Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 3)

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stan the man said:
i'm afraid so mark....i've got one hell of a cold,and it's been strategically placed there so it's within easy reach IF i need it(run out of tissues) :lol:

good spot considering the shallow DOF :thumbs:
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Looks like you may have prime flu

That'll teach you for getting a zoom lens :nono:;)

Nice test shots, btw :)
 
that looks like a sweet lens, mate. Are these made at 2.8?
Can you please make some macro? Biggest close-up? I'm concidering this Sigma, looks better deal for same price as Tamron - extra macro 1:3 and 3 years warranty..
 
phinix said:
that looks like a sweet lens, mate. Are these made at 2.8?
Can you please make some macro? Biggest close-up? I'm concidering this Sigma, looks better deal for same price as Tamron - extra macro 1:3 and 3 years warranty..
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yes mate...shot wide open at 2.8.i'll take some close up shots and post them on here for you to see....just gotta find something to shoot as it's peeing down outside :bonk:
 
okay,here's a couple of close up shots of a £1 coin..all as shot with no adjustments to saturation,contrast or sharpening...it's not quite macro with a reproduction of 1:2,but it's a good introduction to see if it's where you want to go eventually ;)

1/actual size taken with focussing as close as 3 inches
DSC03798.jpg


2/a 100% crop of the above..
DSC03802.jpg
 
Well I've decided to order an Olympus E620, was playing with it again today in Jessops and I just love it, so my Sony gear will be going up for grabs shortly, not sure whether it will be here or elsewhere. I will miss my A700 but I'm looking forward to having something a little smaller and I've been hankering on one of the Olympus DSLR's even since I bought my first A300.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Well I've decided to order an Olympus E620, was playing with it again today in Jessops and I just love it, so my Sony gear will be going up for grabs shortly, not sure whether it will be here or elsewhere. I will miss my A700 but I'm looking forward to having something a little smaller and I've been hankering on one of the Olympus DSLR's even since I bought my first A300.
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The Sony family will miss you :(
 
chrism_scotland said:
Well I've decided to order an Olympus E620, was playing with it again today in Jessops and I just love it, so my Sony gear will be going up for grabs shortly, not sure whether it will be here or elsewhere. I will miss my A700 but I'm looking forward to having something a little smaller and I've been hankering on one of the Olympus DSLR's even since I bought my first A300.
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What sort of price do you want for your a700?

:D
 
stan the man said:
okay,here's a couple of close up shots of a £1 coin..all as shot with no adjustments to saturation,contrast or sharpening...it's not quite macro with a reproduction of 1:2,but it's a good introduction to see if it's where you want to go eventually ;)

...
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Thank you. That looks really good I say! I'm not sure if the crop would look like this on my A300, but it looks really nice. Thanks again! That lens is really a good choice!
 
So, A-Mounters are going to et a cheaper FF, the a850

I assume most have now seen the user manual:
http://www.shinkadesign.com/photoposts/a850manual.pdf

Strugging to see why, unless this is cheaper by a reasonablle margin to the a900.

So, do we think the a850 will be cheaper or more expensive than the new Nikon d300s?

Just wondering whether this interests people or not, rather than discussing the technical details. i.e. are people interested in a cheap high resolution FF, or does the cost of glass to match and hence total kit price put people off any cheap FF camera?
 
rumour suggests under $2000 which would put it at ~ £1100 street in the UK.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's Sony covering all bets - cheapish 24Mp, 3fps A850; middling 24Mp 5fps & I wouldn't be at all surprised if there is something else waiting in the wings above it, an "A1000" if you want.
 
Hi I am new to the dslr range of camera, I have a sony a 350 with the sony 18-70 lens, my friend has got a minolta 28-85 lens for sale would this lens give me better pictures.
looking forward to rep;ies
two ronnies
 
Hey guys whats the going rate for a decent beercan lens these days... is ebay still my best bet of getting one?
 
two ronnies said:
Hi I am new to the dslr range of camera, I have a sony a 350 with the sony 18-70 lens, my friend has got a minolta 28-85 lens for sale would this lens give me better pictures.
looking forward to rep;ies
two ronnies
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Is it one of these? How much does your friend want for it?:thinking:
 
