Modelshoot with the Sony Alpha 99

Last week I showed some streetstyle photography with the Sony Alpha 99.
Because I mostly shoot models it’s of course also a good idea to test a camera in that situation, so today some images from a recent modelshoot with Lenaa.
Actually these were shot during her testsession.
Some images might be considered not safe for work, although I think they are not, but it will vary per country.

Let’s start very simple.
The sensor of the Sony is awesome, this really took me by surprise. I’m always someone that will say “It’s not the gear, it’s the photographer” but when someone asked me what camera to buy I would always say “Buy a Canon or Nikon, just get a feel for the one that fits you, both are great”, now I will have to add the Sony. To be 100% honest I’m more and more beginning to have some sort of romance with the camera :D, it’s a shame that in a few weeks I will have to give it back to Sony……

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it blows the Canon 5DMKIII out of the water, far from that…. but the combination of the glass (lenses) and the sensor does make the Sony a REAL competitor at the moment for Canon and Nikon, and I strongly believe that this is a good thing (a very good thing), the more competition the better the next Canon and Nikon will be, right? Pricing wise I do think Sony has to change some things at the moment it’s a bit pricey considering the glass I have with it.

A sensor only will not cut it of course, with the Sony it’s without any doubt also the glass they gave me to play with, and I do realize that if you put lesser glass on the camera it will probably be a bit less “stunning” but still it’s a very interesting camera due to the EVF. In the previous reviewblogpost I mentioned that it was a bit difficult to get used to for me in the studio but that it would probably grew on me…. well it did indeed. Now don’t get me wrong (again) it’s still a love/hate relation. But when shooting for example images with lightbulbs, which you can see in the following two shots, it’s very interesting/nice to see the end result in the viewfinder at the moment you press the shutter. No more guessing, it’s just as you see, and that’s a nice addition to shooting material like the following shots with a “normal” DSLR. The following shots were done with just a lightbulb on AV mode.

Now when working with strobes I’m still preferring the normal viewfinder to be 100% honest, but I feel the Sony is a lot better than I thought last week, so it’s growing on me. At first my initial thoughts were that I missed the feel of looking through the viewfinder (and I do) HOWEVER what you get back is very interesting. Not only do you see with normal lights the end result through the viewfinder but when working with strobes I opted for the preview after the shot is taken, this is really nice because it gives you the image in the viewfinder straight after it’s shot, the disadvantage of this is that you miss the interaction with your model during that “black out” time, what you get back however is also very nice, you get the preview, all the settings etc. etc. what makes me think that it would be incredibly cool if you could switch between EVF and OVF with a switch, like on the Fuji cameras, that would get you the best of both worlds.

All my images are slightly changed (and sometimes a bit more) for color  but the skintones from the Sony are really nice, I always create my profiles with the X-rite colorchecker passport and after the calibration the Sony colors look very good. Although they do look a bit different from the Medium format camera I used next to it (Leaf Credo60). The Credo is just more refined, but hey it’s a high-end Medium Format camera, so one would expect that. But making a long story short (and I mentioned it before) I really like the sensor and the combination with glass that makes the system I have here for testing.

As you can see the dynamic range of the camera/sensor is really nice, I already noticed this on the outside shots but also in the studio this continues (of course), there is a nice detailed black/shadow area and when using shadows/fill light there is a lot of real information there instead of some noise/blocky/fluffy stuff. This is something that I really like. Some people commented that the images I took outside looked too much HDR and that’s why they would not be interested… well I think that’s a bit short sighted (sorry), do remember that over time dynamic range in cameras WILL continue to grow, and in my opinion we can never have enough, one big thing is that we can always take away dynamic range, just use some curves and you’re done, but we cannot add dynamic range when it’s not there, except shooting HDR.

 

Now before you think the A99 shoots HDRs like I would do with the 5DMKIII with 2 exposures sorry you’re wrong.
There is a lot of detail you can get back without it getting “nasty”, but also with the 5DMKIII I can get a lot of detail back but it’s just a bit less, I don’t want to say how many stops because that also would break into the conversation if noise levels should account to real dynamic range (that’s why I hate to do that kind of reviews), for me it’s a matter of what I see. And concluding (for now) the Sony Alpha 99 is a real professional camera in image quality. Some things I do miss or I like better on the 5DMKIII so let’s look at that, and maybe that would be also something for you to consider.

