Hot! First A99 full size RAW image samples at Quesabesde!
The spanish friends over at Quesabesde (Translation here) just published the very first RAW(!) full size samples taken with the A99. You are free to doanload them and post your comments on SAR. And…what is your pixel peeping eye saying?
P.S.: Original video test donwload file at videoacademy.ch/download/Sony-A99-File/00023.MTS (Beta-Firmware)
And below as usual you can find the preorder list to the A99 and the other camera and lenses. If you have time let me know if you can find more preorder links and I will add them on Alphacameradeals. Thanks a lot guys!
A99 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex UK, Wex Germany, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
A99 with kit lens links Alphacameradeals.
RX1 Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 body Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Wex Germany Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-6 with kit lens Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Jessops, Wex Uk ,Wex Germany and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG900 BHphoto, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH, Wex Uk and more links at Alphacameradeals.
NEX-VG30 Adorama, BHphoto, Wex UK, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 16-50mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals .
Sony E-mount 35mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony E-mount 10-18mm Amazon, Adorama, Wex UK, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH, and more links at Alphacameradeals.
Sony A-mount 300mm f/2.8 Amazon, Sonystore DE-UK-FR-IT-ES-NL-SE-FI-CH.
Redbird
9 months ago |Viva!Now I’m expecting for the Sony’s 36 MegaPixel FF~
admin
9 months ago |coming
emopunk
9 months ago |O_O
WTH
9 months ago |Hi Admin,
Do you have a hunch/rumor/fact on the approximate timeframe for this?
I Sony does bring out a 36MP in a FF or MF sized sensor….
I will go out and sink $$$ into every Zeiss lens just to see the brilliance of the combination.
Roberto
9 months ago |with digital, photographers appeared laboratories. Fortunately for Sony what matters is the public reaction with beautiful images, it is above DxO, noise or 36mpix.
Jules
9 months ago |High ISO = Disappointment
Geert
9 months ago |It will be OK in the hands of a good photographer.
ISO3200 looks rather clean and useable with good detail (bottle pics). Exactly what I need.
WTH
9 months ago |+1
It’s not great, but it is an improvement compared with all other Sony Cameras.
Geert
9 months ago |I just hacked the RAWfiles and opened them in CaptureOne 6 Pro.
ISO2500 noise is way better than ISO800 of A77 (both with NR turned off).
But I must remain honest: it’s not mindblowing.
WTH
9 months ago |+1
We need more people like you here, being able to state a fact objectively without any fanboy-ism traits.
Half the mindless faggots in these forums are behaving like iSheeples.
e.g:
Ahh it doesn’t need to be improved, its good enough, ISO is fantastic! Why put Wifi in it! OMG it is AMAZHING! It’s so shiney!
Milan
9 months ago |I think that noise is as expected. The sensor is probably in line with other modern FF sensors, but with the translucent mirror there is 1/2 stop (or a bit more) light loss, so no surprise.
Archer66
9 months ago |What firmware version ?
Frank
9 months ago |Let the crying begin…
obzilla
9 months ago |Sony, I am disappoint.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |Yeah that looks pretty noisy at 1600.
Leander
9 months ago |What a big disappointment =( its far away from the 5d III i would switch for zeiss but not with this crap body!
danny
9 months ago |With the 5DMarkIII at ISO1600 and RAW you get also some noise at 100%. I compared RAW from both and they look very much the same, if not better than 5DMArkIII.
ghery
9 months ago |Nope! 5d III is much better and we cant say the opposite
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Sure we can. Actually: we do!
lol
x
9 months ago |wtf!
danny
9 months ago |Some pictures are out of focus, ISO50/ISO100/ISO200/ISO400
dagump
9 months ago |or shakey
Kursad Sezgin
9 months ago |Big disappointment.. big time! … these photos are very similar to A77 noise tests… Wait for 4 years, after a disaster like A77, Sony comes up with another disaster. Don’t you guys in Sony make any tests or whatever before introducing a long-waited camera into the market?
Frank
9 months ago |Only people who don’t own the A77 think it’s a disaster.
Kursad Sezgin
9 months ago |Why do you think so? I had an A55V, then switched to A77, used it for about 2 months, then sold and bought an A57. I really wonder A99′s DxOMark scores…
sergei
9 months ago |You are wrong, look at the jpegs a99 produces, a77 starts falling apart at 640, while a99 are usable at 3200 and 6400!!! Are you kidding me. a99 is a great success!
dagump
9 months ago |actually the first test-images of the A77 looked very good either (maybe not as good as the A99, but better than reality)
I am just hoping that these test images are for real, would be a gread benefit for sony, because in my Point of view, at least ISO 3200 is important!
Poke
9 months ago |I agree. I remember being disappointed in the images of the 77 at 3200 and above. To me they never looked good before the release of the 77. My first impression with the 99 is that 6400>= to 1600 on the 850. That will work for me.
Frank
9 months ago |It comes as no surprise that you don’t know how to get similar output from A77 RAW files to that of the A57.
Kursad Sezgin
9 months ago |You may be right.. A55, A57, A77.. these are all very different machines with different RAW processing algorithms
))
WTH
9 months ago |/facepalm
JustAnyone
9 months ago |Totally wrong, I do own one, and when it comes to noise, autofocus and usability it definitely is a disaster
Frank
9 months ago |Yeah right, ok…
Poke
9 months ago |You talking about the 77?
WTH
9 months ago |I think he is talking about his own thinking process…
Because the A77 is a pretty fine camera.
It’s not strong in the ISO and focus, but it can hold its own ground.
Rick
9 months ago |A77′s pixel density is much higher – therefore there will be more visible noise. We see that when you compare the Nex7 to the 5n, the 7′s files are much noisier. The A99 has the same 24mp on a FF sensor which will yield better low light performance and less noise.
To say it’ll be as “bad” as the A77 is just troll ignorance.
C
9 months ago |And yet the d800 has 36mp AND better pixel-level detail and less noise than any of these photos…
The whole megapixels = noise myth was destroyed upon the D800 release
Rick
9 months ago |Until better comparisons are available – a few hasty pre-production shots aren’t exactly a comprehensive test – I’ll reserve judgement.
