[kitefarrago]

I too am in the market for an A77, and am waiting for availability to improve so that prices come down a bit before buying one. I am, however, a long-term Minolta/Sony person, and all my lenses are A-mount, so I have reason to stay with the system.

On the Sony board of dpreview http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/fo...lr-talk-forum/ there have been a lot of discussions on some of the major controversial issues, such as the following.

- Is the EVF up to following fast moving objects and how does it perform under various light conditions?

- Is there a problem with the sensor as far as noise goes (certainly there seems to be general agreement that the jpgs have very heavy-handed noise reduction).

- What is the autofocus like (though this is mostly in comparison with other Sony slrs/slts)?

There are a lot of people on that forum who have personal experience with the Sony A77 (and fewer with the A65) who have written quite extensively about it. Also, there have been a number of bird photos posted variously taken with these two cameras.

I would very strongly recommend sitting down with a hot drink and a couple of hours to spare and reading back in that forum. Yes, there's some stupid stuff (in particular about the noise issue, where you get some fairly ridiculous feuds), but there really is a wealth of information on there. There are a reasonable number of bird/wildlife photographers on there who are happy with their Sony A77s.

Personally I'm looking forward to replacing my Sony A700, but I have no personal experience with up-to-date Nikons or Canons which might be alternatives.

Andrea

[Graham Holsey]

Gary

Well I have had the A77 for last three months and have been impressed so far. With the 70-300G lens which is very well balanced the results have been good but I have wanted more reach so have just invested in the 70-400G after debating whether to buy the sigma 150-500OS or 50-500OS. After reading numerous reports I have gone for the sony 70-400G based largely, I hope, on IQ. To date the weather has been mainly dank and wet here in Norfolk so have not really had a proper opportunity to try it out.
I have put some of the pics with the A77 on Flickr - have a look at Hols51 - will give you some sort of idea of the camera and the 70-300G. Remember please still learning to use it and hopefully results will improve!
Also, the 16-50 lens as a "kit" lens with the A77 is just very very good.

All in all I am more than happy with the camera and now I have the 70-400 am keeping my fingers crossed we have some decent weather so I can use it.

Anyway - see what you think of my pics to date.

Cheers
Graham

ps - I think it starts to get quite noisy by about 1400, but personally try and keep ISO setting below 1000 most of the time so not a major concern.

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by Graham Holsey

Gary

Well I have had the A77 for last three months and have been impressed so far. With the 70-300G lens which is very well balanced the results have been good but I have wanted more reach so have just invested in the 70-400G after debating whether to buy the sigma 150-500OS or 50-500OS. After reading numerous reports I have gone for the sony 70-400G based largely, I hope, on IQ. To date the weather has been mainly dank and wet here in Norfolk so have not really had a proper opportunity to try it out.
I have put some of the pics with the A77 on Flickr - have a look at Hols51 - will give you some sort of idea of the camera and the 70-300G. Remember please still learning to use it and hopefully results will improve!
Also, the 16-50 lens as a "kit" lens with the A77 is just very very good.

All in all I am more than happy with the camera and now I have the 70-400 am keeping my fingers crossed we have some decent weather so I can use it.

Anyway - see what you think of my pics to date.

Cheers
Graham

ps - I think it starts to get quite noisy by about 1400, but personally try and keep ISO setting below 1000 most of the time so not a major concern.

I feel the same about my a65, some iso 1600 images are grainy but others have been quite good.