The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

dancook said:
I agree - I'm not keen on the 'purple' look you get with forest floor with white balancing - so usually warm it up a tad - but not so much the subject gets lost.

Could use split toning for this once you've white balanced
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Good shout (y)
 
That's one problem, the forest floor ends up too purple. One thing I'd done this morning is go for a more natural looking environment and then desaturase her face a bit.

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This is another place, some problem, different lens this time...

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snerkler said:
Much better. Maybe a shade too far if you want it natural as I would guess in an environment like that there would be a slight green cast but for WB neutrality that's great. I never have great success with the WB eye dropper thing tbh :oops: :$
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In that picture I can get wildly different results by eye dropping at different points on her grey top or her socks. I think you guys may do better but I think this sort of picture (under a green canopy) is going to be a problem for me but I don't think it's a screen calibration or lens problem, I do think it's more the environment and my lack of processing skill. I'll see if I get the same with one of my Panasonic cameras and lenses.
 
(EDIT: Whoops, just seen your images are 'do not edit.' Sorry, mate. Have removed and deleted my edit of your pic)

I shoot in that sort of situation a lot. I think your problems were mainly in temperature and saturation. When I'm editing tough lighting I start by zooming in tight on the subject and working to get the skin tone mostly right. In many situations, when you then zoom out it's perfect.
 
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decigallen said:
I shoot in that sort of situation a lot. I think your problems were mainly in temperature and saturation. When I'm editing tough lighting I start by zooming in tight on the subject and working to get the skin tone mostly right. In many situations, when you then zoom out it's perfect.

Hope you don't mind me manipulating your shots. Just a quick PS edit to eye - I could do better in LR with RAW. Some of the ground is bordering on being too magenta.
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Of course I don't mind, you're helping and I appreciate that :D

I do think the right hand shot is too purple and I do agree that the LH shot is too saturated, the slider is at zero as is vibrancy and I backed the saturation off a bit for her face. Changing the temp seems to alter the saturation or if it's not doing that it's doing something that looks like making it look more saturated. I'll have another go doing as you say, zooming in on her face and seeing what that does to the whole picture. I'll try and get to grips with this as there are two places I take a lot of pictures of her in, the hills and where the picture at post 34642 is. When she's not in the frame it's not a problem :D but when she's in the picture I often have a problem with her skin tone. She's going to Thailand for a month and will be darker when she comes back so that may give me another challenge :D
 
woof woof said:
That's one problem, the forest floor ends up too purple. One thing I'd done this morning is go for a more natural looking environment and then desaturase her face a bit.

View attachment 126306

This is another place, some problem, different lens this time...

View attachment 126307
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It looks really flat, the blacks are not there and it's a little over exposed.
 
twist said:
Agreed, @woof woof do you always ETTR? I noticed a lot of your shots look overexposed which makes them flat.
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The other side of the coin is unless he is specifically going for that look, it looks almost 60's colour film stock faded over the years.

However, in terms of neutral, that is quite far from it.
 
A few water drop collisions with Sony A7iii and the splashart ii kit. Note that in theory its not supposed to work with mirrorless cameras, and I have to admit its probably not quite as repeatable as it previous was with my Canon 5d mark iii, but not bad for 1st attempt using the kit with the A7iii.


DSC03650 by Mike Rhodes, on Flickr



DSC03685 by Mike Rhodes, on Flickr



DSC03687 by Mike Rhodes, on Flickr



DSC03808 by Mike Rhodes, on Flickr
 
mike_6480 said:
A few water drop collisions with Sony A7iii and the splashart ii kit. Note that in theory its not supposed to work with mirrorless cameras, and I have to admit its probably not quite as repeatable as it previous was with my Canon 5d mark iii, but not bad for 1st attempt using the kit with the A7iii.
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Those are great!....so sharp. Well done!
 
twist said:
Agreed, @woof woof do you always ETTR? I noticed a lot of your shots look overexposed which makes them flat.
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On my A7 - I used to always turn the exp comp dial to -0.3ev, felt like it naturally overexposed just a little. I always used to make sure I was exposing for the highlights. Shadow detail wasn’t an issue.
 