Can anyone explaine why my photo's are out of focus ? taken with my a300 and Tamaron 70 - 300 @1/320 f5.6 set on continuos auto focus metering center weighted and AF area spot, not the speed of the cars as they were acelerating away from a chicane.
1
Collins4.jpg

2
Belton.jpg
 
rhonddaboy said:
Can anyone explaine why my photo's are out of focus ? taken with my a300 and Tamaron 70 - 300 @1/320 f5.6 set on continuos auto focus metering center weighted and AF area spot, not the speed of the cars as they were acelerating away from a chicane.
1
Collins4.jpg

2
Belton.jpg
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hi mate..

im no expert,but it could be your panning technique isn't quite up to scratch.i've checked the EXIF on the shots,and theres plenty of shutter speed for the focal length your shooting at,so i don't think thats the problem.do you follow through after you've released the shutter?

having said that..you seem to have not panned for these shots judging by the background..:shrug:
 
Have any of you Sony users had the opportunity to use both the Sony 70-400mm G & the Sigma 150-500mm. I am thinking of getting the Sony but the Sigma does offers a bit more reach (and a bit of extra reach never goes a miss) & is considerably cheaper. What I need to know is are the focus speeds comparable & more importantly how does the image quality compare. The sigma is slightly slower aperture wise but from what I can gather the Sony is down to f5 around the 200mm mark anyway. Fancy a go at low-flying aircraft etc so any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
rhonddaboy said:
No panning here Stan, but it was raining and misty !
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that may be your problem then mate....even at 1/320th of a sec shutter speed,it isn't a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action,hence the image not being sharp and in focus.panning is the answer to getting good action shots,and with a shutter speed of 1/125th-1/250th to show wheel movement :thumbs:
 
Yeah I know that Stan, but I was advised by another motor sport tog to try using 1/320 to get motion in the wheels and fast enought to freeze the car, getting cofused now :thinking:
 
rhonddaboy said:
Yeah I know that Stan, but I was advised by another motor sport tog to try using 1/320 to get motion in the wheels and fast enought to freeze the car, getting cofused now :thinking:
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as i first said,i'm no expert,and certainly not at motorsport.....

it might be worth sticking this in the talk photography section where you'll get more expert advice....;)
 
I did post some in the motorsport section, plenty of crit but no advise.
 
rhonddaboy, whilst in Continuous AF did you actually track the car whilst focused pre final shutter release? You might want to try single or even auto.
Remember also that there are conditions which will fool AF.

stoneblower said:
Have any of you Sony users had the opportunity to use both the Sony 70-400mm G & the Sigma 150-500mm. I am thinking of getting the Sony but the Sigma does offers a bit more reach (and a bit of extra reach never goes a miss) & is considerably cheaper. What I need to know is are the focus speeds comparable & more importantly how does the image quality compare. The sigma is slightly slower aperture wise but from what I can gather the Sony is down to f5 around the 200mm mark anyway. Fancy a go at low-flying aircraft etc so any thoughts would be appreciated.
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I've not tried that Sigma but the 70-400G is sharper than the previous 170-500 & the 50-500mm. Also whilst you say that a bit of extra reach never goes amiss it does if the G is sharper enough at 400mm than the other at 500mm that you can crop further to compensate for the range (this is e.g. the case with the 500 AF Reflex)...

The G will drop down aperture wise as you zoom out but so will the Sigma ...
& the G is sharp even wide open which may not be true of the Sigma.
I think that you will need to Google a few reviews of the Sigma.

see that the G just won EISA Zoom of the Year Award ;)
 
Has anyone got any experience with the Sony 50mm 1.4 or the new 1.8? Found excellent reviews of the 1.4, but very little info on the 1.8. Is the 1.4 worth the extra £120?

Cheers
 
Thanks for your reply Scott.........

I've not tried that Sigma but the 70-400G is sharper than the previous 170-500 & the 50-500mm. Also whilst you say that a bit of extra reach never goes amiss it does if the G is sharper enough at 400mm than the other at 500mm that you can crop further to compensate for the range (this is e.g. the case with the 500 AF Reflex)...
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That's a fair point and one that has been tried in one of the reviews I have read.

The G will drop down aperture wise as you zoom out but so will the Sigma ...
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I agree, the point I was making was that the Sony wasn't really that much faster than the Sigma as the Sigma's max aperture is f5 at 150mm & probably f5 at 200mm as well.