The D800 has its own issues as well.
Tess
9 months ago |+1
woonder
9 months ago |anyone knows if the timelapse function is inside?
or do i still need this external adapter?
laval
9 months ago |I have no interest in the a99 or the RX1. I’d really been hoping for a FF mirrorless with interchangeable lenses. Big disappointment.
Johne
9 months ago |vg900?
Sky_walker
9 months ago |then why comment?
Eugene
9 months ago |not very convincing!!! the dynamic range and high ISO are terrible… A99 primary focus is obviously on video capability which is not much of my concern… I’ve waited for so long and now might consider a move to the dark side
rampy
9 months ago |To the white side… Canon
Rolleiflex
9 months ago |I think you should just move on. Otherwise, I have to hear more of your moping. I’m currently a Sony shooter. Will I buy this camera? No, because it doesn’t have what I need. And so it’s puzzling as to why you are still here when high ISO is your priority (sony is never known for its high ISO capability). On the dynamic range part, please show me a convincing comparison between this camera and another FF. you are just trolling.
Karl
9 months ago |So for me one of the big questions is …can the a99 be tethered???I have read that it can be operated via remote pc connection … Is that what I think it means??
and when do you think well see the 36 version admin?
John Thomas
9 months ago |This question has been answered about 100 times already. YES it has tethering.
Rolleiflex
9 months ago |LOL, and I bet he would use it only once. I don’t understand the obsession with tethering. It’s nice to have, but for the large majority of subject out there, it’s not needed.
John Thomas
9 months ago |I think tethering was one of those “sony doesn’t have it so Im going to bitch about it” things.
Now that it has it, I’m sure there will be many other things for the F.U.D. (fear, uncertainty and doubt) mongers to scream at the top of their lungs.
Karl
9 months ago |First of all thanks for the reply , I haven’t been able to keep up with all the info on the release. Secondly, 90% of my work is done in a studio situation where high detail is necessary and i( for the most part)don’t always use professional model and therefor makes communication alot easier for both parties…… It works very well for me….just sayin’
Robert Bell
9 months ago |I like the idea of tethering it to a tablet while out on the field shooting landscapes. Mined you that means buying a tablet too!
Yeah.. What?
9 months ago |My business provides Photo booth’s for all types of occasions…. I don’t do any other photography work (its a second job)… So unless im shooting for fun, I’m ALWAYS tethered.
zzvisual
9 months ago |OFFTOP. It would be cool to have possibility to eject the translucent film rack and use the camera in the fully mirrorless mode with sacrificed PD-AF from the external sensors.
fsjal
9 months ago |+1
Poke
9 months ago |Maybe I am not as particular as I thought. I was always a bit concerned with Sony because of their past dealings with noise. I did not look much at the lower iso’s since most cameras nowadays handle low iso well. Does this camera compare to the 5Dm3 or 800 in the high iso category? I cannot tell at this point. Sony does have a lot to prove with any of their cameras above a 16Mpix. I was somewhat relieved. At this point shooting at 3200, I know I need NR software. The image I saw at 6400 was every bit as good if not better than 1600 on an 850. I was somewhat encouraged by the kitchen shot from the raw group. With a little NR work I believe I could even use the 12.8k with satisfaction. I am still more disappointed with the placement of the selectable focus points. No excuse for that shortcoming. Would have liked WiFi. Probably would not have used much but would have liked it. I will limit my present remark to somewhat negatives because this response would be way to long with all the things I am excited about. My preorder stays intact.
sergei
9 months ago |My first reaction the AF array was also negative until I saw a Chinese presentation with two boxers, a99 had no trouble following the action and locking focus. Sony did a great job. Jpegs are as good as Canon 5Dmk3 I was eyeballing for the past 2 weeks.
Poke
9 months ago |I believe this focus system will be second to none with regards to accuracy and speed. Grant it most of the time your action shots will be centrally or near centrally located. This will be no problem. Also for non action shots you can recompose your shot if you want the subject positioned on a third. It would be nice not to have to recompose your shot but no biggie. Also if the subject tracker works well than a non issue. In my case, I am sure there are other instances, my daughters dance and when they are in a group but are positioned to the side, it would be nice to set the focus at that point to ensure they are in focus at the same time I am getting a larger group in the shot. Can work around it but would be easier if there were more peripheral points.
WTH
9 months ago |+1
I am glad some people are raising this up. Sony needs to be slapped for this.
Especially in reusing the A77 PDAF module…
The center grouping of focus points on the sensor PDAF is apparently due to the problems encountered with legacy lenses or 3rd party lenses. As the center of the sensor will usually get the sharpest focus.
Sony apparently added some sort of funky filter to assist.
For the sensor PDAF to work perfectly, the lenses will have to change, and the lenses characteristics will have to be stored into the camera to understand.
HOWEVER, this doesn’t stop Sony from tweaking the A77 PDAF module though it was slapped on to assist the Sensor PDAF. Why they didn’t make the A77 PDAF module cover the entire frame is a mystery to me. I am guessing probably because they didn’t have the algorithms to work out the priority of focus, like how Canon cameras work.
There are examples of Canons 1DX focusing system in action that does what Sony is boasting about with their dual PDAF without the hassle of the user inputting in anything to the camera.
Joel
9 months ago |You’ve got to be kidding. The 5D3′s look great all the way up to 12800, the D800 up until around 6400 and the a99 appears to be falling on it’s face around 4000 – producing mushy, soft jpegs. There is however a little hope for the raws when combined with reasonable NR and sharpening by the looks though. As for the those commenting the DR, it actually looks pretty bloody amazing, particularly at 3200.
So yah, I doesnt really look like it’ll run the with the other two at high ISO, but Sony system owners definitely dont have too much to be upset at. It looks great at the lower ISOs and the AF system appears to be one of the better ones out there – particularly in terms of video.
ArnikFFM
9 months ago |Looking closely at the 1.600 – 6.400 ISO ranges I have to say, that the quality is not bad at all, considering the motives used, which are far away from any practical scenario.