When shopping for a new camera realize the following differences between (what I can see now) the Sony and Canon/Nikon, and if I’m wrong please feel free to correct me.

 

1. Lenses
For the Canon/Nikon system there is a lot of glass available, but also for the Sony there is a lot of glass available of course, however as I mentioned in the review before I miss the Sigma 120-300 f2.8 OS which I love to use for sports and animals. Some people claimed the lens would be available for the Sony mount but I searched and could not find anything more than some announcements.

 

2. EVF
Love/Hate on some parts.
I LOVE the fact you see what you’re doing outside, but in the studio it’s still a bit of a weird animal, it’s something I can/are already getting used to, but I would strongly advise to test it out before buying, on the other hand it will take you some days to get used to, so maybe make a good agreement with your camera store so you can try the camera for a few days. I think that people working outside or with continues light will LOVE this a lot and maybe it could even be a reason to buy the A99, for me (I mostly shoot with strobes) it’s a bit of a double edged sword, it works fine, I love seeing the overlay of settings and the preview of the image after I shot it (if you want more speed you can deselect that option). I think it would be awesome if Sony would release the new camera (next generation) with a switch between OVF and EVF.

 

3. Flash system
I have to be honest with this part as I don’t know anything about the Sony flash system but hear me out.
Canon just released a totally new flash system that finally really rocks, I always liked Nikon’s small flash system better than Canons but with the release of their new strobes and radio system I think Canon is ahead of Nikon. If you work with small flash a lot I would dive into the system Sony uses and find out if that is enough for your needs, if not Canon or Nikon would be the better choice, and I actually believe that the next Nikon flash system will also be radio triggered, because this is really a BIG plus that Canon now has.

 

 

4. Video
I still didn’t have time to test out the video a lot but I did shoot some small test videos and the AF seems to work just fine, also the clean HDMI output and many options for refresh rates, the “silent” button, setting audio levels, inputs/outputs etc. makes the A99 a really good contender for video shooters.

 

5. Settings
This is were I really like the Canon a lot more.
I would love to see a favorites menu (if it’s there please correct me, I have to do without manual), but also for the HDR shooters I would love to see the system Canon uses, why limit the user to presets, with the Canon you can select the amount of shots and set the distance yourself, with the Sony there are a few presets and that’s it, it works but a bit more flexibility in a pro camera is very much appriciated.

 

Same goes for the auto ISO.
I love auto ISO, you don’t have to think about the ISO or the scare that you miss shots because the shutter “hangs” into a too slow shutter speed, auto ISO is for some an amateur setting but well I guess you can call me an amateur than because I use it all the time when shooting in the street. With the Canon (and Fuji) you can set the moment the ISO changes, for example on 1/100, 1/250 etc. this is something I cannot find in the A99, and I would love to see that. Sometimes 1/50 is more than enough, but for movement sometimes you just need more. Also here for a pro camera that should be added to the options, and seeing what they can do with firmwares (just look at Fuji) I think it would be easy for Sony to add this. You can of course work around this with Manual mode but even then it’s not as flexible as when setting the shutterspeed, there are many situations where the circumstances very so much that you are too limited with manual mode.

 

6. GPS
Some hate it, I LOVE it.
I love to tag all my images, normally I use an iPhone app for it and sync this later in Lightroom, with the A99 it’s build in. I tried it out during the photowalk and it’s pretty accurate, only a few images were placed wrong, which were corrected by my iPhone app by the way, it will drain a bit of battery without any doubt but it’s something I don’t mind. You need extra batteries anyway.

 

7. Batterylife
The A99 is one hungry camera, with the 5DMKIII I maybe recharge once a week, with the A99 I recharge almost every day, I do however use a grip on the Canon. Sony has a great grip which fits three batteries and I would highly recommend getting that one, but make sure to buy at least 3 batteries anyway, the third party brands are not expensive so it’s not a big hit out of your budget.

 

8. The screen that swivels
I already mentioned it briefly in the first review but the A99 has a great backlcd screen that you can move around in some interesting positions, this makes shooting from a lower angle really handy without having to sit down on the floor, meaning you can shoot quicker and save your back 😀
But you can of course also hold the camera high above you and shoot from a higher viewpoint down without guessing if the shot is ok. This is also a feature I actually expected on the 5DMKIII but did not see, and most of the time I’m a viewfinder kind of guy but I have to admit that it’s a very nice tool and if I had to pay let’s say 200.00 more for the same camera that had the moveable screen I would, so it’s without a doubt something I hope Canon will use on the succeeder of the 5DMKIII.

