Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 (Body Only) Reviews: Digital SLR Camera

Photo of Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 (Body Only) Digital Camera

25 Real Customer Reviews - In Summary

This digital camera is a good all rounder. “Lots of features, intuitive menu's, lovely 3inch screen, comfortable in small or…” Jack, Cowes, Isle of wight View all 25 real customer reviews

Available via Reevoo.com from £500 – £805 at 7 retailers

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Product Details

3" Screen, 1x optical zoom, Compact Flash storage More »

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Real customer reviews

25 verified purchasers have reviewed this product.
94% of people recommend it.

Show scores of…

All purchasers (25)

Build Quality	9.1
Ease of use	8.9
Features	8.6
Image quality	8.9
Value for money (at time of purchase)	9.1
Overall rating	9.0

Experienced amateur (6)

Keen amateur (1)

Point & shoot (1)

Other (17)

*not all purchasers provided a score or review

Score 9.0/10

Jack, Cowes, Isle of wight

+ Lots of features, intuitive menu's, lovely 3inch screen, comfortable in small or large hands, fairly lightweight for a camera of this level, good image stabilisation, VERY fast.. ooh and that nifty remote!
oh and SRAW is great

- cant write S/RAW+Jpeg Xfine...only jpeg fine, DRO is useful but I prefer to bracket and merge.
the only gripe I have is the limited lens selection although this seems to be improving and there are some very nice Sigma, Tamron and Sony lenses on the way!

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18 of 19 people found this review helpful

purchased 12 Jun 2008

Score 10.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Great navigation system, bought it to replace my Minolta 7D and can say that it is truly a worthy replacement. Great camera!

- Reviewer left no comment

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15 of 15 people found this review helpful

purchased 29 Sep 2008

Score 10.0/10

Martin, Altrincham, Cheshire , “Serious Amateur”

+ Good solid construction and relatively easy to use for the amateur user.
Lives up to all the reviews and the lack of 'live view' has not bothered me at all as I always turn the facility off on other cameras to save power. Excellent value for money. Go get one if you're thinking of it and sitting on the fence

- Could do with a top view screen but the main screen is so easy to manipulate that it really compensates for not having it.

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13 of 14 people found this review helpful

purchased 25 May 2008

Score 9.0/10

Dan, London , “semi-pro user”

+ Excellent auto exposure, decent fps, fast focus - especially at f/2.8. Works well with my Sigma flash units.

- Loses the multi-function dial of the A100

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9 of 9 people found this review helpful

purchased 13 Jun 2008

Score 9.0/10

David, Larne , “Experienced amateur” More like this »

+ The numerous buttons, instead of the use of a menu, makes this extremely fast and easy to use when circumstances change.

- No live view or moveable screen. I have an A300 with this feature and it is necessary when shooting from low or high angles. I would have paid extra for this feature.

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8 of 8 people found this review helpful

purchased 24 Mar 2009

Score 9.0/10

Douglas , Warrington , “very amateur photographer”

+ In camera anti shake
low noise

- Limited range of lenses especially long telephoto

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8 of 9 people found this review helpful

purchased 21 Feb 2008

Score 10.0/10

David, Machynlleth , “Keen amateur”

+ Feels solid and well built in the hand. The menu function is very intuitive and it's easy to change camera settings quickly.Having just upgraded from the alpha 100 which is in itself a very good camera the alpha 700 takes your photography to a whole new level.

- Haven't found any yet although live view would be a useful function to have.

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7 of 7 people found this review helpful

purchased 30 May 2009

Score 9.0/10

Robert, Alicante , “Semi-Pro photographer”

+ A worthy replacement for my Dynax 5D

- None so far

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7 of 7 people found this review helpful

purchased 30 Oct 2008

Score 10.0/10

alison, witham , “wildlife photography bias”

+ it's plain brilliant. Great value

- Not too many lenses available yet compared to canon and nikon

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6 of 6 people found this review helpful

purchased 29 Sep 2008

Score 9.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ fits all my minolta lenses

- Reviewer left no comment

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5 of 5 people found this review helpful

purchased 11 Nov 2008

Score 8.0/10

Peter , Barton Le Clay (Nr Luton) , “Experienced amateur” More like this »

+ Good solid build and excellent image quality. reasonably simple to use and controls all readily to hand.

