jerome_smith

<p>Thanks Paul. I went to the thread, and then went back to my manual. Not the best fix in the world, but I programmed the camera to take me back to the last menu item accessed--steady shot. Not as good as a button, but it may work in a pinch without losing too much time.<br>

I wonder why Sony decided to eliminate this handy button and instead opted for a couple of useless ones, i.e., the ?</p>

<p>Jerome</p>

<p>Bought an A77 and I'm just getting familiar with it.<br>

I notice the "steady shot" is controlled in the menu (on/off), and that Sony still recommends not using it when the camera is tripod mounted. On my A700 there was a lever/button to control the anti-shake, which was convenient since I switch from tripod to hand held quite a bit. Having to actually go into the menu screen is not handy at all. I searched the manual to see if one of the function buttons could be allocated to steady shot, with no success. Does anyone have some insight to this?<br>

Many thanks</p>

<p>Jerome</p>

<p>In a previous post (Aug.2011), I pointed out that I was too late to buy an A850, and asked whether it was worth it to wait for an A77 (as opposed to buying an A900 immediately.) Well, I decided to wait for the A77, and apparently somehow missed that window also. I guess it was available for about 90 minutes at a few dealers. Anyone have any insight as to what happened, and when it might be available again? Looks like Sony won't make it for the holidays...at least not the holidays 2011.<br>

Thanks<br>

Jerome Smith</p>

<p>In the end I decided to wait and buy the A77. While it was never available on the Sony website, I did see it at Amazon and B&H (et al). I was traveling at the time and did not get a chance to order, thinking there was no rush. I was wrong. By the time I was ready to order, it disappeared--"unavailable", "not in stock", "back ordered", etc. at all of my usual purchase places.<br /> What happened? Did they stop production due to defects? Manufacturing problems? Unexpected demand? When will it be available?<br /> Thanks<br /> Jerome Smith</p>

<p>I response to several questions, my real motivation for looking at the a850/900 is the improved resolution. I do birds mostly, and crop quite a bit, so the 24mp is a substantial upgrade. My a700's are getting old from lots of use and will need replacing. I prefer a more tradional DLSr, and was hoping that there would be a revelation here about a traditional replacement for the a700, 850 or even 900. It appears that the only thing imminent is the A77. I guess I could wait a few months to see what it looks like, and go either way then.<br>

Dave, in answer to your question, I've been buying Minolta/Konica/Sony lenses since 1988 including a 600f4, 300f2.8, Sony zoom400 and several other smaller zooms and FF lenses. As much as I would like to, switching systems is not practical.<br>

Thanks for your responses.</p>

<p>Jerome</p>

<p>I have not followed the Sony line-up since I bought my a700 several years ago. Imagine my surprise last week when, after deciding to upgrade, I found the a850 to be discontinued and unavailabe (at least from a reliable sourse.) So, my question is, do I invest in an a900 now, or wait. And, if the concensus is wait, what am I waiting for?</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

Jerome Smith</p>

<p>I was editing some Raw pics in IDL/IDC today. I had an image up in IDL, and tried to send it to IDC as I have done thousands of times before. I got a wierd error message, and IDC no longer opened automatically. I dumped both programs and redownloaded from the Sony site. Both programs are working independently, but IDC will not open fron IDL as it did before. What am I missing? Is it something simple. Is there a "connect the dots " button I'm overlooking? Thanks</p>

<p>Jerome Smith</p>

<p>Any ideas on why, when I hit the "Adjust In Image Data Converter SR" icon, or right click the image, nothing happens? Shouldn't the image automatically display in Converter?<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Jerome Smith</p>

<p>Thanks...I found it. Different from what I'm used to. Also, fewer options--only JPEG and Tiff, although that's enough.</p>

<p>Jerome Smith</p>

<p>I have a new Windows 7 64 bit laptop and I downloaded the latest version of the Image Suite for my A700. Everything works fine, except when I go to "Save As' in the converter, the only option I get is ARW. I want to save the edited pic as a JPEG, which was always an option on my Windows XP computer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.<br>

(BTW, I tried loading in my original Image Suite from the original CD, and it screwed up the new computer bigtime. I had to reinstall Windows to get rid of it and fix all of the problems it caused. The latest version was downloaded from Sony's support site.)<br>

Many thanks<br>

Jerome Smith</p>

<p>I've visited numerous websites for grouse/prairie chicken lek tours in April, but they all seem to be geared toward birders, not photographers. As such, they are either too far from the leks, or don't spend enough time on the leks, or not in photo friendly blinds, etc. Anyone know of a five grouse tour geared toward photographers? Thanks<br>

Jerome Smith</p>

<p> </p>

<p>For the record the Sony site has this at $1600, as does Amazon.<br>

Question about performance. I've always admired the Canon 100-400mm users ability to get hand held, auto focus flight shots. The AF on that lens seemed to be lighting fast and sharp. Will this lens match that capability. If so, I'm there. My years of trying to get good flight shots with a tripod mounted 600mm or a hand held 70-300mm zoom have been disappointing at best.<br>

