Sony Alpha DSLR-A700

This camera feels great in my hand and I think the controls are very well placed and fairly intuitive. With the additional of the vertical battery grip, it gets a little heavy, but not heavy enough to be an issue and it really feels stable when held. I've very pleased with the focus speed and the noise performance up to ISO 1600. ISO3200 is usable with noise reduction software as well. I find the images clear and sharp and the focusing is fast and accurate. The addition of some of the better Minolta lenses makes for a fantastic combination.

Intuitive controls and very easy to use, even with the vertical grip. Focus is fast and accurate is most lighting conditions.

ISO6400 is almost unusuable and the focus in very low light conditions is poor.

Minolta 5D

What attracted me to the A700 was the magnesium alloy build, the 12 Megapixel CMOS sensor (and noise performance), and the button layout conducive of a faster, more improved photography experience. It has exceeded all of my expectations, and I am still pleased with my purchase decision to this day. I have also been surprised with just how much better the LCD is then what I have been used to. It is large, bright, and the sharpest LCD I've yet seen on any system. The battery performance and indicator has also been a very pleasant surprise. The only surprise I was not so pleased with was the ISO 6400 performance, which is quite unusable.

The greater number of buttons in the layout may intimidate some, but it means no more menu-hunting for function switches in the field. This translates to faster in-field experience that has been exceptionally helpful, even more than I initially expected.

The pixel density of this Camera will render some of the cheaper lens' obsolete, the kit lens does much better paired with 6 MPix than it does on this. Chromatic abberation issues will be more noticable (naturally, due to the greater pixel density). So this is certainly not a Camera to be purchased, only to be paired with cheap lens. This isn't so much a drawback of the design, so much as it is the compromise you have to make for larger high MPix crop sensors. Thus, if you are looking for a low-budget outfit, look elsewhere (in 6MPix DSLR bodies, or 8 in other brands).

The super steady shot is also surprisingly effective. Having been accustomed to the Anti-Shake of the Minolta 5D - I was left quite surprised by the much better performance of the A700's SSS. I found a reliable 3-4 stop advantage with most of my lens, when braced particularly well, I even managed a 3 second sharp hand held.

The DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer) was a terrific treat. With a total of 8 selectable options, Off, Standard Auto, Advanced Auto, and 5 different level manual options - this adds great flexibility for in-field shooting. I have been able to achieve what I previously thought impossible exposure latitude, and it takes a lot to blow out highlights. For the most part, it stays in standard or advanced auto. But for more uniquely ranged environments, the manual options are very helpful.

Being accustomed with the competing models to the A700, I find the layout, interface and design of the A700 the most usable. I found that I preferred the button placement on the A700 well over the Nikon and Canon equivalents (D200/40D). This is fortunate, because my tie to the system wouldn't let me go with Canon or Nikon anyway.

The autofocus was another very surprising joy, the focus motor was exceptionally faster than my previous Minolta 5D with the same lens. Paired with my 50 f1.7, it felt like the super sonic motor.

All in all I'd say my only serious issue with this body is their ISO 6400 noise performance, which isn't a genuine 6400 but rather a boosted 3200. Perhaps a v5.0 firmware can resolve this in the future. As of now, I'll just stay below 3200 (which isn't much of a problem anyway).

With latest firmware updates (currently v4.0), noise performance improved dramatically. Great noise performance even up to ISO 3200.
1/3rd stop ISO options.
Selectable shutter/aperture exposure settings, either 1/2 or 1/3rd stop.
Bright viewfinder with great coverage (also the downside of no live view).
Great battery performance, with exact percent remaining indicated.
Wonderful LCD, large and bright - focus check is a breeze on this.
Dynamic Range Optimizer actually very functional and effective.
Compact Flash and Memory Stick capable.
Compressed Raw option (for 8 bit lossless raws)
Great button placement, could not ask for anything better.
Stellar build.
Works great with legacy Minolta lens.
Zippy fast AF motor, plus selectable AF drive speed.
Included wireless remote with comprehensive functionality.
HDMI output

ISO 6400 pretty unusable, even with latest firmware.
No live-view, (also a plus with large bright viewfinder).
No top panel metering readout.
Auto White balance in indoor lighting - (definitely WB calibrate).

