joe_oliva

<p><strong><br /></strong></p>

<p><strong>24 MP Digital is the way to go! </strong></p>

<p>I own the Sony Alpha A900 plus all the Car Zeiss and Sony G glass. I also own a complete Pentax 67II system, and more than one Nikon 9000 ED film scanners. I routinely print 16x24 on an Epson 4880. I would have thought the Pentax/Nikon conbo would have lead to the best results, but in my experience, the Sony yields better results in 16x24. My guess is it has to do with the superior sharpness of the Sony glass. I never would have expected this, if I hadn't seen it myself.</p>

<p>It's very easy to change the focusing screen. when you buy a replacement screen, instructions are included, plus a little plastic tool that makes it easy. I put the grid screen in my A900. It took about 2 minutes.</p>

<p>You ask too many questions.</p>

<p>I picked up the A900 last year because I couldn't justify $8,000 for a D3X. The thing that sealed the deal was some really good quality Sony G and Carl Zeiss glass, which I own a lot of. The image quality is fabulous, and the A900-135/2.8 CZ has taken me to a place I can't describe, it is simply amazing.</p>

<p>I love my A900. It is not perfect, but it is a great camera. I come from a Nikon DX system, and still use a Nikon D300 when I want to travel light. The build of the A900 is fantastic, and the image quality is exceptional. There is lots of great glass available and the high megapixel count lets me do things I could not do before, like cropping. My default ISO is 400 with no noise issues. The built in image stabilization works as advertised, and makes every lens VR. I have done hand held shots in museums at 1/10 second at f/2.8 with amazing results. Not all pix turn out sharp at 1/10 second, but most do with practice.</p>

<p>My D300 produces great images as well, but my Alpha 900 experience is such that I now seek out new opportunities to make images with this camera. I am torn between purchasing an A850 for a second body, or wait until the A900 comes out with an Exmor-R sensor version.</p>

<p>In a few days I am going to attempt an aerial photo shoot of a football stadium at night. I have the legendary Carl Zeiss 135 f/1.8, and can't wait to give this a go.</p>

<p>I own the Nikon 10.5mm fisheye, and use it on D200 and D300 bodies. It is indeed a sharp, sharp lens. If you are shooting interiors, you may want to investigate the Nikon 10-24mm or perhaps the Sigma 10-20mm lens for less distortion. I also own a great copy of the Sigma, and enjoy the wide view at 10mm and much less fisheye distortion. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to rent the glass from lensrentals.com and try before you buy.</p>

<p>I just got back from the big EAA airshow at Oshkosh. I rented the 70-400mm G, and shot lots of flying pix with it. Simply stated, this is an amazing lens in so far as its sharpness is concerned. I used it with a Sony A900, ISO 400, lens set at f/8, and the results were simply stunning. I also used a Nikon D300 and Nikon 80-400 when I needed the extra 1.5x "reach", and it did ok (better than I recalled in the past). Tomorrow I will return the 70-400G, then I will order one. The only question is, what do I do with my 70-300G (also a sharp, fine lens) and my 500 f/8 (sharp, but not good for moving targets).<br>

The Sony 70-400m G is Highly recommended.<br>

All the Best</p>

<p>I own the 135 f/1.8 as well as the Sony A900, after switching from Nikon earlier this year. It is by far the sharpest optic I have ever personally used, and combined with a 24mp sensor, often leaves me awestruck.<br>

I believe that Sony and Zeiss have an agreement that precludes Sony mount Zeiss glass from being produced in any other camera mount. The Carl Zeiss lenses for the Sony Alpha line are actually manufactured in Japan by Sony, with Carl Zeiss in charge of quality assurance for the lenses.<br /> It was a tough choice to leave Nikon, but one of the reasons was the Carl Zeiss glass (the Sony G series is also quite good), I have not been disappointed.<br /> All the Best.</p>

<p>The sharpest A-mount lens? That's an easy call. The Carl Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 is so sharp, it litterally makes my eyes bleed when I use it. Combined with the Sony A-900, the results are nothing short of breathtaking.<br>

It is not a SSM lens, but still focuses incredibly fast.</p>

<p>All the Best.</p>

<p>Alpha 900 without the battery grip.</p>

<p>Semi-pro? At what, oil painting? If you ask for confirmation you are doing the right thing, perhaps it would be helpful to share with us what exactly you propose to do instead of an endless range of possibilites.<br>

Since you mention the Sony A900, the only possible useful comment I can offer is that I own one as well as all the Carl Zeiss glass, to replace a Pentax 67 system. Yesterday in a museum, I shot an amazingly sharp hand-held pix at f/ 2.8 and 1/10th second with the 24-70. Needless to say I was extremely impressed with the lens and the in-camera image stabilization.<br>

All the best.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, I forgot, and most important: "etc..." (I actually carry two).</p>