Thanks<br>

Jerome Smith</p>

<p>Stacey:<br>

Couple of things from someone who has been in lower Antelope about 8 times , and upper only once.<br>

Lower antelope is long, and spectacular, and probably the best slot you can shoot. (I say this having visited 4 or 5 others.) It's length gives you a stong possibility of enjoying peace and quiet somewhere along its corridors. You can skip upper...it's too crowded because it too accessible, and too short so you're crammed with other visitors. You almost drive right into it.<br>

If you allocate all of your time to lower, it's worthwhile. Plus, you don't, repeat don't, need to spend money on a guide--lower is all there out in front of you. Meter on the medium light values, which will give you the classic look of dark to light to washed.<br>

Jerome Smith</p>

I would go with the Sony based on quality of construction. While the Sigma has decent glass, my experience with Sigma lenses (since 1991) has not been good. Every one I've owned, maybe 5 or 6, has needed rrepair of one kind or another. And no, I'm not particularly "hard" on lenses. I decided years ago to not try my luck with Sigma again.

 

Jerome Smith

I don't specifically know the lenses you speak of, but as a general response I've owned a bunch of Sigma lenses over the years because of the low relatve cost. Bottom line...cheap is cheap. Most of my Sigma's fell apart over time, and I abandoned them when I got the repair cost estimates from Sigma. Stick with OEM's if you can; over the long run you'll be happy you did.

 

Jerome Smith

Thanks to all for your help...the a700 it is. I notice that B&H is the only store doing any discounting, ie. $1299. Surprisingly, Amazon isn't carrying it...only their partners like Ritz, J & R, etc at $1399, which is the same price as the Sony store. Is anyone aware of any larger discounting, aside from the usual scam stores?

 

Thanks again

 

Jerome

I've held up buying long enough to be confused. I thought I would upgrade from

a D7 to an a700, but then the a350 came out. Sony's website does not give a

side-by-side comparison. Clearly the a350 has some new technology, but I'm not

clear what I might be giving up if I opt for the a350 over the a700. Besides

the construction materials, are there serious differences?

 

Thanks

 

Jerome

Years ago I used to go to a county park in So. Florida named Castello Hammock Park, which I found was the best place ever for close ups of both painted and indigo buntings. The park had a nature center with feeders on the edge of the Hammock out back, and the buntings loved it. Also, they were quite habituated to watchers and photographers. Hurricane Andrew blew the park apart, and it was closed for a good many years. Based upon your inquiry, I decided to do a search, and came up with http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp?trailid=HGD167-026. Happily, the park has been rebuilt, reopened and re-feedered, and apparently the buntings are back.

Basically, I buy at Amazon or B & H; I find them both to be very reliable. Amazon if you don't need to speak to someone; B & H for assistance. I've been buying from both for years and never a problem.

 

Before you look at any of the "it's too good to be true" sellers, go

here:

 

http://photo.net/neighbor/one-subcategory?id=2

 

This photo.net service has a long history, and chances are you will read about your propective seller here.With some of them, the horror stories just go on and on. B & H makes out very well in this forum, as do a few others.

Thanks Marco. Is this preferable to just using the supplied software, and then converting to TIFF or JPEG for CS2?

I read in another forum that downloading an Adobe plugin, CR 4.2, would allow

CS2 users to process the new A-700 4.0 Raw. The Adobe site, however, specifies

that the plugin will only work with CS3 or higher.

 

Does anyone have experience with this?

 

Also, I note from the Sony site that the A-700's battery, NP-FM500H, is

backwards compatible with the A-100's NP-FM55H. If that is so, then by default

wouldn't the battery from my D7 fit the A-700?

I am using a KM7D with an array of Maxxum lenses. I know the new A700 will suport the lenses, but will it also take all of the other attachments, i.e., remote cord, battery, flash (or do you have to buy all new stuff?) Also, does CS2 support the A700 Raw?

I really don't want to get in the middle of this pissing contest. I'm writing to let you know that Minolta has a new rebate out on the 7D running from Mar. 14 to Jun 30. It's a straight $200 bucks back, unlike the previous $150 rebate which involved a check made out to the retailer. With Dell priced down at $1439 (including shipping), the net comes down to $1239. Could this $200 rebate be a precursor to a new introduction?

 

Guys...what would you like to see (the total list) in the next generation aside from more meg.'s?

Check out this thread on the Shetlands that I submitted way back in '99':

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000Ujp

 

I haven't made it there yet, but it's still very much on my list.

 

Jerome

Any update on this thread? Are the owls still in number at Sax-Zim?

(I've been checking the Duluth weather for the last 3 weeks and can't seem to find a window of opportunity to fly up from Tucson.)

 

Thanks

 

Jerome Smith