zstan: You meant SAL1118? The Sony 11-18mm F4.5-5.6 DT is a classic screw-drive lens.

The Sigma OS lenses do come with OS for Sony mount, and can be used with the Sony LA-EA1 adapter on the NEX to be stabilized!

And yes, you can do it too with a decent distance from your lens and a 10 second timer (remote not necessary.)

About your lake shot - I love how the sky is clear while the lake has ripples. However I could use an even balance of both, to cut the image into 3 parts. Also, if you stood at the correct point, you'd have better perspective and a more even line, something like this:



wingster: The Samyang 14mm is cheaper and gives you F2.8.

I use bright telephoto primes for events. Once you know your range you can shoot. I don't bring my beercan for event jobs - the 135mm F1.8 does it for stage.

ahpingko: Process the RAW again at maximum resolution and give John Shum the bigger file.

ianho, that is beautiful!

Seng_Kiat: Long time no see! Yes the Sigma 30mm F1.4 is good. No, E-mount lenses cannot be fitted on A-mount dSLRs.

fansoption: I love where the Drive and ISO button is on the supposed A580.

Do note that the LA-EA1 adapter does not provide aperture control in video - if it is dark, you might find your videos all being shot at F2.8! So you might prefer to get cjlai's A-to-E mount adapter if you want to shoot macro video because you have full control of aperture.

Note also that you may need a ringlight if there is not enough light... but I am looking forward to your macro videos!

[v]8tvt[/b]: So far no, but Sony does not publish information on the mount so the third-party manufacturers have to reverse engineer.

endless: Congratulations!

lwliam: It is quite obvious since the A33/A55 are so small already that if they released it earlier, some people would have second doubts about getting the NEX.

signither check this out! NEX-5 infrared with instructions!

http://www.pbase.com/pganzel/inside_the_nex_5
http://www.pbase.com/pganzel/sony_nex_converted_to_infrared

This post has been edited by albnok: Aug 20 2010, 11:43 PM

ahpingko: No lah you export it again, with your same settings as the first time (but with full resolution lah.)

Plus since it's the second time you can improve on it - John Shum is not going to Photoshop your picture, and if he prints it big, and you walk past it, you will regret not making it better!

fansoption: The E-A mount adapter, if possible, would be an extreme teleconverter with at least 2 stops of light loss and a 2x teleconverter effect. If that adapter does not have glass, then it becomes an extremely macro lens.

Seng_Kiat: I would just tell you to go to the shop and try it. The Sigma 30mm F1.4, like the Sigma 50mm F1.4 HSM, has a very different look.

Don't expect the pictures to look like your Zeiss. It is not a bad thing... but it looks different. If you stopped both down to F5.6 you could probably tell the difference by just looking at the color.

They are still nice and sharp especially in the center, but there is a certain... plasticky look about the colors. It is well saturated though.

I have not owned either lens, though.

fansoption: No aperture control while recording video.

You get aperture control while shooting pictures, though, and as a current SLR, you view the frame with the lens wide open but it closes the aperture down only when you take the shot.

With cjlai's A-to-E adapter, when you turn the aperture ring to let's say F11, you view the frame with the lens already stopped down even if you're not taking the picture. The downside is that the viewfinder may get grainy and noisy in lower light.

mastering89: Yes video cameras have gain. It will still be noisy - or it would give you a black-and-white video when light levels drop.

Professional video cameras also have built-in ND filters which can be turned on or off (it just slides into place.)

zstan: Yes, but nowhere as many as Canon (which is kinda comical considering that a new firmware often is just to fix a bug introduced in a firmware version ago...):

A100 - v1, v2, v3, v4
A700 - v1, v2, v3, v4
A230/A330/A380 - v1, v2
NEX-3/NEX-5 - v0.1, v0.2

noprob: NIIICE!

signither: I have Paypal.

It seems the SLR Magic 35mm F1.7 focuses to 30cm close.

However, it does have field curvature, which means if you focus on a flat surface, the center is in focus while the corners are not, or the corners are in focus but the center is not:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat...97&changemode=1

Also... I have my reservations on this - I'm waiting to see the Samyang 35mm F1.4. We know very well how Samyang's new primes are and, it would work on my A900 as well! (And possibly, a future A55...)

ahpingko: I like your new processing look. There's a certain mood in it.

cplow1: Leos Trading of 1st floor next to the escalator in Ampang Park should have ready stock. Also, the 1st floor of Low Yat Plaza has a fair bit of Sony (Tarita, etc.)

signither: Er just to clarify to anyone reading this, as "reservations" can mean two different things;

"I have made a reservation on this SLR Magic" - I want to buy the lens, and have booked it.

