weatherman

After using a bunch of primes, I've stopped using the 24-105 myself..

I can say that I never used the wide af area. I guess I can not see the point of that (Not having the control).

 

I generally don't bother about the ev scale. Unless I'm setting an exposure compensation. I just trust the spot meter at "A" mode.

The EV scale is there to give you an ide of how far you are from the camera's recommended exposure value.

 

You need to read books about basics of exposure. You can even find the info on the internet. Try to find resources that explain exposure in modern SLRs. They all work more or less the same these days.

Good luck.

If you are using multi segment metering, the camera is at full auto and you almost have no control over exposure. Exposure compensation with segment metering is not recommended since you know nothing about how camera ended up with that exposure. This is why I use spot metering combined with exposure compensation. (Or I use a gray card with no compensation obviously).

You might need to read about basics of metering before you start using your slr. Only then you can use that capable tool to full extent.

Good luck

Hello Allan,

It has zone matching (HI/LO) for wedding dress kind of situations as I remember. Yo can have a look at the manual on this. 5D matrix metering has been surprisingly good in my experience. I had never used it as I did not trust it, until a recent wedding (I had to give the 5D to my mom!). But to be honest in most cases exposure was spot on with matrix. You can not be dealing with spot metering in a wedding situation so may be best to rely on matrix as I did myself that day. I'm coming from slide photography and I found 5D's dynamic range wide enough to accomodate large spectrum of tones. So, spot/manual metering was not as essential as I thought with this camera.

All the best

There is also that good old minolta 28mm 2.0 AF prime that is ~40mm on digital. Very good lens but hard to find and expensive.

50mm f1.4-f1.7, 28mm f2, 85mm f1.4...

These are good portrait primes but will you have enough time to change all those primes during the wedding that is the question. I have these but I often find impractical to change lenses in such environments.

If I have one choice I'd stick to 28mm f2. I have used it with no flash in the very dimly lit conditions on 5D with the help of anti shake and tungsten color calibration(Or with calibration for whatever the light source is). Using no flash is very useful for capturing real moments which is now available with anti-shake + a very fast prime lens. People can not believe that I did not use any flash with such clean results!

 

Zooms with constant f2.8 might do the job as well(have no experience though)

Hope this helps

Well, Current Sony SLR is continuation of Dynax 5D as far as I know and most lenses to be released as well are good old minolta AF. That is what I meant when I said i'll stick to Minolta (heritage AND future as Sony). Of course I am aware that Sony is a different company but they are not reinventing the wheel are they? Having same lens mount is good enough to use my existing lenses. I'm no pro to care too much about this subject anyway. Pros might want to switch(already did probably), I understand that.

They will release new lenses as long as there is demand. They are there to earn money I guess. I'll stay with minolta gear as I'm exteremely happy with their Dynax 5d with antishake.

Good luck!

I can imagine that later versions would work. The one that comes with Dynax 5D can process my Dimage 7i files for example. Someone who owns A2 should confirm that though..

Are you not able to save your Raw files as Jpg in your CS2?

The turth is it is too old to be repaired. Just have to be added to your collection of broken gadgets I guess..

Regarding CR123 Rechargeables;

Uniross CR123 Rechargeable Battery should be compatible with cameras. Sold in Maplin shops in the UK. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46261&doy=4m9&C=SEO&U=strat15

Have no first hand experience though..

All the best

E.

I can't say anything against Dynax 7 but I realised that dedicated grip makes the whole thing soo huge that I have to leave it in the bag or at home. It's true that with the grip you look so cool but as we have recharegeable Cr123 type batteries nowadays, if I were you I'd not spend my money on VC7. If you are to become a pro, that's another story of course..

Ersagun

There has to be a plastic lid (I think on the front bottom).

Remove this piece (which you will loose at some stage anyway!!) you'll see the socket, rest is not rocket science as you can imagine..

PRIME 50mm f1.7 I think (looks that way here in England at least)

Gitzo carbon ones are great. You need to choose one that can hold your equipment but they are not cheap for sure

You won't regret if you can afford one..

As someone who had used Dynax 7 with grip in the concerts, occasions and now an owner of 5D, I like the 5D better. Especially because 5D is smaller, easy to carry and not that intimidating with a small prime. But again I'm not a huge guy with giant hands. Small cameras for tiny people right!

I'm not thinking about buying a huge body in the future again, If stability is important I have a pro tripod to use for that. Besides I took photos that were not possible before under dimly lit 40W tungusten lamp which proved my concern about stabilty of a small body like KM 5D baseless.

 

Conclusion: If alpha is similar to 5D having similar anti-shake as they claim I'd go for it myself. But it's just me...

I agree, 35mm is bound to be back with all the legacy lenses all over the world, there is a good reason. And it is in human nature to want more right!

E.

I would think that when you shoot typical wide open shots, at close range, to shoot a sharp isolated subject with a nice bokeh background, the 50mm f/1.7 or equal would also be good enough? Do you need a 28mm f/2 for this?

 

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surely not. But 28mm is a wide angle lens that happens to have good bokeh as well. That is what I meant. 50mm 1.7 also serves well for bokeh purposes, if that is your only concern.

Samples:

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4223010

 

You can have a look at my Scotland photos as well. Wide angle ones are shot with 28 f2

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=477420

 

and also these

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=517292

 

Good luck

I have it and can say is as sharp as 50 f1.4

Has better bokeh than 50 f1.7

I had to wait some years to find a second hand one.

Never regret and I would never sell it either!

Why not buying a Dynax(maxxum) 5

I had one and is a fine small and lightewight body.

It is much more advanced compared to 9000 which may show old age and break down on you(I had 7000 that broke down simply because of age). So I don't know if it is cheaper to buy a really old camera considering there is a danger of break down any moment(getting it fixed would cost more than the body itself). Besides film bodies are getting cheaper.

Decision is yours ofcourse.

Good luck

It looks like my problem a bit. My aperture motor gear doesn't engage with the lever and lift it if up and only if the aperture lever is a heavy one (like a fast prime). I know what is wrong with it. It realises that aperture didn't move(after a grinding noise) and shuts down. Yours might be a stupidly simple electronic problem as you can start the camera at least(passes the lens check right?). So I have no idea but opening it is scary(yes I did it). Lucky have put it back in and it still works albeit only with the max aperture.

In Britain if you are lucky you can still find it brand new. I bought from a local Dixons shop for a stupidly low price(with 24-105 lens)

Yes I loved this camera so much and it still has guarantee if something happens to mine. My failure was my fault not Minota's. I have 5D(fantastic and cheap) but still use Dynax 7 for my landscapes on slides.

Good luck

5600hsd is a perfect piece of flashgun.

If I were you, I'd wait to see which flashgun is compatible with both minolta dynax series and sony bodies, and i'd surely buy that one. One day you might want to buy a sony digital body and a flashgun is an investment done only once(alt least for me).

Any motor noise? Like a short scream? Mine was damaged because I've mounted my lens without care in a loud concert and screwed the lever that lifts aperture. And it fails to do a lens check and i see a faint display(with motor scream) and it dies. This happens only with fast primes. So I think when the camera does a self check and if it does not succeed, you see that "faint but unreadable display in the viewfinder". I hope yours is not damaged somehow. Eventually I had decided to buy a brand new Dynax 7 which was cheaper than getting it fixed!!!

I agree this is really good news for us, existing users. I felt same way. Happy that minolta are fully alive albeit under another name and are even evolving..