 

9. Tethering natively not supported (at the moment of this review)
NO tethering solution native in Lightroom, Capture One at the moment.
One could argue that for example the Eyefi cards could be a solution but for me that doesn’t work, the time it takes to download a buffer is just too slow with large files, and just transmitting jpg’s in a normal workflow not an option, we always select the images straight away and often even need to make preview samples with looks during the shoot, so I (and many with me) need a good RAW supported fast tethering solution. There is a USB connection on the camera so I hope Sony will quickly develop something that will make tethering a normal working solution, as it should on ANY pro camera.

 

There is a plugin available from DNA software, but it’s not free (and it should not be by the way) which works for Lightroom and some mobile devices. However I think it’s important that Sony supports this natively. At the moment for example there is no Apple version (alpha state) and I think most professional shooters are also Mac users. Again it’s something that can be solved but when you release a high-end pro camera now a days tethering should just be there from the start and working.

 

Overall conclusion
It’s no secret by now that I love the A99.
It’s a great camera, with a cool EVF which opens new options and fits user needs we never knew we needed.
The image quality is awesome (also related to the used glass of course).
Dynamic range is impressive.
Noise levels are more than adequate.
Colors are nice.
The combination I’m testing now has a really nice “round” “3D” look to the images.
Price is a bit high but it’s a pro camera, however when you’re already in the Canon or Nikon system it would make no sense to switch. However when you are already using Sony it’s without any doubt an AWESOME update.

 

In 3 weeks I have to give back my A99 and I have to be honest…. I think I’m gonna miss it.
 

 

 

 

 

 

64 replies
  1. Klaus Binder
    Klaus Binder says:

    Frank great review,

    I want this camera even more now.
    Regarding the Sigma it does exist here a link to a amazon
    http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-120-300mm-SLT-A33-Cameras-Includes/dp/B006IYCTRO

    I saw it in the store and still feel bad for not buying for 1,200€ (the launch price) it has disappeared for the sigma website. My guess it that they are probably re-design the lens to match it to the A99 (and having support in the FW for it.

    I agree the Sony/ Zeiss/ Schneider lens lineup is no match for Canon/Nikon the only one I realy miss is an affordable f4 zoom

    • Bert Pasquale
      Bert Pasquale says:

      Hey Frank, thanks for the review. I have used Minolta AF lenses to my heart’s content on my A900, many quality lenses available on eBay.

  2. EeroM
    EeroM says:

    I really love the not safe for work ones, especially the one in the reddish robe and the black bra/panty one. The other ones are great as well, however I always point out the ones that to me have a wow factor.

    The studio ones don’t have the same HDR looks as the outside ones, but that makes it so cool, outside it looks so much more better with the HDR effect and inside studio not really required or wanted. The red robe one I think is only one with a hint of HDR look. Note viewing on iPad so that might be reason

  3. Ater_Mentis
    Ater_Mentis says:

    Hi frank,
    Really amazing review, i’ve read alot of them on the A99 but your’s really tops it. Complete straight forward information with beautifull erxamples presented in a completely unbaised way! As a sony user from start with the A580 wich houses the famous sensor that it shared wityh the nikon D7000 i have believed in there capacity to make a difference for all camera brands and it is showing .. Hope you enjoy your last weeks with the camera! wish i would’ve had such a privalege!! Some quick things for you to try out :
    1)Try the DRO mode , it’s a dynamic range optimization that would further increase your dynamic range and you can set it at different levels… just to see wether you can do anything more with it.
    2) I don’t know whether it was mentioned but on tripods it’s best to turn off the stabilization to increase the sharpness performance.
    3) focus range limiter function in camera i believe is called DMF

    but most important:

    http://www.sony.nl/support/nl/product/SLT-A99/manuals

    The manual in pdf

    Greetings from a big fan of all your video’s and work,

    the guy you pointed your light at in the crowd on the last day of photokina in the morning session. Wished i came over to say hi afterwards! maybe some other time!

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      Hi,
      Thanks manual downloading now.