Please can I possibly ask for advice, I have ordered a Sony A7 III and a Sigma EOS to Sony E Mount. While waiting for it to, one day arrive in stock. I am trying to get advice on other makes of flash & trigger other then Sony with a pretty good guide number & reliable.
What size and make have Sd cards have you been using. Been shooting Canon so totally new to Sony and know nothing other then a few youtube reviews, thanks for all advice.
 
captainjack said:
Please can I possibly ask for advice, I have ordered a Sony A7 III and a Sigma EOS to Sony E Mount. While waiting for it to, one day arrive in stock. I am trying to get advice on other makes of flash & trigger other then Sony with a pretty good guide number & reliable.
What size and make have Sd cards have you been using. Been shooting Canon so totally new to Sony and know nothing other then a few youtube reviews, thanks for all advice.
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I use godox trigger and flash. I previously used Nissin i40 on camera flash which worked quite well too.

In use either 32GB or 64GB SD cards
 
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ohms12 said:
On my A7 - I used to always turn the exp comp dial to -0.3ev, felt like it naturally overexposed just a little. I always used to make sure I was exposing for the highlights. Shadow detail wasn’t an issue.
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My a7RIIs are permanently set to -0.3ev, it's a habit I gained shooting weddings and it feels just right to me. The files are so flexible so it's just a nice little safety net.
 
captainjack said:
Please can I possibly ask for advice, I have ordered a Sony A7 III and a Sigma EOS to Sony E Mount. While waiting for it to, one day arrive in stock. I am trying to get advice on other makes of flash & trigger other then Sony with a pretty good guide number & reliable.
What size and make have Sd cards have you been using. Been shooting Canon so totally new to Sony and know nothing other then a few youtube reviews, thanks for all advice.
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I'm using Godox TT685s and a Godox Xpro trigger. Have also got Godox Sk300ii studio flashes. The great thing is I can trigger them all wirelessly just from one trigger.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The other side of the coin is unless he is specifically going for that look, it looks almost 60's colour film stock faded over the years.

However, in terms of neutral, that is quite far from it.
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Hallelujah.

Raymond Lin said:
It looks really flat, the blacks are not there and it's a little over exposed.
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twist said:
Agreed, @woof woof do you always ETTR? I noticed a lot of your shots look overexposed which makes them flat.
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The second picture? Taken with an old Rokkor MC with less contrast. One of these was my first old lens, old lenses don't always look like modern lenses and I like the different looks you can get and this is partly why I have multiple lenses of the same focal length.

No, I don't always ETTR but often take pictures in what I'd say is difficult light with old lenses and process for taste.

Pictures of the same subject taken with various 35, 45, 50, 55 and 85mm lenses.

DSC02431.jpg

DSC07654.JPG


DSC07924.JPG

DSC08392.JPG

DSC09089.JPG

I have the modern Sony 35mm f2.8 and 55mm f1.8 too :D

PS.
I have a folder I put pictures in which I put on a slideshow so I can glance as I come in and out of the room. I've just checked it and only one picture in it was taken with a modern AF lens, Oly 17mm f1.7 on GX80. Guess I just like a slightly off look.
 
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decigallen said:
(EDIT: Whoops, just seen your images are 'do not edit.' Sorry, mate. Have removed and deleted my edit of your pic)

I shoot in that sort of situation a lot. I think your problems were mainly in temperature and saturation. When I'm editing tough lighting I start by zooming in tight on the subject and working to get the skin tone mostly right. In many situations, when you then zoom out it's perfect.
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No need, feel free, see my post.
:D
 
On the subject of pictures being slightly off, I had a phase of doing this and I keep thinking of having another go with my A7. What do you think? Not taken with a Sony camera.

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I was trying to reproduce the look of old pictures I'd seen in non photography exhibits, lack of contrast, too much, blown up way too big, faded and or generally suffered over the years.
 
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PauBass said:
Any ideas on what I might have been doing wrong? Or was it the camera?...I want to think it was me and not the camera:rolleyes:
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I've had similar experiences and I'm not sure of the cause, it's confusing because they shouldn't be difficult subjects and yet it doesn't get focus.

