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bmadau
May 13, 2008 2:55 PM
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This review is wholly inaccurate and I'd be more than surprsied if the reviewer spent more than 5 mins with the camera before returing to his Canon equipment.
For a review that actually has some meaning, though also not without some inaccuracies, see dpreview.com before passing judgement.
Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Sony DSLR-A700?
How does Sony's new DSLR stack up against the like of Nikon and Canon? The A700 has excellent image quality, but is let down by design quirks and the high price
What do you think? Join the discussion. |
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fogfire
May 13, 2008 3:15 PM
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This writer would have done better to have plagiarized another review from someone who knows something about cameras, vs clearly having scanned some forum posts.
This is the most unprofessional bit of "writing" I have ever seen.
Let's not talk about judgements.. I will just catalog the errors:
First of all the A700 is not a replacement of the A100, the A200,A300, and A350 all updated the entry level DSLR segment for Sony.
AS to it being the same.. only a fool would think so..
The A700 has a metal body, larger LCD with 900K pixels. Supports ISO 100-6400 (A100 topped out at 1600)
Did I mention an entirely new user interface, the addition of three use memory spaces, much faster Auto focus, a larger viewfinder with a real prism, PC sync terminal for studio flash, HDMI output for HD TVS (first DSLR to have this), TWO memory card slots, expanded dynamic range. This is Semi-pro camera.. but except for all those features and differences it is just like the A100 (NOT!!!)
Actually with Quick Nav UI.. the A700 back LCD works like any DSLR LCD. I can press one of many dedicated buttons and spin a wheel. The "writer" has about three more clicks then are required, not sure if this is because he spent 3 minutes with the camera a department store or just needs to be a Fanboy for another brand.
As to battery drain.. I have shot 800 shots on one battery.. some with flash.. Again he assumes he knows how the LCD works and is pretending he actually carried the camera out of the store. The battery issue is a fabrication..you don not turn it off after every shot.. what a load of lies that is. also the A700 has a magnisum shell if he had read a single review or press release or the sony site he would have know this.. so I assume he is lying here because he likes another brand.
As to speed the A700 supports UDMA CF cards which the 40D doesn't I have knocked out 100+ Xfine jpg shots at 4-5fps with no pauses.. but if you put a cheap card in you get what you pays for..
I can't speak to prices in Australia.. but I can tell you that 90% of this review is load of dingo's kidneys...its up to you to decide.. after reaading a real review and looking for a store to hold the camera I can tell you there is nothing useful here to help you choose what camera is best for you so I will not argue conclusions here.. just point out that most of the "facts" are errors or lies.
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TManson
May 13, 2008 8:18 PM
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This is the worst review of a camera I have ever read. It is the same review as this one: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/156456/sony-dslra700.html, and if you read the comments there, you will see the same story.
Dave Stevenson has obviously not done any research on this camera - he doesn't even know what it is made of! The price is a straight conversion of the UK price - not the price in Australia, so even that is wrong.
If you have read this far, do yourself a favour, and completely ignore this review, and go and read one done by someone who can read and write. But if I must, here are some of the things that are wrong:
The usb connector is a standard one.
If you buy an Australian A-700, the grip sensor stops the LCD turning on, so there is no impact on the battery.
It doesn't take 1 sec to start up - and I own one. I have no idea where he got that number from.
The lack of secondary LCD - this is an obvious bias based on another system - I haven't had one for years, and haven't missed it.
Changing ISO - very easily done in 2 steps.
And the list goes on and one. Dave Stevenson should be ashamed.
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davidkilpatrick
May 13, 2008 9:33 PM
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This is a disgraceful review which makes incorrect statements about the prodict repeatedly. Example, his comment on changing ISO - guess what:
Press ISO button (no need to hold it, one press)
Turn front wheel - full ISO steps change 100/200/400 etc
Turn rear wheel - 1/3rd steps change 100/125/160 etc
Visible in finder, visible on back screen
No need to confirm, whatever you do next, the ISO has been changed - just press the shutter and resume shooting
Faster than either of the competitors mentioned, and with the clever bonus of the front and rear wheels giving access to full steps or finer tuning
If you punch the rear controller centre button after pressing the ISO button, you get a larger full screen rear display and in this mode the front wheel and the rear joypad up/down both adjust by full steps, and the rear wheel by third steps
This is just one small example of the author either being completely ignorant about DSLRs, or just so stupidly biased he couldn't bother to use the camera at all.
