Inquiry: Sony a850 for Fashion?

[zipperfoot]

Hello,
I'm a student who has practiced photography for about six years now, about to attend classes at an arts school for photography (and yes, my classes will be digital classes), and have been looking to buy a new dSLR. Most of the work I do and intend to pursue is fashion photography. I was recommended by a few professionals (one who works in a similar field) that the a850 would be a great deal / set-up for me, for several reasons.

The problem is, I know extremely little about Sony as a dSLR line and after seeing a couple of sample-shots, I have been slightly scared by the seemingly overly sharp quality of the photos and what to me seems like poor processing, although this could also be a lens issue (I am not very familiar with Sony / Zeiss lenses at all).

Could anyone recommend / not recommend this model? If anyone has any shots (especially of people) they have taken with the a850 they could show me, it would be immensely appreciated.

The price of this camera and the things I have been told I can take advantage of in this brand / model are very appealing. It'd be a great help if some users could persuade or dissuade me from it, because as always, the whirlwind that is choosing a new dSLR is a delicate, threatening process. xP

Thanks very much!

(Also, I know this is not exactly Sony-related, but does anyone have any thoughts on the Canon EOS 7D?)

[Frog]

One thing to keep in mind that most photos which are put up to advertise a camera brand/model are going to have a lot of detail and be sharpened to the max.
Maybe someone here owns that camera and can post some examples of their work.

[Anbesol]

The 7D is an APS camera body, with a 1.6x crop, very different from full frame. The 7D is a terrific APS camera, but its 18 Mpix cant really compare to Sonys 24 MPix apples to apples, they are different kinds of huge resolution. Stretching 24Mpix across a full frame allows for much larger pixel density than 18 on an APS, combined with the full use of lens elements and the A850 produces much more resolution and detail than the 7D can. The 7D is more geared for sports and outdoors types of photography, wildlife photographers etc. Fashion and studio photography would certainly better pair with full frame.

Imaging resource photos that you looked at were not processed, but many of the other sample images you find around the net might be, as frog said, they are likely processed to that sharpness. Funny thing though - most people new to SLR complain of just the opposite, that the images are not sharp enough, because DSLR's default to a very low amount of sharpening.

DonSchap uses the A850, he might be able to accommodate the request.

All that said - I'd put getting a decent lens a priority above getting full frame. If getting a full frame means getting a poopy lens due to budget, get the good lens and an APS body (upgrade later). The 85mm f/1.4 is a great lens to pair with a full frame body, an ideal 'fashion photography' kind of lens. I would rather do a fashion photo shoot with the most bare base model SLR and the 85mm f/1.4 than using the A900 with an 18-70 kit. Extreme exageration, but I think you know what I mean.

[zipperfoot]

Thank you for your input.
I am also mildly considering the Canon 5D Mark II, if you have any opinions on that as well. Thanks!

[Anbesol]

Honestly, the A850/5D Mk II are very similar, I dont think you could go wrong either way, I'm sure you'd be thrilled using either.

[zipperfoot]

Thank you all very much for your input!

[DonSchap]

When it comes to using the a850, two lenses immediately come to mind when photographing in less than Ideal light, which model/fashion photography can often be.

There are the:

SONY CZ 135mm f/1.8
SONY CZ 85mm f/1.4

Both these lenses offer about the best overall response of ANY of the primes. Between using these two, you cover a lot of potential ground. If you limit yourself to just one lens, you take the chance of not getting the shot you want under restrictive distance conditions.

Adding on, after having these two, the SONY AF 50mm f/1.4 and the CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 offer some serious flexibility, indoors, although the 24-70mm might require some additional flash support (HVL-F58AM). I would recommend avoiding the idea of using the HVL-F42AM as your main flash, as it is nowhere near as flexible as the '58 in regards to fashion action.

The Full Frame a850 does need a full spread of light, also. That 24.6MP sensor offers definition hard to achieve with cameras of lesser resolution. But you also must take into consideration that by using less than top-drawer glass, any optical defect will be picked up by this resolution much faster than the smaller sensors.

In other words, match your glass to the real quality of your camera body.

I hope this helps. :thumbsup:

[zipperfoot]

Thanks very much!