I bought a Canon 5D a year ago and although it produces impressive pictures, I found a significant proportion of my pictures were blurred or out of focus, far more than I experienced with my Canon film cameras. This was mainly down to camera shake on my part I think - though I did think the focusing was idiosyncratic too. Also, I found myself not carrying my 5D around as it was a heavy camera with the 24-105mm lens attached.

I started to look for a smaller and lighter camera - comfort was a major issue as was the quality of the LCD as the 5D's LCD is frankly poor - very hard to tell if something was sharply focused or the appropriate colour.

I tried the Sony A700 - instant comfort - brilliant grip and contours, lightweight and small, large and bright viewfinder, superb LCD etc.

I bought an A700 with a Carl Zeiss 16-80 lens (got a very good deal and with the rebate paid about Ł1,000) and have used it for a couple of weeks and overall I am very happy - I use it far more than the 5D as it is light and small and easy to carry. On the downside, I think the picture quality is not as good as the 5D especially at high ISOs where the Sony is noticeably grainy. One reason I bought the Sony was that all the reviews complimented the noise control and said it was on a par with Canon 40D etc, it may be comparable to the 40D, but it makes the 5D look outstanding.

Here are some examples:
The pic on the left is the Canon (medium jpeg) and on the right the Sony (xfine jpeg, DRO off, v.3 fireware), both at ISO 800. The Canon is incredible - no grain and very sharp:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsofoto/2557288124/

This photo is taken at ISO 200 and looks fine:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsofoto/2557070786/

Here is the window on the left at 100%, it looks very grainy at full rez, even at ISO 200:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsofoto/2557287926/

This photo doesn't really do the comparison credit, the pic on the right with the SOny at ISO 800 was significantly more grainy than the Canon on the left:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipsofoto/2556462921/

Question - am I being unrealistic and too harsh on the A700 comparing it to a non like-for-like camera? I appreciate the 5D is a full frame camera, but being 3 years old, I would have expected the technology to catch up. I find the Sony only compares to the 5D if you shoot in RAW as the jpegs are not as high rez, sharp or contrasty.