Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body)

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I'll admit I haven't used this camera very much, but the time I have invested in using wasn't wasted a bit. Very positive upgrade from my faithful A100, this is a excellent camera. It's more complicated then the A100 but it was to be expected, and is worth the time to learn.
Whole heartedly recommend over the A500 series, which in my opinion was schlocky. Shame they discontinued this model, I think an A725 or A750 was in order.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

for personnal photos , simple of action , solid and impression of strength

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

This may be a "discontinued model", but what a great piece of photographic equipment. I only received my new A700 a couple of weeks ago and so far I am thrilled with the results. The buttons are all in the right place, the shutter is superb, handling excellant and the results fantastic. Only problem now is that my lenses are being shown up and I will have to upgrade those to. If you can get your hands on one of these cameras, buy it, it is great value for money.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I have only had the camera a couple of weeks and have made 555 pictures with it so far. I have been in a range of situations from night shots to bright outdoors. I upgraded from an A100, but I think the A100 did better in low light situations. I am impressed by the speed and forcusing of the camera. The outdoor shots were made at the Miami zoo and Viscaya so bright light. The color was very good, resolution in most shots excellent, but with some shots especially with the animals and their movement the clarity was not the spot on that I was looking for. With work and learning I hope I will imporve.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

Just received the A700 last week. I have had only a few occasions to use it. So far I love it. I just upgraded from the A100. I already notice the difference with the A100 high ISO noise. Very comfortable grip. So far I haven't found anything that I don't like.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I was using my a100 with the CZ 16-80 Lens to do Photo Shoots for A modeling agency, But bought the a700 as an upgrade to the a100. I had no real complaints with the a100 but the a700 is a 100% better in all ways.Not that the a100 dident take excellent pictures with the CZ 16-80 Lens its just that the a700 doses it all better. The a700 does everything I want it to. I just don't understand why people say they wish it had a live view or a video mode?
I think that with all the different cameras out there why would you buy the a700 if you are use to using a point & shoot camera and just want a simple SLR to take better pictures. The a700 does exzactly what it was intended to do, take perfect pictures. To sum it up the Camera for any amount of money is a great buy. For an APC sized format camera it rates #1 in my book. There are no Cons that I can think of but as other people say you have to upgrade to Firmware version 4.0. If you use a Carl Zeiss or G Lens from Sony I think anyone would be happy with the a700. If your an amateur Photographa looking for a point & shoot SLR there are a lot of other excellent sony cameras to choose from.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

It is certainly one of the best semi-pro camera market with a fast and accurate focus. Along with the famous Minolta lenses can take fantastic photos.
Easy to use and a good response at high ISOs.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I only wish I could give this camera 10 stars. For anyone who has used a film camera this camera is the answer. I hope it's replacement keeps up the utility. For me this camera is the pinnacle of the KM line. It's a real photographer's camera :)

I print 13" X 19" on an Epson 1900 with excellent results.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

This is a step up from my Sony DSLR A100. Focusing is faster and accurate. All my Minolta Maxxum lenses work well and provide superb images. A lot of buttons that at first seem intimidating, actually made navigating to various controls and settings faster. With firmware version 4, noise is noticeably less at any given ISO compared to my A100. If you've never used video, a swivel LCD, and live view, you won't miss these (none are present on the A700). I haven't used the supplied infrared remote because I have a radiofrequency remote for my A100; it works identically on the A700. My only lament is the proprietary hot shoe that requires a $50 hot shoe adapter to accept my Minolta 1200 AF macro ring flash. With the adapter the ring flash only fires at full power. I started and stayed with Sony because I owned 5 to 6 Minolta Maxxum lenses. One objective review of the A700 rated it "highly recommend", the same as the Nikon D90.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I upgraded to this body from an a200. I'm so glad I waited and thoroughly mastered the a200 because I can really appreciate all the enhanced features and higher quality build. I like that the body feels great in my big hands with no vertical grip necessary. The main reason this will help me take better photos (aside from more external controls and more customizablility) is that the auto focus is very noticeably faster with a 2.8 lens than on the a200.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I have used a Sony A100 for a few years and wanted to upgrade. I got into the "great debate" between the A-700 and the newer A-550. After pouring over the specs. and blogs (I research till I'm crazy), I settled on the A-700. I loved it right out of the box. The feel is great, solid and hefty, no plastic toy. Buttons and controls are all in the right place. I prefer exterior buttons over dragging thru a menu to find the controls. The first thing I did was download the V-4 firmware. Very smooth process from Sony. Photography is a hobby but I like the pro model cameras. I shoot mainly nature and landscapes and the A-700 fits the bill.There seemed to be a lot of debate about noise at high ISO,s. I've shot up to ISO 800 and the pictures are great. I shoot mostly outdoors and don't really use the higher ISO,s so its really not a factor with me.Overall this is a great camera, I would recommend to anyone. Also after researching, I had no question where to buy. [...]

