I already know how the 7D does video and their orientation-detecting zone focusing (which was a major disappointment), and how the D300s is. They have the same noise performance as the A550 by the way.

Compare that to the phase-detect-on-main-sensor patents that Sony have registered, and I would say potentially, Sony has a true APS-C video dSLR killer which gives smooth AF in video.

If you want jello shake (rolling shutter), manual focus video and jumpy auto-exposure, you can buy the EOS7D/D300s now.

A300 + KM 28-75 f2.8 + HVL-F58.. XD
high iso's noise is so damn terrible~

guys, to clear the air,

its obvious cjlai is jumping ship, but not jumping mount, he is not selling away all his lens, *hint hint*, his 7D will be fully import from japan.

a lot people still complaining how shity is sony, but i really lazy to tell them, how A550 has similiar iso as D300s and 7D. so, until A7xx comes out to kick their arse rock the world, let be patience

kev da man: Er, the A550 does have an Exmor APS-C sensor! You mean Exmor R, using backlit technology, which I've explained, will not work on current APS-C cameras.

Backlit technology on a big sensor only makes sense when the pixel density is as high as the point-and-shoots. Let's say a 12 megapixel point-and-shoot sensor has a crop factor of 6x - multiply that to APS-C's 1.5x and you get 12 * 4 * 4 = 192 megapixels.

Conservatively, we could say that backlit technology will make an improvement once APS-C sensors have 192 megapixels.

There is also quantum technology, which we have yet to see how it performs in a practical scale.

Some people have modified the Carl Zeiss 135mm F1.8 to mount on EF mount. They don't mind the manual focus or aperture because they prefer the Zeiss optics.

Nice shot, by the way, and I like how in-your-face your picture of her is!

I personally dislike ceiling bounce method as it'll create a harsh shadow under your subject's neck.

so our alphas lineup like a550/700/850/900 all use global shutter instead?

this is my 7D....  sorry guys, not selling any lens for this jump

kev daman, your flash how did u align it?? bounce? with bouncecard? / difuser?

Q : Are there any cameras that will display the current focal length of the lens that you are using on the viewfinder/LCD ? hmmm ...

Btw... A550 is in my mind. The live view is so poisonous...

U mean from lv it's in focus but oof from the result?

Need help.when i ON my camera...the kit  lens got a loud sound..what happen to my kit lens le..sob sob..

had my kitlens like that before,
same funky sound XD
send to sony timesquare,
paid rm20 for deposit,
wait for 3 weeks,
get back to the sony.
then go over there n get my baby back~ XD

FYI, it was already out of warranty
and i only paid that rm20 for the repairing XD

kev da man: Contrast AF point? There is no contrast detect AF on the A550. It is phase detect AF just like all the Alphas. If you're complaining that the picture appears to have a shallower DOF than what you see in the viewfinder, it is because the viewfinder limits the apparent DOF to F3.2 or thereabouts. This is the same for all film or digital SLRs of all brands, which have AF.

The A700, A850 and A900 have changeable viewfinder screens (the A700 viewfinder needs to be changed at a service center but the A850/A900 is user-changeable.) The default screen is the Type G which is bright and shows DOF until F3.2 - any brighter and it will still look like F3.2.

The Type M screen is like a classic ground glass - it shows DOF accurately to F1.4! However, if you put a F4.0 lens on it, it will appear to be darker, like a manual focus camera would.

maybe your A550 has a back (or front) focusing problem?
I think my A550 may has... but have not really check with the focus chart.

because when the aperture is wide opened, the DOF is very shallow, hence you can really see if it is focusing the right spot correctly (ie sharp).
When the aperture opening is smaller, the DOF is much deeper, hence any misfocusing is a little more forgiving... ie can look sharp even if it is slightly out of focused

kev da man: What is Sony's official response?

Contrast detect AF is the slow, stuttering, hunting AF you see on other brand dSLRs.

If the center point is hit or miss I'd hate to say it would be user error. It might also be backfocus, but often people misdiagnose user error as backfocus.

Do you mean Quick AF LV or MF Check LV? Quick AF LV with a F1.4 lens might show a different focus (I found this too; probably the LV sensor is not focused on the viewfinder properly, as I don't experience this when looking through the optical viewfinder.)

As for either mike or ears, you're using a bright aperture, you can't get them all in focus! Use a darker aperture.

kev da man, show us a picture with EXIF that shows the problem.

guys...tell me should i go for FF now or wait for a7x0??

i got oni one 501.4 for FF...lol....but if i go FF i will buy new lens..

kev da man: Try not to recompose (half-shutter and drag).

http://www.mhohner.de/recompose.php

The 16-80mm might cause the body to show backfocus at 16mm. That said F5.6 is not really deep enough for this shot, and pixel-peeping a 14 megapixel shot makes shallow DOF more obvious - the man in the center is nearly in focus compared to the boy who appears to be in focus. His head appears to be at the same focal plane as the board but everybody is behind him.

I am not dismissing your claim of backfocus, but I am saying there are so many other factors to consider and eliminate.

But yes #2 exhibits it obviously if you were using the center point.

I do have a friend who experienced frontfocus with his A900 + 16-35mm; then I saw him shoot and knew the problem straight away! After he half-pressed, his body moved backward a bit!

As for #3 - sometimes, you can see in the viewfinder, that it locked onto the collar and not the chin. So you just need to half-press again.