Reviews for Sony alpha DSLR-A700 12.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body with Lens Kit - 0.71"-2.76"

An excellent choice for a critical amateur or pro

Strengths: Picture quality Ease of use Anti-shake Solid build

Weakness: noise at ISO 1600+ New RAW format

Note: I tested with firmware revision 3. I found this to be a worthwhile upgrade over ver. 1: which came with the camera.

I've been using the older KonicaMinolta 5d dSLR for several years and have always been satisfied by the quality of the pictures. I consider myself to be an advanced amateur and my primary output format is medium to large prints. Since I don't make my living from photography, it was difficult to justify the cost of a new camera body, so I spent quite a bit of time and effort comparing the choices: keep the 5d and my money; buy an Sony a350 and keep some money or spend my kid's inheritance and buy the a700.

I went to the camera store and took several photos of the same scene with all three choices and using the same lens (the KM 18-70 kit zoom). Even in this casual setting, it was easy to feel the difference in build between the a700 and the other two. Not only the weight and size, but the solid sound it makes as it takes the picture and quiet control functions. It feels like a Mercedes compared to a Kia. The viewfinder is much brighter and it doesn't share the weird tunnel view you get through the a350. With just those few pictures, the photo quality seemed marginally brighter and clearly sharper than the 5d, but nothing earth-shattering. That'd come after I got it home, however!

I bought the a700 and within a week, i took it on the family vacation. I did; however, bring my trusty 5d "just in case". There really was no need! Once I spent a few shots getting used to the new control placement, the a700 has many more buttons and there's less reliance on the LCD for basic adjustments, almost everything with the a700 was easy to do with your eye still planted in the viewfinder. Actually, I found the controls of the a700 much easier to use in daily life than the 5d. Many common adjustments can be made with a single button and the adjustment shows up in the viewfinder, rather than a top mounted LCD. Vastly easier than the Nikon's I've played with!

Within a few days I'd "given" my wife the 5d as an upgrade for her P+S. This gave us an interesting experiment. She and I would often take a photo of a similar scene. Her artistic sense is much better than mine, so I won't comment on composition, but, after literally hundreds of photos the difference in quality was quite noticeable. Even in Adobe Bridge, the a700 shots gave cleaner, purer colors. They weren't snappier or over saturated, if anything the 5d was a bit more aggressive on reds, but just more true. Greens, in particular grasses, were much cleaner.

As my wife and I played in the garden, she noticed a major improvement. Whilst trying to capture a bee on a flower, the shutter lag of the 5d made missed shots common. The a700 shot and recycled almost instantaneously. Whenever she saw an action shot, she'd immediately run to me a steal my a700. I'd hold the 5d and wait for her to give me the a700 back, that's when I knew the a700 was worth the investment!

One other feature is of major importance to me. The a700 has a PC socket on the camera for use with studio flashes. The 5d needed a temperamental (and expensive!) external adapter.

There are only two distractions I've found so far and one is Google's fault. The .ARW RAW format is not yet supported by Picasa. Adobe, Bibble and ACDSee all do, but I hope Google gets going. Also, in direct comparison to my friend's Nikon, the noise of the a700 at extreme ISO's is higher. It's WAY WAY better than the 5d and even ISO1600 is usable, but not state-of-the-art. Hopefully, another software upgrade will help out (Sony??).

This is a very worthwhile camera and worthy of consideration both as an upgrade to an older dSLR or as a new urchase!

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Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Shines

Strengths: Speed - this camera is fast Easy of use right out of the box Solid feel and high quality materials Sony Brand 12 MP

Weakness: None

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 is a fantastic camera. I have two young children and frequently missed great shots due to the slow nature of my previous point and shoot camera. I am not a camera pro, but have been successful using this camera right out of the box. The speed and picture quality are amazing. I find myself taking more pictures than ever now that I don't miss the fun and exciting things my kids do!

This is a great camera for amateurs who want to learn as they go and get more out of their camera everytime they use it. I highly recommend it!

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Worthy of your consideration

Strengths: IS, great handling after getting use to all the controls, LCD, speed, low ISO image quality, takes CF cards, ability to use Minolta lenses.