Also, the A700 bears no resemblance to the A100, is not based on it, and is an entirely different camera with a different size and construction of body, controls, and user interface.
The entire review is cojones. |
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HUM469
May 14, 2008 3:24 AM
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You have got to be kidding right? This was a late April Fools joke I hope. After all, I have never read a review before that had a factual mistake in almost EVERY paragraph. I can't say he just didn't get around to handling the camera, he didn't even read the spec sheet either.
Paragraph 1: It's specs pitch it slightly above the 40D. Not by much, and individual opinion plays some part, but still..
Paragraph 2: Lack of change? Did he look at the photo at the top of the review here? First there is one dial instead of two. There's two control wheels instead of one, buttons are all different, there's a whole new user interface. There's a difference in size, construction, screen.... the only thing that's the same between the A100 and the A700 is the Sony logo, and the orange A.
Paragraph 3: Changing the most used settings isn't any different than changing them on the competition. The only difference between the A700 and the other two is that the A700 buttons are easier to reach for many while shooting once they know that they are placed to be reached by one's thumb. As for the lack of a top screen, ergonomically they don't make sense on digital, but I understand some prefer the familiarity.
Paragraph 4: How exactly did they test that the screen was any more of a drain than any other? Sony reports 650 shots per 1650mAh charge. In the real world, that's gotten me 3 days of shooting with heavy flash use and lots of review in Mexico, as well as 4 days of shooting and review in the Grand Canyon, both with a single battery, single charge. This is one of those areas where the reviewer should have used an A700 before pretending to write about it. Then of course there is the comment about startup. All of the cameras, A700, 40D and D300 fire off their first frame in less than a second from the time one can hit the power switch. There is no delay in any of them but human ability. And finally, the A700 goes into sleep mode just fine, I don't turn mine off for days at a time. Button spacing is a personal preference, but there's no splaying involved for anyone bigger than my 9 year old daughter.
Paragraph 5: The A700's "professional-quality magnesium-alloy" body is every bit the equal to the 40D, except when it comes to sealing. I know that Sony does not claim to be splash proof, but there are seals all around, compared to the 40D's dust foam in the memory card and battery doors only. My A700 handled the waterfalls of Havasupai just fine. There is nothing proprietary about micro USB connectors. They might be newer than mini-USB, but they aren't proprietary. Fine, the D300 has a full size HDMI, but then it is also a bigger body with more space to spare inside and out.
Paragraph 6: The A700 will shoot 20 frames in about 4 seconds, for a tested rate of about 4.95FPS, and it will do that until the card is full. The only way to slow it down is to use a really slow card, or enable the highest DRO settings. The 40D cannot ever get close to 6.8, but will manage a little over 6 frames (6.29 tested) with a fast card, though the buffer fills at around 100 frames depending on the card used, at which point the rate drops to 3FPS, while the D300 slaughters both when using the battery grip.
Paragraph 7: This is the most accurate paragraph here, but then IQ is all subjective anyway. Of course you can also switch to a dedicated manual focusing mode if one does not wish to hold the button as indicated.
Paragraph 8: While I suppose it isn't factually wrong, it's funny because in the paragraph before he complained about the kit lens being small. Presumably that's because he feels lenses are supposed to be the big, thick IS lenses of Canon, so having no need for IS lenses should have been a drawback if his logic were to be consistent.
Paragraph 9: We have already seen how wrong he is on the build, the speed, and the specs of both the A700 and 40D, now he just rehashes them. Of course a lower price would be more competitive, but then he compares the kit price of the A700 to the body price of the 40D. That is flat out intentional misrepresentation to artificially increase the difference between them. That kind of purposeful misrepresentation is despicable.