      1. DRO mode is as far as I understood a JPEG only mode, so when shooting in RAW that would not make a difference, wouldn’t make sense also because it’s RAW. But I could be wrong, will check this in the manual but overall on all cameras it’s JPEG only.

      2. IS can always be disabled on tripods, although with the modern lenses you can leave it on, don’t know for the Sony.

      3. DMF is nice indeed but I have not yet been in situations where I needed it, when I shoot the models I often move around between closer and further away so if I have to think about changing the DMF setting that would drive me nuts.

      With sports and zoo’s it would be a good setting, but also there I have to be honest that I hardly use it on the Canon also.

    • Cristiano Valente
      Cristiano Valente says:

      Regarding point 2, as you said it’s not necessary with modern LENSES. It is usually advisable with sony’s, because the stabilization happens in the body 😉

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      Ok, did not know that, hoped that that technology also was in the camera methods now.

      On the other hand it’s easy to switch it on or off when using a tripod.

  4. Scott Kennelly
    Scott Kennelly says:

    I was hoping you would tell us how it was to shoot from waist height in this review Frank. That’s one of the great things about the Sony cameras . . . the ability to fold out the screen and shoot from waist height, without having to bend down, kneel, or sit. I shoot with an A55, and I can tell you that once you start shooting with your fold-out screen/viewfinder, you will use it more and more. It gives a photographer SO much flexibility. The only time you can’t do this is when shooting in bright sunlight, but with a towel over your head, you can do it anyway (not that you would need to all the time . . . just some of the time, like when shooting from low angles at the beach or over the surface of a pool on a sunny day). I once tried to shoot a waterfall with my camera on a tripod that could extend out over the water. I couldn’t compose the photo, because I couldn’t look through the viewfinder. There have been several instances, when I had this problem. Once was when I was shooting long exposures with my Canon 5 D. I would not have had those problems with my Sony A55. The A99 fixes one of the biggest drawbacks of full-frame cameras, and you do not seem to realize it. The MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE of the A99 is the fold-out screen, believe it or not. Use it, and you will see what I am talking about.

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      Well it’s a nice tool indeed but it’s not the most important one 😀 otherwise you could buy any P&S camera or the new Canons 😀

      To be honest I shoot 99% of my work through the viewfinder, BUT I agree that it’s a really nice feature and it should have been point 8 so I added that to the review.

      Also please realize that I’m testing the camera in the things that I do, that’s also why there is no sports/action there yet (Sony gave me a 85 as longest lens) I do a lot of action but for that I need longer lenses.

      So I’ve added point 8 for you 😀
      But again please realize this is a review conform my PERSONAL workflow and opinion, I do realize that for some people other things will be important but I can’t cover everything that would interest everybody, I’m only human my friend.

    • Scott Kennelly
      Scott Kennelly says:

      I understand Frank. It was just a surprise to me that you seemed to miss the biggest difference between the Canon 5 D Mk III and the Sony A99. Yes, the EVF is a very big difference, but it is still a stationary viewfinder. In my opinion, the fold-out screen on a full-frame body is a groundbreaking feature and a sign of things to come. It allows for so much more in the World of creative possibilities, without added equipment (like an optional, tethered external screen). It is one of the Sony line’s most recognizable features, and the fact that Sony had decided to add it to their new full-frame flagship model is a sign of the times and a trend-setting feature in the World of DSLR-style cameras. (You may know that fold-out screens were conspicuously missing from the older Sony full-frame cameras.)

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      Actually my review was not complete I copied the wrong one, not much was missing by the way but please also read number 9 the dealbreaker for me.

      Thanks to your remark about the screen I checked my word document and found to my horror that I copied the wrong document, only point 9 is added by the way (that was originally point 8).

    • Scott Kennelly
      Scott Kennelly says:

      I’m glad my comment helped Frank. I definitely agree with you about the tethering issue. If Sigma can put that into their SD1 after it has been on the market for months, I think Sony can do it too. It’s a shame that they did not include USB 3.0 instead of USB 2.0. Stupid, if you ask me. Of course, I think that purposely crippling the A99, so it shoots 24 megapixel images much slower than the A77 can shoot 24 megapixel images is a very stupid thing to do also. Maybe they are afraid of crushing Nikon and Canon. If they did that, they might not have much competition in the future. Maybe it is better to just step quietly and not upset the status quo too much.

