New Camera

[Northam Saint]

I was given the nod by SWMBO on Tuesday to replace my Sony A230 DSLR. As I have a few A Fit lenses I wanted another Sony so went for an A58. It's only a starter model, same as the A230 was. I'm also only an enthusiastic snapper so it's not really worth me going mad.

I pretty amazed by the difference. Here's a few shots, bearing in mind it's only been my first real outing with it. As you can see I'm enjoying the special effect modes.

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[tarbyonline]

Another a58 owner here. Bought it after putting a thumb print on the mirror of my A37 so there was a black mark on all my pics. However managed to get a replacement mirror (£80 for what looks like a bit of cling film stretched over plastic) so that's gone to dad.

I love the quickness of the SLT cameras, though the a58 has a smaller buffer than previous models so slows down quicker in burst mode. Have you tried video yet? HD and auto focused - I think the quality is excellent. Another handy feature is the built in HDR mode. I prefer the electronic view finder personally (what you see is what you get), how did you find the switch as often you hear people moan about EVF's? The only things I don't like are the new hot shoe meaning you can't use Minolta flashes without an adaptor, and the new remote port meaning you have to buy a Sony remote at £60+ - the remote I had for the A37 cost me all of £2. It would have been nice if they had kept the a57's fully articulating and higher resolution screen plus the level indicator in the evf as well but I guess this is a model made to a price plus I'm sure they don't want to make it too good else nobody will buy the higher models. Nice pics BTW!

 

[Northam Saint]

Another a58 owner here. Bought it after putting a thumb print on the mirror of my A37 so there was a black mark on all my pics. However managed to get a replacement mirror (£80 for what looks like a bit of cling film stretched over plastic) so that's gone to dad.

I love the quickness of the SLT cameras, though the a58 has a smaller buffer than previous models so slows down quicker in burst mode. Have you tried video yet? HD and auto focused - I think the quality is excellent. Another handy feature is the built in HDR mode. I prefer the electronic view finder personally (what you see is what you get), how did you find the switch as often you hear people moan about EVF's? The only things I don't like are the new hot shoe meaning you can't use Minolta flashes without an adaptor, and the new remote port meaning you have to buy a Sony remote at £60+ - the remote I had for the A37 cost me all of £2. It would have been nice if they had kept the a57's fully articulating and higher resolution screen plus the level indicator in the evf as well but I guess this is a model made to a price plus I'm sure they don't want to make it too good else nobody will buy the higher models. Nice pics BTW!

My son has taken a shine to the old A230, so for the moment it's with him.

I haven't tried the video yet, but the overall picture quality so far is brilliant. On the subject of that hot shoe is it a solely a Sony shoe or do any others fit ? I haven't got an external flash, that's next on the list. The only external flash gear I have is a PortaFlash set up I was given, (studio kit). Its too much messing around for me. Looks like you had the same remote as I did £2 from China but worked a treat, not that I used it very often.

One of the best features is that electronic view finder, and seeing through the view finder what you have just shot, something that was lacking on the A239. It's especially good for me as I wear reading glasses. The LCD screen is fine but I need my glasses to see it clearly, so I have adjusted the view finder to my prescription making it so much easier. Oh and the screen is of course moveable which is handy.

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If you need a spare battery for your A58 have a look on Amazon. I purchased a Duracell replacement on offer for £12. Cheaper than a Sony original but still a quality battery and not a cheap rip off that will catch fire when you charge it.

 

[tarbyonline]

Another a58 owner here. Bought it after putting a thumb print on the mirror of my A37 so there was a black mark on all my pics. However managed to get a replacement mirror (£80 for what looks like a bit of cling film stretched over plastic) so that's gone to dad.

I love the quickness of the SLT cameras, though the a58 has a smaller buffer than previous models so slows down quicker in burst mode. Have you tried video yet? HD and auto focused - I think the quality is excellent. Another handy feature is the built in HDR mode. I prefer the electronic view finder personally (what you see is what you get), how did you find the switch as often you hear people moan about EVF's? The only things I don't like are the new hot shoe meaning you can't use Minolta flashes without an adaptor, and the new remote port meaning you have to buy a Sony remote at £60+ - the remote I had for the A37 cost me all of £2. It would have been nice if they had kept the a57's fully articulating and higher resolution screen plus the level indicator in the evf as well but I guess this is a model made to a price plus I'm sure they don't want to make it too good else nobody will buy the higher models. Nice pics BTW!

My son has taken a shine to the old A230, so for the moment it's with him.

