Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 4)

Status
Not open for further replies.
OK, well the mfd shot looks very decent, less so with the infinity shot.

Assuming you are 15 meters away at infinity, you are getting a very quick "lock" from infinity to a test target at 15m. The lens doesn't have to move much, and may slightly over of undershoot, especially with fast geared lenses. Tamron usually has fast gearing, but I don't know this lens at all.. This is an AF "best effort". I assume your AF "focus beep" is happening very quickly with this test.

With the MFD test, you target is massively de-focused prior to activating AF, the lens takes longer to focus from massively de-focused to sharp focus. Its easier to go from out-of-focus to sharp focus for an AF module. II assume your AF "focus beep" is noticablely slower than the above with this test?

In a nutshell you don't really have a massive problem here, you could probably improve your bodies AF caliberation a tad (but this could put other lenses out). As a workaround you can always just go to MFD once in a while...
 
Just a quick one guys! Left my ******* charger at my friends house so can't go out and catch the sunset tonight but I have my brothers Sony video camera and it has a battery the same shape but instead of FH50 it's FH30... Now I know this isn't as much power but could I still use it? Or could I use the charger for it?

I'm gutted as it looks good tonight! :bang::bang:
 
I doubt anyone in the Sony thread will have much idea on that one!
 
Only Minolta MC or MD lenses need adaptors.

Any lens marked "AF" is fine. If the lens doesn't have an aperture ring, its going to be Alpha mount compatible.
 
MagicMynx said:
wicked :thumbs: thank you very much.

And adapters are pretty cheap too. mmm think I might expand my toy collection :lol:
Click to expand...

Not sure it's worth going for them - you either can't focus at infinity (which is fine for macro lenses but nothing else) or you need an extra glass element so you can focus to infinity.

Having said that, I've not tried any MC or MD lenses myself so I'm talking from theory, not practice!
 
MagicMynx said:
I'm looking for something that will work well in low light, similar to the kit lens but faster so I don't have to crank the ISO up as much. Not really fussed about focusing to infinity though.
Click to expand...

I don't think there a big savings to be had here over a Minolta 50mm f/1.7 by the time you've bought an adaptor.

I'd be more included to look at M42 lenses actually rather than Minolta MC or MD and a "chipped" M42 adaptor with focus confirm.
 
http://www.evilonion.com/zoo/

These were taken with the tamron 18-200mm

It's a good budget zoom lens. I'm looking to upgrade though.
As an all round walkabout lens its great, but it does suffer a bit with focus in low light, it hunts quite a bit.
But use it on a bright day and i find the focus quick and sharp. For a lens that you can get for around £150 its a good step up from the kit lens i think.

(just posted this as i saw some questions about the 18-200 ealier in the thread)
 
Hi folks
Just to let everyone know my Sony kit is now up for sale in classified, sorry but making the move to Nikon.
Alan
 
Me too :) - my A300 and 50mm f/1.8 went on the for-sale section earlier today.

Which Nikon are you going for? I was originally thinking of a D300s, but to be honest after comparing lots of test pics it really looks like the Canon 7D gets at least equal high ISO performance with lots more pixels - I think that's where I'm heading next :)
 
stan the man said:
i can recommend the sigma 18-50 F2.8 EX DG,it's a cracking little lens :thumbs:
Click to expand...

It looks sweet (so does the tamron lens mentioned) but out of my budget ATM :'( I was hoping that if I stumbled across a used little gem somewhere that's going cheap, I'd be wise enough to know what it was :lol:

The reason I want a cheap little gem is cause I keep finding myself taking photos in Churches and usually can't use flash. (and no...I'm not going down the route of a wanna be weekend wedding togger, I couldn't even if i wanted to! I just like Churches.)
 
What do you call a bargain ,I got a quantaray(sigma) 24mm F2.8 for 51 us dollars from a wanted add I placed on Dyxum forum after seeing them go for like £80+ on fleabay and a Minolta 50mm f1.7 for a lot less than fleabay,one on camera and one in pocket to travel light and very cheap prime photography for my A300
Dyxum for sale section is one to watch and if you know what you want place a wanted add ,the dollar/pound is good at the moment ,youll get hit for import tax at our end ,cost me like £8 but was still a bargain
theres also a for sale section on here http://www.dynaxdigital.com/ and here
http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/

Dave
:D:D:D:D
 
I've got the Sigma 24mm Superwide II and its excellent. One of those unfashionable lens, that just takes great shots.
 
dalex said:
What do you call a bargain ,I got a quantaray(sigma) 24mm F2.8 for 51 us dollars from a wanted add I placed on Dyxum forum after seeing them go for like £80+ on fleabay and a Minolta 50mm f1.7 for a lot less than fleabay,one on camera and one in pocket to travel light and very cheap prime photography for my A300
Dyxum for sale section is one to watch and if you know what you want place a wanted add ,the dollar/pound is good at the moment ,youll get hit for import tax at our end ,cost me like £8 but was still a bargain
theres also a for sale section on here http://www.dynaxdigital.com/ and here
http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/

Dave
:D:D:D:D
Click to expand...