<p>Camera strap, lens cap.</p>

<p>I have recently acquired the set up that you mentioned, with the HVL-F56AM flash. with the A900 set in AUTO mode, the flash seems to give ok results. Set to any other mode, I have to set the flash exposure compensation on the camera to +0.3 or +0.7 to get pleasing results. The HVL-F56AM is a bit dated, and from what I understand, the F58 model is supposed to be the "Wunderkind" of Sony flashes, so perhaps that will yield the best results.<br /> <br>

<br /> I don't get the terrifec flash results I do with my Nikon stuff, but I don't use flash much, and didn't buy the A900 for on-camera flash work. That being said, I couldn't be more thrilled with the A900/Carl Zeiss combination.</p>

<p>You can find MTF curves for the 24-70 on Photozone.de . The 16-35 is a relatively new and not as easy to get lens at this point in time, so It should be no surprise that reviews have yet to appear.<br>

I own several Zeiss lenses for my A900, and they are all winners. Unless you are planning on shooting lens resolution targets, you won't be able to tell the difference (and most likely if you are shooting resolution targets, you still won't be able to tell the difference).</p>

<p>Currently Sony USA (sonystyle.com) is running a special where if you purchase both an A900 body plus the Carl Zeiss 24-70 lens, Sony will knock off $500.00. I have also seen this deal offered by Amazon.com. I have not seen this deal offered by B & H or Adorama, which I find curious.<br>

If you want to roll the dice that you will not require warranty service, you can purchase from Canada, where due to currency differences, you can pick up the A900 for about $2200 US and the CZ 24-70 for about $1519 US. Shipping adds about $30, and your credit card will charge you an additional 3% for the currency conversion. I know a few people who have gone this route, and have been quite pleased with the savings and service. Their vendor of choice was Simons Cameras (simonscamera.com). Simons ships to the U.S. via Xpresspost USA which is a collaborative service between the Canadian and US Postal Service. Shipping takes about a week, and is tracked.<br>

Please note that these items come with Sony Canada warranties, which require a Canadian address for warranty service to be returned to. Still, $1,000 savings can buy a whole lot of repairs!</p>

<p>I picked up the Carl Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 for my A900 last week. I have only made some test shots of finely detailed buildings. At f/4 and 200 iso, the images were so sharp and detail-laden, viewing them for too long caused my eyes to start bleeding.<br>

I think Thom Hogan in his review of the Nikon D3x noted correctly that to get the maximum performance out of such a big sensor requires not only the best glass, but great attention to detail as far as your technique is concerned.</p>

<p>Just noticed on the Sony Style online store website. Bundle the A900 plus the outstanding Carl Zeiss 24-70, and Sony takes $500 off. here's the link:</p>

<p>http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665531176<br>

Not bad.</p>

...according to a well known Nikon USA Tech Rep representative, with whom I discussed the current state of NikonScan software earlier in the year. While he admitted NikonScan was due for an update, he was not optimistic that it would happen. I now use Ed Hamrick's excellent Vuescan as my default software for my Nikon 9000. Personally, I don't expect it to be long before Nikon discontinues the 9000, and I am looking to purchase a second unit as I have an extensive archive of 120 negatives.

I just bought one, and it is stunning. It is a bit on the bright side, as are most Ultrasharps, but the plethora of controls make it easily adjustable. If you don't have one, a color calibrating device is a must. Price is $517 through 11/19. Here's the link:

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-6272&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=30322&lid=680413

 

I really love this monitor. Do a Google search for reviews, and you'll find that everyone else loves it as well. I run mine off a MacPro.

Epson updated the print drivers for the 4000 and OSX 10.5. See the Epson website -> Drivers to get the latest version. My Epson Pro 4000 works great with OSX 10.5, printing from Photoshop CS3. Computer is a 3 GHz MacPro.

 

All the Best.

God bless you for finding this deal! Before I read your post, I was resigned to owning a brand new D200 for $199.00 (I am pretty sure that it included a USA warranty, and a AFS 600mm f/4 VR)

Of course, beware of the dreaded "Bristle Syndrome", or getting slivers from a wobbly handle.

 

If I read correctly, you say you already have purchased one. If you are not experiencing the "problems" you describe, what the heck is your beef? The D300 is an exceptional camera, extremely well-built. Attached is a jpeg I shot with a D300 over the Atlantic Ocean last week. Normally I use a Pentax 67 for these, but there was too much turbulence in the air. The D300 created awesome results, and handled every difficult situation a threw at it.

There have been several people on the dpreview.com Nikon D300 forum that have reported a marked improvement in focusing speed with the 80-400 used on the D300 body. Some of the reports were that the focus hunting has been dramatically reduced. Just passing along what I've read. I own the lens, and expect to have the D300 in the next week or so, and am looking forward to my own experiments.

This is common with Epson inkjets. The supplied print driver will limit you to 44" length. The printer is capable of longer, but you will need a third party RIP such as ImagePrint, or the RIP that epson sells. I think ImagePrint will let you print up to 100 feet.