thanks, d4rkholeang3l sell me his. thanks you very much ~

Why is handheld twilight cleaner? is it due to some post processing done in the camera?

btw, is there a step by step guide for combining the HDR and jpgs? photoshop noob here

evilhomura89: Beats me how exactly Sony does Handheld Twilight.

Anyway everyone should read this tutorial - the masking bit is what you need to know, in order to merge HDR with JPG.

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/neutral...ral-density.htm

I actually use a sloppier 30% opacity brush to 'color in' moving people.

This post has been edited by albnok: Sep 18 2010, 11:52 PM

I googled handheld twilight and found out that it works by "fire-off six frames in quick succession and stack them".
I have a feeling that the stacking part is how the noise is removed thus generating a cleaner image.

bro albnok, thanks for the explanation there, kinda mistaken your phrase. My English is bad.

d4rkholeang3l: hahaha u confused me with albnok?

albnok: oh, so there is the limit of low light, so, i would say, EVF is good on daylight, as u can review image from the EVF,... but not really good for lowlight uses (compare to OVF) and made thing worst with 1/3 stop(although its not much...)? but i am still interested to see the real thing. hope it reaches miri soon... A550 can see better at night compare to A300 (which i found out) but i hope the A33 evf can detect far more less light

hahaha, u should know that i am really really bad with calculation... hence i mention for example, scare later u shoot me again for not getting the right figure should have left u do the explanation



evilhumura, well, the stacking algorithm is a programmer thing... which i dont bother, but it as long as it works, its good alhorithm, like how the chinese old saying says, black cat, white cat, as long it catches the mouse, its a good cat.

A few days ago, I came across the NEX-5H package - the NEX-5 with Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS!


The FA-EX1S flash extender comes with the NEX-5H package.


It is meant to extend the flash forward and above the large 18-200mm, like so.


From the front, not raised (above) and raised (below).


It does look funny with the Sony E 16mm F2.8 pancake...


The FA-EX1S flash extender has two nubs next to the screw hole. This prevents the ECM-SST1 external microphone (above) and FDA-SV1 optical viewfinder (below) from being mounted on the FA-EX1S.


Left-to-right: Sony A850 with Sony 70-200mm F2.8G SSM, Sony NEX-5 with FA-EX1S flash extender and HVL-F7S flash and Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS in its shortest 18mm position with lens hood stored backwards.


Left-to-right: Sony A850 with Sony 70-200mm F2.8G SSM, Sony NEX-5 with FA-EX1S flash extender and HVL-F7S flash and Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS in its longest 200mm position with lens hood stored forwards.

So how does the flash extender work?


Top-left: 18mm without FA-EX1S flash extender; top-right: 200mm without FA-EX1S flash extender; bottom-left: 18mm with FA-EX1S flash extender; bottom-right: 200mm with FA-EX1S flash extender.

If you are going to use the HVL-F7S on the NEX with the Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS, the FA-EX1S flash extender is a must!

This post has been edited by albnok: Sep 19 2010, 05:12 AM

The FDA-SV1 optical viewfinder.


It matches the field of view of the Sony E 16mm F2.8 pancake only, without the VCL-ECU1 ultra-wide converter or VCL-ECF1 fisheye converter.


Since there is no way to turn off the NEX-3/NEX-5 LCD screen, you will have to get close to the viewfinder to avoid glare from the screen!

Honestly though, I thought the FDA-SV1 was optically crap. It had massive smearing away from the center, and only if you placed your eye exactly in the middle, with the 3 dashes getting illuminated, then you'd be in perfect alignment. Even then there was parallax error and there is no way to see depth of field in the viewfinder.


The rare NEX body cap makes an appearance in the NEX-5H package!


The Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS is Made in China. Nevertheless, it is a very solid lens.


18mm F3.5 ISO1600 yielded 1/30s with EV +1. Obviously, this is no indoor lens!


200mm F6.3 ISO3200 1/25s with EV +1. Still a bit too slow for indoors!

Remember that the average camcorder that cannot change lenses has a F1.8 zoom lens even on the telephoto end! So before buying this, make sure you know what you are getting into.

I also tried the Sony Cybershot WX-5, a proper replacement for the WX-1 (which I have.) F2.4 at 24mm (35mm equivalent) with Exmor-R backlit sensor means it is the low-light champion of the Cybershot series!


One new feature that it adds is Background Defocus, which takes two shots and blends them.


This is the same shot in P mode (which chose F2.4).


It is not perfect though, as you can see it didn't work so well on the wire and the lens on the right.


