Calling all Sony Alpha users!

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Simple, because they are quality camera's that produce excellent photographs and are great value for money. I bought the a200 as it was a great price, easy to use and understand and with built in "Steady Shot" I did not need to ensure that Image Stability was inbuilt in the lens making them much cheaper to buy. Lots of ex minolta lens out there so a great choice of 2nd hand quality gear, go on, buy one:)
 
snappyt said:
Why should I buy a Sony a100/200/300 ? Sony owners speak now, please.
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At the moment the prices are quite tempting, and most of the photo magazines have been doing recent 'head to head' comparison tests with these models to their competitors from Nikon and Canon. The A200 and A350 are coming out on top in their class - mainly down to the built in Steady Shot as previously mentioned. Also the live view on the A350 is said to be the best in its class too.

I moved onto the A700 and it isn't that far away from the Nikon D300, just a few FPS slower and maybe not quite as good at suppressing noise with the sensor - but even then some of that has been altered with the new version 4 firmware. Oh and the A700 is a fair bit cheaper than the D300 too, so again for the money you spend, you get a lot of camera.
 
Chewy said:
umm.. because I've got one for sale on here? :lol:

See the for sale forum!
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Sorry to see your thread got hijacked, I appreciate the dilemma you are probably in. I bought my A100 back in September 2006 and paid £750 for it and the two kit lenses. I can't believe the prices that you can pick the A200 and A350 up for now in 2008.

I can't really sell mine as the money I would get back just isn't worth it yet for me.

For someone starting out in this game then your A100 is a bargain so hopefully someone will be snapping it off you soon. :thumbs:
 
JPS said:
Sorry to see your thread got hijacked, I appreciate the dilemma you are probably in. I bought my A100 back in September 2006 and paid £750 for it and the two kit lenses. I can't believe the prices that you can pick the A200 and A350 up for now in 2008.

I can't really sell mine as the money I would get back just isn't worth it yet for me.

For someone starting out in this game then your A100 is a bargain so hopefully someone will be snapping it off you soon. :thumbs:
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Not too fussed, that Exposure guy was a bit of a twonk.:cuckoo:

I think it's realistically priced, but if it doesn't sell here then it's off to ebay!
 
hey guys,i'm back...and i've missed you all :lol:

my,you have been busy whilst i've been away..lots of posts to catch up on :rules:

had a fantastic few days in poole/dorset,with the weather being on my side for the most,and never spent a penny on togging gear.managed to visit 2 shops whilst there,jessops in poole shopping centre(which the wife pointed out to me:p)and a london camera exchange shop in bournemouth,which i rang to see if they had a 2X TC in stock so i could try one out,but no luck :(.

i then decided to get myself a decent goretex jacket with winter shortly upon us,which cost just as much as my 105 macro lens did :eek:.managed to visit arne reserve,durdle door,kimmeridge bay,swanage,corfe castle etc..so any shots worth posting,i'll put on here(as well as in their correct place ;))for all to see..:D

FABS...did you get the 2X TC :shrug:

and a big welcome to all you new sony owners :wave:
 
stan the man said:
had a fantastic few days in poole/dorset and never spent a penny on togging gear.
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I'd go and have a lie down if I were you Stan.
That's not natural and you might do yourself an injury

;):lol:

Welcome back by the way, glad to see you got home safe and sound and had a good time
:thumbs:
 
stan the man said:
i might go to cardiff tomorrow,and get the 2X TC IFfabs has had his and gives it good feedback ;)
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He told me via PM that he bloody hates it Stan.
I think he's just trying to egg you on to spend more money mate

;)
 
heres a selection of shots taken whilst in poole/dorset.....

no C+C needed as will be posted elsewhere in appropriate sections.

kimmeridge bay sunset

kimmeridgebaysunset.jpg


durdle door

durdledoor.jpg


other side of durdle

DSC01277.jpg


arne reserve light shafts

arneforest.jpg


sika deer stag

sikastag.jpg


bird(not my strongest subject ID wise:bonk:)

DSC01316_filtered.jpg


lodger on our caravan :lol:

spider.jpg
 
All lovely pics Stan, but that "light shafts" one is a cut above.
Love it
:thumbs:
 
Heads up. This Ebay auction includes a Sigma 70-300 APO, but does not mention it in the title. About £42 at the moment, ends Saturday evening.

180294318850
 
fabs said:
Im also away at the moment (Up north for the rugby at Old Traford tomorrow)
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Hey Fabs, don't suppose you got any shots of the glorious Rhinos back-to-back Super League grand final success did you? I had to be content with the extended highlights but looked like a great night (except the weather of course or unless, as I suspect, you're a Saints fan):thumbs:
 
leaky5 said:
Heads up. This Ebay auction includes a Sigma 70-300 APO, but does not mention it in the title. About £42 at the moment, ends Saturday evening.

180294318850
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went for £87.50 in the end! not a bad price at all!
 
Chewy said:
Hey Fabs, don't suppose you got any shots of the glorious Rhinos back-to-back Super League grand final success did you? I had to be content with the extended highlights but looked like a great night (except the weather of course or unless, as I suspect, you're a Saints fan):thumbs:
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Ahem! :suspect:

The one upside of the evening was that the wind was blowing in the oppoaite direction so we stayed dry!. Never mind. Once again the best team in the competition lost the final. :D

Didn't take my camera so didn't get any shots. Did notice that a couple of the pro togs were young, blond and female though! ;)

Off to Malham Cove tomorrow, should be fun dodging the rain!
 
Hi guys, just done a swap today, my 75-300 kit lens for my brothers 16gb CF card. He went mad and bought two 16gb cards the other day. They are quite dear so I don't think it was a bad swap.

