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

Well I was worrying about nothing regarding needing a new bag for my new 200-600 set up. It's nowhere near the size I had imagined in my mind and fits perfectly well in my little Tamrac backpack that I was using with my Sigma 150-600. Can't wait to get out there with it and shoot. Also for once, both couriers arrived to collect and deliver my lenses when they said they would. :ty:
 
New lens. :D





Received the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 yesterday. It's very nice, very light and great to finally have a zoom lens in the wide to medium focal range. I took some day and night (well, late afternoon which is basically nighttime now) test shots and I'm very pleased at the IQ. Focal lengths of 25.5mm, 40.6mm, 50mm and 18mm for these shots below.
The night shots were both 3200 ISO but surprisingly clean and these are without even running through Topaz Denoise.


Southbank Gull by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Southbank Centre Stairs by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Lanterns by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Man in Soho by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Hungerford Bridge by Merlin 5, on Flickr
 
Merlin5 said:
New lens. :D





Received the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 yesterday. It's very nice, very light and great to finally have a zoom lens in the wide to medium focal range. I took some day and night (well, late afternoon which is basically nighttime now) test shots and I'm very pleased at the IQ. Focal lengths of 25.5mm, 40.6mm, 50mm and 18mm for these shots below.
The night shots were both 3200 ISO but surprisingly clean and these are without even running through Topaz Denoise.


Southbank Gull by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Southbank Centre Stairs by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Lanterns by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Man in Soho by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Hungerford Bridge by Merlin 5, on Flickr
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I am still surprised at how small it is. Makes APS-C really attractive for people wanting a small light combination without sacrificing on the sensor size too much.
 
nandbytes said:
I am still surprised at how small it is. Makes APS-C really attractive for people wanting a small light combination without sacrificing on the sensor size too much.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. While a full frame sensor would be even better quality and better in low light with higher ISO, my sensor has never been a problem. And yeah, size is one of the biggest reasons I like APS-C, because you can sort of have your cake and eat it. Being able to get good focal reach while keep the lenses small and reasonably discreet is a big plus.
 
I agree, it's stunning. The sunrays coming through the trees is so nice. It's like you could walk into the photo.
 
Hmmm

Panamoz are being very slow, my order last Fri hasn't even shipped yet, it is still at the "Printed label stage"
So I contacted support who then told me the tracking number was wrong and it is in the air on its way now - I might be slightly excited now :)
 
As it's quiet...

Tradesmen that don't turn up or call to say they're not coming, Grrrr :mad:

I'm waiting for a guy to arrive to quote for a boundary fence rebuild and roof damage repair and he was supposed to be calling first before coming this morning but sadly there's no sign of him and he hasn't called. Would you call them back or call someone else?
 
woof woof said:
As it's quiet...

Tradesmen that don't turn up or call to say they're not coming, Grrrr :mad:

I'm waiting for a guy to arrive to quote for a boundary fence rebuild and roof damage repair and he was supposed to be calling first before coming this morning but sadly there's no sign of him and he hasn't called. Would you call them back or call someone else?
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Call someone else, i to have no time for people that waste your time.
 
robj20 said:
Call someone else, i to have no time for people that waste your time.
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I like to give them a day and then give them one call back as just sometimes it leads to a good and long term experience and can if that works save me time as I don't have to start looking for someone else. PITA though and IMO just bad manners.
 
I've used this guy twice before and each time he's done a good job at a reasonable price, so I'll give him a day and one more call.
 
Mike.P said:
Have you tried contacting a tradesman these days?

We tried approx 16 plumbers before finding one that could do the job in a reasonable time frame .... then I worried that maybe he was crap because he wasn't as busy as the rest :D
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To be honest I don't use people for much, I'll do most things myself.
But last thing was a roof, used the local Facebook group to find recommendations made it very easy.
 
robj20 said:
To be honest I don't use people for much, I'll do most things myself.
But last thing was a roof, used the local Facebook group to find recommendations made it very easy.
Click to expand...

