Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 4)

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EVF is a terrible idea.. flawed concept.

If anyone has a Sony camera with Liveview ....turn on Liveview in a dark room, and watch the blotchy noise as gain is applied to brighten the image. Now imagine *that* in a viewfinder... jeez..horrid horrid idea :gag:
 
looks like i have a minolta 135mm f2.8 and minolta 50mm f1.7 on the way. along with a film camera too, iv missed shooting on an slr as all my film cameras are just old things without interchangeable lenses!

now, do i sell the sony 50mm f1.4 and keep the minolta 50mm f1.7???
 
onefunkypenguin said:
looks like i have a minolta 135mm f2.8 and minolta 50mm f1.7 on the way. along with a film camera too, iv missed shooting on an slr as all my film cameras are just old things without interchangeable lenses!

now, do i sell the sony 50mm f1.4 and keep the minolta 50mm f1.7???
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If I get a chance I'll do a comparison between the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, Sony f/1/.4 and I might even throw in the 1.7 as well.

Your best best would be to shoot both side by side and see what you think.

The Sony f/1.4 isn't that great wide open.
 
thats what im thinking, could possibly sell the sony and get myself another speedlight which i will definitely need!
 
ianmiddy said:
Ahh - not so good - I'm off to Scotland for a couple of weeks on the 25th! - could maybe do the 23rd though...
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Hi Ian, hope you see this as I can't PM you (not enough posts). I won't be able to make it on Monday, the wife has told me not to make any plans for Mon/Tue as she has a "surprise" arranged (I hate surprises) and I've got stuff on every other day.

Some other time perhaps if I don't just send the thing away.
 
Granty_ said:
Kev if you have to cancel with Ian Middy for any reason I'm J28 of the M1.

You very kindly offered the flash to me on my other thread :)
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Cheers for the offer James, I've just had to cancel with Ian but don't know when I'll be free again anyway. If I get stuck I'll give you a call.
 
puddleduck said:
If I get a chance I'll do a comparison between the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, Sony f/1/.4 and I might even throw in the 1.7 as well.

Your best best would be to shoot both side by side and see what you think.

The Sony f/1.4 isn't that great wide open.
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I hope you can find the time for this, I'm keen to see the results. As I have the CZ 24-70 I already have 50mm covered but I do enjoy shooting on small fast primes, really miss my Minolta 50/1.7.
 
Deasy said:
I hope you can find the time for this, I'm keen to see the results. As I have the CZ 24-70 I already have 50mm covered but I do enjoy shooting on small fast primes, really miss my Minolta 50/1.7.
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There is something so special about small primes and it's simplicity in itself, I love doing street photography with my 50mm f1.7 because it's so small yet so powerful.
 
Hi all

Thought I ask a quick question to all the Sony experts here about the best choice for a new lens.

I want to replace my siggy 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 with a lens that has a constant f/2.8 but really not sure what is considered to be the best. One problem is that I'm on a bit of a budget so the CZ stuff will be out of my range where as the Sigma and Tamron's should be within my capabilities.

So what's best, the siggy 17-50 or 24-70 or the Tamrons, or is there something I've missed completely.

Thanks for any advice :-)
 
what's wrong with the 17-70mm ? I don't believe that it's going to be much difference between 2.8 and 2.8-4.5 .
 
The Sigma 17-70 is actually a very nice lens... not a fan of their 18-50 f/2.8 or 24-70 f/2.8 (always get beaten by Tamron) - I can recommend the Tamron 28-75 which will smoke the Sigmas by quite a fair margin. Or the Tamron 17-50.

But the Sigma 17-70 is very nice...
 
Starastin said:
what's wrong with the 17-70mm ? I don't believe that it's going to be much difference between 2.8 and 2.8-4.5 .
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in low light there can be a huge difference between f1.8 and f1.4 but most dont think it so.

the tamron 17-50mm would be best on budget however as also the option of 24-70mm its down to "do you want wide angle or telephoto". if you find you use the wide end more then the tamron but if you use the long end more then the sigma.
 
This may sound rather petty but I find it really annoying when working in manual that you have set your exposure correctly, working at 17mm at f/2.8 and at some point change the focal length and then have to change you exposure settings again cos it won't stay at f/2.8..... Call it lazy, call it what you want, it just bugs me cos I don't have to think about it when using my 70-200 until I want to change the way I am working. Does that make sense, lol

Plus if I did get as far as doing work in darkish places, like say churches, the extra stop may come in handy if say working at 50mm, I know its not much but its something.

Plus I've found the 17-70 to be soft at the edges when wide open and wondered if the constant f/2.8's dealt with it better.

Thanks for your reply though, :-)
 
IronHammer said:
This may sound rather petty but I find it really annoying when working in manual that you have set your exposure correctly, working at 17mm at f/2.8 and at some point change the focal length and then have to change you exposure settings again cos it won't stay at f/2.8..... Call it lazy, call it what you want, it just bugs me cos I don't have to think about it when using my 70-200 until I want to change the way I am working. Does that make sense, lol

Plus if I did get as far as doing work in darkish places, like say churches, the extra stop may come in handy if say working at 50mm, I know its not much but its something.

