Calling all Sony Alpha users!

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Hi, nothing to run away from but they do seem a tad soft. What lens and settings did you use?

For the first three I used the 18-70 kit lens, and for the swan I used my recently-acquired Sigma 70-300

I just used the 'P' setting on all of 'em, as I recall. Full zoom on the swan. Took that one earlier today
 
For the first three I used the 18-70 kit lens, and for the swan I used my recently-acquired Sigma 70-300

I just used the 'P' setting on all of 'em, as I recall. Full zoom on the swan. Took that one earlier today

Hmm, can't really comment then, never use P mode so not really sure how it works. Maybe someone else could shed some light.:shrug:
 
For the first three I used the 18-70 kit lens, and for the swan I used my recently-acquired Sigma 70-300

I just used the 'P' setting on all of 'em, as I recall. Full zoom on the swan. Took that one earlier today

unfortunately i can't view the exif data on your shots.as said,the swan does look a little soft,and this may be down to shutter speed.always make sure your shutter speed at least matches your focal length..so if your shooting at 100mm F/L,you should have a shutter speed of at least 1/100 sec and so on....another good technique is to press the shutter button down as you breathe out.i also check the bar graph for the super steady shot image stabiliser to make sure it's on one or two bars(btm r/h corner of view finder).
 
unfortunately i can't view the exif data on your shots.as said,the swan does look a little soft,and this may be down to shutter speed.always make sure your shutter speed at least matches your focal length..so if your shooting at 100mm F/L,you should have a shutter speed of at least 1/100 sec and so on....another good technique is to press the shutter button down as you breathe out.i also check the bar graph for the super steady shot image stabiliser to make sure it's on one or two bars(btm r/h corner of view finder).

Thanks for the advice, Stan. I appreciate it (y)
 
The a700 is quite a bit bigger than the a100 (About a third bigger I think, but then I'm a man and we always exaggerate about size! :naughty:). With the grip it makes the a100 look like a bridge camera! :eek:

I was using the A700 with grip, the 56AM flash unit and the hefty 24-70 Zeiss, now that is one heavy combination, I had back ache and arm ache after carring that gear around for the best part of six hours on Saturday.
 
I was using the A700 with grip, the 56AM flash unit and the heafty 24-70 Zeiss, now that is one heavy combination, I had back ache and arm ache after carring that gear around for the best part of six hours on Saturday.

Indeed. Last weekend I had the a700, grip and 50-500 Sigma and, because of the rain, I was stood under a parasol on some decking which was to slippery for the monopod. My back was killing me afterwards!
 
I am very happy with A200 in all regimes and with the ability to focus very fast and accurate. Quality of the photos are great but only when I used Beercan 70-210mm and Minolta 50mm F2.8. Kit lens lacks sharpness in comparassing to other two and also color is not as nice.
Camera is good investement but I am on a lookout for one more lens and I would like your opinions for which lens to go for.
Something to use on a day to day basis. I would like wide angle so I assume I should go for 18-70 or 105 perhaps but which particular lens?
I am in love with my two oldie-goldies Minolta lenses and I have no problem if they look 20+ years old as long as I get a quality photos and sharpnes spot on. Budget is important so the cheaper the better.
Any particular lens springs to mind?!
Thank you!
 
I am very happy with A200 in all regimes and with the ability to focus very fast and accurate. Quality of the photos are great but only when I used Beercan 70-210mm and Minolta 50mm F2.8. Kit lens lacks sharpness in comparassing to other two and also color is not as nice.
Camera is good investement but I am on a lookout for one more lens and I would like your opinions for which lens to go for.
Something to use on a day to day basis. I would like wide angle so I assume I should go for 18-70 or 105 perhaps but which particular lens?
I am in love with my two oldie-goldies Minolta lenses and I have no problem if they look 20+ years old as long as I get a quality photos and sharpnes spot on. Budget is important so the cheaper the better.
Any particular lens springs to mind?!
Thank you!

two great lens to replace your kit lens with are the sigma 17-70 F2.8-4.5 DC macro,or the 18-50 F2.8 EX DC macro...both very sharp lens.tamron would also be worth considering,but i have no experience of their lens.
 