Weakness: High ISO NR is obtrusive, though at smaller print sizes not a big deal, expensive Sony lenses, no live view, no top LCD

I am a former Nikon D70 user that's more of a hobbyist/amateur photographer. My day job is as an engineer. My former gear includes the D70 with a 18-200 VR lens and 50mm 1.8. What I found with the A700 is that after familiarizing myself with all the controls, it's fairly quick to change settings, though my preference is still the Nikon layout. It just seemed easier to change ISO, WB, etc. That said, the A700 with the QuickNav isn't far behind. Even though I griped about the high ISO NR, the noise profile seems better on this than the D70. I can shoot at 1600 without thinking twice. I keep the setting on low though so I can post process if I need to. At 3200, it's not bad for 5x7. With a little Noise Ninja, it's great.

My reason for switching systems though, aside from the clear out price at Best Buy, was that there is a good used market of fabulous old Minolta lenses and in body IS. I've picked up three or four of the classics with are fabulous for there color, bokeh, and sharpness at much better prices than you can find a comparable Canikon lens for. The biggest plus is the in body IS. I get sharp pictures with ALL my lenses with the right technique. Pair it up with a fast lens, and you have an untouchable low light rig. You have to pay A LOT extra for VR/IS in Canikon lenses. With the high res LCD, you can get a great idea how your shot turned out. I can't go back to a normal grainy LCD anymore, it's such a HUGE time saver.

The quibbles are rather minor. I wish the NR was less intrusive, you do lose some low contrast detail and the well defined edges at higher ISO if you look close. Sony doesn't offer nearly the lens selection as Canikon and the ones they do have are EXPENSIVE. I've taken to Tamron and Sigma lenses that are highly recommended by other alpha mount users (Tamron makes some lenses for Sony anyways). It's more about the photographer than the lens anways. And since this isn't my job, I can't justify buying expensive lenses. There are great deals to be had for fabulous lenses for Sony/Minolta. I miss having a top LCD to show me what's going on, but the Fn button will show you what you want. It's just that I was use to a top LCD. Finally, I do wish it had live view for some macro work with manual lenses. Not a huge deal since I don't do that often. But the D300 and 40D have it so Sony should as well.

For the $750 I paid, it's better than I could've hoped for. It trounces the Rebels, D60/D40 in speed, handling. The in body IS is a God send compared to those others. At full price, it's not as clear cut. The Canikon offer unique advantages that will depend on what you're doing. For a non-pro, the IS of the A700 is a really big advantage. If money is no object, I prefer Nikon for better ergonomics.

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Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 (with 18mm-70mm lens)

THE GOOD: Exceptionally streamlined, comfortable shooting design; broad, functional feature set, including sensor-shift image stabilizer; excellent photo quality; fast burst-shooting performance. THE BAD: A few design quirks. THE BOTTOM LINE: A top-of-the-line amateur digital SLR camera, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 will delight Konica Minolta diehards and makes a great choice if you dont already...

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Sony Alpha DSLR-A700

Testseek.com has collected 72 expert reviews for Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 and the average expert rating is 82 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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Sony A700 Review

The Sony A700 is a new DSLR camera with a wealth of features that are clearly targeted at the advanced amateur photographer. Clearly based on the design of the Konica Minolta Maxxum / Dynax 7D camera (Sony bought Konica Minolta's camera assets in 2006), the A700 inherits the same lens mount, eye-start auto-focus system, and in-body anti-shake system. Building on that solid foundation, Sony have...

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With their Alpha DSLR-A700, Sony has created a midrange digital SLR that keeps up with the "big boys". The A700 offers an excellent mix of photo quality, performance, features, and build quality -- not to mention support for legacy Minolta lenses. Yes, it's lacking the live view feature of its competitors, but I don't really miss it, to be honest. While I don't see Canon and Nikon owners rushing...

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The Sony A700 is certainly a very capable DSLR which will greatly appeal to enthusiasts. The build quality and handling are very good, the controls well thought-out, the screen is superb and the image quality is also respectable – although some will prefer to increase the sharpening a little over the default settings. It does however come up against very tough competition and bizarrely Sony’s...

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