    • Ater_Mentis
      Ater_Mentis says:

      The manual suggest that the final version of the A99 is able to be controlled from the computer.
      Around page 200 is speaks of a new version of the Camera Remote control software from sony to control the camera and in the manual theres also a lot of info about connecting the camera in a special USB connection so i’m figuring this is what will be used by lightroom in future versions to make it tether compatible… the real key here for sony would be to update previous versions cameras to also be able to use this software as i believe canon and nikon offer this option on even there prosumer and consumer cameras…

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      You can connect indeed but I don’t see an option to tether… on the other hand I don’t have the software that is needed for the A99, so if it is possible that would be great and you can always use the hotfolder option in Lightroom.

  5. Poul Sandgren
    Poul Sandgren says:

    Hi Frank, I enjoyed your ‘straight forward’ review. Did you shoot in RAW or JPEG? If RAW, which converter?
    Thanks, Poul

  6. anthony byron
    anthony byron says:

    hi frank another godo review of teh camera. FOr tethering teh a900/a700 ect did tethering but needed a 3rd party plugin for lightroom taht cost abotu $20 to tether directly. Im hoping LR will have it inbuilt in a future release unlike previous sony models that have required this plugin to detect camera. Not entirely sure if this is sonys issue or LR/capture 1 ect just not adding the support?

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      Didn’t miss that, that’s normal.

      However in most situations I shoot in shuttertimes would vary from 1/250 to 1/2000 or more.

      Situations vary from bright sunlight to dark alleys 😉

      So still would love to be able to set the min shutter speed.

  7. Steve
    Steve says:

    Thanks so much for posting this — truly extremely helpful. What lenses did you use and what did you think of each one?

    Thanks.

  8. karstography.com
    karstography.com says:

    Regarding point 5 – you can change the setting that when you press the menu button you return to where you were before. I hate starting from the beginning, too and think that that is one of the most important options in the menu itself. Apart from that you have the Quick Menu via FN. Buttons are customizable. Not sure though if the menu is though. However, it’s versatile enough for me. 🙂

  9. Carlos Echenique
    Carlos Echenique says:

    Frank, you can disable the exposure preview in the EVF when you are working with strobes. On page 89 of the manual (english version at least): MENU -> (little gear icon) 3 -> [Live View Display] -> [Setting Effect OFF]

    This will stop the EVF from showing the effects of whatever settings you have turned on and keep the display constant. I ran into the same issue on my NEX-7 and this let me shoot normally with strobes.

  10. David Liang
    David Liang says:

    Hey Frank,
    I became a fan of yours from the Kelby videos and your review of the a99 had a large part in my decision making on buying it. I own the a77 and a nice mix of Minolta/Sony/3rd party FF lenses, but was considering switching to Nikon because we have the d800s at work and I really liked that camera. Especially for studio work when I’m retouching the 36mp gives so much detail for me to work with.
    However, your positive impressions of the a99 convinced me to stay Sony and after doing a video shoot last week, and a location shoot yesterday I am so glad I got it.
    Btw, there’s a semi-tethered solution with the a99. An updated version of Sony’s Remote Camera software came on the CD with the camera, and I can set the saved folder to a general collection folder on my laptop. I then use Adobe Bridge to keep that folder open, so as I’m shooting wired via USB with the Remote Camera software going, the files transfer automatically to that folder with Bridge loading the images.
    Not an elegant solution but it does the job for now.

  11. Terry
    Terry says:

    This model is amazing, how she can look like either a woman or a young girl with just a change of lighting.

  12. Salvatore Raia
    Salvatore Raia says:

    Hi Frank thank you for the nice review . I own a sony ALPHA 55 also have the 24 70 carl zeiss lens you used . i want to buy a full frame camera and both the sony and nikon have same price here in uk . The Nikon d800 worries me the large files , i dont know if i should buy the sony a99 or go for Nikon d800 . Please help , iam a beginner photographer , doing a 6 month course right now . will the Nikon d800 be too advanced for me ? Thank you so much .

    • Frank Doorhof
      Frank Doorhof says:

      No camera is too advanced….
      In fact they are about all the same, some have better AF, better noise etc. but control wise there should be little difference if you understand shutter speed and aperture 😀

      The D800 is labeled by many people as very advanced purely based on the MP count and although it’s indeed a nice file I think for example the A99 or 5DMKIII is the better camera overall performance wise.

      MP count is not everything 😀

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