Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 3)

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puddleduck said:
Hi folks

Going to New Zealand in a few days, so finalising my bag. I'm backpacking and camping, so travelight light - just a shoulder bag with my A900 and no more than 3 lenses.

So...

A900 +
1) Konica Minolta 17-35 or Carl Zeiss 16-35?
2) Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
3) Tamron 24-135 SP or Minolta 100-200?

I can only take 3 lenses, so will need a wide and something longer. Only my Tamron 28-75 is a shoe-in. The CZ 16-35 might get edged out due to weight by the KM 17-35.

I haven't take time to really use the 100-200 yet so have no idea how it performs. The Tamron 24-135 is very solid but does overlap two of the others..!
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Oh, the time has come for your trip! Sorry, have been busy on the run up to Xmas. If you haven't gone yet, have a great trip.

Personally I would go for:

A900 +
1) Konica Minolta 17-35
2) Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
3) Minolta 100-200

Just for that occational extra reach. The 24-135 is a really nice length on FF, but I think the reach of a 200 might have the advantage.
Maybe you decide to take the 24-135 as well, as a compromise for leaving the CZ behind and taking the 1735, as this would be about the same weight.
 
clueless said:
I am thinking of buying a Sigma EF 530 DG ST flash for my A350. Sigma tell me that I will get full TTL with the flash. Anyone tell me any different?
Is anyone/has anyone used one and what are your opinions.

Cheers

Chris
Click to expand...

Have you thought about the jessops 360ADFS bloody good flash it's TTL, zoom adjusting and has a flip out defuser and bounce card. Stan the Man has had a peek at mine and seemed impressed. (He might have just being polite).
 
kevin612 said:
But then anyone compared the old sigma 10-20 to this sony?
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chris-m has used both.
afaik they are generally reckoned to be comparable overall but with different strengths & weaknesses

clueless said:
I am thinking of buying a Sigma EF 530 DG ST flash for my A350. Sigma tell me that I will get full TTL with the flash. Anyone tell me any different?
Is anyone/has anyone used one and what are your opinions.
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it's a decent flash but you won't get built-in wireless capability - you need the Super version for that.

ki_user said:
Can anyone tell me if I can do tethered shooting with my 330?
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afaik Sony's remote software only supports the A700/A850/A900
 
that was Argos clearing the 11-18mm - as mentioned it's believed that Sony have discontinued production in favour of a 10-24 SAM introduction.
 
I know this might not be relevant, but I wanted to share with you that I ordered the A900, looking forward to using it. Hopefully it will work with all my lenses, a list of them is available under my profile. The ones I am concerned about are the Sigma which according to some responses I got earlier it should not be a problem.
 
The A900 is a stunning camera, the quality of the files is pretty jaw-dropping.

When you get the camera, set the Zone setting to -1, this will improve exposure. The A900 will appear to underexpose a tad if you leave it at the default setting.
 
Thanx Puddleduck, sure thing will do, appreciate the tip, I know you answered me before, but I keep getting conflicting statements on Sigma lenses with A900, have you experienced any compatibility problems or quality matters using a Sigma?
 
I've used two Sigma lens I've used on it worked fine, the Sigma 24mm Super Wide II and the Sigma 24-70 EX DG Macro.

The Sigma 24-70 isn't good enough for the A900, and I returned that. The Tamron 28-75 or Konica Minolta 28-75 are vastly superior on the A900. The Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 HSM is a junk lens, tried one of those and its dire, again it works in the literal sense but optically this just isn't good enough for the A900 either.

The little Sigma 24mm Super Wide II is excellent, and that works fine.
 
Have you tried a Sigma 10-20mm. Or even long zoom lenses such as the Sigma 18-250mm & Sigma 50-500mm.

I believe the sony lenses will work fine with with no exception, some maybe better than others but all are compatible. Is my assumption correct.
 
Sigma 10-20 is a dx lens I think so it won't work on a full frame camera.
 
snapsnap said:
Hi poeple just wanted to share that the a700 are now £274.97 in all currys and pcworld shops. I got one today brand new never opened. They are also selling ex display at same price.

Cheers
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Wow really, may have to take a trip out to find one
 
I shouldnt bother, I already tried and none in my local area. I rang customer services up and they have said sold out now Nationwide unfortunately.

However, that said if anyone else finds they have been telling fibs and can get their hands on one or two, I'd be willing to pay you for your troubles and a bit.

You just have to think though its going to be 1 per store and there are quite a few on Ebay for £450+! (Which I wouldnt pay for an ex-demo!)

If you are very lucky they are also selling them with the 16-105mm for £399 which is an absolute bargain.
 
I was one of the very lucky ones to get the body and 16-105mm for £399.

I was told by Currys in Wednesbury (J9 M6 megastore) that the only store that has any left is at the Bullring in Birmingham.

That was yesterday evening but it may still be worth a look at these prices.
 
Decided I might look at a higher budget replacement for the kit lens (18-70mm).

The decent options seem to be:
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8-4.5
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8

I would like something that's sharp by around f/4 so I can use it for portraits with background blur.

The Sigma 17-70 seems almost ideal, but will it actually give decent shots wide open at 50-70mm?

Any opinions?
 
Ive got the 17-70 sigma, bought from stan on here and its hardly ever leaves my body. Very nice lens indeed for the money and the minimum focus distance is crazy, i swear you can put the lens on the object.

Out of those id probably go for the F2.8 constant.
 
