Thoughts of the future, from a Sony Alpha A700 user...

Sony Alpha A55

 The release of the A55 and A33 translucent mirror DSLR(s) has been met with mostly positive reviews and I have to admit, I like the idea of no mirror slap. Still, I find the A55 to be less than satisfactory.

So, like so many other A700 users, I'm looking to the future to see what Sony will offer in the A77/A7XX DSLR camera body.





Dual Compact Flash Slots & FPS

Let's face it, I don't use Memory sticks, pro or otherwise. Why? Because they are expensive, too small, and too slow. I've also seen them fail on me. Like the plastic cracked open. Never seen it on Compact Flash cards. I can get 32GB 600X compact flash cards from several manufacturers for a decent price. I really can't say the same for Memory Sticks.

32GB Goodness
600X(90MB/second)

If Sony wants to keep the MS slots, sure. But let's be practical and make it 2 Compact Flash slots. I also want user configurable settings for how to use those slots; split recording, auto-spill over, raw to one and jpeg to the other, redundant writes in case one card fails... etc.

I love my A700, but there really are things I hate about it. 2 slots, but I have to manually switch between the two... huh.

One of the limiting factors of consumers being able to achieve the documented FPS is because of slow cards.. you know, like those Memory Sticks. If you use both sockets/slots, even with slower memory cards, you'll be able to get those higher FPS.

Speaking of FPS, being able to get consistent FPS would be amazing. 10FPS @ RAW until my card was full would really make my day. So would 5FPS @ RAW until my card was full.

Thinking About The Past, Present, and Future

The Journey Here

As has been the case for the last decade, I've been a Minolta/Konica-Minolta shooter, and by virtue of Sony buying out the photography assets, a Sony shooter. My current camera, the Sony Alpha A700, has been in my use for coming up on three years now, and it has been a complete joy to use.

Macro shot with Sony A700 and extension tubes.
©Wing Tang Wong [Gallery]

I've taken the camera to the Everglades and shot alligators with it. I've shot parades with it, in the rain. I've photographed my daughter and been photographed by it, by my daughter.