linkinstreet: You may want to stop down to say F2.8 to get deeper DOF. There is a point of sharp focus even at F1.4 (but you may need to specify the focus point.)

braindead_fr3ak: Stopping down is the same as picking a darker aperture. Both will make most lenses appear sharper.

I prefer to use the terms 'bright' and 'dark' when referring to aperture because F8 is actually F/8 and F1.4 is actually F/1.4 (so you can see why Focal Length divided by 8 is smaller than Focal Length divided by F1.4, hence smaller aperture.)

A 50mm set to F5 (or precisely, F/5) means the aperture opening is 50mm * F/5 = 10mm. F is short for Focal Length.

Kul | Mo0: The 135mm STF can be used for that shot, as is any manual focus lens. She is not walking terribly fast. Though the STF is going to be much smoother!

hiansitt: Nothing to do with the diameter of the lens. F-stop = focal length divided by diameter of aperture opening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number

ieR: You can't say for sure that F2.8 has sharper IQ than F1.8 - the only thing you can say for sure is that it has deeper DOF.

'Any good modern lens is corrected for maximum definition at the larger stops. Using a small stop only increases depth...' - Ansel Adams, June 3, 1937

There is another similiar quote from Carl Zeiss who says the perfect lens is perfect wide open and just has deeper DOF stopped down.

Braynumb: I like the style in #1. Good capture in #2 (because everybody is looking at you!) Also like #5 for how your uncle stands out.

Of course, an orange flash gel would do wonders for your WB, but you have post-processed it nicely.

kmarc: This version is also nice.

Fighteden: Like the eye contact, though if just a bit more to the right would make it better. It looks cropped?

Braynumb: No idea, where you are... unless you know where to find a shop that stocks gels for movies (they use it to change the color of windows and lights.)

Registered for the street one (Szetoo's) and the creative one (Choen's). Choen, to me, had the most inspiring talk at the Alpha Convention 2008. And Szetoo has balls to street shoot anywhere, so I wanna know how she does it!

Szetoo's blog:
http://theblueasparagus.blogspot.com/

There's the automotive talk by Darren whose site is here:
http://www.autodetailed.com/blog/

yfchin2: I didn't get a confirmation email.

TrutH_SeeKeR: Just put the F56AM on your camera, turn on WL flash on your A700, remove the F56AM and pull up the pop-up flash. That's all you need to do.

Unfortunately, only your 50mm F1.4 and Sigma 105mm F2.8 Macro are full-frame lenses. You'll have to change the rest to full-frame lenses.

How do you know if it's APS-C? If it has the following suffixes:

Sony DT
Sigma DC
Tamron DiII

For example, you'd have to change the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC to a Tamron 17-35mm F2.8-4, the Sony 55-200mm F4-5.6 DT to a Sony 70-300mm F4.5-5.6G SSM (or budget Sony 75-300mm F4.5-5.6), and 18-200mm to a 28-300mm.

However, you don't need a 28-300mm and 75-300mm at the same time. If you're on a budget, you can get the following full-frame lenses:

Tamron/Konica Minolta 17-35mm F2.8-4 (RM12xx)
Minolta 24-85mm F3.5-4.5 (RM5xx)
Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan (RM8xx)

I would recommend the HVL-F20AM for the A850 because there are times you need a small flash for parties. If you buy a radio trigger, you can't use that radio trigger as a pop-up flash, but you can use the F20AM as both a pop-up flash and a wireless trigger!

andymillenium: Galeri Petronas is on the LRT side, not the Sony Style side. Don't confuse it with Galeri Petrosains in the middle of KLCC.

cjlai: It is as sharp, speaking from experience.

jdreamer: Same level and same 'era' - Sony A700. It has been discontinued, and we are eagerly awaiting a replacement.

You'll get the worse of both debates anyway from Nikon or Canon fanboys if you have anything else, though...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/...ith/2346008881/

Now the question to macro diehards is this - what focal length do you think was used for this?

