Sony a77ii. Getting serious about Sony A mount.

I'm not going to beat-around-the-bush with a long teaser introduction to this post. I'm too excited.

I've done it. I've purchased a Sony a77ii. And in doing so, I've placed my stick in the ground, so to speak.

From the beginning of this year when I started getting into macro photography (fungi in particular), using the Sony a99, I already had a foot in the Sony camp.

Then in February I jumped in, boots and all, and traded in my Olympus E-M1 for a Sony a57. And while the a57 was certainly no a99, I did enjoy using it, and took some of my favourite landscapes from this year with the camera.

As it transpires, the a57 had a problem with the sensor being out of alignment. Not noticeable when the camera was focused at infinity (for landscapes), but very obvious if you tried to focus on a subject closer.

So unfortunately the a57 went back, and my E-M1 was returned to me. I started using the micro four thirds system again, and that would have probably been that. Had it not been for a recent phone call.

I had been 'borrowing' the Sony a99 from a friend, together with a 50mm macro lens, and this is the kit I'd been enjoying using for macro fungi photography. Although I had also used the E-M1 with standard lenses as well. Stewart is a professional photographer who has been transitioning from Sony a-mount to Sony e-mount for a while. He rang to ask me if I was still interested in using a-mount gear, and would I like any of his? Of course I said 'yes', and in doing so, my fate was sealed.

Stewart has a load (and I mean a load) of a-mount lenses that he can 'give' me - basically on permanent loan. That's good enough for me - Stewart is definitely a man of his word. But lenses are no good without a camera body to go with it. And the a99 is really in no fit state to guarantee continued performance, or build an entire system on. So I needed a camera body. In my price range. Enter the Sony a77ii.

The Sony a77ii is, to all intents and purposes, a 'baby' a99. It has a 24 megapixel CMOS sensor (rather than full frame), a superior 79 point autofocus system, and the same design and layout. Including the same excellent flip up, down and around articulating lcd screen that I love on the a99. It has a solid magnesium alloy body, is weather resistant, only has one SD card slot (nevermind), and shares the same excellent OLED viewfinder. It is Sony's last, top-of-the-line cropped sensor camera, with fast 12fps shooting and a superb autofocus system. As such, it became very popular with sports action and wildlife photographers looking for the extra reach that an APSC cropped sensor can give. All I had to do now was find one for the right price!

The Sony a99's and a77's don't seem to come up on the used market as regularly as other cameras. And when they do, the seller is often asking a ridiculously high price for them. And I do mean ridiculous. There are a couple on TradeMe (an NZ online auction site) for almost NZ$2k for an a77 and almost NZ$3k for an a99 - both mark 1 versions! No thank you.

Fortunately, if you are patient (I've been watching the market for over 10 months), a bargain will eventually appear. One such bargain showed up recently in my watchlist. But even then I didn't pull the trigger straight away, since I don't really have the money to purchase the camera.

A couple of questions emailed to the seller indicated that he was happy to wait for a little while for me to get the $$ together should I win the auction. And then, a timely query for a paid photography job sealed the deal and I bid on the camera in the dying seconds of the auction. And I won. For the starting price (which was actually less than I put in an early offering bid for but which was rejected by the seller). Score!

The images in this blog are of the actual camera I have won, taken from the auction site photos. So yes, it looks in pretty good shape. It also comes with two standard Sony lenses - the 18-55 and the 55-200mm kit lenses. Probably won't use them that much (if at all), but hey, they come with the camera. So that's a bonus. It also comes with a charger (obviously), two Sony batteries (yay), two remote controls, and a Peak Design Capture camera clip for placing on a backpack strap. Never used one of those before, so will be keen to try it out.

All for a lot less than any of the other a77 mark 1 cameras on TradeMe presently. Bargain! At least I hope it is!? We'll see when I have it in my hot little hand. Which should be no more than a couple of weeks away?

I'm already eyeing up an after-market grip for it so I can extend the shooting time and have a vertical shutter release. I would prefer an original Sony one, but these are even rarer than the cameras on the secondhand market, so a third-party offering will have to do.

Super-excited to be getting the Sony a77ii, and using it next fungi season for some serious macro photography! Oh and yeah, I also have a wedding to shoot early next year. Could be a good season of photography coming up! I'll keep you posted.