- No "live" view thrugh monitor before taking iages.
Manual could do with being a little clearer to understand

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4 of 4 people found this review helpful

purchased 26 Feb 2009

Score 9.0/10

Stephan, Northampton

+ Excellent build quality. Flexible and easy to use. First class picture quality.

- CompactFlash memory slot reversed, makes memory card difficult to remove. No live-view.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 23 Aug 2009

Score 10.0/10

David Hed, Sweden

+ Excellent build quality. Great autofocus and ease of reach for settings. Grip is awesome compared to Canon EOS 40d. Fast and correct with button presses.

- Lacks video and live-view. A bit high mechanical noise

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 10 Jul 2009

Score 9.0/10

Paul, Peterborough , “Experienced amateur” More like this »

+ Good replacement for obselete Konica Minolta Dynax 7d
Control very similar but better exposure settings. lots more ISO and speed

- No anti scratch guard for screen with package.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 21 Jul 2009

Score 5.0/10

Pete, Manchester

+ easy to use

- Minolta lenes, not as good as nikon, and not a lot of them

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purchased 25 Apr 2009

Score 10.0/10

Choy, Hyltebruk , “Experienced amateur” More like this »

+ Significantly more responsive than entrylevel DSLRs. The added buttons makes it faster and easier to change settings while shooting and quicknavi is great for more changes. Focusing is also much faster and accurate both in good and bad conditions.

- As a prosumer camera it is somewhat heavier than entrylevel dslrs and bigger, something I haven't become fully accustomed to yet. It is also lacking the live view of newer models.

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purchased 08 Sep 2009

Score 9.0/10

Joe, Cork, Ireland , “Experienced amateur” More like this »

+ Intuitive, ease of use, great viewfinder

- None

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purchased 14 Sep 2009

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Expert reviews for Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 (Body Only)

PC Advisor expert review - by Tracey Capen

The Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 digital SLR is a complex, well-made camera with tons of controls. The A700 takes exceptionally sharp, well-exposed shots.

This Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 (Body Only) review continued on PC Advisor

reviewed 29 Jan 2008

Product Features

Camera Type	SLR
There are 2 main types of camera: The SLR and the Compact. SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. SLR cameras use a prism to reflect the exact image as seen through the lens and so offers a more accurate viewfinder. SLR cameras have detachable lenses offering greater flexibility if you wish to take a variety of different photographs. Compact cameras have a built in lens and an ‘above lens’ viewfinder which is less accurate but they are often cheaper, more sleekly designed and easier to carry anywhere with you to capture that moment perfectly without having to fiddle with complex settings or a bag full of lenses.
resolution (Megapixel)	13