Paragraph 10: Opinion passed off as fact. Sony did do better. If the A700 does not suit his opinions, then he should state it as such (preferably after using it, or at least reading the fact sheet). As it is, the A700 competes on everything but LV, and chooses not to compromise photographic ability for the sake of the latest gadgets. For LV use, Sony has other models.
I really don't think this review could be any more incorrect, even though he clearly tried to be wrong. Want a real review, check out DPReview.com |
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al.
May 15, 2008 3:52 AM
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This "review" is a joke, right? "The A700 is virtually unchanged from its predecessor, which was based on only minor tweaking of the venerable Konica Minolta Dynax 5D." Huh? |
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geller
May 15, 2008 11:57 AM
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I don't mind Sony's DSLR's. The A200 in particular - nice high ISO 3200, under $1,500, anti-shake. I hear they have Live View in the 350 too (not that I'd use it). |
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fogfire
May 15, 2008 3:11 PM
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Based on the Editors lack of interest in publishing.. so many major errors in a "review" I would consider the rest of this site of questionable value.. Good sites take corrections and fix them.
No one here, not one has asked for more stars or someone to proclaim the A700 editors choice.. everyone is entitled to an opinion...
However, a site that pretends to be an "authority" should care if it publishes major errors.. this site doesn't care.
What does he think would happen if they published a 40D review saying it was an update to the 400d with a plastic body and very little change.. I suspect there would be even stronger reaction.
Excellence is an attitude.. this side clearly doesn't have it.. move on to another site if you need accurate reporting.
You can read the lack of concern here:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=27930768
While the editor might like to pretend this is "histrionics" from "fanboys" all we ask is someone care about accuracy.. |
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William Maher
May 15, 2008 3:37 PM
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Hello fogfire, we appreciate your comments - we're working through your comments and if there have been factual errors we will post a correction shortly. |
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HUM469
May 16, 2008 1:43 AM
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William, here's a quick list of the factual errors:
1 - Body is a magnesium alloy (though there are a couple of plastic trim pieces) wrapped around an aluminum alloy full skeleton called duralumin, basically aircraft grade in strength to weight ratings. It is also sealed around all buttons and access panels, though Sony does not advertise it as splash proof.
2 - The button and control layout is dramatically improved over the A100. One can see some of the changes here http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/sonyDSLRA700/images/7da7002.jpg. The A700 looses one control dial and replaces it with a bunch of dedicated buttons (WB, Drive, ISO, etc). It also gains an extra control wheel for more flexibility. It also does not require any different steps to setting common parameters contrary to what the reviewer posted. The controls are definitely not "unchanged from its predecessor" as your review states.
3 - Speeds are all wrong. Sony claims 5FPS and countless reviews have timed the A700 between 4.91 and 5.11 FPS at all but the slowest speeds. Start up time has been tested to anywhere from 0.5-0.7 seconds from off to first frame recorded and buffer is virtually unlimited with a reasonably fast card. The A700 has been noted as having one of the highest throughput rates out there, at 35 - 40 MB/sec so UDMA support is a real asset to it, and one most users would be well advised to take advantage of. Ironically, your reviewer also got the speed of the 40D wrong. While Canon advertises it's frame rate as 6.5FPS, most tests out there are unable to get more than 6.3 and that is with the important caveat that shutter speeds must be faster than 1/500th. In typical speeds between 1/250th to 1/500th, the frame count per second drops quite a bit.
4 - The USB port isn't proprietary, as a primarily computer related publication, I would hope all of your people would recognize a standard micro-USB plug when they see one. Common on many newer phones, MP3 players and compact cameras, there's nothing unique about it.
5 - Some other factual errors; the Canon cannot have better ISO 6400 results since it does not have ISO 6400, the battery is good for several days of shooting under real world conditions, the D80 isn't a competitor to the A700 as they are different classes all together based on speed, controls, customization, etc. Finally, holding a button isn't the only way to be able to focus manually.
