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This is the full frame 23+ megapixel Sony A850 which I bought with a good quality Zeiss lens Zoom to 80mm auto-focus/exposure TTL metering . There is no down side to this camera. It is a tremendous value in my opinion. I also purchased a Zeikos Dig Flash made for this model high power, it has no built in flash, it does not take video, however I didnt buy it for those functions . I always use separate flash and I have a great HD Video cam and like it . It is a super Dig SLR . The ratings are all true. The tremendous detail great color ability to shoot RAW & JPEG set the color to Adobe, RGB etc.. My first few shot I made a greater than life size poster after cropping a photo at nearly 50 feet away taken with flash and using Adobe CS5. The detail is spectacular it seems like I can crop blow up crop and blow up almost indefinitely without seeing a single pixel. If you are a pro you will leave your Nikon and Canon and maybe your Leica by the wayside and grab this your next shoot. Im truly amazed and I know Sony must have something coming even better because I understand they will be revising this model though Im not sure what they can do better, This cam does it all and only a very few ultra-specialty photographers will ever require more. If you can find one buy it!Read full review
What an incredible camera. I have had several Sony Alpha cameras and two Nex5 cameras. I had held off buying the 850/900 because they lacked the live rear screen viewer that the A550 and below have. That and the ability to tilt the viewer is a major plus when one has to put the camera above a crowd to shoot an otherwise unobtainable picture. I miss that feature. But, the price was too good to pass up and I purchased this A850 from Ritz Camera Clearance Center on e-bay very cheaply as it was a discontinued model / display model. Pros: The A850 feels right, is easy to hold and super easy to learn to use. The images are exceptionally sharp, perfectly exposed and the ability to do severe cropping w/o affecting the overall image quality in post-production is a major plus. Cons: Lack of live tilting viewer, Lack of video (both included on the just released 24mpl Nex7). Others have noted the 3fps and 90% viewfinder, but for me, they are non-issues since I do mostly travel photography and portraits where the lack of either feature is not a deal breaker. Lenses: I have a full-frame 18-300 Tamron 3.5-5.5 zoom that works remarkably well with the camera. With the Sony extended warranty, this camera should give the user years of dependable shooting.Read full review
My background is using a Leica 8.2, Leica R9 with DMR, Panasonic Lumix GH1 and GH2 and a soso Sony 380. Before shelling out $10'000s for a Hasselblad or Phase One, I wanted to try a digital full frame sensor at a modest price, the Sony alpha 850. The 'kit' offer from a reputable US professional camera store was so ridiculously attractive compared to European prices that I took the risk and bought it through Ebay. Camera arived well and prompt, no Swiss customs to pay (why?) and all works with very curteous people at the other side of the ocean. Why did I attribute only a 4/5 on "features". The usual: no live view, no tilt screen, no flash unit, no video. Try this on a Leica! The camera takes excellent pictures through any excellent lens. The old Minolta (AF) lenses work great as well. I must have excellent Tamrons (4 of them, even one for the R Leica) because they are really good lenses, also on the 850. To have the anti-shake inside the camera body is the logical thing to do, makes for much smaller lenses; no Sony invention, though. Bravo for the innovative people at Minolta. The better image quality one always attributes to the Leica lenses. Now the 850 takes the better pictures. The camera conveys some positive expression in the images that I cannot only attribute to the 24 Mpix. The Leica 10 MPix and Lumix 16 Mpix are also excellent and sufficient. It must have something to do with the aspect ratio, rays hitting the sensor from a less steep angle than an APS-C or the Leica sensor. After only 12'000 shots in three months I have to research this further. Everyone notices the difference! The important buttons are well arranged around the body, not necesary to dig in umpteen menues. Image processing is good (I am a professional in that), AF and focus in general works well and fast (after the new ROM upgrade even faster). The 380 always has problems with focussing on a moving black cat, not so the 850, it is always on the mark. I use the camera a lot on irregularly moving objects - our 19 cats and other animals, no studio stills and I am pleased with the results. The camera is solid built, weight and size is no consideration when you are used to lugging around a Leica R9 with DMR. Of course, the GH2 is smaller, lighter ... Viewfinder is bright and large, rear screen is very good, battery life okay. I have yet to find things I do not like about the Sony alpha 850. Would I recommend it to buy? It is a totally underrated camera and must be excellent value for money from any angle. And it takes great pictures easily.Read full review
This is an excellent, well built, well designed, full framed 35mm sensor equipped, professional quality camera. The viewfinder is bright and the 98% viewing area coverage makes it easy to compose photographs. There is no "live view" feature, but if you are used to using a 35mm film camera, this should not be a problem. The 3-inch display on the rear of the camera is large and bright, making it easy to see your photographs or navigate the menu. As with all displays, if you are in direct sunlight, the images may be difficult to see in detail. Auto-focus is fast and there is a feature that allows for "fine tuning" the focus and having the camera remember the focus setting for each lens. Manual focusing is easy due to the bright viewfinder. The lenses available from Sony for this full frame camera, are excellent but costly. Very good alternatives are the older Minolta Maxxum auto-focus lenses which are available used. Maxxum auto-focus lenses work well on the camera and yield great results for a fraction of the price of the Sonys. The control dials and buttons are well placed and easily accessed. At around 2 pounds, the camera is a bit heavy, but again, if you are used to the old 35mm cameras, this is not too big an issue. Battery power is good, but it is a good idea to buy an extra battery as a back-up. The Sony battery not only uses a graphical representation of remaining power, it also gives a numerical percentage of available battery life. The camera has no video feature which is good because there is no chance of accidently shooting a video when you just want to shoot a photo. The camera has the option of using Compact Flash (CF) or Sony Memory Sticks as storage media. The software that comes with the camera is easy to install (I used it on Windows XP and Windows 7 based computers) and easy to use. Images can be stored in JPEG and/or RAW format. I have read that Sony has discontinued this camera, so its availability may be limited.Read full review
I'm a long time digital photog and much longer time film. I learned on a Canon F1 film camera. This is my 3rd Sony DSLR, I started with an A100, then to a wonderful A700 that I had (still do) for almost 3 years and now the 850. The fullframe sensor blows me away, it captures a HUGE amount of information. You can crop a portion of an image and blow it up to almost whatever size you want. The shear information density to an image makes them appear smoother. My 70-300G lens reacts especially well to the format, it was a very good lens on the A700 but it's spectacular on the A850. Another lens that likes the format is my 28-75 f2.8. The range wasn't particularly useful in a crop frame camera but on the 850 it performs like a 18-50 would on a crop frame; it was too tall before but it's now a good walk around lens. I haven't tried my 11-18 yet. If you're used to any other Sony DSLR you can pick the 850 up and start shooting, the controls are almost identical to my 700. The feel is quite substantial especially with the 70-300, but to me it's not heavy it's solid, and strong. No bells and whistles, some of which would be nice to have, like HD Video. But I knew that going in. The only thing I wish was there is the pop up flash but the omission is a physical not monetary thing. The huge view prism is in the way. I wanted the most camera money could buy and I do believe I got it. Only one big gripe, Sony still hasn't made progress on high ISO noise. I did a portrait session at 800 and there was easily detectable noise in jpeg even if the noise was invisible in the original RAW files. Speaking of RAW, the freaking files are 33-35 meg! Even the jpegs are 22+ meg, talk about eating drive space. It looks as if this is the camera that I've been waiting decades for. Almost forgot to mention: the images are gorgeous! You can see my shots at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomd77/Read full review
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