Almost redundant to state this - but proprietary hot shoe still annoying, they could include with the camera a reverse hot-shoe adapter, as they are presently the only company that still stays with a proprietary hot shoe mount (sort of the mid 90's Minolta's fault for this predicament)

Minolta Maxxum 5D
Nikon D200
Canon Rebel (XT/XTi)
Canon EOS 40D
Canon EOS 20D

No experience with customer service.

Well I’m not much of a reviewer, but I feel as if I need to because the Sony a700 is one hell of a camera! Sure it’s not as popular as Nikon or cannon cams but who cares. When I pull out my camera, friends ask me "you don’t like canon or Nikon". It pisses me off to the extreme. First off, cameras are just brands, there all cameras, and we should get the one that fits our needs the best, and the a700 is the perfect match for me. 2ndly, this camera has many of the Minolta dna, this includes the looks, the feel plus it can take old Minolta auto focus lenses, most people don’t know this and continue to see Sony as a toy until they try one for themselves. It’s a large camera compared to most but it feels more substantial in your hands. Plus, since it is quite large, it won’t look or feel goofy when you mount a long telephoto lens on it. The body is also very very solid literally and feeling wise. In other words, it’s a tough camera. I’m more into using ambient light in my kind of photography so I hardly ever use the flash, however I wished it had a pop up flash instead of one that you have to lift up. I know I may come off sounding a little too picky but I worry that the flash will accidently lift up for some odd reason and break. That’s really the only annoyance I have with it, but just for the record, it never lifted by itself inside my cam bag ever. Anyways, I love this camera! The screen is absolutely brilliant. The color, resolution and, overall quality of the screen makes me wish I could watch Topgear on my lcd lol. Jk of course but it really is something to marvel at. The ergonomics on this camera is superb, I’ve held many cameras in different stores, and the a700 fits like a glove. I feel like I have access to everything with a push of a button. This is fact, because the Sony a700 has a tremendous amount of buttons. I’m not going to say it has the most buttons because quite frankly I don’t know. But this particular body has so many buttons that may seem intimidating. But once used to it, you will find that you spend more time taking photos than diving into a billion dead end menus. I hardly EVER use the camera menus to change settings. ALMOST everything has a dedicated button. It’s like 2nd nature to me, and it’s looks from all those buttons defiantly make the camera look and feel more professional. As I said, it may look complicated at first with all the buttons, but this camera is the most user friendly camera I have ever used. The first time I held it in my hands was in Frys Electronics, but I went in especially to try out the canon eos 40d or 50d. I saw the Sony picked it up and, there was no comparison to the userfriendlyness of the 700. In 5 minutes flat I knew how to control the basics such as exposure, aperture and iso. So easy! The alpha700 is my main body and I take it with me everywhere. Very fun to use. As for the quality of the photos, I think there all right with the 18-70mm kit lens. I took some pretty nice shots with the kit lens but the 18-70mm SERIOSLY limits the performance of the body. But I bought the 18-70mm kit lens to start out with and intended to upgrade when I get the cash. For $100 I shouldn’t complain but yes if you plan on getting any camera, no matter how many megapixel or your image sensor ect, if you buy a crapy lens to go along with, your images won’t look so hot. I have a sigma 30mm f1.4 lens on the way from adorama.com. Should come about 3 more days, can’t wait to unleash the true performance of the a700!

Rigid construction

Good low noise performance especially with the highest firmware updates

Very little to mo lag time when viewing pictures, powering on, changing menu settings

Can use existing Konica Minolta auto focus lenses

Quality accessories

Amazing lcd screen

Lots of customizable options (although I don’t use them)

Excellent dynamics

Fun to use

Fits like a glove

IT’S A ALPHA!