It's even more annoying when you turn on magnification and focus locks instantly on the same static subject, why should that make any difference to the camera?
 
PauBass said:
Yesterday I had a newborn photoshoot, it was my first with my new a7iii, for lens I chose the 24-70 GM

I opted for using AF Single with Flexible Spot small to place the focus where I wanted it, sometimes it would be on the feet, hands, fingers, eyes....
The photoshoot started and the camera seemed to focus well with no problems, after a while it would not focus at all in the eyes area, it would hunt but it would not lock focus at all, it was very frustrating.

In the room there was enough light from my strobe modelling lights and the ambient light, I was using mechanical shutter with Live Preview Off, Eye AF off too and no Face detect, just placing the focus on the eye and it would not focus at all.

Not sure if had anything to do, but as the baby was naked we had a heater on and the studio room got quite hot.

Any ideas on what I might have been doing wrong? Or was it the camera?...I want to think it was me and not the camera:rolleyes:
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Babies are tiny! So are you sure you weren't past the MFD of the lens. I made this mistake when I was shooting my 6 month old son then realised he's small and I had gone slightly over MFD trying to get close with a 35mm.
 
nandbytes said:
Babies are tiny! So are you sure you weren't past the MFD of the lens. I made this mistake when I was shooting my 6 month old son then realised he's small and I had gone slightly over MFD trying to get close with a 35mm.
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I'm a bit of a fan of 35mm but I doubt I'd be recommending that length for close up baby shots too often :D
 
simonbarker said:
I've had similar experiences and I'm not sure of the cause, it's confusing because they shouldn't be difficult subjects and yet it doesn't get focus.

It's even more annoying when you turn on magnification and focus locks instantly on the same static subject, why should that make any difference to the camera?
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Exactly, static subject with plenty of light yet the camera did not focus.
What do you mean focusing with magnification @simonbarker ?

nandbytes said:
Babies are tiny! So are you sure you weren't past the MFD of the lens. I made this mistake when I was shooting my 6 month old son then realised he's small and I had gone slightly over MFD trying to get close with a 35mm.
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No, I was not taking any close ups when it started happening, I was shooting a full baby with props photo from 5 feet away, zooming in with the 24-70 to about 55mm, and it would not focus...it was very frustrating.
 
PauBass said:
Exactly, static subject with plenty of light yet the camera did not focus.
What do you mean focusing with magnification @simonbarker ?
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I mean the magnification option for the viewfinder, I have it bound to a custom key. Those times where getting focus should be easy but it fails it can usually acquire focus when magnified, I found that out with the FE 90mm as it seems to struggle a bit more than other lenses with AF.

Magnification is not a solution but it shows the camera should be capable of getting focus, as to why it's not? I'm still at a loss.
 
woof woof said:
I'm a bit of a fan of 35mm but I doubt I'd be recommending that length for close up baby shots too often :D
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I wouldn't recommend it either but when you want a quick close up it's quicker than changing to a different lens
 
I suppose it depends on what you want to do with the final picture but if it's just to be viewed on screen or just printed to a good size rather than the side of a barn maybe standing further back to avoid perspective distortion and cropping post capture could be an option.
 
I've been trying out my new (to me) Voigtlander Nokton 40/1.4 on my A7 and am starting to get used to it. As a lens it's tiny and the focusing tab felt a bit awkward at first but is beginning to feel more natural the more I use it. These were all taken at Chester Zoo yesterday on my A7.

Voigtlander Nokton 40/1.4 On Sony A7 @Chester Zoo by Steve Lloyd, on Flickr

Voigtlander Nokton 40/1.4 On Sony A7 @Chester Zoo by Steve Lloyd, on Flickr

Voigtlander Nokton 40/1.4 On Sony A7 @Chester Zoo by Steve Lloyd, on Flickr
 
So I've just ordered the 35 and 85 art lenses after buying the 50

I've listed my brand new 55 Zeiss and Batis 85 in the classifieds
 
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