05-02-2011, 08:08 PM
Dear fellow pursuers of fine photography,
I am a longtime user of Minolta/Sony (D)SLR equipment and I would still be happy if I wouldn't have taken up wildlife photography. My current combination is a trusty Alpha 700 with the 70-400 G SSM. The latter is a very sharp lens yielding beautiful results in combination with the A700 - provided the AF was fast enough to capture the elusive subjects - especially birds. My camera definitly has no AF issues, but the system shows its age and the 70-400 has the fatal tendency to defocus and refocus slooooowly, especially in difficult lighting, because the A700's fast and precise cross sensor only works at 1:2,8 and higher. The base line: I'm missing too many good shots in the field. I know that Nikon and Canon have both better AF systems. If I bought, say, a Canon 7D with a 100-400 - I read the recent test and IMHO it should offer a similarly high image quality as the 70-400 G - would this system be significantly better suited to wildlife photography? The other (and cheaper) option would be to wait for autumn and Sonys mirrorless A77, but I am not sure whether an electronic viewfinder would be helpful in wildlife photography and it is not sure whether the A77 will have a better AF system. I shoot the A700 up to ISO 800, sometimes up to 1600.
Thanks in advance for your valuable input!
I am a longtime user of Minolta/Sony (D)SLR equipment and I would still be happy if I wouldn't have taken up wildlife photography. My current combination is a trusty Alpha 700 with the 70-400 G SSM. The latter is a very sharp lens yielding beautiful results in combination with the A700 - provided the AF was fast enough to capture the elusive subjects - especially birds. My camera definitly has no AF issues, but the system shows its age and the 70-400 has the fatal tendency to defocus and refocus slooooowly, especially in difficult lighting, because the A700's fast and precise cross sensor only works at 1:2,8 and higher. The base line: I'm missing too many good shots in the field. I know that Nikon and Canon have both better AF systems. If I bought, say, a Canon 7D with a 100-400 - I read the recent test and IMHO it should offer a similarly high image quality as the 70-400 G - would this system be significantly better suited to wildlife photography? The other (and cheaper) option would be to wait for autumn and Sonys mirrorless A77, but I am not sure whether an electronic viewfinder would be helpful in wildlife photography and it is not sure whether the A77 will have a better AF system. I shoot the A700 up to ISO 800, sometimes up to 1600.
Thanks in advance for your valuable input!