I tested and had no problem to denoise and still keep sufficient detail, even in magazine sized prints; may be not suitable for an A0 poster size, agreed.
Now someone should show me a better performing shot of those scenes of a camera in roughly the same price-range, please!
If it is for stills, in such a situation I would make a 5 shot bracketing and consolidate in HDR, anyhow and get a much better result for sure!
And by the way: I would have used a better lens, anyhow!
Dirk
9 months ago |Totally agree.
For me the High Iso is absolute ok, and when as you did, denoisung is applied the results would be usable for large print such as A2.
I’m so curious about how my a99 (I got confirmation that I’ll get the first one from my premium reseller)will work with my Zeiss’es and the G.
@High-Iso-Complainers
To be honest, how often are you using settings beyond 1600or 3200?
The only situation I do is when p&s’ing on a party or a concert. And in those situations I give a damn, if a picture has some noise.
These theoretical debates ’bout high iso are tiring.
Poke
9 months ago |Unfortunately Dirk, I shoot a lot at 3200 and would love to shoot at 6400. Night games with alway less than adequate lighting (soccer, football, lacrosse and baseball), Inside events such as basketball, volleyball and dance. I cannot say that I am disappointed with the initial high iso results. 6400 looks pretty good to me. The final fps kind of shocked me for what was suppose to be a clear advantage of SLT. But if I could truly shoot 12 frames in 2 seconds than that would be more than enough. I never could reach the stated fps in my nex anyways.
Steve
9 months ago |+1
What the Dirk’s of this world do understand is that some of us get paid for our photos and I’ve been using a borrowed Nikon d700 for ISO 1600-3200 shots and would like it if my next Sony could do a better job.
The old Nikon is just a bit cleaner than my a850 and when I spend 3k or so for my next camera I want it to do much better above ISO 3200 if it can.
Poke
9 months ago |Do you think the 99 is that camera or is the jury still out?
Dirk
9 months ago |@Poke & Steve
I know that there are Pro’s running around having need for much higher ISO capabilities.
But to be honest – you are not the majority of the potential customers.
It is elaborate design to create sensor/components/algorithms which is not in the economical budgetary range of Sony.
@Steve
I’m not one of the “smart-ass-Dirks’ than a far-sighted guy taking more than one thing into account.
However, my question was more directed to the amateurs (not earning money with low light shots) who enlarge to 100% view on the screen and searching for noise evidence, just to jump on the “high-Iso-Horse”.
If highest quality of the capture is the personal aspiration, and man would be capable of achieving it if only the high iso would be better, then I’d accept such complains (and this includes then also you professional photographers).
But for the rest I’d say just learn to groove your skills including composition, white and color balancing, contrast, and don’t complain over a non-issue if the tool is able to do many other things better then ever before.
Raph
9 months ago |I really wanted to get this A99… ISO is not the problem for me, I use A77 at ISO1600 max without problems, so A99 would in terms of ISO be perfect for me. But what i can´t understand why Sony put this tiny AF-module into A99, probably just to have an option where they can in “improve” in the future!? Maybe I´ll wait for that A1 36MP FF!
e
9 months ago |GUYS the a99 is $2800 but the D600 is only $2100 =
Nikon Saves me $700 – Wow that Big
PLEASE – Is there are features comparison list side by side that anyone knows of? I am trying to better understand, what Sony wants the extra $700 for??
emopunk
9 months ago |I guess they want it for your soul.
John Thomas
9 months ago |Yes, but you’re stuck with an old-fashined and has-been technology like an optical viewfinder…. the video is totally sub-par without any auto focusing ability and no ability to do 1080p60.
C
9 months ago |LOL, the OVF is has-been? The a77 evf was terrible in daylight. I can almost see the benefits in low light, but it was far too dark and had less dynamic range than the sensor which made it useless in daylight.
Also, we were told that SLT came with benefits like super-high frame rates. Yet the a99 is only the same speed as the 5d3, which uses a proper mirror and viewfinder. Guess that “benefit” turned out to be BS! Why does the £600 a55 have 10fps, but the £2500 a99 only have 6fps?
aaron
9 months ago |You cannot call what the a99 does in video as decent video autofocus. It is a bastardization of video. Everything at f3.5 and shutter speeds jumping all over the place. Plus it will probably be that cropped software stabilized abomination.
The Nikon has clean video and it will be able to be shot at the size of the sensor for proper wide shots. There is a reason the a99 is mounted on a dslr rig with a focus knob.. Because this is the exact same thing you would need for you nikon.
This is a Sony a77 from processor to af module to memory (hence slow fps and small buffer). They just stuffed a full frame sensor in there and cranked up the price 1300$.
This camera should be called the a79. And to have a 24mp sensor that seems to eb outperformed at high iso by a 36 that they sold to their competitor and no kit lens (showing how interested they are in keeping alpha tech updated).. its crap. Sony sold out the pros for cnsumer nex market and is now trying to sell us a patchwork motely of old parts in the hopes we buy it and continue to buy old lenses to clear out ancient stock.
sergei
9 months ago |Well, about 6 hours ago I had my eye on D600 too. Sony offers a full frame that is Better at tracking things Dual AF module (you can see the on sensor half in Nex 6 – works like a charm), Fantastic Live View vs Dinosaur technology in D600, Tremendous Peaking Mode (non existent in Nikon), Real Time WB and Exposure settings preview. You can see how your Flash is applied for a split second in the view finder – I LOVE it in my a77, Much Better Direct Access to controls and Quick Navi Pro – all of these goodies in the EVF (try that on any Nikon) and a TILTABLE SCREEN with Live View and FAST Focus, the rest is similar. You are getting the newest technology, D600 is a dying breed, all for $700 extra
P.S. Nikon 39 AF points are also in the center, but Nikon lacks the Second on sensor set of 102 af points.
Monty
9 months ago |… and you forgot one of the most important feature because it`s normal for Sony users
the Super Steady shot which provides image stabilization also for 50/1.4 – 85/1.4 and my favorite 135/1.8 Carl Zeiss lens.
WhiteDesertSun
9 months ago |Yeah but I’m not sure the 5DIII can autofocus well during its burst.