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

Things that are great about it :
solid well built, Great LCD, easy to use and use the iso is the great surprise of this camera.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I use my Alpha for photographing amateur sports and active kids, and for portraiture.

The fast and accurate focus is great for the first two, and the excellent resolution and colour accuracy are great for the last.

I find the high ISO performance is not up to the latest and greatest from other manufacturers, but their best is well above my price range.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

the price on these is a steal as they are being discontinued after nearly three years on the market. the were [$] originally. I liked this camera's body design as soon as I picked it up. The A700 has the same feel as a nicely made guitar...I strolled over to the Canon and Nikon displays at B+H and the contrast was quite an eye-opener, I found them to have fiddly little buttons, and I found that, to my surprise given the huge reputations of canon and Nikon, the A700 was far more comfortable than any equivalent. The Canon's have horrid little rounded bulbous switches and the Sony has nice big finger and glove friendly switches. The grip is really a GRIP, while the Canons and Nikons body's felt like design curves were put before real-life-fit. Even the 5DMk2 felt like a prototype compared to the natural fit of the A700. If you have anything like large hands I recommend you give the A700 a bash. I was about to abandon Sony and go for the Canon 7D but I just liked the way the Sony was designed so much better. OK it doesn't have 1080p Video, but for the difference in price you can get this at clearance price AND buy a video camera!

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

all types of photography
solid well built
easy to use
fun to use
no live view

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

The a700 replaced my a200, and it is a significant step-up in terms of:
ergonomics, speed, build, ISO-performance, and gadgets.

Ergonomics: you get a bigger and nicer grip, and the buttons are more directly layed out, while you have bigger customisation possibilities.

Speed: seems to work a little faster in general, focus is faster and more accurate, and you now get 5 nice FPS, does 1/8000 shutterspeed.

Build: the camera feels like one solid chunk of metal, a nice feeling indeed. it has some wether resistance, and you definately don't fell you have to be careful with this camera, i would not hesitate on taking it anywhere :)

ISO: ISO 800 used to be the MAX on my a200, not 800 is great, and even 1600 is usable (remember to upgrade to firmware 4!)

Gadgets: HDMI output, bigger, higher resolution screen are the most important ones, especially the screen is awesome.

All in all, a worthy upgrade from the a2x0 level! NICE!

Got all my recommendations.

Bad points: ISO could still be better, I would love 7FPS, no lens correction options, shutter/mirror is a little loud.

Great buy!

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I'm a photo enthusiast/advanced shooter... This has been a 'very' rewarding upgrade... I had a Minolta SLR and have the A200 and got good results from both.... but nothing compared to this.

I started with the same basic settings for the two cameras and you could see the difference in the first photos with the same 55-200 lens... Then in doing some of the adjustments to the settings that the A700 provides over the A200 and the results were dramatically different... almost effortless in most cases now...

I shoot many different scenarios and subjects, still and moving... Landscapes, skylines, evening/night skies, the spacestation, birds, planes/helicopters, lots of dragonflies and butterflies, portraits, flowers, our cat and dogs and journalistic type shots.... I also have a favorite subject, my black long haired cockerchow with the black tongue and no white on her except the whites of her eyes and teeth, ... a very low contrast subject especially in the shade or in the house... and the A700 will lock on focus everytime with little effort and this is at 200 ISO!... and in using the in camera levels of DRO I can see the details of her fur even in low light instead of smudges... Absolutely amazing to just play around with, and also in photographing her, the A700 with it's focus assist lamp, I no longer need to use the flash for focusing and she now doesn't mind getting her photo took near as much... Can't blame her for that... Sometimes the A200 would flash several times before getting a lock on, and sometimes still could not and in those cases switching to manual focus was not an option... I too, couldn't see to focus on anything either, nothing... But the A700 just needs the light to 'glint' on a couple of hairs and it locks immediately... it's wonderful to get her in a dim room sleeping so peacefully.... Outside in the shade with sun backlighting is great now... no more blown backgrounds... the A700 and it's DRO levels handle and expose so much better...