I haven't tried the video yet, but the overall picture quality so far is brilliant. On the subject of that hot shoe is it a solely a Sony shoe or do any others fit ? I haven't got an external flash, that's next on the list. The only external flash gear I have is a PortaFlash set up I was given, (studio kit). Its too much messing around for me. Looks like you had the same remote as I did £2 from China but worked a treat, not that I used it very often.

One of the best features is that electronic view finder, and seeing through the view finder what you have just shot, something that was lacking on the A239. It's especially good for me as I wear reading glasses. The LCD screen is fine but I need my glasses to see it clearly, so I have adjusted the view finder to my prescription making it so much easier. Oh and the screen is of course moveable which is handy.

---

If you need a spare battery for your A58 have a look on Amazon. I purchased a Duracell replacement on offer for £12. Cheaper than a Sony original but still a quality battery and not a cheap rip off that will catch fire when you charge it.

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It is the standard iso shoe like you get on canikon but all the different manufacturers assign different roles to the pins apparently so its not as easy as grabbing any old flash with an iso shoe and putting it on. Was thinking of getting a wee Metz flash but unsure whether it would have the correct connector as opposed to the more widespread minolta mount, and the adaptor (which comes for free with the a99 BTW) is 25 quid plus post from Sony. I would guess any flash would also need to be supported in the firmware (like with the remote) as the shoe is designed to take more than just flashes (so it needs to be able to identify the accessory attached) which sounds a bit like Sony trying to kill off non-genuine accessories as the Minolta connectors where purely electrical AFAIK (I.e. would work with anything with the right connector). There are rumors of a new lens mount coming soon as well which would make all our lenses obsolete on newer cameras. However the SLT line is apparently being discontinued in favour of an on sensor autofocus system which does away with mirrors completely.

 

[Lose the beard]

If looking for an external flash have a look at yongnuo flashes on eBay, I have these now along with remote triggers of the same make, and I know quite a lot of professionals who use them now. They are a lot cheaper than the original versions and work just a as well.

 

[Northam Saint]

If looking for an external flash have a look at yongnuo flashes on eBay, I have these now along with remote triggers of the same make, and I know quite a lot of professionals who use them now. They are a lot cheaper than the original versions and work just a as well.

Cheers for that, just had a look on eBay, they look good. I'm not after spending big money and they seem to it the bill. To be honest in my opinion some of these less known companies are pretty darn good and even produce items for much bigger companies within the same factory.

But due to my macro self destructing the flash has to take a step back until I've replaced that.

 

[tarbyonline]

If looking for an external flash have a look at yongnuo flashes on eBay, I have these now along with remote triggers of the same make, and I know quite a lot of professionals who use them now. They are a lot cheaper than the original versions and work just a as well.

Seen these myself and wondered what they where like. I'm holding back on a flash at the moment but might need one after Christmas as planning to do a city and guilds photography course. Hopefully by then the situation with the a58 hot shoe may be clearer as well! At least batteries are readily available for this model!

 

[Northam Saint]

If looking for an external flash have a look at yongnuo flashes on eBay, I have these now along with remote triggers of the same make, and I know quite a lot of professionals who use them now. They are a lot cheaper than the original versions and work just a as well.

Seen these myself and wondered what they where like. I'm holding back on a flash at the moment but might need one after Christmas as planning to do a city and guilds photography course. Hopefully by then the situation with the a58 hot shoe may be clearer as well! At least batteries are readily available for this model!

Yes I was very pleased at getting a Duracell replacement battery at a very old price, rather than the cheap and nasty non branded ones you can buy.

 

[tarbyonline]

If looking for an external flash have a look at yongnuo flashes on eBay, I have these now along with remote triggers of the same make, and I know quite a lot of professionals who use them now. They are a lot cheaper than the original versions and work just a as well.

Seen these myself and wondered what they where like. I'm holding back on a flash at the moment but might need one after Christmas as planning to do a city and guilds photography course. Hopefully by then the situation with the a58 hot shoe may be clearer as well! At least batteries are readily available for this model!

Yes I was very pleased at getting a Duracell replacement battery at a very old price, rather than the cheap and nasty non branded ones you can buy.

I had terrible trouble with the a37, even with branded batteries. Seems Sony put a chip in the battery to stop u using aftermarket, then on firmware version 3 barred all batteries without the chip. The ironic thing is the only battery I found that still worked was a cheap expro branded one. Even the genuine Sony battery displayed the warning a few times (camera automatically shuts down after displaying warning). Just hope we don't and up with the name situation with the a58!