Have to manually lift flash up, no pop up spring. (not really a problem)


That’s it

Not used yet

What a surprise. Purchased with a wonderful 16-105 lens the combination was an excellent value. That is the only response that is applicable in this instance. A 20+ years of Minolta experience and reluctantly force to give up my 9 and move to digital. It was painful due to the lack of a quality pro-consumer camera. When Sony purchased Minulta I reversed my decision to switch to Canon. I hated to give up the Minolta lens' and Sony said they would be compatible in all future cameras. So I waited. The Sony A700 was well worth the wait. This camera has the ergonomics, ease of use, and overall quality I have always had with Minolta's high end film cameras. With its 12 mpixel capture (that is the equivalent of the maximum 35mm slide resolution. 12 per channel = 36 mb). As for shotting, the 2 position trigger is quiet and smooth. The second position is so smooth it gives you the same feel as a finely crafted rifle trigger.
As for programming flexibility it is feature rich beyond my expectatios: shutter lock; RF remote firing; numerous new style and color enhancing processing for corrections per shot before loading to media; RAW and cRaw (similar to RAW but quicker); anti-shacking in the body; 12 different automatic settings, and obviously the list goes on.

Overall design
Ergonomics
Large, high resolution review screen
Up to 5 frames per second; no limit to the number of frames
Built in flash
Easy, intuitive programming (see weaknesses)
Well over 400 shots per battery charge (flash usage included) and % left data
Easy to adjust primary functions: ISO, WB; M/AF, Drive, AEL while holding camera, all with your right hand
Titanium body and patterned plastic outter parts for holding which give it a tight, well built feel. It is water and sand resistant
Cleaning funcion for photo capture transistor bank, and it tells you when as well

Weaknesses
Rear body screen is not used to preview the shot
Although easy to program some of the newer styling functions are difficult to comprehend in espeically in terms of usefulness
Heavy

Minolta 9; 9XI
Minolta 7D

Previous experience has been great. Out of warrenty was a reasonable flat fee.

Great camera if you take the time to get to know it. If you are looking for an easy step-up from a point and shoot camera, there are cheaper options out there that will give you the results you are looking for. If you like to do fine adjustments and want to take the time to get a shot just right, this is a great tool for you.

Many have knocked this camera at first glance, trying to use it at it's most basic defaults. At these settings, the results are a little lackluster. However, making a few adjustments either in camera, or when processing the RAW files, and you'll see that this camera stands up well to others in it's price bracket, doing some things better, and others just different.

Late bonus, due to firmware upgrades (v4), better exposure bracketing and high ISO Noise reduction changes make for even better image quality from 1600 on up...

Works with most all modern A-Mount AF lenses built for the Minolta / Konica-Minolta and now Sony cameras. Adapters available for easy use of older manual m42 lenses as well as the MD mount lenses from Minolta, but of course these are not automatic in any way.

All lenses are stabilized thanks to Sony's built in "Super Steady Shot". It works! When other brands need to raise ISO to get a sharp shot on a long lens in low light, you won't. Yes, even that Pentax / Asahi Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 manual focus lens can be used at less than 1/8s speeds handheld with sharp results..

DRO - Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization works great at balancing out extremely high contrast shots that might loose detail on other cameras.

5.0 Frames per second bursts with large buffers allowing 11 to 100+ frames before slowdown, depending on settings and CF card used...

Class leading AF speed in good to average light with an in body focus motor. Even better results with newer SSM (motorized) lenses from Sony and soon from Tamron.

New Carl Zeiss lenses to bring out the best detail and color accuracy in any camera. As good if not better than any other "Pro" level glass for Canon, Nikon, or other...

Great menu/button system allowing quick access to most any features you'll need to change on the fly..

CF card & Memory Stick slots so you can have a backup memory card in at all times in case you run out of room, and don't have time to swap cards.

Slow AF in bad light with average lenses... Good lense (f2.8 or better) no problems..

Not the strongest in-store support yet - Working on it, but not there yet.

Not all lenses from all 3rd parties are made for Sony yet.

VERY High ISO (3200+) just isn't quite up to the results the latest offerings from Nikon and Canon currently offer.

Default Jpeg settings are "soft", most users will want to add some in camera sharpening and shoot in Vivid or Landscape modes to get the "pop" they are used to seeing in other cameras.

General bias against Sony by many due to their consumer electronics background, unfairly dismissing the Minolta heritage they acquired when they took over the camera business from Konica-Minolta.

Owned: Sony A100, Minolta Maxxum 600si, 7xi, various point and shoots...
Tested: Canon 5d, Digital Rebels; Nikon D3 & D300

Poor knowledge at SonyStyle stores last year, better this year.
Until recently, getting any kind of serious support in high end photography stores was difficult due to the Sony name, but this is getting better now, especially with the A900 release.