a55

[Greg McCary]

The a55 looks real attractive on paper. Why or why not would you own one? Just asking?

[Photo-John]

I would own one. If I wasn't already invested in another brand, and I wanted an APS-C DSLR, the A55 would be at the top of my list. The only two areas where I think it's not as good as Nikon or Canon are burst speed and auto focus for stills. That's just for shooting sports, though. For the kind of stuff you shoot, I don't see any reason the A55 wouldn't be awesome. The image quality is exactly the same as the Nikon D7000, the size and weight are great and I love the tilting LCD for tripod work. What's not to love?

[Greg McCary]

Thanks John for the input.

[Anbesol]

I would not, two reasons: viewing and composing a scene with attached strobes doesn't work, as the live view goes off of a preview of only the ambient light in the exposure, and also because the A77 is right around the corner and piques my interest a lot more. The "fix" according to Sony is to switch in and out of a priority mode and back into manual, which would do the job, but still. The big difference is that I'm putting a lot more interest in the A77 than the A55.

[OldClicker]

I would not, two reasons: viewing and composing a scene with attached strobes doesn't work, as the live view goes off of a preview of only the ambient light in the exposure,....

This is only a problem with non-recognized strobes. The EVF adjusts with Sony flashes and a couple of third party compatible flashes. - Terry

[petecam]

I have just bid on an A55 on the well known auction site .I did not get it it was working but not properly as it had water damage it went for about $169 .I actually bid about $137 It was'nt the price that worried me I could have bought it If I really wanted to. It was getting it repaired properly. Is it really feasable to to hope you can find somebody to really (fix it) get a really nice camera fairly cheaply . When do they write off cameras I was prepared to have paid between $200-$300 for a really good repair but I dont know anyone to repair it locally . So I let it go the buyer must have access to repairs .Peter

[Greg McCary]

I have just bid on an A55 on the well known auction site .I did not get it it was working but not properly as it had water damage it went for about $169 .I actually bid about $137 It was'nt the price that worried me I could have bought it If I really wanted to. It was getting it repaired properly. Is it really feasable to to hope you can find somebody to really (fix it) get a really nice camera fairly cheaply . When do they write off cameras I was prepared to have paid between $200-$300 for a really good repair but I dont know anyone to repair it locally . So I let it go the buyer must have access to repairs .Peter

I am not sure if I would touch anything that was water damaged.

[Anbesol]

A water damaged DSLR is basically a for parts situation. If you knew specific details about the damage, you could reasonably appraise the cost, but a general 'water damaged' description does not paint any kind of a good picture. It is certainly not a way to go just to save a few bucks.

[petecam]

I wasn't trying to get the A55 body on the cheap . I have repaired & built items all my life . I don't like to see
perfectly good articles going to the scrap yard . I must admit repairing a digital SLR did worry me somewhat
I think I did make the right decision not to purchase as said nobody really knows the extent of the water damage . As they say one door shuts another opens . I will find a SLR body eventually . The prices of the A55 & A580 are starting to recede. Peter