Calling all Sony Alpha users! (Part 4)

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Just tried the 70-400G. It's very nice and I think I'll get it next week. Interestingly the Sony Style shop is cheaper than the camera shops by about £150.

Also figured out what's up with the 70-300G. At close objects (~3-5m) it has BF and with distant objects (10+m) it has FF so it's impossible to compensate using the AF micro adjust. On my A700 it's much better but that's because of the greater DOF of APS-C.
 
Just to point out - I'm selling mine A300 with kit lens and SAL 50mm 1/8 in For Sale section.
 
Possible a new question, if anyone can help.

Getting into studio work and was looking at the options of Auto Focus Area, as i was advised this is the way it would be done. So i set the camera to use spot, and this uses the central focus point, now there is the option for local which allows me to choose the one of the 9 focus areas.

Could someone tell me how i set the local AF point?

thanks
 
donkeymusic said:
Possible a new question, if anyone can help.

Getting into studio work and was looking at the options of Auto Focus Area, as i was advised this is the way it would be done. So i set the camera to use spot, and this uses the central focus point, now there is the option for local which allows me to choose the one of the 9 focus areas.

Could someone tell me how i set the local AF point?

thanks
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On the A700, I use the joystick thingy (Sorry if that's too technical. :D)
 
jsut found the option, its without the joystick thingy and big button marked AF.
 
Has anyone tried out the update version Image Data Suite?
Any improvement for the noise reduction?
 
kevin612 said:
Has anyone tried out the update version Image Data Suite?
Any improvement for the noise reduction?
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I don't think IDC has been updates for ages?

Lightroom 3 is doing a very good job of high ISO from my A900, ISO1600 is very good now, with chroma NR blotching gone with a nice fine grain pattern (have a look at my post just above with crops)

I'm probably going to try the new Capture 1 as well which also has specific improvements for Sony Alpha.

Most raw convertors concentrate on Nikon and Canon raw, so its good to see the converters now becoming less generic and specifically profiling Sony - this can see around a 1 stop increase in noise performance if done properly.
 
puddleduck said:
I don't think IDC has been updates for ages?
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IDC 3.2 was released in 1st April (no joke). It has an improved debayer algorithm that is much better with high ISO shots.

I don't think it's any better than LR3b2 and I find IDC too slow for serious use. Some have speculated that the new debayer algorithms are based on possible new firmware release for the A850/A900. I suspect they just put into IDC the code from the A5x0 cameras.
 
Just got myself Sony STP-SH1AM from currys for £4.97

amazon and play wants £30 for it!

 
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Sir Harvo said:
I'm after a wide angle to put on my A700 to take pictures of house interiors for a local estate agent.

What would you recommend?
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I assume distortion control is going to be important here (straight lines) - in that case either a Sigma 12-24 or Sony 20mm or Ziess 16-35.
 
Sir Harvo said:
I am looking at the sigma 10-20 and the sigma 12-24. Does the 10-20 give straight lines through the zoom or will it distort?
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The 10-20 is a fun lens but has very bad distortion. The Sony/Tamron 11-18mm is apparently much better in this regard.
 
Sir Harvo said:
I am looking at the sigma 10-20 and the sigma 12-24. Does the 10-20 give straight lines through the zoom or will it distort?
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Neither will be ideal - you can straighten them up later, but if you want excellent distortion control Sigma 12-24 or Sony 20mm will be much better.
 
do you know whats really strange?

i realised that alpha dont really have a limited line up its just while canon and nikon came into digital they were still making the older lenses but sony however had no lenses to begin with and onyl adapted minolta designs, so if you think about it if minolta still survived we would be seeing to production of lenses such as the 50mm and beercan and i wondered why sony never properly adopted these because while the sony branding would render expensive you'd still have classics like the beercan instead of searching on ebay for second hand ones. i think the only downside making them today would the the all plastic construction which would mean a sacrifice in build quality.
 
mastertrinity said:
do you know whats really strange?