There are also a whole ton of features conspicuous only by their absence; DRO+, custom settings, MR settings, AF speed, AF accuracy, dual memory slots... I understand that there might not have been room for a comprehensive review. But when so much is left out to begin with, it seems reasonable to assume that what is included will at least be factually true. This particular review is a sad affair because it is so limited, and even then some 85% of it's "facts" are wrong or misrepresented. |
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geller
May 16, 2008 8:09 AM
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Aren't you quibbling over fps test results? |
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William Maher
May 16, 2008 5:16 PM
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This review has now been corrected. Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate your comments. |
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fogfire
May 19, 2008 2:34 AM
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You have corrected less than HALF of the errors, sort of. The Magnesium body includes the sides also the back a panel which is mostly an LCD and controls is indeed plastic over the Aluminum Frame.
I think the USB correction is a fair assessment. as this new USB cable standards is still being adopted by more companies. It is not as easy a cable to find.
Battery comments are still Hooey.. I took two batteries to Europe for a Week and Where I Took over 1300 shots, and never once has to unpack my charger. This is comments that makes is clear the writer is making up experiences with the camera he could not have had.
However,
After a tacit positive comment the review launches into its most major error!!!
The camera is significantly changed from the A100:
> Metal body
> Better viewfinder
> Larger Hi-res LCD
> Totally new control layout including a joystick vs button pad.
> Two right hand control knobs instead of one
> Only one know on top vs two on A100
> Much fast AF that has been tested as meeting or beating the 40D,
> PC synch terminal for studio flash
> and most importantly an entirely new User interface called Quick Nav which is enabled in a menu easily. (The camera starts out in a new user mode, which only someone didn't take more 10 minutes with the camera would know)
Examples of the Quick Nav system are easy.
Changing ISO takes pressing the ISO button, the ISO is highlighted on the back LCD and spinning the front wheel does full stop changes or the rear does 1/3 stop.. that is it!! No extra clicks or pressing of any button to confirm this. For more complex settings like drive or WB, one press of the button then spin the front to change sections like going to timer, then back to wheel to do sub tweaks like 10 sec or 2 sec, this is really nice for things like WB and bracketing where it is quicker than any other system I have used for changing. And I can change 90% of settings without moving my hands from shooting position.. try that with the Canon 40D or Nikon d300.. you can't.
What you see in the summary I have written is that the writer could not have used both cameras as he tries to imply, could not have even looked over the manual (both available for free download from Sony) Could not have even looked at two sets of pictures of the bodies or spec sheets before writing the review.
The Editors of this site still don't get it. A positive opening rewrite followed by totally erroneous information from which a negative conclusion is made is not a fix to the errors.
I would be much happier if the opening paragraph was the same and the facts were correct.
For users who have sadly stumbled on to this mess I would offer.
This review from a Canon user who clearly still likes his Canon but did a really accurate review including talking about how well the Sony UI works, but still admitting he prefers a top LCD to vs the total hogwash in review here at PCAuthority.
http://photo.net/equipment/sony/a700/review.adp
You can look here too:
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_DSLR_A700/
http://www.neocamera.com/review_sony_alpha_a700.html
Also here is great overview of the A700 by a Professional Photographer who traditionally uses Canon.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/Sony%20-A700.shtml
One of the most complete reviews full of opinions I don't agree with but very accurate in facts etc. is a DPreview (you can google it since DPREVIEW is blocking links to this site, I will not do DPREVIEW the favor of linking back from here to be fair to PCAuthority)
Adding a couple of positive adjectives than still having half the review recount total misinformation is not a fix it is paint over rotting wood.
I would invite the editors here to read some of these reviews to see how much error they have published here around the comparison of A700 to the A100/KM5D(which I own) and about the navigation interface.. if they understand the level of error here and the care about the reputation of this sites information, they will be embarrassed.
Again leave the three stars and the bits about the writer liking the Canon better.. just get the FACTS right please!!!
> |
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GOLB77
Jun 5, 2008 9:25 PM
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It's a SONY and it's pricey. That's about the most accurate part of the review.
www.Jobspeed.com.au - Australia's most straight-forward job site |