Kul | Mo0: Recuva worked for my office computer. Stupid IT support fella installed a image which has 2 partitions, overwriting both my C:\ (ready to format) and D:\ (data). Most stuff was recovered but my Microsoft Office PST, being the size it is, was corrupted.

You can definitely get a lot of your pictures back. Just leave it overnight.

There's also PC Inspector Smart Recovery which has worked for me on CF cards.

Both programs are free.

Gouki:

Sigma DG, Tamron Di = coated to reduce internal reflection from digital sensors
Sigma DC, Tamron DiII = coated to reduce internal reflection from digital sensors and APS-C only

Gouki: Some would rank the Tamron first, then the Sigma, then the Sony, but the Sigma 70-300mm DG APO Macro 1:2x is prone to gear stripping.


Zeiss 135mm F1.8 at F3.5. Guitarist for John's Mistress at Rock The World 9!

achew: Hold down Fn button, scroll through menus, change from Test1 or Test3 to TestM then press Fn to exit.

Press TEST button and it should light for 4 seconds.

TestM = strobe for 4 seconds
Test3 = 3 strobes
Test1 = 1 strobe at whatever power you've set

alex_cyw1985: Nice side light! It looks like the cat is curious to what the light is.

braindead_fr3ak: The VC version doesn't exist for A-mount but you don't need it anyway. If the VC version of the A-mount one has the Tamron micromotor then it would suck (the screw-drive 17-50mm focuses faster, quieter and more accurately, when comparing the Nikon F-mount original and New (for D40) versions.)

I believe there are some accounts of the Zeiss focusing faster than the Tamron.

You sure about the poor IQ and inconsistency of the Sigmas? Make an educated decision, go try the lenses out first!

The WB on the car is a bit off though.

gizmo_pony: Strictly speaking the A900/A850 has the best sports performance (dual cross sensors and a F2.8 sensor in the middle, which the A550 does not have.) Also has 11 focus assist points not found in any other Alpha.

wingster: It does not have an F2.8 sensor, for greater accuracy and focus-finding with F2.8 lenses.


The A550 has 30% faster focus and 30% better accuracy than the A350 according to this Sony presentation by a Sony Singapore representative.

However the A850/A900 has 9 AF points, with 11 AF assist points (hidden, only active using Wide Area AF) and a two sets of cross sensors in the middle as well as a F2.8 sensor.

The A700 has 11 AF points, two sets of cross sensors in the middle, and a F2.8 sensor.

So that makes FIVE sensors in the middle for the A700/A850/A900. (Canon's maximum is 3, while Nikon's is 2.) My A900 is definitely better at AF-C tracking than the A700 - the A700 can only properly track using the center point since it has five times the power. However the A900 is helped by the invisible 11 AF points placed in between the 9 AF points whereas with the A700, if the subject is off-center but not touching any of the other sensors, it will struggle.

ieR: Er, where are these claims of the A550 having the best AF coming from? It is definitely better but not the best of the Alphas.

Braynumb: Yes, the dot can be used with a chipped MF lens.

Bear in mind that it is not as accurate as you'd like it to be - the tolerance for 'in-focus' is wide. I find I prefer coming from the MFD side and shooting the moment the dot comes in. Your results may vary.

ieR:

No, the square boxes do not mean anything on the A230/A330/A380/A450/A500/A550. They are just easier to see. They are still line sensors of the -|/\ variety except the center point which is a single cross sensor.

Face Detect is good but not great. The A550 is weaker at detecting faces, especially in backlit conditions, compared to my WX1.

signither: Nice, but better with DRO Level 5!

yfchin2: Nice pose from her but the framing is a bit weird.

signither: Alamak, forgot - I thought you were using it on the A700.

chronic_gam3r: Supposedly 100K but it really does not matter because I have exceeded the supposed shutter count on my A100 and A700 with no problems.

lugiamcg: Hate to break it to you but your memory stick is probably pirated. The newer Sony models (A550, WX1) have this annoying prompt. My A900 and W190 did not care about pirated sticks.