What if there are many subjects in the picture? It states that it cannot perform Background Defocus, but takes a picture anyway.


I tested the A33 with Sony 50mm F1.4, while looking at it from the front. In video, when looking from the front, it appeared to be wide open, but the moment I started recording, it stopped down to F3.5 as expected whenever AF was on. When MF was used, it could record videos at F1.4.

Yes, ISO and menus can be accessed from the viewfinder, exactly as you would from the rear LCD screen.


This is the optional AC-PW20 AC Adapter (for NEX cameras) dummy battery. The battery cover has a flap just to allow the cable in.

Hmmm the NEX-3/NEX-5 does have this flap! However, interestingly, the NEX-3/NEX-5 can operate just fine with the battery cover open, as I've just tried.

The A560 is delayed to 2011, while the A580 would only come to Malaysia in October 2010 (but if other places are only getting it in November 2010, I can't be too optimistic.)

According to this:

http://www.sony-asia.com/support/resources...pages/Sony.html

The A560/A580, which has contrast detect AF in Focus Check Live View, will not be able to use contrast detect on screw-drive lenses. This limits contrast detect to SAM/SSM lenses. However, you can still use phase detect AF in Quick AF Live View with screw drive lenses.

Also, video is strictly manual focus only on the A560/A580.

In other news:

What the heck man, the Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC in A-mount is 111mm long!

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091610samsyng35mm1p4.asp

Fortunately the MFD is 30cm like all other 35mm F1.4 lenses.

Minolta/Sony 35mm F1.4G - 55mm filter thread, 510 grams, 30cm MFD, 1:5x maximum magnification, 76mm long
Canon 35mm F1.4L USM - 72mm filter thread, 580 grams, 30cm MFD, 1:5.5x maximum magnification, 86mm long
Nikkor AF-S 35mm F1.4G SWM - 67mm filter thread, 600 grams, 30cm MFD, 1:5x maximum magnification, 89.5mm long
Samyang 35mm F1.4 UMC - 77mm filter thread, weight N/A, 30cm MFD, maximum magnification N/A, 111mm long (Alpha mount)

To give you an idea of how long 111mm is - the Carl Zeiss 24-70mm F2.8 SSM is 111mm long, and the Carl Zeiss 135mm F1.8 is 115mm long!

Finally, here's a picture from a roadshow:



The Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM is starkly a lot higher in price than I expected. I was hoping it would be around RM3000 street price, even taking into account that these are retail prices!

This post has been edited by albnok: Sep 19 2010, 01:53 PM

good one albnok!

and what the heck, the 18-200 is huge! (for nex body)

and what the hell, sigma 70200 F2.8 EX DG OS HSM is 8688, this is no way to break into canon or nikon market... this make 70200G best buy F2.8 tele of the year! lol

This post has been edited by ieR: Sep 19 2010, 05:25 AM

@ier, sorry lar.. i mislooked.. haha . paiseh

albert, the NEX3/5 does have the flap IINM, only now I know the function

d4rkholeang3l: hahaha dont worry bout it

The nex 18-200mm lens is well.... shiny...

WTH, no sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 during the fair??? Wanted to know about its retail price

sepam some pic captured yesterday.....

playing long exposure @ 15sec:

it looked quite noisy...i off my long exp NR...

test portrait with my new prime..


This post has been edited by ahpingko: Sep 19 2010, 11:02 AM

albnok: you tested that a33 at BTS?

my friend is asking me to wait for a55 instead of getting a33. Too many choices and end up dont know which to pick

This post has been edited by ProX: Sep 19 2010, 10:53 AM

wait for a55 for 10fps burst shooting, a slightly longer battery life as claimed by Sony, 16.2MP

battery life is going to be an issue, with all these functions utilizing the burst fps mode. huhu.. not to mention high shutter count!

how come my 150-500 oso sell so high.... is this the street price here?

looking forward to get 1 samyang 35mm f/1.4 into my f/1.4 collection

gizmo_pony: I'll be darned, there is a flap for the battery cable! Thanks for pointing it out LOL. I've edited my original posting.

yuhi: Yeah man, that and the 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM are notably missing!

ahpingko: Nice colors on #1 but I feel like you could either include more of the faraway buildings, or less of it. Well processed on #2 because the subject pops out (since she is less gray.)

ProX: You can test the A33 at Berjaya Times Square or KLCC or The Curve. The only difference is that the A33 has 7 FPS while the A55 has 10 FPS, built-in GPS and 16.2 megapixels.

cjlai: Waiting for it too! No it's the retail price list.