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A1/A2 Real World Comparison

I have a chance to play around with the A2 for couple days. Having both A1/A2 at the same time make me decide to write a short review emphasizing how the two are different. I hope that the information I’ve put here will be beneficial for whom who is seeking for what to buy. As well as the A1 owner like mine will have a chance to see whether or not the new A2 is worth upgrading?

As far as constructions are concerned, the 2 cameras are virtually the same. So, no learning curve for the A1 owner. Both of them are handles nicely with very well balance on hand. Although, they may not be easy to use for the new user due to so much functions they are offered. However, few differences can be noticed like the new KM logo, the A2 name with Super Fine EVF indicated, the gold ring around lens barrel, the 5 grams more weight and the more stiffness of A2’s focussing ring.

Super Fine EVF is a real winner. It offers both much more detail and very smooth movement unlike anything you ever seen before. In low light, there is no noise from signal amplification like the one in previous models including A1. (see picture) Hence, you can clearly see all the detail and make the judgement whether or not the taking picture is in focus without relying on AF performance alone like the A1. In short, having focused in the dark using A2 EVF make all the pain goes away. The same goes to the LCD as well, even with the same pixel count but the better refresh rate make it more clear and smooth than the one use in A1. The 2 options on offer, 30/60 fps, make not much different in term of smoothness. So, the high resolution 30fps is a more preferable choice. Moreover, the new LCD has more warmer setting, therefore color the preview pictures will look more vibrant than the older LCD.

Here are some major changes inside the camera software :
- Now you can choose 3:2 format but limited to only 8MP image size.
- Image quality now offer RAW + JPEG format but also limited to 8MP size.
- The 2 EVF mode I've already mentioned.
- Bigger font size when you change any camera options.

Camera software continue:
- Firmware 1.10e
- Add Depth of Field Preview Option, although a bit awkward to use handle but work fine when camera is on tripod.
- Add almost-VGA movie at 30fps
- TC and Wide option, although when selection seems not to effect any of the camera functions. Please noted that all the 7i/7Hi/A1 users who buy the converters will get the bandle firmware upgrade to include this option.

For A2, you can preview picture with 10.2x zoom-in while only 8.0x for A1.

Now, it's time to talk about how you can make the different with extra pixel count on A2.

Sorry for a big picture but in order for you to really see the difference we need an image of considerable size. Due to the limitation of the webboard, this picture has been save using a low quality JPEG. Therefore, some artifact can be expected. However, you can clearly see that the 8MP is capable of showing more details than the 5MP counterpart.

Another 1:1 crop from the previous picture. It obviously shown that the road marker is more clear and readable in the A2 pic than the A1.

The picture of Thai banknote which can use to demonstrate the better detail of A2.

Also 1:1 crop. Let's the picture speak for itself.

When Minolta launched DiMAGE 7, the GT lens has been claimed to support 7MP CCD. When they use the same GT lens with A2, there are some concerns about whether the lens resolution can match the higher pixel count. This picture, although may be not scientifically sounds, but definitely show the ability of GT lens to cope with 8MP CCD.

This picture of Macbeth color chart shows how well the A2 rendering the color, which is really close to the original.

Noise is the most concern area for A2 when first launched due to the more pixel has been cramped to the same CCD size. This picture, however, suggest that A2 has noise no worst than the A1. At ISO 64 and 100, noise level is kept at minimum. At ISO 200, noise starts to show up but acceptable. The other 2 ISOs have far more noise and better to be kept away from real using.

Next topic is about shutter lag time. I use the cat doll that the arm can swing back and forth fast enough. To determine its swing speed, I use A2’s UHS mode at 7 fps to capture this picture. With 6 frames cover 1 cycle of swinging arm, therefore the speed of swinging is roughly 0.85 second.

After pre-focus by half pressing the shutter button, I tried to take picture when the arm has reached its maximum swing. This has been done several times enough to make sure that there were no errors by pressing the shutter too fast or too slow. The A2 (above) has taken the picture exactly the same time when the shutter was released. Meaning that there is no shutter lag in A2 which is really incredible. For A1, it obviously shown in the picture that the lag time was around 0.14 sec which is still really good in my opinion.

The zero shutter lag may be no need for still life subject but it extremely useful in action photography or candid picture like this.

Now it is time to show some samples. The first picture is taken from Minolta website (no time to set up any real portrait ) to show how good of this camera for portrait subject.

No time to take the camera for any field trip so the surrounding subjects have been used for this test.

Anyhow, I have few comments to add about A2 :
- The A2 definitely has more power consumption than A1. But with high power Li-Io NP400, this is not an issue.
- A2 grip can get warmer faster than A1 due to the high power consumption.
- With my 512MB CF card, I can get average around 150+ shots with 8MP fine setting. The file size is around 3MB. For RAW file, it will take 11+MB of your CF space.
- Never have a chance to play with the RAW file yet. So no comment about this.

My last picture.

In conclusion from my very personal opinion, those who are not sure which one to pick, by all mean please go for the A2. But those who already own the A1, no need for upgrade unless you think the new EVF and the shorter shutter lag will be benefit to your work, not the extra pixel count! Shall I upgrade? No, of course since I'll definitely wait for the new Dynax 7 Digital.