New/Refurb A37 or 2nd hand A55 or A580???

TwincityWild

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Hi:)

Hope everyone had a great easter :thumbsup:

Been a while since i posted on the Forums and had to re-register as my login seems to have gone :facepalm:

Anyway to my dilema.....

I'm stuck on which way to go whether it's the A37 new/refurb or A55 or A580 2nd hand so any help would be greatly received :lease:

I really just need to know whether the A37 is as good as the A55/A580 in low light at high iso (1600/3200)??? The camera is for a trip to Disney world i have coming up and with the parades etc it needs to handle moving objects in low light which the others do fine. Going to be using both the kit lense on a tripod and a prime lense handheld.

I did look at the A57 but the price is a bit much for me unless it drops. My intention is to buy one of the ones i have mentioned and add a couple of lenses by minolta which will probably bring it up to just over the price of the A57 .

One problem i have found is there are hardly any reviews of the A37 ...tons for the A57, A55 etc. Tried DXO, snapshot and DP review and none had any information to use as a comparsion.

Actually seeing as the A37 has the same sensor i'm assuming it produces the same or practically similar shots as an A57 in low light???? please do correct me if im wrong :smashin:

Anyway thought i would try the experts...erm thats you :thumbsup: so if anyone can help that would be great :thumbsup:
 
A580 is best for low light, slt has its own advantages.
 
Biggest difference will be a fast prime in low light. Doesn't matter how little noise you get on the sensor at high ISO if the shutter speed is not fast enough all you will get is motion blur. Look for a 35 or 50mm f1.8 as a starter (this also goes for IS, it will stop camera shake but not stop motion, only large apoertures wilkl do that).
 
(snipped for length, oo'er)
I'm stuck on which way to go whether it's the A37 new/refurb or A55 or A580 2nd hand so any help would be greatly received :lease:

When is the trip? The A58 is due out soon and it replaces BOTH the A37 AND A57. It may push the discontinued A37/A57 prices down.

With the 18-55mm the shutter will be the issue, you will not have sufficient aperture and very quickly run out of shutter speed regardless of usable ISO. On a budget I'd be tempted to buy a second-hand Sony 35mm f1.8 for a parade, depending on distance, the 50mm might be too tight a field of view. You'll have to look at 35mm vs 50mm images to judge it.

High ISO helps a little at dusk, but the difference between the A37, A55 and A580 is at pixel peeping level. At normal viewing sizes choose any as high ISO isn't going to get you out of the shutter speed problem. By all means look at 100% crops, but that's not the way your family will be looking at your pictures. :D

I'd get the A37 over the A55 simply because it has focus peaking and a better EVF on the A37. The rear LCD isn't as good, but that wouldn't bother me as I tend to keep my eye on the EVF and review the image in there.

I wouldn't get the A580 at all, with an SLT you get the 100% view finder and the video AF advantages. The A580 is a great camera, but since using the A77 EVF I've looked through the OVF of cameras (even the bright A850 full frame) and its like going back to the stone age.

Ultimately a second-hand A57 would be the one to get, but it'll be out of your budget.

A37, 18-55mm, 35mm f1.8 (or 50mm f1.8). Job done.
 
Iam with eddie on this one a second hand a57 with the 35mm 1.8 is a great combo ( i have one) love the slt design, rear lcd is excellent and the evf as eddie says if miles better than an ovf ( in my opinion owned a nikon d7000).
 
Okay, so youve had the positives for SLT & EVF, now the disadvantages

Lag
Dynamic Range/contrast/colour (WYS is not WYG)
Loss of light
Studio Flash issues (I know the A77 doesnt suffer)
Battery life

They do have advantages as discussed.

If they were honestly that great why arent other manufacturers using them in their pro lines? The A99 has bombed tbh, even Sony fans dont want it, partly/mostly because of the EVF/SLT design.
 
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twist said:
Okay, so youve had the positives for SLT & EVF, now the disadvantages

Lag
Dynamic Range/contrast/colour (WYS is not WYG)
Loss of light
Studio Flash issues (I know the A77 doesnt suffer)
Battery life

They do have advantages as discussed.

Never noticed any lag on mine?
I edit my pics in lr4 and cs6 so can tweek to my hearts content.
Light loss never really noticed any so it cant be a real world problem.
Dont use studio flashes.
Battery life, just buy a spare battery what are they like £10?

