Recent content by motso

Once in a while you come across a thread that really helps - and this is such a thread for me! Presumably as the OP asked about Buzzards these methods only work with a bright background (sky), any tips for metering for birds with noisy backgrounds/on branches etc? Perhaps Centre weighted with...

Hi all, I have a Velbon CX 660 tripod which I am in the process of upgrading. I want to get a Manfrotto fluid head and eventually will get some legs too but on the meantime I would like to use this head on the velbon legs. However I can not seem to get the head off. Some things online suggest...

I know its bad, you don't need to re post it!! I was just using it as an example! Another thing I've noticed is that when using large apertures, anything that gets in the way of the target (ie. branches) look terrible and completely ruins the shot. There's no crazy effects on that, but...

I looked at some of my images and its clear that the problems are due to cropping, I guess I was hoping that having more pixels would improve the quality of my crops, but theres no escaping from the fact I need a bigger zoom. Here's a photo I posted in another thread that is not cropped that...

Some really interesting responses, very helpful. I should say I am well aware 200mm is not really sufficient for most wildlife. The reason I went for the 2.8 is that currently most of my photography is done whilst on walks and shooting handheld. The 70-200 2.8 is perfect for slinging over the...

Thanks for all the interesting replies, I guess its not as clear cut as I'd hoped! At the moment I primarily use a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8, I chose this over a longer zoom (Sigma 150-500) with a smaller aperture as I found my old Sony 75-300 5.6 (a pretty poor lens) to be extremely limiting in most...

Hi All, I have been pondering upgrading my Sony A55 (16MP) to the A77 (24MP). I predominantly shoot wildlife and hence often need to push ISO up as much as I dare (I don't like going above 400 on the A55), but also sometimes need to crop heavily. In my head it makes sense that a higher MP...

Thanks for the quick replies, the LR 4 adobe site says a minimum of 2GB of RAM so 3 should be sufficient, il check out those guides and look into the 1:1 rendering, as I'm not sure what this means I almost certainly am not doing it! Will post the results incase it helps others. Thanks Tom

Thanks for the comments, so to surmise, a macro lens is absolutely fine for portraits but 30mm is insufficient? So if (like I should have done) I had got the 100mm sony macro this would be ideal for both? I could then use either the 30mm or my 70-200 2.8 if I required more or less focal length...

Hi all, Apologies if this has been asked before but.... I use Lightroom 4 for my PP, I love everything about it (layout, sliders etc.), I find the effects and tweaks are fine loading however whenever I zoom in on an image (to check focus) and/or then cycle through my images it takes an age...

Hi all, I bought the Sony 30mm 2.8 macro lens about a year ago for a really good price however it doesn't get as much use as I had hoped! I am looking to take a few portraits in the future. In theory this lens seems ideal, good focal length and nice wide aperture, is there anything I'm...

Some interesting points, I'm certainly happy with my A55 and glad light loss is probably not an issue for me. Anyone got any advice on lens choice? Tom.

Hi All, Thanks for all the helpful comments, its great to know there are so many people out there willing to give good advice. From your comments and further research on 'light loss' with the SLT's it would seem to pointless switching brand at this stage, especially as I am happy with...

Hi All, I currently shoot mainly wildlife/bird photography with my Sony A55 and 75-300mm 4.5-5.6 lens. As this lens obviously has quite a few limitations I am looking to upgrade to either a Sony 70-400g or a Sigma 50-500mm. I have found with my current set up that I am always struggling...