I am very happy with A200 in all regimes and with the ability to focus very fast and accurate. Quality of the photos are great but only when I used Beercan 70-210mm and Minolta 50mm F2.8. Kit lens lacks sharpness in comparassing to other two and also color is not as nice.
Camera is good investement but I am on a lookout for one more lens and I would like your opinions for which lens to go for.
Something to use on a day to day basis. I would like wide angle so I assume I should go for 18-70 or 105 perhaps but which particular lens?
I am in love with my two oldie-goldies Minolta lenses and I have no problem if they look 20+ years old as long as I get a quality photos and sharpnes spot on. Budget is important so the cheaper the better.
Any particular lens springs to mind?!
Thank you!

If you like the classic Minolta characteristics then I'd look to Tamron for a replacement to the kit lens. I have just bought a Tamron 17-50 2.8, really just so I can take my 17-35mm and 50mm Minoltas out of my bag and make it lighter! I'm very impressed so far. The constant 2.8 is usefull, colours are rich and the circular aperture gives very Minolta-esque bokeh. And don't tell anyone I said this but I think it's sharper than the prime :eek:
I'd considered the Tamron 28-75 2.8, which is essentially the old Minolta product. But with APS-C I decided this wouldn't be wide enough and I'd still have to carry the 17-35mm :shrug:
If only it went the extra 20mm it would be perfect but as it is I like it's characteristics better than the Sigma offerings.
 
:love:OK OK I'VE DONE IT My order for the A300 twin lens bundle has been placed and is now ready for collection. I'll wait till tommorrow so it feels like Xmas day and checkout the vertical grip thats not in store. :clap:
 
:love:OK OK I'VE DONE IT My order for the A300 twin lens bundle has been placed and is now ready for collection. I'll wait till tommorrow so it feels like Xmas day and checkout the vertical grip thats not in store. :clap:

:clap: (y)

Nice one mate. I'm sure you'll love it :love:
 
:help: Can anyone tell me how I find the number of shutter actuations on an A100? :help:

As I understand it, because the file number can be reset etc. there's no way of knowing and you need a Sony Service Centre to tell you. I have heard there's an application that you can download that will tell the data from a RAW file, but no idea what this is. Maybe a google search will shed some light.(y)
 
:love:OK OK I'VE DONE IT My order for the A300 twin lens bundle has been placed and is now ready for collection. I'll wait till tommorrow so it feels like Xmas day and checkout the vertical grip thats not in store. :clap:

The force is strong with this one Luke
;)
 
Quick question for any of you A700 users!

Thinking of upgrading when funds allow but one thing that is pretty irritating about my a100 is the loud mechanical shutter noise, is this still present on the a700? Ok, it's not that loud, just one of those little things that irritates after a while...
 
Quick question for any of you A700 users!

Thinking of upgrading when funds allow but one thing that is pretty irritating about my a100 is the loud mechanical shutter noise, is this still present on the a700? Ok, it's not that loud, just one of those little things that irritates after a while...

It's much much quieter!
 
10 hours to go before I can collect :wave:, now im having second thoughts of what i should of ordered a Tamron 200mm, Sony 200mm or Sony 300mm lens :help:.
Oh well who cares its got to be better than my Cannon pocket cam
 
I forgot to mention one big problem with A200. Brand new yet on one photo where was predominantly sky I noticed some spots around 9 of them. I've changed kit lens imidiately and didn't take Beercan off after that yet there was at least 20+ spots of various sizes on my photos where I took some pictures of planes on the airshow.
What is the best equipment to clean my CCD with and will I be able to do it well enough. I am confident but I don't wish to damage it of course.
Anyone had similar bad expiriance with spots on new Alpha's?
Best regards!
 
