my Alpha 900 shortly after the Alpha 99 arrived. I regretted it straight away, but that is just down to an attachment after four years of familiarity, and a false reassurance that this is such a solid and simple camera it would have lasted me for life. I do not make videos often, but when I do in future I want full control over direct audio input as audio overdubbing from a separate recorder is something I have found very tricky to handle (at least in iMovie, which is what I use).

I didn’t sell my Alpha 77 despite the poor performance in low light, and the lack of the audio level control. It’s far too useful, having 24 megapixels in an APS-C crop, rather than the 11 produced by the A99 crop format. Also, the general colour and grading of video matches the A99 well enough for the 77 to be a second camera. After we bought the Nikon D600, I found the colour and contrast sufficiently different to mean mixing video from Alpha and Nikon was not an option. It also has manual audio input gain – but we can’t team them up. For much the same reasons I have kept my NEX-5n and my Alpha 55.

Could I work professionally with the Alpha 99? Yes. I’m confident it would not let me down in any situation I’m likely to encounter or set up – I do not shoot sports or hard news, events or conferences. Future professional use would be likely to be public relations, corporate brochure, annual report, advertising, industrial and environmental, executive portraiture, products, architectural, building works, stock travel and landscape. Frankly, anything I could once have shot on a Hasselblad can easily be tackled with an Alpha 99.

Despite this, I would be very happy if Sony revived the highest end optical prism DSLR in future. An Alpha 900 quality version of the D600 would have been perfect. And I do not think I am alone in showing some regret for the apparent end of the single-lens reflex Alpha.

– David Kilpatrick

Footnote: elsewhere, the usual comment has been made that I’m wrong to compare this with the 6D and D600 because the A99 is competing with the 5D MkIII and D800. We have a D800E and may acquire a second one. It’s not competing with that; the D800, and especially the 800E, appeal to a different market where using 36 megapixels counts more than several other factors. It is also not competing with the 5D MkIII, which is locked into a huge Canon professional userbase as the one undisputed mainstream body. Nikon has a fragmented position; the D600 isn’t on the right level, the D800 offers benefits many users do not need and loses advantages they want to keep, the D700 is low resolution, the D3s the same and the D3X is priced beyond its specification. Nikon professionals I know all say what they want is a D700 body (and shutter, etc) with a D600 sensor – they would then have a camera at precisely the same level as the 5D MkIII. They would have the one easy no-doubts choice to make the same way Canon users have.

Like it or not, the Alpha 99 is actually competing with the 6D and D600, and it does not matter to the market that some aspects of its construction and specification are closer to 5D MkIII ‘build’. Sony is doing something in enthusiast-level photography right now that it has done well in the past in television and audio, positioning its pricing as a premium consumer brand. The DSC-RX1 specification and pricing tells you everything you need to know about how Sony sees the market.

a99processor

 

This is why the A99 doesn’t even really compete with the older A900. Single Bionz processor (that word saying ‘Dual’ refers to the memory card slot) where the 900 had two – and 14-bit data to process. The SD cards, even Class 10 UHS-1, also represent a bottleneck in data transfer. Using the highest end MemoryStick PRO Duo overcomes this. Photographed on the Sony stand at photokina.

DxO Optics Pro support for Alpha 99

DxO Labs, announces the immediate availability DxO Optics Pro v8.1.1 for Mac and Windows, the latest version of its image processing software of reference for all serious photographers. This upgrade allows DxO Optics Pro 8 to support the Sony SLT-A99, the Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIs, and the Canon EOS M.

DxO Optics Pro v8.1.1 also benefits from the continuous addition of DxO Optics Modules. Nearly 300 new camera/lens combinations have been added to the library, thus providing support for additional Canon, Panasonic, Samyang and Sigma lenses for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, and Sony cameras.

Developed in the laboratory using an exclusive calibration process, DxO Optics Modules contain tens of thousands of data points about the intrinsic characteristics and flaws of each camera and lens. This database, unique in the entire world, allows DxO Optics Pro to automatically correct all the optical flaws in RAW and JPEG images – distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations, and lens softness – with an unrivaled level of quality.

Availability and special end-of-year discount

The Standard and Elite editions of DxO Optics Pro v8.1.1 for Mac and Windows are available in the DxO Labs online store (shop.dxo.com) and at photo resellers at a special discount price from now through December 25, 2012:

USD:

  • DxO Optics Pro 8 Standard Edition: $99 instead of $169
  • DxO Optics Pro 8 Elite Edition: $199 instead of $299

EUR:

  • DxO Optics Pro 8 Standard Edition: 99€ instead of 149€
  • DxO Optics Pro 8 Elite Edition: 199€ instead of 299€
  • (Suggested retail prices, including VAT)

GBP:

  • DxO Optics Pro 8 Standard Edition: £89 instead of £135
  • DxO Optics Pro 8 Elite Edition: £179 instead of £269
  • (Suggested retail prices, including VAT)

This upgrade is free for all owners of DxO Optics Pro 8, as well as for photographers who purchased a DxO Optics Pro 7 license on or after September 1, 2012. Other users can take advantage of a special discount on this upgrade through December 25, 2012, by going directly through their customer account.

A complete, fully-functional trial version of DxO Optics Pro 8, good for one month, is available on the DxO Labs website (http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/free_trial_version).

Sony links up with HP’s Snapfish

Unfortunately your editor really just wants to go and live somewhere else, preferably a different planet. ‘PlayMemories Home‘ was bad enough but now it’s linked to another truly naff name, HP’s Snapfish. At least they haven’t tied up to the website with the worst name in the world, SmugMug (why didn’t they call that Slightly Self Satisfied Idiot instead?).

Press release follows. Rant over (or not quite, see end).

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Sony has teamed up with Snapfish by HP to make online photo printing even easier for owners of Cyber-shot™, “α” A–mount and E-mount digital cameras and Handycam® camcorders.

The latest version of PlayMemories Home software now lets users* order great-looking prints from Snapfish, the online photo printing service from HP. With millions of users worldwide, Snapfish offers a wide range of high-quality personalised photo products – from individual prints and photo books to posters, mugs, greeting cards and more.

PlayMemories Home Version 2 will be available for free download for customers of new cameras and consumer camcorders from Sony and will allow you to upload images directly to Snapfish. Just click on the Snapfish icon: once you’ve registered for your free Snapfish account, it’s easy to upload selected images from PlayMemories Home for online printing and delivery to your home.

As an additional incentive for Sony camera owners, there’s a tempting offer to save 50% on your first photo book for newly-registered Snapfish users.

Included with all new digital cameras from Sony, PlayMemories Home software makes it easy to enjoy, share, manage, edit and print all those photo memories stored on your PC’s hard drive.

The latest version of PlayMemories Home PC software (Version 2) with Snapfish integration comes free of charge with all new digital cameras and consumer camcorders from Sony. Existing PlayMemories Home users can update to the latest version by visiting www.sony.net/pm

* Snapfish service is integrated with Sony PlayMemories Home Ver. 2 software in these countries: United States, Canada, China, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and Ireland.

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I just wish all this stuff would go away and we could have honourable, sensible names for reliable and excellent services instead of stuff made up to appeal to infants. Fortunately the Sony software is PC-only. They must think Mac users are grown up. But they are not bright enough to identify what platform visitors to the weblink above are using. Although there a popup listing the (Windows only) platform versions applicable, Mac users can happily click a download button and get a completely useless .EXE file delivered. Most download pages prevent this because they know there are as many inexperienced Mac users as there are any other platform. Ditto iOS and Android. – DK

 

 

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