5.16.2025

Dead Format Bonus


Sony discontinued their A-mount DSLRs (all basically evolved Minoltas) back in 2012, and the A-mount pellicle mirror SLT cameras not too many years after, so that leaves the A-mount an essentially dead letter.

Used prices on fairly high-spec glass are dirt cheap. That 16-50mm f/2.8 in the picture? Less than two hundo. I found a Sony DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T*, which listed for nearly thousand bucks new, for barely over a Benjamin used.

Of the cameras in its class at the time (Canon EOS 40D, Nikon D300, Pentax K20D, and Olympus E-3), the Sony a700 was the only one without an LCD panel on the top plate. Interestingly, like the Pentax and Nikons, it also has a focus motor in the body, allowing it to use older autofocus lenses.

The 12MP sensor has enough resolution that you can get away with a bit of cropping, too.

MGA snapped with the 16-80mm lens. Cropped somewhat.


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