I've had a quick look on the internet but can't find a definitive yes or no. Does Lightroom1.4 support A700 raw files? I can only get it to open jpegs at the minute. I know it works in LR2 which I have a trial of on my works laptop but when I tried it on my home PC it nearly ground to a halt so I hope that isn't the answer.
 
afaik it's more the case of what version of Adobe Camera Raw that you are using with Lightroom - have you tried updating the 1 that you are using with LR 1.4?
 
i wish sony could sort out this whole hotshoe thing, they should have gotten rid of it from the start but now there are alot of camera's and flashes there will be little chance. i think it would be good if sony made there own hotshoe adpater that doesnt cost a fortune and so the genuises at pocket wizard would then make a PW for sony even if it had an adapter needed, then sony could gradually get rid of the propriety hotshoe.

for those that dont understand;

1. sony creates a hotshoe adapter
2. radio triggers become compatible
3. next gen of sony cameras and flashes have this new hotshoe built in
4. everyones happy as the older gens can have the adapter and the new gen has it built in
 
mastertrinity said:
i wish sony could sort out this whole hotshoe thing, they should have gotten rid of it from the start but now there are alot of camera's and flashes there will be little chance. i think it would be good if sony made there own hotshoe adpater that doesnt cost a fortune and so the genuises at pocket wizard would then make a PW for sony even if it had an adapter needed, then sony could gradually get rid of the propriety hotshoe.

for those that dont understand;

1. sony creates a hotshoe adapter
2. radio triggers become compatible
3. next gen of sony cameras and flashes have this new hotshoe built in
4. everyones happy as the older gens can have the adapter and the new gen has it built in
Click to expand...

Theres adapters available online ... i have one for sony flash to hotshoe, and hotshoe to sony flash, which allows me to use a set of RF-602s and wireless flash:D
 
mastertrinity said:
i wish sony could sort out this whole hotshoe thing, they should have gotten rid of it from the start but now there are alot of camera's and flashes there will be little chance.
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there already were plenty of cameras & flashes as the hotshoe is a carry over from Minolta - & it's easy to argue that it's an improvement from the traditional hotshoe (it was after all created to address the shortcomings of that).
Remember that Minolta were also the 1st camera company to put wireless flash control ability into a body (late 80's iirc) so pocket wizards etc. were created to overcome the shortcomings of Canon etc. ... .

& as mentioned there are plenty of cheap knockoff adapters for iISO> standard hotshoe & standard hotshoe>iISO
 
Does anyone here use the Jessops 360AFD flash gun? I just want some general info on how it works with Sony DSLRs. Will it work wirelessly? And how does it compare to Sony flash guns?

Wish I could have a Sony HVL-F42 but as a beginner I can't justify the price tag :(
 
I've ordered one so if I get a chance I'll report back tomorrow.

On another note, Currys in Cambridge are doing the Sony 50mm f/1.4 for £249 and some grip ending 30 for £79 (didn't pay much attention of the grips, as I hate grips but probably a good price for an official one?)
 
heidfirst said:
afaik it's more the case of what version of Adobe Camera Raw that you are using with Lightroom - have you tried updating the 1 that you are using with LR 1.4?
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Should have said, it's LR1.4 I'm running. The more I play with it the less it seems it will accept the Sony RAW file. Having said that I'm not totally happy with the A700 colours in LR2 especially in the red channel. Perhaps I will have to abandon lightroom all together if I'm going to start using the A700 for anything other than a glorified polaroid.
 
Kev M said:
Should have said, it's LR1.4 I'm running. The more I play with it the less it seems it will accept the Sony RAW file. Having said that I'm not totally happy with the A700 colours in LR2 especially in the red channel. Perhaps I will have to abandon lightroom all together if I'm going to start using the A700 for anything other than a glorified polaroid.
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Lightroom isn't fit for purpose for Sony files, I noticed it was doing something horrid to the colours when I got my first A900 back in April.

Capture One and Rawtherepee are the best converters for detail and colours, if not workflow.

Lightroom 3 is looking better, but its still doing some indefeatable luma NR.
 
Thought it was just me doing something wrong as I'd not heard of anyone else having problems on TP. Tis a shame as I love LR in genereal for its organising and easy editing. Is the Sony bundled software much cop (suspect I know the answer to this already seeing as it's free).

Does LR handle the files better if you convert them to DNG on import?
 
Kev M said:
Thought it was just me doing something wrong as I'd not heard of anyone else having problems on TP. Tis a shame as I love LR in genereal for its organising and easy editing. Is the Sony bundled software much cop (suspect I know the answer to this already seeing as it's free).

Does LR handle the files better if you convert them to DNG on import?
Click to expand...

The problem with DNG is that you are still using Adobe's lousy demosacing.

Here is a 100% crop from a snapshot this morning:

100% Lightroom:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4195188927_bbfaac9603_o.jpg

100% C1

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4195945414_1d83a7b937_o.jpg

Full image:


4195707664_f17dc8aa39_o.jpg


​
 
It's something about the red channel that LR doesn't like, can't understand why they haven't fixed it by now, LR2 is on 2.6 already.
 
Been testing out a CZ 24-70, annoyingly its very good indeed so I might have to keep it!

Here is the Nikon 24-70 on the D700 compared with the CZ 24-70 on the A900, wide open at 70mm.



4197253862_edacb97164_o.jpg


Sony A900, CZ 24-70, wide open, 70mm

​

100% crop from Nikon D700 + Nikon 24-70:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2649/4196498443_d3ee725877_o.jpg

100% crop from Sony A900 + CZ 24-70:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4197253696_0802e0d71e_o.jpg

Quite surprised by the CZ 24-70, especially wide open, as its better than I expected.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Sony 24-105 is £129.99 at Jessops, can be reserved online so you can check stock in your local store, tempted by this but not sure its better than the 16-105 I already have.
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The Sony 20mm f/2.8 is down to £149 :nuts:

Just picked one up from Jessops in Cambridge. Seems to be £350+ on CameraPriceBuster.
 
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