& the G is sharp even wide open which may not be true of the Sigma.
I think that you will need to Google a few reviews of the Sigma.
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I have read some reviews of the Sigma but the only comparison test was one between the Sigma and the Canon 100-400 f4.5/5.6. The reviewer came to the conclusion (as you suggested above) that the Canon was sharper wide open at 400mm than the Sigma at 500mm so much so that he could crop and interpolate the Canon image upto the same size as the Sigma and the canon was still a sharper image.

see that the G just won EISA Zoom of the Year Award ;)
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Yes I noticed that too. I think it is going to be the Sony, just need a gentle push in the Sony direction:D .

I take it you are happy with yours, have you used it much for low fly/Air shows etc?

:thumbs:
 
stoneblower said:
I agree, the point I was making was that the Sony wasn't really that much faster than the Sigma as the Sigma's max aperture is f5 at 150mm & probably f5 at 200mm as well.
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but will you be using it mostly at 150-200mm? In which case buy a 70-200 2.8 ...
(& you might be surprised how fast lenses stepdown)



I have read some reviews of the Sigma but the only comparison test was one between the Sigma and the Canon 100-400 f4.5/5.6. The reviewer came to the conclusion (as you suggested above) that the Canon was sharper wide open at 400mm than the Sigma at 500mm so much so that he could crop and interpolate the Canon image upto the same size as the Sigma and the canon was still a sharper image.
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well, from personal experience (I have lots of friends with the 100-400 IS) the G is sharper than the L at the long end so if the L is sharper than the Sigma ...




I take it you are happy with yours, have you used it much for low fly/Air shows etc?

:thumbs:
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I think pretty much every one that has bought 1 is delighted with it.
air shows yes, low fly no (though 1 of these days ...)
 
Hey guys does anyone know what size the opening is on the Sony HVL-F42AM Flash head... I need to get a gary fong style diffuser but dont know what size... Can anyone help?
 
Im at work... dont have the flash with me :P just wondered if anyone knew the measurements.... tried googling it but cant find the info.
 
heidfirst said:
but will you be using it mostly at 150-200mm? In which case buy a 70-200 2.8 ...
(& you might be surprised how fast lenses stepdown)
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I have the 70-200 2.8G (which I use a lot) but was looking for a longer reach without using a tcon to keep the good image quality & fast focusing (as with the 70-200G).


well, from personal experience (I have lots of friends with the 100-400 IS) the G is sharper than the L at the long end so if the L is sharper than the Sigma ...
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Well that just about confirms it........ Sony it is then. :lol:


I think pretty much every one that has bought 1 is delighted with it.
air shows yes, low fly no (though 1 of these days ...)
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Great. I am hoping to give it a go some time next week.

Thanks again for your input, much appreciated.:)

:thumbs:
 
BalSanghera said:
Hey guys does anyone know what size the opening is on the Sony HVL-F42AM Flash head... I need to get a gary fong style diffuser but dont know what size... Can anyone help?
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Flash head dimensions are roughly 43.5mm x 68.5mm & a circumference of 205mm

Hope this helps.
 
rhonddaboy said:
Yeah I know that Stan, but I was advised by another motor sport tog to try using 1/320 to get motion in the wheels and fast enought to freeze the car, getting cofused now :thinking:
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The problem is that your shutter speed is neither here nor there. For motorsport I normally use a lower shutter speed (1/60 to 1/250) and pan for side on or side angle shots, for more head on shots I would look to a higher shutter speed (1/500+). Currently your shutter speed of 1/320 is to slow for the angle you are shooting, I would recommend taking some practice photo's of cars on the road so you can see what works, thats what I did and now I'm pretty comfortable with moving objects. Just be aware that for a while your throw away rate will be very high.

Hope this helps:)
 
stoneblower said:
Flash head dimensions are roughly 43.5mm x 68.5mm & a circumference of 205mm

Hope this helps.
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Thanks :thumbs:

Another question, if I get a new A700 body will my verticle grip and flash work from my A350 or will I need to get different grip flash and batteries?
 
BalSanghera said:
Thanks :thumbs:

Another question, if I get a new A700 body will my verticle grip and flash work from my A350 or will I need to get different grip flash and batteries?
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Your vertical grip will be redundant but there are some good deals around on the a700 vertical grips. As for your flash & batteries they are all compatible.

Mark;)
 
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