chris_harley1

General consensus on the Dynax/Maxxum 9 film camera was that the built in flash was poorly received by most professional because of

its lack of power and because it was synonymous with lower end consumer cameras. Generally speaking a dedicated flash is more useful

since it has a separate power source and better range. Though Minolta was criticized for not heralding the flash control features of the

inbuilt flash. I don't think it makes or breaks any deal on this camera - price will.

Looks like the same thread from the last time I was here -about 6 months ago.

So say Sony make a 22mp FF pro camera. Who will buy it ?

That serious cash just for the body. All the pro's are already using Canon and a few using

Nikon cos they don't want to change their lens system to Canon. Why ditch all their gear for

another system?

Or are you saying there's a big enough market amongst the Sony users? They didn't buy

pro spec in short-term cos they just love Sony and its underdog?? status? Sorry guys I'm

sure Sony can make the cameras in the long-term but I'm not sure the market is there.

Maybe 2-4 years time you get a 22mp FF camera by which time Canon will be who-knows-

where? The fundamentals are exactly the same as this time last year. If you want the

market leading system you buy the market leading brand.

Just sold mine ;( sorry, on ebay. Try there, be patient, it will turn up.

There are a few further points from this reply. What are your lenses make model etc.? I would be surprised if they were really that poor but it is possible.

When taking a photo there are really 4 things you need to consider regarding exposure choices.

These really boil down to deciding what kind of shot you are trying to take.

 

Consider F-stop

 

1. For maximum sharpness and depth of field use a high f no and a tripod eg for a landscape

 

2. If you are trying to only have a certain part of your photo in sharp focus eg. sharp eyes and blurred nose and background for a portrait then use a wider f stop eg.f2.8

 

Consider Shutter Speed

 

3. when shooting hand held the slowest shutter speed you should use is 1 /focal length of the lens so for your 50mm 1/50 would be the slowest shutter speed.

 

 

4.If you're trying to freeze movement then a fast shutter speed is your priority. If you want to blur movement to give an effect of movement use a long shutter speed.

 

 

Finally I admire your willingness to go out and experiment and see your results, it's the best way to learn. A good tip though is to write down what you are trying to achieve with respect to your depth of field and 'feel' of your photo. Record what your f.stop/shutter speed, film speed and focusing point were for each shot on a note pad.

This way you'll soon see what effect your settings are having.

Don't know about your exposure problems re. the meter on your camera but I think I might be able to give some pointers on your problems.

I assume from your previous posts you are relatively new to photography but please forgive me if you know any of this already!

 

With reference to your landscape shot, to get good sharpness and as large depth of field as possible you need to be using a high f-stop and adjusting your shutter speed to suit. A good starting point would be f16 to get maximum depth of field. You should also be focusing at hyperfocal length for your f-stop this should be marked on your lens.

Remember the higher the f-stop the greater the depth of field.

 

How dark was the forest? If it was darker than the nominal 18% grey the meter could have been 'fooled' into overexposing a relatively dark scene. In extreme cases of brightness or darkness any meter can get it wrong, the beach, snow scenes and black object against a dark background are the classic examples of when you may need to override your meter by a stop or so, plus for the bright scenes and minus for the dark.

 

Metering

http://www.kodak.com/cluster/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/af9/index.shtml#54213

 

Hyperfocal length

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/2314.htm

 

Try searching for help on the following topics,

Light meter readings/

depth of field/

hyperfocal length

nobody mentioned the fact that all the controls on the 7d are easily accessible, the simplest to use camera i have seen. Sure most of the time you will have time to make adjustments to your Alpha via the menus but when you're in a rush having them to hand is a real boon. Don't get sucked in by the MP debate 6MP is not much difference to 10MP and is more than adequate for most events.

Michael you are a legend! Thankyou.

try posting in the lighting forum regarding lighting ?

I think you could do this sort of photography with any modern DSLR above the 6MP level. For detail shots you would want a good quality 100mm Macro lens. This would be able to take the wider shots of the whole item as well. The question you really need to ask is how best to LIGHT the jewellry. You would be well advised to purchase a good LIGHT TENT and a small flash unit to power it. I assume you mean take photos of the jewellry on its own rather than being worn.