I forgot to mention one big problem with A200. Brand new yet on one photo where was predominantly sky I noticed some spots around 9 of them. I've changed kit lens imidiately and didn't take Beercan off after that yet there was at least 20+ spots of various sizes on my photos where I took some pictures of planes on the airshow.
What is the best equipment to clean my CCD with and will I be able to do it well enough. I am confident but I don't wish to damage it of course.
Anyone had similar bad expiriance with spots on new Alpha's?
Best regards!

i've had the same problem with my alpha100(when i had it),and what i did to remove the dust was use a rocket blower.you will have to consult your user handbook as the instructions may be a little different from the alpha100,but it's a relatively easy operation to do,and takes just a minute or so..do a few test shots after to check that the dust bunnies have gone..

gary friedman recommends that to test for the dust bunnies you do the following..

get a white piece of paper and any medium range lens

put the lens into manual focus mode and set focus to infinity.set the exposure compensation to +1 so the card comes out a little more white.

put the camera into aperture priority exposure mode and set the f/stop to the highest number you can(such as f/16 or f/22)this makes the dust become nore visible if it's still there..

shoot one frame.

then examine the image closely on your computer.
 
:wave: OK Thanks for the help some of you passed on when making up my mind......
It's now official... I'm a Alpha A300 owner and so far WoW. Everything I seem to snap at comes out like a good picture unlike my pocket Cannon camera. Been playing all afternoon trying out both lenses (2nd being the Tamron 55-200) trying out features as i catch up with long forgotton terminology from the early 70's. Already i feel conversant with the controls functions and variables, now I've got to put into practice combining them and camparing the different results.
I'd like to add what a difference it is to carry everything in a slingshot bag rather than the old cosmetic type bags we used to use many moons ago, plus the cheapest monopod is already proving buying one is worth the effort.

Even somebody that tried to put me off Sony is now well impressed.
 
:wave: OK Thanks for the help some of you passed on when making up my mind......
It's now official... I'm a Alpha A300 owner and so far WoW. Everything I seem to snap at comes out like a good picture unlike my pocket Cannon camera. Been playing all afternoon trying out both lenses (2nd being the Tamron 55-200) trying out features as i catch up with long forgotton terminology from the early 70's. Already i feel conversant with the controls functions and variables, now I've got to put into practice combining them and camparing the different results.
I'd like to add what a difference it is to carry everything in a slingshot bag rather than the old cosmetic type bags we used to use many moons ago, plus the cheapest monopod is already proving buying one is worth the effort.

Even somebody that tried to put me off Sony is now well impressed.

Can we see some of the results ..... although I'm not sure I will be allowed in this thread much longer? Jumping ship and all........:shake:
 
Ypu are going to laugh People! I bought Kenair compressed gas to deal with those dust specs. It is very powerful so I was surprised to see that after few tests I developed even more specs. In excess of 20. I was puzzled because it does sound and feel powerful enough o blow just about anything especially dust.
I then realized I was blowing air in the filter in front of the CCD not glass itself!
I pressed clean button and then shutter went up and exposed the CCD. It is clean now of course. Of course this is my first D-SLR camera so I can be forgiven I guess ;-)
 
Ypu are going to laugh People! I bought Kenair compressed gas to deal with those dust specs. It is very powerful so I was surprised to see that after few tests I developed even more specs. In excess of 20. I was puzzled because it does sound and feel powerful enough o blow just about anything especially dust.
I then realized I was blowing air in the filter in front of the CCD not glass itself!
I pressed clean button and then shutter went up and exposed the CCD. It is clean now of course. Of course this is my first D-SLR camera so I can be forgiven I guess ;-)

as long as we learn from our mistakes eh :LOL:
 
Thought I'd post here as i'm off in a few hours to buy my alpha 200, lowepro bag and other goodies!
 
Thought I'd post here as i'm off in a few hours to buy my alpha 200, lowepro bag and other goodies!

Betcha can't wait :woot: . The worst bit is waiting for the battery to charge! :bang:
 
Yeah! like when you get a new mobile phone :)

I'm setting off now ooh yeah :bonk::D

EDIT: got it now, just charging up GRRR :p
 
Yeah! like when you get a new mobile phone :)

I'm setting off now ooh yeah :bonk::D

EDIT: got it now, just charging up GRRR :p

Has the battery charged yet???
How you getting on with it?


I've just given into temptation and ordered the Sigma 17-70 :woot::woot:
 
good man smiffy...you won't be dissapointed (y)

The Missus will when she only gets 3 nights out instead of 7 in Crete next week
:(:(:(

There will be a couple of lenses going up for sale in about 2 weeks time ;)

Tamron 55-200 and Minolta 24-85
(y)
 
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