The speed of the camera is determined by more than just sheer fps, in my opinion.
EnoughSpecs
9 months ago |Advise to all the nincompoops here: stop looking at the specs, DxO, Photozone or other crap. They mean nothing. It is only marketing to fool you.
Learn photography, figure out what you like and what you need and test the tools in your own hands. Then you can make some sense and possibly write something interesting.
Bqueue2
9 months ago |Wise words. A lot of unnecessary vacillating and spurious criticism going on here. I do hope that the critics own work is flawless in it’s execution and creativity (except for the slightly excessive noise at ISO 3200 of course). Admin, Might a gallery for them to exhibit their exquisite work be a popular addition to SAR??
Nico
9 months ago |Not sure what people are complaining about. In capable hands the iso is very good actually. The test shots show real world scenes and not test charts. The noise is controlled and with decent grain holding the edge detail. Those that are complaining must either just hate Sony or not be familiar with the other brands issues.
x
9 months ago |true.
lhkjacky
9 months ago |Still waiting for DXO Mark Result.
I expect A99 High ISO score should at least the same as D800 if not better.
Spoon
9 months ago |> 75%QE? No way, you will be disappointed then.
C
9 months ago |I think it will be close to the 5d3. Not even close to the d800.
Spoon
9 months ago |Uh, the difference between the D800 and 5DmkIII is about 0.31EV, *less* than a third of a stop. So if it’s close to one, it would be close to the other.
Alan
9 months ago |it is 24 megapix(more megapix perform weaker in higher iso) but for what i see for the example pic overall it is nice! reason is because they are even taking picture in darker place! (darker place more easy produce noise) but the result shown in 3200 still not bad..only in 6400 start appear some noise clearly but still useable! so this a99 totally did a great job i believe that very much! in day time or under “enough light situation” the quality picture is just like a beast! a77 already a beast in very low iso which no camera can beat.a99 surely is better than that! im in!
John Thomas
9 months ago |First off, its obvious these samples were all shot without any tripod or any controlled environment. You’d think all the measurbaters out there would demand some kind of controlled environment to make accurate tests they can jerk off to.
These were obviously quicky shoot, change ISO, shoot, change ISO, shoot. Hense the blur shots at low ISO. It was very dark in there.
I think the camera does an amazing job at high ISO. I own an a77 and I agree with the other poster above that my a77 starts to get a little dicey at 800 and above. I could easily use the 3200 and 6400 on the a99 without a second thought.
Also, this series of tests abviously has the noise reduction turned on where as a lot of the samples we saw yesterday had it turned completely off.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |Without a tripod and no controlled conditions? What like everyday real world shooting you mean?
passer-by
9 months ago |Real world test requires real photographer. Controlled test put emphasis on hardware performance.
shamb
9 months ago |I have never seen an image taken with the a77 in any test, where a comparable alternative APS-C camera’s image would have been accepted for stock, whereas the A77′s would not, assuming competent shooters.
High noise on the A77 may be more pronounced, but its as unnaceptable as on any other comparable camera, and all of them would have been rejected.
I’m sure all this talk about high ISO is more about ability to measure minute differences rather than any lack of practical ability of the devices.
The A99 vs anything else will be the same story: ‘its bad because its not the best!’, when neither the best nor worst are acctually acceptable above almost the same level.
Frank
9 months ago |With the A77 you also have the option of down-sizing the image. It gets even more difficult to tell the difference then! Try it!
Andrew
9 months ago |This is a bit off topic, but does anybody know what model of headphones are in the photo above? They look really sweet
Frank
9 months ago |MDR-1RNC maybe?
sergei
9 months ago |Sony’s latest creation Sony MDR-1
El Carnicero
9 months ago |Andrew: I believe they’re custom for that rig. They bear a resemblance to the ZX:
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666437655
But also look to have more of the V6 with the ZX styling:
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665089914
Frank
9 months ago |Did you miss the two comments saying MDR-1RNC?
I have the V6 and they are nothing like that!
El Carnicero
9 months ago |Yeah we all replied at the same time. Sigh.
Ncguy
9 months ago |I think they are really good. 6400 is perfectly usable.
I´m
9 months ago |Two things…
…at first the images show how important the photografer is and what happen if somebody don´t know the basics. The camera is only a tool…
…and the ISO performance of a Nikon (D3s or D800E) isn´t so good too. Very good pictures with high ISO is like a myth. They all have the same problems in RAW…JPG has to be forbidden like integrated flashes in such semipro cam´s.
Monty
9 months ago |Fully agree and I like to see some pictures made with A99 and CZ50/1.4 or with
CZ 85/1.4 or my favorite lens CZ135/1.8 and not with a kit zoom
And from my point of view it`s not only to compare specs … it`s the usebility of a camera.
So I absolut don`t understand the holy grail of high ISO.
In case you get out of light, you can use a tripod and if not available/possible to extend the exposure time (in most cases) or
on the other way to raise ISO.
Super steady shot brings at least 2 f-stops which means a camera without
stabilization (and I´m not talking about zoom lenses) should have the
same ISO-performance at 12.800 which the A99 has at 3.200
So for me the SSS is more important that high ISO quality because finally
I prefer a “grainy” picture than an unsharp one.
Joe
9 months ago |I’ve gotten usable ISO 6400 shots off of my A77. Download Lightroom, go into the Develop module, and slide the Luminance bar to the right ever so slightly. It is not that hard.
Rick
9 months ago |+1
Exactly. And with a lower pixel density and larger sensor the A99 will be better in low light. Waiting for better raw’s to appear, but 6400 looks to be very usable when pixel peeping – it should be great at normal print sizes or on the web where most photos seem to wind up these days.
Tess
9 months ago |THE NOISE ARE BACK IN TOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Waiting one year for nothing!!!
Big big big disappointment! A shame!
El Carnicero
9 months ago |Compared to…? A 1DX? Sure, pay the extra money for that…
WhiteDesertSun
9 months ago |Boohoo cry some more.