Cant the op go try one in a shop?
 
They all lag slightly, its not a individual camera/specific model issue.

Im sure you do, some people like to see a scene as close as possible to the real thing and not a tiny TV.

It adjusts for the loss in other ways, so whats your A57 noise like compared to the D7k at ISO3200? ;) So in fact it is a real world problem.

Not an issue for you, my reply was to the OPs thread, not your post.

£10 and the fact I have to carry a spare, you assume everyone uses 3rd party. A genuine is £36.


Did I say they couldnt? I wasnt sugar coating SLT/EVF, good to know both sides of the story, dont you think?
 
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Some people like slt and evfs and some dont, every camera has plus and minus points i agree which is why the op should go to a shop and have a go on one.
 
If they were honestly that great why arent other manufacturers using them in their pro lines? The A99 has bombed tbh, even Sony fans dont want it, partly/mostly because of the EVF/SLT design.

Strange, plenty of people over on the dedicated Sony forums who are very pleased with their A99's. many of whom are converts from A900's.

Why aren't Canon & Nikon using them - because they don't have to! They have plenty of things to spend their R&D budgets on making incremental changes to their existing cameras - and huge numbers of people who will only look at Canon or Nikon because "that's what their friends use" or "that's what the pro's use".

Sony, on the other hand, feel they have to really inovate to gain market share, hence the SLT & EVF direction.

Personally, from the short play I have had with an A77 in a shop, I prefer the A900 OVF to the A77 EVF, but I'd take the A77 EVF over ANY of the entry level 'pentamirror' based OVF's
 
Okay, so youve had the positives for SLT & EVF, now the disadvantages

Lag
Dynamic Range/contrast/colour (WYS is not WYG)
Loss of light
Studio Flash issues (I know the A77 doesnt suffer)
Battery life

They do have advantages as discussed.

If they were honestly that great why arent other manufacturers using them in their pro lines? The A99 has bombed tbh, even Sony fans dont want it, partly/mostly because of the EVF/SLT design.

That was the A33/A35(?) and A55.

The A37, A57, A65, A77 and A99 have the "setting effect off" option so it's not an issue. :smashin:

*As for the A99 "bombed", only Sony knows the sales figures. But if it has, then I don't think the EVF/SLT was the major issue, it was the price.
 
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Strange, plenty of people over on the dedicated Sony forums who are very pleased with their A99's. many of whom are converts from A900's.

Why aren't Canon & Nikon using them - because they don't have to! They have plenty of things to spend their R&D budgets on making incremental changes to their existing cameras - and huge numbers of people who will only look at Canon or Nikon because "that's what their friends use" or "that's what the pro's use".

Sony, on the other hand, feel they have to really inovate to gain market share, hence the SLT & EVF direction.

Personally, from the short play I have had with an A77 in a shop, I prefer the A900 OVF to the A77 EVF, but I'd take the A77 EVF over ANY of the entry level 'pentamirror' based OVF's

I can believe a few are happy, but from what Ive seen most/ a lot arent happy with the direction Sony went.

Why aren't Canon & Nikon using them - They know what the market wants and cater to it. I admire Sonys ability to push technology forwards but people dont want it half baked and forced on them. Its not just because of the badge, people dont buy a 2k body without knowing what they want from it or having been through a fair few other cameras first in the case of the pro systems anyway. I still believe Sony offer fantastic value in their base models though.

Eddie, its probably a combo of both, look at the D600 price and sensor performance.
 
I was going to mention the D600, but it brings out the "A99 is competing with the D800" crowd. Yeah in your dreams...

...well maybe for existing A900 Zeiss users it is, but otherwise you'd have to be a loon to buy into the A99 over the D800. Even I'm not THAT much of a fanboy. Of course if Sony are listening and are willing to loan me the A99... :laugh:

Have you lot seen the deal in the US? A99+VG+FM60 flash? Can't be selling well there if they are giving away the VG+FM60 for nothing with every purchase. :eek:

Anyway OP, the A99/D600/D800 is probably a tad over budget anyway... :p
 
I may go full frame towards xmas but it wont be the a99 not when i can get a second hand d600 for £1100 and the sigma 35mm 1.4 :) damn you upgradeitis.
The lower end sony models offer great bang for buck and produce excellent picture quality while being easy to use and easy to learn with, i think the op will be chuffed with whatever model he goes for.
 

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