They're bargains! Currently bidding on a minolta lens on ebay, finishes tonight, but there are a few on ebay that aren't bad. There was one that I thought at first, was a little gem, but needs a proper clean inside and the apperture is stuck because the inside is dirty and I thought "nooooo" lol

The issue that I have is my prime is probably fine for in a church....but I can't move around discreetly (wheelchair, big loud beep when I turn it on etc etc) so I really need a zoom, so I've only really been able to use my kit lens in church which means cranking the ISO up and A350s don't like high ISO. :(

Will check out those forums though, thank you :thumbs:

I honestly don't care what lenses are fashionable (TBH I don't know which are and which aren't!) what matters to me is getting the picture that I see, the one I envision, into the camera lol.
 
Finally got hold of a Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 - what an amazing lens - stunning sharp wide open at 135mm f/1.8

Traded this face to face with someone on Dyxum today - just got back from a few test shots... wow! Better start shooting more people stuff now :)
 
I wasnt overly worried using it in the rain, as id gotten my old A100 wet a few times, buts its prob best to er on the side of caution still, after all you spend all this money on kit, a few quid on a storm jacket( or an equivilant ) seems very senisble.
 
Hi Guys,

seems as though my Siggy 24-70 has succumb to the stripped gears problem. :shake:

I know some members have already had this happen, so what's the best procedure for sending it for repair in the U.K and where to?

This will be out of warranty, so what are the costs involved and how long did your repair take?



thanks in advance,


Sky'
 
hi i was looking at getting the 70-400 sont lens. I no that andy has one but i at the mo have the tamron 200-500mm is it worth getting the sony and selling the tamron??

Will i get a better pic at 400mm and then crop over the tamrom at 500mm

Also the sony must have quicker AF??

Cheers
 
The Tamron 200-500 is a very nice lens, I was looking for one before I got my 70-400 SSM.

The 70-400 SSM isn't actually really a quick focusing lens - my Minolta 80-200 f/2.8 APO HS smokes it for AF speed.

Can't really comment on how the Tamron would perform at 400mm - I can tell you though the 70-400 SSM doesn't need to be stopped down, at 400mm f/5.6 its very sharp, so if you need to shoot the Tammy at say f/8 400mm the Sony should be better.
 
Hi,looking for a bit of advice lens wise,I recently upgraded my camera from an A230 to A550 and kept the kit lens off the A230 (18-55 sam) and also have a Sony 75-300,i am now in the process of saving to buy a lens i can keep on camera most of the time and i am stuck between 2 the Sony 16-105 and the Sony 18-250.
The pics i take at the moment are very varied, mainly outside of my lurcher running /wildlife/landscapes and occasionally family members.
Would appreciate any advice as to which one to go for off maybe someone who has used both.
Thanks .
 
Artoist said:
Hi,looking for a bit of advice lens wise,I recently upgraded my camera from an A230 to A550 and kept the kit lens off the A230 (18-55 sam) and also have a Sony 75-300,i am now in the process of saving to buy a lens i can keep on camera most of the time and i am stuck between 2 the Sony 16-105 and the Sony 18-250.
The pics i take at the moment are very varied, mainly outside of my lurcher running /wildlife/landscapes and occasionally family members.
Would appreciate any advice as to which one to go for off maybe someone who has used both.
Thanks .
Click to expand...

Can't really help you Stephen. I have used the Tamron equivalent of the 18-250 and it's a decent lens but don't know how it compares to the 16-105. I suspect the latter will be better as there is usually a quality compromise on superzooms.
 
Well here's a good one. I lost the hotshoe cap off my A700 last year and trawled through ebay numerous times in vain. I then stumbled across them on Jessops' website so I ordered a couple (it wasn't the first time I'd lost one).

It was a 28 day special order which I placed three months ago!! I was quite taken aback at the time over the £3.99 postage cost (the caps were £7.00 each). Well ONE of the caps arrived today.......via DHL!!! The other is to follow. Seems like such a waste to me when there must be cheaper dispatch methods for such small items.
 
I ordered a tiny tripod mount conversion screw from someone and it came in a HUGE box. Took my ages to find the damn thing..! It really annoys me when firms won't use the Royal Mail for this.

A great Ebay seller for Sony bits and bobs are these guys:

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/hk-photoloving/

Does a lot of Sony fit stuff.. I bought his £2.12 remote and its awesome :)
 
Just tested this on a few lens I have:

1) Minolta 50mm f/2.8 "RS" - AF works fine, EXIF is correct (f/5.6 wide open)
2) Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 - AF works fine, EXIF is correct (f/5.6 wide open)
3) Minolta 80-200 f/2.8 APO HS - AF works, but slower. Bit of jitter but then locks fine. EXIF is correct (f/5.6 wide open)
4) Sony 70-400 SSM - Suprisingly as this is f/5.6 at 400 - and SSM! - the lens tried to focus (had no idea this TC worked with SSM!) but it won't lock (800mm f/11). EXIF is reported correct, so at 400mm it becomes at 800mm f/11 lens. Lens is reported as 800mm.



DSC09859.jpg


​

The TC fits to pretty much anything. All lens I tried attempted to focus, all lens had correct EXIF (ie f/2.8 becomes f/5.6, f/5.6 becomes f/11)

I only tried with my A900.

HTH
 
Coolio! as long as it works on my sigma 70-200 F2.8 ill be happy, thats the main reason I want a 2x teleconvertor to give me the extra reach I need for places like duxford and coninsby......and dare i say silverstone..yes I know the most unphotographic motorsport venue in the uk...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top