I swear some people just go into broad daylight and set their iso to 6400 just for kicks. Outside of being a sport shooter, I can’t imagine why anyone would care that much about high iso.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |Good job you’re shooting Sony then.
hugo
9 months ago |these are out-of-the-camera jpegs with god knows what jpegs settings and noise reduction level, and with the pre-production firmware. On top of that half the shots are misfocused or blurry.
imho it s a bit early to make any conclusion.
Vell
9 months ago |Being a wedding photographer high ISO is important when shooting in low light churches that do not allow flash. That being said, the ISO on this 99 looks a lot better than that on my A850. I’m happy with what I see so my pre-order stays.
danny
9 months ago |For those Canon/Nikon boys, take a look at this at ISO6400, also a decent amount of noise if you aske me, http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/studio-compare#baseDir=%2Freviews_data&cameraDataSubdir=boxshot&indexFileName=boxshotindex.xml&presetsFileName=boxshotpresets.xml&showDescriptions=false&headerTitle=Studio%20scene&headerSubTitle=Standard%20studio%20scene%20comparison&masterCamera=canon_eos5dmkiii&masterSample=5d3_5218.acr&slotsCount=4&slot0Camera=canon_eos5dmkiii&slot0Sample=5d3_5218.acr&slot0DisableCameraSelection=true&slot0DisableSampleSelection=true&slot0LinkWithMaster=true&slot1Camera=nikon_d800&slot1Sample=dsc_0258.acr&x=-0.4043898809523812&y=1.6312745030117897
jim
9 months ago |That comparison shows canikon are just as bad in high ISO.
Patrick
9 months ago |Precisely…or rather put: Sony is as good as they are and there is nothing to envy.
High ISO is a great gift given by digital photography. In my earliest work, a Contax G2 with a 35mm/2 and 400 ISO film allowed me to shoot in most low light situations bar candle light. The advantage of a mirrorless body was that I could shoot up to 1/4th or 1/8th and get sharp-ish results of people if they did not move too fast. All else was sharp.
A99, like NEX and now RX1, give you that benefit (no mirror shake) so add to that a great ISO 3200 (as I see in the photos) and if you cannot shoot under those circumstances, well…you suck.
WhiteDesertSun
9 months ago |Well said.
Ha...
9 months ago |Why you guys keep comparing this POS A99 to the wonderful D800 or the exceptional 5DIII, only here has someone dare to compare and equalize the A99 with those two, or even a D4 (just because fps???!!!). A99 is just an excuse to build a FF sensor, to say that Sony has a PRO division. Just an A77 on steroids. Not meaning by that that it is even better, it’s just muscular. Let’s face it… I’ll be back when DXO gives a veredict, but we all know what’s gonna happen.
saiman
9 months ago |What a disaster Sony made with A99… what a huge disaster.
I can only hope that maybe it’s again Sony’s pre-production firmware that is to blame.
‘Cuz I also saw the camera having problems in properly exposing the shots… if you watch closely the videos of CameraShop or Charles.. you’ll see many of their test shots are underexposed… and the exposure continuously changed during the test video… giving the flickering effect.
Hoping these issues would be resolved by the final firmware… otherwise D600 is gonna kick its butt in every possible way.
Cliff
9 months ago |All this A99 vs. 5DIII stuff is not a fair comparison.
Remember, in the 5dIII you don’t get a pellicle mirror with a separate phase detect auto focus system.
Comparing SLR with SLT in a high ISO shootout is not a fair fight. (not fair to SLT)
CT
(everything in life is a trade off)
saiman
9 months ago |But the reason Sony lowered the pixel density in A99 compared to A77 is so that this camera performs the best in low light.
And, now we see even ISO1600 has noise with NR on.. and already losing details…. no matter how bad the focus or handling of these shots are… this atleast can easily be made out. Still, I hope the final production model would be better.
I think the reason it generates more disappointment is because this site entitled A99 as the “High ISO King” even before its release, pushing it to comparison with the 5DmIII.
danny
9 months ago |The pictures are RAW not JPEG.
Spoon
9 months ago |“But the reason Sony lowered the pixel density in A99 compared to A77 is so that this camera performs the best in low light.”
They increased the sensor size. Not quite the same, see D800 vs D7000 (same pixel density, same technology, different SNR due to size difference).
Rick
9 months ago |Exposure changing during video isn’t the fault of the camera, its the moron’s operating it. If you leave auto ISO on or shoot in AV or TV mode, exposure will jump around. Either switch to manual or hit the AEL button to lock down settings. Its that simple and EVERY camera left on auto exposure will do the same thing.
To call a camera a “disaster” the day after its released with no comprehensive tests is troll bait. Please.
saiman
9 months ago |I agree… it is early to express my disappointment out loud over this pre-production firmware… And, like I said, I’ll be waiting for the review on the final firmware.
About the test videos… I wouldn’t really blame the testers here… ‘cuz Sony cameras used to handle exposure changes during video smoothly and gracefully, i.e. when shot in modes other than M… as I’ve seen with the A77 test videos… or even videos from my NEX-5N exhibit this same behavior of smooth transitions between exposure changes… So, I feel that the flickering problem of A99 definitely is because of the pre-production firmware here… which should get fixed by the final release.
Another problem I should mention about the A99 video is its softness and heavy NR artifacts… I see people are also complaining about aliasing. Check out this test video of Charles straight from the camera, if you haven’t yet done so:
http://www.videoacademy.ch/download/Sony-A99-File/00023.MTS
It is certainly not a problem of the sensor, as videos from VG900 using the same sensor looks tack sharp. I’m not sure if Sony intentionally want to keep A99′s video quality like this.
Steve
9 months ago |Hay, it’s too early to panic…………
Yes,many of us are disappointed over one thing or another with the final specifications of the a99, and yes I would have liked to have seen USB3, a real statement of support for tethering in Lightroom, bigger buffer, and a new Zeiss lens or three just to make the point that Sony doesn’t plan on being a number three camera to Nikon and Canon.
But let’s wait to see how the camera images before we panic about Sony and let’s see how well the new AF works in the real world and wait to see how much better the IQ is on the fixed lens $2,800 beast is over the a99.
I expect the new RX camera to image better than the flagship a99 with its SLT
We are know that the RX1 will score better and show better IQ that the a99 just like the NEX-7 did to the a77.
