My first Full Frame camera was a short lived run with an Original Canon 6D in 2014. At the time I was, like many other budding photographers, tricked into the notion buying a full frame camera would make me a much better photographer and that if I wanted to get better this was the only way to go.
When I found out that this camera had a lot of features stripped down from the Canon 60D I "upgraded from" (for example: no built in flash, less AF points and the camera was overall just a lot slower to respond) along with not having the reach I was used to I started to realize that Full Frame wasn't for me; and so I doubled down on crop system cameras and over the next several years would become a little overcritical on Full Frame cameras and Full Frame shooters in general; almost to the point where I considered FF photographers par of some sort of Kool-Aid drinking cult.
A few years later in 2017 I decided to give Full Frame another try, and bought a Sony a99. It was a dying system but I had a number of Minolta lenses that would work with it without having to spend a lot in glass on top of the body purchase. Neither the 6D nor a99 were cheap; but it wasn't till recently that the price of Full Frame DSLRs (such as the Nikon D610 I previously reviewed) would match that of what you could buy an APS-C camera for.
When I bought back into Full Frame, I intended it to not be my main camera but a system I shot, on occasion, when I wanted a very specific "softer focus" look out of some vintage film lenses. And for this, the a99 does a solid job. Its a fun Art camera that gets some really cool unique photos.
My particular a99 has a shortcoming that is common in all SLT cameras and that is having an IBIS/steady shot that has broken. This is the biggest reason I haven't shot it a lot is because of this defect which happened seven months after buying it. This was a mere month after my warranty from the place I bought it went out so I couldn't get my money back (go figure).
Released in 2012 the Sony a99 was Sony's second Full Frame camera and first full frame "SLT"- a hybrid between a Mirrorless and DSLR camera. It features a high-contrast 24mp CMOS Full Frame sensor which is unlike the "Full Frame connotation" is not a good at low noise at High ISO sensor.
The a99 falls apart at any ISO higher then 3200 which means at best its low light performance is on par with my Panasonic G9 (a micro 43rds sensor half the size of a Full Frame sensor) and is noticeably worse then my APS-C Nikon D7200 and majorly worse then the newest APS-C body I own the Nikon Z50 for ISO performance. As noted in the Nikon D610 review the a99 is significantly worse for ISO noise then the D610 as well even if it can shoot at a higher "native" ISO.
That said, it still has a nice useable range of clean ISO both indoors and outdoors so long as you use faster glass when shooting inside and can keep your ISO below 3200. It still will outperform a first generation Full Frame or older generation APS-C camera in this respect.
On top of the lackluster ISO performance for a FF body the a99 has some other small shortcomings but nothing that would dissuade me from shooting it.
First the shutter speed in auto ISO is locked at 1/60 of a second regardless of the focal length attached to the camera (and unable to change this). The mechanical shutter also has a dull somewhat squishy sound when fired rather then the satisfying click of other DSLRs and even Mirrorless cameras, it has all of its AF points grouped in the center (similar to the D610 I reviewed last week) and it has a fairly slow FPS drive though the AF tracking is decent.
Because this camera 's sensor output is Unique and it can be shot natively with Vintage Minolta lenses however it has a cult following that keeps the used prices high compared to other Full Frame bodies such as the Nikon D610 and Original Gen Sony a7 which in many cases are otherwise "superior" in ISO noise quality and performance/responsiveness otherwise.
So knowing that this camera is prone to QA issues, and that it is really noisy for a full frame camera along with lacking some basic functionality features why is this camera still sought after?
There are a number of things that the a99 has going for it that make it this cult classic full frame body, and the original reason I bought it.
First off is the sensor itself. For a CMOS chip the sensor on the a99 has a very unique high contrastry look to it which is uncommon outside of other much older sensors such as the 5D classic and Canon 1D Mark II or Mark III at a higher 24mp resolution.
The color science the a99 uses is vastly different then what the much more common Nikon D610 or Canon 5D mark II/III use and that likely sets them apart and will produce more Neutral toned photos SOOC.
Secondly, you can run this camera with 30-40 year old Minolta Film lenses and get much better quality for optics then early EF lenses from the same era. The a99 paired with the 28-135 4-4.5 "Secret Weapon" or 70-210 F4 "Beercan" lens gets some really quality professional looking results with lenses that can be purchased for around $50 a piece.
The last reason the a99 is likely still sought after to this day is that it is its a well ergonomically designed camera, a "Full DSLR sized" package with a lot of the features of a mirror less camera such as an Electronic Viewfinder with exposure preview and Focus Peaking.
Those who want a mirrorless-like full frame body that is not more "compact" and in the full-size DSLR experience the a99 (and rarer to find a99 mark II) hits the mark over something like an Original Sony a7 which has the more traditional more compact form-factor.
In short the Sony a99 is the camera that warmed me up to the concept that "Not all Full Frame Cameras are Evil" or the people who bought into photography just rubbing it in your face how much money they have to spend on Photography equipment, in large part because of its uniqueness.
It takes some beautiful photos and while this week I did not get anything too impressive off of it; I do have plenty of other photos from it that still make me take a quick take when I see them. But the constant having to clear a message on the screen stating "The Steadyshot has malfunctioned seek repair service" coming up on the screen is really annoying and will push me to sadly likely look to re-home this camera to someone who will use it more then me.
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