"I have my reservations on this SLR Magic" - I have doubts about the lens. I did not book it. However I will wait and see how the Samyang performs.

Then again it's an easy decision for me - the Samyang does F1.4, and it works on my A900 too!

d4rkholeang3l: Hooray white shirts in rain!

#4 is a bit too low and near. I guess I'd prefer it straight from the front like in #3.

fansoption: If you're using a faster shutter speed than 1/160s on your A550, High Speed Sync will be activated, and that will use a lot more flash power.

If you're using a darker aperture e.g. F22 it will use a lot more power.

So yes, you can expect overheating to happen in such circumstances.

Then? Read the manual.

yuhi: Nicely done! Though for the flowers I'd stop down the aperture a bit to get more in focus.

8tvt: Your flash contacts are dirty - clean them with your fingernail. It doesn't know there is a flash (you will see no flash icon) and it pops up!

zstan: No, it is manual focus.

Seng_Kiat: Go get a Spyder then. I don't remember which but there is one budget model. Even Apple monitors are not perfectly calibrated as my studio photographer friend notes. Monitors need to be recalibrated every month for optimum color work (though, it won't run much if you don't... but if your work is a critical science of color then you'd do so.)

signither: You mau beli jual pun boleh.

But you've seen the samples on Micro Four Thirds right? It has a fair bit of field curvature even on 2x crop, so the field curvature is going to be more extreme on 1.5x crop. So everything looks like a tilt-shift.

tmj, I like the plain expression and the plain background!

zstan: Yes the A55 is technically a Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens.

zstan: Apparently, you can change the AF point while looking through the EVF. Press the AF button and move the D-pad about.

Phase Detect AF is fast because it sees the subject from both left and right eyes, and knows exactly how far to adjust.

Contrast Detect looks at the contrast and keeps adjusting the focus until maximum contrast is detected. It cannot know immediately where to turn the lens to.

No man, all SLRs use Phase Detect. Only the newer other-brand dSLRs use Contrast Detect when in Live View or recording video. The NEX and all mirrorless cameras use Contrast Detect also.

Apparently, the A560/A580 also can use Contrast Detect, which makes it the first Alpha dSLR to use this - but there is no report on how well it performs.

1/3rd light loss is not much! It's the difference between F2.4 and F2.8. Or F1.4 and F1.6.

The A560 is pretty much the A550 with video, without any loss in functionality (as far as we know). So if you don't want video, go ahead and get the A550.

But yes, lwliam and kysham have already explained correctly, just agreeing with their points.

shootkk: Apparently, the EVF is as big as a FF viewfinder. We'll see.

Yes, macro will benefit from an EVF as you get DOF preview with gain up. An OVF will be significantly darker.

Sweep Panorama and 3D Sweep Panorama, by the way, are fixed at 1/500th of a second shutter speed or faster. This prevents any sweeping motion blur artifacts, but certainly underexposes in low light.

You're supposed to lose 1/3rd of a stop in the EVF (or rumored OVF in future models). How much darker is it?

All Alphas come with the stock Type G screen. They show DOF for as bright as F3.5 - meaning even if you put a F1.4 lens you will see DOF of F3.5.

Also, a F1.4 lens and a F3.5 lens will appear to be equally bright on the Type G screen.

So, to see the same amount of darkening that a translucent camera gives - put a F4.0 lens on your A850. The difference between that and a F3.5 lens, is how much darker the translucent mirror will be!

(To be honest, you can't see the difference sometimes on a Type G even when you zoom a lens from wide to tele, making maximum aperture move from F3.5 to F5.6.)

The Type M screen for A850/A900 however has a base of F1.4 meaning that when I put a F4.0 lens it already looks very dark! However I get the DOF of F1.4 in the viewfinder. Thus the Type G is more suited for darker lenses and the Type M for manual focus primes. A F1.4 lens on Type G and Type M appears to be equally bright.

Another question is, if we can lock up the mirror of the a55 and shoot to get that extra 1/3rd of a stop.

longpants: Some people want video in A-mount and an OVF. The A560/A580 is for those people. It uses contrast detect AF in video though and we don't know how the performance is like (hint: every other dSLR has laughable CDAF.)

ReasonableThanatos: No the mirror stays down.