John Thomas
9 months ago |“Statement of support for tethering in lightroom”….
Woudn’t that be an adobe issue and not a sony issue? Wouldn’t adobe have to add this into Lightroom?
It’d be like Adobe saying they only support RAW if you use our way. Every new camera has to wait around for adobe to add support at its usual snail’s pace.
I’ve had a RX100 since the day it was released and adobe STILL doesn’t support its RAW, ecept for a beta that bugs you to death every time you open a photo.
Steve
9 months ago |And I’ve had my a850 for three years and a a700 before it.
Right now if I need direct LR connection I use a Nikon d700
Sure its a Adobe issue but vendors work together on stiff like this
Sony might need to create a plugin, that’s all I was saying.
lhkjacky
9 months ago |Let us guess what ISO score will A99 get in DXO Mark?
D800 is 2853 ISO
5DMk3 is 2293 ISO
D700 is 2303 ISO
5DMk2 is 1815 ISO
A900 is 1431 ISO
A99 is ???
danny
9 months ago |D800 is highly overrated on DxOMark, the noise is everywhere.
5DMarkIII is much better at high ISO and gets a lower score.
I cannot trust DxOMark readings anymore.
I expect A99 to be close to 5DMarkIII and better than D800.
zeref
9 months ago |bhauaua better?? bhayaya
Steve
9 months ago |I would like that to be true
just need to wait and see
Spoon
9 months ago |The 5DmkIII does not have less noise than the D800, DXOmark is right. Supported by practise (scroll down to the bottom):
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d800-d800e/24
lhkjacky
9 months ago |DXO Mark test compare actual sensor performance by normalizing the image to the same size, similar to printing two images on a printer.
If compare at 100% zoom, for sure, 5Dmk3 has less noise than D800, because it got less pixels, larger pixel size.
But if they output to the same size print, D800 will get a slightly better result. Just like dpreview up-sample the image and compare at the same size.
danny
9 months ago |Even at same size, the D800 has more noise.
C
9 months ago |Except every objective scientific test disagrees with you. Canon sensor tech is a couple years behind Sony. Look at the terrible dynamic range which didn’t improve from the 5d2 to the 5d3. Same with high ISO.. the d800 is much better than the 5d3 for any given print/viewing size.
Joel
9 months ago |Have you shot with an 800 Danny? I own one which is used to shoot editorials and I’ve also handled a 5D3 over a few evenings whilst doing some shakedown testing with a mate. I can tell you with some confidence that the a99 wont come close in terms of noise and sharpness at high ISO based upon the images that I’ve seen so far. What I’m most interested in however (and I’m sure many others would agree with me) is it’s sub 1600 performance.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |They’re a scientific lab, there not in Nikon’s pocket.
WB
9 months ago |2000 about
Poke
9 months ago |2050, I hope.
Rick
9 months ago |It should outclass the D700 and the 5d3. I get the feeling the new Sony sensor in the EM5 would come close to those two if DXO would actually test it, but they seem to be having issues with the EM5 as they’ve had it for months and not produced anything. The A99 sensor should be pretty close to the D800.
Robert Bell
9 months ago |EM5 close to the d700, what planet are you on? The a99 will be a little under the d700. iso 2000 if it lucky.
Sean
9 months ago |Is anyone actually able to open the RAW files? What program is even able to read them?
Steve
9 months ago |Yes,does the a99 have ACR or LR support already?
El Carnicero
9 months ago |Talk to Adobe. It’s not for Sony to make Lightroom compatibility.
Spoon
9 months ago |Adobe doesn’t support them yet. That will likely take quite a few weeks.
DCRAW engine (in my case Rawtherapee) opens them but lacks a matching color profile, resulting in a red/magenta cast.
Based on the brightness difference between the RAW file and the resulting jpeg, it does seem that the A99 meters pretty low compared to middle grey again for more highlight range/ smoother highlight rolloff, at the cost of some noise. And thus a similar “understating” of ISO’s as seen in the NEX 7, A77 etc.
And of course resulting in the usual flawed comparisons (Dpreview studio comparisons included) because of that. Should be fun.
Steve
9 months ago |Sounds like everyone just needs to calm down till Adobe updates it’s RAW and maybe by then Sony will have shipping FW ready too.
I for one have a workflow backup in Lightroom/PS to keep me busy for now and photos to take at a event Saturday, all of this more important than comparing a camera that is not released to cameras that are
But I do need to add………..where are all of the new full-frame lenses rumored for the A-Mount?
Sky_walker
9 months ago |2 got already released, other 2 in Spring 2013. As for any more – we have no idea.
Steve
9 months ago |Sky,
I know about the Zeiss 50 in the spring but what is the second lens?
Did I miss this or is this new info about a second A-mount full-frame lens in the spring of 2013, right after the world come to an end this December in 2012.
danny
9 months ago |Sony PMB can open them, you can inspect the images at full zoom but you can’t edit.
Spoon
9 months ago |Are you sure you’re not looking at the embedded jpeg then?
Because if it would be able to read the RAW file with the correct profile etc., I don’t see a reason why you can’t edit.
Joel Richards
9 months ago |I’m really surprised no complained about he moire in the video. So I’ll be the first. There’s still some obvious artifacts. Worried because the same sensor is in the VG900.
saiman
9 months ago |also, videos appear too soft.
Slaven
9 months ago |That MTS is more ugly, than anybody expected.
Moire, aliasing, noise, soft – and nothing on the good side
camcorp
9 months ago |Matthew Jordan Smith will be shooting the rest of the Fasion Week at CreativeLive with the new A99!!!!
https://twitter.com/Matthew_JordanS/status/246257679616585728
Kursad Sezgin
9 months ago |I hope he won’t shoot JPG’s, since RAW’s are not yet editable
Chris
9 months ago |hi fellow SAR readers..
I’m a NEX 7 user and I’m joining a photography contest with my Sony NEX 7 at the moment.
If you don’t mind, could you please vote for me by go to this link:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/09/shooting-challenge-16-shots-of-simple-elegance-vote-for-your-favourite/
and choose Chrisdian. It would be very appreciated.