Anyhow lighting it correctly is more important than which camera you use in my opinion. Hope this helps !

Basically there's no t/c for this lens then ?

Anyone still using this forum ???!! Need some help, is this lens compatible with

the older non -ssm minolta teleconverters ?? It has a metal casing protecting

the bottom element does this clash with t/c's ? Help urgently needed and wildly

appreciated. Regards

Check out the Canon or Nikon forums, there's no navel-gazing or funeral discussion of a Wake there - draw your own conclusions ;)

Sony don't read forums.

Don't expect much from them at pma.

New playstations are being released in Europe without the 'emotion' engine chip which may mean they won't play PS2 games. This isn't becuse the chips are too expensive, they cost pence, rather it's because Sony want users to download emulators (for a fee) to run old games and because they'd rather PS3 users bought new games.

Sony lenses are expensive for the same reasons, they want your money not your loyalty.

Don't know what problems you're having but it works fine on my intel imac. Just use firewire not usb, the software doesn't like usb 2.0.

And let's not forget that there's far more secondhand Canon and Nikon kit available if you are on a budget.

Yeah change don't even worry about it.

Chances are that Sony won't announce anything much at the next show they haven't so far and they have big financial problems at the moment. Nikon and Canon both have a more secure future and greater line up. If you can afford the loss you will make changing systems then do it. I did and don't regret it.

Plus you will make more selling your kit now before all the others realize which way the wind is blowing re. Sony.

fopah ??? faux pas look it up in your dictionary or google it on wikipidea

Off topic: I read that Sony Playstation 3 got hammered in the Sates over the Christmas period and was forced into 3rd place behind the X-box and Wii. In fact, speculators who bought a load on launch day hoping to make a quick profit selling them on e-bay when they sold out in the shops were left red-faced cos the shops didn't shift their Sony inventory.

Of course a fantastic new camera is around the corner, it always is.

The startkest price contrast, both from B&H USA, is obviously for the 300mm ssm lens (5,995.95 dollars) and the Canon IS 300L usm lens (3,899.95 dollars).This is the extreme example I know.

As regard quality I think they're comparable. Our ability to measure differences in high end lenses far outweighs our ability to see it in the resulting photos.

I think the lens price issue is a fair criticism of Sony DSLR business. I think Sony made a smart move buying Minolta however, a more loyal and defensive bunch of people you couldn't hope to meet !They see nothing wrong in their DSLR system pricing.

Oh and Peter for God's sake we all know what myth and fallacy mean and their dictionary definitions. We also know what Michael meant when he used myth as did you otherwise you wouldn't have known the word to 'correct' him with.

Stop treating everyone as though they are stupid it's very annoying.

And don't get me started on the prices of Sony's non-IS ssm lenses versus Canon.

Not according to every review, online or in magazines, that I have ever read. Seems we're all wrong and its just a little underexposure.

I've seen some horrendous 1600 iso shots posted that would be barely usable without post noise reduction.

Too many pixels and not enough in camera noise reduction. Not to say you can't reduce to acceptable levels afterwards, just it would be hassle to do this with every shot.

Horses for courses ! No entry level camera can be the master of all situations, I think it's disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

If its low light shots you're after, like the one posted then I would say the Alpha is definitely NOT the camera you want.Its high ISO performance is very poor unless you want to do a lost of Noise reduction post shoot.

The AS might help you 1-2 stops but the noise will be hard to live with.

Robert Paul, isn't it nit-picking to choose to interpret the word demand as having a connatation you have attached to it and then posting to that effect ?

The only real reason to choose Sony is to take advantage of the cheap body IMO. If this is the case and you don't wish to buy too many (overpriced) lenses then go with Sony. If you want to become more serious and buy more lenses go with the Canon you will save in the long-run.

In fact, looks like the only reason to go with Sony is if you have Minolta lenses already or have a need for anti-shake in the body.