IwanAGP: Don't confuse the mirror sound with the shutter sound. The NEX and a55 shutter sound is real.

razorboy: I predict that the A560 will be the same price as the A550 when released (RM25xx), while the A580 will be RM400 more (for the extra 2 megapixels, 10 FPS and GPS.)

goldfries: But the a55 can AF in video fast LOL!

wingster: The A560/A580 has Contrast Detect AF. Let's hope somebody bothers to review this instead of the a55 taking all the limelight. But yeah, only the NEX-VG10 gives aperture/shutter/ISO control in video.

kysham: I've seen a 9xi get disassembled - they use 2 shutters to achieve that shutter speed; 2 coming from different directions.


1/12000th of a second shutter speed and 1/300th of a second flash sync speed.


The smaller mirror which directs light to the AF unit.


Each little pair of grilles is a phase detect AF line sensor. You're looking at 4 AF sensors.

More pictures here:
http://www.glaringnotebook.com/default.asp?id=1013

goldfries: I would agree that hunting and the camera deciding to focus elsewhere is an issue in video hence we must learn it well and keep monitoring to avoid misfocus.

The shutter speed does play a vital role in video - the most natural motion comes from having a shutter speed twice the speed of your framerate i.e. 25fps needs 1/50th of a second shutter speed to look best. Any faster and it looks very digital, and slower it looks swooshy.

Some video cameras use a rotary shutter where the opening cannot be adjusted hence shutter speed is constant.

noprob: Bear wants honey to go with milk LOL!

shootkk: It would be 1/3rd of a stop noisier because less light comes.

Though the question is, if that 1/3rd matters, as when looking at RAW performance, the Canon 5D MkII is 1/3rd of a stop better than the A850/A900 and the Nikon D700 is 2/3rds of a stop better. Really, it's not that far in RAW (the difference is in the Nikon and Canon JPG engines.)

eddybeh, heptagons FTW!

ngenjen: Yes, color reproduction has always been a strength of Alphas. Get the WB correct and you'll see veins on people!

shootkk: I would go, strictly on basis of announcement month;

2006:
1. A100

2007:
2. A700

2008:
3. A200
4. A300, A350
5. A900

2009:
6. A230, A330, A380
7. A850
8. A500, A550

2010:
9. A450
10. NEX-3, NEX-5
11. A290, A390
12. A33, A55, A560, A580

d4rkholeang3l: I have not heard of gear stripping on the SAL 55-200mm F4-5.6 DT.

gizmopony: I never liked the AF/Drive/ISO buttons being there on the Canons (though it sure beats being on the left like the D300/D300s/D700/D3/D3s/D3x).

cassplayer: Take a shot at F11 and see if it's overexposed - if it is, it's got sticky blades so it can't stop down in time for the exposure.

ieR: The NEX-VG10 uses contrast detect AF while the a55 uses phase detect AF. Not quite the same thing!

ieR: There will be no room for a mirror in the E-mount, so they might have to do phase detect on main sensor (like on a Sony patent.) The Fujifilm F300EXR already did it.

The 10 FPS really is just for bragging rights and poisoning sessions.

signither: Yesterday night I saw the moon ridin' low and I regretted only having the pancake with me!

razorboy: The A55 is the future with fast AF in video; the A580 has an optical viewfinder if you're old school like that.

Killabee88: Nice juxtapose! Probably would prefer more light on the blade.

SinnerBuyer: LOL the Maxxum 7000 does not support SAM/SSM lenses so it's all manual focus.

Mikeshashimi: That's a pretty amazing price for an A850!

clivengu great stuff! Don't keep your clients waiting too long though!

lwliam: The exposure shift is Canon's problem, not CDAF - I experienced such laughable auto-exposure with a 24mm F1.4L II and 5D MkII.

I like how the right half of #2 has a lot while the left half does not. Though the color could be done such that the left is vibrant green while the right is concrete and cold.

jianh: The NEX-5 doesn't do AF with A-mount lenses (yet), doesn't support an external bounce flash (yet) and will not be able to use the faster phase-detect AF (though the NEX lenses do focus at decent speeds.)

You might as well wait for the A55 which does all the above.

mastering89: LOL brilliant!

porkchop: Congratulations! The greenish CA in the out-of-focus background is longitudinal CA and cannot be prevented; it appears even in the big G and Zeiss lenses. Anyway I quite like the effect it has on pictures.

Purple fringing, on the point of focus, can be reduced by stopping down.

e-jump: Wow that is a badass combination of color! Though I wish you didn't crop her feet; #1 would otherwise be perfect!

zstan: The light is very obviously bounced from above; in some cases you need a bit of front light so use a small white card to bring some light forward. That or get them to tilt their heads up LOL.

d4rkholeang3l, I enjoyed looking at your picture of the kitten.