OT Re Was [Leica] Re: Pentax K100D, now Sony Alpha vs Nikon

[hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson)]

Don,

Just a follow up on the Sony Alpha here in OZ.          

Actually made the electrical discount sellers sale catalogue here, today.

In stock and for sale at a discount with 2GB of memory stick thrown in.

That's the power of BIG electronics manufacturers at work.

I still don't need one, but definitely out of the vapourware category here.

Still nary a D200 to be found here. 

 

More importantly my friendly "local" Leica seller has some fine 28's on hand
for my visit shortly.

Wish me good hunting

 

Cheers

Hoppy 

 

  _____  

Hi Don,
Don't go dampening a good speculation thread with facts. Naturally regarding
the initial reviews, the Sony Alpha gets some very positive spin. Especially
for features vs price. Locally it will be 25% cheaper at retail than the
D70.
The D200 may well be available in quantity in your market now, and via Hong
Kong import.
However still completely absent from dealer shelves here. (
 
Back on the Sony's, I was actually just most interested in a possible FF
model to come. With the CZ designed primes at their native FOV a big
attractant for me. And I want a big bright finder and to be able to focus it
manually and set the aperture manually and meter as I want and have great
glass and I just described an M8.
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Don Dory
Sent: Thursday, 10 August 2006 11:34
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Pentax K100D
 
Hoppy,
D200's have become fairly plentiful as Nikon has switched production to the
D200 and the D80 and away from the D50.  I bet if you emailed Dr. Yao he
could sell you one at a good price out of Hong Kong.  The D200 is much
better built and has a better focusing screen than the D80 as well as the
ability to use older Ai lenses.
 
As to the reviews, Sony has some major money to spend on advertising so of
course nothing negative will be said.  Take it from me, high ISO performance
is not so hot and flash accuracy is not very good.  Getting good fill flash
is very hard and autofocus is not up to currrent standards.  No manual
lenses available(yeah, yeah who needs manual lenses with all those fabulous
consumer Minolta  AF lenses out there but the good glass was never purchased
by many so very scarce).  Last, although the reviews say otherwise, I did
not find the stabilisation to be especially good at longer focal lengths say
100mm but I could have had a bad sample.
 
Instead of lusting for the latest vapor ware or promised land, look to
established companies that have extensive product out there.  In no order,
Olympus, Pentax, Nikon, Canon, and even Leica have cameras with a track
record, large numbers of lenses available new or used, and a history that
can be judged for suitablity of use for you.  In a year or two we can talk
about Sony and their DSLR line.
 
Don
don.dory@gmail.com
 
 
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: Pentax K100D
> 
> The impression that I am getting from the "mags" on the Sony is that it is
> knocking their socks off because of the price. And I'm spending a lot of
> time futzing with Rolleiflex TLRs. Causing some cognitive dissonance.
> 
> Jeffery Smith
> New Orleans, LA
> http://www.400tx.com
> http://400tx.blogspot.com/
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jsmith342=cox.net@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jsmith342=cox.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of G
> Hopkinson
> Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 6:18 PM
> To: 'Leica Users Group'
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: Pentax K100D
> 
> 
> Felix and Jeffery, this looks like the start of a great speculation thread
> on the Sony's FF model, right here.
> 
> Since there were so many 35mm format lenses from Minolta and some Zeiss
> repackaged for the Alpha range, you might take that as a hint. Or you
> could
> say that Sony just wanted as big a presence as possible early to get a
> toehold in the DSLR marketplace. The pro magazines here (Australia) that
> attended the Japanese launch said that Sony hinted at a simpler and a more
> professional camera body to be released soon. Rumoured also that the
> (Alpha)sensor is the same as in the Nikon D200. At least we have something
> to talk about until Photokina.
> 
> Cheers
> Hoppy