Thanks guys!
Sören
9 months ago |If you want people to vote for your pic, just upload a good one,
simple as that
BigP
9 months ago |quality from jpg is great! iso 3200 super!
Thank you Sony!
Gunnar
9 months ago |i don`t know if any of the photos i`ve seen so far from the A99 can be judged..they all looked shaky or out of focus, no idea who does this kind of test pictures and even uploads them.. also, most High ISO photos looked underexposed which usually shows far more noise then slightly overexposing. but i come to not value reviews too much anyhow..
Jack
9 months ago |Just because a99 doesnt have better ISO performance than d800 or 5dm3 doesn´t make it a bad camera! Gosh since when is it: “if it’s not the best, it’s bad”? The a99 has so many awesome things going on that make it a great camera and all you can do is complain about noise. IMHO what Sony has always lacked in ISO performance, it makes up for in excellent colours and very intuitive menu system and handling.
poke
9 months ago |I agree but Sony should be able to eventually match their competitors in that arena. I do not see a reason for them not to improve and I hope they have. Just because they have a poor history with noise a higher iso’s does not mean they need to keep repeating the same short coming. It’s time to take the next step forward.
Jack
9 months ago |p.s. stop pixel peeping! Those images look decent enough on screen (which is where you’re going to watch photos 95% of the time anyway!)
derbarrett
9 months ago |I dont know what the hell people are complaning about!! The high ISO shots look pretty damn good to me. At least 2-3 stops better than my A77 and A850. I rarely ever take these cameras above ISO 2000 but from these pics ISO 6400 looks very usable on the A99!
poke
9 months ago |I thought the same.
BEAUR
9 months ago |You guys are crazy, it looks way better than my 5dmk3
WTH
9 months ago |We expected better.
poke
9 months ago |I don’t know about that.
Dave Reid
9 months ago |Looks like a dead pixel in the video sample.
Randy S.
9 months ago |Just looked those raw photo’s and they have been denoised VERY VERY poorly. Not sure what app they used but that just pretty bad denoise not BAD noise. I will see if I can find a a99 raw to down load and denoise,
WTH
9 months ago |Did anyone else notice that Sony was very quiet about the A99 release unlike the A77?
I wonder why…
Randy S.
9 months ago |Yeah all those are denoised in the amazingly crappy sony IDC on auto it looks like. I can’t open the files in anything else it seems.
Abit77
9 months ago |I need 70-200/2.8 G-II
Si
9 months ago |I’ve got a series one for sale if you are interested?
Si
Si
9 months ago |I think the results, even this early on, look very encouraging and I for one am looking forward to reading the reviews and see more sample images. I find it laughable that anyone can dismiss the camera this early on based on a few sample shots. Surely it is better to wait for the big reviewers and tests to get their hands on the camera then we will see.
If it turns out half as good as I expect my only problem is going to be get rid of the a77 and non FF lens (sigma 8-16mm) or the A850 and CF cards!!!!??????
Si
Stef.
9 months ago |The main worry that I have at the moment and I sincerely hope I am wrong is that the new super fast AF system only supports a handful of lenses and we have to wait for further firmware upgrades to make older lenses compatible. We neither know which lenses will be supported nor when. In a nutshell: if you use a non supported lens than you have the same 19 point AF system that we have in the A77, so no real gain.
Also who knows whether third party lenses will ever be supported? For my taste there are too many unanswered questions and I am not even talking about image quality, noise or other, but plainly about one of the most important parts of a digital camera, the AF system.
Stef.
Cliff
9 months ago |All those complaining here about the ISO noise. Why do you guys think you can get something for nothing? The SLT mirror comes at a price. You cant deflect light from the sensor and still complain about ISO noise. You are getting PDAF for a price.
The sensor is calibrated to crank up the gain a bit to cover the lost light. I dunno how much,..could be additional +3db or maybe even as high as +6db.
Stop comparing the A99 performance to a camera that has an open optical path to it’s sensor. (Canon 5DII) If you want PDAF, the laws of the universe say you must pay proportionally for it.
CT
bollocks
9 months ago |notice to all nerds out there
specs, marketing tossers, dxo, photozone etc don’t mean anything. don’t base your purchases on that crap, go out and learn the abc. and try the toys in your own hands. then we can talk…
RossF
9 months ago |Is it just me or does that video sample look TERRIBLE! To my eye, it’s really lacking in detail and covered in aliasing (false detail and dancing pattern around the logo of the cooler) and moire (weird, blue-ish colour blotches on the table between the cooler and glasses).
In fairness, it looks like this was shot in a fairly low-light setting but it still doesn’t look promising at all. I wanted to love this camera as a true stills/video hybrid but the video just looks…well…bad!
bollocks
9 months ago |ouh, you must be a real expert, can we see yer jewels?
Cliff
9 months ago |No kidding. Color swirling around the etching of the metal in that wine cooler. Look at the rims of the glasses. Pixels hitting and missing all over the high frequency areas.
That’s what you get when you take 24million pixels, throw away 22million and keep 2 million.
This is a terrible sensor for video.
Mark my words, Sony Pro will NOT allow FF Handycams and Alphas to exist by themselves for video. You can bet your life there will be a FF NXCAM pro camcorder at next years NAB. FS100 style prolly.
Imagine a FF sensor with only 3 or 6 million photosites? My God…talk about a photon sucking light vacuum cleaner!! What would that be? 15 micron photosites? That’s massive!
CT
Clifton
9 months ago |High ISO on the A99 looks great and for me, the camera will be a fantastic upgrade to my A700, which is the main point on the whole camera for many people. The Nikon DXXX may have some points where it excels over the A99 and the same for the Canon XDmkX, but no camera ticks all the boxes for everyone and no camera will ever exist so these endless, meaningless and often juvenile comparisons are utterly pointless.
Nobody is going to jump ship every time a rival brand releases a new camera that can do 1/2 a stop better ISO than your current camera but to hear people talk on ‘teh webs’, they sound like they are incapable of taking another photograph without it.
