Test drive Sony a77

[mithrandir]

This thing has a lot of pixels - 6000x4000 in 3x2 aspect mode - so the image is scaled to 1/5 each way to get under the 200KB limit.

You can manually focus fairly well with the electronic viewfinder or the LCD.

Sydney back yard about 23:00. 16mm 8 sec f/3.2 ISO1600. A bit of leveling to drop the sky glow.

[Astro_Bot]

Not bad.

I realise it's almost heresy to suggest something other than Canon for astrophotography, and there's so much support and software for Canon EOS, so that may not be too far off, but nevertheless, I'm interested to see the Sony Alpha range stacks up, particularly the transluscent "mirror" ones (SLT).

(I have some Minolta A-mount lenses for my analog camera body, and wouldn't mind being able to re-use them, but don't want to buy TWO digital cameras).

[gbeal]

Ah, a welcome cohort. well done. I have had the a700 for a while now, since they came out, and honestly, it is a great camera.
The only snag with anything other than mainstream is the availability of software as RG pointed out.
In my case, when I use the a700, I have a cheap e bay timer/intervalometer, and just pre-program a series of exposures.
The a77 is a fine looking camera and teamed with a couple of Zeiss primes would be great for astro use.
I am having as much fun more lately with the Fuji X-Pro1. Same deal, no software, and even worse, it has a completely manual cable release socket, so an intervalometer/timer won't work (well I haven't found one yet).
Enjoy it.
Gary

[Poita]

You can always use one of these for the Fuji:
http://tempusall.bymac.org/

[ZeroID]

Sony = Konica Minolta once upon a time.
I have a KM Dynax 7D DSLR and that has been my workhorse for years on motorsports and now Astro. I am contemplating a Canon only because of the support and software available for this hobby. Otherwise my DSLR seems quite capable (despite it's age and only 6 meg resolution). The controls let me set up to 30 secs and ISO 3200 max and the noise level is quite good. I also run a remote lead with it's own timer so I can exceed the 30 sec limitation but I'm mostly constrained by the LP glow in the end. I wish it had remote software and live view of some sort as they make good glass but it is danged hard to focus without PC viewing and control.

[Omaroo]

Yep, I intend to get one for my Leicas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrBd8ckJ6Yw

[mithrandir]

This is just the latest addition to my Minolta/Sony collection. My first camera was a Minolta rangfinder. I still have an XE/1 I got new in 1976, a Dimage7 (the first consumer 5Mpx camera) that cost the earth and eats rechargable AA batteries alive, an a200 and now this a77. There is a bit more cash in the pipeline so I'll be looking for a reasonably fast telephoto. Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM maybe. Sony know how to charge for their big glass.


Just a quick test. Any longer exposure or higher ISO and I had an almost white sky. It came down to trying to avoid the sodium vapour illumination of the trees on one side, and the eaves on the other.

Having the image stabilisation in the body means every lens that provides its focal length to the camera automatically gets anti-shake. There are M42-Sony adapters with user specified program chips to fake the data but I can't find ones for T-threads.
I might see if I can get an M/C to A adapter so I can try my 1977 Vivitar Series-1 70-210 constant aperture zoom.



Gary, I just wish Sony would release an SDK and add remote control to the non-pro cameras. All the a200 accessories fit too, including e-bay sourced intervalometer and lightning trigger.



And just Minolta before Konica bought them out when Minolta lost a patent war.