i realised that alpha dont really have a limited line up its just while canon and nikon came into digital they were still making the older lenses but sony however had no lenses to begin with and onyl adapted minolta designs, so if you think about it if minolta still survived we would be seeing to production of lenses such as the 50mm and beercan and i wondered why sony never properly adopted these because while the sony branding would render expensive you'd still have classics like the beercan instead of searching on ebay for second hand ones. i think the only downside making them today would the the all plastic construction which would mean a sacrifice in build quality.
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The metal bodied lenses such as the beercan were gone from the Minolta lineup years before they started making DSLR's so there was never a prospect of them appearing with Sony branding.
 
mastertrinity said:
do you know whats really strange?

i realised that alpha dont really have a limited line up its just while canon and nikon came into digital they were still making the older lenses but sony however had no lenses to begin with and onyl adapted minolta designs, so if you think about it if minolta still survived we would be seeing to production of lenses such as the 50mm and beercan and i wondered why sony never properly adopted these because while the sony branding would render expensive you'd still have classics like the beercan instead of searching on ebay for second hand ones. i think the only downside making them today would the the all plastic construction which would mean a sacrifice in build quality.
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I don't think the lineup is limited at all, especially when you consider the Minolta lenses. In fact the only things that I think are missing are tilt-shift lenses which are pretty specialist.

BTW if a Beercan was made today it would be a £350-£400 lens - this covers the same focal range as Canon's 70-200 f/4 and Nikon doesn't do a 70-200 f/4 lens at all...
 
puddleduck said:
Very very nice lens isn't it?
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Certainly is. I'm looking forward to some birding at Doi Inthanon National Park next month.

As I said I'm in Bangkok for a few months. I'm very impressed with the Sony Style shop which had every camera out for playing and they had the complete range of lenses (inc the cuffing expensive 300mm). Even the Thai equivalent of Currys has CZ lenses in stock. It puts Jessops to shame.
 
puddleduck said:
I don't think the lineup is limited at all, especially when you consider the Minolta lenses. In fact the only things that I think are missing are tilt-shift lenses which are pretty specialist.

BTW if a Beercan was made today it would be a £350-£400 lens - this covers the same focal range as Canon's 70-200 f/4 and Nikon doesn't do a 70-200 f/4 lens at all...
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i dont find it limited but compared to canons and nikons line up, it is limited.

i just wish sony did a 35mm f1.8/f2 and 85mm f1.8/f2 and i would be really happy.
 
Dave W said:
One of the few lenses I really lust after.
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The strange thing for me is that frankly having always shot a 300mm prime, the last thing I expected was to be impressed with a x0-400, and was a lens that I thought I wanted or needed..!

The lens really is *that* good. Definably worth saving up for if you think you might need one. I bought mine used here.
 
hi does anybody use the tamron 18-200 i need to know whether it is better or worde optically than the kit!!! i don't know what to do!
 
I would say the kit performed a bit better at the focal length it covers - I had both and the same camera. Though I sold it on later on, as the 18-200 is my holiday lens. It's ok as a one lens solution, but it is quite slow to focus, though I did get it for £40 so can't complain. Else, I would consider the sony/tamron 18-250 equivalent.
 
sounds rediculous to me...do some test shots again,taken at approx 45 degrees and focus on something in particular..say the 6" marker on a ruler,and see where the focus is best.if it's not on the 6" mark,then it sounds as if you deffo have focussing issues.it might help to do this test tripod mounted to make sure the camera is absolutely still...
 
stan the man said:
lee...i remember someone sending a camera back to sony for something,and that it was sent to bridgend,as i believe it's where they go for repair/fault finding....local to you,plus isn't your A500 still under warranty?
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That would have been me stan, when the AF went on the older A700. Yes, they do charge an admin fee for No Fault Found but I wasn't too worried about it at the time as the fault was pretty bloody obvious. :D
 
Don't do a ruler test, or angled charts as they are not a reliable way to test lenses. This is well documented, but most people tend to ignore this advice. Don't be one of those people.

To test a lens at 300mm you need to be 15 meters away.

Get a cereal package - nice large test target that will fill completely cover the central AF point. Do the shot a couple of times, first shot with the lens focused at infinity prior to taking the shot, second shot with the lens focused to closest distance before taking the shot.

I'm not going to comment on angled test shots, but if you test correctly (as above), I'll offer input.
 
Test from minimum focus
test001.jpg


Test from infinity
test002.jpg
 
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