Before you say it, I know it's not wise to have all your shots on one massive card incase it goes belly up. So far that has never happened and the next wedding I do, I will not be relying on one 16gb card......
 
timmygcsc2308 said:
Yea, the best cheapest option is the Minolta 50mm AF f/1.7 which can be had on ebay for about £70 but on a dSLR will equate to 75mm.
For a brand new sony one you're looking at I think just under a couple of hundred
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Lovely stuff, thanks. I'll keep it in mind, work PC needs a new graphics card first, getting no display. :'(

Seems to be plenty on Ebay, so might pick one up at the end of the month. :)
 
Hey guys, any of you A700 owners use the DRO settings for the JPEG? I normally shoot just RAW files but had a go at jpeg yesterday and used DRO+5 setting. I was quite impressed at the ability to render some features in a heavily shadowed area of a building. I will be trying more tactics with the DRO to see what is possible.

Also, Stan, does the A350 have any DRO settings at all?

Here's the photo I took in DRO+5, the only processing is the border, a slight perspective change and there was a slight yellow tinge to the building - probably a reflection off all the grass that is around the house so I selected the house and took down the yellow slider a bit.

NormanbyHallcopy.jpg
 
Le_Petit_Lapin said:
Lovely stuff, thanks. I'll keep it in mind, work PC needs a new graphics card first, getting no display. :'(

Seems to be plenty on Ebay, so might pick one up at the end of the month. :)
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no problems.
Bide your time and you'll get a deal.
Look at the bargain I snapped up yesterday:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=270282596828&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=017

:D

EDIT: and I've just tapped a french guy up for a beercan for £130 delivered, depending on how the Canon sells. Good deal? considering I was looking to buy a Sigma 70-300mm APO for £130, so on the A200 the beercan will actually be 105-315mm (which will be nice since currently I have a 35-105mm), much the same focal length of the sigma but better quality. The beercan is MINT:
http://picasaweb.google.fr/Surerdre/MinoltaLenses#5252301396822965250
 
timmygcsc2308 said:
no problems.
Bide your time and you'll get a deal.
Look at the bargain I snapped up yesterday:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=270282596828&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=017

:D
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It's funny how quickly things have moved on. When I bought my a200 earlier this year, you could pick up a 50mm as part of a film camera setup for around £45 inc P&P. People now know what to look for, best one I had recently was a 50mm & Beercan for £130.00, that was about 2 months ago, not been many like that since.

But, the price of correctly advertised 50mm's & Beercan's on their own has hardly changed.

All the lenses in my sig (apart from the 18-70) cost in total about £140.00
 
leaky5 said:
It's funny how quickly things have moved on. When I bought my a200 earlier this year, you could pick up a 50mm as part of a film camera setup for around £45 inc P&P. People now know what to look for, best one I had recently was a 50mm & Beercan for £130.00, that was about 2 months ago, not been many like that since.

But, the price of correctly advertised 50mm's & Beercan's on their own has hardly changed.

All the lenses in my sig (apart from the 18-70) cost in total about £140.00
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yep tell me about it! When I didn't have any cash to spend, I was watching a 50mm which went for about £50 (this was like less than a month ago), and the beercans were going for about £70. Same with the 50mm Super Takumar's
:bang:
 
My 50mm f1.7 cost me £55.00 about 3 months ago.
Just got my Beercan for £125.00
Both were delivered prices and both lenses are what I would describe as mint..

I picked up the 50mm fairly quickly, but the Beercan took a little longer, I must have missed out on 3 or 4 other copies on e-bay where they all fetched between £150-£170.00.
I ended up getting one from a member of the Dyxum website by posting a wanted ad on the forum.
The 50mm was picked up off of e-bay and I think it came in from the States if I remember correctly.

The problem is, with the Alpha range of cameras getting more and more popular, new owners are hearing about how good some of the old Minolta glass is and this is pushing prices up.
Can only be a good thing if you already own these lenses though....;);)
 
yep so hopefully I'll get a nice price for the Canon and accept that guys beercan offer.
If anyone is after a 50mm quick, this guy just dropped the price by a fiver:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=330276626266&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=014

might be able to knock another fiver off ;)

Also, Stan, does the A350 have any DRO settings at all?
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The A200 has Off, Standard and Advanced. You can't manually edit the DRO but if you shoot RAW you can do it during PP. I assume the same for the A350
 
JPS said:
Does it have the same access levels as the A700 though DRO+1 2 3 4 and 5? Or is it just a standard setting.
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see my edit above:
The A200 has Off, Standard and Advanced. You can't manually edit the DRO but if you shoot RAW you can do it during PP. I assume the same for the A350
Click to expand...
 
JPS said:
Hey guys, any of you A700 owners use the DRO settings for the JPEG? I normally shoot just RAW files but had a go at jpeg yesterday and used DRO+5 setting. I was quite impressed at the ability to render some features in a heavily shadowed area of a building. I will be trying more tactics with the DRO to see what is possible..........
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I tend to use JPG only for motorsport or family snaps. I use DRO+3 as a rule. It gives great results without the risk of generating too much noise if anything is seriously underexposed. Higher levels seem to work well as long as the subject is well lit.
The only wedding I've been conned into shooting this century proved the ability of DRO+ on my A100. Picking out the detail on the brides wedding dress and the pinstripes of the grooms suit admirably.
 
Yeah Stan, I have been 100% RAW for about 18 months 2 years now, just thought I'd dabble with the DRO settings for the A700 on jpeg mode. Just using parts of the camera that I don't normally enter into you see with being RAW mainly...
 
niffty should be coming today :D the guy sent it special delivery :clap: (oh and the Maxxum 7000 too lol)
 
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