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Sony A700 ISO500 RAW Processed in CS3 CR 4.2 1/200 f4.5
Vivitar 100MM Handheld

The Sony DSLR-A700 exposure quality is
fantastic compared to the Konica MInolta 5D and the Sony A100. Their is really
no comparison, the A700 hits the exposures much better than it's predecessors.
In this Adobe Camera Raw conversion you can see some detail smearing noise
reduction kicking in.

100 Percent Crop

-Sonolta 10-20-2007 5:40PM CST

"Plastic Fantasic" Vivitar 100MM
handheld  shot at f8 1/160 ISO200 fine RAW lightly processed in CS3 ACR
4.2.

100 Percent Crop, Flat Camera Settings, Minor
Smart Sharpening Applied in CS3

-Sonolta 10-20-2007 2:30PM CST

"Plastic Fantasic" Vivitar 100MM
handheld shot at f5 1/320 ISO500 fine JPG lightly processed in CS3 ACR
4.2.

We finally got some nice weather today so I'll be
posting a few shots from around the yard. The A700 is a very nice machine and it
was giving some me some pretty sweet results on my first day out in the midday
sun.

100 Percent Crop, Flat Camera Settings, Minor
Smart Sharpening Applied

I shot maybe 300 SonyA700 shots around noon, this just
happens to be a random pull. I shot a range of shots between  ISO200-1250
so and I will put some cool stuff up throughout the day today and tomorrow.

-Sonolta 10-20-2007 1:57PM CST

Here are a few more of the Sony A-700 ISO 2000 JPG test shots from earlier
today:

1/40 f3.2 Minolta 135MM 2.8  handheld

1/160 f3.2 Minolta 135MM 2.8 handheld 

1/320 f3.5 Minolta 135MM 2.8 handheld

1/200 f3.2 Minolta 135MM 2.8 handheld

1/60 f3.5 Minolta 135MM 2.8 handheld

Shooting cats with backlighting and no fill flash is
certainly tough. The A700 performed about as well as expected. These shots do
not contain the same amount of detail as my "Black Cat Test" and high
ISO performance while adequate, is somewhat hit and miss depending on the level
of detail needed.

The original Black Cat ISO 2000 test shot with 100%
crops is is here:

http://www.sonolta.com/sony-a700-iso-2000-test

-Sonolta 10-19-2007 5:23CST

Hello folks, today the weather is horrible here so I
have decided to put the Sony Alpha A700 to the test on one of the most
photographed subjects of all time, the common housecat.

This is one of the toughest tasks you can ask a camera
to perform...capture a black cat with minimal illumination. This task is not
easily done well by very many cameras so let's go ahead and see what happens with the A700:

Minolta 135 2.8 at 1/50 f3.2 ISO2000 Camera JPG, Natural Light Only,
Handheld, No NR.

Here are the 100% Unsharpened Crops:

Well folks, for people that don't like flashing it appears that ISO2000 may
work fine for web work and some print tasks. Clearly noise reduction artifacts
are visible, and smearing of low contrast details is also apparent. All-in-all though,
not too horrible of a performance at ISO2000 on the black cat test, I don't
think. ISO2000 was not available on the Sony A100 or the Konica Minolta 5D so
even if the ISO2000 quality is not up to your personal standards, it will be a
welcome addition for many A-Mount lowlight shooters.

-Sonolta 10-19-2007 2:13PM CST

In the past 6 years I have shot 200K plus Minolta and Sony images that are now spread across 1200 Cd's and DVD's, 6 External Hard Drives, 60 photo related dotcoms, and even a few publications and displays here and there. Needless to say, I am many hundred moons behind on updating my web collections with my last couple years material. Hopefully, during the next several months I will put a dozen of my popular sites back on-line, organize several current sites on-line, as well as build out a few of my new and incomplete sites as well.

I have decided to go ahead and spend a few hours of my time
working on Sonolta.com as sort of my mini-tribute to the A-Mount and the Minolta
legacy. Most of my stuff on-line is old, scattered, and mostly disorganized but
slowly I will be taking care of these things as the cold winter progresses here
in Rockford.

This is me below, pictured with the Konica Minolta 5D and
the Minolta Dimage 7Hi.

I'll try to get something more formal up here sometime, 
but for now this is all you get. :-)

Don P. Northup aka: Sonolta aka: MinoltaMan
Rockford, Illinois 10-19-2007

-MM

50MM 1.7 at 1/25 f4.5 ISO1600 Camera JPG, no NR, mixed indoor
lighting, handheld, no flash, no sunshine, no available window light.

Hello folks, I finally took the plunge and ordered the Sony Alpha A700...it
arrived earlier today. My biggest concern was High ISO's and the dreaded
watercolor effect. While the imaging characteristics of this senor are much
different than the 6MP CCD in the KM5D/7D, and the 10MP CCD in the Sony
A100,  I do believe the camera can perform adequately in many high ISO
tasks from what I am finding in my initial test shots.

100 Percent Crops Below

While there is a slight bit of smearing visible, compared with the Konica
Minolta 5D and the Sony A100, the Sony A700 12MP CMOS sensor is holding it's own against the KM5D, and completely thrashing the A100 at ISO1600.

Don Northup -  aka: MinoltaMan aka: Sonolta

10-17-2007 8:47PM CST