The upgrade to the better LCD, the faster & better/more precise focus and the awesome viewfinder, these alone, were worth the extra cost of the camera..... Words cannot describe the difference in the two cameras... Although I'll try...

The quick Navi is absolutely a time saver 'and' shot saver for those quick changes that are sometimes needed... And also being able to set custom settings prior to a shoot is a major plus... The extra plus/minus stop of exposure and flash is a shot saver at times... There is a noticeable difference in the drive speed for the focus motor over the lower end cams, and also a noticeable difference in the A700's slow and fast settings which really do come in handy... Separate wheels for aperture and shutter is wonderful, the AEL lock button is handy for a black dog.... A button for 'quick' manual focus & immediate auto focus again on release when the camera doesn't know what you're 'peeking' through the tree branches and trying to get a shot of is useful beyond words... Just push the button to manual focus and get the shot of the bird hidden and just release it to go back to fast auto focus for when it takes flight... That's a real treat to use.... A button for quick changing of metering according to your subject, again handy... A button for quick changing of the type focus is very handy, easy to go from single shot of a still/slow subject to auto or continuous for a suddenly fast moving subject is a absolutely a shot saver...

And the handling is superb... so well balanced... and I have small hands, I'm small boned and this is so easy to hold, even for my husband and his large hands, he's large boned, it's great for both of us.... The little extra weight doesn't bother me in the slightest and it helps to balance my lens better and steadier, I find...

JPEG's... these X-Fine straight out of the camera are as good and some better even, as my A200 RAW files converted and 'tweaked' were... So easy and quick for just those shots that are mostly just for fun and for sharing... and colors/hues/skin tones are more accurate now... more real.

Could just go on and on... So far I haven't found a con or problem with this, and I've been shooting with it for 2 weeks now... I have nary a complaint...

Whatever Sony cooks up for the upgrade/replacement of this camera is going to be beyond description and awesome just won't be the word for it, due to that this A700 is already awesome and 'almost' perfect just as it is... Even if Sony were to 'only' put in the new sensor that they've developed for their new, lower cameras and even if they did nothing else,... this A700 would then become a photographers absolute dream.... No body style or navigation/button changes... just put in the new sensor and the camera would be darn near perfect... Just ask those that use it... we all are pretty much in agreement on this.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I moved up to this camera after I kept bumping into the limitations of my A 100. The a 700 certainly lives up to its reputation and the glowing reviews it has received. The controls are intuitive and responsive. The ability to make a variety of adjustments within the styles and settings is a huge advantage. The low light/ high ISO performance is more than adequate. The focus speed and tracking have tripled my hit ratio on birds in flight. This camera brings out the best in my lenses and will bring out the best in me.

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

I use the camera mostly for photojournalism. For this application, I love the 5fps and the good high ISO performance. I have gotten some great shots at 6400 that look good at A3 size.

The screen is great on the back, and the controls are ergonomic. It is a bit large, but what can you do?

Comments about Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Digital Camera (Camera Body):

WEDDING, GRADUATION, SPORT, & FAMILY EVENTSBUILT-IN IMAGE STABILIZATION, GOOD LOOKING, LIGHT WEIGHT, LONG LASTING BATTERY, VERY SHARP AND HIGH RESOLUTION 3" LCD, EASY TO USE(1)AUTO WHITE BALANCE IS VERY BAD (THE SONY FIRST GENERATION SLR A100 IS MUCH MORE ACCURATE ON WHITE BALANCE). (2) AUTO FOCUS IS VERY BAD (SEARCHING AROUND AND REALLY DON'T GET A PHOTOGRAPHER's INTENTION) WAY......BEHIND CANON ON AUTO FOCUS TECHNOLOGY. (3) NOISE REDUCTION IS NOT VERY RELIABLE ESPECIALLY ON HIGH-ISO 3200 & ABOVE (SOMETIME GOOD, SOMETIME BAD). (4) STUPID EYE LEVEL SENSOR, INSTEAD OF BEING USEFUL IT IS AN ANNOYING FUNCTION THAT MOST USERS DECIDE TO TURN IT OFF.IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A PRO-LOOK CAMERA THEN THIS IS THE ONE. HOWEVER, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A PRO-PERFORMANCE THEN YOU SHOULD SPEND A LITTLE MORE AND BUY A CANON 50D.I AM AN EXPERIENCE GRADUATION, SPORT, & WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER & VIDEOGRAPHER, [...]