I can do quite a bit, electrical stuff obviously and some light plumbing, joinery, and brickwork but the storm damage to the fence is beyond me both in the time it'll take and the physical effort as it's way too much heavy lifting for one bloke on his own and then there's the materials and getting them home. There's no way I'm going on the roof. When I was an electrician I sometimes worked up heights but that was with staging and I'm just not going to risk it at this point in my life.
 
Mike.P said:
Have you tried contacting a tradesman these days?

We tried approx 16 plumbers before finding one that could do the job in a reasonable time frame .... then I worried that maybe he was crap because he wasn't as busy as the rest :D
Click to expand...
Tradesmen are like rocking horse poop.
 
I called him back and left a message on his answerphone ending "if you want the work" and that got a call back even if he did call me someone elses name. So, he's due tomorrow at 12:30 as that's about when I get home.

I've had very little time for either walks or taking pictures and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms over both.
 
More on that Venus Optics 85mm f5.6. They seem to give it a rather good write up...

fstoppers.com

Fstoppers Reviews Venus Optic’s 85mm f/5.6 2x Macro Lens: Amazing Magnification From a Tiny Lens

If you’re into macro photography, you might be wondering why so many macro lenses emphasize a wide aperture; f/2.8 is nice to have, but when focused down to 1:1, it’ll leave you with no depth of field. From my point of view, Venus Optics seems to have had the same thought. They built a macro...
fstoppers.com fstoppers.com

This might interest some...

www.dpreview.com

Slideshow: Winners of the Hasselblad Masters 2021 competition

The winners of the 80th annual Hasselblad Masters photography competition were announced today. Here's a gallery featuring the winners from each of the categories.
www.dpreview.com www.dpreview.com
 
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Years ago, just after the Romans pulled out, I qualified as an electrician and back then I think us electricians were the only "tradespeople" who had to pass our exams. I think all the others could fail their exams and somehow still qualify.

To be honest what I need isn't Einstein, just a few reasonably strong blokes to either re-erect some fallen brick pillars or take them away and rebuild new ones and put up some fencing in between. As long as they can do that and avoid dropping things on their toes or hitting each other with hammers I'll be happy. I'll be even happier if they can avoid falling off the roof whilst doing some work up there too. I've used this bloke and his crew before and they're quite good and didn't disgrace or injure themselves.

PS.
I've still got my trade certificates, signed by... I can't remember who. I didn't stick as an electrician, I got bored and moved into computers which at that time didn't bore me as they do now :D
 
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More anamorphic lens fun...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufkBi85wdbI


We've seen a few of these recently and whilst these affordable anamorphic lenses will be great news for film makers I wonder what the sales figures will be like. I'd imagine they'll sell in quite small numbers but I could be wrong. I wonder if the companies making these would be better off financially just knocking out the usual 35/50mm clones and options we also see so often.

I do like reading and watching these anamorphic lenses though but of course I'll never be in the market for one... unless tech changes and they become the mainstream.

Other stuff... More snow here but I'll be too busy to enjoy it. Hope those of you who have snow do get the time to enjoy it.
 
I'd have liked to go for a walk this morning but I'm in and out with things to do so just a quick snap from me and my A7 and Sony 35mm f1.8 of my usual, The Lines, just 5 minutes from home. A dog walker.

SD8Wh1Z.jpg
 
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Recently got a Godox V860III seems to have a few nice improvements over the older V860II.

1629755283_1613341_1_1.jpg

The dedicated switch for TTL / Manual on the side is handy as is the built in modeling light which is a lot more powerful than I though it would be. Biggest bonus for me is that it uses the same batteries as my V1's and my AD100's.

Apparently there is a new version of the V1 coming soon as well which will carry over some of the stuff from the V860III.

There is a few details on it here if anyone is interested. https://store.godox.eu/gb/camera-fl...-ttl-li-ion-flash-for-sony-6952344221143.html
 
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Which SD cards are the best to go for? I have a few of the SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I V30 cards but could do with some V60 cards. I have no intention of buying the crazy expensive Sandisk V90 cards!
 
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