Buy A99 instead of my A700?

Is it worth the price when I am not at all interested in Video.

Reason is age of A700 and that I shoot a lot of semidark shots, and even though I almost only shot with my Sigma and Tamron f2.8 lenses I am often in noise trouble as I do not think the A700 deliveres when exceeding ISO400.
I almost never carry my tripod or monopod, but use available support.

Should I consider competition (price for old gear will be an issue I suppose)?

Thx all

Alternatively, consider the A57 which has excellent low light capabilities by all accounts. Couple this with the latest version of Lightroom (4.2) and you can eliminate noise as a factor. This combination will be less than a third of the cost of the A99.

That said, the A99 is one hell of a camera.

I don't know... I kind of like a little noise when the lights are lower. Adds a bit of nap to the shots.

Now I'm not one to discourage purchasing a new camera... But consider the used prices on a700's aren't really worth giving up a great second body... Could use it as a float trip camera? Might make a nice backup to the a99. If you're printing large images, then sure, the a99 will make a noticeable difference. But with a little effort... just a little, the a700 stands up pretty good in my book... all the way to 6400iso.

I don't find this 6400iso noise objectionable at all.



And that's a crop from this...



Here it is at 100%...



Now... I don't know about your clients... But I'd be hard pressed to find one of my clients complaining about this photograph on the basis of noise. Even printed to 16x24, it will hold up well for interior display.

So forgive me if I don't understand the comment about "Noise trouble". So it's not perfect... So what? Spend the extra $2500.00 and get closer to perfect if it's very important to you, and the publishing you do. You'll like the a99 quite a bit. But you can get a great deal of quality out of what you already have.

One more... For web view, even with the 60% crop, it's not difficult to remove 6400iso noise completely and still keep image quality pretty snappy.



Edited by Photosopher - 08 November 2012 at 00:43

@Photosopher   Thanks for taking the time to add a little perspective to things. Its a good reminder.... the A700 is a FINE camera.

.... its a good thing my wife doesn't read this forum. I may have NEVER got the "pink pass" for my A99!

On the other hand if you do print large then the a700 wouldn't be the way to go as the image samples the photosopher provided would not hold up to scaling upward. Down is fine, but up would be a no go for me.

I'm not arguing about the a700 being a great cam, I loved mine, but it does have limitations based on your final output.

I actually find myself loving the look of grain in my photos more and more, perhaps to my own detriment ;)!
I'll post some soon and see if folks around here are appalled. Hahah
That being said I still think you would be more than pleased with any of these cameras. And with proper PP amazing things can happen.
I have personally opted to get the a99 but for more than just noise, although it does contribute.


Edited by MedsRX - 08 November 2012 at 03:04

the a700 is a very capable aps-c camera that now is showing it's age - as you noticed.

when you want better lowlight capability, any camera that Sony designed after the a700 nowadays does a better job.

the a99 is in quite a different league. the fact that it is a FF camera can give a quite different type of IQ and it will also be capable of rendering fine color nuances better then aps-c.

a more logical choice in my opinion would be a a77.

i do not want to put you off of the a99. i have one myself (replacing a a900) and it is a very good camera. but is a totally different beast and far more then "just a upgrade".