I do want Sony to lead the field, but they probably never will, I know for certain that a Sony camera will never hinder my photography. I hope for the sake of marketing and idiot brand-ites, they can show off some strong images in DX0 / DPreview / whatever else style comparisons, as these seem to be the sole way that people can gauge how good or bad a camera is.
aaron
9 months ago |sony is neglecting their alpha line for their nex series. No lens refresh, using last years aps-c tech and just putting a sensor in it and trying to sell it. ugh. so depressed
Poke
9 months ago |I am not following you. Are you suggesting that the 99 is just a FF 77. I don’t think I can agree with that premise. The 77 is a fine camera but a 99 it is not.
andre pestror
9 months ago |A99 Finder view?
My friend has the A77 and the finder view size is comparable to something like the nikon d7000, the d800 view is much larger, just wanted to clarify that the new A99 having the same evf as the A77 will indeed look much larger? I can’t imagine a FF body with the A77 finder view?
aaron
9 months ago |Yes that is what I am saying. The a99 uses the a77 viewfinder (which is much larger then the d7000), same body, same back lcd, same buttons, same weather sealing approach, same CORE AF system, and seemingly same processor and memory which explains the 6fps limits until you scale back to APS-c size. It has the same crappy AF focus video (yes it autofocus fasts but with its extraordinary limitations of shutter speed that cannot be fixed without a lot of mucking and force crop/forced software stabilization which if it was being built for real video work would be done in post. it is leagues behind the competitors, the only real advantage the a99 brings (besides sony’s new midrange FF sensor) is the dial in the front and clean HDMI out. And clean HDMI out is merely a firmware setting that they restricted in the a77).
So tell me – aside from the sensor how exactly does this differ from an a77?
What’s annoying is that Sony clearly doesn’t care about this market. They didnt put any effort into producing a new lens that was video optimized for alpha range and instead passed the buck to zeiss. And zeiss has lots of 4 year old zooms to clear so they have no incentive to produce new lens to compete with their stock. The 50mm will be great and expensive but when you slap it on with the video crop it will be somewhere up in the 70+ mm range so will only be good for a very narrow spectrum of video shots.
Sony did the minimum effort to bring out this camera and the only reason they are marketing it as a video hybrid is so they can sell their new flash and sound system. When really. the GH2 pawns the video functions on this camera in everything except shallow dof and maybe, just maybe noise control in lower lighting. If you want functional AF in video and clean sharp awesome footage – look to the GH2. When the gh3 debuts peoples jaws are going to drop.
Unfortunately Sony knows one thing well – when they got people by the balls. I actually will buy this camera because I cant get clean low light shots with flash on my a77 past iso 800 and even by 400 I am regretting the noise/detail loss and painting/smearing aberrations.
So I will buy this new a79 in the hopes that I can clear 2 more stops of light but I wont buy old, non video optimized zeiss glass. I will slap my a77 kit lens on it and wait until next year in the hopes they actually do the alpha lineage justice. And this is not a purchase I will enjoy. Man I sound like a grumpy old man but they should have:
-fixed video stabilization to use in body, not this software crop crap
-put some more work into opening up the range of AF functions including being able to set shutter speed without pointing around to find something black, hoping for 1/60th or 1/120 and hitting exposure lock
-developed an appropriate AF system for a full frame camera that covers the sensor more apprpriately and has more cross sensors instead of using some kind of mirrorless point and shoot tech of on sensor af which will probably be one more obscurant to light
-Improved the view finder resolution, refresh and low light noise
-fixed blinkies. Blinkies are so useful and sony limits them to this microscopic thumbnail view with a massive histogram.. Histogram is barely useful, blinkies are very.. FREE THE BLINKIES! have a blinky button! Do that Sony and ALL IS FORGIVEN ya bastards.
Yong
9 months ago |Sorry, but why sony said the dual AF is first in the world huh? Is there any diff between this a99 AF and 650d AF? Sony one better?
Joel
9 months ago |I really had hopes for the high ISO performance of the a99, but frankly it appears that Nikon have once again done a better job with the D600, someone processing the data coming off Sony’s own sensor far better than they can themselves. In this case the difference appears to be well over a stop. Even at 1250, the out of focus areas in the image look as lumpy as cottage cheese. Can only hope the raws are better. :\
A900 Tog
9 months ago |Ok, not sure what some of you have been smoking this week but I can verify most of these samples show a similiar noise performance to my D700 and significantly less noise per pixel than my A900. Just logic alone should dictate Dxomark scores representative of a 24MP version of the mighty 36MP sensor tech. Taking into account Sony’s more lossy but superior color separation matrix and the 0.4Ev slt loss we are still talking at least 14 –5 stops of dynamic range, 25-26 bits of color depth and an ISO rating around 2400. If only they could acheive 10fps we would have had a superior competitor and not an as good as camera! Stop worrying and wait for the real raw samples and tests first. What will be interesting to see if they intentionally criple the RX1 as without the SLT mirror that camera should set a new DXOMark record, as should the D600, Nikon will have to intentionally use lower spec components in the rest of the signal chain, can you imagine the annoyance of D800 owners if the D600 trumps it on sensor performance!!!
Don’t forget the AF system could potentially better both Canon and Nikon also.
Cliff
9 months ago |After seeing the new FF 24mp sensor, I think im going to wait for the new Sony FF 36mp sensor. I’m expecting much higher resolution and better ISO performance.
A900 Tog
9 months ago |Hey Cliff, based on the fact both of these sensors were developed at the same time I really doubt a 36MP version would realise better high iso performance, quite the opposite in fact. I’m positive this camera will be at least as good as the 5D III in terms of noise and it will absolutely 100% have a lot more dynamic range, better color depth and better color separation…just wait and see!
Cliff
9 months ago |Yeah, I know…I was just making fun of a few people here that think the new 36mp is going to be all that.
Hell,..if I could have Sony build my own camera, it would be an A99 with 16mp FF sensor. Remove the SLT mirror and leave a good contrast AF with an empty mirror box. (leave nothing in between lens and sensor.) I do like EVF
hollo
9 months ago |The camera mesure the light after passing the slt therfore you have to compare the iso sence 0.4 x higher on the sony vs any other brand.