Plus I've found the 17-70 to be soft at the edges when wide open and wondered if the constant f/2.8's dealt with it better.

Thanks for your reply though, :-)
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you could get a tamron 28-75mm and sony 50mm f1.8/f1.4?
 
could somebody post some super smokey tamron pics ? It's just a shame that I'm sigma owner. I can't live with the softness of the 18-50mm i now own or the previous 24-70mm. Could we please deal with this once and for all ?
 
70-400G gone yet Andy? I was very tempted when it appeared for sale, but am being good and not raiding the A900 fund again for more glass. Well, unless an excellent deal on a ZA24-70 comes up :naughty:.
 
Not yet.. there hasn't been any interest in it -too be quite honest....I'm really unsure about letting it go... got a very nice offer on a 70-200 SSM.. BUT I only just got the Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 a few days ago...so not sure about it at all...the 70-400 is my most used lens which doesn't help!
 
Saw a Minolta 50mm (think it's the 1.7) in London Camera Exchange whilst I was on my lunch today. 99.99 which is a bit more than the going rate, but, convenience prevails. Very tempted. My only other prime is a 28mm F2.8 which used to be the lens which never left my camera until I got the 16-105. I still love the 28mm but it's kinda redundant at the moment, I guess even more so if I buy the 50mm. Might even try to go in and straight swap my 28mm for it, but I don't know. Reason I am wanting the 50mm is the f1.7 apeture. It'll hopefully be very useful for awesome DoF stuff, and in low light, then I have my 16-105 for everything else. Looked at some of the brand new Sony primes but they're a little pricey. The new version of my 28mm is 185 quid, 100 more than the going rate for the Minolta versions.

A couple of quick questions about the Minolta 50mm F1.7. Is it as good as the new Sony F1.8 and F1.4 Primes and is the Bokeh good? Also is it a good buy for my A200? It's cropped so I'm afraid it might possibly be a bit tight. Also, for the sake of research, are there any wider primes (24 to 35mm I'd class as 'wider') which are pretty cheap 2nd hand, are decent and have F stops of around 1.4-2? My current 28mm would be absolutely perfect if was F1.something but at F2.8 it's not particularly useful for me at the moment.
 
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andy, i *may* be interested in your tammy if you do decide to part ways with it!

on another note, got my 135mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.7 in today, got a wedding tonight so will try get some photos if not too drunk.

il do a test on the 50mm f1.4 and 50mm f1.7 on sunday or monday when i get the chance to, think il be selling the 50mm f1.4 so i can buy another lens mind.
 
More info about the new cameras

LCD:
3 inch and 921.000 dot resolution
It has Trueblack tecnology with level gauge, focus point maginification and a gridline.

EVF:
One of the main strenghts is that in the dark the EVF (electronic viewfinfer) displays better images than the OVF (optical viewfinder)
You can use the EVF in video mode (you can’t do that with an Optical viewfinder)
1.44 dots LCD (not OLED sory)
100% coverage / 0.95x magnification

Special features:
Auto HDR (3 frames combined), Multi-frame NoiseReduction in Low-Light situations (it takes 6 frames to combine them), Hand-Held Twilight, 3D sweep panorama. There is also a new automatic mode that can automatically select on of the special features above!
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There's also an A560 and an A580 that shares similar specs to the A33 and A55 cameras

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/
 
Broken Hope said:
More info about the new cameras



There's also an A560 and an A580 that shares similar specs to the A33 and A55 cameras

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/
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the a560 and a580 are like the a33 and a55 for those that don't want the EVF and translucent mirror.

also on the same sight is a hacker who even says that Sony are to be king of camera's soon especially with there NEX system which will soon be upsetting canon in the VDSLR market.
 
Kev M said:
Hi Ian, hope you see this as I can't PM you (not enough posts). I won't be able to make it on Monday...Some other time perhaps if I don't just send the thing away.
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Just spotted ! - didn't realise about the PM restriction...

...I'll be back around 8th Sept & have a week or so b4 Uni starts if you still want to try it out.

Cheers

IDM
 
will it fit my sony a850, flash and 135mm or am i asking too much? but for a fiver who cares!
 
the sony bag looks amazing !!! I only have one beef with it - It screams - I have a camera inside !! :)
 
Starastin said:
It screams - I have a camera inside !! :)
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Only a tiny one.. :D

Actually I just saw on the Argos site it says.. "Suitable for Sony A230 DSLR camera and accessories." - my fault for not reading it!

The bag is like a Tardis in reverse - its actually smaller in the inside than out!
 
jonesy_ni said:
Seriously?

My A700 goes in, on its back no probs! Then leaves the whole other compartment for a lens?
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I wonder if they gave me the wrong thing? Mine just came flatpacked in a polythene bag??!
 
puddleduck said:
Only a tiny one.. :D

Actually I just saw on the Argos site it says.. "Suitable for Sony A230 DSLR camera and accessories." - my fault for not reading it!

The bag is like a Tardis in reverse - its actually smaller in the inside than out!
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:D at the Tardis

puddleduck said:
I wonder if they gave me the wrong thing? Mine just came flatpacked in a polythene bag??!
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I will take a pic, yes mine was flatpacked
 
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