resolution (Megapixel)	12.24

Optical Zoom Ratio	1
The amount by which the camera optics (lens) can bring the subject closer.
Screen Size in Inches	3
Screen size is measured diagonally from corner to corner.
Digital Zoom Ratio	1
Not to be confused with optical zoom, digital zoom enlarges a portion of the image thus simulating optical zoom. In doing so, some image quality is lost.
Face Recognition	Face Detection
A function for automatically detecting peoples faces and correctly adjusting the focus and exposure to take the best photo
Face Recognition	Yes
A function for automatically detecting peoples faces and correctly adjusting the focus and exposure to take the best photo
Image Stabilisation	Yes
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
Image Stabilisation	Optical Image Stabiliser
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
Colour	Silver
The main colour of the product.
Memory Card Slot	Yes
Having a memory card slot allows you to save data to a memory card and then transfer it to another device. For example you may put a photo from your camera or mobile phone onto a memory card and then plug it into your printer to print directly. Memory card slots come in many formats: Compact Flash Card Memory Stick Duo Micro SD Card MMC SD Card SDHC Card
Media Format	Compact Flash
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
PictBridge	Yes
An industry standard allowing images to be printed from camera to printer, without needing a computer. CIPA PictBridge Standard Website
Macro Mode	Yes
This mode allows close-up photograpy of small objects such as insects and flowers.
Video Recorder	No
Video recording functionality allows the capture of videos in mpeg or avi format which is great if you want to capture a whole scene, not just one moment.
Manual Focus	Yes
Almost all modern cameras have autofocus. Manual focus allows you to override the autofocus and set the distance yourself. This is especially useful if your camera is struggling to focus in a low-light or confusing scene.
Timer	Yes
Having a timer function is essential if you want to get into the shot yourself. Make sure your camera has this feature if you plan to go on holiday and capture photos of you and your friends or family having fun together.
Under Water	No
An under water feature means your camera is safe to dive with, usually between 3 and 5 metres. Most dSLR cameras will require expensive separate housing so consider investing in a waterproof digital compact first.
Dimensions (mm)	104.8x141.7x79.7
The size of the device in millimetres, in width x height x depth.
Weight (g)	139
The weight of the product in grams.
Weight (g)	690
The weight of the product in grams.
Flash	Yes
Whether or not your camera has an in-built flash. Flashes are essential for fully capturing a low light image.
Body Only	Yes
dSLR cameras have detachable lenses and are sold in a variety of combinations. This facet lets you know whether the package your are considering comes bundled with a lens or whether it is just the body of the camera.
Resolution (Pixels)	4288x2865
A camera sensor, that captures the photograph, is measured in pixels. The number given here is the horizontal amount of pixels followed by the vertical quantity of pixels. The more pixels a camera sensor has, the bigger and higher quality the image will be.
Shortest Shutter Speed	4000
This is the fastest speed at which the camera can take a photo. Faster shutter speeds really freeze the action and are great for sports photography.
Longest Shutter Speed	30
This is the longest exposure your camera will take. The longer you take a photo for, the more light is let in and the more motion is captured. Long shutter speeds can give fantastic, artistic results. Try photographing the night sky at 30s or longer to see how the rotation of the Earth causes the stars to curve through the scene.
Longest Shutter Speed	30"
This is the longest exposure your camera will take. The longer you take a photo for, the more light is let in and the more motion is captured. Long shutter speeds can give fantastic, artistic results. Try photographing the night sky at 30s or longer to see how the rotation of the Earth causes the stars to curve through the scene.
USB Port	Yes
Socket for connecting devices such as a computers and other components
WiFi	No
Wifi allows you to connect your device to wireless routers or modems which allows you to connect to broadband internet.

Digital Cameras Buyers' Guide

Photos taken with this camera

Manufacturer's Description

High performance Digital Single Lens Reflex (D-SLR) camera – body only. Superlative HD picture quality from shooting to viewing. Ultra-responsive performance, ruggedly constructed and beautifully easy to use.

* Sony ‘Exmor’ 12.24 effective megapixel CMOS sensor with on-chip A/D conversion and dual noise reduction * High speed BIONZ image processing engine for superb image quality * Ultra responsive operation with fast, high-accuracy 11-point autofocus and 5fps continuous shooting * HDMI output for viewing on HD Ready display plus PhotoTV HD mode for optimised Full HD images on new BRAVIA televisions * 3.0-inch Xtra Fine 921k dot resolution LCD screen for critical shot evaluation * Compatible with full range of a-mount lenses from Sony and Carl Zeiss plus Konica Minolta lenses * Enhanced SteadyShot INSIDE optical image stabilisation in camera body reduces camera shake with all lenses* * New Quick Navi function for fast, easy access to camera settings * Rugged magnesium body with aluminium alloy chassis and controls sealed against dust and moisture * Dual anti-dust system protects sensor during lens exchange * SteadyShot INSIDE was previously known as Super SteadyShot

Compare prices for Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 (Body Only) on 21 Nov 2009

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